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(Mark Kolbe/Getty Images) Japan's demographic challenges are well-known: It's home to the world's oldest population and has a shrinking birthrate and an astonishing number of single people. According to the Japan Times, a new survey of Japanese people ages 18 to 34 found that 70 percent of unmarried men and 60 percent of unmarried women are not in a relationship. That's according to a government survey published last week, claiming that 42% of men and 44.2% of women -- almost half of Japan's millennial singles aged between 18 to 34 -- are virgins. But despite, the government's attempts to boost the number of marriages and children, this year's survey results from the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, don't reveal a swerve in the right direction. The institute has conducted the same survey every five years since 1987, when the proportion of unmarried men and women who said they had no partner stood at 48.6 percent and 39.5 percent, respectively. Nearly 90 percent of the respondents said they want to get married “sometime in the future.” But 30 percent of the 2,706 men sampled and 26 percent of the 2,570 female respondents said they were not currently looking for a relationship. Meanwhile, the same study found that the number of children among couples who have been married for between 15 and 19 years averaged a record-low 1.94. The administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has talked up boosting the birthrate through support for child care, but until the nation bones up on bedroom gymnastics there’ll be no medals to hand out. "To just make it men looking at a female model perpetuates the problem." "They want to tie the knot eventually. But they tend to put it off as they have gaps between their ideals and the reality,” said Futoshi Ishii, head of the NIPSSR’s population dynamics research department. “That’s why people marry later or stay single for life, contributing to the nation’s low birthrate.” Boosting the birthrate is one of the coveted goals of the Abe administration, which has declared it will raise the fertility rate from the current 1.4 to 1.8 by 2025 or so. There was one clearly positive indicator in the survey: For the first time, the proportion of women returning to work after having their first child in Japan's once notoriously patriarchal society exceeded 50 percent.

– While America might more typically worry about what its youth are doing, Japan spends a lot of time worrying about what they're not doing, and what they're not doing is having sex—at all, apparently. A new government survey suggests that the country's millennials are not only in no hurry to marry, but apparently aren't in any rush to do the deed. To wit, a whopping 44% of women and 42% of men, amounting to nearly half of the country's millennial singles ages 18 to 34, say they are still virgins, reports the Washington Post. But the percentage of these singles who say they hope to marry in the future is up close to 90%. "People marry later or stay single for life, contributing to the nation’s low birthrate," the head researcher tells the Japan Times. "They want to tie the knot eventually, but they tend to put it off as they have gaps between their ideals and the reality." With an aging generation of baby boomers weighing down what is already the world's oldest population, Japan has for years been trying to encourage its dwindling number of young people to marry and have children. But complicating this quandary, CNN reports that the apparent lack of interest in engaging in actual sex could result in part from the country's many manga fans choosing fantasy over reality. Plus more women are making more money and choosing to marry later or not at all, while many men report feeling intimidated by them. "They feel threatened by women who are empowering themselves," one expert says. (A quarter of young men and almost half of young women in Japan go so far as to say they despise sexual contact.)

Mesolithic encampment at Blick Mead offers chance to find out about earliest chapter of Britain’s history, say archaeologists Experts have hit out at plans for a road tunnel under Stonehenge, warning it could damage the oldest encampment discovered near the stones. The £2bn scheme would see the road put into a dual carriageway tunnel past Stonehenge, reducing congestion and improving the setting of the stones - giving the public greater access to the wider prehistoric landscape and benefiting wildlife, supporters say. Charcoal dug up from the Mesolithic encampment at Blick Mead in the world heritage site, around one and a half miles from the stones, has been tested and dated to around 4,000 BC, archaeologists said. The dig has also unearthed evidence of possible structures, but further investigation is needed to see in more detail what these features in the only untouched Mesolithic landscape in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site contain. There is also evidence of feasting – burnt flints and remains of giant bulls – aurochs – eaten by early hunter gatherers, as well as tools. A previous dig at the site, led by the University of Buckingham, revealed Amesbury is the longest continually-occupied place in the country and that burnt frogs’ legs from 7,000 years ago were a delicacy here long before the French took a liking to them. Archaeologists believe that early Britons were drawn to the site because of a natural spring. A The combination of a water of a constant temperature and a rare alga also produced the only colour-changing stones, which change from brown to pink, found at any archaeological site in the country. But archaeologist David Jaques, who made the discovery of the encampment, said: “The prime minister is interested in re-election in 140 days – we are interested in discovering how our ancestors lived six thousand years ago.” He added: “Blick Mead could explain what archaeologists have been searching for for centuries – an answer to the story of Stonehenge’s past. “British pre-History may have to be rewritten. This is the latest dated Mesolithic encampment ever found in the UK. A shard of bone found at the site “Blick Mead site connects the early hunter gatherer groups returning to Britain after the Ice Age to the Stonehenge area all the way through to the Neolithic in the late 5th Millennium BC. “Britain is beginning across this time period. Blick Mead connects a time when the country was still joined to the mainland to it becoming the British Isles for the first time.” The experts believe that the site could show the Stonehenge was built as a monument to the ancestors of Neolithic Britons. But our only chance to find out about the earliest chapter of Britain’s history could be wrecked if the tunnel goes ahead.” Professor Tim Darvill, of Bournemouth University has described this as “This is the most important discovery at Stonehenge in over 60 years.” Andy Rhind-Tutt, of Amesbury and chairman of the Amesbury Museum and Heritage Trust, added: “Traffic congestion to one of the country’s most visited attractions will not be solved by a tunnel with one exit lane – the current tailback can extend five miles and can take two hours to get through. “Any tunnel would need to be motorway standard, and even with four lanes there would still be tailbacks. A much more practical solution would be to reroute the A303 supporting South Wiltshire as well as the West Country.” What we already know about how and when Stonehenge came to be built is examined in a new Stonehenge MOOC, launched today(Friday) and run by the University of Buckingham.

– Researchers are exploring a settlement near Stonehenge dating to about 4000 BC, making it the area's oldest, the Telegraph reports. The Blick Mead encampment, as it's known, is from the Mesolithic period and was likely home to hunter-gatherers who headed to the spot before Britain became an island. It's the "latest dated Mesolithic encampment ever found in the UK," says archaeologist David Jacques, and findings, including apparent structures and evidence of feasting, mean that "British pre-history may have to be rewritten." Another expert calls the encampment Stonehenge's greatest revelation in 60 years. "Was Stonehenge built in part as a monument to the ancestors from the deepest part of Britain’s past?" Jacques wonders, per Heritage Daily. "Blick Mead could explain what archaeologists have been searching for for centuries": the real story behind the site. But the encampment is already in trouble—from plans for a highway that's actually intended to make Stonehenge a nicer place to visit. A nearly two-mile tunnel aims to reduce a traffic bottleneck in the area, the Guardian reports. But it could also obscure history. Prime minister David Cameron, who announced the plans, "is interested in re-election in 140 days; we are interested in discovering how our ancestors lived 6,000 years ago," says Jacques. The site "connects the early hunter-gatherer groups returning to Britain after the Ice Age to the Stonehenge area all the way through to the Neolithic in the late fifth millennium BC," he notes, and "our only chance to find out about the earliest chapter of Britain’s history could be wrecked if the tunnel goes ahead." Recent reports also pointed to a "super henge" underneath the stones.

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. -- A middle school is under fire for its reaction to a violent brawl between a teacher and a staff member inside a classroom that was caught on video by a student. CBS affiliate WGCL-TV reports the fight broke out on May 19 at Stone Mountain Middle School, northeast of downtown Atlanta. WGCL obtained video of the dramatic incident, which shows two women punching each other and pulling each other's hair while students scream for them to stop. WGCL reports one woman is a teacher and the other is a teaching assistant. "From what I think I know the teachers were arguing about a teacher, a male teacher, and they started arguing and it went on for about three to five minutes," one student told WGCL. Close WGCL-TV The fight was eventually broken up by another adult. Students told WGCL that officials came into the classroom after the incident and forced them to delete any evidence of the brawl on their cell phones. "Nobody apologized. They just came in and were like, 'Who videotaped this?' and stuff like that," one student said. "I think they were trying to push it under the rug so nobody would know about it and the school's reputation wouldn't be messed up." The DeKalb County School District (DCSD) told WGCL it was not aware of school officials examining students' phones. After WGCL sent the video to DCSD's communications director, the district issued a statement saying the staff members involved in the fight would be disciplined. "Those staff members that participated in the conduct have been removed from the learning environment," the statement read. "Following our process, DCSD will act swiftly and decisively to hold those employees accountable for their actions." Dr. Vincent Hinton, principal of Stone Mountain Middle School, eventually sent a letter home to parents about the confrontation. "Safety and security procedures are in place to help maintain a safe campus," Hinton wrote. "Anyone who creates an unsafe learning environment for our students receive swift disciplinary actions." Julia Berry, whose daughter was in the classroom at the time of the fight, told WGCL she wants the teacher and the assistant fired. Berry said failure to fire those responsible would send a message that "it's OK to fight if you can't deal with a problem. This is how you deal with it -- you punch the teacher in the face."

– A brawl broke out in a middle school classroom in Georgia last week—not between students, but between a teacher and a staff member. Students say the two women were arguing about a male teacher for a few minutes before things got physical. "Everyone was screaming like stop, stop, stop," one Stone Mountain Middle School student tells CBS 46, which obtained video of the fight from a student's cell phone; the women—one of whom was reportedly a teacher's assistant, per CBS News—are seen punching and pulling hair. Parents are now speaking out about the May 19 incident, calling for the employees to be fired and criticizing the school for how it handled the aftermath. Students say another adult ultimately broke up the fight, and then school officials entered the classrooms and went through students' cell phones, forcing them to delete any recordings of the fight. "Nobody apologized," one student says. "I think they were trying to push it under the rug so nobody would know about it." Parents say no letter was sent home about the incident until CBS 46 started questioning the school district. The district says it isn't aware of staff going through student phones and that the employees involved "have been removed from the learning environment." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that they have also been charged with disorderly conduct.

ONTARIO (KTLA) -- A college student who overstepped a safety railing fell into Niagara Falls over the weekend and searchers looking for her body on Monday found an unidentified male body instead.The 19-year-old international student from Japan was presumed drowned after she plunged into the fast-flowing waters near the brink of Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side of the falls at about 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, according to Canadian park police.She had climbed over a railing and straddled it while enjoying the view with a friend, police said. "The young woman stood up in what appeared to be an attempt to climb back over when she lost her balance and fell," reads a statement from Canadian park police.The incident was reportedly captured on surveillance video.No foul play is suspected in the incident, police said.Officials say the swift current swept her over the falls.The woman's identity was withheld pending notification of her family in Japan.With a helicopter hovering above, an international search party scoured Niagara Falls Gorge for her body. On Monday, she remained missing but searchers instead spotted an unidentified male body at the base of the falls in an area known as the whirlpool, police said.Authorities were working with the coroner's office to identify the body, which was not thought to be connected to Sunday's accident.

– An odd footnote to the sad tale of the 19-year-old student swept over Niagara Falls on Sunday. An international search team dispatched in a helicopter to look for her body in Niagara Falls Gorge instead turned up the body of an unknown male. Authorities are working to identify him, reports KTLA. Meanwhile, more details are emerging about the tragic weekend incident: The woman, presumed drowned, was an international student from Japan. The Toronto Star talks to a witness who saw her posing on the railing for a photo moments before she fell, wearing a bright red sweatshirt and holding an umbrella. The paper notes that earlier the same day, a 27-year-old man scaled a safety wall and tumbled into Niagara River Gorge; he and a friend who went in to save him were rescued, though the man fractured his leg.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video PAYSON, Utah - A mother unexpectedly gave birth in Walmart while shopping with her family Sunday morning. “In about 15 minutes we went from having a little bit of stomach problem to delivering a baby,” said Dustin Haight, store manager at Payson Walmart. Employees at Walmart say register 11 will never be the same. “I think we’ve renamed it register baby - so whenever we call for help on register 11 it will be now register baby,” Haight said. Employees say a woman was shopping with her husband and family on Sunday morning, when she told a manager she wasn't feeling well. She went to register 11 to pay for her items while that manager called 911 and told the woman not to worry about paying. They could tell she was in labor. “The funny thing is that the customer was down on her knees and she insisted on paying for her merchandise and we’re like you know that’s just not important. You know, we were going to take care of her on it,” Haight said. “…Literally right after she paid for her merchandise, they rolled her over and she began to give birth,” Haight said. Walmart employees and customers helped. They grabbed towels and blankets. Some also held up sheets as the woman delivered a baby boy. “By the time the EMTs got here she had paid for her merchandise and had a baby,” Haight said. One of the responding EMTs said he’s never seen anything like it. After 20 years of working in the field, Terry Reilly, assistant chief with Payson Fire Rescue, said he’s never seen a baby born in such a public place. “She was very calm she did very well -- it was her third child so she had experienced childbirth before so I don’t think she was as nervous about it other than it was at Walmart,” Reilly said. He added everyone at the store did a good job. Mom and baby were taken to the hospital in good condition. “We’re happy for mom and for baby and the whole family… I’m sure they’ll have quite the story to tell someday,” Reilly said. Walmart has been in contact with the mother and they say they’re happy to report mom and baby are doing well. “So we’re gonna buy her a whole bunch of goods like diapers and formula, that type stuff when the mother comes in so, and this time we won’t make her pay,” Haight said.

– Paper, plastic, or diaper bag? A woman shopping Sunday morning at a Walmart in Payson, Utah, surprised workers and customers when she approached Register 11, dropped to her knees, clutched her stomach, and … pulled out her wallet. She was in labor, ABC News reports, but she insisted on paying for her items first before she took care of her next transaction: having the baby right there in the store. "We weren't really interested in taking her money at [that] point, but she insisted," says Walmart manager Dustin Haight, who KSTU notes called 911 and implored her not to worry about the tab. "It wasn't like she was like, 'OK, let's get this baby out and [then] I'll pay.' She paid and then had the baby." As soon as the woman, identified as Cecelia Rivas by the Daily Herald, had paid up, employees and customers sprang into action, with some hunting down towels and blankets while others held sheets up to give her privacy. "By the time the EMTs got here, she had … a baby [boy]," Haight tells KSTU. "She was very calm," an assistant chief from the local fire department adds. "It was her third child … so I don't think she was as nervous about it other than it was at Walmart." Rivas admits she actually was "really scared," though she tells the Herald as soon as she saw her new son, "I was so happy." A spokesman for the hospital where Rivas and baby Matias were taken says they're both "doing well," per ABC. And Haight is counting on a new repeat customer. "Hopefully we'll be part of his life forever," he tells ABC. (A text-messaging conversation about this Walmart shopping trip went viral.)

MIAMI - The Coast Guard is searching for a woman who reportedly went overboard Wednesday from the Carnival Ecstasy cruise ship approximately 27 miles southwest of Freeport, Bahamas. Missing is Rina Patel, 32, from Interlaken, New York. Watchstanders with the 7th Coast Guard District command center received notification from the Carnival Ecstasy crew that a 32-year-old woman was reportedly seen going overboard at approximately 2:30 a.m. Wednesday from the 11th deck wearing a white dress with pink floral. A Coast Guard Air Station Miami MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew, an Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane crew and the Coast Guard Cutter Gannet crew are assisting in the search. The Carnival Ecstasy's last port of call was in Nassau, Bahamas on Tuesday. Their next port of call is scheduled to be in Charleston, South Carolina on Thursday. For breaking news follow us on Twitter @USCGSoutheast

– A 32-year-old woman "was witnessed jumping overboard" from the 11th deck of a Carnival cruise ship before dawn Wednesday, the cruise line says in a statement to CBS News. The Ecstasy was about 15 miles off the coast of the island of Grand Bahama at the time, and the US Coast Guard is now searching for the passenger in the Bahamas. The ship had left the Bahamas on its way to Charleston, South Carolina, when the woman jumped around 2:30am, and the Coast Guard allowed it to continue heading to Charleston at 9am. No other details about the woman were released, but she apparently has family aboard the ship.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption German Chancellor Angela Merkel says reform plans must continue in Greece Greek conservative Antonis Samaras has three days to form a coalition, faced with EU warnings to keep to the tough terms of international bailouts. Two-thirds of Greek voters backed parties opposed to the EU/IMF deal, renewing fears that Athens may default on its debts and leave the eurozone. Germany's Angela Merkel has made clear that Greece's reforms must go on. But her focus on austerity has taken a knock with the election in France of pro-growth Socialist Francois Hollande. Mr Hollande campaigned on a platform of renegotiating the terms of the EU fiscal pact to concentrate more on reviving economic prosperity than simply reducing budget deficits. 'Utmost importance' Analysis New Democracy will try to form an austerity-supporting pro-European coalition government, perhaps with a third party, because it would not gain enough with Pasok to form an absolute majority. But the anti-bailout party Syriza will also try to form an alternative coalition government. There could be a clash of the two - we could be facing fresh elections within weeks. This country is now placed into a period of intense political instability - and by extension the eurozone as a whole. A majority of Greeks have voted against the bailout and against the austerity, which will make it very difficult for the EU or IMF to call for yet more austerity here. The success of the new-right Golden Dawn party indicates how comprehensive a rejection of the political mainstream, the bailout and austerity there has been. The stability and the future of Greece are now in doubt once again. That will bring a lot of dismay to the financial markets and to the eurozone as a whole. Mrs Merkel said she would meet France's next president next week "with open arms" but told a news conference that "we in Germany are of the opinion, and so am I personally, that the fiscal pact is not negotiable". The German chancellor added that the Greek debt reforms were of "utmost importance". That message was underlined by European Commission spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, who said Brussels "hopes and expects that the future government of Greece will respect the engagement that Greece has entered into". Any political instability in Greece may prompt fresh questions over the country's place in the eurozone. Under Greece's current bailout plan, a further 11bn euros of cuts in spending is due to be found next month. News of the Greek vote and the election of Francois Hollande sent the euro falling to its lowest level against the dollar since January. Shares on the Athens stock market tumbled, with the Athex index sliding more than 7% in morning trading. Political revolution Although a protest vote against the stringent austerity measures enforced on Greeks had been widely expected, in the event the two main parties that had agreed the bailout terms, New Democracy (ND) and socialist Pasok, attracted less than a third of the vote. For Greece, it amounts to a political revolution as the country has been run by either one party or the other since the 1970s. Since November, they have been in a coalition, led by technocrat Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, which secured this year's 130bn euro deal. Pasok was also in power when Greece negotiated the terms of its 2010 bailout of 110bn euros (£88bn; $143bn). New Democracy's support on Sunday slipped from 33.5% to less than 19% of the vote while Pasok's share plummeted from 43% to just over 13%. A radical left coalition, Syriza, came second, in front of Pasok, with 16.8% and a party of ultra-nationalists - Golden Dawn - polled almost 7%. Having polled the most votes, ND leader Antonis Samaras has begun talks to try to convince other parties to join a new coalition, but only Pasok are so far thought likely to show interest. Pasok's leader and former Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos has called for a broad coalition government of pro-European parties. "A coalition government of the old two-party system would not have sufficient legitimacy or sufficient domestic and international credibility if it would gather a slim majority," he said. 'Tragedy' Allowed only three days to seek a deal by President Karolos Papoulias, the centre-right leader has pledged to keep the country in the euro, although he has promised to try to amend the bailout terms in order to boost growth. His first meeting with Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras, the runner-up in the election, came to nothing. Mr Tsipras, speaking on Greek TV, said the bailout deal was a "tragedy", and he held out the possibility of a coalition involving "the forces of the left". He has already described the parties that signed the EU/IMF bailout as "de-legitimised" by the public. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Greek voters voice their concerns over the instability in the country Mr Samaras went on to have talks with Pasok's Evangelos Venizelos. He is also due to talk to Fotis Kouvelis from Democratic Left, who has already made clear his objection to a coalition agreement with Mr Samaras. In fourth place were the new right-wing Independent Greeks with 10%. Their leader, Panos Kammenos, has already ruled out co-operation with either Pasok or New Democracy, Athens News reported. The extremist Golden Dawn party is on course for at least 20 seats in parliament. "It is time for those that betray [Greece] to be afraid," its leader Nikolaos Mihaloliakos warned. "We are coming. We are Greeks, nationalists, and we will allow no one to doubt this." Deal in doubt If Mr Samaras fails to reach a coalition deal, the party in second place, Syriza, can try to form a coalition, and if still unsuccessful, the third party will receive the mandate. If still no coalition emerges, Greece will hold another election - a prospect which would alarm the country's international creditors. The ability of any new government to carry on with the austerity programme will be crucial for Greece's continued access to bailout funds from the EU, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund - the so-called troika.

– A long period of instability looms for Greece after voters furious about tough austerity measures gave the two governing parties a hammering at the polls and boosted extremists at both ends of the political spectrum. The Coalition of the Radical Left, which opposes the terms of Greece's bailout, surged to second place with around 17% of the vote while the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, which ran on an anti-immigration platform, is poised to enter Parliament for the first time after taking around 7% of the vote, reports the BBC. New Democracy and Pasok, the center-right and center-left parties that had governed in a coalition since last November, saw their support collapse. New Democracy took 19%, down from 33.5% in 2009, and its leader says he aims to form a "government of national salvation." The parties have three days to form a governing coalition but analysts say that Parliament is now so fragmented that a deal may be impossible and new elections will be required. "We are talking about a complete collapse of the party system as we have known it, which opens up new concerns about Greece's ability to govern itself," a professor of political science in Athens tells the Guardian.

Hustler publisher Larry Flynt took out a full-page ad in Sunday's Washington Post. (Katy Winn/Associated Press) Larry Flynt’s ad in the Sunday edition of The Washington Post is hard to miss. For one, it takes up a full page. And there are no pictures — just bold, all-caps text dominating the top third of the page: “$10 MILLION FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO THE IMPEACHMENT AND REMOVAL FROM OFFICE OF DONALD J. TRUMP.” Flynt, best known as the publisher of the pornographic magazine Hustler, outlined numerous reasons he felt President Trump needed to be removed from office, charging him with everything from “compromising domestic and foreign policy with his massive conflicts-of-interest global business empire” to “telling hundreds of bald-faced lies” to “gross nepotism and appointment of unqualified persons to high office.” That was why, Flynt wrote, he was seeking information from anyone who could provide a “smoking gun” — perhaps buried in Trump's tax returns or in some other investment records — that would lead to his impeachment. “Did he make some financial quid pro quo with the Russians?” the ad states. “Has the business of the United States been compromised to protect the business of the Trump empire? We need to flush everything out into the open.” An advertisement Larry Flynt placed in the Sunday October 15, 2017 edition of The Washington Post. (click to enlarge) At the end of the ad, there is a toll-free number and an email address, along with a reassurance that Flynt fully intends to pay the full sum of $10 million for good information. “Impeachment would be a messy, contentious affair, but the alternative — three more years of destabilizing dysfunction — is worse,” Flynt wrote. “ . . . I feel it is my patriotic duty, and the duty of all Americans, to dump Trump before it’s too late.” Kris Coratti, a spokeswoman for The Post, declined to say how much a full-page ad costs or how far in advance one would have to notify the newspaper to run such an ad in a Sunday edition. “We give advertisers wide latitude to have their say,” Coratti said. “Generally, if the ads are not illegal or advocating illegal actions, we try not to place limits on speech or content.” On Saturday afternoon during a call to the hotline listed in the ad a man told The Post the number would be staffed on weekdays, between 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. PT, for the next two weeks. The man declined to give his name but said he was not Flynt. In a subsequent phone interview, Flynt told The Post that he expected to get information “within a few days” and said he would release any legitimate information right away. He also defended offering a cash reward for information. “Just because you pay for it does not mean it’s not any good,” Flynt said. “I don’t think you can live as recklessly as Trump has for 30 years and not leave some baggage along the way . . . I can't think of something more patriotic to do than to try to get to get this moron out of office.” It’s not the first time Flynt, who endorsed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in last year’s presidential race, has offered a monetary reward with the aim of taking down a politician. In 2007, he offered $1 million, also through a full-page ad in The Post, seeking evidence from anyone who had had an illicit sexual encounter with a member of Congress or other government official. He had done the same in 1998, and the information that emerged reportedly influenced the resignation of Republican Congressman Bob Livingston, who was in line to be speaker of the House. In 2012, Flynt again dangled a $1 million reward in public, this time for then-Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s tax returns. Read more: Five reasons the GOP won’t dump Trump I’m one of the Central Park Five. Donald Trump won’t leave me alone. Angered by gun control, this lawmaker drafted a bill to require licenses for journalists Score one for Kellyanne Conway. The New York Times plans to toughen its Twitter policy.

– Pornography publisher Larry Flynt has apparently had it with the current administration and is offering "up to $10 million" to anyone who produces information that leads to President Trump's impeachment and removal from office, reports the AP. He lays out the offer in a full-page ad in the Sunday edition of the Washington Post. During last year's presidential campaign, Flynt dangled $1 million to anyone who could turn over video or audio capturing Trump behaving in an illegal or sexually demeaning manner. That followed the release of the 2005 Access Hollywood video in which Trump bragged of sexually assaulting women. The ad, notes the Post itself, is less than subtle and hard to miss, reading at the top third of the page: "$10 MILLION FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO THE IMPEACHMENT AND REMOVAL FROM OFFICE OF DONALD J. TRUMP." The fine print details Trump's alleged offenses as ranging from "compromising domestic and foreign policy with his massive conflicts-of-interest global business empire" to "telling hundreds of bald-faced lies" and "gross nepotism and appointment of unqualified persons to high office." The White House didn't comment.

JIM SLOTEK | QMI AGENCY For The Simpsons, the 21st century began with the death of Maud Flanders. Now after 14 years, the producers intend to kill off another regular character. Executive producer Al Jean admitted as much in a recent phone conference with the press, promoting Sunday's 25th season debut of The Simpsons. "I'll give you a clue that the actor playing the character won an Emmy for playing that character, but I won't say who it is," Jean said cagily. In fact, virtually all the major characters have been rewarded with an Emmy over the years. He was much more forthcoming about the season premiere, Homerland, a spoof of, yes, Homeland. In it, Lisa believes that Homer has been "turned" by terrorists for his access to nuclear secrets at the Springfield plant. Fittingly enough, Homeland's third season premiere and the Simpsons spoof air on the same Sunday night. "It was a complete accident," Jean says of the timing. "But we're very friendly. The producers at Homeland have offices that are literally 100 feet away. They were really helpful with DVDs. Our composer, Alf Clausen, talked to their composer, Sean Callery about how they do that show." Among other revelations about the upcoming season: -Guillermo del Toro is contributing the opening to the annual Treehouse of Terror episode, which airs Oct. 6. "I would say - and I've met some people who like scary things - he is the greatest expert on horror movies that I have ever encountered. There are so many references in that opening, it's really brilliant." -The season finale will be a Simpsons/Futurama cross-over episode, which has already had a table-read. "I've been here 25 years, and we had a read yesterday where the excitement was as high as I've ever seen. We had John DiMaggio and Billy West and (Canadian voice-over king) Maurice LaMarche from Futurama, as well as our cast, and I thought that's got to be the greatest voiceover talent assembled at one read. It was really, really great to see Bender interacting with Homer." -The Comic Book Guy gets married. "The wedding is performed by Stan Lee. We have Stan Lee playing himself and (sci-fi legend) Harlan Ellison playing himself in that episode. What was funny was that they both wanted to be funnier than the other. It was really exciting for me, as a nerd." -Celeb voices in Season 25 include Kristen Wiig (in the opener), Zach Galifianakis and Elisabeth Moss. "In that (Elisabeth Moss) episode, Homer is stuck on an elevator with a pregnant woman and delivers her baby. She's grateful and she doesn't have a husband, so she names the baby Homer Jr. And Homer actually bonds with the baby better than his own (children)." -Still unfulfilled from the producers' wishlist - a U.S. president (though they did once use a recording of Teddy Roosevelt's voice). "We approached Nixon - no. This was back at the beginning of the show. Gerald Ford? Jimmy Carter - we actually did a joke about him being reviled as history's greatest monster, which he saw before we sent him the script. So he said no. Reagan said no, but wrote us a nice letter. The first Bush said no. Clinton we approached really hard and he said ... it would demean the presidency. So we gave up."

– The Simpsons began its 25th season on Sunday, and it will end said season one character light. Producer Al Jean revealed in a conference call with reporters that a well-known character will meet his or her demise this season, reports the Sun News. "I'll give you a clue that the actor playing the character won an Emmy for playing that character, but I won't say who it is," said Jean. That happens to be the world's worst clue, explains the LA Times, because just about everyone on the show has scored an Emmy at this point. That covers not only only the regulars—voice actors Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, and Yeardley Smith—but also Anne Hathaway for Princess Penelope and Kelsey Grammer for Sideshow Bob. (Click to read about how the show's writers cram it full of obscure math jokes.)

According to The Daily Beast, this is not the first time Christie defended those who do not want to vaccinate their kids. “You need an effective negotiator at the top, and, as I’ve said before, I think the president has shown over and over again that he’s not the most effective negotiator, whether you’re talking about the Iranian nuclear talks or whether you’re talking about his recent foray into Cuba,” Christie said. But the likely Republican presidential candidate added: “I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in things as well, so that’s the balance that the government has to decide.” Christie’s initial comments came after a laboratory tour at MedImmune, a biologics company that makes vaccines in Cambridge. There is every reason to get vaccinated, but there aren’t reasons to not.” Christie, however, said, “There has to be a balance and it depends on what the vaccine is, what the disease type is, and all the rest.” He added, “Not every vaccine is created equal and not every disease type is as great a public health threat as others.” [Amid growing vaccination debate, measles continues to spread and is now in New York state] Christie also took the unusual step of criticizing the president on foreign soil, saying Obama had been a poor negotiator, specifically regarding the TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Chris Christie walked back comments he made here Monday morning calling for "balance" on the measles vaccine debate to allow for parental choice, asserting that "there is no question kids should be vaccinated." At the same time different states require different degrees of vaccination, which is why he was calling for balance in which ones government should mandate.” Asked to confirm whether Christie believes it’s possible that vaccines cause autism, his office did not respond.

– NJ Gov. Chris Christie is now pulling back on statements he made earlier today—in response to the recent measles outbreak—that parents should have a "choice" whether to get their kids vaccinated. "The Governor believes vaccines are an important public health protection, and with a disease like measles there is no question kids should be vaccinated," a statement from his office read this morning, as per the Washington Post. But the outrage from his call for "balance" had already been incited, as evidenced by the following reactions: At the Daily Beast, Olivia Nuzzi says statements like the ones Christie originally made today keep him "on the good side of the anti-vaccination crowd"—extra support that may come in handy if he runs for president next year—and reminds readers of a letter he wrote during his gubernatorial run in 2009 that seemed to acknowledge a link between autism and vaccines. As Sam Biddle writes on Gawker, Christie believed "public health [trumped] individual discomfort" in the case of Kaci Hickox, the nurse he involuntarily quarantined as a precaution against Ebola. "Except in the case of the Ebola nurse, it was unfounded and unscientific," Biddle notes. "If only Christie could take his 'I'm the boss, f---in' deal with it' stance against paranoid, negligent anti-vaxx parents, instead of a nurse with a fever." Some of the strongest criticism against Christie comes from Kelly Faircloth at Jezebel, who calls him an "IRRESPONSIBLE, PANDERING S---HEAD" (all-caps hers) and writes, "I guess he's only worried about scary African diseases, not good old-fashioned American diseases like measles." Faircloth adds, "Your average ancestor circa 1810 would probably rip every hair out of your head if she thought you were seriously considering turning your back on an invention that renders a great scourge powerless." Other heated responses, as per Business Insider, include GOP media guru's Rick Wilson's Twitter feed this morning (in which he calls Christie "wildly irresponsible," among other things), as well as that of Taegan Goddard of Political Wire, who posted, "Wow, I'm getting really sick of politicians who deny basic science." Former CNN news reporter Campbell Brown kept her tweet short and sweet: "Insane. Christie is done."

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — North Korea says the unprecedented deployment of three U.S. aircraft carrier groups "taking up a strike posture" around the Korean peninsula is making it impossible to predict when nuclear war will break out. North Korea's U.N. Ambassador Ja Song Nam said in a letter to Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres Monday that the joint military exercises are creating "the worst ever situation" around the peninsula. He also said the U.S. has reactivated round-the-clock sorties with nuclear-capable B-52 strategic bombers "which existed during the Cold War times." Ja said "the large-scale nuclear war exercises and blackmails, which the U.S. staged for a whole year without a break ... make one conclude that the option we have taken was the right one and we should go along the way to the last."

– North Korea says the unprecedented deployment of three US aircraft carrier groups "taking up a strike posture" around the Korean peninsula is making it impossible to predict when nuclear war will break out, the AP reports. North Korea's UN ambassador, Ja Song Nam, said in a letter to Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres Monday that the joint military exercises are creating "the worst ever situation" around the peninsula. He also said the US has reactivated round-the-clock sorties with nuclear-capable B-52 strategic bombers "which existed during the Cold War times." Ja said the "large-scale nuclear war exercises and blackmails, which the US staged for a whole year without a break ... make one conclude that the option we have taken was the right one and we should go along the way to the last." The three aircraft carrier groups have been taking part in a joint exercise with South Korea while Donald Trump visits Asia, Reuters reports. The last time so many carrier groups exercised together in the western Pacific was 2007. The North Korean letter came a day after Trump tweeted that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had insulted the American president by calling him "old."

North Korea is building a missile that is even bigger than the long-range missile it is preparing to launch this month, sources claimed Monday. South Korean and U.S. officials believe the North will unveil the missile at a military parade on April 15, nation founder Kim Il-sung's centenary, or on April 25, which marks the founding day of the North's Army. A government source here said U.S. reconnaissance satellites recently spotted a 40-m missile at a research and development facility in Pyongyang that is larger than the existing Taepodong-2 missile. "It remains uncertain whether this missile is functional or is just a life-sized mock-up," the official added. The rocket North Korea is preparing to launch soon is apparently 32 m long, the same as the Taepodong-2 that was launched in April 2009 with a maximum range of 6,700 km. The new missile is believed to be larger and equipped with a bigger booster that gives it a maximum range of more than 10,000 km, making it capable of reaching the continental U.S.

– North Korea is working on a rocket so big that it makes the long-range Taepodong-2 missile it's preparing to test-launch look modest, South Korean government sources tell the Chosun Ilbo. Based on satellite images, they've determined that the North is working on a missile with a booster so large that it could fire more than 6,200 miles, meaning it would be capable of reaching the continental US. The officials aren't sure if the missile is functional, or "a life-sized mockup," but they suspect it will be unveiled either during a military parade on April 15, or during the army's April 25 centennial celebration. The North has around 10,000 missile experts with "considerable research skills," a source said in a separate report, and has spent some $3.1 billion on developing long-range ballistic missiles so far. For reference, South Korea has about 3,000 rocket experts total between the public and private sectors.

Officials have identified the woman found trapped in an overturned Hummer in near Adelanto as Ridgecrest resident Barbara McPheron. McPheron, 69, was rescued after an hourlong operation to extricate her from the vehicle after it apparently rolled down a hill on Torosa Road Saturday, according to the San Bernardino County Fire Department. She had been missing for five days from her home in Ridgecrest. McPheron is currently being treated at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center and is in serious condition but expected to recover from her injuries. It appears she had been trapped in the vehicle nearly a week. McPheron was reported missing under suspicious circumstances on Oct. 23 around 12:50 p.m. after she used the OnStar in her Hummer H3 to call 911, according to a press release from the Ridgecrest Police Department. The agency said it received a 911 call transferred from the Kern County Sheriff’s Department regarding McPheron stating “ditch on Highway 395, Stater Bros. and Kashmir Street.” The areas indicated were searched but McPherson was not found, police said. Sheriff’s deputies also conducted an air search on Highway 395 and the China Lake Police Department searched from Highway 178 to Trona. She was rescued around 6 p.m. Saturday after the San Bernardino County Fire Department received a call about an overturned vehicle. 34.582770 -117.409215

– A woman who'd been reported missing five days earlier was found alive Saturday, trapped inside a Hummer that had crashed in the Mojave Desert. San Bernadino County Fire reports on Facebook that search and rescue teams had to use off-road vehicles to reach the SUV, which had rolled down a slope in a desert area. They stabilized the Hummer to prevent it from rolling further and were able to free the woman, who was flown to a medical center with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. The woman is being identified as 69-year-old Barbara McPheron, reports KTLA. The circumstances under which she disappeared remain unclear. ABC 7 reports that the Ridgecrest Police Department in Kern County, roughly 80 miles north, say that McPheron was reported missing on Oct. 23, when she used the OnStar feature on her red 2007 Hummer to reach 911. A search at the time failed to turn up McPheron. (A rescuer ended up suing a woman he helped pull from a burning Hummer.)

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday hammered California for its so-called sanctuary immigration policies, in what appeared to be his latest push to embolden his base leading into the midterm elections. (May 15) AP President Trump speaks during a meeting with California leaders and public officials who oppose California's sanctuary policies in the Cabinet Room of the White House Wednesday. He referred to some who cross the border illegally as "animals," not people. He claimed those laws are forcing "the release of illegal immigrant criminals, drug dealers, gang members and violent predators into your communities" and providing "safe harbor to some of the most vicious and violent offenders on earth." As the debate over immigration heats up on Capitol Hill, Trump surrounded himself with mayors, sheriffs and other local leaders from California who oppose the state's immigration policies and who applauded his administration's hard-line efforts. During Wednesday's session, Trump thanked the officials, saying they had "bravely resisted California's deadly and unconstitutional sanctuary state laws." The discussion also comes as the Trump administration is under fire for a new policy that is expected to increase the number of children separated from their parents when families cross the border illegally. "I know what you're going through right now with families is very tough," he told Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, "but those are the bad laws that the Democrats gave us. We have to break up families ... because of the Democrats. But no law "the Democrats gave us" mandates the separation of children from their parents at the border.

