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WASHINGTON (AP) — In July 2010, Joe McSpedon, a U.S. government official, flew to Barcelona to put the final touches on a secret plan to build a social media project aimed at undermining Cuba's communist government. FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2009 file photo, a person holds a banner with an image of of Argentine-born revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, among a crowd of cheering fans at the "Peace Without Borders"... (Associated Press) Students gather behind a business looking for a Internet signal for their smart phones in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, April 1, 2014. The U.S. Agency for International Development masterminded the creation... (Associated Press) In this Feb 28, 2014 photo, Ernesto Guerra speaks during an interview with Associated Press in Havana, Cuba. The Obama administration secretly financed a social network in Cuba to stir political unrest... (Associated Press) In this March 11, 2014 photo, a woman uses her cellphone as she sits on the Malecon in Havana, Cuba. The U.S. Agency for International Development masterminded the creation of a "Cuban Twitter," a communications... (Associated Press) The headquarters for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is seen in Washington, Tuesday, April 1, 2014. The U.S. government masterminded the creation of a "Cuban Twitter," a communications... (Associated Press) Joe McSpedon, a official of the U.S. Agency for International Development, leaves his house on Monday, March 31, 2014, in Washington. McSpedon worked on a USAID project that funded and helped create a... (Associated Press) In this March 3, 2014, photo, a woman uses her cellphone in Camajuani, Cuba. The U.S. Agency for International Development masterminded the creation of a "Cuban Twitter," a communications network designed... (Associated Press) In this Feb. 28, 2014 photo, Saimi Reyes speaks during an interview with Associated Press in Havana, Cuba. The Obama administration secretly financed a social network in Cuba to stir political unrest... (Associated Press) A book street vendor passes the time on her smart phone as she waits for customers in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, April 1, 2014. The Obama administration secretly financed a social network in Cuba to stir... (Associated Press) Joe McSpedon, a official of the U.S. Agency for International Development, leaves his house on Monday, March 31, 2014, in Washington. McSpedon worked on a USAID project that funded and helped create a... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Nov. 27, 2012 file photo provided by James L. Berenthal, jailed American Alan Gross poses for a photo during a visit by Rabbi Elie Abadie and U.S. lawyer James L. Berenthal at Finlay military... (Associated Press) Customers looking for cellphone service wait their turn to be seen by a representative outside a branch of telecommunications provider Cubacel in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, April 1, 2014. The Obama administration... (Associated Press) McSpedon and his team of high-tech contractors had come in from Costa Rica and Nicaragua, Washington and Denver. Their mission: to launch a messaging network that could reach hundreds of thousands of Cubans. To hide the network from the Cuban government, they would set up a byzantine system of front companies using a Cayman Islands bank account, and recruit unsuspecting executives who would not be told of the company's ties to the U.S. government. McSpedon didn't work for the CIA. This was a program paid for and run by the U.S. Agency for International Development, best known for overseeing billions of dollars in U.S. humanitarian aid. According to documents obtained by The Associated Press and multiple interviews with people involved in the project, the plan was to develop a bare-bones "Cuban Twitter," using cellphone text messaging to evade Cuba's strict control of information and its stranglehold restrictions over the Internet. In a play on Twitter, it was called ZunZuneo — slang for a Cuban hummingbird's tweet. Documents show the U.S. government planned to build a subscriber base through "non-controversial content": news messages on soccer, music, and hurricane updates. Later when the network reached a critical mass of subscribers, perhaps hundreds of thousands, operators would introduce political content aimed at inspiring Cubans to organize "smart mobs" — mass gatherings called at a moment's notice that might trigger a Cuban Spring, or, as one USAID document put it, "renegotiate the balance of power between the state and society." At its peak, the project drew in more than 40,000 Cubans to share news and exchange opinions. But its subscribers were never aware it was created by the U.S. government, or that American contractors were gathering their private data in the hope that it might be used for political purposes. "There will be absolutely no mention of United States government involvement," according to a 2010 memo from Mobile Accord, one of the project's contractors. "This is absolutely crucial for the long-term success of the service and to ensure the success of the Mission." The program's legality is unclear: U.S. law requires that any covert action by a federal agency must have a presidential authorization. Officials at USAID would not say who had approved the program or whether the White House was aware of it. McSpedon, the most senior official named in the documents obtained by the AP, is a mid-level manager who declined to comment. USAID spokesman Matt Herrick said the agency is proud of its Cuba programs and noted that congressional investigators reviewed them last year and found them to be consistent with U.S. law. "USAID is a development agency, not an intelligence agency, and we work all over the world to help people exercise their fundamental rights and freedoms, and give them access to tools to improve their lives and connect with the outside world," he said. "In the implementation," he added, "has the government taken steps to be discreet in non-permissive environments? Of course. That's how you protect the practitioners and the public. In hostile environments, we often take steps to protect the partners we're working with on the ground. This is not unique to Cuba." But the ZunZuneo program muddies those claims, a sensitive issue for its mission to promote democracy and deliver aid to the world's poor and vulnerable — which requires the trust of foreign governments. "On the face of it there are several aspects about this that are troubling," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. and chairman of the Appropriations Committee's State Department and foreign operations subcommittee. "There is the risk to young, unsuspecting Cuban cellphone users who had no idea this was a U.S. government-funded activity. There is the clandestine nature of the program that was not disclosed to the appropriations subcommittee with oversight responsibility. And there is the disturbing fact that it apparently activated shortly after Alan Gross, a USAID subcontractor who was sent to Cuba to help provide citizens access to the Internet, was arrested." The Associated Press obtained more than 1,000 pages of documents about the project's development. The AP independently verified the project's scope and details in the documents — such as federal contract numbers and names of job candidates — through publicly available databases, government sources and interviews with those directly involved in ZunZuneo. Taken together, they tell the story of how agents of the U.S. government, working in deep secrecy, became tech entrepreneurs — in Cuba. And it all began with a half a million cellphone numbers obtained from a communist government. ___ ZunZuneo would seem to be a throwback from the Cold War, and the decades-long struggle between the United States and Cuba. It came at a time when the historically sour relationship between the countries had improved, at least marginally, and Cuba had made tentative steps toward a more market-based economy. It is unclear whether the plan got its start with USAID or Creative Associates International, a Washington, D.C., for-profit company that has earned hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. contracts. But a "key contact" at Cubacel, the state-owned cellphone provider, slipped the phone numbers to a Cuban engineer living in Spain. The engineer provided the numbers to USAID and Creative Associates "free of charge," documents show. In mid-2009, Noy Villalobos, a manager with Creative Associates who had worked with USAID in the 1990s on a program to eradicate drug crops, started an IM chat with her little brother in Nicaragua, according to a Creative Associates email that captured the conversation. Mario Bernheim, in his mid-20s, was an up-and-coming techie who had made a name for himself as a computer whiz. "This is very confidential of course," Villalobos cautioned her brother. But what could you do if you had all the cellphone numbers of a particular country? Could you send bulk text messages without the government knowing? "Can you encrypt it or something?" she texted. She was looking for a direct line to regular Cubans through text messaging. Most had precious little access to news from the outside world. The government viewed the Internet as an Achilles' heel and controlled it accordingly. A communications minister had even referred to it as a "wild colt" that "should be tamed." Yet in the years since Fidel Castro handed over power to his brother Raul, Cuba had sought to jumpstart the long stagnant economy. Raul Castro began encouraging cellphone use, and hundreds of thousands of people were suddenly using mobile phones for the first time, though smartphones with access to the Internet remained restricted. Cubans could text message, though at a high cost in a country where the average wage was a mere $20 a month. Bernheim told his sister that he could figure out a way to send instant texts to hundreds of thousands of Cubans— for cheap. It could not be encrypted though, because that would be too complicated. They wouldn't be able to hide the messages from the Cuban government, which owned Cubacel. But they could disguise who was sending the texts by constantly switching the countries the messages came from. "We could rotate it from different countries?" Villalobos asked. "Say one message from Nica, another from Spain, another from Mexico"? Bernheim could do that. "But I would need mirrors set up around the world, mirrors, meaning the same computer, running with the same platform, with the same phone." "No hay problema," he signed off. No problem. ___ After the chat, Creative hired Bernheim as a subcontractor, reporting to his sister. (Villalobos and Bernheim would later confirm their involvement with the ZunZuneo project to AP, but decline further comment.) Bernheim, in turn, signed up the Cuban engineer who had gotten the phone list. The team figured out how to message the masses without detection, but their ambitions were bigger. Creative Associates envisioned using the list to create a social networking system that would be called "Proyecto ZZ," or "Project ZZ." The service would start cautiously and be marketed chiefly to young Cubans, who USAID saw as the most open to political change. "We should gradually increase the risk," USAID proposed in a document. It advocated using "smart mobs" only in "critical/opportunistic situations and not at the detriment of our core platform-based network." USAID's team of contractors and subcontractors built a companion website to its text service so Cubans could subscribe, give feedback and send their own text messages for free. They talked about how to make the website look like a real business. "Mock ad banners will give it the appearance of a commercial enterprise," a proposal suggested. In multiple documents, USAID staff pointed out that text messaging had mobilized smart mobs and political uprisings in Moldova and the Philippines, among others. In Iran, the USAID noted social media's role following the disputed election of then President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009 — and saw it as an important foreign policy tool. USAID documents say their strategic objective in Cuba was to "push it out of a stalemate through tactical and temporary initiatives, and get the transition process going again towards democratic change." Democratic change in authoritarian Cuba meant breaking the Castros' grip on power. USAID divided Cuban society into five segments depending on loyalty to the government. On one side sat the "democratic movement," called "still (largely) irrelevant," and at the other end were the "hard-core system supporters," dubbed "Talibanes" in a derogatory comparison to Afghan and Pakistani extremists. A key question was how to move more people toward the democratic activist camp without detection. Bernheim assured the team that wouldn't be a problem. "The Cuban government, like other regimes committed to information control, currently lacks the capacity to effectively monitor and control such a service," Bernheim wrote in a proposal for USAID marked "Sensitive Information." ZunZuneo would use the list of phone numbers to break Cuba's Internet embargo and not only deliver information to Cubans but also let them interact with each other in a way the government could not control. Eventually it would build a system that would let Cubans send messages anonymously among themselves. At a strategy meeting, the company discussed building "user volume as a cover ... for organization," according to meeting notes. It also suggested that the "Landscape needs to be large enough to hide full opposition members who may sign up for service." In a play on the telecommunication minister's quote, the team dubbed their network the "untamed colt." ___ At first, the ZunZuneo team operated out of Central America. Bernheim, the techie brother, worked from Nicaragua's capital, Managua, while McSpedon supervised Creative's work on ZunZuneo from an office in San Jose, Costa Rica, though separate from the U.S. embassy. It was an unusual arrangement that raised eyebrows in Washington, according to U.S. officials. McSpedon worked for USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), a division that was created after the fall of the Soviet Union to promote U.S. interests in quickly changing political environments — without the usual red tape. In 2009, a report by congressional researchers warned that OTI's work "often lends itself to political entanglements that may have diplomatic implications." Staffers on oversight committees complained that USAID was running secret programs and would not provide details. "We were told we couldn't even be told in broad terms what was happening because 'people will die,'" said Fulton Armstrong, who worked for the Senate Foreign Relations committee. Before that, he was the US intelligence community's most senior analyst on Latin America, advising the Clinton White House. The money that Creative Associates spent on ZunZuneo was publicly earmarked for an unspecified project in Pakistan, government data show. But there is no indication of where the funds were actually spent. Tensions with Congress spiked just as the ZunZuneo project was gearing up in December 2009, when another USAID program ended in the arrest of the U.S. contractor, Alan Gross. Gross had traveled repeatedly to Cuba on a secret mission to expand Internet access using sensitive technology typically available only to governments, a mission first revealed in February 2012 by AP. At some point, Armstrong says, the foreign relations committee became aware of OTI's secret operations in Costa Rica. U.S. government officials acknowledged them privately to Armstrong, but USAID refused to provide operational details. At an event in Washington, Armstrong says he confronted McSpedon, asking him if he was aware that by operating secret programs from a third country, it might appear like he worked for an intelligence agency. McSpedon, through USAID, said the story is not true. He declined to comment otherwise. ___ On Sept. 20, 2009, thousands of Cubans gathered at Revolution Plaza in Havana for Colombian rocker Juanes' "Peace without Borders" concert. It was the largest public gathering in Cuba since the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1998. Under the watchful gaze of a giant sculpture of revolutionary icon Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the Miami-based Juanes promised music aimed at "turning hate into love." But for the ZunZuneo team, the concert was a perfect opportunity to test the political power of their budding social network. In the weeks before, Bernheim's firm, using the phone list, sent out a half a million text messages in what it called "blasts," to test what the Cuban government would do. The team hired Alen Lauzan Falcon, a Havana-born satirical artist based in Chile, to write Cuban-style messages. Some were mildly political and comical, others more pointed. One asked respondents whether they thought two popular local music acts out of favor with the government should join the stage with Juanes. Some 100,000 people responded — not realizing the poll was used to gather critical intelligence. Paula Cambronero, a researcher for Mobile Accord, began building a vast database about the Cuban subscribers, including gender, age, "receptiveness" and "political tendencies." USAID believed the demographics on dissent could help it target its other Cuba programs and "maximize our possibilities to extend our reach." Cambronero concluded that the team had to be careful. "Messages with a humorous connotation should not contain a strong political tendency, so as not to create animosity in the recipients," she wrote in a report. Falcon, in an interview, said he was never told that he was composing messages for a U.S. government program, but he had no regrets about his involvement. "They didn't tell me anything, and if they had, I would have done it anyway," he said. "In Cuba they don't have freedom. While a government forces me to pay in order to visit my country, makes me ask permission, and limits my communications, I will be against it, whether it's Fidel Castro, (Cuban exile leader) Jorge Mas Canosa or Gloria Estefan," the Cuban American singer. Carlos Sanchez Almeida, a lawyer specializing in European data protection law, said it appeared that the U.S. program violated Spanish privacy laws because the ZunZuneo team had illegally gathered personal data from the phone list and sent unsolicited emails using a Spanish platform. "The illegal release of information is a crime, and using information to create a list of people by political affiliation is totally prohibited by Spanish law," Almeida said. It would violate a U.S-European data protection agreement, he said. USAID saw evidence from server records that Havana had tried to trace the texts, to break into ZunZuneo's servers, and had occasionally blocked messages. But USAID called the response "timid" and concluded that ZunZuneo would be viable — if its origins stayed secret. Even though Cuba has one of the most sophisticated counter-intelligence operations in the world, the ZunZuneo team thought that as long as the message service looked benign, Cubacel would leave it alone. Once the network had critical mass, Creative and USAID documents argued, it would be harder for the Cuban government to shut it down, both because of popular demand and because Cubacel would be addicted to the revenues from the text messages. In February 2010, the company introduced Cubans to ZunZuneo and began marketing. Within six months, it had almost 25,000 subscribers, growing faster and drawing more attention than the USAID team could control. ___ Saimi Reyes Carmona was a journalism student at the University of Havana when she stumbled onto ZunZuneo. She was intrigued by the service's novelty, and the price. The advertisement said "free messages" so she signed up using her nickname, Saimita. At first, ZunZuneo was a very tiny platform, Reyes said during a recent interview in Havana, but one day she went to its website and saw its services had expanded. "I began sending one message every day," she said, the maximum allowed at the start. "I didn't have practically any followers." She was thrilled every time she got a new one. And then ZunZuneo exploded in popularity. "The whole world wanted in, and in a question of months I had 2,000 followers who I have no idea who they are, nor where they came from." She let her followers know the day of her birthday, and was surprised when she got some 15 personal messages. "This is the coolest thing I've ever seen!" she told her boyfriend, Ernesto Guerra Valdes, also a journalism student. Before long, Reyes learned she had the second highest number of followers on the island, after a user called UCI, which the students figured was Havana's University of Computer Sciences. Her boyfriend had 1,000. The two were amazed at the reach it gave them. "It was such a marvelous thing," Guerra said. "So noble." He and Reyes tried to figure out who was behind ZunZuneo, since the technology to run it had to be expensive, but they found nothing. They were grateful though. "We always found it strange, that generosity and kindness," he said. ZunZuneo was "the fairy godmother of cellphones." ___ By early 2010, Creative decided that ZunZuneo