– "These aren't people. These are animals." It was a reference to some undocumented immigrants made Wednesday by President Trump during an hour-long meeting at the White House that USA Today characterized as studded with "extraordinarily harsh rhetoric" from the president. He was meeting with California leaders who are also against the state's so-called "sanctuary city" immigration policies, and that statement came after one of them made a reference to suspected gang members. The AP framed Trump's comments as his "latest push to embolden his base leading into the midterm elections." Trump described those present as having "bravely resisted California's deadly and unconstitutional sanctuary state laws," which are providing "safe harbor to some of the most vicious and violent offenders on Earth." The comments garnered a response from Gov. Jerry Brown, who tweeted Trump "is lying on immigration, lying about crime and lying about the laws of CA." USA Today notes Trump also called upon Jeff Sessions to investigate Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf for "obstruction of justice" over her February move and swung at Mexico for what he described as its inaction at stopping the entry of people into the US. "Mexico does nothing for us, they do nothing for us. Mexico talks, but they do nothing for us, especially at the border." (The Justice Department has sued California over laws that provide protection to undocumented immigrants.)

BERLIN (AP) — For 70 years since the Nazi defeat in World War II, copyright law has been used in Germany to prohibit the publication of "Mein Kampf" — the notorious anti-Semitic tome in which Adolf Hitler set out his ideology. FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2015, file photo, different editions of Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" are on display at the Institute for Contemporary History in Munich. For 70 years since the Nazi defeat in World... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2015, file photo, a 1939-edition, right, and different other editions of Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" are on display at the Institute for Contemporary History in Munich. For 70... (Associated Press) That will change next month when a new edition with critical commentary, the product of several years' work by a publicly funded institute, hits the shelves. While historians say it could help fill a gap in Germans' knowledge of the era, Jewish groups are wary and German authorities are making it clear that they still won't tolerate any new "Mein Kampf" without annotations. Under German law, a copyright expires at the end of the year 70 years after an author's death — in this case, Hitler's April 30, 1945, suicide in a Berlin bunker as the Soviet army closed in. That means Bavaria's state finance ministry, which holds the copyright, can no longer use it to prevent the work's publication beyond Dec. 31. The book has been published in several other countries; in the U.S., for example, Bavaria never controlled the copyright. In Germany, many argue that holding back "Mein Kampf" merely created mystique around the book. The idea of at least a partial version with critical commentary for the German market dates back as far as the late 1960s. The Munich-based Institute for Contemporary History, which is behind the new version, sought and was denied permission to produce the book in the mid-1990s when it published a volume of Hitler's speeches. Hitler wrote "Mein Kampf" — or "My Struggle" — after he was jailed following the failed 1923 coup attempt known as the Beer Hall Putsch. Millions of copies were printed after the Nazis took power in 1933. The rambling tome set out Hitler's ultranationalist, anti-Semitic and anti-communist ideology for his National Socialist German Workers Party, or Nazi party, airing the idea of a war of conquest in eastern Europe. "The book should not be underestimated as a historical source and also as a key to understanding the history of National Socialism," the director of the Munich institute, Andreas Wirsching, said ahead of the new edition's mid-January publication. "Among serious historians in Germany, you won't find one who is against a commented edition and hasn't been calling for one for years," said Sven Felix Kellerhoff, a journalist with the daily Die Welt and a historian who has written about "Mein Kampf" himself. "That goes from conservatives to the left." Jewish opinion varies. The head of Germany's Central Council of Jews, Josef Schuster, says that knowledge of "Mein Kampf" is important in explaining Nazism and the Holocaust — so "we do not object to a critical edition, contrasting Hitler's racial theories with scientific findings, to be at the disposal of research and teaching." One of his predecessors is more critical. Charlotte Knobloch, a Holocaust survivor who heads Munich's Jewish community, says she trusts the expertise of the institute's researchers but doubts that the new edition will achieve its aim of "demystifying and taking apart 'Mein Kampf.'" It is likely to awaken interest "not in the commentary, but the original — and that remains highly dangerous," Knobloch said. "It could still have an impact because both of the core ideas are timeless: ultranationalism and racism." Given that "Mein Kampf" is already widely available in university libraries and on the internet, "we don't see a need to print more copies of it and thus ensure mass distribution, including of an annotated version," said Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress. The publishers say they understand the objections, while noting that the book is already freely available secondhand and online, not to mention in other languages, without annotations. Christian Hartmann, who led the team putting together the heavily annotated version, says that "we are linking Hitler's text and our commentary firmly together — we are practically encircling Hitler with our remarks." Hartmann said they have attempted "the most intensive examination and rebuttal that is possible" of "Mein Kampf." Amid disagreement over the annotated edition's merits, there is wide agreement that Hitler still shouldn't be left to speak uncontradicted. In mid-2014, Germany's federal and state justice ministers agreed that new editions without commentary should continue to be prevented after the copyright expires, likely using laws against incitement. It remains to be seen whether their resolve will be tested. There are currently no known plans to publish a Hitler-only "Mein Kampf" in Germany. After the end of World War II, the Allies turned over what remained of Hitler's assets — the Nazi leader was officially registered as living in Munich — to the Bavarian government. Those included the copyright of the German original of "Mein Kampf." Authorities in Munich subsequently ensured it wasn't republished, though there was no official ban on the book. That use of the copyright "of course had its reasons," Wirsching said. In the early years of West Germany, "there were any number of Hitler admirers; there wasn't just neo-Nazism, there was also old Nazism." But "this is a different generation, a different political culture, a solid political democracy that in my view can definitely withstand an edition with commentary." That Bavarian government took the same view when, in 2012, it said it would put 500,000 euros ($545,000) into backing the project and was even considering a version specifically aimed at students. But the following year, governor Horst Seehofer did an about-turn, arguing that supporting publication of "Mein Kampf" didn't fit with Bavaria's participation in a drive to have modern Germany's main far-right party banned. However, the Institute for Contemporary History insisted that it would go ahead, Bavarian officials then indicated that they wouldn't object, and the researchers didn't have to return the funding. The new edition of "Mein Kampf," which has expanded to nearly 2,000 pages with the Munich institute's commentary, roughly double the length of the original, doesn't appear likely to fly off the shelves. With a print run of up to 4,000 copies, it costs 59 euros ($64). There won't be an e-book, since the edition's layout can't be adapted to the format, but publishers are considering an online edition, perhaps in 2017. Any proceeds will go to charity, Wirsching said, but given the costs of dedicating historians to the task and producing the voluminous tome, he doesn't expect any. "In the end, I think this will be an entirely nonprofit enterprise," he said.

– Mein Kampf is coming back. The copyright on Hitler's "anti-Semitic manifesto" expires Friday, and with the book in the public domain, several publishers are planning new editions. The German state of Bavaria has held the copyright in Germany since 1945 and has forbidden the book from being republished. But there is much debate as to whether the new, annotated reprints are a good idea, AFP reports. A version will hit shelves in Germany on Jan. 8, and another is planned in France. And while some want a ban on the book's publication, others point out that it's already available in many places around the globe—and the Internet. (Bavaria, for example, never held the copyright for the book in the US, the AP explains.) Even a Jewish community leader who wants the book banned does not oppose a scholarly version of the book with annotations, and that's what will be out in Germany on Jan. 8. The aim of the $65, 2,000-page text is to "deconstruct and put into context Hitler's writing," and to provide counterarguments to his ideas. Germany's Education Minister thinks such a version should be studied in classrooms so that "Hitler's comments do not remain unchallenged" and students' questions are answered. But another Jewish community leader warns that, even though it is accompanied by commentary, the original text is contained in the annotated version, and "right wing militants" could attempt to spread Hitler's ideas. Others argue that it's the limits on publication up til now that have served to fuel the "mystique" surrounding the book.

Two women who were retrieved by the Navy after they were stranded in a damaged sailboat with their two dogs for five months have, at long last, stepped foot on land. Yet, as questions arise about their story, the two admitted Monday they had a functioning rescue beacon on board they did not use. Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava were taken to the White Base Naval Facility in southern Japan on Monday after the two were picked up by the Navy on October 25, adrift some 900 miles off the coast of Japan. The friends left their homes in Hawaii on May 3 for what was supposed to be about a month-long sailing trip to Tahiti in Appel’s sailing boat, the Sea Nymph, but the two quickly ran into trouble from a storm that flooded their engine, damaged their mast and cut off their communication systems. “The crew of the USS Ashland saved our lives,” Appel, 48, told press during a briefing on Monday, according to ABC News. “Had they not been able to locate us we would have been dead within 24 hours.” Koji Ueda/AP Appel, who is an experienced sailor, stocked up on a year’s worth of food for the trip in case of an emergency, living off a supply of pasta and oatmeal that was about 90 percent depleted by the time they were rescued. The two-woman crew sent out distress signals for 98 days but did not receive a response, and endured two separate attacks from groups of tiger sharks that rammed their boat. Sarah Villegas/U.S. Navy “When I saw the gray ship on the horizon, I was just shaking,” Fuiava told PEOPLE and other reporters during a conference call on Friday. “I was ready to cry. I was so happy. I knew we were going to live.” Yet, a Coast Guard spokeswoman told the AP that the women had an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) on board, which could have been used to alert search and rescue services via satellite at any point during their five-month journey. During a conference call with the AP and PEOPLE on Friday, Appel did not include an EPIRB when asked what communication devices she had on board. “We asked why during this course of time did they not activate the EPIRB. She had stated they never felt like they were truly in distress, like in a 24-hour period they were going to die,” Coast Guard spokeswoman Petty Officer 2nd Class Tara Molle said. Jonathan Clay/U.S. Navy Appel and Fuiava’s account has garnered much criticism from the boating community from the start. “I think most cruising sailors found the story just really odd,” Linus Wilson—an associate professor of finance at the University of Louisiana, who took up sailing in 2010 and has since logged more than 10,000 nautical miles—tells PEOPLE. “My initial thought when I heard the story was that Jennifer was very irresponsible for not checking the weather reports.” Appel says a Force 11 storm slammed into their boat within days of leaving Hawaii, but Wilson’s suspicions led him to research if any Force 11 storms—which can cause exceptionally high 30- to 50-foot waves and can dramatically reduce visibility—formed around Hawaii at the start of May. The NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) told him they have no record of a storm occurring at that time. PEOPLE followed up with the NOAA and confirmed this information. Wilson says he is worried their story may scare away people who are interested in sailing. “To have people afraid they’re going to be lost at sea, or that they’re going to be attacked by sharks, I think it’s a terrible picture for the sailboat cruising community,” he says. “Sailors who have been out on the water and have cruised long distances, their comments about the story are negative—there are so many holes in it that it just doesn’t make any sense.”

– The story of two women from Hawaii rescued after being lost at sea for five months is beginning to seem incredible—as in difficult to believe. After they were picked up by the USS Ashland 900 miles southeast of Japan last week, Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava said they faced storms and shark attacks and that there were times when they "absolutely" thought they would die. They didn't mention that they failed to use their Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, which would have immediately alerted rescuers to their location. A Coast Guard spokeswoman says the women claim they never used the emergency beacon because they never felt "truly in distress, like in a 24-hour period they were going to die." Multiple other inconsistencies in the account have surfaced, including some that conflict with the "basic geography of the Pacific Ocean," the AP reports. The women say they departed Hawaii bound for Tahiti on May 3 and ran into a fearsome Force 11 storm the same day that "lasted for two nights and three days," but the National Weather Service says there were no storm systems near Hawaii around that time. The women have said their mast and motor failed, along with multiple methods of communication, though the Coast Guard says it made radio contact with their sailboat, the Sea Nymph, near Tahiti in June and they said they weren't in distress. One long-distance sailor tells People that many sailors find the women's story odd, because "there are so many holes in it that it just doesn't make any sense." (The two women are now back on land.)

This image released by Boneau/Bryan-Brown shows a performance of "Mean Girls," in New York. The Tony Awards race is dominated by big established brands, including Disney's “Frozen,” J.K. Rowling's “Harry... (Associated Press) This image released by Boneau/Bryan-Brown shows a performance of "Mean Girls," in New York. The Tony Awards race is dominated by big established brands, including Disney's “Frozen,” J.K. Rowling's “Harry Potter” franchise, Tina Fey's “Mean Girls” and Nickelodeon's “SpongeBob SquarePants.” The nominations... (Associated Press) NEW YORK (AP) — Tina Fey's musical "Mean Girls," which she adapted from her much-beloved and oft-quoted 2004 high school comedy movie, and the goofy undersea adaptation from the cartoon "SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical" lead the Tony Award nominations with dozen nods each. A British revival of "Angels in America," Tony Kushner's monumental, two-part drama about AIDS, life and love during the 1980s, grabbed 11 nominations — the most for any play — 25 years after it first appeared on Broadway. The shimmering, grown-up musical "The Band's Visit" also earned 11 nods. J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" franchise extended its magical touch to Broadway, with a two-part stage play featuring the bespectacled wizard earning 10 nominations, as did a revival of "My Fair Lady." Best new musical category is filled by "The Band's Visit," ''Frozen," ''Mean Girls" and "SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical." Those musicals that failed to make the cut were the Hal Prince revue "Prince of Broadway," the Jimmy Buffet musical "Escape to Margaritaville" and "Summer," about disco diva Donna Summer. The two-part "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," which picks up 19 years from where Rowling's last novel left off and portrays Potter and his friends as grown-ups, won nine Olivier Awards in London before coming to America and bewitching critics and audiences alike. It now will face "The Children," ''Farinelli and The King," ''Junk" and "Latin History for Morons" for best new play. Best male acting nominations for a play include Denzel Washington, starring in a revival of Eugene O'Neill's epic "The Iceman Cometh." The 2010 Tony winner for "Fences" will have to face-off against Andrew Garfield in "Angels in America," Tom Hollander of "Travesties," Jamie Parker of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" and Mark Rylance in "Farinelli and The King." Amy Schumer, who made her Broadway debut in Steve Martin's comedy "Meteor Shower," won a nomination for best actress in a play. Others in the category include Glenda Jackson from "Edward Albee's Three Tall Women," Condola Rashad in "Saint Joan" and Lauren Ridloff in "Children of a Lesser God." "Carousel," ''My Fair Lady" and "Once on This Island" make up the best musical revival category, mostly because they're only eligible nominees. The best play revival category is filled by "Angels in America," ''Three Tall Women," ''Lobby Hero," ''Travesties" and "The Iceman Cometh." Bruce Springsteen, whose solo show mixes songs and stories from his best-selling memoir "Born to Run" and has been banking over $2 million each week he's onstage, will be granted a special, non-competitive Tony, along with John Leguizamo for "Latin History for Morons." Plenty of nominations don't necessarily lead to actual wins on Tony night. While "Hamilton" was nominated for 16 awards in 2016 and went on to win 11, just last year "Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812" earned a leading 12 nominations but got just two technical awards on the big night. ___ Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

– Tina Fey's musical Mean Girls, which she adapted from her much-beloved and oft-quoted 2004 high school comedy movie, and the goofy undersea cartoon adaptation SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical lead the Tony Award nominations with a dozen nods each. A British revival of Angels in America, Tony Kushner's monumental, two-part drama about AIDS, life, and love during the 1980s, grabbed 11 nominations—the most for any play—25 years after it first appeared on Broadway. The shimmering, grown-up musical The Band's Visit also earned 11 nods. JK Rowling's Harry Potter franchise extended its magical touch to Broadway, with a two-part stage play featuring the bespectacled wizard earning 10 nominations, as did a revival of My Fair Lady, per the AP. The best new musical category is filled by The Band's Visit, Frozen, Mean Girls, and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical. Amy Schumer, who made her Broadway debut in Steve Martin's comedy Meteor Shower, won a nomination for best actress in a play. Others in the category include Glenda Jackson from Edward Albee's Three Tall Women, Condola Rashad in Saint Joan, and Lauren Ridloff in Children of a Lesser God. Best male acting nominations for a play include Denzel Washington, starring in a revival of Eugene O'Neill's epic The Iceman Cometh. The 2010 Tony winner for Fences will have to face off against Andrew Garfield in Angels in America, Tom Hollander of Travesties, Jamie Parker of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and Mark Rylance in Farinelli and The King. A fuller list is here.

The work was done at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago under an $8-million grant from the Army. "With this leg, it just flows," said the 32-year-old software engineer, who spends most of his days using a typical prosthetic but travels to Chicago several times a year from his home in Yelm, Wash. "The control system is very intuitive. With the use of this TMR-enhanced combination of mechanical-sensor and EMG information, the patient was also able to walk safely outdoors and to climb and descend multiple flights of stairs with the robotic leg prosthesis ( Figure 3 Figure 3 Stair Ascent with Reciprocal Gait with the Use of the TMR-Enhanced Control System. Compared with prosthetics that were not able to "read" the intent of their wearers, the robotic leg programmed to follow Vawter's commands reduced the kinds of errors that cause unnatural movements, discomfort and falls by as much as 44%, according to the New England Journal of Medicine report. More than a million Americans are living with amputations, including some 1,600 soldiers who returned from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan during the past decade having lost at least one limb. The tibial nerve branch was then sewn over the motor point on the semitendinosus, and the common peroneal nerve branch was sewn over the motor point on the long head of the biceps femoris, thus allowing the transferred nerves to reinnervate these hamstring muscles. Freedom Innovations LLC, a closely held company based in Irvine, California, is working on making the motorized machine smaller, quieter and more robust.

– Zac Vawter imagines movements that his leg mimics just like everyone else. When going up an incline, he visualizes his ankle moving as needed, and it does. But there's something remarkable about that moment: It's actually "a marvel of 21st century engineering," reports the Los Angeles Times. Vawter, 32, is the "test pilot" for a new bionic leg—the first of its kind to communicate with the brain (though the technology has been used with arm prostheses). It uses sensors to harness "reinnervated" nerves; they're essentially nerves that, rather than being allowed to die, are surgically "rewired" to control his right thigh muscles; the bionic leg is then programmed to read the contractions of those muscles. The comparison to his other prosthesis is "night and day," Vawter tells the Wall Street Journal. The error rate (that includes things like the risk of falling) is shaved, from 12.9% with a robotic leg, down to just 1.8%, Bloomberg reports via a New England Journal of Medicine report. Weighing about 10 pounds, the bionic leg is the work of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, which saw an $8 million boost from the US Army. The latter hopes the leg can one day benefit some 1,200 Iraq and Afghanistan vets who could use it. But there's much broader appeal: About 1 million Americans are without lower limbs and the device could be available to them in three to five years, Bloomberg reports. "The value it will provide to the people who use it will be enormous," the study's lead author said. "We are making fantastic progress."

Auf wiedersehen, indeed. Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, the stars who turned “Project Runway” into one of the first and biggest cable reality-TV hits of the previous decade, are saying goodbye to that venerable series and making the leap to streaming. The duo has signed a deal to develop a new fashion-oriented reality show for Amazon Studios. Details of the new program are not yet known, and no producers are yet attached. Sources tell Variety that Amazon will open a competitive process for production companies to vie to oversee the new show. Klum and Gunn’s Amazon deal throws into question the future of “Project Runway,” whose season-16 finale aired last year on cable channel Lifetime. Bravo, the show’s original network home, made a surprise announcement in May that the series would return to the NBCUniversal-owned channel for its next season with longtime production company Magical Elves again on board. “After 16 incredible seasons, I am saying ‘Auf Wiedersehen’ to ‘Project Runway,’ a show that I was honored to host and help create,” said Klum. “I am incredibly proud of the show, and it will always have a special place in my heart. I am so appreciative of the dedicated fans, and most of all, I am grateful that we could shine a light on creativity and help launch so many talented designers’ careers. I’m most excited that my journey with my dear friend and colleague, Tim Gunn, is far from over. We will be partnering with Amazon for a new show, and we’re excited for everyone to see what we’re designing next!” Related 'Suspiria' Plans Big Expansion After Roaring Start Amazon's Jennifer Salke Teases Blake Lively Scripted Series Gunn added: “I am grateful to ‘Project Runway’ for putting me on a path I never, in my wildest dreams, thought my career would take me! I am so proud to have been a part of the groundbreaking process that showcased talented young designers as never before. Most importantly, I am indebted to our incredible fans, they are the heart and soul of what we do, and continue to inspire us to raise the bar in this arena. I’m excited for them to see what’s next, as I partner with Amazon and Heidi Klum on our next great ‘fashion’ adventure.” The deal with Klum and Gunn is the most recent with high-profile talent for Amazon under Jenifer Salke, the former NBC exec who became head of the tech giant’s entertainment division earlier this year. Amazon has in recent months set deals with Nicole Kidman, Jordan Peele, and Barry Jenkins. “Heidi Klum completely changed the television landscape by developing a competitive reality fashion series that was unproven and different from what was popular on-air,” Salke said. “The show became wildly successful, and in turn Klum and Tim Gunn have become an iconic pop culture duo. Their drive to deliver fashionably entertaining, engaging and trendsetting content speaks for itself, and we believe their next iteration in this space will find an even larger audience on our global Prime Video runway.” Gunn is represented by CAA and attorney Eric Weissler. Klum is represented by CAA, Harvey Markowitz, and attorneys Daniel Passman and Harold Brown. Designer Zac Posen, who has served as as a judge on the six most recent seasons of “Project Runway,” is also leaving the show. “Working alongside Heidi, Nina and Tim as a judge for six seasons of ‘Project Runway’ was one of the greatest experiences of my career. I will cherish the opportunity the show gave me to learn from and grow with my co-judges, the producers, crew and designers. Runway has led to incredible opportunities and I am currently at work on some new projects that I am very excited to share with you soon. I wish the show and everyone much success always.” Bravo and producer Magical Elves are in the process of recasting “Project Runway.” “Bravo is proud to bring ‘Project Runway’ back where it all began, and Heidi and Tim will always be a huge part of the legacy,” a Bravo spokesperson said in a statement. “The series will continue its iconic impact with Bravo’s reboot for the next generation of designers and fans. We are excited to announce our new host and mentor very soon.”

– Project Runway may never look the same. Mainstays Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn are leaving the show after 16 seasons to start a new fashion series for Amazon, reports USA Today. The format of the new series is still unclear, but viewers will apparently be able to buy clothes featured on it. Project Runway, meanwhile, is set to move from Lifetime back to its original network, Bravo, next year. Variety notes that Amazon's entertainment division is making some aggressive moves under its new leader, former NBC exec Jennifer Salke. The division recently signed other deals with Nicole Kidman and Jordan Peele, among others.

Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.

– Ashley Judd might soon be a doctor—and no, she won't be playing one on screen. The actress, 48, says she'll attend the University of California Berkeley this fall as one of a few candidates accepted into a PhD program in public policy, reports New York. Judd—who has a Master's in public administration with a focus on gender equality from Harvard—says she'll focus on "the injustices of gender inequality" in human trafficking, reports People, via a Facebook Live video. The actress, who spoke at the DNC this year about her decision to have an abortion after she was raped, says her goal is "to make the world a better place."

| Win McNamee/Getty Images Trump releases updated short list of potential Supreme Court nominees President Donald Trump released a new list of potential Supreme Court justices on Friday, adding five new judges to his previous compilation of 20 jurists. Amy Coney Barrett of Indiana, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Keith Blackwell of Georgia, Supreme Court of Georgia Charles Canady of Florida, Supreme Court of Florida Steven Colloton of Iowa, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Allison Eid of Colorado, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Britt Grant of Georgia, Supreme Court of Georgia Raymond Gruender of Missouri, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Brett Kavanaugh of Maryland, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Raymond Kethledge of Michigan, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Joan Larsen of Michigan, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Mike Lee of Utah, United States Senator Thomas Lee of Utah, Supreme Court of Utah Edward Mansfield of Iowa, Supreme Court of Iowa Federico Moreno of Florida, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Kevin Newsom of Alabama, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit William Pryor of Alabama, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Margaret Ryan of Virginia, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces David Stras of Minnesota, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Diane Sykes of Wisconsin, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Amul Thapar of Kentucky, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Timothy Tymkovich of Colorado, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Robert Young of Michigan, Supreme Court of Michigan (Ret.) However, shortly before the Senate confirmed Gorsuch in April, administration officials said the president did not feel bound to pick a second Supreme Court justice from his campaign list. Like Justice Neil Gorsuch of Colorado, who was confirmed to the high court in April, Kavanaugh is a conservative who once clerked for the more moderate Kennedy. Story Continued Below “President Trump will choose a nominee for a future Supreme Court vacancy, should one arise, from this updated list of 25 individuals,” the White House said in a statement. “There’s no inkling of any vacancy, but the fact of the matter is that you would be foolish to wait for one,” said Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the Federalist Society and a top adviser to the White House on judicial nominations. The other new names on Trump's list are Amy Coney Barrett, a former Notre Dame law professor just confirmed last month to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit; Kevin Newsom, confirmed in August to a seat on the 11th Circuit court of appeals; Georgia Supreme Court Justice Britt Grant, a former state solicitor general; and Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Patrick Wyrick, also a former state solicitor general. Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director for the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, was quick to praise Trump for the additions, calling the candidates the "best and brightest judges in the nation."

– President Trump's Supreme Court shortlist just got a little longer. Should another vacancy on the high court arise, Trump on Friday added five new judges to his existing list of 20 possible replacements, Politico reports. "These additions, like those on the original list released more than a year ago, were selected with input from respected conservative leaders," the White House said in a statement that also noted Trump was "elected to restore the rule of law and to Make the Judiciary Great Again." USA Today notes that Trump's move "precedes the possible, but still unannounced, retirement of Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy." Trump's initial list, released in May 2016, had 11 names on it; in September 2016 he added 10 more, and he ultimately chose Neil Gorsuch from that list to replace Antonin Scalia once he was elected president. The new judges added to the list are Amy Coney Barrett of the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals, Britt Grant of the Georgia Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Kevin Newsom of the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals, and Patrick Wyrick of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. A director at the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, which spent $10 million on a pro-Gorsuch ad campaign, calls the new additions the "best and brightest judges in the nation," the Hill reports. The full list is here.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – LeBron James is now trying to help Akron adults get their GEDs by using the same basic principles his charitable foundation designed to help children stay in school and graduate. Under a new partnership announced Thursday with Project Learn of Summit County, which exists to help adults get their GEDs, parents of the children enrolled in the LeBron James Family Foundation's scholastic mentorship program can get financial and emotional support to obtain high school equivalency credentials and learn other life skills. Since 2011, James' foundation has targeted poor, at-risk Akron school children and their families to help keep the students in school and the parents engaged in their children's education. That program, called Wheels for Education (for grades 3-5) and the Akron I PROMISE Network (sixth grade and up), now has more than 1,000 enrolled and free college scholarships to attend the University of Akron waiting for those who graduate from an Akron high school and fulfill some additional requirements beginning in 2021. James seeks to inspire the children by writing to them personally and engaging them on social media. Children and their families are also eligible for prizes, often in the form of gifts (from one of James' corporate sponsors, such as a Samsung tablet) or cash for groceries. The new program for adults is called "I PROMISE, Too" and so far counts nine adults – who will be taught by instructors from Project Learn. Again, only parents or guardians of children in James' mentorship program are eligible. In the new program, enrollees received an inspirational letter from the Cavaliers superstar basketball player, HP laptop computers that they can keep if they finish the classes, and free bus passes and parking to attend class. Participants will also have covered the $6 cost to take the GED practice test and $120 cost for taking the entire, official GED exam. The foundation will also provide prizes for good attendance, work progress, and other achievements. For instance, six adults who attended an informational meeting received music speakers from Beats by Dre. "We are so excited about the I PROMISE, Too program because a huge part of our foundation's work (with children) centers around parent involvement," Michele Campbell, executive director of the LeBron James Family Foundation, said in a news release. "This is an opportunity to help our parents make strides in their own academic careers so they are better equipped to help our students keep their educational promises. "We can't reach our students without their parents' support, so this program is monumental for our families and their futures." Alexia Harris, communications manager for Project Learn, said between 1,300 and 1,400 adults either take classes and/or the GED test through her organization each year. She said 110 GEDs were awarded out of Project Learn last school year, which was down slightly from previous years. "It takes a lot of courage to start classes to earn GED once you've been out of school for years, even decades," Harris said. "Definitely, things can get in the way of completing the process, things like work or family issues. With the LeBron foundation, we're working with these parents to be as accommodating as we can, and the incentives can help. The laptops, for instance, that's a cost to them that they won't have to bear." The James foundation spends at least $1 million per year on education. According to federal filing documents required of all non-profit organizations, the foundation spent $903,000 on its Wheels for Education program in 2013 – the last year for which data was available. At that time, James' program had roughly 600 students – compared with 1,000 now – and of course no adult literacy program. The James foundation will not cover the costs for those college scholarships in 2021 -- as erroneously reported by some other outlets. Instead, the University of Akron will pick up the tab.

– Through his foundation, LeBron James spends at least $1 million every year to educate the poor and at-risk children of his native Akron, Ohio, Cleveland.com reports. Now, he's doing something for their parents, too. Last week, the LeBron James Family Foundation announced a partnership with Project Learn of Summit County to help the parents of kids in the foundation's mentorship program get their GEDs, according to Mashable. James' foundation will pay for the GED exam and practice tests, as well as provide free bus passes, parking, and laptops the parents can keep if they finish classes. And participants will get prizes for progress and attendance. For example, six enrollees who attended an informational meeting received Beats by Dre speakers. "This is an opportunity to help our parents make strides in their own academic careers so they are better equipped to help our students keep their educational promises," the foundation's executive director says in a press release. Cleveland.com reports more than 1,000 children are enrolled in the foundation's mentorship program, and nine parents are already participating in the new GED program. It's been an education-focused summer for James, to say the least. Last month, the basketball superstar announced a partnership with the University of Akron to cover tuition for 2,300 students beginning in 2021.

Laura Dern I've Had It Divorce Back On Laura Dern -– I've Had It, Ben Harper Divorce Back On EXCLUSIVE has thrown in the towel in her marriage to– she has filed legal papers reactivating the dormant divorce ... TMZ has learned.Dern filed her formal legal response to Harper’s divorce petition Friday in LA County Superior Court. In the docs, filed by Disso Queen, Dern is asking for primary physical custody of the couple’s two kids and joint legal custody. She is also seeking spousal support, child support, and attorneys fees.As TMZ first reported,with divorce papers back in 2010 after 5 years of marriage and two children. But the divorce was never finalized and earlier this year they tried reconciling.Sources tell us that the reconciliation was “very rocky” and Dern now wants out.FYI – Dern is already the primary caregiver for the couple’s two kids. But we're told she also plays a significant role in raising Harper's two other children from a prior marriage.

– The first time around, Ben Harper was the one to file for divorce from Laura Dern—but nearly two years later, it's Dern filing to reactivate the divorce. The divorce was never finalized, TMZ explains, and the couple attempted to reconcile earlier this year (click to see a photo of them together in February). Apparently, that didn't work out, based on Dern's Friday filing in LA. She wants primary physical custody of their two children, joint legal custody, spousal support, child support, and attorney fees. Click for more on the split.

Remember that diamond commercial with the young couple in the park looking longingly at the elderly couple walking past them holding hands? Someone’s gone and turned it into a feature film — splicing in a good chunk of “Under the Tuscan Sun’’ for insurance — and what was touching at 30 seconds is a groaner at 105 minutes. That’s not entirely fair. You don’t have to be 13 and a tapioca-brained romantic to enjoy “Letters to Juliet.’’ But it would help. The movie’s the second heart-tugger in three months to feature Amanda Seyfried (“Dear John’’), the latest ingenue to be anointed an up-and-coming star. Honestly, there’s nothing wrong with “Juliet’’ that a better, deeper actress wouldn’t fix. (And a script. A script would be nice.) With her platinum waterfall of hair and big tweety-bird eyes, Seyfried offers a vision of youthful loveliness that ceases the moment she opens her mouth to deliver lines in the broad, affectless tones of a weather girl. She plays Sophie, a fact-checker at a spurious Hollywood version of The New Yorker (Oliver Platt’s her harrumph-y boss) who heads to Verona on a pre-honeymoon with her fiancé and gets sidetracked on a story. Drawn to the lonelyhearts notes pinned to the courtyard wall at the Casa di Giulietta — supposedly the home of the real Juliet Capulet of “Romeo and Juliet’’ — Sophie discovers a 50-year-old letter hidden behind a brick and decides to answer it. The letter was written by a young Englishwoman named Claire, heartbroken over leaving her Italian one true love. On receiving Sophie’s reply, Claire descends upon Verona in the person of Vanessa Redgrave, who exudes so much grace, talent, and class that Seyfried is immediately reduced to an acting-school Munchkin. Really, the movie itself never quite recovers. Claire has brought along her skeptical grandson Charlie (Christopher Egan), and the threesome scour Tuscany by car for the lost love, one Lorenzo Bartolini. It turns out there are many, many Lorenzo Bartolinis in the area, and the best joke in the movie is that they’re all willing to pick up with Claire where they never left off. Sophie and Charlie hate each other, of course, which means that they love each other, of course. “Letters to Juliet’’ clanks along the tracks of romantic-comedy confusion with grim predictability: The moon is always full and the Italian locations are gorgeous, or would be if they weren’t overlit like a trattoria poster. But maybe it’s wrong to expect Continental nuance from a film that ends with a Taylor Swift song. The larger problem is that the central duo is just plain dull. Egan’s Charlie is a wooden Englishman and Sophie is a gauche, underwritten character that only an Anne Hathaway might (I say might) be able to flesh out. When Claire asks her grandson, “How many Sophies do you think there are on the planet?’’ it’s difficult not to think, About 6 million on the East Coast alone. That’s probably why the movie will be a hit. Adding to the general air of absurdity, the fiancé — an excitable, self-absorbed chef named Victor — is played by the Mexican actor-hunk Gael Garcia Bernal, and we’re asked to believe that any sane woman would throw this guy over for the stiff-backed Egan. Victor loves wine, cheese, truffles, life, and for that the movie punishes him. It punishes us with dialogue to make a Nicholas Sparks fan wince (“When we’re speaking of love, it’s never too late . . . ’’) and Gary Winick’s mechanical, uninspired direction. Late in the going we’re treated to a reunion of Redgrave with Franco Nero, the Lancelot to her Guenevere in 1967’s “Camelot,’’ and the ease with which these two portray mature passion is deeply touching. If only the movie were interested. “Letters to Juliet’’ makes the case that even boring young nincompoops deserve love. For the rest of us there’s always Tuscany. Ty Burr can be reached at tburr@globe.com. © Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.

– Critics aren't exactly head-over-heels for Letters to Juliet, a predictable romantic comedy about a young woman helping an older one reconnect with a lost love, but it has its charms. Here's what they're saying: “Letters will hardly go down as the funniest or sharpest caper of the year,” writes Mary Elizabeth Williams of Salon, but it's a “breathtakingly refreshing change” from the “flinty females and douche-bag dudes” that populate most recent rom-coms. “Letters to Juliet makes the case that even boring young nincompoops deserve love,” writes Ty Burr of the Boston Globe. Maybe, maybe , a better actress could have made it work, but Amanda Seyfried “delivers lines in the broad, affectless tones of a weather girl.” This movie is “an insult to common sense and the hacks over at Team Harlequin,” writes Kyle Smith of the New York Post . “Not to be left unsaid are lines like, 'Destiny wanted us to meet again,' 'An angel brought you to me,' and 'When we are speaking of love, is never too late.'” But that's fine, writs Kerry Lengel of the Arizona Republic. It's not date-night material, but “Letters to Juliet is a guilty pleasure for the ladies, perfect Blu-ray fodder when their significant others turn them into World of Warcraft widows for the evening."

Zimmerman also included a photo of the engagement ring, which had a caption explaining what the final project will look like: “Changing the diamond to a black diamond FYI . I can’t wait to make Brandon’s ring with Jonathon as well!” Clarkson’s talent manager beau Brandon Blackstock got down on one knee on Friday night, after dating the American Idol winner for some 10 months. Kelly Clarkson on WhoSay On Saturday, Clarkson, 30, made sure her fans were one of the first to know about her big news. MORE >> isn’t the only celebrity who got engaged this weekend. I wanted y’all to know!! "Happiest Night of my life last night!" I am so lucky and am with the greatest man ever:)” That greatest man ever is Brandon Blackstock, who has been dating the American Idol winner since February 2012. While the couple have been dating for less than a year, Clarkson and Blackstock have known each other for a long time. The 35-year-old is the son of Clarkson’s longtime managerand the stepson of country legend On Sunday, Clarkson will join a slew of the music industry’s hottest female performers for the annual VH1 Divas show in Los Angeles. kelly clarkson lists texas ranch for $1.5m The engagement comes just one month after Clarkson told Life & Style that there was “no rush” to get hitched to her talent manager boyfriend. Weigh in below. Celebuzz Single Player No Autoplay (CORE) No changes are to be made to this player

– How romantic: Kat Von D and Deadmau5 are engaged, after the Canadian DJ proposed to his tattoo artist and reality star girlfriend ... over Twitter. "I can't wait for Christmas so.... Katherine Von Drachenberg, will you marry me?" tweeted Deadmau5, real name Joel Zimmerman, on Saturday. He also posted a picture of the engagement ring, which will be a black diamond buffeted by two skulls. Von D responded by tweeting simply, "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" followed by a declaration that she needed to "go squeeze the hell out of my fiancé!" Celebuzz reports that the two also tweeted that they were splitting up ... just five weeks ago. (Priceless line, from Von D: "But at least he made it a no-brainer to break that off.") Perhaps Jesse James' engagement spurred Kat's change of heart? Von D wasn't the only celeb with something to celebrate this weekend: Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock got engaged, too, Celebuzz reports. Blackstock, son of Clarkson's longtime manager and stepson of Reba McEntire, has been dating the former American Idol since February. "I'M ENGAGED!!!!! I wanted y'all to know!! Happiest night of my life last night! I am so lucky and am with the greatest man ever :)," she tweeted. Click to see a picture of her ring, which is yellow.

Erin Storm, a contestant on season 12 of The Bachelor and a pilot, died in a plane crash in Los Angeles on Monday, March 21, multiple outlets are reporting. Please enable Javascript to watch this video A female pilot who was pulled unconscious from her burning aircraft after the small plane crashed near Hawthorne airport Monday afternoon later died, according to police. The small aircraft -- a light-sport, weight-shift-control plane -- was departing Hawthorne Municipal Airport when it crashed, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said. (KTLA-TV Channel 5) (KTLA-TV Channel 5) Police and fire officials told The Los Angeles Times and the Daily Breeze that the motorized hang glider was fully engulfed in flames when officers arrived and that the woman aboard it was in "traumatic full arrest" when she was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. The unidentified pilot did not survive the crash, the Hawthorne Police Department posted on its Facebook page. ---------- "As soon as the plane hit the curb, it blew up and it just kept getting bigger and bigger, but the engine was still running and eventually the engine blew and the fire got even bigger," Best Drilling and Pump Inc. employee Byron Mayes, who was working in a nearby area, told KNBC-TV Channel 4 and KTLA-TV Channel 5. "My partner just started yelling, 'There's a plane coming, a plane coming,'" said witness Byron Mayes. and it looked like the plane veered up, lost control and hit a couple feet away from the truck, a couple feet away from us," Mayes said. Mayes said he and his fellow employees found the pilot unconscious with her legs on fire and pulled her out of the plane. Eyewitnesses told NBC that the pilot had been flying a Pacific Blue Air plane and was wearing the training facility's blue jumpsuit when she crashed. See more of Entertainment's top stories on Facebook >> Storm was among the slew of women who vied for British bachelor Matt Grant's affections on the ABC dating show in 2008. The Venice, California, resident was eliminated during week 3 of British Bachelor Grant’s season, in which reality star Shayne Lamas coveted the final rose. Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter to get breaking celebrity news, hot pics, and more delivered straight to your inbox!

– Erin Storm, a former contestant on The Bachelor, was killed Monday when the small plane she was piloting crashed soon after takeoff in Los Angeles, US Magazine reports. Storm, a pilot working for an aircraft training facility at the Hawthorne Municipal Airport, appeared on the popular reality show's 12th season in 2008. She was piloting an Airborne XT-912 ultralight plane—the Los Angeles TImes describes it as a "motorized hang glider"—when she crashed. Three people working near the crash site pulled Storm—her legs on fire—from the wreckage, according to KTLA. Emergency responders transported her to the hospital, where she died from her injuries. When Storm appeared on The Bachelor, she listed her occupation as "hot dog vendor."

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, left, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, and British Foreign Secretary William Hague, second right, pose for the media prior to a meeting on Syria at the... (Associated Press) This photo released by the United Nations shows professor Ake Sellstrom, head of the chemical weapons team working in Syria, handing over the report on the Al-Ghouta massacre to Secretary-General Ban... (Associated Press) U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, and British Foreign Secretary William Hague, left, listen to French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius speak at a news conference after a meeting on Syria, at the... (Associated Press) French President Francois Hollande, left, welcomes U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for a meeting on Syria at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Monday, Sept. 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) (Associated Press) From left, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, French President Francois Hollande and British Foreign Secretary William Hague, pose in the lobby of the Elysee... (Associated Press) This photo released by the United Nations shows professor Ake Sellstrom, head of the chemical weapons team working in Syria, handing over the report on the Al-Ghouta massacre to Secretary-General Ban... (Associated Press) From left, British Foreign Secretary William Hague, French President Francois Hollande, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius pose upon their arrival at the Elysse... (Associated Press) French President Francois Hollande, left, gestures as he talks to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, upon his arrival at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Monday, Sept. 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) (Associated Press) The inspectors said "the environmental, chemical and medical samples we have collected provide clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used ... in the Ghouta area of Damascus" on Aug. 21. The U.N.'s chief weapons inspector turned over his team's report on Sunday, and the Security Council is due to take it up in a closed session Monday. The Aug. 21 chemical attack unfolded as a U.N. chemical weapons team was in Syria to investigate earlier reported attacks. After days of delays, the inspectors were allowed access to victims, doctors and others in the Damascus suburbs afflicted by the poison gas. The inspection team led by Swedish expert Ake Sellstrom was mandated to report on whether chemical weapons were used and which ones they were, but not on who was responsible. "If the Assad regime believes that this is not enforceable, then they will play games," he said. Chief weapons inspector Ake Sellstrom handed over the report to the secretary-general on Sunday amid a flurry of diplomatic activity aimed at getting Syria to put its just-acknowledged stockpile of chemical weapons and chemical precursors under international control for destruction. In Geneva, the chairman of a U.N. war crimes panel on Monday said it is investigating 14 suspected chemical attacks in Syria, dramatically escalating the stakes after diplomatic breakthroughs that saw the Syrian government agree to dismantle its chemical weapons program. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) (Associated Press) Commission chairman Paulo Sergio Pinheiro says the Geneva-based U.N. probe has not yet determined the exact materials used but is awaiting evidence from a separate team of U.N. chemical weapons inspectors expected to be made public later Monday. Pinheiro told reporters Monday the commission believes that President Bashar Assad's government has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, while it believes that rebel groups have perpetrated war crimes but not crimes against humanity "because there is not a clear chain of command." But Kerry told reporters Monday that "Should diplomacy fail, the military option is still on the table." Just a week ago, he was there lobbying for global support for military strikes against Assad, but after a breakthrough with Russia, Kerry's latest visit was intended to secure support from allies for the deal to secure and then eradicate Syria's chemical weapons arsenal. The U.S. and its closest allies laid out a two-pronged approach in Syria on Monday, calling for enforceable U.N. benchmarks for eradicating the country's chemical weapons program and an international conference bolstering the moderate opposition. France and the U.S. insisted that a military response to the Aug. 21 poison gas attack that killed hundreds remained on the table, and were pressing for a U.N. resolution reflecting that in coming days. Lavrov said the deal does not say the U.N. resolution will be under Chapter VII of the U.N. charter, which potentially authorizes the use of force -- and comments by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that the any resolution will need to include the possibility of force "show unwillingness to read the document" that Russia and the United States endorsed. Meanwhile, invitations were going out Monday to top members of the Syrian National Coalition _ the main umbrella opposition group _ for an international conference in New York timed to coincide with next week's U.N. General Assembly meeting, French officials said. Bolstering the Western-backed SNC is just as crucial to Syria's future as Assad's agreement to give up chemical arms, said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. "He must understand that there is no military victory, no possible military victory for him," Fabius said. He acknowledged that broad popular support for the rebels has been hampered by fears that Islamic militants are now playing a major role in the 2 1/2-year-old uprising. In briefing the allies, Kerry was pressing for support for the ambitious agreement that averted threatened U.S. military strikes. It calls for an inventory of Syria's chemical weapons program within one week, with all components of the program out of the country or destroyed by mid-2014. The top diplomats from the United States, France and Britain stood side by side Monday to pressure Syrian President Bashar Assad to uphold his end of any deal on securing and destroying Syria's chemical weapons. "It is extremely important that there are no evasions, that there is no cat and mouse game going on over these weapons," said British Foreign Secretary William Hague. Kerry acknowledged the chemical arms deal would have little immediate effect on the bloodshed in Syria, which has killed more than 100,000 people, but he said full compliance was a key first step. In Geneva, Pinheiro said the "vast majority" of casualties in Syria's civil war came from conventional weapons like guns and mortars.

– There's "clear and convincing evidence" that surface-to-air rockets loaded with sarin gas rained down on the Ghouta area of Damascus last month, UN weapons inspectors announced today. The panel concluded that chemical weapons have been used "against civilians, including children, on a relatively large scale." The inspectors were only tasked with determining whether chemical weapons had been fired, not who fired them, the AP explains; though CNN reports that the report will cover "signs of culpability." Earlier today, a separate UN commission said it was investigating reports of 14 chemical attacks, but that it had already determined that both sides had committed war crimes, with or without chemicals. The Assad regime has committed both war crimes and crimes against humanity, the commission determined. The rebels hadn't committed crimes against humanity only "because there is not a clear chain of command." The reports follow Syria's admission that it has chemical weapons, as part of a deal to disarm. Some recent fallout of that deal: The Assad government called the disarmament deal a "victory," and the rebels seem to agree, the New York Times reports. They expect Assad to break his word, and to step up his conventional weapons offensives. Indeed, the violence escalated appreciably last week, the Washington Post points out, with some towns facing their first airstrikes in weeks, and more than 1,000 killed. Now that the threat from the US has evaporated, "the regime has regrouped and is back on the offensive with a vengeance," one expert on the region says. Some rebels said arms shipments from foreign backers had increased, but complained that they were light weapons, and speculated that their backers only want to see the war drag on. "We won't get advanced weapons," a spokesman for a brigade in Aleppo says, "Because that would mean we would achieve victories."

Concussions Linked to Alzheimer's Risk in Study Brain scans found seniors with both poor memory and prior head injury have more plaque buildup WebMD News from HealthDay WebMD News Archive By Kathleen Doheny HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Dec. 26, 2013 (HealthDay News) -- Older adults with memory problems and a history of concussion have more buildup of Alzheimer's disease-associated plaques in the brain than those who also had concussions but don't have memory problems, according to a new study. ''What we think it suggests is, head trauma is associated with Alzheimer's-type dementia -- it's a risk factor," said study researcher Michelle Mielke, an associate professor of epidemiology and neurology at Mayo Clinic Rochester. "But it doesn't mean someone with head trauma is [automatically] going to develop Alzheimer's." Her study is published online Dec. 26 and in the Jan. 7 print issue of the journal Neurology. Previous studies looking at whether head trauma is a risk factor for Alzheimer's have come up with conflicting results, she noted. And Mielke stressed that she has found only a link or association, not a cause-and-effect relationship. In the study, Mielke and her team evaluated 448 residents of Olmsted County, Minn., who had no signs of memory problems. They also evaluated another 141 residents with memory and thinking problems known as mild cognitive impairment. More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, according to the Alzheimer's Association. Plaques are deposits of a protein fragment known as beta-amyloid that can build up in between the brain's nerve cells. While most people develop some with age, those who develop Alzheimer's generally get many more, according to the Alzheimer's Association. They also tend to get them in a predictable pattern, starting in brain areas crucial for memory. In the Mayo study, all participants were aged 70 or older. The participants reported if they ever had a brain injury that involved loss of consciousness or memory. Of the 448 without any memory problems, 17 percent had reported a brain injury. Of the 141 with memory problems, 18 percent did. This suggests that the link between head trauma and the plaques is complex, Mielke said, as the proportion of people reporting concussion was the same in both groups. Brain scans were done on all the participants. Those who had both concussion history and cognitive [mental] impairment had levels of amyloid plaques that were 18 percent higher than those with cognitive impairment but no head trauma history, the investigators found.

– If you've ever suffered a concussion, a new study suggests you may have a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease—or not. Mayo Clinic researchers performed brain scans on 141 people in their 70s and 80s who had memory problems and 448 who didn't. Some 18% and 17%, respectively, reported at one time suffering a brain injury in which they lost consciousness or memory. The latter group's scans came back normal, head injury or not. But the group with memory issues and a previous concussion were five times more likely to have an Alzheimer's-associated plaque buildup in the brain, the study author explains, per HealthDay News. Since both groups had the same rate of injury and only some showed a buildup of the protein beta amyloid, the findings show the link between head trauma and the plaque is complex and not all brain injuries lead to the disease. "If you do hit your head, it doesn't mean you are going to develop Alzheimer's," the study author says, but "it may increase your risk." A medical director agrees, and tells USA Today, "In my view, these findings are consistent with the idea that traumatic brain injury may lead to amyloid accumulation and Alzheimer's disease."

Garver was last seen wearing a gray sweatshirt and blue jeans. He is believed to be on foot and officials do not know if he is armed. Garver is a 5-foot-8, 250-pound white man with brown hair. Sheriff’s deputies captured psychiatric hospital escapee Anthony Garver on Friday night after two hectic days of searching for the killer in the Mount Spokane foothills. With the help of a search dog, Spokane County deputies and U.S marshals found Garver at 8:15 p.m. dehydrated and hiding beneath a pile of debris in the 17600 block of East Judkins Road less than a mile from his parents’ home. He was not armed and did not resist arrest. “It was plain and simple good old fashioned police work,” said Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich. “They were out there beating the brush.” As deputies and marshals narrowed the search, the Sheriff’s Office used a reverse 911 call program to urge homeowners on East Judkins to stay inside. Deputies Jason Hunt and Sgt. Jack Rosenthal found him with the help of Hunt’s police dog, Gunnar. Garver escaped from Western State Hospital sometime Wednesday evening with another psychiatric patient. The two quickly split and Garver used cash he had within the Lakewood hospital to buy a $50 Greyhound Bus ticket to Spokane. He arrived in Spokane around 5 a.m. Thursday and by afternoon had visited his parents, who called police. Garver then left as searchers, with the help of helicopters, dogs, SWAT team members and others, cast a dragnet over the area of pine forest and rolling wheat and hay fields. Garver was found nearby. Knezovich said he wasn’t notified until after 6 a.m. Thursday that Garver escaped. The12-hour lapse between escape and notification of Spokane law enforcement drew sharp words from Knezovich, who said the state needs to “get a clue” when it comes to keeping dangerous patients secure and working with local agencies when there’s a problem. “My hope is that the State of Washington finds a way to make sure this dangerous criminal does not escape again,” he said. “The last time he got out he killed a young lady.” Garver is thought to have escaped through a locked window. Knezovich said his dispatch center received an emailed news release from the Lakewood Police Department notifying them of Garver’s escape just after 6 a.m. Thursday. A Lakewood detective called a few hours later to follow up. Even before it was confirmed that Garver bought a Greyhound bus ticket to Spokane, it was assumed he’d head this direction since he’d done so in previous escapes from custody, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Deputy Mark Gregory said. “I don’t think we found out about the bus until around noonish,” Knezovich said on Friday. “It would have been nice to have received a call Wednesday night from somewhere.” Deputies spent Thursday morning talking to Garver’s friends and family, including his parents, and canvassing the area, Gregory said. Around 3:30 p.m., Garver’s stepfather called 911 to report that Garver was at their home in the area of MacMahan Road and Offmy Lane, in the foothills of Mount Spokane. “He wanted his passport because he wants to go to Morocco,” Knezovich said. “His stepdad slipped away and called us.” Garver told his family that he knew police had been called and that it was “futile,” Knezovich said. The 28-year-old quickly left the home without the passport. There were deputies in the area when Garver’s stepfather called, Gregory said. Despite the quick response, Garver could not be located and an extensive search was launched. Garver, who is something of a survivalist, previously told officials that he had weapons and equipment hidden in the woods in the Forker Road area. Some weapons were recovered the last time Garver was found there, Knezovich said. “We never did recover all those caches,” he said. Garver moved from forensic to civil ward Garver was a patient in the psychiatric hospital’s locked civil ward. When he first arrived at Western State Hospital, he had been housed in the hospital’s forensic ward, for people being treated in an effort to make them competent to stand trial. But Garver was ruled not competent to help with his own defense on a charge of killing a Snohomish County woman, who was bound with electrical cords and stabbed to death. The criminal charges were dismissed and he was ordered held as a danger to himself or others. Under revisions to the involuntary treatment act passed in 2013, he was ordered held on a civil commitment and moved to a different ward for those patients. Patients have personal accounts with the hospital that hold money they may have had when they arrived at Western State, that family or friends might send them, or that they can earn for jobs they do as part of their treatment, said Norah West, spokeswoman for the state Department of Social and Health Services. Although the amount can vary for some patients depending on recommendations from staff, most can withdraw $15 in cash per week from their account, she said. A bus ticket from Tacoma to Spokane on Wednesday evening would have cost about $47, leaving at 8:25 p.m. and arriving at 5:10 the next morning. That would have been slightly more than three weeks worth of withdrawals. Garver arrived at Western State Hospital in February 2015, the same day as Mark Alexander Adams, who escaped with him Wednesday evening. Adams was later caught in Des Moines, Washington. �?Very dangerous individual’ Knezovich said again Friday that he’s frustrated Garver is able to keep escaping from custody. Local and federal law enforcement spent a month searching for Garver in 2009 when he failed to show up for his required work release. He had been convicted in 2006 of threatening to blow up a Department of Social and Health Services office in north Spokane. Federal agents finally found him hiding in the same area where authorities are now searching. He also escaped from a halfway house, and in 2013 he failed to check in with his probation officer after being released from federal prison. Just a few weeks later, he is accused of killing 20-year-old Phillipa S. Evans-Lopez in Snohomish County. The affidavit filed by police in the death of Evans-Lopez said Garver is “anti-government, has history of military style weapons and explosives, and he has threatened to shoot anyone who confronts him.” One of his previous convictions came after 100 rounds of Russian-made ammunition were found in his Spokane home. The affidavit also said Garver smiled when confronted with a blood-stained knife police found on him when he was arrested, then denied killing the woman. Said Knezovich on Friday, “He is a very dangerous individual. Mental illness does not equate to a lack of intelligence.”

– A man who escaped from a Washington state psychiatric hospital where he was being held after being found too mentally ill to face charges that he tortured a woman to death is back in custody. Anthony Garver, 28, was apprehended without incident Friday night by law enforcement in Spokane after he was found hiding under a pile of debris in the woods, a Washington State Patrol spokesman tells the AP. Garver crawled out a window of a locked, lower-security unit on Wednesday with another patient, Mark Alexander Adams, 58, who was caught the next day. Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich says two police officers tracked Garver with the help of a police dog and found him in woods less than a mile from the home of his parents, who called police after he visited them on Thursday. Garver was hungry and dehydrated and received medical treatment before being transferred to jail, the sheriff says. Garver has a history of running from law enforcement, and Knzeovich has strong words for state officials about the fact that he was able to make another run for it. "The state of Washington needs to get a clue," he says. "This cannot happen again." The sheriff tells the Spokesman-Review that despite the fact that Garver had headed toward Spokane after previous escapes, local law enforcement was not notified until at least 12 hours after the escape.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Flooding in the Marshall Islands in 2014 caused extensive damage and left hundreds homeless About 1,000 Bikini islanders have applied to relocate to the United States as rising seas threaten their adopted home. The residents were moved from their Pacific atoll as result of atomic bomb tests in the 1940s. But their new home, on another of the Marshall Islands, is struggling against huge tides and increasing storms. The islanders have now asked Washington to change the terms of a trust fund to allow them settle in the US. In 1946 several hundred islanders were moved from Bikini Atoll by the US government, which wanted to test atomic weapons on the remote atoll. The people of Bikini came back to us and asked us to take this proposal to the US Tony de Brum, Foreign Minister, Marshall Islands Some 23 nuclear tests were conducted including the huge Bravo hydrogen bomb, the largest weapon detonated at that time by the US. King tides The islanders moved to a nearby island in the Marshall chain called Kili in 1948. Under an agreement with the US, a resettlement trust fund was eventually established to help the Bikini residents. This would pay for construction of homes within the Marshall Islands. But now the islanders say that their homes are being swamped by the increased ingress of sea water during king tides. There was widespread flooding in 2011 and again this year. Salt is also creeping up from beneath Kili, threatening agriculture and water supplies. In the early part of this year the island's runway was entirely flooded, cutting off the residents. "The people of Bikini came back to us and asked us to take this proposal to the US, to request the resettlement trust fund be used to settle people in the US not just the Marshall Islands," said Tony de Brum, Foreign Minister of the Marshall Islands. "We have not seen the final text of the legislation but the request that went in was on the basis of Kili being uninhabitable because of climate change." Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Bikini Atoll was used for extensive atomic bomb tests by the US from 1946 The US Department of the Interior is supporting the islanders and is now proposing legislation in Congress that would change the terms of the resettlement trust. Under an agreement between the Marshalls and the US, islanders have the right to live, work and study in the US without restrictions on the duration of their stay. "This is an appropriate course of action for the United States to take regarding the welfare and livelihood of the Bikinian people, given the deteriorating conditions on Kili and Ejit Islands in the Marshall Islands - with crowding, diminishing resources, and increased frequency of flooding due to King Tides on their islands," said Assistant Secretary of the Interior Esther Kia'aina. The Marshall Islands government says the experience of the Bikini islanders shows the need for a new global agreement on climate change. They believe that a new deal can be agreed at a global conference in Paris that begins at the end of November. One key element for the island state is that the agreement stipulate that global temperature rises be kept under 1.5 degrees C from pre industrial levels. Minister de Brum said that from the point of view of small islands and atoll states, two degrees "cannot remain as the absolute cap for everything we are trying do in limiting global warming". Follow Matt on Twitter: @mattmcgrathbbc

– Their first home was destroyed by nuclear testing. Their new home is being threatened by climate change. Now the former residents of Bikini Atoll want to use their million-dollar government trust fund to resettle in the US, USA Today reports. More than 150 residents of Bikini Atoll were moved 500 miles away to Kili and Ejit in the Marshall Islands in 1948 so the US could conduct nearly two-dozen atomic tests. They tried to move back in 1969 but had to be relocated again because of radiation. According to the BBC, the US set up a resettlement trust fund to help the displaced Bikini islanders rebuild their lives. However, that fund offers little protection from the life-threatening rising seas brought on by climate change. The BBC reports there was widespread flooding on Kili in 2011 and 2015, and encroaching salt water is killing crops and ruining fresh water supplies. Both Kili and Ejit were covered by waves at least five times in the past four years, according to USA Today. The islanders, who are already allowed to live and work in the US, passed a resolution in August asking the US government to let them take their resettlement trust fund—which has a balance of around $69 million—with them to the US, the BBC reports. The Department of Interior is supporting the islanders and taking their proposal to congress. "This is an appropriate course of action for the United States to take regarding the welfare and livelihood of the Bikinian people, given the deteriorating conditions on Kili and Ejit," the assistant secretary of the Interior says in a statement.

“I just don’t think it would be such a stretch to say that he very well could have been a teenage mall shooter or something like that.” But Lanza himself was not just another mall shooter, or school shooter. Daily Digest Start and finish your day with the smartest, sharpest takes from The Daily Beast Cheat Sheet A speedy, smart summary of news and must-reads from The Daily Beast and across the Web By clicking "Subscribe," you agree to have read the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Subscribe Thank You! You are now subscribed to the Daily Digest and Cheat Sheet. We will not share your email with anyone for any reason One thing that seems notable in retrospect is the book Lanza made as part of a class project in the fifth grade. (AP Photo/Connecticut State Police) less This photo released by Connecticut State Police on Friday, Dec. 27, 2013 shows an aerial view of the home where Adam Lanza lived with his mother in Newtown, Conn. Lanza gunned down 20 first-graders and six ... more Photo: HOPD Image 6 of 8 This evidence photo contained in a document titled "Sec 15 - Firearm Survey - Enfield," in a report of an investigation released by the Connecticut State Police, Friday, Dec. 27, 2013, shows a weapon. Only Lanza went after much younger victims at Sandy Hook, a choice the report indicates cannot be easily explained by any particular unpleasant experience, real or imagined, that Lanza seems to have had when he was at student there. The report—which calls Lanza “the shooter,” just like in his game—adds, “The shooter indicated that he loved the school and liked to go there.” Get The Beast In Your Inbox! Newtown Report Monday’s report doesn’t conclusively name a reason for the shooting last December, but we know why Adam Lanza was at the elementary school: He wanted to shoot kids. “Unfortunately, that question may never be answered conclusively, despite the collection of extensive background information on the shooter through a multitude of interviews and other sources,” the state police allowed. While there is still no concrete evidence that Lanza was a pedophile -- or a victim of one -- the material does point to an internal conflict that may have plagued Lanza in the years before he walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School and took the lives of 20 young children and six educators before killing himself the morning of Dec. 14, 2012. I then saw in the state police report that among the items detectives found in Lanza’s room were “materials regarding the topic of pedophilia and advocating for rights for pedophiles.” There was also a “screenplay or script” titled Lovebound “describing a relationship between a 10-year-old boy and a 30-year-old man.” I had always felt there had to be a sexual component to the fascination with guns and I had noted that Lanza himself called it a “fetish.” I commenced to write a piece suggesting that the Sandy Hook killer may have been acting out of some kind of homicidal pedophilia. The report adds, “He was never assigned to the classrooms where the shootings occurred.” He was there because he wanted to shoot kids. I described the remarkable courage of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis when Lanza’s gun jammed. A teacher described him as “intelligent but not normal?” He was said to have had “antisocial issues,” withdrawing and refusing to participate in class. She asked him if he would feel badly if something happened to her. But I always make an entirely honest effort.” Even with Smiggles, I am not close to certain that Lanza was indeed a kind of homicidal pedophile.

– Adam Lanza, pedophile? The 20-year-old who perpetrated the Sandy Hook massacre and killed himself on Dec. 14, 2012, kept documents on his hard drive showing an interest in pedophilia, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Topping the list is a screenplay, Lovebound, that depicts a relationship between a 10-year-old boy and a 30-year-old man. There are also documents in support of "pedophiles' rights and the liberation of children." What's more, Lanza told a friend that pedophilia was "a disease that needed to be treated and not look at as evil," according to a police report on the shooting. Appearing as Smiggles in an online forum, Lanza posted that children are duped by "culturapists" and "carried to other worlds in the stream of semen," reports the Daily Beast. Someone responded: "Doesn’t anybody else notice that Smiggles sometimes sends huge 'I AM A PEDOPHILE' signals?" If Lanza was battling pedophilic urges, that's "still a long way from explaining what he did," said Fred Berlin, an expert in sexual behavior, but he doesn't rule it out. Michael Daly puts it more bluntly at the Daily Beast: "So maybe 20-year-old Adam Lanza was a kind of pedophile whose idea of having sex with kids was to shoot them." (A seven-minute call Lanza made to an Oregon radio station in 2011 grabbed headlines last week.)

A A Oregon State Police said investigators have identified a 15-year-old Vancouver boy as a suspect in the Eagle Creek Fire. No arrests have been made and no formal charges have been filed in connection with the fire, according to the Oregon State Police, which did not identify the boy. The agency said Tuesday investigators think he and others were using fireworks in the woods along the Eagle Creek Trail on Saturday, sparking the fire. The suspect was then contacted by law enforcement in the parking lot of the trailhead and was interviewed by law enforcement. We started walking, and it was about twelve paces that we took, and I saw a minivan go by. I looked at them and I said 'I think that they're in that car.' She told them what she’d seen, and they told her they’d also seen a group of teenagers lighting fireworks. She looked like she was having fun and she was excited about getting away. Oregon State Police said investigators were looking for witnesses and anyone with helpful information about the fire’s cause. The agency asked anyone who heard fireworks or other explosions in the area of the Eagle Creek Trail and Punch Bowl Falls on Saturday between 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to contact the Oregon State Police at 503-375-3555.

– A wildfire that started over the weekend in Oregon torched at least 10,000 acres, stranded more than 150 hikers, and forced the evacuation of multiple towns—and officials think a teen fooling around with firecrackers may be to blame. The Columbian reports that a 15-year-old boy from Vancouver, Wash., has been named a suspect but not arrested in the Eagle Creek fire that sparked on Saturday. A Portland woman witnessed the scene and sounded the alarm, she tells Oregon Public Broadcasting. Liz FitzGerald was hiking to Punch Bowl Falls on Saturday when she came across a group of young people and "saw this kid throw a smoke bomb" into a ravine. She admonished the kids but forged ahead, only to reconsider. "If I get stuck in a wildfire because I was so determined to get to this watering hole, I would feel like a total idiot," she tells Willamette Week. She doubled back, and as she passed the spot where she'd seen the group, she saw "billowing smoke" and "could distinctly smell fire." She says she then came upon the teens and told them they had started a forest fire. She says one shot back, "Well, what are we supposed to do about it now?" FitzGerald notified a US Forest Service official, who she says apprehended the teens' minivan. FitzGerald, though, doesn't think the one who tossed the firecracker should bear sole responsibility for the group's "complacency. ... All of them watched, all of them did nothing." Oregon State Police are looking for more witnesses to help them determine their next move. Late Tuesday night, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office indicated on Twitter that the fire "has slowed way down for now."

The past 72 hours have seen pro-Russian rebels suddenly open a new front and push Ukrainian troops out of a key town in strategic coastal territory along the Sea of Azov. Rebels said they would accept Putin's proposal to allow Kiev forces, who they say are surrounded, to retreat, provided the government forces turn over weapons and armor. Obama said Russia's activity in Ukraine would incur "more costs and consequences," though these seemed to be limited to economic pressure that will be discussed when Obama meets with European leaders at a NATO summit in Wales next week. In 2008, Ukraine applied for Nato membership under then-President Viktor Yushchenko. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen: "Russia is blatantly violating Ukrainian sovereignty" Nato has accused Russia of a "blatant violation" of Ukraine's sovereignty and engaging in direct military operations to support pro-Russian rebels. "Despite Moscow's hollow denials, it is now clear that Russian troops and equipment have illegally crossed the border into eastern and southeastern Ukraine," Rasmussen said. "This is not an isolated action, but part of a dangerous pattern over many months to destabilise Ukraine as a sovereign nation," he said. Protesters rallied outside the Ukrainian General Staff on Thursday, demanding reinforcements and heavy weaponry for the troops outside Ilovaysk, most of whom are volunteers. Two columns of tanks and other equipment entered southeastern Ukraine at midday on Thursday, following heavy shelling of the area from Russia that forced overmatched Ukrainian border guards to flee, according to Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's national security council. European Union foreign ministers met in Milan Friday to weigh the 28-nation bloc's stance amid increasing calls to beef up economic sanctions against Russia. Markets dropped on Thursday on reports of Russia's apparent invasion in Ukraine, sparking investors' fears of further economic sanctions directed at Moscow. On Thursday, Nato had released satellite images it said showed columns of Russian armed forces inside Ukrainian territory, adding that more than 1,000 Russian troops were operating inside Ukraine. "I'm calling on insurgents to open a humanitarian corridor for Ukrainian troops who were surrounded in order to avoid senseless deaths," Putin said in the statement published on the Kremlin's web-site in the early hours on Friday. "Russia's partners ... should understand it's best not to mess with us," Putin said. Putin compared Kiev's assault on the rebel-held cities of Donetsk and Luhansk to the 900-day Nazi siege of Leningrad in which 1 million civilians died, perhaps the most powerful historical analogy it is possible to invoke in Russia. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Putin: "The situation sadly reminds me of the Second World War" Nearly 2,600 people have been killed since April, the UN says, when Russia's annexation of Crimea prompted the rebels to take control of large parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. "With all our respect to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, the president of a country which gives us moral support, we are ready to open humanitarian corridors to the Ukrainian troops who were surrounded with the condition that they surrender heavy weaponry and ammunition so that this weaponry and ammunition will not be used against us in future," Alexander Zakharchenko said on Russia's state Rossiya 24 television.

– Moscow continues to insist it's got nothing to do with the Russian soldiers and tanks that have entered Ukraine to bolster pro-Russian separatists, but Vladimir Putin today made a point to praise the separatists' military moves. They have "achieved serious successes in stopping the armed operation by Kiev," said the Russian president in a message on the Kremlin website, reports Reuters. He also urged the rebels to let trapped Ukrainian soldiers retreat safely, reports the AP: "I call on the militia groups to open a humanitarian corridor for Ukrainian service members who have been surrounded, so as to avoid any needless loss of life, giving them the opportunity to leave the combat area unimpeded and reunite with their families, to return them to their mothers, wives, and children, and to quickly provide medical assistance to those who were injured in the course of the military operation." The rebels appear ready to comply with what the New York Times calls a "rare direct address" from Putin. "With all respect to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, the president of the country, which has helped us very much with moral support, we are ready to grant humanitarian corridors to the Ukrainian divisions surrounded in these pockets," said one leader. NATO, meanwhile, accused Russia of a "blatant violation" of its neighbor's sovereignty, reports the BBC, much as President Obama did yesterday. Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen dismissed Moscow's "hollow denials" that it hadn't deliberately sent troops over the border. Further sanctions will be on the table at an EU summit this weekend.

America Edward Snowden Tells SXSW He'd Leak Those Secrets Again Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who has leaked large amounts of classified information about the agency's electronic surveillance programs, spoke via video to a sympathetic audience at South By Southwest Interactive on Monday. Snowden, who is wanted for prosecution in the U.S., was in Russia, where he's been given temporary asylum. Repeating things he's said before, Snowden declared Monday that he would do what he did all over again because he had seen the Constitution being "violated on a massive scale." The Obama administration disagrees, though Snowden's revelations did begin a process that earlier this year led the president to say he wants the NSA to stop holding on to massive amounts of "metadata" about the phone calls and electronic communications of millions of people around the world. We posted some highlights from Snowden's comments. As you'll see, he faced no tough questions. Earlier today, All Tech Considered previewed his SXSW appearance. Update at 1:02 p.m. ET. "Absolutely Yes": The last question to Snowden is about whether he would do what he's done again. "Absolutely yes," he says, adding that he "took an oath to support and defend the Constitution and I saw the Constitution ... being violated on a massive scale." The surveillance programs, he adds, take the Constitution's prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures and turn it into "any seizure is fine, just don't search it." Update at 12:59 p.m. The Problem With Contractors: Snowden has worked both inside the government and for contractors outside it. The problem with contractors, he says, is that "they aren't accountable." Update at 12:50 p.m. A Tor Endorsement: A Twitter query about what the average person can do to protect their online communications prompts Snowden to talk about Tor, the "mixed routing network" that can make it much harder to track online activity. Update at 12:45 p.m. Another Question For Snowden From The Web. Who Are You To Decide? "On what basis do you get to be the person to unilaterally decide what material remains classified & what gets released?" (Tweeted here.) We'll watch to see if that's asked. Update at 12:40 p.m. Question From The Web. What About Crimea? Questions for Snowden can be posted with the Twitter hashtag #asksnowden. Tom Risen, a tech and business reporter for U.S. News, poses this topical query: "What are you doing in Russia now that the Crimea situation is escalating?" Update at 12:30 p.m. Does Mass Surveillance Distract The Security Agencies? Snowden argues that "we've actually had tremendous intelligence failures because we're monitoring the Internet ... everybody's communications, instead of the suspects' communications." His example: Tips about the brothers' accused in the Boston Marathon bombings may not have been thoroughly pursued because the surveillance programs were given priority. Update at 12:25 p.m. Says He's Not Weakening Nation's Security, NSA Is: It's pointed out to Snowden that the NSA believes his revelations have harmed national security. His response? The NSA has "elevated offensive operations — that is, attacking — over the defense of our communications." And that, in Snowden's view, has made the nation less secure. He makes the case that without a well-defended communications system, "our economy can't succeed." Update at 12:15 p.m. The Constitution As A Backdrop: The background behind Snowden (presumably thanks to a "green screen" projection), is an image of the U.S. Constitution. Note: NPR is not a SXSW sponsor, but our friends on the Music Desk are webcasting music from there and some NPR staff are appearing on some SXSW panels.

– By leaking NSA data, Edward Snowden forced himself into exile—but he'd "absolutely" do it again, he said today during a video talk broadcast at SXSW. He spoke from Russia, saying that he "took an oath to support and defend the Constitution," NPR reports. "I saw the Constitution ... being violated on a massive scale," he continued. And for what? He argued that the US has "actually had tremendous intelligence failures because we're monitoring ... everybody's communications, instead of the suspects' communications." He pointed to the Boston Marathon bombings as an example, arguing that tips about the terrorists may have been overlooked while investigators focused on the surveillance programs. How to "fix" the system? "There's a political response that needs to occur, but there's also a tech response that needs to occur," Snowden said, according to CNN. "We need public oversight ... some way for trusted public figures to advocate for us. We need a watchdog that watches Congress, because if we're not informed, we can't consent to these (government) policies." He also suggested Internet users protect themselves, and suggested using a "mixed routing network" to make online activity more difficult to track. Today is the first time Snowden has directly addressed US citizens since fleeing the country.

Image caption This Torah scroll may be more than 850 years old The University of Bologna in Italy has found what it says may be the oldest complete scroll of Judaism's most important text, the Torah. The scroll was in the university library but had been mislabelled, a professor at the university says. It was previously thought the scroll was no more that a few hundred years old. However, after carbon dating tests, the university has said the text may have been written more than 850 years ago. The university's Professor of Hebrew Mauro Perani says this would make it the oldest complete text of the Torah known to exist, and an object of extraordinary worth. The university says that in 1889 one of its librarians, Leonello Modona, had examined the scroll and dated it to the 17th Century. However, when Prof Perani recently re-examined the scroll, he realised the script used was that of the oriental Babylonian tradition, meaning that the scroll must be extremely old. Another reason for the dating is that the text has many features forbidden in later copies under rules laid down by the scholar Maimonides in the 12th Century, the university says.

– An Italian researcher has found what is believed to be the oldest scroll from Judaism's most important text, and he didn't have far to look. The professor at the University of Bologna found the 850-year-old Torah scroll in the school library, where it had been mistakenly labeled a century ago, reports the BBC. That long-ago cataloguer thought the scroll dated back to the 17th century, but Hebrew professor Mauro Perani immediately recognized the error as he was doing some re-organizing of the library. Carbon-dating confirmed his hunch. "It is fairly big news," a Cambridge expert tells the AP. "Hebrew scholars get excited by very small things, but it certainly is important and clearly looks like a very beautiful scroll." The manuscript is 40 yards long and 25 inches high. Further study will be done to see whether it yields any new information from the period it was written, somewhere around 1155 to 1225.