was so popular Bernheim's company wasn't sophisticated enough to build, in effect, "a scaled down version of Twitter." It turned to another young techie, James Eberhard, CEO of Denver-based Mobile Accord Inc. Eberhard had pioneered the use of text messaging for donations during disasters and had raised tens of millions of dollars after the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Eberhard earned millions in his mid-20s when he sold a company that developed cellphone ring tones and games. His company's website describes him as "a visionary within the global mobile community." In July, he flew to Barcelona to join McSpedon, Bernheim, and others to work out what they called a "below the radar strategy." "If it is discovered that the platform is, or ever was, backed by the United States government, not only do we risk the channel being shut down by Cubacel, but we risk the credibility of the platform as a source of reliable information, education, and empowerment in the eyes of the Cuban people," Mobile Accord noted in a memo. To cover their tracks, they decided to have a company based in the United Kingdom set up a corporation in Spain to run ZunZuneo. A separate company called MovilChat was created in the Cayman Islands, a well-known offshore tax haven, with an account at the island's Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Ltd. to pay the bills. A memo of the meeting in Barcelona says that the front companies would distance ZunZuneo from any U.S. ownership so that the "money trail will not trace back to America." But it wasn't just the money they were worried about. They had to hide the origins of the texts, according to documents and interviews with team members. Brad Blanken, the former chief operating officer of Mobile Accord, left the project early on, but noted that there were two main criteria for success. "The biggest challenge with creating something like this is getting the phone numbers," Blanken said. "And then the ability to spoof the network." The team of contractors set up servers in Spain and Ireland to process texts, contracting an independent Spanish company called Lleida.net to send the text messages back to Cuba, while stripping off identifying data. Mobile Accord also sought intelligence from engineers at the Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica, which organizers said would "have knowledge of Cubacel's network." "Understanding the security and monitoring protocols of Cubacel will be an invaluable asset to avoid unnecessary detection by the carrier," one Mobile Accord memo read. Officials at USAID realized however, that they could not conceal their involvement forever — unless they left the stage. The predicament was summarized bluntly when Eberhard was in Washington for a strategy session in early February 2011, where his company noted the "inherent contradiction" of giving Cubans a platform for communications uninfluenced by their government that was in fact financed by the U.S. government and influenced by its agenda. They turned to Jack Dorsey, a co-founder of Twitter, to seek funding for the project. Documents show Dorsey met with Suzanne Hall, a State Department officer who worked on social media projects, and others. Dorsey declined to comment. The State Department under then-Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton thought social media was an important tool in diplomacy. At a 2011 speech at George Washington University, Clinton said the U.S. helped people in "oppressive Internet environments get around filters." In Tunisia, she said people used technology to "organize and share grievances, which, as we know, helped fuel a movement that led to revolutionary change." Ultimately, the solution was new management that could separate ZunZuneo from its U.S. origins and raise enough revenue for it to go "independent," even as it kept its long-term strategy to bring about "democratic change." Eberhard led the recruitment efforts, a sensitive operation because he intended to keep the management of the Spanish company in the dark. "The ZZ management team will have no knowledge of the true origin of the operation; as far as they know, the platform was established by Mobile Accord," the memo said. "There should be zero doubt in management's mind and no insecurities or concerns about United States Government involvement." The memo went on to say that the CEO's clean conscience would be "particularly critical when dealing with Cubacel." Sensitive to the high cost of text messages for average Cubans, ZunZuneo negotiated a bulk rate for texts at 4 cents a pop through a Spanish intermediary. Documents show there was hope that an earnest, clueless CEO might be able to persuade Cubacel to back the project. Mobile Accord considered a dozen candidates from five countries to head the Spanish front company. One of them was Francoise de Valera, a CEO who was vacationing in Dubai when she was approached for an interview. She flew to Barcelona. At the luxury Mandarin Oriental Hotel, she met with Nim Patel, who at the time was Mobile Accord's president. Eberhard had also flown in for the interviews. But she said she couldn't get a straight answer about what they were looking for. "They talked to me about instant messaging but nothing about Cuba, or the United States," she told the AP in an interview from London. "If I had been offered and accepted the role, I believe that sooner or later it would have become apparent to me that something wasn't right," she said. ___ By early 2011, Creative Associates grew exasperated with Mobile Accord's failure to make ZunZuneo self-sustaining and independent of the U.S. government. The operation had run into an unsolvable problem. USAID was paying tens of thousands of dollars in text messaging fees to Cuba's communist telecommunications monopoly routed through a secret bank account and front companies. It was not a situation that it could either afford or justify — and if exposed it would be embarrassing, or worse. In a searing evaluation, Creative Associates said Mobile Accord had ignored sustainability because "it has felt comfortable receiving USG financing to move the venture forward." Out of 60 points awarded for performance, Mobile Accord scored 34 points. Creative Associates complained that Mobile Accord's understanding of the social mission of the project was weak, and gave it 3 out of 10 points for "commitment to our Program goals." Mobile Accord declined to comment on the program. In increasingly impatient tones, Creative Associates pressed Mobile Accord to find new revenue that would pay the bills. Mobile Accord suggested selling targeted advertisements in Cuba, but even with projections of up to a million ZunZuneo subscribers, advertising in a state-run economy would amount to a pittance. By March 2011, ZunZuneo had about 40,000 subscribers. To keep a lower profile, it abandoned previous hopes of reaching 200,000 and instead capped the number of subscribers at a lower number. It limited ZunZuneo's text messages to less than one percent of the total in Cuba, so as to avoid the notice of Cuban authorities. Though one former ZunZuneo worker — who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about his work — said the Cubans were catching on and had tried to block the site. ___ Toward the middle of 2012, Cuban users began to complain that the service worked only sporadically. Then not at all. ZunZuneo vanished as mysteriously as it appeared. By June 2012, users who had access to Facebook and Twitter were wondering what had happened. "Where can you pick up messages from ZunZuneo?" one woman asked on Facebook in November 2012. "Why aren't I receiving them anymore?" Users who went to ZunZuneo's website were sent to a children's website with a similar name. Reyner Aguero, a 25-year-old blogger, said he and fellow students at Havana's University of Computer Sciences tried to track it down. Someone had rerouted the website through DNS blocking, a censorship technique initially developed back in the 1990s. Intelligence officers later told the students that ZunZuneo was blacklisted, he said. "ZunZuneo, like everything else they did not control, was a threat," Aguero said. "Period." In incorrect Spanish, ZunZuneo posted a note on its Facebook page saying it was aware of problems accessing the website and that it was trying to resolve them. " ¡Que viva el ZunZuneo!" the message said. Long live ZunZuneo! In February, when Saimi Reyes, and her boyfriend, Ernesto Guerra, learned the origins of ZunZuneo, they were stunned. "How was I supposed to realize that?" Guerra asked. "It's not like there was a sign saying 'Welcome to ZunZuneo, brought to you by USAID." "Besides, there was nothing wrong. If I had started getting subversive messages or death threats or 'Everyone into the streets,'" he laughed, "I would have said, 'OK,' there's something fishy about this. But nothing like that happened." USAID says the program ended when the money ran out. The Cuban government declined to comment. The former web domain is now a placeholder, for sale for $299. The registration for MovilChat, the Cayman Islands front company, was set to expire on March 31. In Cuba, nothing has come close to replacing it. Internet service still is restricted. "The moment when ZunZuneo disappeared was like a vacuum," Guerra said. "People texted my phone, 'What is happening with ZunZuneo?' "In the end, we never learned what happened," he said. "We never learned where it came from." ___ Contributing to this report were Associated Press researcher Monika Mathur in Washington, and AP writers Andrea Rodriguez and Peter Orsi in Havana. Arce reported from Tegucigalpa, Honduras. ___ Contact the AP's Washington investigative team at DCinvestigations@ap.org. Follow on Twitter: Butler at http://twitter.com/desmondbutler; Gillum at http://twitter.com/jackgillum; Arce at http://twitter.com/alberarce. ||||| WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government masterminded the creation of a "Cuban Twitter" — a communications network designed to undermine the communist government in Cuba, built with secret shell companies and financed through foreign banks, The Associated Press has learned. FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2009 file photo, a person holds a banner with an image of of Argentine-born revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, among a crowd of cheering fans at the "Peace Without Borders"... (Associated Press) Students gather behind a business looking for a Internet signal for their smart phones in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, April 1, 2014. The U.S. Agency for International Development masterminded the creation... (Associated Press) In this Feb 28, 2014 photo, Ernesto Guerra speaks during an interview with Associated Press in Havana, Cuba. The Obama administration secretly financed a social network in Cuba to stir political unrest... (Associated Press) The headquarters for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is seen in Washington, Tuesday, April 1, 2014. The U.S. government masterminded the creation of a "Cuban Twitter," a communications... (Associated Press) Joe McSpedon, a official of the U.S. Agency for International Development, leaves his house on Monday, March 31, 2014, in Washington. McSpedon worked on a USAID project that funded and helped create a... (Associated Press) In this March 11, 2014 photo, a woman uses her cellphone as she sits on the Malecon in Havana, Cuba. The U.S. Agency for International Development masterminded the creation of a "Cuban Twitter," a communications... (Associated Press) In this March 3, 2014, photo, a woman uses her cellphone in Camajuani, Cuba. The U.S. Agency for International Development masterminded the creation of a "Cuban Twitter," a communications network designed... (Associated Press) In this Feb. 28, 2014 photo, Saimi Reyes speaks during an interview with Associated Press in Havana, Cuba. The Obama administration secretly financed a social network in Cuba to stir political unrest... (Associated Press) A book street vendor passes the time on her smart phone as she waits for customers in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, April 1, 2014. The Obama administration secretly financed a social network in Cuba to stir... (Associated Press) Joe McSpedon, a official of the U.S. Agency for International Development, leaves his house on Monday, March 31, 2014, in Washington. McSpedon worked on a USAID project that funded and helped create a... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Nov. 27, 2012 file photo provided by James L. Berenthal, jailed American Alan Gross poses for a photo during a visit by Rabbi Elie Abadie and U.S. lawyer James L. Berenthal at Finlay military... (Associated Press) Customers looking for cellphone service wait their turn to be seen by a representative outside a branch of telecommunications provider Cubacel in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, April 1, 2014. The Obama administration... (Associated Press) The project, which lasted more than two years and drew tens of thousands of subscribers, sought to evade Cuba's stranglehold on the Internet with a primitive social media platform. First, the network would build a Cuban audience, mostly young people; then, the plan was to push them toward dissent. Yet its users were neither aware it was created by a U.S. agency with ties to the State Department, nor that American contractors were gathering personal data about them, in the hope that the information might be used someday for political purposes. It is unclear whether the scheme was legal under U.S. law, which requires written authorization of covert action by the president and congressional notification. Officials at USAID would not say who had approved the program or whether the White House was aware of it. The Cuban government declined a request for comment. At minimum, details uncovered by the AP appear to muddy the U.S. Agency for International Development's longstanding claims that it does not conduct covert actions, and could undermine the agency's mission to deliver aid to the world's poor and vulnerable — an effort that requires the trust and cooperation of foreign governments. USAID and its contractors went to extensive lengths to conceal Washington's ties to the project, according to interviews and documents obtained by the AP. They set up front companies in Spain and the Cayman Islands to hide the money trail, and recruited CEOs without telling them they would be working on a U.S. taxpayer-funded project. "There will be absolutely no mention of United States government involvement," according to a 2010 memo from Mobile Accord Inc., one of the project's creators. "This is absolutely crucial for the long-term success of the service and to ensure the success of the Mission." The project, dubbed "ZunZuneo," slang for a Cuban hummingbird's tweet, was publicly launched shortly after the 2009 arrest in Cuba of American contractor Alan Gross. He was imprisoned after traveling repeatedly to the country on a separate, clandestine USAID mission to expand Internet access using sensitive technology that only governments use. USAID said in a statement that it is "proud of its work in Cuba to provide basic humanitarian assistance, promote human rights and fundamental freedoms, and to help information flow more freely to the Cuban people," whom it said "have lived under an authoritarian regime" for 50 years. The agency said its work was found to be "consistent with U.S. law." Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and chairman of the Appropriations Committee's State Department and foreign operations subcommittee, said the ZunZuneo revelations were troubling. "There is the risk to young, unsuspecting Cuban cellphone users who had no idea this was a U.S. government-funded activity," he said. "There is the clandestine nature of the program that was not disclosed to the appropriations subcommittee with oversight responsibility. And there is the fact that it was apparently activated shortly after Alan Gross, a USAID subcontractor who was sent to Cuba to help provide citizens access to the Internet, was arrested." The AP obtained more than 1,000 pages of documents about the project's development. It independently verified the project's scope and details in the documents through publicly available databases, government sources and interviews with those involved in ZunZuneo. ZunZuneo would seem to be a throwback from Cold War, and the decades-long struggle between the United States and Cuba. It came at a time when the historically sour relationship between the countries had improved, at least marginally, and Cuba had made tentative steps toward a more market-based economy. The social media project began development in 2009 after Washington-based Creative Associates International obtained a half-million Cuban cellphone numbers. It was unclear to the AP how the numbers were obtained, although documents indicate they were done so illicitly from a key source inside the country's state-run provider. Project organizers used those numbers to start a subscriber base. ZunZuneo's organizers wanted the social network to grow slowly to avoid detection by the Cuban government. Eventually, documents and interviews reveal, they hoped the network would reach critical mass so that dissidents could organize "smart mobs" — mass gatherings called at a moment's notice — that could trigger political demonstrations, or "renegotiate the balance of power between the state and society." The Cuban government has a tight grip on information, and the country's leaders view the Internet as a "wild colt" that "should be tamed." ZunZuneo's leaders planned to push Cuba "out of a stalemate through tactical and temporary initiatives, and get the transition process going again toward democratic change." At a 2011 speech at George Washington University, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the U.S. helps people in "oppressive Internet environments get around filters." Noting Tunisia's role in the Arab Spring, she said people used technology to help "fuel a movement that led to revolutionary change." Suzanne Hall, then a State Department official working on Clinton's social media efforts, helped spearhead an attempt to get Twitter founder Jack Dorsey to take over the ZunZuneo project. Dorsey declined to comment. The estimated $1.6 million spent on ZunZuneo was publicly earmarked for an unspecified project in Pakistan, public government data show, but those documents don't reveal where the funds were actually spent. ZunZuneo's organizers worked hard to create a network that looked like a legitimate business, including the creation of a companion website — and marketing campaign — so users could subscribe and send their own text messages to groups of their choice. "Mock ad banners will give it the appearance of a commercial enterprise," one written proposal obtained by the AP said. Behind the scenes, ZunZuneo's computers were also storing and analyzing subscribers' messages and other demographic information, including gender, age, "receptiveness" and "political tendencies." USAID believed the demographics on dissent could help it target its other Cuba programs and "maximize our possibilities to extend our reach.". "It was such a marvelous thing," said Ernesto Guerra, a Cuban user who never suspected his beloved network had ties to Washington. "How was I supposed to realize that?" Guerra asked in an interview in Havana. "It's not like there was a sign saying, 'Welcome to ZunZuneo, brought to you by USAID.'" Executives set up a corporation in Spain and an operating company in the Cayman Islands — a well-known British offshore tax haven — to pay the company's bills so the "money trail will not trace back to America," a strategy memo said. That would have been a catastrophic blow, they concluded, because it would undermine the service's credibility with subscribers and get shut down by the Cuban government. Similarly, subscribers' messages were funneled through two other countries — but never through American-based computer servers. Denver-based Mobile Accord considered at least a dozen candidates to head the European front company. One candidate, Francoise de Valera, told the AP she was told nothing about Cuba or U.S. involvement. James Eberhard, Mobile Accord's CEO and a key player in the project's development, declined to comment. Creative Associates referred questions to USAID. For more than two years, ZunZuneo grew and reached at least 40,000 subscribers. But documents reveal the team found evidence Cuban officials tried to trace the text messages and break into the ZunZuneo system. USAID told the AP that ZunZuneo stopped in September 2012 when a government grant ended. ZunZuneo vanished abruptly in 2012, and the Communist Party remains in power — with no Cuban Spring on the horizon. "The moment when ZunZuneo disappeared, (it) was like a vacuum," said Guerra, the ZunZuneo user. "In the end, we never learned what happened. We never learned where it came from." ___ Contributing to this report were Associated Press researcher Monika Mathur in Washington, and AP writers Andrea Rodriguez and Peter Orsi in Havana. Arce reported from Tegucigalpa, Honduras. ___ Contact the AP's Washington investigative team at DCinvestigations@ap.org. Follow on Twitter: Butler at http://twitter.com/desmondbutler; Gillum at http://twitter.com/jackgillum; Arce at http://twitter.com/alberarce.