Dozens of tornadoes ripped through the South, flattening homes and businesses and killing at least 248 people in six states in the deadliest outbreak in nearly 40 years. Residents survey the destruction after a tornado hit Pratt City, Ala. just north of downtown Birmingham, Ala., on Wednesday, April 27, 2011. A wave of severe storms laced with tornadoes strafed the South... (Associated Press) A tornado has flattened Pleasant Grove, Ala., a subdivision of Mountain Grove, Thursday, April 28. 2011. Dozens of tornadoes spawned by a powerful storm system wiped out entire towns across a wide swath... (Associated Press) Tamisha Cunningham, who suffered a leg injury when her home was destroyed, looks over the damage while waiting for medical care, near Athens, Ala., Wednesday, April 27, 2011. Homes in the area were completely... (Associated Press) First responders carry an elderly woman away after they rescued her from the rubble of her home, after a tornado struck Wednesday, April 27, 2011 in Phil Campbell, Ala. (AP Photo/TimesDaily, Daniel Giles) (Associated Press) Concrete steps lead to remains of a tornado demolished mobile home in Preston, Miss., Wednesday, April 27, 2011. The home and one next to it were blown about 100 feet away into a cow pasture. Three related... (Associated Press) A tornado moves through Tuscaloosa, Ala. Wednesday, April 27, 2011. A wave of severe storms laced with tornadoes strafed the South on Wednesday, killing at least 16 people around the region and splintering... (Associated Press) As day broke Thursday, people in hard-hit Alabama surveyed flattened, debris-strewn neighborhoods and told of pulling bodies from rubble after the storms passed Wednesday afternoon and evening. "It happened so fast it was unbelievable," said Jerry Stewart, a 63-year-old retired firefighter who was picking through the remains of his son's wrecked home in Pleasant Grove, a suburb of Birmingham. "They said the storm was in Tuscaloosa and it would be here in 15 minutes. And before I knew it, it was here." He and his wife, along with their daughter and two grandchildren, survived by hiding under their front porch. Friends down the street who did the same weren't so lucky _ Stewart said he pulled out the bodies of two neighbors whose home was ripped off its foundation. Alabama's state emergency management agency said it had confirmed 162 deaths, while there were 32 in Mississippi, 32 in Tennessee, 13 in Georgia, eight in Virginia and one in Kentucky. President Barack Obama said he would travel to Alabama on Friday to view storm damage and meet with the governor and affected families. The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said it received 137 tornado reports into Wednesday night. Some of the worst damage was in Tuscaloosa, a city of more than 83,000 that is home to the University of Alabama. Neighborhoods there were leveled by a massive tornado caught on video by a tower-mounted news camera that barreled through late Wednesday afternoon. "When I looked back, I just saw trees and stuff coming by," said Mike Whitt, a resident at DCH Regional Medical Center who ran from the hospital's parking deck when the wind started swirling and he heard a roar. On Thursday morning, he walked through the neighborhood next to the hospital, home to a mix of students and townspeople, looking at dozens of homes without roofs. Household items were scattered on the ground _ a drum, running shoes, insulation, towels, and a shampoo bottle. Streets were impassable, the pavement strewn with trees, pieces of houses and cars with their windows blown out. Dr. David Hinson was working at the hospital when the tornado hit. He and his wife had to walk several blocks to get to their house, which was destroyed. Several houses down, he helped pull three students from the rubble. One was dead and two were badly injured. He and others used pieces of debris as makeshift stretchers to carry them to an ambulance. "We just did the best we could to get them out and get them stabilized and get them to help," he said. "I don't know what happened to them." Back from an aerial tour Thursday morning, Tuscaloosa Mayor Walter Maddox said the tornado tore a streak as many as 4 miles long and a half-mile wide of "utter destruction." There are at least 36 people dead in the city's police jurisdiction, and searches continue for the missing. "We have neighborhoods that have been basically removed from the map," he said. Because the city's emergency management building was destroyed, authorities are using Bryant-Denny Stadium at the University of Alabama as a command post. University officials said there didn't appear to be significant damage on campus, and dozens of students and locals were staying at a 125-bed shelter in the campus recreation center. The storm system spread destruction from Texas to New York, where dozens of roads were flooded or washed out. The governors of Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia issued emergency declarations for parts of their states. Dave Imy, a meteorologist with the prediction service, said the deaths were the most since a tornado outbreak killed 315 people in 1974. In Alabama, where as many as a million people were without power, Gov. Robert Bentley said 2,000 national guard troops had been activated and were helping to search devastated areas for people still missing. He said the National Weather Service and forecasters did a good job of alerting people, but there is only so much that can be done to deal with powerful tornadoes a mile wide. Obama said he had spoken with Bentley and approved his request for emergency federal assistance. "Our hearts go out to all those who have been affected by this devastation, and we commend the heroic efforts of those who have been working tirelessly to respond to this disaster," Obama said in a statement. The storms came on the heels of another system that killed 10 people in Arkansas and one in Mississippi earlier this week. Less than two weeks earlier, a smaller batch of twisters raced through Alabama, touching off warning sirens, damaging businesses and downing power lines in Tuscaloosa, but there were no deaths there then. In Kemper County, Miss., in the east-central part of the state, sisters Florrie Green and Maxine McDonald, and their sister-in-law Johnnie Green, all died in a mobile home that was destroyed by a storm. "They were thrown into those pines over there," Mary Green, Johnnie Green's daughter-in-law, said, pointing to a wooded area. "They had to go look for their bodies." In Smithville in northeastern Mississippi, the police station, post office, city hall, an industrial park with several furniture manufacturing facilities and a grocery store were among dozens of buildings ripped apart. A church was cut in half, and pieces of tin were wrapped high around the legs of a blue water tower. Jessica Monaghan, 24, walked through the wreckage with her 9-month-old son, Slade Scott, strapped to her back, and the baby's father, 23-year-old Tyler Scott, by her side. Their house was still standing, though the home belonging to Tyler Scott's mother was flattened. He was at work _ he's a firefighter in nearby Tupelo _ and Monaghan was at home watching TV when broadcasters warned the town could be hit within 10 minutes. By then, she said, the storm was there about that time. "The baby was already in the closet. I grabbed the cat and got in the closet, too," Monaghan said. "You could just feel the pressure. It really was like a freight train." And in Pleasant Grove, Samantha Nail surveyed the damage in the blue-collar subdivision where hers was the only home still intact. The storm slammed heavy pickup trucks into ditches and obliterated tidy brick houses, leaving behind a mess of mattresses, electronics and children's toys scattered across a grassy plain where dozens used to live. "We were in the bathroom holding on to each other and holding on to dear life," Nail said. "If it wasn't for our concrete walls, our home would be gone like the rest of them." ___ Reeves reported from Tuscaloosa. Associated Press Writers Holbrook Mohr in Smithville, Miss. ; Anna McFall and John Zenor in Montgomery; Meg Kinnard in Colombia, S.C.; Bill Fuller and Alan Sayre in New Orleans; Dorie Turner in Atlanta; and Bill Poovey in Chattanooga, Tenn., contributed to this report.

– A wave of tornado-spawning storms ripped through six states yesterday, killing at least 269 people and flattening buildings. Some 180 people died in Alabama alone, many of those in college-town Tuscaloosa, where a mile-wide tornado tore through the city's downtown, the AP reports. There were 33 casualties in Mississippi, 33 in Tennessee, 14 in Georgia, eight in Virginia, and one in Kentucky. President Obama has spoken with Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley and approved his request for federal emergency assistance, including search and rescue teams. Tuscaloosa's mayor estimates "hundreds of homes and businesses (were) destroyed and hundreds more damaged" around the University of Alabama campus, reports the BBC, and the city's infrastructure has been devastated. "What we faced today was massive damage on a scale we have not seen in Tuscaloosa in quite some time," he told reporters.

Gutsy "American Idol" contestant Jessica Sanchez took on Whitney Houston's biggest hit, delivering a performance that awed the show's judges. In this March 1, 2012 image released by Fox, the remaining 13 contestants from the singing competition series, "American Idol," are shown in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Fox, Michael Becker) (Associated Press) When host Ryan Seacrest asked the panel to name Wednesday night's top two singers among the 13 finalists, Steven Tyler was ready. "Jessica Sanchez and Jessica Sanchez," Tyler said. The 16-year-old San Diego high school student's assured version of "I Will Always Love You" was "just amazing. I don't even know what to say," Jennifer Lopez exclaimed during the performance show. "Jessica, you may be the one. You just made 40 million people cry," Tyler said (adding a dose of hyperbole by roughly doubling the show's biggest Wednesday night audience for the season so far). Randy Jackson didn't hold back either, calling Sanchez "one of the best talents in the whole country." On the Fox show's 400th episode, the men tackled Stevie Wonder's catalogue and the women choose from Houston's hits, a tribute to the singer who died Feb. 11, on the eve of the Grammy Awards, at age 48. "I Will Always Love You" was played at the conclusion of Houston's New Jersey church funeral last month. The "American Idol" finalists performed as the Fox show marked its 400th episode. In a twist, the male and female singers who rank lowest in the audience vote will be announced Thursday and the judges will decide which of the two will be bounced. Others who impressed the judges included Joshua Ledet, 19, of Westlake, La., with his version of "I Wish"; Hollie Cavanaugh, 18, of McKinney, Texas, with "All the Man I Need," Colton Dixon, 20, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., with "Lately," and Phillip Phillips, 21, of Leesburg, Ga., with "Superstition." Areosmith frontman Tyler offered Phillips an intriguingly enigmatic review. "You're a very interesting character, man. You got a lot of `fuhgeddaboutit' in your voice. There's no words for it. You just are. You know what I'm saying," Tyler said. Skylar Laine's version of "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" was another standout. "You're a country girl .... But what you just proved, you can sing any song," Jackson told the 18-year-old from Brandon, Miss. The judges were not uniformly kind. Elise Testone, 28, of Charleston, S.C., who performed "I'm Your Baby Tonight," fell short with the panel, which praised her talent but not what Lopez called her "unsure" performance. Shannon Magrane, 16, of Tampa, Fla., let her nerves get in the way on "I Have Nothing," Jackson said, and Tyler suggested she might be in trouble in the audience vote. ___ Fox is a unit of News Corp. ___ Online: http://www.americanidol.com

– Sixteen-year-old Jessica Sanchez "made 40 million people cry" last night when she performed Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" on American Idol, judge Steven Tyler told her. The San Diego high school student enjoyed a standing ovation after her performance and reaped praise from all three judges; Randy Jackson called her "one of the best talents in the whole country." Last night's Idol featured Stevie Wonder songs for the male contestants and Houston songs for the females, the AP notes. In other Idol news, Vulture notes that first-season winner Kelly Clarkson has signed on to "ABC's version of Idol," a talent competition called Duets that involves famous singers searching the country for amateur musical partners.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2013 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert due to concerns that illness caused by strains of Salmonella Heidelberg are associated with raw chicken products produced by Foster Farms at three facilities in California. “FSIS is unable to link the illnesses to a specific product and a specific production period,” the agency said in an emailed alert. In its statement, FSIS said: Raw products from the facilities in question bear one of the establishment numbers inside a USDA mark of inspection or elsewhere on the package: “P6137” “P6137A” “P7632” The products were mainly distributed to retail outlets in California, Oregon and Washington State. This public health alert is being issued after an estimated 278 illnesses were recently reported in 18 states, predominantly in California. “The outbreak is continuing.” (Updates to this post are at the bottom.) The investigations indicate that consumption of Foster Farms brand chicken and other brand chicken produced at Foster Farms plants are the likely source of this outbreak of Salmonella Heidelberg infections. Illnesses were linked to Foster Farms brand chicken through epidemiologic, laboratory and traceback investigations conducted by local, state, and federal officials. The Centers for Disease Control, which monitors the microbes that signal multi-state outbreaks of food poisoning, was working with a barebones staff because of the federal government shutdown, with all but two of the 80 staffers that normally analyze foodborne pathogens furloughed. Consumption of food contaminated with Salmonella can cause salmonellosis, one of the most common bacterial foodborne illnesses. Gore also said people need to thoroughly wash their hands after handling raw meat, and anyone who believes they were infected and is showing symptoms like diarrhea and abdominal cramps should contact doctors immediately.

– A salmonella outbreak involving chicken has sickened about 300 people in 18 states, most of them in California, reports the AP. Authorities issued an alert for chicken packaged at one of three Foster Farms operations in California with a USDA mark of P6137, P6137A, or P7632. Here's the fun part: The CDC has a skeletal staff because of the government shutdown. "That means that the lab work and molecular detection that can link far-apart cases and define the size and seriousness of outbreaks are not happening," writes Maryn McKenna at Wired. The government alert is here.

In this photo taken by Alexey Avanesyan, Alexander Kuznetsov, Russian rapper also known as Husky waits for a court hearing in Krasnodar, Russia, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018. The Russian rapper is facing two... (Associated Press) In this photo taken by Alexey Avanesyan, Alexander Kuznetsov, Russian rapper also known as Husky waits for a court hearing in Krasnodar, Russia, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018. The Russian rapper is facing two weeks in jail for performing on a car after prosecutors banned his gig for going against the government.... (Associated Press) MOSCOW (AP) — A popular Russian rapper was sentenced Thursday to 12 days in jail for performing on a car after prosecutors banned his gig. Husky, who has a wide following among young Russians with his videos scoring up to 6 million views on YouTube, was arrested Wednesday. A court in the southern city of Krasnodar sentenced Husky on charges of hooliganism. The 25-year-old rapper, known for his songs mocking authorities and police brutality, was due to perform in Krasnodar when local prosecutors warned the venue that his act had elements of what they termed "extremism." Russian authorities have in recent years used the vaguely worded law on extremism to go after Kremlin critics and dissenters. Wednesday's gig was moved to another club, where the power was shut off and Husky's fans poured outside. Videos posted online showed the rapper, whose real name is Dmitry Kuznetsov, reading his verses on top of a car with the fans chanting in unison. Police officers let him finish the song and then detained him, but had trouble driving away as crowds of fans blocked the police vehicle, demanding his release. Police eventually persuaded them to disperse. Local police also said that the owner of the car on which Husky performed filed a complaint for property damage, a charge that may carry a longer prison term. It wasn't immediately clear if authorities were going to press those charges. The rapper told the court that he was forced to perform on the street because his concert had been canceled without explanation. He said he was willing to pay compensation for any damage to the vehicle. "I acted in such a way because I faced a situation when I felt an obligation to talk to the people who had bought tickets," he told the court. Husky's black-and-white videos mock a political regime that expects tacit compliance from its citizens. A new wave of Russian rap musicians is widely credited for channeling young Russians' frustration with the political system and lack of economic prospects. Authorities in other Russian regions have also moved to ban Husky's gigs. Husky said in a social media post last month that officials in several Russian cities are pressuring venues to shut down his shows because his songs allegedly offend Christian believers and promote promiscuity. ___ Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

– A popular Russian rapper was sentenced Thursday to 12 days in jail for performing on a car after prosecutors banned his gig. Husky, who has a wide following among young Russians with his videos scoring up to 6 million views on YouTube, was arrested Wednesday. A court in the southern city of Krasnodar sentenced Husky on charges of hooliganism. The 25-year-old rapper, known for his songs mocking authorities and police brutality, was due to perform in Krasnodar when local prosecutors warned the venue that his act had elements of what they termed "extremism." Russian authorities have in recent years used the vaguely worded law on extremism to go after Kremlin critics and dissenters, reports the AP. Wednesday's gig was moved to another club, where the power was shut off and Husky's fans poured outside. Videos posted online showed the rapper, whose real name is Dmitry Kuznetsov, reading his verses on top of a car with the fans chanting in unison. Police officers let him finish the song and then detained him. Local police also said that the owner of the car on which Husky performed filed a complaint for property damage, a charge that may carry a longer prison term. It wasn't immediately clear if authorities were going to press those charges. The rapper told the court that he was forced to perform on the street because his concert had been canceled without explanation. He said he was willing to pay compensation for any damage to the vehicle. "I acted in such a way because I faced a situation when I felt an obligation to talk to the people who had bought tickets," he told the court.

Washington, DC (July 21, 2014) - It seems common practice. After a long day at work, sometimes you just want to turn on the TV or play a video game to relax, decompress. This is supposed to make you feel better. But, a recent study published in the Journal of Communication, by researchers at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany, and VU University Amsterdam, found that people who had high stress levels after work and engaged in television viewing or video game play didn't feel relaxed or recovered, but had high levels of guilt and feelings of failure. Leonard Reinecke (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz) and Tilo Hartmann and Allison Eden, (VU University Amsterdam) surveyed 471 participants to think about the preceding day and report how they had felt after work and what media they had used. The researchers found that people who were particularly fatigued after work or school showed a higher tendency to feel that their media use was a form of procrastination. They felt that they succumbed to their desire of using media instead of taking care of more important tasks. As a result, they had a higher risk of feeling guilty about their media use. These feelings of guilt diminished the positive effects of media use and reduced recovery and vitality after media use. The results also suggest a paradoxical pattern between depletion and media-induced recovery: Those depleted individuals who could have benefitted the most from recovery through media use, instead experienced lower levels of recovery because they took their media use as a sign of their own self-control failure. Prior research has shown that the use of entertaining media produces a "recovery experience", that helps us to psychologically detach from work stress and relax, but also provides mastery experience (e.g., when you beat a computer game or watch a thought-provoking movie) and a feeling of control during leisure time. As a result, people feel energized and more vital after media use and even show stronger cognitive performance thanks to media-induced recovery. "We are beginning to better understand that media use can have beneficial effects for people's well-being, through media-induced recovery. Our present study is an important step towards a deeper understanding of this. It demonstrates that in the real life, the relationship between media use and well-being is complicated and that the use of media may conflict with other, less pleasurable but more important duties and goals in everyday life," said Reinecke. "We are starting to look at media use as a cause of depletion. In times of smartphones and mobile Internet, the ubiquitous availability of content and communication often seems to be a burden and a stressor rather than a recovery resource." ### "The Guilty Couch Potato: The Role of Ego Depletion in Reducing Recovery Through Media Use," by Leonard Reinecke, Tilo Hartmann and Allison Eden; Journal of Communication Contact: To schedule an interview with the author or a copy of the research, please contact John Paul Gutierrez, jpgutierrez@icahdq.org. About ICA

– It seems natural to reach for the remote to take a breather after a taxing day of conference calls and TPS reports, but a new study warns that especially work-weary folks who flick on the TV or play video games may feel incredibly guilty and like failures afterward, reports the Independent. Instead of letting the media do its ostensible job of mitigating any 9-to-5 stress, scientists found that certain “ego-depleted individuals” regard these activities as procrastination from more critical tasks and fault themselves for a lack of self-control. The German and Dutch researchers asked 471 subjects to talk about how they felt after their 9-to-5 toil the previous day, as well as what media they used to veg out, according to a post at Eureka Alert. Even though the study’s authors say that media has been shown in previous research to offer a “recovery experience” for stressed-out working stiffs, this survey seems to indicate the opposite: that worn-out workers who could probably use a decompression session of Orange Is the New Black the most end up feeling like the biggest losers because they think they should be reading Crime and Punishment or cleaning out the garage instead. “In times of smartphones and mobile Internet, the ubiquitous availability of content and communication often seems to be a burden and a stressor rather than a recovery resource,” says one of the co-authors. (Click to read how food can affect your stress level, too.)

China was once again the world's top executioner in 2016, according to a report by rights group Amnesty International. (AFP/Getty Images) The United States was among the world's 10 largest executioners in 2016, coming in at No. 7, according to a new report. The U.S. dropped out of the top five global executioners for the first time in a decade. The country executed 20 people in 2016, the lowest number since 1991. In its annual death penalty report, "Death Sentences and Executions 2016," rights group Amnesty International found at least 1,032 people were executed in 23 countries in 2016, not including figures from China. The total figure represents a 37 percent decease from 2015, when the group recorded 1,634 executions in 25 countries. Execution methods worldwide in 2016 involved beheading, shooting, lethal injection and hanging. China was once again the world's top executioner, according to the group. While the country doesn't publish any figures on the death penalty, "available information indicates that thousands of people are executed and sentenced to death in China every year," the report says. James Clark, senior death penalty campaigner for Amnesty International USA, says the group uses multiple sources, including news reports and accounts from family members, to produce its estimates. In descending order, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan followed China to complete the top five countries that recorded the greatest number of executions. If China is excluded, those four nations comprised about 90 percent of all executions worldwide, the report said. Iran alone accounted for 55 percent of all executions, though executions in the country dropped by 42 percent from the previous year. Countries that rounded out the top 10 executioners included Egypt (No. 6), the U.S. (No. 7), Somalia (No. 8), Bangladesh (No. 9) and Afghanistan (No. 10). Egypt and Bangladesh doubled the number of executions in 2016 and Iraq more than tripled its number of capital punishments. While the number of executions in the U.S. fell in 2016, the country was still the only nation to execute anyone in all of the Americas. The number of countries carrying out executions has decreased in recent decades. While 23 countries executed people in 2016, in 1997, 40 countries did so, according to the report. In total, 104 countries have abolished the death penalty in law for all crimes. In 1997, only 64 countries were fully abolitionist. "Countries all over the world are seeing that the death penalty doesn't work," Clark says. "It doesn't provide the safety or deterrent factors people claim that it does. It's a clear violation of human rights to execute anyone and that is being recognized more and more around the world."

– The US is no longer one of the top five executioners in the world, AFP reports. In 2016, both death sentences and executions dropped in the US; only 20 people were put to death, which dropped the US to the No. 7 spot globally, per US News & World Report. And just 32 people were sentenced to death, the lowest number since 1973. Amnesty International, which reported the news, is hailing the trend, with the secretary general of the human rights organization calling it "a sign of hope for activists who have long campaigned for an end to capital punishment." And it's not just the US—globally, there has been a 37% decline in the death penalty since 2015, the year that saw the highest recorded number of executions worldwide (1,634) since 1989. But China, which keeps its numbers secret, was not included in Amnesty's tally. "China wants to be a leader on the world stage, but when it comes to the death penalty it is leading in the worst possible way—executing more people annually than any other country in the world," the organization states, calling on the country to start publicizing its numbers. Amnesty says China is the biggest executioner in the world, followed by Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Pakistan. But two of those, Iran and Pakistan, saw significant drops in the number of executions (42% and 73% respectively) in 2016.

A private company based in Delray Beach, Fla., Alfred Angelo sold its dresses at 1,400 other retailers, in addition to operating its own stores, according to its website. All of the stores posted “closed” signs, directing customers to contact Stearns, Weaver via email at predmond@stearnsweaver.com for more information. Top creditors of Alfred Angelo, the main company, are Czech Asset Management of Connecticut, a portfolio company, for $54 million; and CardConnect, a credit card processor for up to $5 million, Redmond said. With dream wedding dresses for every style, size, and budget, plus bridesmaid dresses in sizes 0–30, David's Bridal can ensure that every bride has the wedding of her dreams. Alfred Angelo’s failure led Alex Pacifico and her co-workers at the company’s bridal store near Dayton, Ohio, to spend Thursday essentially running a guerrilla retail operation. Nora Ares, an employee at nearby Bijou Bridal & Special Occasion store, said she would often refer customers to Alfred Angelo. David’s Bridal said it will offer a 30 percent discounts on replacement wedding gowns to those with an Alfred Angelo receipt and 20 percent discounts for bridesmaid dresses. took a higher than usual volume of calls, many from affected Alfred Angelo customers in search of replacement wedding or bridesmaid dresses, said store manager Heather Dadic.

– Wedding dress retailer Alfred Angelo shuttered stores nationwide on Friday, sending brides-to-be into a panic. The Sun Sentinel reports the Florida-based company filed for bankruptcy protection after failing to find a buyer. The chain has at least 60 shops in the US, and its dresses are sold in more than 1,400 spots worldwide. Little information was available for angry brides who vented on social media after finding they were shut out of shops holding their gowns. "I'm glad orange is my wedding color because I'm gonna be married in jail if I can't get my dresses," one woman tweeted. Alfred Angelo hasn’t commented, but company lawyer Patricia Redmond tells the Sun Sentinel she has been bombed with more than 3,500 emails from worried brides. Redmond says the chain will work with a court-appointed trustee to release all the gowns in the shops. With her wedding a week away, Yadira Castro, 27, was no doubt hoping that was the case. "I don’t have the money to buy a new dress," she tells the newspaper, after paying $1,200 for an ensemble featuring a gown inspired by the Disney character Princess Jasmine. Some customers blamed Alfred Angelo workers for not being honest, but one mother tells the New York Times an employee in the Houston shop found her daughter’s dress and "gave us one hour" to pick it up Friday morning. "We have a happy ending," she says. Meanwhile, competitors liked David's Bridal rushed to offer discounts and alterations for betrayed brides and bridesmaids. (This wedding registry is not for everyone.)

"People have a real lack of understanding of the struggles that many families have to go through — hard working families that play by the rules," Booker said when he first set up the challenge last week. This is the financial equivalent of the budget provided to people participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, in the State of New Jersey. In my own quest to better understand the outcomes of SNAP assistance, I suggested to this specific Twitter user that we both live on a SNAP equivalent food budget for a week and document our experience. My goals for the #SNAPChallenge are to raise awareness and understanding of food insecurity; reduce the stigma of SNAP participation; elevate innovative local and national food justice initiatives and food policy; and, amplify compassion for individuals and communities in need of assistance. A Twitter user tweeted me her opinion that "nutrition is not the responsibility of the government".

– Cory Booker began his food stamp challenge yesterday, showing off his decidedly modest grocery haul for the week to the New Jersey Star-Ledger. The vegetarian mayor spent $29.78 on an assortment that included 17 cans of beans, seven yams, two bags of frozen vegetables, and two apples. "If I could go back and do it over again, I definitely would have gotten a dozen eggs and I would have clipped coupons," he says. Booker says he's hoping to foster compassion for people living on SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) food stamps, even as Congress considers cutting the program. "People have a real lack of understanding of the struggles that many families have to go through," he says. In a blog post about the challenge he says he's "doubling down on my commitment to the Food Justice Movement." He promised to document the experience on social media, and indeed, this morning he tweeted an image of his chickpea-and-lettuce breakfast.

It has now emerged that the same group, described by the restaurant owner as Roma from Romania, have a history of not paying their bill. The reservation for Feb. 27 in Bembibre, a town in northwestern Castile and Leon region, was to celebrate the christening of two boys with appetizers, pork chops, dessert and alcohol for 120 guests, said Rodriguez. They got in their cars and sped out," said Antonio Rodriguez, who was the first restaurateur to alert authorities after staff in his Carmen Hotel found themselves with an unpaid bill of 2,200 euros ($2,300). “Just after eating their desserts when I was on my way to make coffee, they all upped and left.” They left an outstanding bill of more than €10,000. The owners of El Rincón de Pepín, a restaurant in nearby Ponferrada believes they fell victim to the same fraudsters in February when a group of 200 wedding guests “stampeded” out of the dining room just before the coffees were served. "We had just served the cake and they left just like that, without insults, without being rude to us. “They had made a reservation for 100 but there was close to 200 people present,” one of the workers there told El Confidencial. On Monday, the Diario del Leon newspaper reported (in Spanish) that two ringleaders had been identified and that police were working to establish firm links between the two cases.

– All hail the new kings of the dine and dash. Authorities and restaurateurs in northwest Spain are on the lookout after a huge group of hungry people is suspected of skating out on massive bills around the region. One such incident happened Feb. 27 at the Carmen Hotel in Bembibre, where 120 diners were celebrating the christening of two boys, the AP reports. Owner Antonio Rodriguez says the diners racked up a $2,300 bill then left "in a stampede" before the cake showed up. According to the Local, the diners actually danced the conga out the door and to their cars. Rodriguez says it was like "something they'd planned," but there wasn't anything he could do "because these were huge men with muscles." Within days and a few miles of the Carmen Hotel incident, a wedding party of between 160 and 200 guests skipped out on a $10,600 bill at El Rincon de Pepin in Ponferrado. The guests reportedly went outside to set off celebratory fireworks after the meal but before coffee and never returned. "They didn't say anything," El Rincon de Pepin owner Laura Arias tells the BBC. "They just disappeared." It's believed the same group is responsible for both incidents, as well as a potential third. Authorities started investigating after restaurateurs claimed to have identified some of the dine-and-dashers through photos posted on Facebook. A man from Romania believed to be a ringleader has been arrested. (These dine-and-dashers allegedly hit their waitress with a car, too.)

A review of euthanasia or assisted suicide (EAS) cases among patients with psychiatric disorders in the Netherlands found that most had chronic, severe conditions, with histories of attempted suicides and hospitalizations, and were described as socially isolated or lonely, according to an article published online by JAMA Psychiatry. Design, Setting, and Participants This investigation reviewed psychiatric EAS case summaries made available online by the Dutch regional euthanasia review committees as of June 1, 2015. There were 66 summaries of psychiatric assisted suicide cases that took place between 2011 and 2014, representing the majority of assisted suicides involving psychiatric patients known to have occurred during that period. Of the 66 cases, 46 of them were women (70 percent); 32 percent of patients (n=21) were 70 or older; 44 percent (n=29) were 50 to 70 years old; and 24 percent (n=16) were 30 to 50 years old. While fully 55 percent of patients were diagnosed with depression, the others had a number of different conditions, including psychosis, posttraumatic stress disorder or anxiety, neurocognitive issues, pain without any physical cause, eating disorders, prolonged grief and autism. Consultation with other physicians was extensive but in 11 percent (n=7) of cases there was no independent psychiatric input and 24 percent (n=16) of cases involved disagreements among physicians. Euthanasia review committees found only one case failed to meet the criteria for legal due care among all 110 reported psychiatric EAS cases during 2011 to 2014, the study reports. Dr. Paul Applebaum writes in an accompanying editorial that the findings “raise serious concerns about the implementation of physician-assisted dying for psychiatric patients.” For example, over half of the cases also had personality disorders, which raises questions about “the stability of the expressed desires to die,” writes Applebaum, of the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University’s Department of Psychiatry in New York City.

– Euthanasia is itself not without controversy; the euthanasia or assisted suicide (EAS) of the mentally ill even more so. It's an infrequent practice but one on the rise in the Netherlands, which is thought to have seen no more than five such cases in 1997 but 42 in 2013. Still, "little is known" about these cases, write researchers in a report published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry. And so they reviewed the particulars of 66 patients who opted for EAS in the country from 2011 to 2014. Depression was the most common psychiatric disorder, but there was also psychosis, PTSD, and anxiety and long-term eating disorders (most had more than one condition). About half had attempted suicide; almost all had a comorbidity (ranging from cancer to arthritis), though the study calls out one healthy 70-year-old woman who simply found her life a "living hell" in the year after her husband's death. As for how they came to end their lives, "the reality of implementing such programs is messy," Reuters notes. In 32% of the cases, the patient had been refused EAS. The physicians for three of those 21 patients ultimately reversed their decisions; the other 18 got approval from a new physician. In 24% of the cases, there was physician disagreement, per a press release, and the New York Times points out that while most patients had long treatment histories, 56% had turned down at least some treatment. In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Paul S. Applebaum sees further "red flags," among them the 20% who had never been hospitalized for psychiatric reasons, the "ratio of women to men (2.3 to 1), and the 56% of cases in which social isolation or loneliness was important enough to be mentioned," raising "the concern that physician-assisted death served as a substitute for effective psychosocial intervention." (Belgium granted a depressed 24-year-old the right to die.)

With the impact of the horrific attack on a Connecticut elementary school still fresh, a grieving nation turns to an equally grief-stricken media in the hopes of making sense of this nightmare. What they find, though, is a lamentable parade of falsehoods and half-truths. With the true villain in this story having robbed the nation of its desire for revenge, media figures and politicians alike are casting about for an antagonist. Since Sunday, a target has emerged in violent video games, and an emotional media is venting their powerless anger on the entertainment industry. But to indict entertainment, and video games in particular, is a self-serving instinct and irresponsible broadcasting. A disturbing number of public figures have lashed out at video games since the atrocity committed at Sandy Hook Elementary on Friday. A bipartisan group of legislators embraced this scapegoating on the Sunday news programs; from Democrats like Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) to Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge. They were joined by members of the media – sadly, too many to count. On MSNBC on Monday, Chris Jansing asked her guests what connection Adam Lanza’s interest in video games had to his murderous shooting spree. She quoted senior White House advisor David Axelrod who tweeted “shouldn’t we also quit marketing murder as a game?” Liberal contributor Goldie Taylor revealed that she refused to let her child play games until he was 14-years-old. “Exposure to that kind of content is just simply not good for children,” Taylor said. “I think that it’s important to guard our children and keep them safe from some of these messages that are simply destructive.” She noted that music, movies, games, and even cartoons, are responsible for… something. On Fox & Friends on Monday, legal analyst Peter Johnson Jr. delivered an offensively sermonizing renunciation of entertainment producers and videogame makers who are “clinging to guns economically.” “They are glamorizing guns in this country. They are the scourge in terms of these guns,” Johnson Jr. said of game and filmmakers. “Guns can kill if people have evil intentions, but don’t tell our children that it’s acceptable to mow down people in malls, in churches, in schools, on the street – they don’t know better. They know what they’re taught. And we’re teaching them wrong.” “Death should not be the byproduct of our entertainment,” Johnson Jr. concluded. Johnson Jr. cites a study which purports to show prolonged exposure to violent video games over the course of three straight days made the subjects show “increases in aggressive behavior and hostile expectations.” But Johnson Jr. is guilty of cherry-picking data to support his conclusion. A 2009 study showed that video games which focus on driving make the subjects more aggressive than violent games in where the player is primarily shooting at targets. Another study showed that just thinking about violent video games can make males more aggressive. Given the ever-expanding target demographic for games, gun violence should be on the rise. In fact, the opposite is occurring. Violent crime, and gun crime in particular, has decreased as videogame playing has increased. Are the two conditions related – that is unlikely. Myriad factors are responsible for the decrease in violent crime; videogame proliferation is probably not among them. Likewise, there is no causal link between being a videogame player and exhibiting violent tendencies. The Economist tackled this subject in 2005, and the wisdom they committed to print still pertains: It’s the classic struggle of the old versus the new that has video games in policymakers’ crosshairs: “The opposition to gaming springs largely from the neophobia that has pitted the old against the entertainments of the young for centuries. Most gamers are under 40, and most critics are non-games-playing over-40s.” The horror that unfolded in Connecticut on Friday was an unspeakable atrocity. It was not, as some have said, a tragedy. Tragedies are so often beyond control, but gun violence is not an inevitable consequence of living in a free society. Politicians feel the need to do something — anything — in the wake of such a disaster to assuage the inevitable public cries for action. Media figures, however, have a different responsibility. Theirs mission is not to advocate but to inform – unfortunately, that kind of responsible broadcasting is fast becoming an anachronism on cable news. It is unlikely that any reasonable law would have prevented this attack without negatively impacting millions of law-abiding citizens. No amount of reverence for an almighty God would have made this killer think twice about his actions. No movie or videogame drove Lanza to murder 20 first graders in cold blood. Broadcasters used to feel it was their mission to speak these cold truths to their audiences when disaster struck, lest the electorate reach for emotionally-driven and overreaching remedies to jarring events. Today, broadcasters pull on emotional triggers and further aggravate their viewers with baseless scapegoating. I do not know if there is an immediate solution to that condition. Now that is a tragedy. > >Follow Noah Rothman (@Noah_C_Rothman) on Twitter Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com

– Everyone's talking about the need for gun control and mental health treatment in the wake of the Newtown school shooting, and Peggy Noonan is on board with reform in both areas. But there's a third area she thinks sorely needs to be addressed: "our national culture ... of death." Violent movies, TV shows, and video games have "a bad impact on the young and unstable who aren’t sturdy enough to withstand and resist sick messages and imagery," Noonan writes in the Wall Street Journal. Republicans can't get anything changed, because Hollywood doesn't respect them—but if President Obama "tells Hollywood it has made America sicker, Hollywood will be forced to listen." () But while Noonan isn't the only one blaming Hollywood, others aren't buying it: On Mediaite, Noah Rothman rounds up the "lamentable parade of falsehoods and half-truths" currently winding through the media. "To indict entertainment, and video games in particular, is a self-serving instinct and irresponsible broadcasting," he writes. In fact, violent crime—particularly gun crime—has gone down as video game playing has gone up. "No movie or video game drove Lanza to murder 20 first graders in cold blood," Rothman writes, and to blame the entertainment industry is "baseless scapegoating." () Quentin Tarantino feels similarly. He's apparently tired of having to defend his violent films: At a press conference for Django Unchained Saturday, he said, “I just think you know there's violence in the world, tragedies happen, blame the playmakers. It's a western. Give me a break." He added that only the perpetrators should be blamed, the Independent reports. Django saw its premiere tonight canceled in light of the shooting.

Indiana University mourns the passing of grad student and former rower Karlijn Keijzer July 18, 2014 EDITOR'S NOTE, 3 p.m. Friday, July 18, 2014: This release has been updated throughout. Please note: An earlier version mistakenly reported that Keijzer had received her master's degree from IU. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Karlijn Keijzer, a Dutch citizen who was a doctoral student in the Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington, was among the passengers on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which was shot down Thursday, July 17, over Ukraine, leaving no survivors. Keijzer, 25, also had been a member of the women’s rowing team during the 2011 season. “On behalf of the entire Indiana University community, I want to express my deepest sympathies to Karlijn’s family and friends over her tragic death,” Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie said. “Karlijn was an outstanding student and a talented athlete, and her passing is a loss to the campus and the university. Our hearts also go out to the families of all the victims of this senseless act.” "We are heartbroken by the tragic death of our student, Karlijn Keijzer," said Larry Singell, executive dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "Karlijn was, by all accounts, a bright star in the IU constellation, a gifted student and athlete, and a talented researcher with a passion for making the world better through science. This is a profoundly sad day in the College. We offer our deepest condolences to her family, colleagues and friends." In the chemistry department, Keijzer was part of a research team that uses large-scale computer simulations to study small-molecule reactions involving certain metals. She was co-author of a research article published this year in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. "Karlijn was a bright, talented doctoral student, a diligent researcher and a dear friend to all of us who worked with her in our research group," said her doctoral advisor, Mu-Hyun Baik, associate professor of chemistry and informatics. "She was a kind, happy young woman full of ideas about the future. She inspired us all with her optimism about how science will make Earth a better place." She also served as an associate instructor in the chemistry department, teaching introductory organic chemistry as well as 400-level courses in biochemistry and biosynthesis. "She worked on several research projects, all related to improving human health," Baik said. "The last piece of research work she completed before heading out to catch her flight to her short summer vacation was preparing a computer simulation on bryostatin, an anti-cancer drug and a promising drug candidate for treating Alzheimer's disease. "We are devastated and mourn the loss of a brilliant, beloved member of IU's chemistry family." "It's a very sad day for the department," added David Giedroc, professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry. "She had a lot of friends in the community, and they'll take this news very hard." Giedroc said he met Keijzer when she arrived at IU in 2010 and, over the years, watched her become part of an increasingly cohesive group of students. About 200 graduate students are in the department, and Keijzer was registered to take classes this fall. "She struck me right then as a very smart, very confident young woman who had a passion for science and for sports that we don't often see," he said. "She was always just a delightful individual." The "stroke" of Varsity 8 boat Keijzer was a member of IU’s Varsity 8 boat during the 2011 season, helping them to a 14-5 record. A talented rower in the Netherlands, she was recruited to row at IU even though she had only one year of eligibility. She earned Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete honors as well as Academic All-Big Ten accolades following the 2011 season. A decorated junior rower, Keijzer participated in the European Rowing Junior Championships in 2006 and the World Rowing Junior Championships in 2007. “The Indiana Rowing family is deeply saddened by the news of Karlijn’s sudden passing,” Indiana head rowing coach Steve Peterson said. “She came to us for one year as a graduate student and truly wanted to pursue rowing. Our condolences go out to her family and friends in this very tough time.” Her impact was impressive. “Karlijn was the ‘stroke’ of the Varsity 8 boat for us," Peterson said. "That is the person who sets the rhythm for the boat and everyone follows her. She was unquestionably the leader of the best boat we had that year. It was the first boat that got us into the national rankings and had a great season. It also helped propel our program towards the success that we had this past season, and we all know that we can trace it back to that boat that was led by Karlijn. “Academically, she was straight A student, so she was outstanding there. But her biggest strength was her personality on the team. Any picture she you see of her, she was always smiling or happy or joking around with someone. She was extremely supportive of her teammates and had a tremendous enthusiasm. She was exactly the type of student-athlete any coach would want on their team. Peterson said that when he met with Keijzer after she finished her eligibility, all she wanted to talk about was the future of the rowing program. “She knew that we were headed in the right direction, and she was genuinely excited about it. Then this past year, we saw that come to fruition and she contacted me and said ‘I told you so.’ So she was as excited as anyone else for us as a program and the success we had.”

– Just one American was among the 298 killed on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, but also among the victims was an Indiana University doctoral student. Karlijn Keijzer, a 25-year-old Dutch citizen, was a chemistry researcher and, in 2011, a member of the women's rowing team. "Karlijn was, by all accounts, a bright star in the IU constellation, a gifted student and athlete, and a talented researcher with a passion for making the world better through science," says the executive dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in a press release. "This is a profoundly sad day in the College." She came to IU in 2010, and was currently a member of a chemistry research team and an associate instructor in the chemistry department. Under NCAA rules, Keijzer was only eligible to row for one year, but that was enough to make an impact on the head women's rowing coach. He tells Time she was one of the best he's coached in three decades, and she helped propel the school on the path that took it to the NCAA championships for the first time this season. She was registered for classes this fall, but was en route for a summer vacation in Indonesia with her boyfriend when she was killed. The American killed on the flight, 19-year-old Quinn Schansman, was born in the US but spent most of his life in the Netherlands while keeping his dual citizenship, the New York Times reports. A business student and soccer player, he was on his way to meet his family for a vacation in Indonesia, where his grandfather was born.

Holmes, who has one child with Cruise, six-year-old daughter Suri, filed for divorce on June 28 after nearly six years of marriage. “John insists that neither he nor his wife, Kelly Pres­ton, would ever give up on their marriage so quickly.” AND if anyone’s marriage had been tested recently, it’s Travolta’s.

– By all accounts, Katie Holmes "won" when it came to her divorce settlement with Tom Cruise—but that doesn't mean Tom can't get a little satisfaction of his own. Cruise's plan is to totally spoil 6-year-old daughter Suri, thus thoroughly annoying Holmes. "While she’s trying to instill a routine and introduce more discipline, Tom could swoop in with a fun-only policy," a source tells Look magazine in an article picked up by Australia's News Network. Cruise recently took Suri on a helicopter ride and, reportedly, bought her a bunch of designer clothes and shoes. He may even move to New York City to be closer to his daughter, a source tells Grazia. "Until now, Scientology has been a very LA-centric movement, but another reason Tom will be keen to relocate … is to focus on developing the church in Manhattan." Speaking of the church, fellow Scientologist John Travolta is disgusted by Cruise's "weak" behavior, believing he "rolled over" in the aforementioned divorce settlement and failed to "man up," thus making "a laughingstock" of Scientology, a source tells the National Enquirer. And what is Holmes up to? Well, she canceled her first public appearance since the split, a red carpet walk at an event for a foundation that promotes dance education, which Holmes co-founded. "Her security team had concerns about the situation, especially the daytime event given it was being held in a public park," a source tells Celebuzz. Meanwhile, TMZ is very, very excited that not just one but both halves of the former couple actually spoke to its photographers. Click to see what Katie said or what Tom said.

Charlie ridiculed my faith and culture and I died defending his right to do so.” Another policeman, 48-year-old Franck Brinsolaro, was killed moments earlier in the assault on Charlie Hebdo where he was responsible for the protection of its editor, Stéphane Charbonnier, one of the 11 killed in the building. “They’re out there with AK47s, the weapons of war.” On Thursday, a 25-year-old police officer, Clarissa Jean-Philippe, was killed in an attack in the south Paris suburb of Montrouge.

– Ahmed Merabet was "slaughtered like a dog" in the street by the Charlie Hebdo gunmen, the police union says—but the slain officer is being mourned as a hero. The 40-year-old, who is believed to have been a Muslim, pulled out his weapon when he encountered the gunmen outside the newspaper's offices and was shot in the groin when they emerged from their car, the Guardian reports. In video footage that shocked France, one gunman approached him as he lay on the sidewalk and shot him in the head. Merabet's parents are Muslim immigrants from Tunisia, although it's not clear whether he practiced the religion himself, and police say his family doesn't want media attention, reports the Wall Street Journal. Merabet, an eight-year veteran of the force, "was killed in a cowardly way by people who had misinterpreted their sacred text," a police union spokesman says. "Yet he himself was from an immigrant background." The #JeSuisAhmed hashtag has sprung up on social media alongside #JeSuisCharlie, and some are praising the officer as a symbol of the fight for free speech, reports the New York Times. Franck Brinsolaro, the officer assigned to protect Charlie Hebdo's editor, was also killed in the attack, and colleagues say he never had a chance to pull his weapon. A policewoman in south Paris was shot dead yesterday in what authorities believe was an unrelated attack, although the gunman is still at large.

This image illustrates how the study participants learned about the habitat and the diet of eight animals, such as the cytar (not its real zoological name). The set of habitat brain regions (A-green) and diet (B-red and blue) regions where the new knowledge was stored. (L refers to left hemisphere of the brain.) Courtesy of Carnegie Mellon University Cutting-edge brain imaging technology has offered the first glimpse into how new concepts develop in the human brain. The research, carried out at Carnegie Mellon University and published in Human Brain Mapping, involved teaching people a new concept and observing how it was coded in the same areas of the brain through neural representations. The "olinguito" -- a largely fruit-eating carnivore species that lives in rainforest treetops, newly discovered in 2013 -- was initially used as a concept. Marcel Just, a professor of cognitive neuroscience in the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, commented: "When people learned that the olinguito eats mainly fruit instead of meat, a region of their left inferior frontal gyrus -- as well as several other areas -- stored the new information according to its own code." The findings revealed that this new knowledge of the olinguito was encoded in exactly the same parts of the brain by everyone who learned it, indicating that the brain may operate its own kind of universal filing system. In the latest research, 16 study participants were taught information about the diet and dwelling habits of eight extinct animals, in order to study the growth of the neural representations of these concepts in their brains. Drawing on the previous findings, the team predicted where this new knowledge would be stored. Just and Andrew Bauer, lead author of the study, then used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor these concepts emerging in the brain, and found that each new concept developed its own "unique activation signature". This allowed a computer program to effectively work out which of the eight animals a participant was thinking about at any given time -- essentially allowing the scientists to read their minds. Don't miss Interestingly, the animals with close similarities (such as habitat) had closely matched activation signatures, and once a property of an animal had been learned, it stayed intact in the brain even after new ones had been taught -- providing a new insight into the neural durability of the things we learn. Bauer commented: "Each time we learn something, we permanently change our brains in a systematic way. It was exciting to see our study successfully implant the information about extinct animals into the expected locations in the brain's filing system." It's hoped that the research may be able to help shape future teaching methods in schools, and also give a clearer picture of how knowledge is "lost" as a result of serious brain injuries and conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

– Scientists using cutting-edge brain imaging technology finally know how that new idea pops into your head and may even be able to read the thought by looking at your brain. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University observed 16 participants' brains as they learned about the habitat and eating habits of eight extinct animals, Wired reports. As participants underwent a one-hour, mini-tutorial on the animals, functional magnetic resonance imaging showed changes in specific parts of the brain, along with a "unique activation signature" for each animal. Incredibly, a computer program was then able to determine which animal a participant was thinking about just from observing their brain. In other words, scientists could read the participants' minds. "Each time we learn something, we permanently change our brains in a systematic way," says the lead author, whose research is published in Human Brain Mapping. For example, anyone who read about the discovery of the olinguito "permanently changed their own brains," a researcher explains in a press release. "When people learned that the olinguito eats mainly fruit instead of meat, a region of their left inferior frontal gyrus—as well as several other areas—stored the new information according to its own code." Animals with similar diets or habitats elicited similar activation signatures, and a property of an animal stayed in the brain once it was learned, even after several new animals were introduced, suggesting a neural durability of the subjects we learn. Researchers say the study could help develop new teaching methods and give insights into how knowledge is supposedly erased due to conditions like dementia. (Check out the gruesome way a tribe became immune to brain disease.)

Reaction to Harriet Tubman, a Civil War-era abolitionist, replacing Andrew Jackson on the front of the $20 was widely positive. Tubman replacing Jackson on the $20, Hamilton spared Treasury Secretary Jack Lew reverses a plan to bump Hamilton after receiving fierce blowback. Harriet Tubman will bump Andrew Jackson from the front of the $20 bill while Alexander Hamilton will stay put on the $10 — a historic move that gives a woman prime placement on U.S. currency and quells a controversy kicked up by Hamilton super-fans. “Today, I’m excited to announce that for the first time in more than a century, the front of our currency will feature the portrait of a woman, Harriet Tubman, on the $20 note,” Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told reporters during a conference call Wednesday afternoon. “Her incredible story of courage and commitment to equality embody the ideals of democracy that our nation celebrates, and we’ll continue to value her legacy by honoring her on our currency.” Story Continued Below Lew rolled out sweeping changes that will put a new cast of historic figures onto various bills that have remained largely static for decades. Leaders of the women’s suffrage movement will make their way onto the back of the $10 bill, while civil rights era leaders and other important moments in American history will be incorporated into the $5 bill. Jackson will be kicked to the back of the $20 bill. The plan is a major reversal for Lew, who appeared taken aback by the swift rebukes Treasury received last summer when he announced that he was considering replacing Hamilton on the $10 bill with a woman. While he explained that Hamilton was on the chopping block as a matter of practicality – the $10 bill was the next one up for a redesign – Lew still got an earful from fans of Hamilton, who helped create the Treasury Department and the modern American financial system. Critics immediately called for Lew to take Jackson off the $20 bill instead, given the former president's role in moving Native Americans off their land. Lew told POLITICO last July that Treasury was exploring ways to respond to critics. “There are a number of options of how we can resolve this,” Lew said. “We’re not taking Alexander Hamilton off our currency.” But supporters of putting a woman on the $10 bill have complained that it will take too long for the $20 bill to come up for a redesign. Lew has predicted that the new bills will be unveiled in 2020 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. On the call on Wednesday, Lew said he would try and make the changes quickly. “The two things most important are the security of our money and getting this process to move as quickly as possible,” he said. “Due to security needs, the redesigned $10 note is scheduled to go into circulation next,” Lew said. “I’ve directed the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to work closely with the Federal Reserve to accelerate work on the new $20 and $5 notes. Our goal is to have all three new notes go into circulation as quickly as possible, while ensuring that we protect against counterfeiting through effective and sophisticated production.” The movement to keep Hamilton on the $10 bill was fueled by academics but gathered strength after the Broadway musical named after the former Treasury secretary and founding father became a smash hit. “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda even directly lobbied Lew last month on Hamilton’s behalf, after which Miranda said Lew told him “you’re going to be very happy” with the redesign plan. Reaction to Tubman, a Civil War-era abolitionist, replacing Jackson on the front of the $20 was widely positive, with Democratic presidential candidates quickly hailing Treasury’s decision. “A woman, a leader, and a freedom fighter,” Hillary Clinton tweeted. “I can’t think of a better choice for the $20 bill than Harriet Tubman.” Bernie Sanders concurred, tweeting roughly 30 minutes later that he “cannot think of an American hero more deserving of this honor than Harriet Tubman.” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) tweeted that it was “great news!” “Tubman on $20 is the right call,” she added. “The redesign needs to happen as soon as possible. Women have waited long enough.” Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), who introduced the “Put a Woman on the Twenty Act in Congress” last year in the House (Shaheen introduced a similar bill in the Senate), also commended the decision Wednesday. “There has been a lot of talk about putting a woman’s portrait on our money, but finally it sounds like Secretary Lew is putting our money where his mouth is,” Gutiérrez said in a prepared statement. “It is crazy that women have been mostly absent from our money up until now, with only a few exceptions.” Conservatives also supported the selection of Tubman for the $20 bill. National Review writer Charles C.W. Cooke tweeted: “Given the sheer number of blows that Tubman struck for liberty, she belongs on the currency more than most. Good choice.” Former Republican presidential candidate and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, however, expressed his love for Tubman and what she accomplished but suggested that placing her on the $2 bill would be a more appropriate honor. Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander on Wednesday expressed dissatisfaction with the decision to move Jackson, arguing that history shouldn't pit the former president against the anti-slavery activist. “United States history is not Andrew Jackson versus Harriet Tubman,” he said in a statement. “It is Andrew Jackson and Harriet Tubman, both heroes of a nation’s work in progress toward great goals. It is unnecessary to diminish Jackson in order to honor Tubman.” Historians and policy wonks weighed in as well, sharing praise for the compromise. “[Hamilton] is fully appropriate to be on American currency, whereas Jackson was a scoundrel, a slave holder and a white supremacist who was involved in the removal of Indians and was completely opposed to paper money and was horrible to women,” said Kari Winter, director of the gender institute at the University at Buffalo. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, a fellow at the Brookings Institute, last year railed against the initial plan, saying he was “appalled” Hamilton would be yanked. On Wednesday, he called the new plan “a good one,” noting that it fell in line with what he recommended. “Tubman is an excellent and deserving choice, and no one has a better claim to be represented on the currency than Hamilton, who did so much to help establish the American economic system we know today,” he wrote in a blog post. Bernanke also advised that Treasury, similar to the U.S. Postal Service, should redesign bills more frequently. “Occasional changes to bill design would give us more space and flexibility to honor the past; and, if done at reasonable intervals, could coincide with necessary security improvements as well,” he said. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen also commended the move. "Throughout American history, women have made important contributions to the free and democratic society we enjoy today," Yellen said in a statement. "I welcome the decision by the Treasury Department to honor these achievements. The Federal Reserve will work with Treasury on a design that also incorporates strong security features to protect worldwide users of U.S. currency." White House deputy press secretary Jennifer Friedman said President Barack Obama was both pleased with Americans' enthusiasm around the whole process and the end result. "The President welcomes Secretary Lew's important announcement that our next currency will honor the contributions that women and civil rights leaders have made to our country, celebrate our democracy and reflect the rich history of the United States and the struggles for freedom and equal rights," Friedman said. And it’s not just the faces that are changing on the bills. U.S. Treasurer Rosie Rios told reporters on the call that the new currency will include additional security features. “For the first time in our history, our currency will also include a new tech-help feature intended to aid the blind and the visually impaired,” Rios said. “This is a new, complex and critical, important element in the production of modern U.S. currency.”

– Earlier rumors had it that Treasury Secretary Jack Lew was soon to announce a major change to the new $10 bill—specifically, that a woman would replace Alexander Hamilton as the main mug. Instead, sources tell Politico, Lew is expected to announce Wednesday that abolitionist Harriet Tubman is going on the $20 bill, kicking President Andrew Jackson to the back of the bill. Hamilton is staying put, and that leaders of the women's suffrage movement will be put on the back of the sawbuck. Prominent figures from the civil rights movement will also get a spot on the $5 bill. Initial discussion to kick Hamilton to the currency curb was met with resistance, including from ex-Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke, who said he was "appalled" at dishonoring the "best and most foresighted economic policymaker in US history." And a women's advocacy group pointed out last year that a) people are more likely to have a $20 bill in their wallet than a $10 bill, and b) Jackson had a terrible rep for his brutal role in removing Native Americans from their land. If confirmed, Tubman would be the first African-American and the second woman to appear on US paper currency, per the Palm Beach Post. That other woman? Martha Washington, who appeared on a $1 silver note in the 1880s and '90s, per the Atlantic. (Maybe Hamilton's Pulitzer held some sway?)

Phillip Savopoulos (Photo: Facebook) LATEST UPDATE: Suspect identified in NW DC quadruple homicide WASHINGTON (WUSA9) -- Law enforcement sources tell WUSA9 that an assistant dropped a package filled with $40,000 in cash before four people were killed inside a D.C. mansion that was then set on fire. A source also says detectives believe the killers tortured Phillip Savopoulos, 10, as they tried to force his father to come up with the cash. On May 14, Phillip Savopoulos was found dead, along with his parents, 46-year-old Savvas and 47-year-old Amy Savopoulos, and housekeeper Veralicia Figuaroa, 57, at a mansion on Woodland Drive near the National Cathedral. Savvas and Amy Savopoulos (Photo: Anonymous) Detectives believe the killers held the four victims captive for about 10 hours, and that they successfully forced the Savopoulos family to get them the money. NEW: Killers in DC mansion murders took $40,000 cash. @wusa9 — Bruce Leshan (@BruceLeshan) May 20, 2015 Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier has confirmed that three of the four victims were beaten or stabbed before the killers set fire to the almost $5 million mansion. At one point, the killers may have ordered pizza. Two clerks at a Domino's Pizza tell WUSA9 that a delivery person came to the house. Figuaroa's husband, Bernado Alfaro, reportedly went to the mansion on Thursday morning to look for his wife. He said he thought someone was home, but no one answered the door. A short time later, Savvas Savopoulos contacted Alfaro saying he needed Figuaroa to stay at the house because Amy Savopoulos was sick and might need to go to the hospital. Alfaro told CBS News that that made little sense to him because his wife cannot drive nor speak English well. Hours later, Alfaro heard that the family had been murdered, WUSA9's Bruce Leshan reported. There were a lot of video cameras around the house, but the only video police have been able to release is a shadowy tape of a figure running, apparently near the scene where a suspect torched the Savopoulos' Porsche on Annapolis Road in Prince George's County. Funeral services for the Savopoulos family are scheduled for May 25 at noon at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral. The viewing will be the night before. The Savopoulos' also have two daughters, but both were away at boarding school during the murders. WANTED: Police released surveillance video of a person of interest PREVIOUS: DC police continue investigation into quadruple murder Read or Share this story: http://on.wusa9.com/1Sd4rCN

– Whoever killed four people in a DC mansion appears to have gotten away with at least $40,000 in cash. The Washington Post reports that an assistant to businessman Savvas Savopoulos dropped off a package with that amount at his home last Thursday while the family and a housekeeper were being held captive. It's not clear whether the assistant knew the package contained money, why he dropped it off, or whether he had any inkling that anything was amiss. Hours later, the mansion was in flames, and firefighters found the bodies of Savopoulos, wife Amy, their 10-year-old son Philip, and housekeeper Veralicia Figueroa. Investigators think the four had been held for about 10 hours. In fact, WUSA9 reports that two Domino's clerks say a delivery person brought a pizza to the house at some point during that stretch. The station is floating the theory, based on an anonymous source, that the killers coerced Savopoulos into coming up with money. Authorities haven't said much about how the victims died, only that three had wounds. DC police chief Cathy Lanier says detectives are "passionate" about the case, particularly because Philip was only 10. One of the few public clues is an image of a hooded figure running.

'American Idol' Alum Ayla Brown Benefits From Father's Senate Win The season five semi-finalist is back in the spotlight after father Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts. Ayla Brown didn't win "American Idol" back in season five, but she could have another shot at stardom following her father's victory Tuesday night. Scott Brown became senator-elect of Massachusetts in a special election to fill the late Senator Ted Kennedy's seat for the remainder of his term. In a shocking upset, the Republican candidate defeated Democrat Martha Coakley in the staunchly blue state of Massachusetts. Ayla, 21, campaigned at her father's side for the duration of the election season, and some speculated that having her familiar face in public appearances and TV commercials was the state senator's equivalent of a celebrity endorsement. But judging by the number of people searching for on Ayla's name Wednesday morning (January 20), the aspiring musician is now benefitting from her dad's big win. Brown made her way up to the top 16 in the 2006 season of "Idol" (which was eventually won by Taylor Hicks). After she failed to make it to the top 12, Ayla spoke to MTV News about how the "All-American" label she was saddled with hurt her in the end. "I didn't think people got the chance to see who I was and my personality," she said. "It was hard to overcome that, but I gave it my all and I'm just disappointed America didn't vote for me." Months later, she spoke to MTV again, giving advice to future auditioners. "My advice to people who are trying out for 'American Idol' is to know who you are as a person and it will get you further than you ever think it will," Brown told us in 2006. "If you go in there thinking you are someone else or trying to be another person, you won't get to the place where you really want to be." According to her Web site, on her final "Idol" appearance she delivered a cover of Natasha Bedingfield's "Unwritten," but she continues to release music. With one album under her belt, the singer plans on releasing her follow-up titled Circles (her site does not list a release date). Ayla declared that she would donate portions of her election-night album sales to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. Will Ayla Brown now join the ranks of other "Idol" alums who went on to see illustrious careers? After all, season five spawned the career of Chris Daughtry — so it's certainly possible. We've certainly seen less conventional methods of obtaining a record contract. Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

– That daughter Senator-elect Scott Brown embarrassed the heck out of last night was more famous than her dad until recently. Ayla Brown is also a former American Idol contestant, as well as a Boston College basketball standout. Watch clips of her time on the show, ("Up until I was 10 years old, I was truly convinced that my dad was the Elvis Presley") as well as her performance—and her dad’s now-notorious pimping—at last night’s victory party, in the gallery. And, notes MTV, dad's victory and her constant presence on his campaign isn't hurting Ayla's career, either. Her name was lighting up the search engines this morning, leading Gawker to declare, "The campaign for Ted Kennedy's senate seat may have ended in disaster, but the race for Ayla Brown's heart has just begun."

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.

– Cue the Kleenex boxes, folks: Jennifer Westfeldt and Jon Hamm are pulling the cord following months of breakup rumors, People reports. The 44-year-old Mad Men star and 45-year-old actress, last seen canoodling at a New York party on July 22, have issued a statement: "With great sadness, we have decided to separate, after 18 years of love and shared history," the couple says. "We will continue to be supportive of each other in every way possible moving forward." That fits, since Hamm credits his now-ex for helping him through alcohol-abuse treatment earlier this year. This adds to a slew of celebrity breakups this summer, including Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert, and Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, the Daily News reports.

FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. - A Flagler County man is behind bars after he was accused of having rigged the door to his home in Palm Coast with electrical devices in an attempt to electrocute his pregnant estranged wife. Deputies observed that the front door to the home was barricaded, with burn marks near the handle. When a deputy attempted to kick the door, they witnessed a "booby trap," which possibly caused a large spark to appear, according to the report. Michael Wilson, 32, is accused of trying to kill his wife after he attached electrical devices to the inside of the deadbolt lock and the door handle of their Palm Coast home, according to a charging affidavit. Wilson eventually apologized for his behavior and she asked him to join her in Knoxville where she was spending the holiday with her family and her children. Wilson is charged with two counts of attempted aggravated battery on a pregnant person and one count of grand theft of a firearm. "This is one of the most bizarre domestic violence cases I have seen in my career,” Sheriff Rick Staley said in a statement. “Not only did this man plan to electrocute his wife, but he could have injured a deputy, or any person attempting to enter this residence. Thankfully, this man was found and taken into custody before he could cause the harm he intended.” Wilson is being held on $150,000 bail and will be extradited back to Florida.

– A Florida sheriff calls it "one of the most bizarre domestic violence cases I have seen in my career." The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports a Florida man allegedly rigged a "booby trap" capable of electrocuting his pregnant wife if she unlocked the front door of their home over the Christmas holiday. Authorities say 32-year-old Michael Wilson aroused the suspicions of his unnamed wife's stepfather when he told her to make sure she used the front door and to not let a child touch the doorknob. (Reuters reports Wilson and his wife have a young daughter together.) During this time, Wilson had disappeared from his in-law's home in Tennessee without explanation and accused his wife of cheating on him via text. Authorities went to Wilson's home in Florida on Tuesday and found burn marks on the front door, which let off a large spark when kicked open. Inside they found the doorknob and deadbolt attached to a car battery charger. An electrician who looked at a picture of the booby trap determined there was an 80% to 100% chance of "suffering death or great bodily harm." They also found Wilson's wife's new smart cameras in the toilet and other odd items. Wilson was arrested Thursday in Tennessee and charged with attempted aggravated battery on a pregnant person. He's also been charged with stealing a firearm from his father-in-law's home, WKMG reports. Wilson's wife says he "seemed to be a normal person" until falling a few months ago and refusing to get medical treatment. Wilson's Facebook page lists him as "widowed."

SHARE COPY LINK Historian and author Col. French MacLean talks about Wichitan Master Sgt. John Woods, who was the soldier responsible for hanging the top Nazi war criminals after the Nuremberg Trials. (Video by Fernando Salazar/The Wichita Eagle) McClatchy fsalazar@wichitaeagle.com Historian and author Col. French MacLean talks about Wichitan Master Sgt. (Video by Fernando Salazar/The Wichita Eagle) McClatchy fsalazar@wichitaeagle.com

– The name John C. Woods may not be familiar to most Americans, but it turns out the Wichita native played a unique role in history in the aftermath of World War II. As the Wichita Eagle explains, Woods was a US Army executioner who hanged 10 prominent Nazi war criminals after the Nuremberg trials. His story, one that includes allegations that he deliberately prolonged those hangings and ends with his own suspicious death in 1950, may become better known with the release of the book American Hangman later this year. The Eagle talks to the author, retired US Army Col. French MacLean, for the broad strokes. One of the first disturbing bits is that Woods was dishonorably discharged from the Navy prior to joining the Army and diagnosed with "psychopathic inferiority without psychosis," a term associated with violent criminals. He managed to join the Army anyway amid WWII and eventually volunteered for his executioner duties. Woods executed an estimated 90 men, says MacLean, but he became internationally known for his killing of the Nazis. "I'm proud of it," he would say. Eyewitnesses say some of the hangings appear to have been botched, either out of incompetence or malice. One man reportedly took 28 minutes to die. An earlier book, The Nazi Hunters, also chronicled Woods' role, and the Dallas Morning News points out that the "Nazi elite" dispatched by Woods probably were affronted by an executioner who was "slovenly, unshaven, with crooked yellow teeth and dirty, unpressed pants and an insubordinate attitude." Woods was fatally electrocuted in 1950 while standing in a pool of water and changing light bulbs, but MacLean asserts that the Army investigation into his death was wrong, suggesting foul play.

Puerto Rico Dam Fails As Hurricane Maria Continues To Plague Residents Updated 10:10 p.m. ET Fri Though the brunt of Hurricane Maria has left Puerto Rico, the island's water worries continue. On Friday afternoon, the National Weather Service reported that the Guajataca Dam in the northwest is "failing," causing flash flooding. Buses were trying to evacuate people from the area "as quickly as they can," the service said. Officials say between 50,000 and 70,000 residents may have to be evacuated, according to the Associated Press, which also notes that authorities sent "frantic warnings on Twitter that went unseen by many in the blacked-out coastal area." The dam failure is causing flooding downstream on the Guajataca River. A flash flood watch is also in effect for much of the island through Friday evening with continued rainfall. At least seven rivers in Puerto Rico are still running above "flood stage" (the point at which overflow begins to cause damage from flooding): As Hurricane Maria passed, the entire main island saw persistent and intense rain that accumulated quickly. Caguas, about an hour inland from San Juan, saw 37.9 inches of rainfall, and most of the island got around 20 inches. Los Angeles Times reporter Molly Hennessy-Fiske described the rain in San Juan as "white sheets of rain almost like a snowstorm. It's that intense and can get sort of whiteout effects." Occasionally heavy rain is expected to continue until Tuesday, according to the NWS. Over the past 100-plus years, Puerto Rico has averaged 10 inches of rain for all of September.

– Tens of thousands of people are being evacuated in Puerto Rico after reports of a dam failing Friday, CBS News reports. According to NPR, the National Weather Service announced the Guajataca Dam was failing, causing flash flooding on the Guajataca River. Buses are trying to evacuate the cities of Isabela and Quebradillas—home to about 70,000 people. But details on the damage to the dam and evacuation were sparse as communication is still difficult following Hurricane Maria's battering of the island. “It’s a structural failure. I don’t have any more details,” the Guardian quotes Gov. Ricardo Rossello as saying. “We’re trying to evacuate as many people as possible.” The Guajataca Dam was built decades ago and holds back a man-made lake of about 2 square miles. The National Weather Service is warning of a "life-threatening" situation and advising people to "move to higher ground now." At least seven rivers in Puerto Rico are currently above "flood stage" and much of the island is under a flash-flood warning through Friday. Puerto Rico averages about 10 inches of rain for the entire month of September; some areas of the island have received nearly 40 in the wake of Hurricane Maria. Up to 6 inches of rain is expected through Saturday, and heavy rain is expected on and off until Tuesday.

James T. Hodgkinson was going to change taxes, wife of shooter says Suzanne Hodgkinson came out of her home near Belleville, IL, to talk to the media about her husband, James "Tom" Hodgkinson. James Hodgkinson, who was 66, died of gunshot wounds suffered in a shootout with police. She said she thought he was going to return to Illinois because he'd run out of money. She had no clue he wanted to shoot members of Congress.

– The wife of Alexandria shooter James Hodgkinson says he told her he was going to Washington to work on "changing the tax brackets" and she had no idea he was going to hurt anybody. The Belleville News-Democrat reports that Suzanne Hodgkinson trembled and held a deputy's arm as she spoke to reporters in the southern Illinois town. She said they had been married 30 years, but hadn't been on the best of terms before he sold most of his possessions and departed early this year. "I had no idea this was going to happen, and I don't know what to say about it. I can’t wrap my head around it," she said. "I'm sorry that he did this but there’s nothing I can do about it." Belleville residents say the outspoken liberal could be "politically aggressive." He would collect signatures for causes, and "if you weren't of his opinion, he'd be very agitated," business owner Jack McClenahan tells the Chicago Tribune. Rep. Steve Scalise was one of six people injured when Hodgkinson opened fire on a congressional baseball practice before being fatally injured by police. CNN reports that the hospital where Scalise is being treated says he is still in critical condition after a second operation. The hospital says he has improved in the last 24 hours, but will remain hospitalized "for some time." (Democrats gave the trophy to Scalise's office after winning the congressional baseball game.)

(AP Photo/Jae... (Associated Press) Wisconsin 's Frank Kaminsky (44) grabs a rebound in front of Arizona center Kaleb Tarczewski, right, during the first half in a regional final NCAA college basketball tournament game, Saturday, March... (Associated Press) Wisconsin 's Frank Kaminsky cuts down the net after a regional final NCAA college basketball tournament game against Arizona, Saturday, March 29, 2014, in Anaheim, Calif. Wisconsin won 64-63 in overtime.... (Associated Press) Arizona's Nick Johnson watches as Wisconsin celebrates after overtime in a regional final NCAA college basketball tournament game, Saturday, March 29, 2014, in Anaheim, Calif. Wisconsin won 64-63 in overtime.... (Associated Press) Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan celebrates after cutting down the net after a regional final NCAA college basketball tournament game against Arizona, Saturday, March 29, 2014, in Anaheim, Calif. Wisconsin... (Associated Press) Arizona's Kaleb Tarczewski shoots over Wisconsin 's Frank Kaminsky (44) during the first half in a regional final NCAA college basketball tournament game, Saturday, March 29, 2014, in Anaheim, Calif.... (Associated Press) Arizona head coach Sean Miller yells during the first half in a regional final NCAA college basketball tournament game against Wisconsin, Saturday, March 29, 2014, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C.... (Associated Press) Wisconsin 's Traevon Jackson celebrates in front of Arizona's Nick Johnson (13) as time runs out in overtime of a regional final NCAA college basketball tournament game, Saturday, March 29, 2014, in Anaheim,... (Associated Press) Wisconsin forward Frank Kaminsky shoots past Arizona's Kaleb Tarczewski (35) during the first half in a regional final NCAA college basketball tournament game, Saturday, March 29, 2014, in Anaheim, Calif.... (Associated Press) Wisconsin 's Josh Gasser shoots past Arizona's Gabe York (1) during the first half in a regional final NCAA college basketball tournament game, Saturday, March 29, 2014, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae... (Associated Press) The 7-footer carried Wisconsin to the Final Four with 28 points, including six in overtime, as the Badgers defeated Arizona 64-63 in a physical West Region final Saturday night. 2 seed Badgers (30-7). Florida won its 30th straight game and improved to 36-2, topping the 35 wins by the 2007 national championship squad. Johnson led the Wildcats with 16 points, and Aaron Gordon had 18 rebounds in the relentlessly physical game. Kaleb Tarczewski scored 12 points and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 10 points for the Wildcats, who were trying to get coach Sean Miller to the Final Four for his first time. Scottie Wilbekin scored 23 points and Florida became the first team to advance to the Final Four with a 62-52 win Saturday night over the 11th-seeded Dayton Flyers in the South Region final. MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — First yet again this season, the Florida Gators want more. T. J. McConnell's jumper missed, but Arizona got the offensive rebound and found Johnson, who missed and got called for the push-off on Gasser with 3 seconds left. "I thought it was a really, really tough call," Miller said.

– Wisconsin handed the University of Arizona a narrow overtime loss last night, and the student body cheering on the latter didn't exactly take it well, clogging a main thoroughfare in Tucson and chucking beer bottles and firecrackers at pepper spray-wielding police officers. Police eventually managed to clear the streets, but arrested 15 people along the way; of those, 14 were released, reports the AP. A police spokesman says that crowds emptied out of bars and restaurants along University Boulevard after the game, and refused to leave in spite of warnings via a PA system and social media. A witness says everything was going swimmingly until "people got in cops' faces" and cans started flying. Deadspin notes that things quickly deteriorated to the point that students were shot with bean bags; the Daily Wildcat chronicled events via its Twitter feed. Meanwhile, the Florida Gators became the first team to advance to the Final Four last night.

He may not have gifted her the iPad she wanted, but Bill Gates proved a very generous Secret Santa to a Reddit user. 10/10 would receive gift from Bill Gates again ps: Sorry for the apple ipad on my wishlist, that was really awkward.

– You might end up with a great Secret Santa this year, but Reddit user Rachel will probably have you beat. Hers ended up being none other than Bill Gates in Reddit's online gift exchange program, reports Fast Company. She posted the news yesterday under her NY1227 handle, thanking Gates for the "amazing and thoughtful gift." He donated a cow on her behalf to a needy family via the Heifer International program, gave her a stuffed-animal cow as a symbol of that, and added a travel book. In her post, Rachel writes how she didn't realize it was Bill Gates himself until she found a photo inside her package of him holding the stuffed animal, notes CNET. "My God. Never in my entire life did I imagine, ever, ever, ever that Bill would get me," Rachel wrote. "I am SO SO thankful for the time, thought ,and energy he put into my gift, and especially thankful for him over-nighting it :)" She also apologized for putting an Apple iPad on her wish list.

A police officer checks his phone inside the forensic department at Kuala Lumpur Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. The banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used in the murder... (Associated Press) A police officer checks his phone inside the forensic department at Kuala Lumpur Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. The banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean ruler's outcast half brother who was poisoned last week at the... (Associated Press) The banned chemical weapon VX is considered by some experts to be the nastiest of the nasty nerve agents known to exist. With a consistency similar to motor oil, it lingers for long periods in the environment and even a tiny amount causes victims' bodies to flood with fluids, producing a feeling of drowning before death. So when Malaysian authorities announced Friday that VX was to blame for the Feb. 13 death of the North Korean leader's exiled half brother inside a busy Kuala Lumpur airport, it raised nearly as many questions as answers. First, with a substance so potent, how is it possible that the two women who allegedly attacked Kim Jong Nam with it could have survived? Second, given that particles can remain in the environment for possibly weeks after being released, why didn't the airport undertake specialized decontamination measures to ensure the public's safety? "The other chemical agents like sarin, tabun, those kinds of things, they're way below this. They're toxic, yes, but this is the king," said John Trestrail, a U.S. forensic toxicologist who has examined more than 1,000 poisoning crimes. He said an amount of VX weighing two pennies could kill 500 people through skin exposure. It's also hard to acquire and would likely have come from a chemical weapons laboratory, making it more likely that the attack was executed by a government. Police are seeking the second secretary of North Korea's embassy in Malaysia, but embassy officials have vehemently denied any involvement. He and other experts stressed the importance of having the results confirmed by an independent reference laboratory, especially given the nerve agent's rarity. VX is an amber-colored, tasteless, odorless chemical weapon first produced in the 1950s. When inhaled or absorbed through the skin, it disrupts the nervous system and causes constriction and increased secretions in the throat, leading to difficulty breathing. Fluids pour from the body, including sweat, spontaneous urination and defecation, often followed by convulsions, paralysis and death. Kim Jong Nam sought help at the airport clinic and died en route to a hospital within two hours of being attacked, police said. An antidote, atropine, can be injected after exposure and is carried by medics in war zones where weapons of mass destruction are suspected. But Bruce Goldberger, a leading toxicologist who heads the forensic medicine division at the University of Florida, questions how no one else fell violently ill in the attack on Kim Jong Nam, who had been living abroad for years after falling out of favor with his family, including North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The two women — one Vietnamese, one Indonesian — recorded on surveillance cameras thrusting a substance into Kim Jong Nam's face as he was about to check in for a flight home to Macau, apparently did not suffer serious health problems. Malaysian police have said they were not wearing gloves or protective gear and that they washed their hands afterward as they were trained to do. However, authorities said Friday that one of them vomited afterward. Both have been arrested along with another man. Authorities are also seeking several others, including an employee of North Korea's state-owned airline, Air Koryo. "If they used their bare hands, there's just no possible way that they would have exposed him to VX unless they took some sort of precaution," Goldberger said. "The only precaution I know of would be administration of the antidote before this went down." No passengers, airport workers or medical personnel who tended to Kim Jong Nam at the clinic or hospital have been identified as having been sickened. Tens of thousands of passengers have passed through the terminal at Kuala Lumpur's airport, used by budget carriers such as AirAsia, since the apparent assassination was carried out a week and a half ago. No areas were cordoned off and protective measures were not taken. When asked about it a day after the attack, airport spokesman Shah Rahim said there was no risk to travelers and the airport was regularly and properly cleaned. But officials announced Friday that the facility would be decontaminated. "It's as persistent as motor oil. It's going to stay there for a long time. A long time, which means anyone coming in contact with this could be intoxicated from it," Trestrail said. "If this truly is VX, they ought to be calling in a hazmat team and looking at any place these women or the victim traveled after the exposure." VX, which is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, has been used before. The Japanese religious cult Aum Shinrikyo used the nerve agent in the 1990s, killing one victim they believed was a police informant. ___ Follow Margie Mason on Twitter: @margiemasonap

– The banned chemical weapon VX is considered by some experts to be the nastiest of the nasty nerve agents known to exist. With a consistency similar to motor oil, it lingers for long periods in the environment and even a tiny amount causes victims' bodies to flood with fluids, producing a feeling of drowning before death, reports the AP. So when Malaysian authorities announced Friday that VX was to blame for the Feb. 13 death of the North Korean leader's exiled half-brother inside a busy Kuala Lumpur airport, it raised nearly as many questions as answers, including how the two women who allegedly attacked Kim Jong Nam with it could have survived. A toxicologist says the woman shouldn't have escaped unscathed—one reportedly vomited—as police have said they did not wear gloves or protective gear and only washed their hands after the attack. One theory is that they took an antidote in advance. And the New York Times points out VX becomes lethal when two chemicals are mixed, something that can be done "at the last moment." Police have said the two suspects rubbed something on Kim's face in quick succession. Another toxicologist notes that VX—a small amount of which could kill 500 people through skin exposure—would likely have come from a chemical weapons laboratory, making it more likely that the attack was executed by a government. But he wants an independent lab to verify that VX was used, given that no one else at the airport was sickened. On Friday officials announced the facility would be decontaminated.