– The US in 2009 started work on a thoroughly 21st-century way to attempt to stir unrest in Cuba: It concocted a "Cuban Twitter" that it hoped would draw young people that it could prod toward dissent, an AP investigation has found. The text messaging platform, ZunZuneo—slang for a Cuban hummingbird's tweet—ran until funding ran out in 2012 and amassed 40,000 users during that time. It also collected personal data of users, who were unaware they were using a program funded and created—perhaps illegally, unless the president OKed it and Congress was notified about it—by the US Agency for International Development with the intention of getting "the transition process going again toward democratic change," documents show. At the very least, the project contradicts USAID's claims that it doesn't carry out secret operations, and its reputation among foreign governments, to which it delivers aid, could suffer as a result, the AP adds. A memo from one of the creators notes, "There will be absolutely no mention of United States government involvement ... to ensure the success of the Mission." An estimated $1.6 million was spent on the project, though public data showed that money was set aside for a project in Pakistan. To further cloak things, creators established a corporation in Spain and an operating company in the Cayman Islands to pay the company's bills so the "money trail will not trace back to America," per a strategy memo; additionally, users' messages never touched American-based computer servers. Click for the full report, which explains how the project began with the acquisition of a half-million Cuban cellphone numbers.

St. Louis police arrested the driver of a vehicle who hit a group of protesters on Wednesday evening. Three people suffered minor injuries in the incident, police said. Interested in LGBT? Add LGBT as an interest to stay up to date on the latest LGBT news, video, and analysis from ABC News. Add Interest According to police, a group of protesters were marching from the city's Transgender Memorial Garden when they blocked traffic at an intersection in all directions. A car approached, honking its horn, and tried to drive around the protesters, when police say the driver was surrounded and the marchers began banging on the vehicle. Police say as the suspect drove away two women and a man who had climbed on the car were tossed from the vehicle. Driver pushes into protesters in St. Louis street; injuries said to be minor https://t.co/LtsJ4oeONE pic.twitter.com/4hWl7xqZLp — STLtoday (@stltoday) August 24, 2017 The three people who suffered minor injuries refused medical attention, police said. Police followed the driver and pulled him over a block away from the scene. He was arrested and charged with felony fleeing, police said. One of the protesters shared a video of the rally from Periscope with the incident occurring at about 29:30 into the video. There is no sound in the video, but you can see the vehicle pull around the protesters and a police car follow closely behind. The march was organized by the Metro Trans Umbrella Group in the wake of the death of a 30-year-old trans woman who was shot and killed by St. Louis police on Tuesday. According to police, the woman was shot after attempting to stab an officer. We mourn the loss of #KiwiHerring, a transgender woman of color, was killed by @SLMPD yesterday. Rest in power Kiwi. #BlackTransLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/4wr76D2LCO — PROMO Missouri (@PROMOMissouri) August 23, 2017 There has been increased attention on drivers hitting protesters after a man identified as a white nationalist drove into a crowd of counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Virginia on Aug. 12. One woman was killed and 19 others were injured in the car-ramming. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites.

– A dangerous moment during a street protest in St. Louis on Tuesday night: Protesters gathered around a car at an intersection, and the driver eventually pushed through the pack, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Police say three people had minor injuries, though all declined medical attention. This tweeted image shows one person on the hood of the vehicle at one point, along with a woman directly in front of the car with her hands on the hood. Another woman at the protest recorded video of the altercation. Police later arrested the driver about a block from the scene because they say he initially refused to stop for a pursuing patrol car. He was charged with felony fleeing, reports ABC News. Two different versions of the event have emerged, per the Post-Dispatch. Police say the driver honked his horn, stopped, and tried to avoid the protesters, who were hitting his vehicle with their hands and a flag pole. Witnesses, however, portray the driver as aggressive and say he raised his middle fingers before pushing through them. The incident is drawing attention given the fatal incident in Charlottesville in which a driver plowed into a crowd of protesters and killed Heather Heyer. The St. Louis protesters had gathered after police fatally shot transgender woman Kenny "Kiwi" Herring. Police say Herring came at officers with a knife.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council's unanimous support of a peace process for Syria that is set to begin next month with government-opposition talks and a cease-fire represents its strongest gesture yet in support of a solution to the civil war. U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, right, shows a copy of a Security Council resolution concerning Syria, during a press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and... (Associated Press) U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, confers with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, right, before they addressed a gathering in the U.N. Security Council of foreign ministers following a vote on... (Associated Press) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry hold a press conference after a meeting in the U.N. Security Council of foreign ministers for a vote concerning Syria,... (Associated Press) U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, top, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, center, listen during a meeting of foreign ministers at the U.N. Security Council, Friday, Dec. 18, 2015 at U.N. headquarters,... (Associated Press) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov listens during a press conference after a meeting in the U.N. Security Council of foreign ministers for a vote concerning Syria, Friday, Dec. 18, 2015 at U.N. headquarters.... (Associated Press) Spain Deputy Foreign Minister Ignacio Ybañez, left, listens as United Kingdom Foreign Minister Philip Hammond, right, addresses a gathering in the U.N. Security Council of foreign ministers following... (Associated Press) The council's adoption of a resolution Friday backing the plan comes amid world powers' growing sense that the top priority in Syria should be the defeat of the Islamic State group, which has exploited the country's years of chaos and created a base from which it promotes deadly attacks abroad. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters that the world is going to see in the next few months whether the peace process actually takes hold. He urged key powers, including top Syria allies Russia and Iran, to match their words with actions. "Within a month or so, two months, decisions are going to have to start to be made about the devolution of some power" and the creation of a transitional body agreed to by Syria's government and opposition with full executive power, Kerry said. But the resolution makes no mention of the most contentious issue, the future role of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Kerry rejected the idea that Friday's vote and discussions put off tough decisions on that issue. The United States, its European allies, Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations have insisted that Assad must go, though Kerry said "everyone" has by now realized that demanding Assad's departure up front in the process was "in fact, prolonging the war." Kerry said "sharp differences" remain on Assad and stressed that "Assad has lost the ability ... to unite the country." Russia and Iran have consistently rejected foreign governments' calls for Assad's departure. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed that the Syrian people must decide their own future — and that "also covers the future of Syria's president, and that is our deep conviction." He told reporters that he was "not too optimistic about what has been achieved today, but a very important step has been made ... for Syrians to determine the future of their country." Syria's ambassador to the U.N., Bashar Ja'afari, criticized the "glaring contradictions" between the talk about letting the Syrian people decide their fate and what he called interference in his country's sovereignty by talking about replacing Assad. The Syrian conflict has lasted nearly five years and killed more than 300,000 people. An estimated 4 million refugees have played a large part in the migrant crisis in Europe and Syria's neighboring countries. The U.N. says tens of thousands of people are trapped in besieged areas. "Thousands of people have been forced to live in grass and weeds. This is outrageous," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the council before the vote. "The people of Syria have suffered enough." Diplomats have made clear that the blueprint the Security Council endorsed Friday will not end the fighting in Syria. Imposing and monitoring a cease-fire are impossible in areas under control of the Islamic State group. The resolution calls on the U.N. secretary-general to convene representatives of the Syrian government and opposition "to engage in formal negotiations on a political transition process on an urgent basis, with a target of early January 2016 for the initiation of talks." Within six months, the process should establish "credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance" and set a schedule for drafting a new constitution. U.N.-supervised "free and fair elections" are to be held within 18 months under the new constitution. Notably, the resolution says members of Syria's diaspora can vote in the election, which gives more say to people who have fled the conflict. U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura said invitations to the peace talks among Syrian parties will go out in January, and Kerry estimated that talks would begin in the middle or end of January. "In January, we expect to be at the table and implement a full cease-fire," he said. The Security Council vote followed a meeting of ministers from 17 nations who came to New York to try to build momentum for a cease-fire and the start of negotiations. The ministers said they would meet again next month. One key issue that lies ahead is deciding which groups in Syria should be part of an opposition negotiating team and which should be considered terrorist organizations instead. Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said he presented lists submitted from each country of groups they consider terrorist organizations. He said some countries "sent 10, 15, 20 names" and others more. A group of countries will join Jordan in developing that list, Kerry told reporters. Lavrov warned against efforts to "divide terrorists among good and bad ones." De Mistura is now tasked with pulling together a final negotiating team for the Syrian opposition. He was upbeat, saying "mission impossible is becoming potentially possible, thanks to what we saw today." ||||| UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council on Friday unanimously approved a resolution endorsing an international road map for a Syria peace process, a rare show of unity among major powers on a conflict that has claimed more than a quarter million lives. The resolution gives a U.N. blessing to a plan negotiated previously in Vienna that calls for a ceasefire, talks between the Syrian government and opposition, and a roughly two-year timeline to create a unity government and hold elections. But the obstacles to ending the nearly five-year civil war remain daunting, with no side in the conflict able to secure a clear military victory. Despite their agreement, the major powers are bitterly divided on who may represent the opposition as well as on the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. “This council is sending a clear message to all concerned that the time is now to stop the killing in Syria and lay the groundwork for a government that the long-suffering people of that battered land can support,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told the 15-nation council after the vote. The resolution also calls for the U.N. to present the council with options for monitoring a ceasefire within one month. Talks between Syria’s government and opposition should begin in early January, the resolution said, though Kerry said mid-to-late January was more likely. It also endorsed the continued battle to defeat Islamic State militants who have seized large swaths of both Syria and neighboring Iraq. It was one of the strongest appeals for peace by the council, divided for years on the issue of Syria’s war, since Russia and China began vetoing a series of Western-drafted resolutions on the conflict in October 2011. The resolution came after Moscow and Washington clinched a deal on a text. The two powers have had very different views on what should happen in Syria, where Islamic State militants control considerable territory that Western governments suspect has been a launch pad for attacks on Western nations and Russia. Kerry made clear that there were still differences on the future of Assad, a close ally of Russia and Iran who Western countries want ousted, as well as on the question of which Syrian opposition groups will have a seat at the table in talks with the government. “We are under no illusions about the obstacles that exist,” Kerry said. “There obviously remain sharp differences within the international community, especially about the future of President Assad.” The resolution does not address Assad’s fate. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said of the resolution: “This is a clear response to attempts to impose a solution from the outside on Syrians on any issues, including those regarding its president.” “CHAMPIONS OF DEMOCRACY” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the talks between the Syrian government and opposition would only succeed if there were credible guarantees on the departure of Assad. “How could this man unite a people that he has in part massacred?” Fabius said. “The idea that he could once again stand for elections is unacceptable to us.” Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari said Assad’s government was prepared to take part in the talks in good faith. “I reiterate the readiness of the Syrian government to participate effectively on any sincere effort where the Syrians will determine their choices through dialogue under Syrian leadership and not foreign intervention,” he said, adding that all countries should coordinate with his government. Agreement on a resolution came after a meeting of the so-called International Syria Support Group at New York’s Palace Hotel. Foreign ministers from 17 countries, including Lavrov, Kerry and other European and Middle Eastern ministers, as well as top diplomats from regional rivals Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran, were in New York for the meetings. Members of the security council voted at the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan, New York, December 18, 2015. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz During a break in Friday’s talks, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said he had presented a document compiling the groups each country attending considered to be a “terrorist” organization. Kerry said other countries would help Jordan draw up a final list. As with the question of Assad’s fate, diplomats say it will be extremely difficult to reach consensus on a list of terrorist groups to be excluded and legitimate members of an opposition who would participate in the negotiations. The Syria road map, which also calls for a nationwide ceasefire that would not apply to Islamic State, Nusra Front and some other militant groups, was previously worked out in two rounds of ministerial talks in Vienna. Diplomats said the main problem in the negotiations on the resolution involved Russian and Iranian concerns about how to refer to a bloc of opposition groups that would join U.N.-led peace talks with the Syrian government. Western officials say a recent meeting in Saudi Arabia of opposition figures made significant headway in coming up with an opposition bloc, though Russia and Iran have questioned the legitimacy of the Saudi-hosted discussions. In a dig at Saudi Arabia, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote in The Guardian on Friday that it was “utterly absurd that those who have denied their own population the most rudimentary tenets of democracy ... are now self-declared champions of democracy in Syria.” The Riyadh conference agreed to set up a 34-member secretariat to supervise peace talks, and that committee will also select the opposition’s negotiating team. Earlier this week, diplomats said some progress had been made on the most difficult sticking point in the talks: Assad’s fate. They said Russia had indicated it had no problem with the eventual ouster of Assad at the end of a transition period, though it would not admit that publicly. Slideshow (3 Images)

– After years of ruinous civil war, the United Nations Security Council has finally approved a peace deal for what's left of Syria—but it leaves the future of President Bashar Assad a mystery. The resolution adopted by a unanimous vote on Friday says Syria must hold elections within 18 months of the beginning of peace talks, though it doesn't say whether Assad will be eligible to run, reports the New York Times. US Secretary of State John Kerry said there are obviously "sharp differences within the international community, especially about the future of President Assad," and it is now clear that failure to allow any compromise on the issue was, "in fact, prolonging the war," the AP reports. Despite the obstacles, the resolution shows a degree of unity that has been lacking until now, Reuters reports. "This council is sending a clear message to all concerned that the time is now to stop the killing in Syria and lay the groundwork for a government that the long-suffering people of that battered land can support," Kerry said. The resolution calls for representatives of the Syrian government and the opposition—not including ISIS and other groups deemed "terrorist"—to begin talks in early January, reports the AP. The Times notes that resolution says all Syrians "including members of the diaspora," should be able to vote, which is a requirement Kerry added in the hope that Syrians worldwide will vote against the Assad regime.

AFP/San Jose A 49-year-old US female tourist was killed by a tiger shark this week while diving off a Costa Rican island in the Pacific Ocean, the government and local media reported. The attack also badly injured the 26-year-old male Costa Rican diving guide leading the group that included the American woman.The shark savaged the two on Thursday as they were surfacing after a dive off Coco Island, a pristine national park located 500 kilometres off the Costa Rican mainland, the environment ministry said in a statement.It stressed the attack was "an isolated incident" and the first one of such seriousness recorded for the island.According to the Costa Rican newspaper La Nacion, the guide noticed the shark approaching his group underwater and tried to scare it away.But as they surfaced, the shark went for the American woman, tearing at her legs.The guide, too, suffered leg injuries.Park rangers came to assist, as did doctors who happened to be diving in the area and who declared the woman dead.The injured guide was taken to a hospital, where he was in stable condition and conscious. He told La Nacion he believed the shark was a female.Tiger sharks, which have dark stripes on their body when young, are predators often found around Pacific islands. Unlike many other species of shark, they can be aggressive and account for a large proportion of reported attacks on humans.Costa Rica, a small Central American nation that boasts both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines, relies strongly on its tourism industry, especially visitors from the nearby United States. ||||| Rohina Bhandari (r.) was killed by a tiger shark off the remote Isla del Coco, near Costa Rica, on Thursday. She is seen with Kim Standish and Jeffrey Rosenthal in 2014. (Ben Gabbe/Getty Images for The Duke of Edi)

– An American tourist who was mauled to death by a shark off the coast of Costa Rica on Thursday has been identified as a New York City private equity director. Authorities say Rohina Bhandari, a 49-year-old senior director at WL Ross & Col. LL, was with a group of 18 people diving off Cocos Island National Park when she was attacked by a tiger shark, the New York Daily News reports. A boater and other divers tried to drive the shark away, but by the time Bhandari was pulled from the water she had suffered severe bites to her legs. A dive master was also bitten but his wounds were not life-threatening. The Costa Rican Environment Ministry said Bhandari was surfacing at the tail end of a long dive when the shark attacked, Gulf Times reports. The ministry also called the attack an "isolated incident" and the worst ever recorded for the island. Bhandari had worked at WL Ross, which was founded by US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, since 2013.

Germany's foreign intelligence service, the BND, and its domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), used a spying program of the American National Security Agency (NSA). This is evident in secret documents from the US intelligence service that have been seen by SPIEGEL journalists. The documents show that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution was equipped with a program called XKeyScore intended to "expand their ability to support NSA as we jointly prosecute CT (counterterrorism) targets." The BND is tasked with instructing the domestic intelligence agency on how to use the program, the documents say. According to an internal NSA presentation from 2008, the program is a productive espionage tool. Starting with the metadata -- or information about which data connections were made and when -- it is able, for instance, to retroactively reveal any terms the target person has typed into a search engine, the documents show. In addition, the system is able to receive a "full take" of all unfiltered data over a period of several days -- including, at least in part, the content of communications. This is relevant from a German perspective, because the documents show that of the up to 500 million data connections from Germany accessed monthly by the NSA, a major part is collected with XKeyScore (for instance, around 180 million in December 2012). The BND and BfV, when contacted by SPIEGEL, would not discuss the espionage tool. The NSA, as well, declined to comment, referring instead to the words of US President Barack Obama during his visit to Berlin and saying there was nothing to add. 'Eagerness and Desire' Furthermore, the documents show that the cooperation of the German intelligence agencies with the NSA has recently intensified. Reference is made to the "eagerness and desire" of BND head Gerhard Schindler. "The BND has been working to influence the German government to relax interpretation of the privacy laws to provide greater opportunities of intelligence sharing," the NSA noted in January. Over the course of 2012, German partners had shown a "willingness to take risks and to pursue new opportunities for cooperation with the US." In Afghanistan, it says elsewhere in the document, the BND had even proved to be the NSA's "most prolific partner" when it came to information gathering. The relationship is also close on a personal level: At the end of April, just a few weeks before the first revelations by former intelligence agency employee Edward Snowden, a 12-member high-level BND delegation was invited to the NSA to meet with various specialists on the subject of "data acquisition." ||||| BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany had hoped to focus her re-election campaign on domestic priorities like energy and health care, but revelations of far-reaching American surveillance programs and persistent questions about whether they may have violated the rights of German citizens continue to intrude. For the second time in little more than a week, Ms. Merkel, 58, publicly addressed questions Friday about the extent to which the United States might have listened in on Germans’ telephone calls and monitored their Internet communications. “We are examining what happened, whether this is the tip of the iceberg, or less serious, or something else — what is true,” she said in response to reporters’ questions at her annual news conference before breaking for summer vacation. Although Ms. Merkel, who is seeking a third term, and her center-right Christian Democratic Union maintain a comfortable lead in polls in advance of the presidential election in September, the scandal appears for the first time to be chipping away at Germans’ confidence in her leadership. More than two-thirds of Germans said they were dissatisfied with her government’s attempts to answer allegations that the United States used its massive surveillance program to spy on Germans, a survey by Infratest Dimap for the ARD public network showed. “I am the head of government, and consequently, I have to make sure that here in our country German law has been upheld,” Ms. Merkel told reporters, making a fist to drive home her point. “In Germany, as in Europe, the right of the powerful does not override the power of the law.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story At the same time, Ms. Merkel warned that no government could guarantee its citizens’ rights beyond national borders, a problem brought to light by Edward J. Snowden, a former contractor for the United States National Security Agency, who revealed the agency’s surveillance of virtually all telephone calls to the United States from Germany and of e-mails of foreigners using major American Internet companies, including Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft, Apple and Skype.