Nathan Deal said 11 State Parks have opened as emergency shelters, MyFoxAtlanta.com reported. Up to three-quarters of an inch of ice was expected to accumulate in Atlanta and up to 10 inches of snow and sleet were expected in Raleigh and Charlotte, making travel treacherous. All federal offices in the nation's capital were ordered closed, and thousands of employees were being told to stay home, according to the Office of Personnel Management. Motorists were encouraged to stay off roads. Hide Caption 40 of 52 52 photos: Southeast storm moves north Southeast storm moves north – Ice coats trees hanging over a sign for the Broadway at the Beach tourist attraction in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on February 12. Hide Caption 51 of 52 52 photos: Southeast storm moves north Southeast storm moves north – A vehicle drives through falling snow on the U.S. 421 bypass in Sanford, North Carolina, on February 11. The situation in North Carolina was eerily similar to what happened in Atlanta: As snow started to fall around midday, everyone left work at the same time, despite warnings from officials to stay home because the storm would move in quickly. Michael Crosswhite, 44, planned on leaving work in Raleigh, in Wake County, by midafternoon, well ahead of when forecasters initially predicted a snow and ice storm to hit the area. While Atlanta's highways were clear, apparently because people learned their lesson two weeks ago during a storm that paralyzed area traffic, thousands of cars lined the slippery, snow-covered interstates around Raleigh, N.C., and short commutes turned into hours-long journeys. The scene was markedly different from the one Jan. 28, when thousands of children were stranded all night in schools by less than 3 inches of snow and countless drivers abandoned their cars after getting stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic for hours and hours. "Right now we've got people traveling up and down the highways in special four-wheel vehicles to make any rescues that we need to make, and more than anything else we're just encouraging people to be smart, and don't put their stupid hat on during the next 48 hours," North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory urged people to charge their cellphones and find batteries for radios and flashlights because the storm could bring nearly a foot of snow in places such as Charlotte. In Atlanta, which was caught unprepared by the last storm, streets and highways were largely deserted this time. – Greg Ranallo walked more than 10 miles to a friend's house after his car was stranded during the last storm. However, the South is particularly vulnerable: Many trees are allowed to hang over power lines for the simple reason that people don't normally have to worry about ice and snow snapping off limbs. With a blanket draped over her shoulders, she made it home more than four hours later, comparing her journey to the blizzard scene from the movie "Dr. So, too, did the rest of her family who were stuck in traffic across the region. More than 1,000 National Guard troops have mobilized around the state, and Gov. Power outages More than 729,000 customers were without power in the Southeast, power companies told CNN. South Carolina was the hardest hit, with about 220,000 customers without electricity, while Wilmington, North Carolina, accounted for more than 58,000 outages. Two people were killed in Georgia, and two died in North Carolina, they said. In Texas, three people died when an ambulance driver lost control on an icy patch of road outside of Carlsbad, the state Department of Public Safety said. At least nine traffic deaths across the region were blamed on the treacherous weather, and more than 3,600 flights were cancelled across the nation, FlightAware.com reported.

– The warnings haven't minced words, and the potentially "catastrophic" weather set to hit the South has begun, with Atlanta already feeling the effects: Some 39,000 and counting have lost power there, with that number climbing by the thousands within spans as short as 10 minutes. In terms of thousands, 2,200 flights have been axed out of the city's airport, the world's busiest, with just 300 expected to depart today. Ice began to descend on major roads around 4am, and "all of the interstates, all of the secondary routes, all of the surface streets, are all iced over," said a local radio host, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Where you are right now is where you’re going to be tomorrow morning, there's no doubt about it." Of particular concern are the many tree limbs over power lines; weighed-down icy limbs can snap, causing extensive outages, Fox News notes. Experts are warning that power could be out for a week in some areas, CNN reports. Indeed, ice is "our biggest enemy," says Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal. But much of the South is bracing for snow and ice: Three to five inches of snow could hit Atlanta; southwestern Virginia could see 14 inches, while Charlotte, NC, could get a foot. South Carolina hasn't logged a significant ice storm in a decade, but it could see as much as three-quarters of an inch of ice ... plus up to 8 inches of snow.

Scott Olsen, a 24-year-old former U.S. Marine struck in the head during Wall Street protests on Tuesday night, had been upgraded from critical to fair condition overnight. Hundreds of people hold a vigil in support of Scott Olsen at City Hall in Oakland, October 27, 2011. Mayor's visit Mayor Jean Quan visited Olsen in the hospital, told him she was sorry for what happened and promised an investigation, said Highland spokesman Vintage Foster. Olsen, a Daly City resident and member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, fell to the ground after police lobbed or fired an object - possibly a tear gas canister - at a group of protesters. Occupy Oakland protester Scott Olsen, a former U.S. Marine and Iraq war veteran, is carried away after being injured during a demonstration in Oakland, California October 25, 2011. Steve Morse, 65, a Vietnam War veteran, drew a hearty cheer when he called for the resignation of either Police Chief Jordan or Mayor Quan, both widely criticized as having bungled the city's response to the Occupy Oakland movement. The veteran, Scott Olsen, 24, was critically injured on Tuesday night when he was hit in the head with a projectile thrown or shot by law enforcement officers combating protesters trying to re-enter a downtown plaza that had been cleared of an encampment earlier in the day. On Thursday night, camps in several major cities — including New York, Chicago and Philadelphia — were expected to participate in a vigil for Mr. Olsen, according to Iraq Veterans Against the War, of which he is a member. BART to Oakland When Olsen heard that protesters at Occupy Oakland were asking for support, he took BART to Oakland and joined in the protest, Shannon said. Keith Shannon, 24, who said he served with Olsen in Iraq, told Reuters his friend suffered a two-inch skull fracture. He's able to write and hear, but has a little difficulty with his speech," Lyons said. Olsen has a bruise on his brain that is causing swelling, but he should recover fully without needing surgery, Harken said. Olsen was dropped off at the hospital by people in a private car and was unconscious for 12 hours, Harken said.

– Scott Olsen, the 24-year-old Iraq war veteran who suffered a fractured skull when police raided the Occupy Oakland camp on Tuesday, is awake and lucid, and doctors have upgraded his condition from critical to fair, Reuters reports. “He’s able to understand what’s going on,” a hospital spokesman said. “He’s able to write and hear, but has a little difficulty with his speech.” Olsen’s parents flew in from Wisconsin yesterday to see him, and he “responded with a very large smile” when he saw them. Olsen has a large bruise on his brain, but chief of surgery Alden Harken tells the San Francisco Chronicle that he should recover without surgery. As "We are all Scott Olsen" becomes a rallying cry, candlelight vigils were held for him in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and, of course, Oakland last night, the New York Times reports. Oakland’s mayor has also visited him, promising an investigation. But Olsen is unaware of his newfound fame. “He wouldn’t be able to comprehend it,” Harken says.

Several members of the Senate Democratic caucus, including Cory Booker (N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have endorsed the goal of eliminating unemployment and poverty through direct government hiring. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will propose a jobs guarantee program for every American worker “who wants or needs one.” (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will announce a plan for the federal government to guarantee a job paying $15 an hour and health-care benefits to every American worker “who wants or needs one,” embracing the kind of large-scale government works project that Democrats have shied away from in recent decades. “It’s time to make a federal jobs guarantee the central tenet of the party’s platform.” As with any sufficiently big idea, however, a job guarantee comes with risks. It’s the kind of idea Democrats might have scoffed at in the past; President Barack Obama, for instance, tended to agree with Republicans that it was important to reduce budget deficits. The idea of a government job guarantee ensuring all adults who want employment get it has a long history in American politics, but it has gained popularity as the Democratic Party has sought to embrace bigger and more ambitious economic policies in the wake of the 2016 election. The Federal Jobs Guarantee Development Act, announced by Booker on Friday, would establish a three-year pilot program in which the Department of Labor would select up to 15 local areas (defined in the bill as any political subdivision of a state, like a city or a county, or a group of cities and counties) and offer that area funding so that every adult living there is guaranteed a job paying at least $15 an hour (or the prevailing wage for the job in question, whichever’s higher) and offering paid family/sick leave and health benefits. “Creating an employment guarantee would give all Americans a shot at a day’s work and, by introducing competition into the labor market, raise wages and improve benefits for all workers.” The policy case for a job guarantee The idea of a job guarantee serves both a policy and a political purpose. An effective full employment program would cost more than half a trillion dollars annually, making it almost as large as Medicaid, according to a lengthy paper published in March by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, an influential liberal think tank.

– Bernie Sanders is working on a plan that would allow the federal government to guarantee a $15-per-hour job, plus healthcare benefits, to every worker in the US "who wants or needs one," per an early draft of the proposal obtained by the Washington Post. The jobs guarantee would encompass projects involving infrastructure, education, the environment, and care giving. It's not clear when Sanders will formally present the plan; a representative says Sanders' office has not done a cost estimate for the plan or determined where its funding would come from. Sanders' announcement comes after two other Democrats, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Sen. Cory Booker, recently backed the idea of a jobs guarantee plan. Booker is aiming to create a three-year pilot program to test such a guarantee in 15 areas, Vox reports. Supporters of such a plan say it would increase competition for workers, thus forcing corporations to increase their wages and benefits in order to compete with government jobs. But Republicans, who currently control Congress, say the idea is impractical, and even some Democrats agree with that. "It would be extremely expensive, and I wonder if this is the best, most targeted use of the amount of money it would cost," says one economist who served in Obama's Treasury Department, noting that it would be tricky to make sure millions of new jobs—the authors of the Sanders plan do envision it would hire millions of Americans—are all actually productive. The Huffington Post spoke to Democratic Senate leaders and reports that they don't seem quite ready to "embrace" the idea; all Chuck Schumer would say is that he wants to look at Sanders' proposal.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius speaks at a news conference in Chicago (Photo: AP/Al Podgorski, Chicago Sun Times) Story Highlights Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius will appear before House panel on Wednesday Despite four tough weeks since ACA roll out, Sebelius maintains Obama's "full confidence" Sebelius' allies say she is steeled for tough fight with GOP WASHINGTON — Kathleen Sebelius is on the hot seat as the Obama administration battles to rebound from a problem-plagued rollout of the Affordable Care Act, but friends of the embattled Health and Human Services secretary say it's a mistake to count her out. 5 questions Sebelius must answer Oct. 30, 2013 at 3:33 AM ET Evan Vucci / AP Two down and one to go. CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner told the House Ways and Means Committee Tuesday “We had tested the website, and we were comfortable with its performance.” So what did HHS officials know about any problems and were White House officials notified of any problems? Tavenner has admitted that CMS wasn’t aware of the depth of the problems in the first day or two. “I want to know why sufficient systems integrated testing was not conducted, and you made the decision to move forward with the website,” said Tennessee Republican Diane Black who, like Tavenner, started her career as a registered nurse.

– Kathleen Sebelius is testifying before Congress this morning in eagerly anticipated remarks about problem-plagued HealthCare.gov, but you may not hear anything new. Politico reports that her eight pages of prepared testimony are, almost verbatim, the same as the testimony offered to Congress yesterday by head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Marilyn Tavenner. Of course, that's not stopping anyone from hoping Sebelius will address some questions that remain unanswered. NBC and CNN round up a few: Why wasn't the site tested earlier? Officials have said they were running out of time and tests indicated everything was fine. But Republicans want a much better explanation, and contractors have said they warned CMS that more testing was needed. Why wasn't the launch delayed? Tavenner said yesterday that CMS wasn't aware how bad the problems were at first. The questions for Sebelius: Why not? And when, exactly, did she learn of the problems and how bad they were? Why so secretive? Specifically, why hasn't HHS named the contractors or experts involved with the site? How do we know everything on the site will work correctly? For example, how do we know the subsidy calculator (which uses a complex formula) will accurately calculate an individual's government subsidy? How much is this going to cost to fix? So far, HHS hasn't offered an estimate. Can she explain the millions of people whose current policies will be canceled? Those people will need to switch to a plan that complies with ObamaCare's minimum standards. It's probably not going to be a fun day for Sebelius, but in a profile this week, USA Today points out that she's used to this type of political fight. "She has been successful because she is level-headed," says a colleague from Sebelius' days as governor of Kansas. "She's unflappable."

ADVERTISEMENT It's been said that you're less likely to win the lottery than you are to be struck by lightning. Submitted HL: Peter McCathie of Amherst Shore and Diana Miller of Amherst are co-workers who purchased a Lott 6/49 Combo 4 lottery ticket together every week. But lightning strike survivor Peter McCathie beat all those odds when he and his co-worker, Diana Miller, collected their million-dollar prize at the Atlantic Lottery offices in Moncton on Monday. McCathie owns the store where he purchased the ticket and where he and Miller both work, Miller as a baker. pic.twitter.com/zjLJKjMVCV — Atlantic Lottery (@AL_Lottery) July 20, 2015 The pair had been buying tickets for approximately one year, and had bought the latest one from the very store that McCathie owns. They purchased it through what's known as a "Retailer Play" button, which allows store owners or employees to buy tickets and avoid disputes later, The Amherst Daily News reported. "I honestly expected to get hit by lightning again first," McCathie told CTV News. The lottery winner said he was wading through shallow waters near the shore of a lake when he was struck by lightning. "I was trying to lock the boat up, it was a very sunny day, there was one big, white cloud in the sky and the lightning bolt came through the trees and hit me," McCathie told CTV Atlantic. Next year, he and his wife will celebrate their 30th anniversary, so they may go on a second honeymoon, possibly to Ecuador. Diana Miller is planning a trip to Cancun, Mexico with her share of the winnings, while McCathie says that after 30 years of marriage, it's time for him and his wife to take a second honeymoon. "By assuming that these events happened independently … so probability of lotto … times another probability of lightning – since there are two people that got hit by lightning – we get approximately 1 in 2.6 trillion," said Sophie Leger.

– Peter McCathie's first grand stroke of good luck happened when he got hit by lightning at age 14 and lived to tell the tale. His second came this month when he won a $1 million lottery in Canada with a co-worker, reports Huffington Post Canada. If you're scratching your head wondering, "What are the odds," CTV has your answer, courtesy of a math professor at the University of Moncton: one in 2.6 trillion. Those are the odds of one lotto win and two lightning strikes, the professor explains. It turns out McCathie's daughter has also been struck by lightning. "I honestly expected to get hit by lightning again first," says McCathie of winning the lottery; he plans to use the money to pay off debt and take a second honeymoon with his wife of 30 years. He still recalls the lightning strike, which happened as he was wading in a lake's shallow waters. "I was trying to lock the boat up, it was a very sunny day, there was one big, white cloud in the sky and the lightning bolt came through the trees and hit me." McCathie actually owns the store in Amherst Shore, Nova Scotia, where he and employee Diana Miller bought the winning ticket, and if that sounds fishy, cumberlandnewsnow.com can dispel any suspicions. They used something called a "retailer play button" designed to ensure any such purchases are legit. As for Miller, a baker at the store: "Maybe I won't ask him for a raise this year." (This man just survived a lightning strike to the head.)

Justin Bieber Baptized in NYC Bathtub Justin Bieber -- Baptized in NYC Bathtub EXCLUSIVE turned to the Lord while being shaken down over his racist videos -- and TMZ has learned he washed away his sins with a baptism performed in a bathroom.-- who works with Bieber in NYC -- tells us he spent a week doing intense Bible study with Justin last month ... in the wake of being extorted over the videos.As we previously reported -- JB's team was contacted 2 months ago by a man in possession of the videos and wanted a million dollar payday or else he'd go public.We're told Bieber's religious resurgence focused on studying Bible passages and attending services ... culminating in an actual baptism performed in the bathtub of one of the singer's friends.Why a bathtub, you ask? We're told JB previously checked out a bunch of churches for the dip -- but his cover was blown every time and he wanted to keep the whole thing private.Justin's now got a clean slate with God -- but the public is a harder nut to crack.Amen.

– Looks like Justin Bieber finally got that baptism he so desperately wanted. Biebs had been trying to find a church in New York City with a pool in which to get baptized since February, after a string of unfortunate choices got him quite a bit of bad press. Well, last week, he settled for a bathtub baptism, TMZ reports. Pastor Carl Lentz of Justin's fave Hillsong Church NYC performed the ritual in the home of one of Bieber's friends, sources say. Before the baptism, Lentz says he and Bieber did a week of "intense Bible study" involving reading and studying Bible passages and attending church services. The religious rebirth comes after Bieber's latest controversy—two videos of him using the n-word when he was younger were just recently released, two months after an alleged extortion attempt. A man demanded $1 million from Bieber or else he would release the videos, TMZ notes. If you were wondering how Bieber mentor Usher might react to that whole brouhaha, TMZ reported over the weekend that Usher insists Bieber "hasn't always chosen the path of his greatest potential, but he is unequivocally not a racist."

In a burst of holiday spirit, the Senate moved up its vote on final passage of the healthcare bill by 11 hours to allow lawmakers and staff a chance to enjoy Christmas. The Senate scheduled the vote for about 8 a.m. EST Thursday. Originally the vote had been expected to occur at about 7 p.m. Christmas Eve. Speaking on the Senate floor this afternoon, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada announced the agreement with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky to move up the vote. RELATED: With healthcare battle about over, Senate Republicans consider holiday exit Obama pushes back vacation to help Senate on healthcare -- Michael Muskal Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal

– It looks like senators and their staffs will be home for Christmas Eve after all. The final vote on health care legislation has been moved up to 8am Thursday, reports the LA Times. Harry Reid and GOP leader Mitch McConnell announced the move today after a set of procedural votes cleared the Senate with the necessary 60 votes. Republicans could have delayed Thursday's action until 9pm, but McConnell chose not to do so, notes the Post.

Mr. Parvaiz, according to prosecutors, initially described a trio of attackers: one white, one black and one whose race he said he could not determine. He later changed his story, describing all three as black, before finally admitting to setting up the shooting, according to his arrest affidavit. Photo Investigators soon concluded that there was no trio. And on Friday, several people who attended Ms. Noorani’s funeral at the Jam-e-Masjid Islamic Center in Boonton said the news that Mr. Parvaiz had been charged was less surprising than his cover story, since there has been little racial or ethnic tension in Boonton. “We were talking to each other and we were like, ‘Who else?’ ” Moheet Durrani, 62, a family friend, said. The Morris County prosecutor, Robert Bianchi, said that “for a significant period of time,” Mr. Parvaiz had plotted the killing with a Boston woman whom Mr. Bianchi identified as Antoinette Stephen, 26. Both were charged with first-degree murder; the arrest affidavits did not specify who was alleged to have shot Ms. Noorani. Bail for Ms. Stephen was set at $5 million. She was being held in Boston, awaiting extradition to New Jersey. Mr. Parvaiz’s father said Friday outside his home in the Midwood section of Brooklyn , “I have no idea what’s going on.” Photo Mr. Bianchi, at his news conference, said that “there is obviously a relationship” between Ms. Stephen and Mr. Parvaiz. “I am not saying it is a physical relationship,” he said. “I am not saying it is a girlfriend-boyfriend relationship.” He said investigators were working to pin down the details. According to the arrest affidavit, Mr. Parvaiz had told investigators “that there were issues in his marriage and that he was angry at his wife, the victim, for allegedly speaking negatively about his family.” He also seemed to regret her killing, saying “that he did not want to be the person to look at his children and tell them that he took their mother away,” the affidavit said. According to the affidavit, Mr. Parvaiz told Ms. Stephen about the turbulence in his six-year marriage and Ms. Stephen promised to “think of something.” The document detailed text messages between them. In one on Aug. 12, four days before the killing, she was said to have written: “You hang in there. Freedom is just around ur corner.” On Aug. 14, Mr. Parvaiz is alleged to have sent her a text message: “Well I need to speak to you and explain to you how to approach the situation. I’ll be depositing money tomorrow morning and I’ll see you tomorrow evening night.” Photo Later Ms. Stephen told him she was going on radio silence: “Call me when u can. delete all messages from phone. I wont message from here on.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story The plan, according to the affidavit, was that Mr. Parvaiz “would go out for a walk with the victim” and that Ms. Stephen “would kill the victim and wound the suspect.” The walk took Mr. Parvaiz and Ms. Noorani from her sister’s house — where Ms. Noorani had broken her daytime Ramadan fast — toward her father’s house a short distance away, where Mr. Parvaiz had parked his car. They left their 5-year-old son with Ms. Noorani’s sister Lubna Choudhry. They took their 3-year-old son with them in a stroller. Photo Ms. Choudhry said she heard noises in the street a few minutes later, noises she assumed were fireworks. But when she went outside, her sister was dead and Mr. Parvaiz was across the street, wounded and bleeding. The child was unhurt. By Thursday, conflicting stories had emerged about Mr. Parvaiz, who grew up in Brooklyn, where his father, Shafiq Hassan, owns several properties and a grocery store on Coney Island Avenue. Mr. Parvaiz ran a small contracting business in Brooklyn but told relatives that he had moved to Boston for a doctoral program at Harvard University . Harvard said it had no record that he had been a student. The Boston police said he had been arrested in February on charges of assaulting a 20-year-old woman after an argument at his apartment. He was described in the police report as her boyfriend, and it said the dispute had to do with “the fact that she has been unfaithful to him.” The woman, who is from Brooklyn, told the police that Mr. Parvaiz had slapped her in the face and pushed her. But when she declined to cooperate with prosecutors, they dropped the charges. The police were called back to the apartment four days later. They found Mr. Parvaiz outside, saying that he had been taking out the trash when three men accosted him and one hit him in the head with a hammer. The police said they searched the neighborhood but found no suspects. The affidavit did not spell out the connection between Mr. Parvaiz and Ms. Stephen. But Ms. Stephen’s name appears below Mr. Parvaiz’s on a printed label on the mailbox of his apartment in Boston. Ms. Noorani’s name is also on the mailbox.

– A Pakistani-American admitted to police that he set up his wife's murder and made up a cover story about getting jumped by three black men shouting "terrorists!" Kashif Parvaiz of New Jersey and a woman the New York Post describes as his lover, Antoinette Stephen, are under arrest for plotting the shooting of Nazish Noorani. It took place as she walked down a neighborhood street accompanied by her 3-year-old son, who was unharmed, and by Parvaiz, who was wounded in the attack as planned, but not seriously. Afterward, he couldn't keep his story straight, and both police and Noorani's family got suspicious, notes the New York Times. "Someday U will find me dead, but it’s cuz of Kashi ... he wants to kill me," she recently texted her brother. Police say they also have text records from the suspects laying out intricate details of the plot. "You hang in there," Stephen texted him before the shooting, according to AP. "Freedom is just around ur corner."

Heidi Klum and Seal's Split Shocks Friends PeopleTV Archive: Heidi & Seal Take You Underneath the Sheets Since tying the knot in 2005, Heidi Klum and Seal have never been shy about putting their love on display , whether hamming for the cameras in Aspen or renewing their vows every year at lavish theme parties So when the singer, 48, and the fashion icon, 38, broke the news with PEOPLE on Sunday that they're separating, friends were caught off guard. "All this is just shocking to me," says Niche Media founder Jason Binn, a friend of Klum's for more than 20 years. "I've only seen them as the most loving couple. ""The Heidi and Seal I knew was the couple everyone loves," says a fashion industry source who's worked with Klum, "super passionate and in love. "Sources who've witnessed Seal and Klum's typically overt shows of affection – "They were always all over each other, practically groping," says another fashion source, "totally in love" – are now left wondering what could have gone wrong for the pair, whose children are Leni, 7½, Henry, 6, Johan, 5, and Lou, 2. "It has to be something major," says a Klum friend. "They have four kids together, and they've always been very committed to making it work."

– Despite his very recent, very public split with wife Heidi Klum, Seal visited Ellen DeGeneres' show yesterday and had only nice things to say about his soon-to-be-ex. He's still wearing his ring because it's "a token of how I feel about this woman," he says in a clip obtained by the Huffington Post. "We have eight years, eight wonderful years together. And just because we have decided to separate doesn't necessarily mean that you take off your ring and you're no longer connected to that person. We will be connected in many ways for the rest of our lives." He has "no intention of taking it off any time soon," he adds. If you were shocked by news of the split, you're not alone: Even their friends were surprised, People reports. The couple renewed their wedding vows every year, and multiple sources recall their infamous PDAs: Says one fashion source, "They were always all over each other, practically groping." Another friend says that "something major" must have caused the split. Whatever it was, it caused Seal to start looking for a new place to live weeks ago, sources tell the New York Post. Click to watch more from Seal's Ellen appearance, which airs today.

Address covering state visits for next two years refers to welcoming Spanish king and queen in July, but not US president The Queen’s speech has given a further indication that Donald Trump’s planned state visit to the UK has been put on hold, after the monarch did not mention it in her address. “I have today been able to convey Her Majesty the Queen’s hope that President Trump and the First Lady would pay a state visit to the United Kingdom later this year and I’m delighted that the president has accepted that invitation,” May said in a press conference in the White House in January. She told a joint press conference she had extended an invitation from the Queen to Trump and his wife Melania to make a state visit later in the year and was “delighted that the president has accepted that invitation”.

– While Prince Philip was in the hospital Wednesday, his wife, Queen Elizabeth II, delivered the Queen's Speech at the opening of parliament in the UK. The speech, which outlines the government's agenda and is actually written by ministers, centered on Brexit, reports Reuters. But what's drawing the most attention is what was apparently left out: any mention of Donald Trump's state visit to the country, previously announced by Prime Minister Theresa May. Details: The Guardian reports the Queen usually mentions state visits "planned for the duration of the parliament," which in this case is two years. Trump's visit was rumored to be planned for October, per the BBC. While she mentioned an upcoming visit from King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain, the Queen might've simply wanted to avoid a hullabaloo. After all, May's invitation to Trump resulted in protests and more than 1.8 million people signing a petition seeking to prevent the trip, per Bloomberg. But a Trump administration official offers a simple explanation to CNN: "She didn't mention [the visit] because the date is not yet set." A Downing Street rep affirmed that account. The BBC's James Landale isn't convinced. Citing fears within the British government that the public response would embarrass Trump, he concludes the visit has been put off and is "very unlikely" to occur this year. The Guardian previously reported Trump had decided to put off the visit until he could gain public support in the UK. The White House denied the report. Meanwhile, the Guardian and the Telegraph are now wondering whether the queen was sending a pro-EU message with her hat during the speech.

Supporters of the activist group 'Democracy Spring,' which have been staging protests for a week at the U.S. Capitol to 'end the corruption of big money in our politics and ensure free and fair elections,' gather for a rally on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC, USA, 15 April 2016. Ben & Jerry's co-founder Ben Cohen was among approximately 300 people arrested as part of the Democracy Awakening protests that converged on the nation's capital Monday, April 18, 2016. Those arrested were charged with violating a D.C. statute prohibiting "crowding, obstructing, or incommoding," which are misdemeanors, said police spokeswoman Eva Malecki. They were processed on the scene and released, the statement said.

– The Ben and Jerry of Ben & Jerry's were among hundreds of people arrested Monday in a protest at the US Capitol over what they perceive to be a corrupt political system. Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were taking part in a demonstration by a group called Democracy Awakening, and they were two of about 300 arrested on Monday, reports CNN. Like most of the others, the ice cream moguls were processed at the scene and released by Capitol Police on misdemeanor charges of "crowding, obstructing or incommoding," reports the AP. The Democracy Awakening movement is related to the larger Democracy Spring movement that has been staging protests in DC over issues such as voter ID laws, campaign financing, and the lack of progress on President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, reports USA Today. Ben & Jerry's is trumpeting the arrests, with the company website saying that the purpose of the protests is "to ensure that every citizen's voice is heard and that power in this country is returned to the people." In all, police have arrested about 1,200 since the demonstrations began on April 11. As for Cohen and Greenfield, they'll be distributing free ice cream at a Bernie Sanders rally in Delaware on Tuesday.

Chauncey Daniels is suspected in a shooting that left one man dead and three other people shot on a MARTA train on April 13, 2017. (SOURCE: Police) A man was killed and four additional people were injured after a shooting at a MARTA station in Atlanta Thursday. The shooting occurred at the West Lake MARTA station around 4:30 p.m. MARTA Police Chief Wanda Dunham says "in what we believe was a targeted, isolated incident, Zachariah Hunnicutt was shot fatally." MORE: MARTA to increase patrols in wake of deadly shooting Dunham says the suspect, identified as Chauncey Lee Daniels, was captured at the train station and the weapon was recovered. Daniels waived an early court appearance on Friday. He was charged with murder; possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and three counts of aggravated assault. Three additional people were shot and another person sustained an injury in a panic. They were all taken to Grady Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. WATCH: MARTA police update on shooting Click here to watch a press conference after the shooting. Copyright 2017 WGCL-TV (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.

– A shooting that killed a man and wounded three other riders Thursday on an Atlanta public transit train appears to be a "targeted, isolated incident," officials say. Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority Police Chief Wanda Dunham said in a statement late Thursday that officers arrested a suspect in the death of Zachariah Hunnicutt at the West Lake station, the AP reports. Dunham didn't release the suspect's name or details about what led to the shooting at around 4:30pm. A MARTA spokesman says one man died at the scene. Two men and a woman who were wounded by gunfire were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital. Cedric Peterson tells WGCL he regularly rides the train after work and that the ride started off normally. "Everybody's sitting down. It's quiet," he says. "After we pulled off, we heard a sound like a crash, like we ran into maybe a tree limb that was on the track. Then like three seconds later, I'm hearing pop, pop, pop. I look back and see a guy's back and see his outstretched arm. I'm like, 'Yo, man, this is a shooter.' Then I'm running for the door." The shooter got on the train just like anyone else, Peterson says: "He was wearing headphones and just bobbing his head. There was no argument or anything. Then I heard the first pop."

Elon Musk has plans — or maybe it's just an idea — for a brand new form of transportation. He calls it the "Hyperloop," and it's a way to travel long distances quickly. At the D11 conference Musk danced around the topic a bit. He didn't want to talk about the Hyperloop because he wanted the focus of his interview to be Tesla. The most he would say is that the Hyperloop is a "cross between a Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table." In the past, Musk has been slightly more forthcoming with Hyperloop details. "This system I have in mind, how would you like something that can never crash, is immune to weather, it goes 3 or 4 times faster than the bullet train," said Musk last July. "It goes an average speed of twice what an aircraft would do. You would go from downtown LA to downtown San Francisco in under 30 minutes. It would cost you much less than an air ticket than any other mode of transport. I think we could actually make it self-powering if you put solar panels on it, you generate more power than you would consume in the system. There's a way to store the power so it would run 24/7 without using batteries. Yes, this is possible, absolutely." It sounds like a magical, impossible mode of transportation. But, Musk seems to be fairly serious about it. He's interested in a Hyperloop because he thinks the high-speed train in California is going to be a waste. He says it will be the slowest bullet train in the world, and one of the most expensive. Instead of going the bullet train route, California should test his Hyperloop, which he says he's planning to talk about in more detail at the end of June. This isn't the only far-out idea from Musk. He thinks we need to leave Earth, or else we'll go extinct, and said that he did not join Tesla Motors to get a return on his investment. Wednesday night, he announced plans for the dramatic growth of the Tesla's network of Superchargers, where owners can charge their car batteries halfway in 30 minutes. By the end of this year, Musk said, it will be possible to drive from New York to Los Angeles by refueling a car only at the stations. Update: We think we figured out how it can work.

– Elon Musk is up to something that he thinks could revolutionize transportation. At this week's D11 conference, the Tesla Motors and SpaceX founder was asked about something called "hyperloop," but said he couldn't talk much about it because "if I do, that will be the news tomorrow" and he needed to talk Tesla. But he did say that it was an alternative to California's proposed high-speed rail project, and he dropped this tantalizing description: "It's a cross between a Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table." But Musk has said more in the past. Last year, Business Insider recalls, Musk said the system was a bit like a Jetsons tube. It "can never crash, is immune to weather" and could move twice as fast as a plane while costing less and being potentially completely solar powered. "This is possible, absolutely," he said. At the time, Musk's plans seemed vague—he said he was "considering just open-sourcing" the idea. But now he says he might be ready to talk about it at the end of June.

Trolley Man: Michael Rogers has been the silent hero since the Melbourne attack. The homeless man who decided to arm himself with a trolley and stand with police against a terrorist (7News) Trolly man : Michael Rogers has been the silent hero since the Melbourne attack (7News) 2:04 A bystander dubbed “the trolley man” for taking on an armed terrorist with a shopping cart during the deadly terror attack in Melbourne says he is “no hero” as his story comes to light. Michael Rogers, 46, attempted to help police officers stop Hassan Khalif Shire Ali during Friday’s Bourke Street terror attack. One person had already been stabbed to death and another two were injured. Mr Rogers, who is homeless with few possessions, began ramming a shopping trolley into the terrorist in a bid to help. “I threw the trolley straight at him, and I got him. I didn’t quite get him down, though. I’m no hero,” Mr Rogers told Seven News’ Robert Ovadia from the scene of the attack. Mr Ovadia later told the program, “people think he deserves some sort of award for being a hero. He doesn’t see himself necessarily as a hero but believes he did help save lives and defend his city as well.” Subscribe to news.com.au’s From The Newsroom podcast A GoFundMe has since been set up for Mr Rogers, raising $105,130 at time of publication. The fundraiser was created by Melbourne Homeless Collective, a registered charity that supports people experiencing homelessness. “All funds donated to this campaign will go directly to Mr Rogers to help get him back on his feet,” the page reads. “He’s a hero in our eyes and he can do what he feels best with any funds he receives. He risked his own life that day for nothing in return and you can’t put a price on that.” The charity had originally set a goal of $5000 but has since said it will no longer set a target due to the overwhelming amount of support. “We’re absolutely blown away by everyone’s generosity and spirit in helping our hero ‘Trolleyman’ get back on his feet,” the charity said. “We don’t actually have a set target to reach but due to the incredible generosity we’ve seen so far we’ll keep increasing the total accordingly. “We’ve far surpassed our original goal. Let’s aim for the sky. Our hero absolutely deserves it.” The Sunday Herald Sun tracked down Mr Rogers on a park bench, amid a nationwide bid to find the humble hero, just 24 hours after he risked his life to save others. The newspaper reported that Mr Rogers is homeless, but wasn’t concerned when his phone was smashed during the fight, despite not having the means to replace it. Mr Rogers was one of two bystanders who stepped in as the killer tried to claim more victims in the city. Witness footage of the incident uploaded to social media showed Mr Rogers running to one side of the street to get the trolley before pushing it towards Ali who was wielding a knife and lunging at police. A man with a shopping trolley twice tried to ram the man to stop him. Another was wielding a chair. Incredible bravery @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/w473DKA4wr — Josh Fagan (@faganjosh) November 9, 2018 The trolley appeared to startle Ali before the man who pushed it tripped and fell to the ground. The terrorist then ran across the road, followed by police, as Mr Rogers got up and gave chase, pushing his cart towards the attacker a second time. His actions gained him widespread praise on social media by users who dubbed him “trolley man” and called for him to receive a medal or be made Prime Minister of Australia. Mr Rogers was reportedly unaware of the attention being heaped on him for his actions. One witness said she spoke to Mr Rogers at the scene and he told her his actions were “just instinctive to help the police protect the safety of others”, the Herald Sun reports. Mr Rogers told 7 News that he believes he did help save lives. “I’ve seen the trolley to the side so I’ve picked it up and I ran, threw the trolley straight at him, got him, but didn’t get him down,” he said. “I did that motion quite a number of times but it just wasn’t getting him down.” ⚡️ Melbourne: “I threw the trolley straight at him, and I got him. I didn't quite get him down, though. I’m no hero” - Michael Rogers. 7 News has spoken exclusively to “trolley man”, a bystander being hailed a hero following Friday’s terror attack. #TrolleyMan #7News pic.twitter.com/K0v3OXAwe0 — 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) November 10, 2018 Moments later, Ali was shot in the chest by police, before he died in hospital last night. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Somali-born attacker, from Melbourne’s northwestern suburbs, had violated the nation’s trust. “The greatest threat of religious extremism in this country is the radical and dangerous ideology of extremist Islam,” he said. Mr Morrison said Ali was one of about 400 people on a national ASIO terror watch list. “Here in Australia we would be kidding ourselves if we did not call out the fact that the greatest threat of religious extremism in this country is the radical and dangerous ideology of extremist Islam,” Mr Morrison said. “There is a special responsibility on religious leaders to protect their religious communities and to ensure dangerous teachings and ideologies do not take root here.” In a press conference on Saturday, Victoria Police confirmed Ali had been known to intelligence agencies for years, but he was not being actively monitored prior to the attack. They said his passport was cancelled in 2015 after ASIO determined he was planning to travel to Syria.

– Michael Rogers, a hero? It's hard for him to believe. But many Australians are celebrating the man who helped police fight a knife-wielding terrorist in Melbourne, Australia's News Network reports. In fact, a crowdfunding campaign has raised nearly $110,000 as of this writing for the so-called "Trolleyman." On Friday, Rogers grabbed a shopping cart (or "trolley" in British English) when terrorist Hassan Khalif Shire Ali was facing cops on a busy commercial street. Ali had just fatally stabbed two people and wounded two others. "I threw the trolley straight at him, and I got him," says Rogers. "I didn’t quite get him down, though. I'm no hero." Yet after falling, Rogers chased Ali across the street and pushed the cart at him again. Police eventually shot and killed the attacker. (See a video here, but be warned it's violent.) Now the media is lionizing Rogers and strangers are approaching him for selfies, the Age reports. But Rogers still seems himself, talking about his early years with a drug-addicted mom and his history of drug use and jail time. Raised partly by his grandma, the "dearest lady," he often disappointed her and was behind bars for aggravated burglary when she died in 2013. "She would have been exceptionally proud" of his actions, he says. "God bless her, she lived to 92." So how will he spend his newfound riches? Rogers, who has public housing but chooses to live on the streets, says he has no idea. "I'm 46, mate. I've got to get my act together." But he admits Friday was special: "I just wanted to help and do something right for the first time in me life." (In California, a sergeant at a mass shooting "died a hero.")

“This means that publicized cases of police violence can have a communitywide impact on crime reporting that transcends individual encounters.” A total of 22,200 fewer calls were made to 911 during the year following Jude’s beating, according to the researchers, with over half of that loss (56 percent) happening in black neighborhoods. To do the statistical analysis, the authors controlled for crime rates in different neighborhoods, weather and other factors. The Jude beating was first reported in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation that described the extent of Jude's injuries and spotlighted the failure by police and state prosecutors to thoroughly investigate what would later be described as the torture of Jude by the officers outside an off-duty police party in Bay View in October 2004. Jude’s story would not become public until months later when the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published a report on the incident on February 6, 2005, and recounted the police cover-up that had followed. “An important implication of this finding is that publicized cases of police violence not only threaten the legitimacy and reputation of law enforcement; they also – by driving down 911 calls – thwart the suppression of law breaking, obstruct the application of justice, and ultimately make cities as a whole, and the black community in particular less safe,” reads the study, “Police Violence and Citizen Crime Reporting in the Black Community,” that will appear in the October edition of the American Sociological Review. ORIGINAL COVERAGE: Police suspected in Frank Jude's beating | Prosecutors haven’t queried key witness in Frank Jude case | 100 protest progress of police beating case | Wall of silence not breaking in Jude case The study's lead author, Matthew Desmond, associate social sciences professor at Harvard University, said the research shows that 911 calls started dropping right after the Journal Sentinel investigation was published and stayed down over the following year. Based on what they found in Milwaukee, Desmond and his fellow researchers say those are areas ripe for more study. Desmond, who recently published a book that examined the unseen effects of evictions on families and communities, did the study with Andrew Papachristos, associate professor of sociology at Yale University whose research focuses on gun violence, street gangs, social networks and neighborhoods; and David Kirk, associate sociology professor at the University of Oxford in England. They looked at every crime-related 911 call in Milwaukee from March 2004 to December 2010. There were 87 homicides in the six months after Jude's beating became public, which was the highest in the seven-year period studied, from 2004 to 2010. The number of 911 calls in all Milwaukee neighborhoods also declined significantly following the high-profile killing of Sean Bell by police in Queens, N.Y. in 2006, suggesting the fallout of police violence is not an “isolated incident,” as the authors write “police departments and city politicians often frame [it].” African Americans’ lack of confidence in police has been well documented through surveys and testimonies. Coined the "Ferguson Effect" in reference to unrest after the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., the theory holds officers have become passive out of fear they will be investigated for uses of force. The researchers looked at homicides because unlike other crimes, the numbers would not be affected by the lack of crime reporting. “Across the country, we’re just beginning to see police are willing to say to their community, ‘I think that’s wrong too.’ That’s an important development.”

– The so-called "Ferguson Effect" says homicides go up after high-profile police-on-citizen violence because police become too worried about being investigated for use of force. But the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports a new study published Thursday has another explanation. Researchers found that 911 calls related to crime dropped 20% in Milwaukee following the horrific beating of unarmed black man Frank Jude by off-duty cops in 2004. The effect lasted for more than a year, totaling more than 22,000 fewer crime-related 911 calls, according to the Atlantic. And 56% of the decrease occurred in black neighborhoods, despite black neighborhoods making up only 31% of Milwaukee. Researchers are calling it the "Jude effect." Researchers found similar declines after police killed Sean Bell in 2006 in New York City and assaulted Danyall Simpson in 2007 in Milwaukee. Police violence "de-legitimizes the criminal justice system in the eyes of the African-American community," researcher Matthew Desmond tells the Journal Sentinel. The study concludes that incidents of police violence "make the city as a whole...less safe," the Christian Science Monitor reports. Jude's beating was followed by a 32% increase in murders in Milwaukee. The spike in homicides can potentially be attributed to the drop in 911 calls, which are used by police for all sorts of crime fighting. "No act of police violence is an isolated incident, in both cause and consequence." the Atlantic quotes researcher Andrew Papachristos as saying. (Man dies three days after calling police for help.)

The house used in Mean Girls is on the market and it's only a few million shy of costing as much as the movie itself! "Wow! Your house is really nice," Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) tells Regina George (Rachel McAdams) as they pull up to her mammoth home in the 1994 teen comedy. "I know, right!" she answers. PHOTOS: Favorite TV and Movie Cast Reunions The owners are asking for $14.8 million for the 20,000 square foot Toronto mansion, which served as the set for Regina George's home. The budget for Mean Girls: $17 million. While the house doesn't come equipped with a "cool mom" such as Amy Poehler, it does feature the master bedroom that Regina commandeered as her own as well as 10 other bedrooms and 12 baths. If that wasn't enough, the house features neoclassic designs, Italian marble and grand entrances big enough for Regina’s hair. WATCH: Lindsay Lohan's Idea For A Grown-Up Mean Girls Sequel If you're looking for a Beverly Hills movie home and have $135 million to spare, the mansion used in Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner's 1992 romance film The Bodyguard is also up for sale. On top of that, the woodsy South Lake Tahoe, Calif. vacation house used in the movie is on the market for $8 million. Which movie home suits you best?

– A 2,700-acre piece of pop-culture history is now up for sale. The Wall Street Journal reports that Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch near Santa Barbara is on the market for $100 million. Except it's now called Sycamore Valley Ranch, and while it no longer has amusement park rides or an elephant, it still has the train station and tracks Jackson had installed. Curbed LA, which notes that Beyonce and Jay Z were once rumored to be interested, links to this video tour. And sorry Jackson fans, the listing agents are going to thoroughly vet any prospective buyers—"we're not going to be giving tours," one tells the Journal. (Also for sale: the Mean Girls mansion.)

Marco Rubio referred to Donald Trump as "Big Don," out loud, in a room with people and microphones in it. (CNN) Republicans began their debate Thursday night with insults and ended with three candidates pledging to back Donald Trump should he win the nomination. Republican presidential candidates Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, John Kasich and Ted Cruz feuded over rhetoric, elections and immigration at the March 3 debate in Detroit. * Marco Rubio: The senator from Florida seemed to have resigned himself to a kamikaze mission against Trump during this debate. Calling him “little Marco” — a phrase he used several times — Mr. Trump noted that the senator was losing to him in Florida polls before the state’s March 15 primary. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz took more shots at Trump in Fox News' debate -- and through it all, the billionaire businessman seemed to relish standing center stage, defending himself against foes and moderators while showing his mettle to supporters. He tried to interrupt Trump to mix things up, but was shouted down by Trump—and several times cut off by the moderators, who insisted he let Trump answer his questions. Rubio, for instance, built on the attack line Mitt Romney started earlier in the day regarding Trump University, pressing Trump over and over to admit he was ripping off the people who paid $36,000 for his courses at a school that's now the subject of a class-action lawsuit. Still, in a striking moment, all of Mr. Trump’s rivals on stage indicated that they would support him if he became the Republican nominee. The best-case scenario is either facing a bona fide extremist who the Republican party is inclined to abandon and support half-heartedly if at all in the general election — like Trump or Cruz — or facing a Republican party in total disarray without a clear nominee until the convention in July. The same guy who said this: This is a time for seriousness on these issues. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Advertisement Continue reading the main story “You have yet to answer a single serious question about any of this,” Mr. Rubio said, referring to Mr. Trump’s generalities on foreign affairs. Later, in an exchange over Supreme Court nominations, Mr. Cruz taunted, “Breathe, breathe, breathe — you can do it.” That prompted Mr. Rubio to joke that his two rivals were primed for yoga, especially Mr. Trump. But what I do know is that it will haunt my dreams. Ted Cruz takes a page from Chris Christie Ted Cruz needs Trump's momentum to ebb as much as anyone, but he didn't spend much of the night on the attack. Cruz: I really hope that we don't — we don't see yoga on this stage. And then Rubio pointed to Trump, who'd just admitted his flexibility on policies, and said: "Well he's very flexible, so you never know." Seriousness is a very important quality in a candidate, you see. Victories there wouldn't just make it hard for John Kasich and Marco Rubio to continue their campaigns; they'd give Trump a huge delegate lead, so big that he'd probably only have to win half of the delegates in the ensuing contests to secure an absolute delegate majority. “He should have beaten President Obama very easy.” Mr. Cruz and Mr. Rubio, who have been grappling for ways to halt Mr. Trump’s political momentum, seemed intent on trying to bait him into losing his cool. It’s hard to see how this debate changes the dynamic set in place on Tuesday night: Trump as the favorite, Cruz with the next-best chance of being the nominee, Rubio as Trump spoiler.

– The newly narrowed GOP field of Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich went at it again Thursday night. Here's a sampling of some of the post-debate analysis: Cruz had "his best debate of the primary season," writes Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post, showing "prosecutorial chops when making the case that Donald Trump was neither a real conservative nor someone who could win the White House." Kasich also did well, but Cillizza places Trump ("took real body blows" and showed "wafer-thin understanding of policy") and Rubio (on a "kamikaze mission against Trump") in the "losers" category. "Cruz the winner. Rubio solid & feisty at times, but role seemed reversed w/ Cruz from last debate," tweets Guy Benson of Town Hall. "Kasich hit his marks. Trump was Trump." Kasich won by staying above the fray and improving his position "in the grand Trump sabotage plan," which might involve a brokered convention, writes Dylan Matthews at Vox. Rubio, meanwhile, flailed at Trump so much he failed to make "an affirmative argument for his candidacy." He "was dead before tonight, and the debate mostly served to remind the public why." At the Atlantic, David A. Graham isn't very charitable to any of the candidates. "The funny thing about Trump's rough performance was that no one else did especially well, either," he writes. Cruz gave "a middling performance, with much of his emphasis on the fact that he'd beaten Trump in a few states," while Rubio "was hoarse and seemed shrunken, chastened, and at sea" as he tried to out-shout Trump. When Kasich surfaced, it was to spout "capsule history lessons." But this surely qualifies as good news for Trump: "In a striking moment, all of Mr. Trump's rivals on stage indicated that they would support him if he became the Republican nominee," notes the New York Times. "The consensus was especially unusual in the case of Mr. Rubio, who has been caustically attacking Mr. Trump as a 'con man.'" As does this from Eric Bradner at CNN: Yes, Trump struggled on substantive issues and came under heavy attack, but "what else is new?" he asks. "None of the debates so far have changed the trajectory of the race."

MINNEAPOLIS (CBSNewYork) — NBC’s broadcast of Super Bowl LII briefly went dark Sunday night. Just after LeGarrette Blount’s 21-yard touchdown run gave the Philadelphia Eagles a 15-3 lead with 8:48 to play in the second quarter, NBC pitched to commercial, but viewers were instead greeted by more than 30 seconds of a black screen. PHOTOS: Super Bowl LII The signal finally returned with coverage of the game resuming. A NBC spokesperson later said: “We had a brief equipment failure that we quickly resolved. No game action or commercial time were missed.” NBC’s statement suggests it did not lose out on any ad revenue — a 30-second Super Bowl spot cost about $5 million. Of course, the incident was a hot topic on social media, with many users poking fun at it. Some said the moment reminded them of Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans when the game between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers had to halted for several minutes because of a power outage inside the Superdome. Wait, did the Super Bowl just end like “The Sopranos?” #SBLII — Chris Carlin (@ChrisCarlin) February 5, 2018 Most #SuperBowl commercials are funny but this one was just dark pic.twitter.com/yRwUHwRrAB — Adam LeBow (@LeBowAdam) February 5, 2018 I'm in editorial and not sales, but even I know you don't make money by running a dark screen during #SuperBowl breaks. — Val Dennis Craven (@valpass) February 5, 2018 Dark screen Super Bowl commercials didn’t happen when Obama was president. #thanksTrump — Justin Sparago (@Justin_Sparago_) February 5, 2018 Welp someone just got fired. 20 second ad was dark as their future at NBC. #SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/EyLewFqm2y — easilyigNORAble (@easilyigNORAble) February 5, 2018 Dark season 2 looked good. #SuperBowl — Doug Schoemer (@dbschoemer) February 5, 2018 Was there a Vegas prop on the Super Bowl going dark with dead air for a few seconds? — Coley Harvey (@ColeyHarvey) February 5, 2018 The Eagles beat the Patriots 41-33 to win their first Super Bowl in franchise history.

– One of the commercial breaks generating a lot of buzz during the Super Bowl wasn't actually a commercial at all. TV screens went black for about 30 seconds after NBC cut to a commercial in the second quarter following a Philadelphia touchdown, reports CBS. While some may have suspected some bizarro ad message, NBC later tweeted an explanation: "We had a brief equipment failure that we quickly resolved. No game action or commercial time were missed." As USA Today notes, a 30-second ad during the game costs about $5 million. Twitter had all kinds of fun, with lots of comments like this: "Best Super Bowl commercial so far has been 'empty black screen.'"

In the first confirmation that Department of Veterans Affairs administrators manipulated medical waiting lists at one and possibly more hospitals, the department’s inspector general reported on Wednesday that 1,700 patients at the veterans medical center in Phoenix were not placed on the official waiting list for doctors’ appointments and may never have received care. The scathing report by Richard J. Griffin, the acting inspector general, validates allegations raised by whistle-blowers and others that Veterans Affairs officials in Phoenix employed artifices to cloak long waiting times for veterans seeking medical care. Mr. Griffin said the average waiting time in Phoenix for initial primary care appointments, 115 days, was nearly five times as long as what the hospital’s administrators had reported. He suggested that the falsified data may have led to more favorable performance reviews for hospital personnel, and he indicated that some instances of potentially manipulated data had been turned over to the Justice Department. Mr. Griffin said that similar kinds of manipulation to hide long and possibly growing waiting times were “systemic throughout” the sprawling Veterans Affairs health care system, with its 150 medical centers serving eight million veterans each year. The inspector general’s office is reviewing practices at 42 Veterans Affairs medical facilities. Mr. Griffin’s report brought immediate political consequences. For the first time since the controversy erupted last month, several Senate Democrats, including Mark Udall of Colorado and John Walsh of Montana, demanded that the secretary of veterans affairs, Eric Shinseki, step down, joining Republican lawmakers who have been making that demand for weeks. Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, a former naval aviator who was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War and is now an influential voice on veterans issues, also called on Wednesday for Mr. Shinseki to resign. Along with several other leading Republican lawmakers who had been withholding judgment, Mr. McCain asked the F.B.I. to investigate the Phoenix hospital. Mr. Griffin previously said that he was working with the Justice Department to examine whether criminal violations had occurred there. Mr. Shinseki, in a statement, called the findings “reprehensible to me” and ordered the department to “immediately triage each of the 1,700 veterans” and give them timely care. The department suspended two senior officials at the Phoenix medical center shortly after the allegations of falsified waiting lists became public this month. Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said President Obama found the report “extremely troubling,” but he did not indicate whether Mr. Shinseki had lost the confidence of the White House. Mr. Griffin’s interim report — the final version is expected by August — did not address the most explosive allegations made about the Phoenix facility: that as many as 40 veterans who were never put on the official list for doctors’ appointments might have died while awaiting care. He said determinations could be made only after examining autopsy reports and other documents that were still being reviewed. He had previously said that after reviewing 17 of those cases, he had found no indication that any of those deaths were tied to delays. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Advertisement Continue reading the main story But the rest of his report was sweeping in its indictment of the Phoenix hospital, and contained sharp criticism of much of the rest of the veterans health care bureaucracy. “While our work is not complete, we have substantiated that significant delays in access to care negatively impacted the quality of care at this medical facility,” Mr. Griffin said. Irregularities in how the 1,700 veterans were handled, he added, mean that “these veterans may never obtain a requested or required clinical appointment.” Investigators from the inspector general’s office reviewed a sample of 226 patients and found that they waited an average of 115 days for their first primary care appointment at the Phoenix medical center, but their average waiting time was reported to the national Veterans Affairs office as being only 24 days. The interim report did not dwell on the motivations for falsely reporting waiting times, nor did it single out any employees or hospital administrators by name. But it stated that a “direct consequence” of the inappropriate waiting lists was that the medical center’s leadership “significantly understated the time new patients waited for their primary care appointment” in its performance appraisal accomplishments for the 2013 fiscal year, which was a factor considered for bonuses and salary increases. Mr. Griffin also suggested that his team may have already found some indication of criminal wrongdoing. “When sufficient credible evidence is identified supporting a potential violation of criminal and/or civil law, we have contacted and are coordinating our efforts with the Department of Justice,” he wrote. He said in his report that his investigators had identified several types of improper scheduling practices in Phoenix. They found multiple waiting lists aside from the official electronic waiting list, and said that “these additional lists may be the basis for allegations of creating ‘secret’ wait lists” that have been cited by whistle-blowers. The allegations identified by investigators were not limited to waiting lists. Mr. Griffin said his office had received “numerous allegations daily of mismanagement, inappropriate hiring decisions, sexual harassment, and bullying behavior by mid- and senior-level managers at this facility.” Mr. Shinseki, a soft-spoken former four-star Army general and chief of staff, has had support on Capitol Hill from some lawmakers partly because of his long military career. But the release of the inspector general’s report increased the pressure on him to step down, especially after some Senate Democrats broke with others in the party late in the day to demand his removal. Mr. Walsh, the Montana senator, said that the report “confirms the worst of the allegations against the V.A.,” and that “it’s time to put the partisanship aside and focus on what’s right for our veterans.” Representative Jeff Miller, the Florida Republican who is the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said the report “confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt what was becoming more obvious by the day: wait time schemes and data manipulation are systemic throughout V.A. and are putting veterans at risk in Phoenix and across the country.” Mr. Miller had previously held off on calling for Mr. Shinseki’s resignation, but he did so on Wednesday, saying that the former general “appears completely oblivious to the severity of the health care challenges facing the department.” Mr. McCain said on CNN that he had intended to wait to comment on Mr. Shinseki’s future until further hearings were held on the issue. But after hearing about the report, he decided to speak out. “I think it’s reached that point,” he said. “This keeps piling up.”

– At least 1,700 veterans awaiting treatment from the Department of Veteran Affairs' now-infamous Phoenix medical center were kept off of any official waiting list, putting them "at risk of being forgotten or lost," according to a damning initial report from the department's inspector general. What's more, the patients the IG surveyed waited an average 115 days for a first primary care appointment—a far cry from the 24 days the center reported to the VA, the New York Times reports. The investigation also found "numerous allegations" of "mismanagement, inappropriate hiring decisions, sexual harassment, and bullying behavior by mid- and senior-level managers." The report doesn't touch on allegations that as many as 40 deaths were tied to waiting list shenanigans. On CNN, John McCain responded to the report by calling on the Justice Department to launch its own probe. "I haven't said this before, but I think it's time for General Shinseki to move on," he added. (The Army fired the head of the Womack medical facility after the deaths of two patients in their 20s.)

Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.

– If updates from the South by Southwest music/film/Internet/etc. extravaganza aren’t your thing, perhaps you’ll find some amusement among its top-Web-site honorees. A sampling: Waterlife: Activism winner keeps tabs on pollution in the Great Lakes. odosketch: Create animated sketches with drawing app. The Vile Plutocrat: “Keep track of those individuals whose implacable greed poisons the societies that made them wealthy,” with this blog. 1066: Educational site lets you pick sides in Middle Ages conflict among English, Normans and Vikings. Atlas Obscura: Let the “world’s wonders, curiosities and esoterica” amuse you. Smokescreen: Online life is the thrust of this gaming site. Cornify: Wins the People’s Choice Award as the “#1 unicorns and rainbow service worldwide, providing sparkles and happiness for all.” For more, click either link at right.

Public Health HIV Infections Rise Among Young Black Men In U.S. i itoggle caption CDC CDC The latest data on HIV rates in American teenagers and young adults offer a sobering message. While the number of new infections in the U.S. is relatively stable — at about 50,000 people each year — HIV is on the rise in young people under 25. Youths age 13 to 24 made up about a quarter of all new HIV infections in the U.S. during 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Tuesday. And more than half of the youths living with HIV don't even realize they're infected The bottom line: 1,000 American teenagers and young adults become infected each month with HIV. "Given everything we know about HIV and how to prevent it after more than 30 years of fighting the disease, it's just unacceptable that young people are becoming infected at such high rates," CDC chief Dr. Thomas Frieden said Tuesday. The upswing is driven largely by infections among young black men, who accounted for about 45 percent of new diagnoses in this age group. Most infections occurred in men who have sex with men, the study finds. And, gay and bisexual high school kids were most likely to take part in risky behavior, such as having multiple sexual partners and injecting illegal drugs. What's does the CDC say is needed to reverse the trend? More testing for starters. Right now, only 13 percent of high school students get screened for HIV each year, despite the fact that both the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend routine testing for adolescents. Frieden says it's also important that HIV-positive adolescents get antiretroviral drug treatment, which can lower their risk of spreading the virus to others. Finally, the CDC plans to beef up education for kids about ways to protect themselves and avoid risky behavior. "The AIDS epidemic seems very remote to young people," Dr. Kenneth Mayer, the Director of HIV Prevention at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, told USA Today. "There is no equivalent of a young Magic Johnson. If you are young, this seems like a disease of old people."

– The number of new HIV cases in the US has leveled off at about 50,000 a year, but one important group is defying the trend: those ages 13 to 24. The CDC says about 1,000 new infections a month occur in the age group, and most of those infected (60%) have no idea, reports USA Today. Young black men are driving the increase, accounting for 45% of the new cases, reports NPR. Most infections occur in men having sex with other men. "This is our future generation," says CDC chief Thomas Frieden. "That so many young people become infected with HIV each year is a preventable tragedy." A government task force suggested last week that everybody be screened for HIV as part of routine physicals, and the new stats could bolster the argument.

Le snub! Moment Sarkozy dodges Cameron's handshake with a swift body swerve after PM says Non to treaty changes This is the moment that Nicolas Sarkozy demonstrates exactly what he really thinks of David Cameron's veto of the EU Treaty change. After a gruelling all-night sitting in Brussels, Mr Cameron approaches the French president with his hand outstretched, as if ready to shake and show there are no hard feelings. But not only does Mr Sarkozy refuse to acknowledge the PM, he actually does a swift swerve aside, waving pointedly to someone - anyone - on his right. Mr Cameron, roundly snubbed, uses the rejected hand to give Mr Sarkozy a seemingly affectionate - if awkward - pat on the shoulder, and moves on, head held high, with a pained smile fixed to his face.

– Britain's Daily Mail is calling it "Le Snub!": Reading much (maybe too much?) into the body language of Nicolas Sarkozy and David Cameron, it says the French president dissed the UK prime minister by blowing off Cameron's handshake at today's high-stakes European Union summit. (Britain isn't going along with the French-backed pact.) The Telegraph isn't so sure about it being a snub, noting that the men had shaken hands a bit earlier—but it's still happy to play up the video posing the question. See for yourself.

This winter is going to be a warm one for the majority of the United States, according to forecasters at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center. That means "greater-than-average snowfall around the Great Lakes and in the northern Rockies, with less-than-average snowfall throughout the Mid-Atlantic region," Mike Halpert of the Climate Prediction Center said in a forecast Thursday. He said the forecast shows conditions will be warmer, but he doesn't think we will see a top 10 record warm winter like we have the past two years. Hawaii, western and northern Alaska and the lower two-thirds of the contiguous U.S. are likely to see warmer-than-average temperatures, Halpert says. Check expected conditions in your part of the country on this map: Forecasters are predicting less rainfall than usual across the Southern U.S., Halpert adds, while "wetter-than-average conditions are favored across Hawaii, northern and western Alaska and much of the northern part of the lower 48." If La Niña forms, this will have a direct impact on the weather this winter. It doesn't mean that the Southeast will escape winter weather altogether -- the chances are just lower, and the average temperature is likely to be above average. Halpert stressed that these outlooks could change: "For every point on our outlook maps, there exists the possibility that there will be a below-, near-, or above-average outcome." However, the jet stream set up a little bit differently than expected and the below-average temperatures expected in the Northern Plains occurred farther west into the Northwestern US.

– People in small parts of the Northwest, northern Plains, and parts of Alaska are going to have a colder winter than usual this year, while most other Americans can expect a milder-than-average winter, according to the NOAA's latest forecast. Mike Halpert of the Climate Prediction Center says there will likely be a La Nina weather pattern that will bring more snow than usual to the northern Rockies and the Great Lakes area, while there will be less shoveling than usual to do in the mid-Atlantic region, NPR reports. There probably will be less rainfall than usual in the South, Halpert says, but more than average in much of the northern part of the lower 48. The center says there's a 55% to 65% chance of La Nina developing. Halpert tells the Washington Post that climate change caused by carbon emissions is certainly among the reasons why most of the US will have a warmer-than-average winter, though he says that unlike the previous two winters, this one is unlikely to break records. Despite a higher-than-average precipitation forecast, drought could develop in parts of the South, the NOAA says. But is the forecast accurate? CNN looks at the accuracy of the NOAA's forecast for last year and gives it a passing grade, noting that it was right about above-average temperatures across the South, though people in the Northwest had a far colder winter than the NOAA predicted.

Vice President Joe Biden now says he didn’t make a reference to rape, and got testy with HUMAN EVENTS when we asked if he would like to retract his comments that the number of sexual assaults would increase if Republicans don’t sign on to Barack Obama’s latest “jobs” proposal. “I didn’t use — no, no, no,” Biden said, furrowing his brow and shaking his finger at the reporter. The video of Wednesday’s exchange went viral, as news outlets and the Drudge Report highlighted Biden’s comment to Mattera: “Don’t screw around with me.” CNN aired a segment — including footage of the incident — the same afternoon, and a YouTube clip of the interview has already attracted more than 380,000 views. After initially balking at the questions, Biden stood by his argument that if Republicans continue to block the Democratic jobs bill, “murder will continue to rise, rape will continue to rise, all crimes will continue to rise.” The Washington Post’s fact-checker ripped Biden’s claims over the weekend, giving the vice president “four Pinocchios” and writing that he “should know better than to spout off half-baked facts in service of a dubious argument.” The Senate periodical press gallery and a spokeswoman for Biden declined to comment for this article. “It’s not temporary [administration’s proposed stimulus] when that 911 call comes in and a woman’s being raped, if a cop shows up in time to prevent the rape.

– Joe Biden is not happy about the ambush interview that landed him on cable TV—and he’s letting the press gallery’s standing committee of correspondents know about it. Jason Mattera of the conservative blog Human Events caught Biden off guard last week by asking to take a photo with him while Biden was signing autographs. Then Mattera hit him with questions about factually dubious statements he’d made recently connecting rape in Flint, Michigan, to rising unemployment. “Let’s get this straight guy, don’t screw around with me,” Biden told Mattera. “I said rape was up three times in Flint,” and if the jobs bill isn’t passed “all crimes will continue to rise.” (Of course, FactCheck.org found that crime rates are actually down in Flint.) Now, Biden’s asking the correspondents committee if Mattera broke any rules by springing the questions on him, the Hill reports. Mattera, however, is unapologetic. “You shouldn’t play patty-cake with politicians to gain access,” he says.

A rare white giraffe with a genetic condition which means many of her body surface cells are incapable of making pigment has been photographed at a national park in Tanzania. “A local lodge guide christened her Omo, after a popular brand of detergent here,” the organization, which conducts scientific research, said in a blog post. “One way to tell the difference between albino and leucistic animals is that albino individuals lack melanin everywhere, including in the eyes, so the resulting eye color is red from the underlying blood vessels,” the organization said. Facebook | @I-Love-Africa I-Love-Africa - Omo who is leucistic, is the only white... | Facebook While researchers were pleased to see that Omo survived her first year, she has a long road ahead, according to ecologist and Wild Nature Institute founder Derek Lee, the Telegraph reported. “She survived her first year as a small calf, which is the most dangerous time for a young giraffe due to lion, leopard and hyena preying on them,” Lee told the Telegraph.

– A rare 15-month-old white giraffe has made another appearance in Tanzania, leaving conservationists to hope poachers don't decide to go all Ahab on it, the Telegraph reports. According to USA Today, the unique giraffe was spotted as a calf last year in Tarangire National Park. It was seen again this month, almost exactly a year later, the Wild Nature Institute writes in a blog post. "We are thrilled that she is still alive and well," the nonprofit states. A tour guide named the pale animal Omo after a local laundry detergent, but the institute is open to other suggestions. Omo is leucistic, meaning most of her surface cells produce no pigment, explains the Wild Nature Institute. But unlike an albino, some of her cells—such as those in her eyes—can still manufacture color. The institute's founder, Dr. Derek Lee, tells the Telegraph that Omo is the only such giraffe they are aware of. “Omo appears to get along with the other giraffes; she has always been seen with a large group of normally colored giraffe," he says. "They don't seem to mind her different coloring.” But her uniqueness could make her a target for poachers, Lee says. The institute is currently working on anti-poaching efforts for all giraffes. “We hope that she lives a long life and that someday she has calves of her own,” says Lee.

"Tete de Faune," a 1962 linocut of a faun's head by Picasso, was purchased by the pranksters using cash from 150,000 customers who each gave $15 toward Cards Against Humanity's "Eight Sensible Gifts for Hanukkah" promotion. Asked Tuesday whether he had the guts to follow through on the gimmick, one of the company's founders, Max Temkin, declined to comment. The envelope contained a handwritten letter from "David M.'s dad" on the importance of culture, a second "Jew Pack" of special Cards Against Humanity cards, and a smooth card bearing Picasso's artwork. The card goes on to say that the company used the money it raised from the 150,000 subscribers to the Hanukkah promotion to purchase Picasso's "Tete de Faune" for the express purpose of either donating it to the Art Institute of Chicago or cutting it up into 150,000 squares and sending a piece (clearly a teeny tiny one) to each subscriber. The company's philanthropy efforts have also included buying an island in Maine that it dubbed "Hawaii 2" and vowed to preserve as wilderness, and a $500,000 donation toward scholarships for women studying in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. That's what Cards Against Humanity (CAH) is asking the 150,000 customers who subscribed to its Eight Sensible Gifts For Hanukkah.

– Should Pablo Picasso's "Tete de Faune" be donated to a museum or cut up into tiny pieces? The decision rests with fans of Cards Against Humanity—the game that's managed to get people to spend their hard-earned cash on poop and, well, nothing at all. With some of the $2.25 million received from 150,000 subscribers who signed up for the company's "Eight Sensible Gifts for Hanukkah" promotion—which included the gift of a one-week paid vacation for workers at the Chinese factory where Cards Against Humanity is made—the company purchased the 1962 Picasso linocut known in English as "Head of a Faun" and decided to host a "social experiment," report CNET and the Verge. It asked the subscribers to vote on whether the work should be donated to the Art Institute of Chicago or cut into 150,000 pieces so each subscriber can have their "own scrap of a real Picasso." Should fans choose the latter option, each scrap of the linocut—one of an edition of 50, likely worth about $22,000, per the Chicago Tribune—will measure 1.5mm, the company says. Subscribers will vote from Dec. 26 until New Year's Eve. So far Cards Against Humanity founder Max Temkin has kept his lips sealed about whether he'll actually follow through with the stunt. But the company did something awfully similar last year, giving a square foot of an island to each of 250,000 fans who signed up for its "Ten Days or Whatever of Kwanzaa" campaign. While subscribers weigh their decisions, Temkin and partners are busy working on another game, Secret Hitler, which just wrapped up a $1.2 million Kickstarter campaign, per the Tribune. Players are assigned political identities and attempt to enact supporting policies while keeping their identities secret. It's expected to ship to 30,000 backers in April. (There's also this sex game.)

China's once-a-decade political transition coming this fall seems devoid of drama on the surface: It's clear who will take over, and the fight for other top spots is invisible to the public. But beneath the veneer of calm, the Communist Party is struggling to contain troubling events and mask divisions. In this photo taken May 4, 2012, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping speaks at a conference to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of Chinese Communist Youth League at the Great Hall of the People... (Associated Press) In this photo taken May 4, 2012, Chinese President Hu Jintao, right, Premier Wen Jiabao, left, and Vice President Xi Jinping clap as they arrive for a conference to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the... (Associated Press) In this photo taken Monday, March 5, 2012, then Chongqing Communist Party Secretary Bo Xilai scratches his chin during the opening session of the National People's Congress in Beijing. As the U.S. presidential... (Associated Press) In this photo taken May 4, 2012, Zhou Yongkang, left, Chinese Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee member in charge of security, and Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang attend a conference to celebrate... (Associated Press) In this photo taken Saturday, March 3, 2012, a military band conductor rehearses before the opening session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing's Great Hall of... (Associated Press) The world's second-largest economy is experiencing an unexpectedly sharp slowdown. Violent demonstrations percolate as people tire of corruption, land grabs and policies seen as unfair. Tensions simmer with neighboring countries and the U.S. over territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Then there's the unresolved scandal involving Bo Xilai, who was a well-connected contender for high office before he was ousted for still unexplained transgressions. The communist grip on power isn't threatened and the lack of open elections means they require no voter approval. But the party risks eroded legitimacy and a reduced ability to impose its will, further alienating younger Chinese and encouraging critical opposition voices arguing for a democratic alternative. As the party's unstated contract with the people exchanging one-party rule for economic growth frays, pressure for reform is likely to intensify. "The economic downturn, human rights demands and political reform are major issues for the party," said Wu Si, editor-in-chief of the Beijing-based pro-reform journal Yanhuang Chunqiu. "None of the leaders know what to do about it." Five years after he was picked as successor, Vice President Xi Jinping remains on track to take over from President Hu Jintao in the party's fall congress, where its leading members will install a new generation of leaders. China is run by a collective leadership, and many of the other seats in the Politburo Standing Committee, decision-making's inner sanctum, are undecided, analysts and party insiders say. Final decisions on the leadership lineup and key issues to be addressed at the congress should be hammered out in various sessions this summer, including informal meetings east of Beijing at the seaside Beidaihe resort. None of the leading contenders _ mostly proteges of Hu or other rival party elders _ is trying to grab headlines. Open politicking is strongly frowned upon, and while competition for posts and influence is intense, it takes place far from the public as the party seeks to display a united front, said Jiannan Zhu, a political scientist at the University of Nevada, Reno. "The priority for the Chinese government ahead of the party congress is to make sure no major instability occurs," Zhu said. The flamboyant Bo is one of the few Chinese politicians who did overtly campaign for a higher-level job, and that is believed to be one of the sins that led to his downfall. His removal as party boss of the mega-city of Chongqing and suspension from the Politburo exposed divisions within the leadership. It also further convinced an already skeptical public about the greed and bare-knuckled machinations of their secretive leaders. Bo's ouster this spring was accompanied by the announcement that his wife and a family aide were under investigation for the murder of a British businessman. Reports have said that Bo tried to quash the probe. Trial for Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, and for his ex-police chief, Wang Lijun _ who exposed the murder when he fled briefly to a U.S. consulate _ could begin this month, according to diplomats in Beijing who spoke on condition of anonymity. As for Bo himself, politically connected Chinese have previously said that party leaders would have address his fate before the congress to heal divisions, but the government and its media have said nothing about the case in recent weeks. Dealing with Bo is believed to have distracted the leadership, delaying its response to the deepening slowdown that has dragged growth to a three-year low of 7.6 percent in the three months ending in June. Interest rates have been cut twice in the past month and a half in a bid to kick-start growth, but Beijing is powerless to stem the malaise in Europe and the U.S. that has slashed demand for Chinese exports. The downturn could worsen unrest. China already sees 180,000 strikes, protests and other mass demonstrations each year, according to government data compiled by Tsinghua University sociologist Sun Liping. In recent protests in the southwestern city of Shifang, high school students joined ordinary Chinese in demonstrating against a copper smelter. Images of police beating protesters bloody and firing tear gas sparked nationwide outrage after they circulated online. Trying to put a lid on disturbances ahead of the congress, authorities are tightening already stringent controls on political critics and activists of all stripes. Wu Lihong, who once received a government award for his environmental campaigning, said he has been told not to travel or accept speaking engagements in coming months. "They're using the congress as a pretext for every kind of restriction they can think of," Wu said by phone from his home near heavily polluted Lake Tai. The need to quash unrest was underscored in a speech this week by the party's law and order chief, Zhou Yongkang, in which he ordered cadres to nip problems in the bud _ whatever the cost. "All levels of the party and government must make maintaining stability their first responsibility," Zhou told security officials at a national teleconference Tuesday. Authorities also are trying to keep Chinese media in line. They dismissed two editors at Shanghai's Oriental Morning Post after publication of a story calling for private industry to enjoy the same rights as state companies. Southern Weekly, one of the country's most widely respected newspaper groups, has seen editors replaced by propaganda officials. Editors and reporters at the paper said the new leaders spiked an interview with Shifang's party boss, who was replaced soon after the riots. The party leader defended his actions and complained about the lack of outside support, the editors said. "Everybody feels like things are getting more oppressive. It's been happening for a long time, but the party congress is making it worse," said one former Southern Weekly editor who now works for online media. He asked not to be named to avoid repercussions against his new employer. To some Chinese, government repression is raising doubts about whether a new slate of leaders will overcome entrenched interests. Zhang Jian of Peking University's School of Government said that even if Xi were inclined to make bold social or economic changes, he would need support from other leaders, and the government's recent heavy-handed tactics make clear there is no consensus that reforms are needed. "I see no hope at all that Xi will be able to put in place any serious, meaningful political reform," Zhang said. Meanwhile, economic pressure is likely to grow. China's rapidly aging society will severely restrict the labor pool, undermining China's low-cost advantage and increasing the social security burden for workers and the state. "The world is changing rapidly around the party. Muddling through will not be feasible during Xi's rule," said Harvard China expert Tony Saich. A major crisis in coming years will either demand major reforms or severely challenge the communists' grip on power, Saich said.