– Barack Obama isn't the only world leader suffering over leaked information about NSA surveillance—Germany's Angela Merkel is also in the firing line. On Friday, she spent her annual news conference dealing with increasing concerns that the US has been spying on German citizens, the New York Times reports. "We are examining what happened, whether this is the tip of the iceberg, or less serious, or something else—what is true," she said. But a new report from Der Spiegel says Germany should have some idea of what's true, because it is running NSA spying programs and has actually been increasing its cooperation with US intelligence recently. Der Spiegel says it has seen secret US documents showing German intelligence is employing the NSA's XKeyScore program. XKeyScore allows the agencies to gather all unfiltered data coming from a target's computer for several days, including things like what they have typed into search engines and the content of communications. The NSA accesses up to 500 million data connections from Germany a month. In December 2012 alone, 180 million of those came from XKeyScore. The documents also report that Germany's foreign intelligence service has recently "been working to influence the German government to relax interpretation of the privacy laws to provide greater opportunities of intelligence sharing" and has become the NSA's "most prolific partner" for intelligence gathering in Afghanistan.

Jason London Beaten, Arrested and Allegedly Craps Himself Jason London ARRESTED ... and Allegedly Crapped His Pants EXCLUSIVE crapped himself in the back seat of a cop car Sunday morning ... minutes after the "" actor was punched in the face in a bar fight ... this according to a police report obtained by TMZ.Here's what the report says ...Cops were called to the Martini Ranch bar in Scottsdale, Arizona at 1:42 AM on Sunday morning after getting a call about a man who was bleeding on the street.When officers arrived to the scene ... they found Jason nursing a swollen eye. Cops spoke to a bouncer who told them Jason had been inside the club, walked by him and sneezed on him. The bouncer asked for an apology, and Jason allegedly punched him in the face.40-year-old Jason was thrown out of the bar kicking and screaming and in the process he was beaten up.Paramedics arrived to the scene to treat London, but cops say the actor got aggressive with the responders and shoved some of them. Cops say one of the officers was forced to deliver a knee strike to London's right thigh so they could seat him on the ground. London later called one of the officers a "f**king hillbilly."Jason was eventually arrested for disorderly conduct/fighting and assault.On his way to the police station ... Jason uttered a homophobic slur to the cops ... saying, "Guess what fa**ot? I f***ing love this. I f***ing own you guys so hard. I'm rich and I'm a motherf***ing famous actor! F***ing look me up, bitch."Jason continued ... "It smells like s**t in your car and your breath smells like diarrhea." According to the police report, Jason then leaned to the left and crapped in his pants. Jason then said, "I told you I'm happy as s**t."The next day, cops say they spoke with Jason's wife Sofia who told them ... "I know he's an a**hole when he drinks."Cops say Sofia also told them she had spoken with Jason ... and he had no recollection of the incident.-- Jason just tweeted about the story ... saying the police report is a "total f*cking lie."Jason explains, "I got jumped by three 250 pound bouncers. They knocked me out and beat me for several minutes.""I would never say or do the crap they are reporting. Have faith in me. The truth will come out and you will see."He continues, "Some guy thought I was hitting on his girl and had me jumped. My wife was in the next room, had no idea what even happened. I hate Arizona." ||||| PHOENIX | PHOENIX (Reuters) - "Dazed and Confused" star Jason London has been arrested in Arizona and charged with assault and disorderly conduct over a bar room fracas in which he is accused of throwing punches and later defecating in a patrol car on his way to jail, a police report showed on Tuesday. The 40-year-old actor, who played the main character of Randall "Pink" Floyd in the 1993 coming-of-age comedy "Dazed and Confused," responded on Twitter that he was attacked and injured and that the allegations against him were false. "I would never say or do the crap they are reporting," he said in the message on Tuesday. "Have faith in me. The truth will come out and you will see." "Some guy thought I was hitting on his girl and had me jumped," London tweeted. "My wife was in the next room, had no idea what even happened. I hate Arizona." London is married to actress Sofia Karstens. Police said London was at the Martini Ranch bar in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale on Sunday when an unidentified person complained London had sneezed on him and the person asked him to apologize. Instead of apologizing, London punched the person, the report from Scottsdale police said. He was escorted out by bouncers and during that time he hit them, leading the security guards to "defend themselves" against London, it added. A 26-year-old Martini Ranch bouncer, whose name was not released, was listed by police as a victim in the incident. London was charged with assault with intent to injure and disorderly conduct, the report said. "London showed obvious signs and symptoms of extreme alcohol impairment," one of the responding officers wrote in the report. Because of swelling and bruising around his right eye from the fracas, London was seen by paramedics but "became belligerent and started cursing" at them, the report said. While seated in the back of the patrol car on the way to jail, one of the officers saw London "lean to the left and defecate in his pants" after the actor complained about the odor in the vehicle, the police report said. London has in recent years had a number of guest appearances on television shows, such as the political drama "Scandal." In 2000, he starred in the TV movie "Jason and the Argonauts" and in 1999 was in horror movie "The Rage: Carrie 2." (Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Mohammad Zargham)

– If you thought Jason London was the saner of the London twins, today is the day we set you straight. The Dazed and Confused actor was arrested at a Scottsdale, Ariz., bar Sunday after allegedly punching numerous people ... and he's accused of defecating in the cop car en route to jail, Reuters reports. He also now stars in one of the more epic mugshots of our time. The police report says the trouble started when someone accused London of sneezing on him and asked the actor to apologize. That's when London allegedly punched the guy. As bouncers escorted him out, London allegedly punched them, too. When cops showed up, "London showed obvious signs and symptoms of extreme alcohol impairment," the report says. And then the pièce de résistance: In the patrol car, London "lean[ed] to the left and defecate[d] in his pants." On Twitter, London defended himself, claiming he was "jumped" after "some guy thought I was hitting on his girl." He added, "I hate Arizona" and "I would never say or do the crap they are reporting." No pun intended, we assume. TMZ has a much more profanity-laden version of events.

Story highlights Ann LePage, the wife of the flamboyant Maine governor, is looking for a little extra money this summer LePage has found a part-time gig in order to buy a new car: waitressing at a local seafood joint Washington (CNN) Ann LePage, the wife of flamboyant Maine governor Paul LePage, is looking for a little extra money this summer. So just like teenagers across the country, LePage has found a part-time gig that might make a dream car finally within reach: waitressing at a local seafood joint. Every Monday, Thursday and Friday at lunchtime, in comes the wife of the voluble Donald Trump endorser to the Boothbay Harbor waterfront pub, McSeagull's. She bounces between a half-dozen tables, taking orders for the Clam Chowder or the signature Lobster & Chicken Bomb, where $30 gets you lobster alfredo over pan-breaded, pan-fried chicken breast. And then when table traffic gets quiet, she'll fetch her own personal wash bucket — Ann's Pail, the black bucket reads in silver permanent marker — to abide by McSeagull's informal motto: "If you have time to lean, you have time to clean," Jackie Barnicoat, McSeagull's general manager, told CNN. "It's not just all fun and games," Barnicoat said. "There's a lot of grueling side work that comes with it and she doesn't stop." Read More ||||| Ann LePage chats with diners after taking their order at McSeagull's restaurant, Thursday, June 23, 2016, in Boothbay Harbor. The wife of America's lowest paid governor has taken on a summer waitressing... (Associated Press) Ann LePage chats with diners after taking their order at McSeagull's restaurant, Thursday, June 23, 2016, in Boothbay Harbor. The wife of America's lowest paid governor has taken on a summer waitressing job near her and husband's Boothbay home, and she's saving up for a car. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) (Associated Press) Ann LePage chats with diners after taking their order at McSeagull's restaurant, Thursday, June 23, 2016, in Boothbay Harbor. The wife of America's lowest paid governor has taken on a summer waitressing job near her and husband's Boothbay home, and she's saving up for a car. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) (Associated Press) Ann LePage chats with diners after taking their order at McSeagull's restaurant, Thursday, June 23, 2016, in Boothbay Harbor. The wife of America's lowest paid governor has taken on a summer waitressing... (Associated Press) BOOTHBAY HARBOR, Maine (AP) — The waitress bounded with a cup of chowder and a plate of fish and broccoli. It was Ann LePage's first double shift at McSeagull's, a bustling restaurant touting double-wrapped bacon scallops and views of Boothbay Harbor. The wife of Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage had kept a low profile for the first few weeks of her summer job. But then her husband told a crowd at a recent town hall that his wife took a job to "supplement" his $70,000 salary, the lowest of any U.S. governor. The LePages live with their dog, a Jack Russell terrier mix named Veto, in the Augusta governor's mansion and bought a $215,000 Boothbay home two years ago. The governor recently tried but failed to increase his successor's salary to $150,000, above the nearly $135,000 average for all 50 state governors in 2015. Ann LePage said being a waitress is "something I've always, always wanted to do." Her daughter Lauren made $28 an hour last summer at McSeagull's. LePage said she spent years taking care of her mother, who long suffered from scleroderma and passed away in October. Now it's time to follow through on her interest, LePage said, adding: "I know she'd be proud of me." Wearing a black McSeagull's T-shirt and sneakers with pink shoelaces, LePage greeted customers with an easy: "Hey, how are you?" LePage, who's saving up for a Toyota RAV4, works three days a week, and is asking for more shifts. "Because of who I am and who I'm married to, I want to work extra hard just so I can show them I can do the job," she said. She doesn't tell customers, or co-workers, who she is unless they ask. But when a reporter revealed her identity Thursday, the news just confirmed a customer's inklings. "I knew, that's why I kept staring!" exclaimed Nina Stoddard, of Bridgton, a Republican. She later wondered: "I mean, is she really here just making money?" Her friend Laurie Green, of Casco, said she loved it. "I really hate a lot of our politicians nowadays that have the wealth, the money," said Green, an unaffiliated voter. "They have no clue what the average person out in the world is doing." Stoddard agreed and suggested LePage herself should run for office: "It's the best of Maine, the best of who we are. Two feet on the ground."

– Ann LePage bounded with a cup of chowder and a plate of fish and broccoli, in her first double shift at McSeagull's, a bustling restaurant touting double-wrapped bacon scallops and views of Boothbay Harbor. The wife of Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage had kept a low profile for the first few weeks of her summer job, reports the AP. But then her husband told a recent town hall that his wife took a job to "supplement" his $70,000 salary, the lowest of any US governor. The LePages live with their dog, a Jack Russell terrier mix named Veto, in the Augusta governor's mansion and bought a $215,000 Boothbay home two years ago. The governor recently tried but failed to increase his successor's salary to $150,000, above the nearly $135,000 average for all 50 governors in 2015. Ann LePage said being a waitress is "something I've always, always wanted to do." Her daughter Lauren made $28 an hour last summer at McSeagull's. LePage said she spent years taking care of her mother, who passed away in October. "I know she'd be proud of me," LePage says, adding that she's saving up for a Toyota RAV4, works three days a week, and is asking for more shifts. "Because of who I am and who I'm married to, I want to work extra hard just so I can show them I can do the job," she said. Her general manager tells CNN that "we didn't really tell anybody who she was. She is the governor's wife, but she has a lot of fans in this state." The first lady is not going unnoticed: "I really hate a lot of our politicians nowadays that have the wealth, the money," says one customer. "They have no clue what the average person out in the world is doing." Adds another: "It's the best of Maine, the best of who we are. Two feet on the ground."

The Vettii fresco. Photo: Christine McIntosh A first century fresco in the ruins of Pompeii could reveal an embarrassing truth about ancient Roman men, an Italian researcher told The Local. The fresco in question is found in the entrance to the House of the Vettii in Pompeii, which survived Mount Vesuvius's eruption in AD 79, and depicts minor Roman god Priapus and his famously large, erect penis. Priapus was a Roman god of livestock, fruit, plants, gardens and male genitalia. But according to research by Dr Francesco Galassi, in the fresco, Priapus was suffering from a debilitating condition known as phimosis. Phimosis is a medical condition where the foreskin fails to retract from the head of the penis, and its depiction in the fresco could suggest it was a problem that blighted the men of ancient Pompeii. The Vettii fresco is notable because in other surviving depictions of Priapus he is not shown to be suffering from the phimosis. So why did the artist choose to give him the condition? Perhaps a prominent member of the Vettii family suffered from the condition and wanted to hide their shame by having Priapus suffer from it too, Galassi said. "Or it could be that the condition was so widespread that the artist chose to depict it,” he added. Put like this the evidence seems a little flimsy and anecdotal, but when considered alongside archaeological finds it starts to become more convincing. In the area around Pompeii a huge number of anatomical votives have been found. These are small penis-shaped objects, made from wood and stone that were believed to ward off evil. There could be some mileage to the theory. Jessica Hughes, a classics lecturer at the Open University, told Discovery news: “Anatomical votive offerings made in Italy between the fourth to second centuries B.C. do often show the penis with the foreskin closed around the top, as in the later Priapus painting from Pompeii." Perhaps these trinkets were a way for the ancient Romans to ward off even the condition itself, which can be quite debilitating. “The Romans didn't have the technology to treat it. It is a condition that causes pain, infection and problems during sexual intercourse,” Galassi pointed out. Today, the problem is easily treated, through steroid creams, stretching techniques or circumcision. This is by no means the first time scholars have attributed Priapus with physical illnesses. In 2007, an academic writing in BJU International argued that Prapius suffered from Proteus syndrome, otherwise known as gigantism of the penis. ||||| According to Pompeii's archaeological superintendent, the vases are direct evidence that the workshop was fully active at the moment of the eruption. "They represent a key element in the study of craft activities in the Roman town," the superintendent said in a statement. Decorated with small carvings, the vases were used to pour wine or water. The 10 raw clay vases represent a unique finding as they reveal a frozen-in-time picture of the exact moment panicked potters realized they were facing an impending catastrophe. Archaeologists found 10 raw clay vases sealed under a layer of ash and pumice from Mount Vesuvius' devastating eruption of 79 AD. The vases were dropped and abandoned. Here, a kiln (left) and the vases appear ready to be fired (right). This fresco of Priapus shows the god of fertility suffered from a penis defect. One of Pompeii's most recognized frescoes, the portrait of the Greek god of fertility Priapus, holds an embarrassing truth, according to a new study of the 1st-century A.D. wall painting. Found in the entrance hall to the House of the Vettii, perhaps the most famous house to survive Mount Vesuvius's devastating eruption, the fresco shows the ever-erect Priapus with his engorged penis. But this phallus-flaunting symbol of male potency and procreative power shows signs of a condition which can result in difficult sexual relations and infertility, says a study published in Urology journal. Photos: Pompeii Pottery Workshop Frozen in Time Play Video The Weirdest Animal Penises The diversity of evolution: it's downright amazing, and we're not just talkin' wings and eyeballs -- we're talkin' animal penises. DCI "The disproportionate virile member is distinctively characterized by a patent phimosis, more specifically a shut phimosis," Francesco Maria Galassi told Discovery News. Galassi is an M.D. now back in Italy who recently worked at Imperial College London. He co-authored the paper with his father Stefano, also an M.D. An inability to fully retract the foreskin, phimosis was treated only with circumcision or prepuceplasty before the introduction of topical corticosteroids. "This condition presents different grades of severity, and in this specific case appears to be of the highest grade, in which there is no skin retractability on the glans," Galassi said. Defects of the genitourinary tract, including phimosis, have been depicted in artistic representation since prehistory, showing a high degree of precision. But why someone would portray the god of fertility with a severe phimosis? "It is not unlikely the painter might have desired to report objective evidence of a high prevalence of that anatomic defect in Pompeii, at a time mixing it with fertility attributes traditionally ascribed to Priapus," Galassi said. In this view, widespread among the male population in Pompeii, phimosis might have been the reason for the abundance in Pompeii of anatomical votive artifacts used to dispel that anatomical and functional defect. "Anatomical votive offerings made in Italy between the fourth to second centuries B.C. do often show the penis with the foreskin closed around the top, as in the later Priapus painting from Pompeii," Jessica Hughes, lecturer in classical studies at UK’s Open University, told Discovery News. Vases in Pompeii Reveal Panic Before Eruption Hughes, co-author of a research project on votive offerings, noted these objects have sometimes been interpreted as offerings made by men suffering from phimosis, and the idea isn’t discordant with the overarching interpretation of anatomical votives as objects related to healing and fertility. She found the interpretation of the Pompeian Priapus "very intriguing," as the image is conventionally seen as a representation of fertility, abundance and prosperity. "In this case it’s more challenging for us to understand why the artist would have chosen to represent a biological condition that may have been seen to threaten fertility and health," Hughes said. "Perhaps we need to see this painting as a comment on the power of the divine body, which didn't suffer from the same biological limitations as the mortal body," she added. ||||| Anyone with a casual knowledge of the Romans knows about the various erotic art found at Pompeii. From the paintings of sexual acts performed in each room of the brothel to a "flying phallus" amulet to a statue of Pan copulating with a goat, there is a veritable buffet of images that speak to a culture that used sexuality in a different way than we do. One of those frescoes, of minor god Priapus from the House of the Vettii, is getting a new interpretation by a medical doctor who has diagnosed a shut phimosis, a condition in which the foreskin cannot be fully retracted over the penis. The fresco in question has an interesting history. It was discovered at the end of the 19th century by archaeologists working in the House of the Vettii, a large villa owned by two successful freedmen. After an earthquake in 62 AD, the wall paintings in the villa were created in the so-called fourth style, which boasts complex, textile-like images. The Priapus fresco adorns the entryway to the House of the Vetii, essentially the equivalent of our foyer, and a statue of Priapus lay just past it in the peristyle in front of the garden. Because of the subject matter, rumor has it that the Priapus fresco was covered over and its reproduction locked away until the end of the 20th century. But Priapus was not meant as a titillating image, in spite of the fact that his name now means the most famous side effect of Viagra. His story is a sad one and starts with Greek mythology. The son of Dionysis and Aphrodite, Priapus was cursed by Hera, the queen of the gods, as a means of revenge because of the Judgment of Paris. Hera lost this beauty contest to Aphrodite, and it is claimed to be one of the precipitating events of the Trojan War. In utero, Priapus was cursed with a large penis and impotence. He was, however, worshipped as a minor deity particularly by rural Romans, who saw him as the guardian of livestock, plants, and gardens, as well as the patron of merchant sailors. The use of Priapus in a fresco and garden in the House of the Vettii reflects his status as an accidental fertility god, and by extension, reflects the wealth of the Vettii family. In her 2006 paper on the role of the phallus and its symbolism in Roman Italy, Claudia Moser noted that "Priapus and his giant phallus represent three different kinds of prosperity: growth, represented by his enormous phallus; affluence, represented by the bag of coins which he holds and weighs; fertility, symbolized by the basket of fruit at his feet. The combination of money and the large member allowed the viewer to link the two, to equate the extensive quantity of each, an association evoked in the juxtaposition of the phallus and the bag of coins on the scale." But in a closer look at the image (which follows on the next page, as it might not be suitable for reading at work, unless you work in a classics department), medical doctor Francesco Maria Galassi noticed something else about Priapus' penis. Writing in the journal Urology last month, Galassi and his father Stefano, also a doctor, note that Priapus' "disproportionate virile member is distinctively characterized by a patent phimosis, more specifically a shut phimosis." This, according to the Galassis, means that Priapus is depicted as being unable to retract his foreskin at all. In Roman times, the treatment for this condition was likely circumcision. This isn't the first time Priapus has been retro-diagnosed. In 2007, Venkatachalam Raveenthiran, writing in BJU International, pointed out that, even though he is always shown as ithyphallic (the technical term for "having an erect penis"), Priapus is also said to have been impotent. This means that Priapus' penis may never have been erect and rather that he might have suffered from Proteus syndrome, or local gigantism of the penis. What is the real meaning of the fresco of Priapus from the House of the Vettii? It almost certainly had apotropaic properties, meaning it was designed to ward off evil. While the Galassis think that this image may have been an attempt to ward off other cases of phimosis, Moser sees it as a way to ward off bad luck and to gain wealth. The fact that we can have this discussion about the meaning of art from the perspective of both classical studies and modern medicine, though, is quite extraordinary. Learning about the potential health issues of Julius Caesar or Menander have to color our understanding of the past, as they very well may have influenced politics, art, and literature at the time.

– A Greek god portrayed in one of Pompeii's best-known frescoes has quite the prominent feature—for better and for worse, apparently. The painting of fertility god Priapus, which survived the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, depicts a man whose phallus extends nearly to his knees and the fruit basket sitting beside him. But this symbol of procreative energy and male power also contains evidence of a medical condition that can curb fertility and hinder sexual relations, medical doctor Francesco Maria Galassi tells Discovery. "The disproportionate virile member is distinctively characterized by a patent phimosis, more specifically a shut phimosis," he says. In other words, Priapus' member seems to have a foreskin that couldn't fully retract: "It is a condition that causes pain, infection, and problems during sexual intercourse," Galassi adds, per the Local. So why would such a condition be shown in a fertility god? Galassi, who describes his theory in Urology, says the first-century painter may have wanted to report "a high prevalence of that anatomic defect in Pompeii." That could also explain why so many anatomical votive artifacts (showing a penis with closed foreskin at the top) were used in Pompeii between the second and fourth centuries BC to seek removal of that very condition, according to an expert who writes about votive offerings. This isn't the first time Priapus has attracted medical interest, either: One doctor pointed out back in 2007 that Priapus was reportedly impotent, so what looks like an erection in the fresco may really be evidence of Proteus syndrome, or local gigantism of the penis, Forbes reports. (See how Julius Caesar may have had mini-strokes that changed his personality.)

Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter WYLIE (CBS 11 NEWS) – It would seem hard to imagine—a blessing, disguised as a nosebleed. Then 14-year-old Crystal Enns of Wylie had such a bad nosebleed one day in January of 2013, that she didn’t go to school. Her parents suspected that something was wrong—but, they couldn’t imagine the eventual diagnosis—a rare kidney disease that would require a transplant. “When he [ her doctor] first said I would have to have a transplant, I didn’t want to talk about it,” says Crystal, now 17 and entering her Senior year of high school. “I didn’t want to think that that would have to happen.” Both parents have matching blood types and could be possible donors. But, Mom Cristy began the intensive screening process first… but, the news wasn’t good. Or, at least, it didn’t appear to be. “Then to find out at the very last minute with the last test that we couldn’t was devastating,” recalls Cristy. Doctors had discovered a suspicious spot on her kidney. So her husband and Crystal’s Dad, Mark, was screened as a possible donor. The bad news seemed about to get worse. “The doctor that called said ‘this is lights and sirens—this is top of your ‘to do’ list- this needs to come out right away, this doesn’t look good’,” says Mark. He was stunned. He had kidney cancer. “The idea is that we’re going to go in and do something that can be life saving for our daughter, only to be told ‘this may have saved your life’, because I would never have been tested otherwise.” Make that both lives. “They went back and did another MRI on me,” says Cristy, “and it had grown. The crazy thing was, it ended up being the same type of kidney cancer that Mark had.” And after a poignant pause, “It’s scary to think about. Very scary to think about. We’ve got four kids… to find out you have kidney cancer when you’re 39 years old is not something you ever think will happen. So we’re extremely grateful.” And if that doesn’t give you chills, get this: Crystal’s bloody nose? No connection. “It happened to be a red herring that allowed us to figure this out because of other symptoms at that time,” says Albert Quan, MD, a Pediatric Nephrologist at Medical City Children’s Hospital. Dr. Quan is also quick to reassure parents that a typical nosebleed should not be a cause for alarm… saying Crystal’s particular type of kidney disease is “very, very rare. I’ve only seen about two or three in the last 20 years.” Crystal’s aunt, Cristy’s sister, was also a perfect match and was able to donate a kidney in April. And the impact was instant. “The morning after the transplant she woke up and she said ‘I’m not nauseous!’,” recalls Cristy with a huge smile. “She could eat, she was hungry… it was such an answer to prayer.” Now, the talented young musician who for much of the past two years had been too weak to stand and sing with her choir, can get back to the things she loves—knowing her parents are healthy, because of her… telling CBS 11 today, “that’s amazing.” More amazing, still? She didn’t even ask for a bump in her allowance! Amid the laughter at the suggestion, the Enns’ insist that it’s been more than enough for all of them to see their faith rewarded. “You try to think, ‘where’s the good in this, as people of faith… what am I supposed to learn?’,” asks Mark. “We got to see the good side.” Follow me on twitter @cbs11Robbie (©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.) ||||| A teen's trip to the doctor for a nosebleed led to potentially life-saving diagnoses for three members of a Texas family. Crystal Enns’ parents were first alarmed when in 2013 the teen had a serious nosebleed that wouldn’t stop. But they were astounded when, after a trip to the doctor, Crystal was diagnosed with a serious kidney disease called juvenile nephronophthisis. According to the National Institute of Health, the disease causes “inflammation and scarring of the kidneys and ultimately leads to a life-threatening failure of kidney function.” It was so serious that Crystal, then 14, would need a transplant. “I didn’t want to talk about it,” Crystal, now 17, told local station KTVT. “I didn’t want to think that that would have to happen.” Dr. Albert Quan, a pediatric nephrologist at Medical City Children’s Hospital in Dallas who treated Crystal, said the nosebleed didn't actually have anything to do with the rare kidney disease, but standard lab tests revealed the disease. "This kidney disease doesn’t get better," Quan told ABC News. "The best we can do is slow the decline. In mid- to late-adolescence you either have ... to put her on dialysis or you have to [get her a] kidney transplant." Crystal’s parents, however, were immediately ready to jump in and donate a kidney if they were a match. The teen’s mother, Cristy, was first to get tested and seemed on board to be donor until the final screening, according to KTVT. A spot was detected on her kidney, negating her ability to be a donor and leading to more tests for kidney disease and cancer. Crystal’s father was next to be tested, but his results were even more alarming. His doctor called to tell him that not only was he not a donor candidate but he had kidney cancer. “The doctor that called said, ‘This is lights and sirens, this is top of your to do list, this needs to come out right away, this doesn’t look good,’” Mark Enns told KTVT. The family was dealt another blow when a scan of Cristy’s kidney revealed she, too, had the same kind of cancer that her husband had. Because the cancer was caught so early, both parents were able to be treated with an operation and did not need chemotherapy. "We are overwhelmed with gratitude to God for allowing us to find out about her kidney disease when we did because Mark and I would never have been tested otherwise," Cristy Enns wrote in an email for ABC News. "The timing of her nosebleed allowed us to begin the donor screening process early, with plenty of time to discover and take care of our alarming cancer diagnosis before it came time for Crystal's transplant." Quan said they are now working with a geneticist to determine if there was any possible genetic factor that could have affected both the parents' and Crystal's kidneys. “I have to tell you that’s never happened to me and I’ve been doing this about 25 years,” Quan said of the parents being diagnosed with cancer during donor screenings. While both of Crystal’s parents were unable to donate a kidney, Crystal’s aunt turned out to be a perfect match. In April of this year, Crystal successfully underwent kidney transplant surgery and is now getting ready to head to school next month according to her doctor. Her parents say they hope their story encourages others to consider being organ donors. "If anyone is considering organ donation, but they have fears about if it is safe to do so ... take courage," wrote Cristy Enns. "Being screened as a donor could be a win-win for you. ... Either you are able to save someone else's life, or you could end up finding out about a health issue in your own life that you may never have known about otherwise." ||||| WYLIE, Texas -- It would seem hard to imagine: a blessing, disguised as a nosebleed. CBS DFW reports the story began in January of 2013, when then-14-year-old Crystal Enns of Wylie, Texas, had such a bad nosebleed that she didn't go to school. Her parents suspected that something was wrong, but they never imagined it would lead to a serious diagnosis -- a rare kidney disease that would require a transplant. "When he [the doctor] first said I would have to have a transplant, I didn't want to talk about it," says Crystal, now 17 and entering her senior year of high school. "I didn't want to think that that would have to happen." KTVT Both parents have matching blood types and could be possible donors. Crystal's mom, Cristy, began the intensive screening process first. That's when the already worrisome situation took an even more troubling turn. Doctors had discovered a suspicious spot on her kidney. "To find out at the very last minute with the last test that we couldn't [donate] was devastating," recalls Cristy. So her husband and Crystal's dad, Mark, was screened as a possible donor. The bad news was about to get worse: He had kidney cancer. "The doctor that called said, 'This is lights and sirens. This is top of your 'to do' list. This needs to come out right away. This doesn't look good,'" says Mark. He was stunned. "The idea is that we're going to go in and do something that can be life-saving for our daughter, only to be told 'this may have saved your life,' because I would never have been tested otherwise." Actually, both of their lives may have been saved -- along with their daughter's. "They went back and did another MRI on me," says Cristy, "and it had grown. The crazy thing was, it ended up being the same type of kidney cancer that Mark had." After a pause, she adds, "It's scary to think about. Very scary to think about. We've got four kids... to find out you have kidney cancer when you're 39 years old is not something you ever think will happen. So we're extremely grateful." Fortunately for Crystal, her aunt, Cristy's sister, was a perfect match and was able to donate a kidney in April. And the impact was instant. "The morning after the transplant she woke up and she said 'I'm not nauseous!'" recalls Cristy with a huge smile. "She could eat, she was hungry... it was such an answer to prayer." Oddly, doctors say it turns out that Crystal's bloody nose, which started the entire chain of events, had no connection to the condition that led to her transplant. "It happened to be a red herring that allowed us to figure this out because of other symptoms at that time," says Albert Quan, MD, a Pediatric Nephrologist at Medical City Children's Hospital. Dr. Quan is also quick to reassure parents that a typical nosebleed should not be a cause for alarm, noting that Crystal's particular type of kidney disease is "very, very rare. I've only seen about two or three in the last 20 years." Now, the talented teen musician, who for much of the past two years had been too weak to stand and sing with her choir, can get back to doing the things she loves, knowing that her parents are healthy because of her. "That's amazing," she told CBS 11 reporter Robbie Owens. The Enns family says the entire experience has helped reinforce their faith. "You try to think, 'Where's the good in this, as people of faith? What am I supposed to learn?'" asks Mark. "We got to see the good side."

– It had to be the luckiest, and most lifesaving, nosebleed in the world. As KTVT reports, it befell 14-year-old Crystal Enns of Wylie, Texas, in 2013. Her parents took her to the doctor when the bleeding wouldn't stop, which led to the diagnosis of a serious kidney disease called juvenile nephronophthisis. "This kidney disease doesn't get better," one of Crystal's doctors tells ABC News. "In mid- to late adolescence you either have ... to put her on dialysis or you have to [get her a] kidney transplant." The family opted for the transplant, and Mom Cristy stepped up first—but screening turned up a spot on her kidney that turned out to be cancer. Then dad Mark volunteered, but, incredibly, his screening turned up kidney cancer as well. Both were caught early enough for effective treatment, something that never would have happened if not for their daughter's illness. "The idea is that we're going to go in and do something that can be lifesaving for our daughter, only to be told, 'This may have saved your life,' because I would never have been tested otherwise," says Mark. And there's good news about Crystal, too: Her aunt turned out to be a perfect match, and after successful surgery in April of this year, the now 17-year-old is headed back to high school with a healthy prognosis. The kicker to all this: It turns out that the original nosebleed had nothing to do with Crystal's kidney disease, reports CBS News. "It happened to be a red herring that allowed us to figure this out because of other symptoms at that time," says her doctor. (A mom spotted a symptom of a rare form of cancer after seeing a photo of her 2-year-old.)

An airline pilot accused of stealing a man's rental car during a bizarre encounter has been arrested. The 43-year-old pilot from charter airline Omni Air was arrested Saturday night for investigation of vehicle theft and DUI, King County sheriff's Sgt. Cindi West said Monday. A Bainbridge, Wash., man told police he got into his rental car at a hotel near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and a stranger climbed into the back seat. When the victim asked the stranger what he was doing in the car, the man replied, "You know, you know," West said. The victim pointed a handgun at the intruder and told him to get out, officials said. After a scuffle in which the man struck the intruder several times with the handgun, West said the man got out and the intruder chased him around the car. The intruder then jumped into the driver's seat and drove off, she said. Officers found the car and a bloody man in a nearby parking lot. Jeff Crippen, president and CEO of Omni Air, told The Seattle Times he didn't have the full report but planned a thorough investigation. The name of the pilot was not released. "We want to emphasize that the crewmember was off duty at the time of the incident and was not scheduled to report for duty for 12 hours," airline communications director Jeff Staton told the Associated Press by email. "The crewmember is currently on suspension while the facts are being investigated." The pilot, from Tulsa, Okla., had been scheduled to fly to Tokyo on Sunday morning, West said. The flight was delayed 24 hours and took off Monday morning for Japan, said airport spokesman Perry Cooper. Omni Air's Staton confirmed that a replacement crewmember handled the delayed flight. The Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating. ||||| Originally published Monday, November 5, 2012 at 7:29 PM A pilot for a charter airline was arrested in SeaTac on suspicion of car theft and DUI, hours before he was scheduled to fly a commercial plane to Japan, the King County Sheriff's Office reported. A 43-year-old pilot for Omni Air International, a charter airline out of Tulsa, Okla., was arrested Saturday night at a WallyPark in SeaTac on suspicion of car theft and DUI, hours before he was scheduled to fly a commercial plane from Seattle to Japan on Sunday morning, said the King County Sheriff's Office. When contacted about the arrest, Jeff Crippen, president and CEO of the airline, said, "Wow. I don't have the full report. What we'll do is do a thorough investigation into the charges and go from there. That's all we can do. I can't comment on anything else." According to the Sheriff's Office, the incident began at the parking lot of the Hilton Seattle Airport & Conference Center when a 66-year-old Bainbridge Island man said he got into his rental car at the Hilton and the pilot got into his back seat. The report said the victim asked the pilot what he was doing in his car, and the pilot replied, "You know, you know." The report said there then was "a brief exchange of words" and the Bainbridge Island man pointed a handgun at the pilot and told him to get out. "A struggle ensued and the victim struck the suspect several times with the handgun. The victim got out of the car, and the suspect chased him around the car. The suspect then got into the driver's seat and fled in the victim's car," said the report. SeaTac police, who are contracted by the Sheriff's Office to patrol that area, were called around 8:40 p.m., the report said. The Sheriff's Office said that employees at the WallyPark, which is next to the Hilton, called to report "a suspicious, bloody male in the parking lot. When police arrived they found the suspect and the victim's car." The pilot, who is from Oklahoma, was arrested and booked into King County Jail, the report said. He was released without bail just before 6 p.m. Monday. According to its website, Omni Air's fleet includes Boeing 767s and 777s that can carry 240 to 380 passengers. According to Perry Cooper, spokesman for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the flight was delayed 24 hours and took off for Japan at 7:30 Monday morning. He said it was listed as a Boeing 767-300. The FAA said it was aware of the incident and investigating. Seattle Times news researcher Gene Balk contributed. Erik Lacitis: 206-464-2237 or elacitis@seattletimes.com

– A commercial pilot has been arrested for a bizarre carjacking just hours before he was supposed to fly a plane from Seattle to Tokyo. Police say the Omni Air pilot climbed into a stranger's rental car at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and refused to leave even after the driver pulled a handgun, the Seattle Times reports. After a scuffle in which the suspect was hit several times with the handgun, the driver left the vehicle. The suspect chased the driver—who still had the gun—around the vehicle several times before making off with the car. Cops found the bloodied pilot and the car in a nearby parking lot soon afterward and he was charged with car theft and DUI. The name of the pilot, who is from Oklahoma, has not been released. "We want to emphasize that the crew member was off duty at the time of the incident and was not scheduled to report for duty for 12 hours," an airline spokesman tells the AP. "The crew member is currently on suspension while the facts are being investigated."