– With China's once-a-decade leadership transition coming this fall, the country's powerbrokers are now in the thick of furious and extremely hush-hush negotiations over who will guide the world's most populous country for the next decade. And in the brutal heat and pollution of the Beijing summer, China's most important politicians head to the beach—specifically, the resort town of Beidaihe, "a Chinese combination of the Jersey Shore and Martha’s Vineyard" that lies 180 miles east of the capital, reports the New York Times. President Hu Jintao tried cracking down on the Beidaihe gatherings when he took power in 2002, but many in the party bucked hard and today the resort town is as important as ever. And in the face of a worsening economic slowdown and the fallout of the Bo Xilai scandal, the struggle for power is growing fiercer, notes the AP. But with expensive private villas and swimming spots for rich party leaders dominating this beach town, many party elders are unhappy with the rising generation of leaders. "What are they good for?" asked one retired official. "What did they inherit from their fathers? They should have inherited the solidarity of the revolution."

Image copyright AP Image caption Public protests have continued since the fatal gang rape of a student in Delhi in December 2012 A teenage girl in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand has been raped in apparent revenge for an alleged assault on another woman, police say. Three people were arrested, including a village head who is accused of approving the alleged crime. The 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped this week after her brother was accused of assaulting a woman. Violence against women remains deeply entrenched while calls to address the problem have grown in recent years. Scrutiny of sexual violence in India has grown since the 2012 gang rape and murder of a student on a Delhi bus. The government tightened laws on sexual violence last year after widespread protests following that attack. 'Retaliation' In the latest incident, the village head was arrested along with the alleged rapist himself and the brother of the girl. "This rape happened out of retaliation," Jharkhand police chief Rajiv Kumar told the BBC. "The day before, on 6 July, the wife of the accused was the victim of misbehaviour on the part of the girl's brother. The head of the village was instrumental in provoking this rape on the victim." The girl was taken to hospital after the attack and has given a statement to the police. Mr Kumar said he had never heard of any case like it on his watch, but this is the the latest in a string of gruesome incidents involving the rape of young girls in India. In May two teenage girls found hanging from a tree in a village in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh had been allegedly gang-raped. Earlier this year, a 20-year-old tribal woman was gang-raped in eastern West Bengal state - allegedly on the orders of village elders who had objected to her relationship with a man.

– A girl has been raped in northern India after a village council ordered the crime as payback for her brother's actions, according to police and her family. The Wall Street Journal reports the teen's brother stands accused of trying to sexually assault the wife of Birju Pasi, with the Jharkhand police chief telling the BBC the wife was "the victim of misbehavior on the part of the girl's brother." He says the girl, 14, was raped Monday by Pasi "out of retaliation" and that "the head of the village was instrumental in provoking this rape on the victim." Both men have been arrested, as has the girl's brother. The girl's mother tells the AP, "We begged with folded hands but [the village council] would not listen. They dragged her away to the forest." A police rep says that her father later took her to a police station, her clothes "smeared with blood." The Journal notes that unelected village councils, like the one in question, are common in India, though they are illegal. The case is just the latest in a string of disturbing rapes in India. Police announced this week they will exhume the bodies of two teenage girls who were gang-raped and hanged in May in order to perform autopsies.

If Joseph Fiennes is going to play Michael Jackson, it's only fair that Gwyneth Paltrow should play Macaulay Culkin — Richard Lawson (@rilaws) January 27, 2016 Twitter: "Joseph Fiennes to play Michael Jackson" Me: pic.twitter.com/o20MuCzvYX — Eric Haywood (@EricHaywood) January 27, 2016 wait is Joseph Fiennes really playing Michael Jackson or do I need to dial way back on the DayQuil — Pixie Casey (@pixie_casey) January 26, 2016 Like... this is so ridiculous that it's ALMOST funny. Sky Arts will screen the one-off comedy, co-starring Stockard Channing as Elizabeth Taylor and Brian Cox as Marlon Brando, about the trio’s supposed road trip west from New York after the 9/11 terror attacks September 2001 was allegedly witness to one of the strangest road trips in history: Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando driving from New York to Ohio in an attempt to get home following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Enter Scottish journalist Neil Forsyth, who has written the untitled half-hour TV special adaptation, and which has now announced its main stars: Stockard Channing as Taylor, Brian Cox as Brando, and … Joseph Fiennes as the King of Pop??? And if there’s anything Jackson taught us, it’s that nothing is so simple as black or white. The urban legend concerning Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando during 9/11 goes a little something this: Jackson was in town for his huge Madison Square Garden concert, but once chaos broke out, and since air travel was shut down after the twin towers collapsed, Brando, Jackson and Taylor got a rental car and drove west, but only got as far as Ohio. “They actually got as far as Ohio – all three of them, in a car they drove themselves,” claimed a former employee of Jackson. Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson and Marlon Brando 'fled 9/11 in hire car' Read more After being originally announced in December, Fiennes has now described the script as “a challenge”, adding: “It’s a fun, lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek road trip of what celebrity of that kind is like. But also it’s rather beautiful and poignant about their relationships.” The half-hour comedy will be written by Neil Forsyth, who wrote – as alter ego Bob Servant – Delete This at Your Peril, a collection of humorous email conversations with would-be con artists and spammers.

– In a new movie about Michael Jackson, the King of Pop will be played by ... a white British guy. Joseph Fiennes is set to play Jackson in Elizabeth, Michael & Marlon, a film that follows Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor (played by Stockard Channing), and Marlon Brando (played by Brian Cox) as they attempt a road trip from New York to California. The trip supposedly really happened, after Jackson invited Taylor and Brando to his concert at Madison Square Garden and then the 9/11 attacks kept them from being able to fly back home. Legend has it they made it to Ohio, although some insist the story isn't true, the Guardian reports. But, true or not, it will be immortalized on film with Fiennes playing a black man, a fact that has many shaking their heads: The Daily Beast calls the casting "a symptom of Hollywood's deep-seated race problem." Writes Stereo Williams, "Even ... with Jackson's specific physical attributes at that point in his life—he suffered from vitiligo, which causes the skin to lose its pigment—it's not beyond reason to consider that there are qualified black actors out there that could convincingly portray Michael Jackson." At Slate, Aisha Harris agrees—despite his shifting looks and persona, Jackson was still a black man. "Find the right black actor who can perfectly capture all of Jackson's complexities—his femininity, his weirdness, his naivete, and yes, his black cultural upbringing—and invest in better makeup and prosthetics than whoever was in charge of that terrible Man in the Mirror movie. Or cast a light-skinned black actor in the role." Fiennes recently called the script "a challenge," and at The Root, Yesha Callahan writes, "Yeah, I can see how difficult it would be as a white man to play the black King of Pop." BuzzFeed has rounded up a range of Twitter reactions to the news.

The couple said they told the waiter their meal was “tough and rubbery” and he passed the complaint onto the head chef. The next thing Mr Evans knew was a raging head chef had stormed out of his kitchen and thrown chilli powder in his eyes, leaving the 46-year-old pipe-fitter sick in pain. “David had numerous eye washes through a drip into his eyes in A&E as his eyes were extremely red and sore and the ph level was way off what it should have been and the doctor said if he wasn’t treated it was very dangerous for him,” Michelle added.

– A diner who complained about his "tough and rubbery" food at a curry house in Wales ended up being hospitalized to have chili powder washed out of his eye. Michelle Evans says she was dining with husband David on Saturday night when their complaint about the food brought an angry head chef out of the kitchen, the Telegraph reports. The chef "was extremely rude and aggressive and accused us of not wanting to pay for our food," she says. Michelle says after the chef swore at her, David followed him back to the kitchen demanding an apology, and the chef "came to the door with a large bowl of chili powder which he threw at David's face." David "instantly thought he had been blinded" and was "extremely distressed," Michelle says. She says the 46-year-old was rushed to the hospital, where he received eye washes through a drip. She says he still has to take steroid eye drops. Wales Online reports that chef Kamrul Islam has a different take on the incident, which was captured on CCTV. He says the couple were shouting and swearing at him and David Evans chased him into the kitchen. "He was being very aggressive and pushed past another member of staff," the chef says. "I was frightened and grabbed a handful of chili just in case I needed to defend myself." Police say the chef was released on bail after being arrested for common assault.

The White House and congressional Democrats, with the backing of the AARP, will soon put forth a plan to automatically enroll new private-sector employees in investment retirement accounts (IRAs). The measure will apply to new workers at firms that don’t currently offer 401(k) retirement plans, according to AARP, the lobby group for seniors. Workers would have the choice of opting out of the accounts. ADVERTISEMENT The Obama administration sees the auto-enrollment system as a way to increase savings. “There’s this inertia that keeps people from taking advantage of saving opportunities,” said Cristina Martin Firvida, the director of economic security in AARP’s government relations department. “It’s all sort of foundationally related to that, how people choose to save.” Top officials in the administration, including White House Budget Director Peter Orszag, Treasury Department senior adviser Mark Iwry and Cass Sunstein, the administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, have long championed the opt-out provision. They point to studies that show the arrangement leads to big increases in savings by workers. Like other employer-based retirement accounts, the opt-out accounts proposed by Democrats would have tax benefits. It’s unclear whether they will be traditional tax-deferred accounts or Roth-style vehicles, in which account holders don’t pay taxes on withdrawals. Iwry, a retirement savings expert, has preferred Roth accounts in the past. Obama himself has publicly called for people to do more saving for retirement. “The fact is, even before this recession hit, the savings rate was essentially zero, while borrowing had risen and credit card debt had increased,” Obama said last September. “Half of America’s workforce doesn’t have access to a retirement plan at work. And fewer than 10 percent of those without workplace retirement plans have one of their own.” Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) have introduced similar IRA proposals in the past. The auto-enrollment provision will get pushback from small-business groups. “It’s another burden placed on business that’s coming from Washington, keeping business owners from hiring and investing,” said Bill Rys, the tax counsel for the National Federation of Independent Business. “They’re being told, ‘Here’s how you run your business.’ ”

– Democrats plan to introduce legislation that would automatically enroll private-sector workers in retirement savings accounts, the Hill reports. The measure, being heavily pushed by the AARP, would apply to those whose employers don't offer 401k accounts. Workers would be able to opt out of the plan, whose backers don't expect it to be approved until next year at the earliest, notes Investment News. “There’s this inertia that keeps people from taking advantage of saving opportunities,” said an AARP official. “It’s all sort of foundationally related to that, how people choose to save.”?? The measure would require employers who have at least 10 employees to offer the savings option through payroll deductions, a provision likely to draw flak from small-business owners as another bureaucratic hassle, notes the Hill.

The Yumbo, which debuted in 1968 and was officially retired in 1974, will cost $3.69, the Miami-based company said today in a statement. It also will be part of Burger King’s two-for-$5 menu. The Yumbo, which debuted in 1968 and was officially retired in 1974, will cost $3.69,... Read More The Yumbo, which debuted in 1968 and was officially retired in 1974, will cost $3.69, the Miami-based company said today in a statement. Close Burger King Worldwide Inc. (BKW) is putting its Yumbo ham-and-cheese sandwich back on the menu after a 40-year hiatus, aiming to entice customers with a taste from its past. The Yumbo, which debuted in 1968 and was officially retired in 1974, will cost $3.69 and be available for a limited time, the Miami-based company said today in a statement. Burger King has had success with the reintroduction of chicken fries earlier this year and is trying to boost sales by adding simpler menu items that are easy for workers to prepare. Customers have been asking about the Yumbo for years, and Burger King decided it was time to bring the sandwich back, said Eric Hirschhorn, chief marketing officer for North America. “It got to the point where it’s one of those things we can no longer ignore,” he said. Burger King didn’t specify how long the Yumbo will be on the menu at its approximately 7,360 North American restaurants. The burger chain reported stronger-than-projected same-store sales last month, posting a third-quarter gain of 3.6 percent for the U.S. and Canada. Analysts had estimated a 2.5 percent increase. Burger King also is planning to acquire Canada’s Tim Hortons Inc. in a bid to become the world’s third-largest fast-food company. To contact the reporter on this story: Craig Giammona in New York at cgiammona@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net Kevin Orland

– The people asked; Burger King listened. After becoming what BK marketing chief Eric Hirschhorn calls "one of those things we [could] no longer ignore," the Yumbo ham-and-cheese sandwich once more graces the eatery's menu, Bloomberg reports. You probably won't remember this fast-food delicacy if you're under the age of 45—it was only in circulation from 1968 to 1974—but apparently those who tasted its steaming goodness couldn't get it out of their minds. Customers kept asking about its return, notes Hirschhorn, and since the restaurant enjoyed success with this year's return of chicken fries and was seeking more easy-to-make items, it resurrected the Yumbo. The sandwich will only be available for a limited time for $3.69. (Wonder if it'll bring in more sales than the Black Burger?)

Image caption The meteorite left a crater inside the campus of Bharathidasan Engineering College in Vellore Indian scientists have been asked to verify claims that a man died after being hit by a meteorite in southern Vellore city. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram said on Sunday that Kamraj, a bus driver, died after a meteorite fell on a college campus. Scientists said tests were needed to confirm that the rock was a meteorite. If confirmed, experts said this would be the first such death in nearly 200 years. According to a list prepared by the International Comet Quarterly, a man was killed in a "meteorite fall" in India in 1825. PK Senthilkumari, chief of Vellore police, told The Hindu that a "small stone weighing about 10g was recovered from the spot" at Bharathidasan Engineering College. Image copyright Tamil Nadu Police Image caption Further tests were needed to confirm that the darkish rock was actually a meteorite "We have requested scientists to come and examine the object." Kamraj was working in the campus when the object fell and caused a loud explosion. It left a crater in the ground and blew out glass windows in the adjoining buildings. The victim "sustained serious injuries and died while on the way to the hospital," Ms Jayaram said. The government has announced a financial aid of 100,000 (£1,000;$1,441) for Kamraj's family. Meteors are chunks of rock and debris that burn up as they plummet through Earth's atmosphere. Meteorites are larger, more durable objects that survive heating in the atmosphere and land on Earth.

– Whatever it was that killed a bus driver in India on Saturday probably didn't travel through untold millions of miles of space to get there, according to NASA scientists. The 11-gram rock recovered from a college campus in Tamil Nadu is still being analyzed, but NASA scientists say that from photos alone, the incident that killed one person and injured three others appears to have been "a land-based explosion" instead of the first recorded death from a meteorite strike in history, the New York Times reports. The BBC reports that police asked scientists to examine the small stone found in a crater at Bharathidasan Engineering College after Saturday's explosion. The dean of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics tells the Times that institute experts are looking at samples of the rock. "Considering that there was no prediction of a meteorite shower and there was no meteorite shower observed, this certainly is a rare phenomena if it is a meteorite," he says. It's not clear what else could have caused the explosion. A police spokesman tells the Times of India that they "did not find any trace of explosive substances" and are now awaiting the results of forensic tests and an autopsy of the bus driver.

David Friedman (File Photo) ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, Tuesday June 4, 2013 – The Grenada government says it is saddened at the death of David Friedman, the owner and founder of the Grenada Chocolate Factory who was electrocuted over the weekend. Friedman, who is also known as “Mott Green” was reportedly repairing equipment at his storehouse at the Belmont Estate when the incident occurred. Originally from the United States, he established the company in 1999. Tourism Minister Alexandra Otway-Noel described Friedman “as a friend of Grenada and entrepreneur who worked tirelessly to promote our cocoa and by extension our country,” adding “we feel a strong sense of sorrow for this loss to Grenada. Mott’s passing is also a blow to cocoa exports, in light of the campaign he has been leading”. The minister said that Friedman “passionately led the creation of a company that manufactures and exports this country’s cocoa and while increasing Grenada’s profile internationally. He also provided employment for our people. “We feel that as part of our tribute to our friend Mott and to his legacy that we all work together to ensure his company continues to grow from strength to strength. “We are confident that Mott’s chocolate factory has a vibrant role to play in a refreshing new economy that is unfolding in this new administration and we are certain he would have been happy to be a part of it,” she added. (CMC) Click here to receive free news bulletins via email from Caribbean360. (View sample)

– He was kind of like Willy Wonka, if Wonka had combined his passion for chocolate with social justice. Or as the headline in Haaretz puts it: "Mott Green, Jewish anarchist chocolatier, dies aged 47." Green was born David Friedman and grew up in Staten Island, but he gave up the idea of a middle-class lifestyle in the US to live in the jungle of Grenada—and then went on to create a sustainable chocolate company with the unprecedented mission of benefiting the locals. Green died after being electrocuted repairing his (solar-powered) cooling equipment, reports Caribbean 360. Green attended the Ivy League's Penn but dropped out a few months before graduation because he thought a degree would prove corrupting. He "spent several years after college as a kind of master tinkerer, forager and activist among homeless anarchists in Philadelphia," writes William Yardley in the New York Times. He eventually made his way to the Caribbean and settled into a hermit's life in Grenada in a bamboo hut. But then he developed a taste for the local cocoa tea, which led to his exploration of chocolate ... and ultimately to the creation of the Grenada Chocolate Company in 1999. Along the way, "he rewrote the rules of the global chocolate industry by adding all the value at the source and bringing maximum benefit to the local economy, in this case to the people of Grenada whom he loved," writes Aviel Luz in Haaretz. If it sounds like the stuff of movies, it is, in a way. A well-received documentary about his company called Nothing Like Chocolate came out last year.

The St. Louis area's most powerful tornado in 44 years rips into an airport and through a densely populated suburban area, destroying up to 100 homes, shattering hundreds of panes of glass at the main terminal and blowing a shuttle bus on top of a roof. Yet no one is killed, or even seriously hurt, and the airport reopens less than 24 hours later. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon speaks during a news conference inside Lambert-St. Louis International Airport Saturday, April 23, 2011, in St. Louis. The National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado that... (Associated Press) From left to right, Shaun Jones and Jacob Caldwell of BAM Contracting in St. Louis, work to repair damage to windows in the main terminal of St. Louis' Lambert International Airport, Saturday, April 23,... (Associated Press) Workers replace remove broken windows inside the main terminal at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport Saturday, April 23, 2011, in St. Louis. The National Weather Service confirms that it was a tornado... (Associated Press) In this aerial photograph, debris is strewn about a neighborhood Saturday, April 23, 2011, in Bridgeton, Mo., following a Friday-evening tornado in the area. A severe storm that struck the St. Louis area... (Associated Press) Early warnings, good timing and common sense all helped prevent a tragedy Friday night. But on Easter Sunday, many of those cleaning up the mess also thanked a higher power. "I don't know why God decided to spare our lives but I'm thankful for it," Joni Bellinger, children's minister at hard-hit Ferguson Christian Church, said Sunday. Lambert Airport reopened for arriving flights Saturday night, and departing flights began Sunday morning. Still, dozens of flights have been canceled, the airport's Concourse C is still closed and complete repairs could take up to two months. The tornado peaked at an EF-4 level, second-highest on the Enhanced Fujita scale, packing winds of up to 200 mph, National Weather Service meteorologist Wes Browning said. It was the most powerful twister in metropolitan St. Louis since 1967 _ and eerily, it followed a path similar to that of the earlier tornado. Entire subdivisions were destroyed. Cars were tossed about like toys, roofs tossed hundreds of yards and 100-year-old trees sucked out by the roots. County officials said during a news conference Sunday that 2,700 buildings were damaged. Gov. Jay Nixon said Saturday that up to 100 were uninhabitable. The damage clearly will cost millions of dollars to repair, but a more precise estimate was unavailable Sunday. The twister destroyed two of the homes John Stein owns on a street in the city of Berkeley, and damaged five others. "Everything you'd find in a war zone except the bodies," Stein said. Residents in nine communities and unincorporated parts of St. Louis County were still sorting through the rubble Sunday. Ameren Corp. had about 2,000 workers seeking to restore outages that affected 47,000 homes and businesses immediately after the storm. The utility said 18,300 were still without electricity on Sunday, and it could be several days before all power is restored. Yet the common refrain was: It could have been worse. Stuff was destroyed, not lives. The normally busy airport took a direct hit, with hundreds of panes of glass shattering from the force of the wind. The shuttle bus on the roof was among dozens of vehicles that were damaged. But the airport had been quiet Friday night. Few planes on the ground were filled with passengers, and those shook but didn't topple. Just a couple of hundred passengers and workers were in Concourse C, which took the brunt of the damage, airport director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge said. Five people suffered minor injuries. Residents praised the weather service for warning them about the tornado more than a half-hour before it hit. Warning sirens blared at the airport, where security officers and other workers herded people to stairwells and bathrooms. Residents also paid attention to the sirens, and local TV stations switched from network programming to radar of the pending disaster and stern warnings from meteorologists to seek refuge in basements. "The bottom line is the 34-minute warning and the heeding of that warning by the citizens has saved countless lives," Nixon said. Browning agreed. "The public did what we told them to do," the meteorologist said. "Many came out of the basement without a scratch, and there was nothing left" of their homes. Bridgeton Mayor Conrad Bowers believes divine intervention also was at work. His own home had moderate damage, but several houses in his neighborhood were obliterated. In many of them, mercifully, no one was home when the twister hit. One family was out for dinner. Another was away playing cards. Another was visiting relatives in Dallas. "The grace of God," Bowers said. "What else can I say?" At Ferguson Christian Church, nearly three dozen people were gathered on Good Friday to watch the movie "Passion of the Christ" when the sirens began to blare. Pastor Stacy Garner paused the movie and hurried everyone to the basement. They were out of harm's way as the tornado imploded the sanctuary above them. Like hundreds of residents in surrounding communities, church members have been back trying to salvage what they could. Their Easter Sunday services were at a college campus. They've had a lot of help from neighbors and friends. "It's not just our church, but people from all over the neighborhood have come to help and clean up the mess and pick up the pieces, and try to figure out what we're going to do from now on," said Bellinger, the children's minister. ___ Ed Donahue of the Associated Press in Washington contributed to this report.

– Miraculously, no one was killed by the Friday night tornado that ripped through the St. Louis airport. But that doesn't make the experience, captured by security cameras and reported by KMOX, any less terrifying. (Hat tip to Gawker for the find.) How is it that—even though 2,700 buildings were damaged and 100 homes destroyed—only minor injuries were reported in the St. Louis area, and only to five people? Locals credit early warnings from the weather service. The tornado, which packed winds of up to 200mph, was the most powerful in the St. Louis area in 44 years and peaked at the second-highest level on the Enhanced Fujita scale. But thanks to the weather service and local TV stations, residents were made aware of the impending disaster 34 minutes before it hit. Warning sirens at the airport allowed security officers to get people into stairwells and bathrooms for safety. The mayor has another theory. He tells the AP he credits "the grace of God."

ADVERTISEMENT CALGARY — The father of a missing Calgary girl is begging anyone who might have information to "do the right thing.'' Colin Marsman said in a statement Wednesday that five-year-old Taliyah Leigh Marsman is his "light'' and loves her with all his heart. Please allow her to come home to her family," said Taliyah's father, Colin Marsman — who was Baillie's estranged common-law spouse — in the statement sent out by his friend Gabriel Goree. "Please, it's never too late to do the right thing! FOR THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS, SEE: Calgary family, police 'devastated' as charges laid in deaths of Taliyah Marsman, mother The father of Taliyah Leigh Marsman has issued a statement to the media through a friend, pleading for anyone with information to come forward after the five-year-old disappeared and her mother was found dead in the Calgary home she shared with the child. "And so it's a race against the clock and I know police, our police service is phenomenal and they're doing everything they can." They said support was being offered to grieving staff. According to court documents, Marsman was charged with unlawful confinement and intimidation for preventing Baillie from using her cellphone to call police in connection with a Feb. 1, 2015, incident. Those charges were later withdrawn and he agreed to enter into a peace bond last March with conditions for a year, including having no contact with Baillie except by text to access his child through a third party. “We’re not ruling out any possibilities, including that she may be in the care of somebody right now and been dropped off and that person or those people may not know what’s transpired,” said Coleman. Coleman said police have spoken to him and he is co-operating with the investigation. Marsman is a hardworking construction worker who has another child — a teenaged boy — and is distraught and in shock about the disappearance of his little girl, said Goree. Family members of missing girl Taliyah Leigh Marsman made a tearful plea for her return Tuesday, urging whoever has the five-year-old to return her. (Photo: Facebook) Marsman's girlfriend, Jessica Mardinger, added on Facebook: "Colin is a great father. “He is in so much pain.” While neither of the parents is known to police, Coleman said there is a limited history of domestic violence, both reported and unreported. “Somebody out there knows where Taliyah is, and that person or those people need to do the right thing,” he said. The head of the Missing Children Society of Canada, which is helping with the search for Taliyah, says investigators are using all the resources they have to find the little girl. Taliyah is described as a mixed-race child with a slim build, brown curly hair and blue eyes.

– Police are searching for a missing 5-year-old girl after her mother was found dead in their apartment Monday in Canada, the Calgary Herald reports. Investigators believe Sara Baillie was killed, though a cause of death hasn't been given, and an Amber Alert for her daughter Taliyah Marsman was issued early Tuesday. According to the Canadian Press, Taliyah was last seen by family on Sunday morning. The girl's aunt and uncle describe her as a "vivacious, wonderful child." “She’s always dancing and loving and caring,” a babysitter tells the Herald. “She likes to love people, and she’s really good at making friends.” Taliyah's father and Baillie's estranged common-law husband, Colin Marsman, asked for anyone with information regarding his daughter's whereabouts to come forward. "With all my heart, I love her sooo much; she is my light! Please allow her to come home to her family," CBC quotes a statement issued by Marsman Wednesday. "Those who know me best, know the person and kind of father I am, and know more than anything, I just want my baby girl back.” Authorities say there is some history of domestic violence between Marsman and Baillie. Marsman is cooperating with police, but they aren't ruling out anyone as a suspect.

In the seventh episode of CBS' Survivor: Game Changers, castaway Zeke Smith — returning for his second appearance in two seasons — was outed by a fellow contestant as transgender. Zeke Smith, who appeared on back-to-back seasons of the reality series, was revealed to be a transgender man by fellow contestant Jeff Varner in an episode that aired Wednesday night. The move backfired entirely: Varner’s tribemates quickly admonished him for his actions, and he was ousted by the tribe. I could've made a clean break for it, but I knew there was no running from what had happened. In 34 seasons of Survivor, I have rarely, if ever, personally commented on what is said or done in the game. Then, a single word appeared, the word I couldn't find earlier in the day, the word that encapsulated my 50-plus days on the island: metamorphosis. And there is another moment that I hope was as inspiring for others as it was for me, and that was when Sarah told Zeke she was glad she got to know Zeke for who Zeke is and would never see him any other way. It was like waking up in Westeros, Lord Zeke of the Mustache Lands, fighting to claim the Iron Throne. Casting called back two hours later, and I began to panic. We knew we were doing Millennials vs. Gen X as a theme and we wanted him on the Millennials tribe immediately. I remember the smug smirk on his face and the gleam in his eye when he turned to me and snarled, "Why haven't you told anyone that you’re transgender?" In the following exclusive column for The Hollywood Reporter, Zeke — one of very few players in show history to compete on back-to-back seasons — shares his side of the journey, his experience as a trans man, the reasons why he pursued Survivor, the thrill of that adventure, and what it was like on the night he was outed on national television — and how he powered through it. I didn't discuss my trans status in my initial video because I wanted the show to desire me as a game player and an eccentric storyteller, not as "The First Trans Survivor Player." After 18 days starving and competing with me, they knew exactly the man I am, and after that Tribal Council, we all knew exactly the man Varner is. There's no one whose journey resonated with me more than former local network news anchor Jeff Varner. He would be returning to Ponderosa, where voted out contestants go, after making one of the worst decisions of his life. It was clear he was upset and the realization of it all was still washing over him. For both, trans people make easy targets for those looking to invoke prejudice in order to win votes. Finally, we always take a sneak peek at what’s coming up. I don't know if I could have been that strong. See, when I got on a plane to Fiji last March, I expected to get voted out third.

– "I was maliciously outed by a former local network news anchor. What a summer!" That's how Zeke Smith sums up his adventure on Survivor: Game Changers, which turned out to be a bit more eventful than Smith's first appearance on the reality show last season. As Wednesday's episode revealed, fellow contestant Jeff Varner accused Smith of "a deception" before outing Smith as transgender, per the AP—a move that has drawn condemnation from an LGBT rights group, host Jeff Probst, and the public at large, per People. Though Varner apologized before he was voted off the show, Smith says he's struggled with forgiving him in the eight months since filming wrapped, in a piece for the Hollywood Reporter. "In calling me deceptive, Varner invoked one of the most odious stereotypes of transgender people," Smith writes. Varner, who is gay, implied "that I'm not really a man and that simply living as my authentic self is a nefarious trick." GLAAD has criticized Varner's move, while Probst tells Entertainment Weekly that the reaction of his teammates, who swiftly defended Smith, "mirrors what the vast majority of society will feel. You just don’t do that to someone." After Wednesday's episode aired, Varner offered his "deepest, most heartfelt apologies" in a statement on Twitter, per CNN. "I recklessly revealed something I mistakenly believed everyone already knew. I was wrong and make no excuses for it," he said.

Flames consume a Kentucky Fried Chicken as the Camp Fire tears through Paradise, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File) (Associated Press) Flames consume a Kentucky Fried Chicken as the Camp Fire tears through Paradise, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File) (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — Both nature and humans share blame for California's devastating wildfires, but forest management did not play a major role, despite President Donald Trump's claims, fire scientists say. Nature provides the dangerous winds that have whipped the fires, and human-caused climate change over the long haul is killing and drying the shrubs and trees that provide the fuel, experts say. "Natural factors and human-caused global warming effects fatally collude" in these fires, said wildfire expert Kristen Thornicke of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. Multiple reasons explain the fires' severity, but "forest management wasn't one of them," University of Utah fire scientist Philip Dennison said. Trump tweeted on Saturday: "There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests." The death toll from the wildfire that incinerated the town of Northern California town of Paradise and surrounding areas climbed to 29, matching the mark for the deadliest single blaze in California history. Statewide, the number of fire dead stood at 31, including two victims in Southern California. One reason that scientists know that management isn't to blame is that some areas now burning had fires in 2005 and 2008, so they aren't "fuel-choked closed-canopy forests," Dennison said. In those earlier fires, Paradise was threatened but escaped major damage, he said. In the current blazes, it was virtually destroyed. The other major fire, in Southern California, burned through shrub land, not forest, Dennison said. "It's not about forest management. These aren't forests," he said. The dean of the University of Michigan's environmental school, Jonathan Overpeck, said Western fires are getting bigger and more severe. He said it "is much less due to bad management and is instead the result of our baking of our forests, woodlands and grasslands with ever-worsening climate change." Wildfires have become more devastating because of the extreme weather swings from global warming, fire scientists said. The average number of U.S. acres burned by wildfires has doubled over the level from 30 years ago. As of Monday, more than 13,200 square miles (34,200 square kilometers) have burned. That's more than a third higher than the 10-year average. From 1983 to 1999, the United States didn't reach 10,000 square miles burned annually. Since then, 11 of 19 years have had more than 10,000 square miles burned, including this year. In 2006, 2015 and 2017, more than 15,000 square miles burned. The two fires now burning "aren't that far out of line with the fires we've seen in these areas in recent decades," Dennison said. "The biggest factor was wind," Dennison said in an email. "With wind speeds as high as they were, there was nothing firefighters could do to stop the advance of the fires." These winds, called Santa Ana winds, and the unique geography of high mountains and deep valleys act like chimneys, fortifying the fires, Thornicke said. The wind is so strong that fire breaks — areas where trees and brush have been cleared or intentionally burned to deprive the advancing flames of fuel — won't work. One of the fires jumped over eight lanes of freeway, about 140 feet (43 meters), Dennison said. Southern California had fires similar to the Woolsey fire in 1982, when winds were 60 mph, but "the difference between 1982 and today is a much higher population in these areas. Many more people were threatened and had to evacuated," Dennison said. California also has been in drought for all but a few years of the 21st century and is now experiencing its longest drought, which began on Dec. 27, 2011, and has lasted 358 weeks, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor . Nearly two-thirds of the state is abnormally dry. The first nine months of the year have been fourth-warmest on record for California, and this past summer was the second-hottest on record in the state. Because of that, there are 129 million dead trees, which provide fuel for fires, Thornicke said. And it's more than trees. Dead shrubs around the bottom of trees provide what is called "ladder fuel," offering a path for fire to climb from the ground to the treetops and intensifying the conflagration by a factor of 10 to 100, said Kevin Ryan, a fire consultant and former fire scientist at the U.S. Forest Service. While many conservatives advocate cutting down more trees to prevent fires, no one makes money by cutting dead shrubs, and that's a problem, he said. Local and state officials have cleared some Southern California shrub, enough for normal weather and winds. But that's not enough for this type of extreme drought, said Ryan, also a former firefighter. University of Alberta fire scientist Mike Flanigan earlier this year told The Associated Press that the hotter and drier the weather, the easier it is for fires to start, spread and burn more intensely. It's simple, he said: "The warmer it is, the more fire we see." For every 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit that the air warms, it needs 15 percent more rain to make up for the drying of the fuel, Flannigan said. Federal fire and weather data show the years with the most acres burned were generally a degree warmer than average. "Everyone who has gardened knows that you must water more on hotter days," Overpeck said. "But, thanks in part to climate change, California isn't getting enough snow and rain to compensate for the unrelenting warming caused by climate change. The result is a worsening wildfire problem. ___ Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter: @borenbears . ___ The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

– President Trump on Saturday expressed his belief that the wildfires ravaging California can be blamed on "gross mismanagement of the forests." Neil Young, for one, isn't having it. Variety reports the musician lost his Malibu home in the fires, and on Sunday he offered a retort to Trump on his website in the form of a 300-word post (you'll need to register to read it in full). It reads in part: "California is vulnerable – not because of poor forest management as DT (our so-called president) would have us think. We are vulnerable because of climate change; the extreme weather events and our extended drought is part of it. ... We love California. We are not ill-prepared. We are up against something bigger than we have ever seen. It’s too big for some to see at all. Firefighters have never seen anything like this before in their lives." The AP backs up Young's assertion by way of an interview with University of Utah fire scientist Philip Dennison. He says there are a number of contributing factors, but "forest management wasn't one of them." He elaborates on why: Some of the areas that have been hit saw fires in 2005 and 2008, so they aren't "fuel-choked closed-canopy forests." And in the case of Southern California, what has burned isn't forest but shrub land. So of the other contributing factors, which was the big one? The Santa Ana winds, says Dennison. "With wind speeds as high as they were, there was nothing firefighters could do to stop the advance." Even fire breaks—areas where vegetation has been cleared or intentionally so as not to offer the oncoming flames fuel—has been no match. One of the fires straddled eight lanes of freeway, a distance of roughly 140 feet, he says.

On Feb. 29 only, Arby's will take a leap by offering the company's first ever vegetarian menu, highlighted by Arby's® signature sandwich lineup, minus the delicious meats that make them sandwiches. The fast food chain, which is known for its meat-heavy menu, is going to “take a leap” and offer a vegetarian menu for the first time on Monday. Prices remain the same, despite the less-meaty ingredients. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160224/337127 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160224/337476 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150521/217860LOGO SOURCE Arby’s Beef 'n Cheddar Classic Sandwich: A toasted onion roll topped with Cheddar cheese sauce and zesty Red Ranch minus Arby's famous thinly sliced roast beef, marinated and roasted in Arby's restaurants every single day. The (vegetarian) Loaded Italian Sandwich Image: Arby's In a press release, Chief Marketing Officer and Brand President Rob Lynch said, “If it goes well, we’ll likely bring back the vegetarian menu on Feb. 29 each year.” We know you're thinking: Wait, I can get those sandwiches sans meat any time of year just by ordering them that way. You can also drink eggnog any time of year. Roast Beef Sandwich: A toasted sesame seed bun minus Arby's famous thinly sliced roast beef, marinated and roasted in Arby's restaurants every single day.

– It's difficult for a vegetarian to eat at Arby's—there's a lot of meat on the menu. So, in order "to give vegetarians a reason to visit Arby’s on Leap Day," an exec says in a press release, the fast food chain will offer a vegetarian menu on Feb. 29 this year. The Consumerist, Digiday, and Mashable insist the stunt is not a joke, though it is pretty hilarious that one of the items on Arby's official promotional photo is ... just a bun. Indeed, the descriptions of the items available on Leap Day are all pretty funny: "Roast Beef Sandwich: A toasted sesame seed bun minus Arby's famous thinly sliced roast beef, marinated and roasted in Arby's restaurants every single day. Available in Classic, Mid or Max sizes." "Crispy Fish Sandwich: Tartar sauce and shredded lettuce on a toasted sesame seed bun minus Arby's wild-caught Alaskan Pollock crispy-fried to golden-brown perfection." "Beef 'n Cheddar Classic Sandwich: A toasted onion roll topped with Cheddar cheese sauce and zesty Red Ranch minus Arby's famous thinly sliced roast beef, marinated and roasted in Arby's restaurants every single day." Meat-lovers, rest assured you can also still order the normal menu. As Mashable points out, of course, vegetarians could also order the vegetarian menu any time, simply by asking Arby's to hold the meat ... but "you can also drink eggnog any time of year ... but you probably don't." And Digiday points out that some of the items still sound pretty "fulfilling," like the Loaded Italian Sandwich with cheese, banana peppers, lettuce, tomato, onion, red wine vinaigrette, and garlic aioli on a toasted bun. Prices for vegetarian items are not discounted.