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Delaware County Sheriff's Office in Delaware, Ohio, shows Tommy Thompson. A federal judge has ordered former deep-sea treasure hunter Thompson to answer... (Associated Press) FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Delaware County Sheriff's Office in Delaware, Ohio, shows Tommy Thompson. A federal judge has ordered former deep-sea treasure hunter Thompson to answer questions about the location of 500 missing gold coins. Judge Algenon Marbley in Columbus, Ohio on Monday,... (Associated Press) FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Delaware County Sheriff's Office in Delaware, Ohio, shows Tommy Thompson. A federal judge has ordered former deep-sea treasure hunter Thompson to answer questions about the location of 500 missing gold coins. Judge Algenon Marbley in Columbus, Ohio on Monday,... (Associated Press) FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Delaware County Sheriff's Office in Delaware, Ohio, shows Tommy Thompson. A federal judge has ordered former deep-sea treasure hunter Thompson to answer... (Associated Press) COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A federal judge on Monday ordered a former deep-sea treasure hunter to answer questions about the location of 500 missing gold coins. Tommy Thompson has been held in contempt of court since last December, when Judge Algenon Marbley in Columbus found he violated a plea deal by refusing to respond. Marbley on Monday told Thompson to answer the questions within 30 days. The judge's order came after Thompson and his attorneys spent the past month at Marbley's direction reviewing documents that might hold clues about the location of the coins and other assets worth millions. Thompson has said he told everything he knew during depositions last year. Todd Long, an attorney for Thompson, told Marbley on Monday that nothing has changed from Thompson's perspective. "He has nothing further to say," Long said. The coins were minted from gold taken from the S.S. Central America, a Gold Rush-era ship that sank off South Carolina in an 1857 hurricane with thousands of pounds of gold aboard, contributing to an economic panic. The 161 investors who paid Thompson $12.7 million to find the ship never saw any proceeds. Two sued — a now-deceased investment firm president and the company that once published The Columbus Dispatch newspaper. A fugitive from Ohio since 2012, Thompson was apprehended in January 2015 along with his longtime female companion at a hotel where he was living near Boca Raton, Florida. The time that's passed since Thompson's last deposition might give him an opportunity to answer the questions, Marbley suggested. "Who knows — he might have an epiphany," the judge said. "It is the season of miracles." Marbley has also ordered Thompson to pay $1,000 a day until he answers questions. Currently, he owes more than $350,000, said Doug Squires, an assistant U.S. attorney. Squires said he hopes the government will see the money. "The federal government always works very hard to recover all assets," he said. ||||| Tommy Thompson, a treasure hunter accused of cheating his investors out of their share of one of the richest hauls in U.S. history, was caught in West Boca Raton, Fla., after two years on the run. (AP) Tommy G. Thompson was once one of the greatest treasure hunters of his time: A dark-bearded diver who hauled a trove of gold from the Atlantic Ocean in 1988 — dubbed the richest find in U.S. history. Years later, accused of cheating his investors out of the fortune, Thompson led federal agents on a great manhunt — pursued from a Florida mansion to a mid-rent hotel room booked under a fake name. Now Thompson’s beard has grayed, and he lives in an Ohio jail cell, held there until he gives up the location of the gold. But for nearly two years, despite threats and fines and the best exertions of a federal judge, no one has managed to make Thompson reveal what he did with the treasure. [How treasure hunter Tommy Thompson, ‘one of the smartest fugitives ever,’ was caught] A undated drawing of the S.S. Central America, which sank after sailing into a hurricane in 1857. (Library of Congress/AP) The wreck of the S.S. Central America waited 130 years for Thompson to come along. The steamer went down in a hurricane in 1857, taking 425 souls and at least three tons of California gold to the sea floor off South Carolina. Many tried to find it, but none succeeded until a young, shipwreck-obsessed engineer from Columbus, Ohio, built an underwater robot called “Nemo” to pinpoint the Central America, then dive 8,000 feet under the sea and surface the loot. “A man as personable as he was brilliant, Thompson recruited more than 160 investors to fund his expedition,” Columbus Monthly noted in a profile. He “spent years studying the ship’s fateful voyage … and developing the technology to plunge deeper in the ocean than anyone had before to retrieve its treasure.” Thompson’s crew pulled up rare 19th-century coins, the ship’s bell and “gold bars . . . 15 times bigger than the largest California gold bar previously known to exist,” the Chicago Tribune reported in 1989. And 95 percent of the wreck site was still unexplored — potentially worth $400 million in gold alone, The Washington Post reported a year later. “The treasure trove is the richest in American history and the deepwater salvage effort the most ambitious ever undertaken anywhere.” The expedition’s loot captured the country’s attention, as did the peculiarities of its leader — a scientist-seafarer hybrid who worked on nuclear submarine systems before he hunted treasure. “Thompson is not exactly the romantic, swashbuckling sort,” Forbes wrote during the years-long recovery of the ship’s treasure. “He is scientific and methodical, with none of the P.T. Barnum that infuses (and inflates) other salvors.” Gold bars and coins from the S.S. Central America, first glimpsed in 1989. (Associated Press) In his late 30s, during the height of his fame, Thompson said little in public and tended to play down his role in the discovery. “This gold is part of the largest treasure trove in American history,” he told reporters in 1989. “But the history of the S.S. Central America is also a rich part of our nation’s cultural treasury.” He added: “It’s a celebration of American ideals: free enterprise and hard work.” But before long, some of Thompson’s bankrollers began painting a very different picture of the man. Two of the expedition’s biggest investors took him to court in the 2000s, accusing him of selling nearly all the gold and keeping the profits to himself. When a federal judge ordered Thompson to appear in 2012, he didn’t show. An arrest warrant was issued, but the man who found a long-lost shipwreck had disappeared. [Treasure hunter vanishes while searching for $2 million gold stash in N.M. wilderness] There followed a two-year manhunt for what a top U.S. Marshal called “perhaps one of the smartest fugitives” the agency had ever chased. Thompson had “almost limitless resources and approximately a ten year head start” in the chase, U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Ohio Peter Tobin said in a statement. Thompson and his girlfriend had been living for years in a Florida mansion, paying rent with cash that was damp and moldy from the earth it had been buried in, The Post’s Abby Phillip reported last year. The couple had fled by the time authorities found the house. Government records detailed what they’d left behind: disposable cellphones, money straps stamped “$10,000” and a guide on evading law enforcement titled “How to be Invisible.” An undated photograph of Thompson made available by U.S. Marshals in January 2015. Thompson was finally caught in January 2015, after agents tracked his girlfriend to a $200-a-night hotel near West Palm Beach, The Post reported at the time. In a celebratory statement, Tobin said the U.S. Marshals had used “all of our resources and ingenuity” to find the treasure hunter. But they didn’t find the treasure. Thompson’s investors, who originally expected to make tens of millions of dollars from the venture, said that they believe he had hundreds of gold coins secreted in a trust account for his children. At first, their search for the coins looked promising. Thompson pleaded guilty to contempt of court in April 2015, according to the Columbus Dispatch. He said the coins were in Belize and agreed to reveal their exact location. But that didn’t happen. Thompson’s attorney said last month that his client couldn’t remember who he gave the gold to, even after poring over thousands of pages of documents related to the treasure, according to the Dispatch. A federal judge ruled that Thompson was faking memory problems, the newspaper reported, and has held him in an Ohio jail cell for a year. Thompson could remain behind bars until he talks, the Associated Press reported, and is being fined $1,000 a day in the meantime. “Who knows — he might have an epiphany,” U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley remarked Monday when he ordered Thompson to answer questions about the gold’s location. But so far, the S.S. Central America’s treasure remains missing for the second time in two centuries. And perhaps the only man able to find it remains as silent as the lost sailors of that old wreck. ||||| 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.

– Tommy Thompson is a shipwreck explorer believed to know the location of a fortune in gold coins—but he can't spend them in Ohio's Delaware County jail, and he's not getting out until he reveals where they are. The treasure hunter has been held on a contempt charge since December last year and on Monday, a federal judge ordered another round of depositions in which Thompson could divulge the location of 500 gold coins worth up to $4 million from an 1857 shipwreck discovered in the '80s, the Columbus Dispatch reports. "I hope that in this season of giving, Mr. Thompson will find it within himself to give," Judge Algenon Marbley said, predicting that Thompson, who claims memory loss, might experience an "epiphany," the Washington Post reports. "It is the season of miracles," Marbley added, per the AP. Thompson went on the run in 2012 after investors who funded his search for the wreck of the SS Central America accused him of selling $50 million in gold and keeping the profits for himself. He said the coins were in Belize and agreed to reveal their location in a plea deal months after he was recaptured in 2015, but he later said he'd forgotten whom he'd given them to, the Post reports. The judge ordered the fresh depositions after Thompson and his lawyers had more than a month to review 12,500 pages of documents on the treasure in the hope of jogging his memory. A defense attorney told Marbley that Thompson still "has nothing further to say." (When he was recaptured, Thompson was carrying more than $400,000 in cash, and more.)

ES News Email Enter your email address Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid Email cannot be used. Try another or register with your social account One man was killed and 10 others injured after a van was driven into worshippers near Finsbury Park mosque in a suspected terrorist attack. Dozens of people had just finished prayers at the mosque when the vehicle crashed into pedestrians in Seven Sisters Road at about 12.15am on Monday. One man has been arrested and the Metropolitan Police confirmed that one man died and that Counter Terrorism officers are investigating the attack. Witnesses said people were also attacked by a knife-wielding man but the Met said there had been no reports of anyone suffering stab wounds. Prime Minister Theresa May said it was being treated as "a potential terrorist attack" and that she would hold a Cobra committee emergency meeting later on Monday. The nature of the attack drew immediate parallels with the London Bridge atrocity two weeks ago, in which eight innocent people were killed. Bystanders wrestled a suspect to the floor. Officers on patrol nearby were at the scene within seconds and made one arrest. A white man with black hair was seen being detained by police officers. The victims are believed to be Muslims who had been breaking fast at a cafe next to the mosque following late-night prayers observed during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "One man was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers are in the process of informing next of kin. "A post mortem examination will be scheduled due course. "Eight people injured were taken to three separate hospitals; two people were treated at the scene for minor injuries. "At this stage there are no reports of any persons having suffered any knife injuries." The spokesman continued: "The driver of the van - a man aged 48 - was found detained by members of public at the scene and then arrested by police in connection with the incident. "He has been taken to hospital as a precaution, and will be taken into custody once discharged. "He will also be subject of a mental health assessment in due course. "A number police units are at, and managing the cordons around, the crime scene, including local officers and those from neighbouring boroughs - supported by armed officers and the Territorial Support Group. Police appeal Any witnesses, or anyone with any information, can contact police via 101, or via Twitter @MetCC. To give information anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org "The investigation of the incident is being carried out by the Counter Terrorism Command. "At this early stage of this investigation, no other suspects at the scene have been identified or reported to police, however the investigation continues." The vehicle appears to have been rented from Pontaclun Van Hire, based in Wales. The Muslim Council of Britain has confirmed that worshippers leaving Finsbury Park Mosque were targeted when a van ran into them, adding: "Our prayers are with the victims." Footage shared on social media showed scenes of carnage, with bodies of several men laying on the pavement next to a cafe. Mehdi, a 38-year-old worshipper, said: “There were loads of people coming out and the van took a left and went straight into them. “I saw four of five people one the floor. At least one person was stabbed. “The crowd caught a guy. He tried to do a London Bridge thing. “The police were there almost instantly, passing in a car by chance. People were coming out of the mosque and they just drove through them. "They drove through the crowds for a distance of nine metres.” Another worshipper, who arrived five minutes after the van ploughed into the crowd said: “There was a white van. It drove over innocent men and women simply trying to go home from the night prayers. Seven Sisters Road is shut between Hornsey Road and Blackstock Road. Isledon Road is also closed. Finsbury Park Station is open, however the Seven Sisters Road entrance/exit is closed. Six bus routes - 4, 29, 153, 253, 254 and 259 - are being diverted. Hilary Briffa, who lives opposite the mosque, told the Standard: “I heard a lot of yelling and people running, then loads of police cars and helicopters and fire engines started showing up. "The response time was really impressive. “The police aren’t giving much information away but a van definitely hit people exiting Finsbury park mosque after prayers. “We think at least three people are seriously injured and a guy was arrested.” A Met spokesman said officers were called at 12.20am to reports of a vehicle in collision with pedestrians. They added: “Officers are on scene with other emergency services. There are a number of casualties being worked on at the scene. There has been one person arrested.” It came weeks after three Islamist terrorists rammed a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before rampaging through Borough Market with knives, killing eight people before being shot dead by police. Pictures posted on social media show more than a dozen emergency vehicles near the UKCG Help Centre at the junction of Seven Sisters Road and the A503 Tollington Road. London Ambulance Service deputy director of operations Kevin Bate said: "We have sent a number of ambulance crews, advance paramedics and specialist response teams to the scene. "An advance trauma team from London's Air Ambulance has also been dispatched by car. "Our first priority is to assess the level and nature of injuries and ensure those in the most need are treated first and taken to hospital." Cynthia Vanzella said on Twitter: "Horrible to watch police officers doing cardiac massage at people on the floor, desperately trying to save them. I just hope they did." The chairman of the mosque at Finsbury Park, Mohammed Kozbar, tweeted: "Our thoughts and prayers with those who got injured and effected by this cowardly attack in Finsbury Park area, many casualties in the floor." This story is being updated ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Footage shows the suspected attacker being tackled to the ground before the police arrive A terror attack near a London mosque is "every bit as sickening" as others in recent weeks, Theresa May says. A man drove a van into worshippers close to Muslim Welfare House in Finsbury Park as they were gathered to help an elderly man who had collapsed. He later died, but it is not clear if this was a result of the attack. Nine other people were taken to hospital. A 47-year-old man was held on suspicion of attempted murder and later further arrested over alleged terror offences. Scotland Yard said he was being held on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism including murder and attempted murder. Searches are also being carried out at an address in the Cardiff area. Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said the incident in north London was "quite clearly an attack on Muslims", and the community would now see more police, including armed officers, in the area, "particularly around religious establishments". It is the fourth terror attack in the UK in three months, after incidents in Westminster, Manchester and on London Bridge. Police said all the victims of the attack shortly after midnight were Muslim and many were believed to have just left evening prayers after breaking the Ramadan fast. Several of the injured are believed to be seriously hurt. London Ambulance Service said a number of other people were treated at the scene for minor injuries. Security Minister Ben Wallace said the suspect was not known to the security services, and was believed to have acted alone. The prime minister said police declared it a terrorist incident within eight minutes and a white man in his 40s was now in custody. Mrs May was speaking after chairing a meeting of the government's emergency Cobra committee. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The prime minister and the Met Police commissioner met faith leaders at Finsbury Park Mosque "It was an attack that once again targeted the ordinary and the innocent going about their daily lives - this time British Muslims as they left a mosque having broken their fast and prayed together at this sacred time of year," she said. She added that "there has been far too much tolerance of extremism over many years". "It is a reminder that terrorism, extremism and hatred take many forms; and our determination to tackle them must be the same whoever is responsible." After making her statement outside Downing Street, the prime minister visited Finsbury Park Mosque, which is also close to the scene of the incident, where she held talks with faith leaders. Eyewitness Abdul Rahman told the BBC: "When the guy came out from his van he wanted to escape, run away, and he was saying 'I want to kill Muslims. 'I want to kill Muslims.' "I hit him on his stomach... and then me and the other guys... we held him to the ground until he couldn't move. We stopped him until the police came." Adil Rana, 24, said "people were punching him and beating him, which was reasonable because of what he's done". The imam of Muslim Welfare House - which is also a community centre - said a passing police van was flagged down after the attack. Mohammed Mahmoud told reporters: "We told them the situation - there's a man, he's restrained, he mowed down a group of people with his van and there is a mob attempting to hurt him and if you don't take him then, God forbid, he might be seriously hurt. "We pushed people away from him until he was safely taken by police." Toufik Kacimi, chief executive of Muslim Welfare House, said the suspect had told those holding him "you deserve it" and was also saying "I did my bit". Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Finsbury Park Imam Mohamed Mahmoud says the community in Finsbury Park is "mild-mannered, calm" Another witness, who gave his name as Abdul, told the BBC the suspect was shouting "kill me, I've done my job". Earlier, police also said the arrested man would be the "subject of a mental health assessment in due course". Image copyright EPA Image caption Police forensic experts have been at the scene of the attack Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: "While this appears to be an attack on a particular community, like the terrible attacks in Manchester, Westminster and London Bridge it is also an assault on all our shared values of tolerance, freedom and respect." Thee mayor has also reiterated his calls for the government to provide more funding to the Met Police. BBC home affairs correspondent Dominic Casciani said it was not the first time that Muslims - and specifically visible Muslim targets, namely mosques - had been targeted in an act of terrorism in the UK. The threat from extreme right-wing groups has been growing in recent years, he said, noting that 16% of all terror arrests in the year to March were classed as "domestic extremism". At the scene By Cherry Wilson, BBC News Locals say this is a proudly multicultural area, where the biggest rivalry is whether you support Arsenal or their north London rivals, Tottenham. Now the mood here is one of shock, as residents stand by the police cordon seeing the aftermath of yet another attack in London. Mother-of-four Nicola Senior, 43, is walking back from taking her children to school when she stops to take in the scene. She said: "I'm frightened. Is there going to be retaliation? "I am fearful for my kids. Can we go to the park? Can we go to the church? It feels like this is happening all the time." 'Everyone is on edge' after attack Forensics officers are examining a white van which has Pontyclun Van Hire on it - a firm from Rhondda Cynon Taff in south Wales. The firm said in a statement that it was "shocked and saddened" and co-operating with the police. A dangerous juncture in the battle against extremism Image copyright Reuters By BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner This incident risks playing right into the hands of those planning further attacks on vulnerable citizens in the UK. Online followers of the so-called Islamic State have been quick to seize on the Finsbury Park attack as proof of what they see as widespread hostility towards Muslims who live in the West. Inevitably, it will be used by recruiters and propagandists to incite further attacks - extremism breeds extremism. The one thing that far right anti-Muslim extremists and violent jihadists have in common is the belief that peaceful coexistence between Muslim and non-Muslim is impossible. The unified prayers and solidarity across communities that followed recent terror attacks are anathema to them. Extremists of both types want instead to divide society and will keep trying to bring this about by criminal acts of provocation such as this. The Muslim Council of Britain said this was the "most violent manifestation to date" of recent Islamophobic incidents. "We expect the authorities to increase security outside mosques as a matter of urgency." Mohammed Kozbar, general secretary of Finsbury Park Mosque, gave a statement on behalf of a joint faiths group. He said that "an attack on one faith is an attack on all faith and communities". The group has appealed for calm, adding that "all of our efforts should be towards getting justice for the victims and ensuring our community stays the diverse, tolerant and welcome place we know it to be". Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Abdulrahman Aidroos describes how he and others detained the suspected attacker Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Theresa May said "hatred and evil" will never succeed Home Secretary Amber Rudd described it as an appalling incident, and said new funding for security at religious sites had recently been arranged. "We will make sure that we do all we can to reduce these sort of attacks," she added. Labour's shadow home secretary and Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP Diane Abbott said on Twitter that police "must urgently review security for all mosques". Labour leader and Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn has also visited the area, telling the BBC that "an attack on a mosque, an attack on a synagogue, an attack on a church is actually an attack on all of us". "We have to protect each other's faith, each other's way of life, and that's what makes us a strong society and community." Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Corbyn: People must be free to practise their faith Mr Corbyn attended prayers at Finsbury Park Mosque with Islington Council Leader Richard Watts. Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has also been to the area, where he met residents and community leaders. Speaking to the BBC, he said it was a "despicable attack" which was intended to divide society, but added: "That will fail. These perpetrators will never succeed." Mr Javid also said he wanted to reassure Muslims around the UK that the government would "always take a zero tolerance approach to hate crime". Image copyright Reuters Image caption People have been leaving flowers near the scene of the attack

– In what authorities say is being treated as a terrorist attack, at least one person was killed when a van plowed into worshippers outside a mosque in north London early Monday. Police say a 48-year-old man was arrested after the vehicle ran into people that had left Finsbury Park Mosque just after midnight, the BBC reports. Witnesses say it was clear that the man was deliberately trying to run people over. "There were loads of people coming out and the van took a left and went straight into them," a worshipper tells the Evening Standard. "The crowd caught a guy. He tried to do a London Bridge thing." At least eight people were injured. Some witnesses said the driver attempted to stab people after the attack, though local hospitals say they are not treating anybody with stab wounds. The van is believed to have been rented in Wales. London Mayor Sadiq Khan condemned the attack as an assault on "innocent Londoners, many of whom were finishing prayers during the holy month of Ramadan"—and on "all our shared values of tolerance, freedom, and respect," the Guardian reports. Khan said extra police have been deployed to protect communities celebrating Ramadan. The New York City Police Department says it has also sent additional police officers to protect mosques.

Darren McCollester/Getty Images So it’s come to this. Now Donald Trump seems to have come up with a new excuse as to why Hillary Clinton won the last debate: she had an unfair advantage. The Republican presidential candidate pretty much accused his opponent on Saturday of having taken drugs before the last debate and said it was only fair for the two of them to do drug tests prior to the third presidential debate. “I think she’s actually getting pumped up, she’s getting pumped up, you understand, she’s getting pumped up for Wednesday night,” Trump said. “We’re like athletes,” Trump went on. “Athletes they make them take a drug test. I think we should take a drug test prior to the debate. I do. I think … Why don’t we do that? We should take a drug test prior because I don’t know what’s going on with her, but at the beginning of her last debate she was all pumped up at the beginning and at the end it was like, ‘Oh, take me down.’ She could barely reach her car,” Trump said, accompanying his words with a crude imitation of Clinton. Advertisement Trump uttered his latest hard-to-believe statement at a Saturday rally in New Hampshire shortly after he took to Twitter to say that Clinton should be in prison and has rigged the election. “Hillary Clinton should have been prosecuted and should be in jail. Instead she is running for president in what looks like a rigged election,” he wrote Saturday morning. ||||| PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Escalating his criticism of Hillary Clinton’s debate performances, Donald J. Trump came to a state battling a drug epidemic and suggested without any evidence on Saturday that his opponent had been on drugs during their second debate. “I think we should take a drug test prior to the debate,” Mr. Trump told a crowd of thousands gathered in the parking lot of a Toyota dealership on a chilly afternoon. He continued: “We should take a drug test prior because I don’t know what’s going on with her. But at the beginning of her last debate — she was all pumped up at the beginning, and at the end it was like, ‘Oh, take me down.’ She could barely reach her car.” When asked for comment, the Clinton campaign directed reporters to a statement by Robby Mook, the campaign manager, that was put out earlier in the day in response to Mr. Trump’s allegations of a “rigged” election.

– In what is likely another first in a US presidential election seemingly full of them, a candidate has advocated for drug testing prior to a debate. CBS News reports Donald Trump suggested Saturday that Hillary Clinton was on performance-enhancing drugs during the second debate "cause I don't know what's going on with her." He claims Clinton "was all pumped up" at the start of the debate but "could barely reach her car" afterward. Roger Stone, a "longtime Trump confidant," said something similar during an interview earlier this week. "Of course she was jacked up on something," he said. "I assume...some kind of methamphetamine." Trump's claim, which the New York Times notes he offered no evidence to support, led him to a solution. "They make them take a drug test," Trump said comparing himself and Clinton to athletes. "I think we should take a drug test prior to the debate. I do.” Trump made the comments while in New Hampshire, addressing that state's drug problems. Slate calls them "hard to believe" and just his latest excuse for his recent poor performance, following claims that Clinton should be in jail and the election is rigged. The Clinton campaign responded with a statement saying democracy should not be "dismissed or undermined because a candidate is afraid he's going to lose." The third and final presidential debate is Wednesday.

Warning comes as air pollution is expected to reach eight or nine on a 10-point scale in much of southern UK Millions of vulnerable people in southern England and Wales were advised to stay indoors as unusually high levels of air pollution smothered London and other cities, just weeks after heavy pollution led to restrictions on car use and the offer of free public transport in Brussels and Paris. Prof Frank Kelly of King's College London said tiny particles of pollution could cause problems for some people – such as those with asthma – and contribute to longer-term problems for others. "Periods of very high pollution in London arise usually because the city's normal pollution emissions are increased further by polluted air arriving on light winds from neighbouring areas such as northern Europe," he said. "However, whether home-produced or arriving from the continent, the tiny particles we take into our bodies with each breath cause immediate problems for some individuals, such as those with asthma, and contribute to longer-term problems for most of us in the form of heart disease and stroke." Leanne Stewart, from Eltham in south-east London, described feeling breathless after a routine half-mile walk to her son's thisschool yesterday morning. "I've been doing the usual school run about half a mile from my house, which is usually quite an easy walk, but I'm still breathless now," she said. "I could feel my chest getting tighter and tighter and my son, who's eight, had to stop and have his inhaler. "I went light-headed and had to get a bus back. It's only half a mile and I usually do it twice a day, no problem. I've never had that problem before. My son felt like the air wasn't getting into his lungs so I'm worried about him today, but I've just texted him and he said he's fine." Experts said this week's air pollution was not unusual for this time of year, but the difference was that the public was being informed because of the Met Office's new forecasting system. "Two weeks ago, when the air pollution map of the south-east turned red, no one was informed," said Dr Ian Mudway, lecturer in respiratory toxicology at King's College London. "The BBC ran stories about the pollution in Paris and Milan, but no one thought it worthwhile to inform the British public that they were being exposed to dangerous levels of fine particulates [tiny pieces of liquid or solid matter]. Daily air quality index for 2 April 2014. Source: Defra "At-risk groups were not informed, which to my mind is unforgivable. My suspicion was that there was an almost 'what the public don't know they can't complain about' attitude. Thanks to the new forecast, air pollution is going to ratchet very rapidly up the public consciousness and it will be interesting to see how government, both local and national, responds." On 1 April, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) handed over responsibility for reporting air pollution to the Met Office, a move welcomed by Alan Andrews at the environmental law firm ClientEarth. "I think it has to be a good thing, because the Met Office are good at communicating to the public and it depoliticises it; it takes away the issue of a minister worrying about looking bad because of putting out a pollution warning." Forecasters warned that one of the year's worst smogs would worsen as Wednesday progressed, with air pollution reaching the maximum "very high" level in many parts of southern Britain. The unusually high levels of air pollution are a result of inland pollution and powerful dust storms swept in from the Sahara by strong gales. "We usually see this happen several times a year when big dust storms in the Sahara coincide with southerly winds to bring that dust here," said Paul Hutcheon at the Met Office. "More dust rain is possible during showers expected later this week." Defra said air-pollution levels on Wednesday were expected to reach eight or nine on a 10-point scale in much of southern England, the Midlands and southern Wales. The south coast is forecast to see pollution hit the maximum level 10. Adults and children with lung problems, heart defects and older people are being urged to avoid any strenuous activity and asthmatics have been told to use their inhaler more often. Advice on the Defra website for the general population facing "very high" pollution levels states: "Reduce physical exertion, particularly outdoors, especially if you experience symptoms such as a cough or sore throat." Defra forecasters issued the fresh warning after air pollution levels reached 10 in north-west Norfolk on Tuesday. "For England and Wales, moderate to high air-pollution levels are forecast for central and south-east England, to the south and east of a line from around the Wash to Cheshire to east Devon, with local very high levels expected in parts of East Anglia and the East Midlands," said a Defra forecaster. Conditions are expected to worsen on Wednesday evening and into Thursday as the smog extends north. High levels of pollution are forecast to stretch across East Anglia, the Midlands, Lincolnshire, Wirral and north and east Wales, then further north over much of England's north-west coast, south-west Scotland and the north-east of Northern Ireland. Cleaner air from the Atlantic should bring some respite for south-west Wales and England's southernmost counties on Thursday, forecasters said, although many other parts of England and Wales will experience higher levels of smog than usual. Keith Taylor, the Green party's MEP for south-east England, said the high level of pollution showed the need for stronger government action. "Episodes like this often have a number of contributing factors," he said. "What seems clear is that towns and cities across south-east England need to reduce the level of air pollution in their streets by cutting the amount of traffic. But on top of that it's clear that our government must play a role in pushing for stronger air pollution laws from the European Union, rather than trying to water down the rules we already have." The UK faces fines of up to £300m a year and embarrassing court appearances after the European commission launched legal proceedings against it for failing to reduce "excessive" levels of nitrogen dioxide air pollution from traffic, despite 15 years of warnings and several extensions and postponements granted to the government. According to the World Health Organisation, air pollution has become the world's single biggest environmental health risk, linked to about 7 million deaths a year – or nearly one in eight deaths in 2012. ||||| LONDON (AP) — British authorities on Wednesday warned people with heart or lung conditions to avoid exertion as a combination of industrial pollution and Sahara dust blankets the country in smog. (Click Prev or Next to continue viewing images.) ADVERTISEMENT (Click Prev or Next to continue viewing images.) The Millennium Dome is shrouded in smog in London, as seen from a viewing gallery in the Orbit sculpture during a tour organized for the media, Wednesday, April 2, 2014. British authorities have warned... (Associated Press) The skyscrapers of the Canary Wharf business district in London are shrouded in smog, as seen from a viewing gallery on the Orbit sculpture in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park during an tour of the park... (Associated Press) Two apprentices, center and right, who work on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and were on hand for members of the media to interview, take a picture at a viewing gallery in the Orbit sculpture as London's... (Associated Press) The environment department said the air pollution level could reach the top rung on its 10-point scale. The department said the smog was caused by pollution from Britain and industrialized areas of the continent staying in place because of light winds, along with dust blown up from a storm in the Sahara desert. Many motorists awoke this week to find cars covered in a film of red dust. Paul Cosford of Public Health England told the BBC that people with heart or respiratory problems should "reduce the amount of strenuous exercise outdoors over the next few days." The pollution is expected to ease by Friday.

– London is exceptionally smoggy right now, and at least some of the air pollution can be blamed on dust that traveled all the way from the Sahara. "We usually see this happen several times a year when big dust storms in the Sahara coincide with southerly winds to bring that dust here," one expert tells the Guardian. Another explains, "The main sources [of air pollution] we have are vehicle transport and the industrial process; when you put that alongside the unusual weather consequences like the Saharan dust ... then that's when you get these few days of unusually high pollution." How high? Air pollution is expected to reach an eight or nine on the UK's 10-point scale in many parts of southern England and Wales today, and could even hit 10 in some areas along the coast, leading experts to advise "vulnerable people," such as those who suffer from asthma or heart problems, to stay inside as much as possible. As the AP describes it, many cars are "covered in a film of red dust." Conditions are expected to worsen through tomorrow as the smog travels through more of the UK, but should ease a bit by Friday. "More dust rain is possible during showers expected later this week," one expert warns.

DiCaprio bashed! Clooney abashed! Will Smith’s kids trashed! The hits keep coming for Sony Pictures, with a new onslaught of leaked e-mails revealing still more Tinseltown taunts, tantrums and tirades. Hardest hit in this latest round — as revealed by The Daily Beast — is Leonardo DiCaprio. The “Titanic” star’s decision to pull out of a planned Steve Jobs biopic turns DiCaprio into a punching bag in a series of September ­e-mails between a producer on the problem-plagued project and Amy Pascal, the studio’s beleaguered co-chair. “Despicable,” Pascal blasts Leo in an impolitic slur that’s sure to shake her already precarious standing at the studio. Pascal has been flailing in a rising tide of embarrassing leaks for days — including one in which she made racially insensitive jokes about President Obama’s movie preferences — and has been fighting to keep her job with a series of mea culpas, including apologies to the Rev. Al Sharpton and the public in general. “Was this about the deal … or did he just change his mind,” the producer, Mark Gordon, e-mails Pascal at the start of the acid exchange, inquiring into why DiCaprio ditched the Aaron Sorkin-penned “Jobs.” Pascal replies, “The latter,” implying that the star was simply being DiCapricious. “Horrible behavior,” sniffs Gordon. “Actually despicable,” ups Pascal. George Clooney gets considerably better treatment from the tart-tongued executrix in an e-mail exchange from ­January. Clooney was having a crisis of confidence — in a big way — over bad reviews for “The Monuments Men.” But Pascal actually comforted him, promising him both protection and profits. “I need some protection from all the reviews,” the surprisingly thin-skinned Clooney writes Pascal in an e-mail subject-lined “it’s getting worse.” “Let’s just make it a hit,” he adds. “I haven’t slept in 30 hours. And it’s 7 am.” Pascal answers, “we will protect you by making money… that’s the best revenge.” The next day, Clooney is still sounding deprived of sleep and confidence. “I adore you Amy,” he writes her. “You are literally the only person running a studio that loves film. I fear I’ve let you all down. Not my intention. I apologize. I’ve just lost touch… Who knew? Sorry. I won’t do it again.” I need some protection from all the reviews… I haven’t slept in 30 hours. - Clooney in an e-mail to Amy Pascal Adorable Willow and Jaden Smith turn out to be the youngest-yet victims of Sony’s hating honchos. This time, the bile comes from no less than Tom Rothman, the head of Sony subsidiary TriStar Productions. Rothman takes a swipe at the kids in an e-mail he sent to Pascal in November, after he reads an interview in T magazine that recounts the Smith family’s unorthodox opinions on everything from public education to quantum physics. “1. Read this,” Rothman writes Pascal. “2. they r home schooled: don’t let this family date your movies!!!” The e-mail makes no mention of dad Will Smith’s two-decade-long successful history with the studio, extending back to “Men in Black.” Pascal’s on far better terms with star Ryan Gosling. “Ryan absolutely loved you,” Ilene Feldman, Gosling’s talent manager, told Pascal after an October meeting. “Said it was like speed dating because he was late after hitting every wrong gate on the lot. Not [sic] it should turn to marriage. He really wants to do something with you.” Pascal was so pleased by the praise that she forwarded the e-mail to Michael De Luca, co-president of production for Sony subsidiary Columbia Pictures, along with a query into what future projects Gosling might be interested in. “It’s ‘Ghostbusters’ according to Ilene,” De Luca replies. Other recently revealed dirt includes revelations that Sony execs were extremely unhappy with the script for the $300 million-plus 007 flick “Spectre,” the much-sweated-over pages of which were leaked in their entirety. “THERE NEEDS TO BE SOME KIND OF A TWIST RATHER THAN A SERIES OF WATERY CHASES WTIH GUNS,” one exec yelled in capital letters in August about the flick’s ending, according to Defamer .gawker.com. Another stunning revelation: Sony’s $600,000 top p.r. exec was fired after The Hollywood Reporter failed to invite Pascal to participate in a round- ­table interview with other top Hollywood execs, according to Bloomberg news. “Fire your PR guy immediately,” advised Pascal’s husband, ex-New York Times reporter Bernard Weinraub. The exec, Charles Sipkins, was out of a job six days later, Bloomberg reported. The monthlong e-mail barrage is the handiwork of a band of hackers calling itself the “Guardians of Peace.” The group is believed to be affiliated with the government of North Korea, which has loudly decried Sony’s planned Christmas release of the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy “The Interview.” The two actors portray journalists hired by the CIA to assassinate North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un. On Saturday, the hackers released a seventh batch of files purloined from Sony’s computers — along with a promise of more to come, plus an unspecified “Christmas gift.” The gift will “put sony Pictures into the worst state,” The Hollywood Reporter reported. ||||| Lea Seydoux (l) and Monica Bellucci will join the cast of Spectre alongside Daniel Craig. An early version of the script for the new James Bond film has been stolen by hackers. The producers of Spectre have confirmed that the screenplay was taken as part of a cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment in November. In a statement on the film's official website, Eon Productions said they were concerned the script may be published online. Spectre is due to be released in November 2015. The statement said: "Eon Productions, the producers of the James Bond films, learned this morning that an early version of the screenplay for the new Bond film SPECTRE is amongst the material stolen and illegally made public by hackers who infiltrated the Sony Pictures Entertainment computer system. "Eon Productions is concerned that third parties who have received the stolen screenplay may seek to publish it or its contents." Bond will be driving an Aston Martin DB10 in the 2015 release Filming for Spectre began this month after the title and cast were unveiled in London. A new car was shown off, but few details were given about the plot for the film. A Sony spokesman denied reports that the cyber attack had forced the studio to stop production. "Productions are still moving forward," Robert Lawson told the Reuters news agency. The Bond franchise is a valuable asset for Sony Pictures, with Skyfall making $1.1 billion (£640m) worldwide. On November 24 hackers disabled the computer network at California-based Sony Pictures. They also released salary and Social Security numbers for thousands of Sony employees - including celebrities North Korea has denied being behind the attack in retaliation for a film depicting the country's leader but praised it as a "righteous deed". The FBI has confirmed that it is investigating. Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube ||||| Thursday night’s world premiere of Sony’s “The Interview” offered plenty of laughs after weeks of news from the massive cyber-hack that’s bedeviled the studio. “I can’t say I’ve been getting a lot of sleep lately,” said Sony’s Dwight Caines. There were three police cars parked outside the Ace Hotel Theatre, very few camera crews, and a very small red carpet inside where Seth Rogen, James Franco and Randall Park posed for photographers and declined media interviews. Attendees tended to avoid discussing the disclosures arising from the online attacks — which many believe may have been orchestrated by North Korea because of the movie. Indeed, Rogen assiduously avoided any mention of the hacking during the run-up to the screening. “If you’re going to ask me questions, I’m going to run away!” he said, before he did. The audience cheered as Rogen and co-director Evan Goldberg took the stage to intro the comedy with a heartfelt shout-out to studio president Amy Pascal. “Before we start we just want to thank Amy Pascal for having the balls to make this movie!” Rogen said to a near standing ovation. Before the screening started, Pascal was greeted continuously with hugs from well-wishers including Caines, producers Matt Tolmach, Tom Rothman and Donald De Line. Charles Chun, who plays General Jong in the film, said afterwards that he had no doubt about the origin of the hack. “I think we know who did this,” he said. “And if they can do this to a big corporation like Sony, what does that mean for everyone else?” However, Chun seemed to think that, if anything, the hack has raised awareness of the film. “And I think the film is going to do really well at the box office because it’s so funny.” ||||| For Sony Pictures, it may get even worse. Hackers are threatening to release more sensitive data from last month's massive cyber break-in. "We are preparing for you a Christmas gift," the group posted on a website. "The gift will be larger quantities of data. And it will be more interesting. The gift will surely give you much more pleasure and put Sony Pictures into the worst state." The file has since been deleted but CNN viewed a saved version of the post. Related: Get up-to-speed on the Sony mega-hack The hackers, who call themselves The Guardians of Peace, have already exposed a trove of sensitive data. Revelations include everything from embarrassing emails between Sony executives to information on compensation and celebrity secrets. While the identity of the hackers remains murky, several security researchers have pointed to North Korea. They point to similarities between this hack and last year's attack against South Korean banks. Why Sony Pictures and why Christmas? The hackers are believed to have been inspired by the Christmas day release of the Hollywood studio's film "The Interview." Seth Rogen and James Franco star in a comedy about a plot to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. Related: Bringing down Sony was frighteningly easy

– The Sony hackers apparently also stole an early version of the script to the latest Bond movie, titled Sceptre, according to the BBC, and the movie's producers say in a statement they're "concerned that third parties who have received the stolen screenplay may seek to publish it or its contents." Meanwhile, reports CNN, the group says it's far from done: "We are preparing for you a Christmas gift," it posted online. "The gift will be larger quantities of data. And it will be more interesting. The gift will surely give you much more pleasure and put Sony Pictures into the worst state." But wait, there is much, much more fallout: Sony exec Amy Pascal is taking another hit, blasting Leonardo DiCaprio as "despicable" for pulling out of a planned Steve Jobs biopic, reports Page Six. George Clooney, meanwhile, confessed bad reviews for The Monuments Men were eating him up. "I need some protection from all the reviews," he emailed Pascal. "It's getting worse. I haven’t slept in 30 hours. And it’s 7 am." When she responded, "we will protect you by making money… that’s the best revenge," he emailed back, "I adore you Amy. You are literally the only person running a studio that loves film. I fear I’ve let you all down. Not my intention. I apologize. I’ve just lost touch… Who knew? Sorry. I won’t do it again." In another email, Pascal discusses plans for a "female spidey movie," notes the Daily Beast. She also fielded a pitch from Kanye West's creative director, who was "looking to take the storytelling to the next level with a feature length film, shot for an immersive cinema experience." Gawker notes that in a subject line "Jaden and Willow Smith on Prana Energy, Time and Why School is Overrated," one Sony exec jokes to Pascal that "they r home schooled: don't let this family date your movies!!!" Meanwhile, Variety notes that Seth Rogen, star of The Interview (which possibly prompted the hack) gave a shout-out to Pascal. "We just wanted to thank Amy Pascal for having the balls to make this movie!" he told the crowd at the premiere.

Victims of a suicide bomb attack at a refugee camp receive treatment inside an ambulance, in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016. Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up in a northeast... (Associated Press) Victims of a suicide bomb attack at a refugee camp receive treatment inside an ambulance, in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016. Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up in a northeast Nigerian refugee camp, killing at least 56 people, health and rescue officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Jossy... (Associated Press) MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up in a northeastern Nigerian refugee camp, killing at least 58 people, health and rescue officials said Wednesday. A third woman bomber was arrested and gave officials information about other planned bombings that helped them increase security at the camp, said an official of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency. Some 78 people are being treated for wounds from the twin explosions that occurred Tuesday morning in a camp of some 50,000 people driven from their homes by the Boko Haram Islamic uprising, according to health workers in Maiduguri, the biggest city in northeastern Nigeria and birthplace of Boko Haram. They spoke on condition of anonymity as did rescue officials who said they were not authorized to speak to reporters. The emergency management official said 51 bodies were buried Wednesday in Dikwa, the scene of the carnage 85 kilometers (53 miles) northeast of Maiduguri. Health workers said five bodies were brought to the main hospital in Maiduguri. PR Nigeria, an agency that disseminates official news, Wednesday night quoted health and rescue officials putting the number of dead at 58. The officials said poor cellphone service delayed news of the attack. Boko Haram's 6-year-old Islamic insurgency has killed 20,000 people, made 2.5 million homeless and spread across Nigeria's borders. In northern Cameroon, officials said two suicide bombers believed to have come from Nigeria on Wednesday killed 10 people and injured 40 attending a wake in a border village, including children. Attacks in Chad and Niger also are blamed on Boko Haram. Since troops from Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon last year drove the Islamic extremists from towns and villages where they had announced an Islamic caliphate, the insurgents have taken to attacking soft targets such as mosques and market places where many people gather. ||||| More than 70 people have been killed in a double suicide attack at a camp for internally displaced people in northeast Nigeria, local officials told Al Jazeera. The twin suicide bombings in Borno state on Tuesday morning - reportedly committed by women - also left 78 people injured, officials added. Information about the attacks was first reported by officials on Wednesday night. The bombings occurred at a camp in the town of Dikwa, some 80km northeast of Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram. Ahmed Satomi, of the State Management Agency, told Al Jazeera officials had arrested one woman who had refused to detonate a bomb after travelling to the camp from a nearby town with two other bombers. "The one they arrested alive, she confessed. She feel that her parents would come and that's why she refused to detonate her own bomb," Satomi said. Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idris, reporting from Katsina in northern Nigeria, said attacks on civilian targets by suspected Boko Haram fighters have been on the increase recently in Nigeria. "Officials are telling us that the injured have been evacuated for medical attention. The army, which is fighting Boko Haram, has yet to comment on this recent attack. But the finger of blame is already pointing at Boko Haram," Idris said. The camp is home to 50,000 people driven from their homes by the armed group, whose six-year-old rebellion has killed 20,000 people and made 2.5 million homeless. IDP camp attacks Boko Haram, which has increasingly used suicide and bomb attacks as Nigeria's military pushes them out of territories they once controlled, has hit camps for internally displaced people before. On September 11 last year, seven people were killed when an improvised explosive device went off at the Malkohi camp, near Yola, in neighbouring Adamawa state. The camp has been used to house kidnapped women and children rescued by the military. On January 31, at least 86 people were killed in Dalori, some 12km from Maiduguri, when Boko Haram fighters attacked and burned down surrounding villages. ||||| MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Two female suicide bombers killed more than 60 people at a camp for people displaced by an insurgency of the jihadist Boko Haram group in the northeast Nigerian town of Dikwa, military and emergency officials said on Wednesday. The attack occurred 85 km (50 miles) outside the capital of Borno state, centre of the seven-year insurgency, they said. It took place on Tuesday, but a breakdown in the telephone system prevented the incident being made public earlier. The two female suicide bombers sneaked into an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp and detonated themselves in the middle of it, emergency officials and the military source said. The chairman of the State Emergency Management Agency, Satomi Ahmad, added that 78 people were injured. No group claimed responsibility but the attack bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram, which has frequently used female bombers and even children to hit targets. The militant group has recently increased the frequency and deadliness of attacks with three at the end of January. At least 65 people were killed outside Borno state capital Maiduguri on Jan. 31. Since it lost territory to a government counter-offensive last year, Boko Haram has reverted to hit-and-run attacks on villages and suicide bombings at places of worship or markets. Boko Haram has only rarely targeted camps housing people displaced by the conflict and Tuesday’s attack was the first one to kill victims in Borno state. The military said militants made one abortive attempt on a camp on the outskirts of Maiduguri on Jan. 31. Boko Haram hit a Nigerian IDP camp for the first time last September, in the Adamawa state capital of Yola. ||||| MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — When three girls showed up Monday at a camp for people who had fled the militant group Boko Haram, they were welcomed and offered a place to sleep. But early Tuesday morning, as the first light spread across the sprawling camp, two of the girls blew themselves up with bombs they had been concealing, killing 58 people and wounding 78. The victims were among the more than 50,000 people who had been forced from their homes by Boko Haram’s rampages, only to be confronted with the same horror in the very place they had sought refuge. The episode at the Dikwa camp for displaced persons follows a pattern of murderous attacks that Boko Haram has carried out since the Nigerian military began rooting the militants from strongholds across the northern part of the country. ||||| Story highlights The camp in northeastern Nigeria was set up as a refuge for people who had been victimized by Boko Haram Sources say three female bombers, disguised as displaced people, entered the camp Two set off their suicide vests; a third refused after learning family members were there Kano, Nigeria (CNN) Two female suicide bombers between the ages of 17 and 20 blew themselves up this week in a camp in northeastern Nigeria set up to shelter people from terrorism, killing at least 58 people. But others were spared when a third intended bomber realized at the last minute that her family had taken shelter there, too, and refused to detonate her explosives, relief officials said. Officials said 78 people were injured. The victims were staying in a camp for people who had been displaced by Boko Haram violence in Nigeria's Borno state. "There were three female bombers who entered the camp around 6:30 a.m. disguised as displaced persons," said Satomi Alhaji Ahmed, head of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency. "Two of them set off their explosives in the camp while the third refused after realizing her parents and siblings were in the camp." JUST WATCHED Who are Africa's most dangerous terror groups? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Who are Africa's most dangerous terror groups? 01:55 Two other would-be bombers were also in the group but failed to set off their explosives for unknown reasons, he added. They remain at large. The bombers struck at the camp Tuesday, in the town of Dikwa, Ahmed said. Dikwa is near the border with Cameroon. Read More

– Two young women welcomed into a Nigerian shelter for people fleeing Boko Haram turned on their newfound campmates on Tuesday, the New York Times reports, blowing themselves up and killing at least 58 people (Reuters puts the number at more than 60, while Al Jazeera notes it's upward of 70) and injuring 78. The suicide bombers were actually accompanied by a third female who balked at the last minute for a very personal reason. "There were three female bombers who entered the camp around 6:30am disguised as displaced persons," the head of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency said, per CNN. "Two of them set off their explosives ... while the third refused after realizing her parents and siblings were in the camp." The third suspect informed military officials that they were sent by Boko Haram, which was planning on using more females to carry out future attacks. Boko Haram has indeed been tapping more women and girls for missions, as well as other methods: The Times documents an instance in which a bomb was hid in okra, and attackers have been told to pretend they're mentally ill. Tuesday's bombing is said to be retribution for an attack on a Boko Haram market by Nigerian soldiers, who killed more than 100 Boko Haram members and liberated up to 1,000 women and girls being held as sex slaves, per the Times; those freed were brought to the Dikwa camp. Thanks to the efforts of new President Muhammadu Buhari, forces have driven Boko Haram out of many outposts, though that hasn't stopped the group from hitting well-populated soft targets. Meanwhile, in neighboring Cameroon, a pair of suicide bombers reportedly from Nigeria killed 10 and injured 40 at a wake Wednesday, per the AP. (Boko Haram isn't showing signs of slowing.)

When the Washington Redskins took their cheerleading squad to Costa Rica in 2013 for a calendar photo shoot, the first cause for concern among the cheerleaders came when Redskins officials collected their passports upon arrival at the resort, depriving them of their official identification. For the photo shoot, at the adults-only Occidental Grand Papagayo resort on Culebra Bay, some of the cheerleaders said they were required to be topless, though the photographs used for the calendar would not show nudity. Others wore nothing but body paint. Given the resort’s secluded setting, such revealing poses would not have been a concern for the women — except that the Redskins had invited spectators. A contingent of sponsors and FedExField suite holders — all men — were granted up-close access to the photo shoots. One evening, at the end of a 14-hour day that included posing and dance practices, the squad’s director told nine of the 36 cheerleaders that their work was not done. They had a special assignment for the night. Some of the male sponsors had picked them to be personal escorts at a nightclub. ||||| To “protect” themselves, the members of the squad are expected to be fully responsible for ensuring that they pose no temptation to the players by avoiding any social interaction with them in any setting. These rules seem to assume that the same NFL players that the cheerleaders energetically support all season, are dangerous predators that must be avoided at all costs off the field. The recent firing of New Orleans Saints cheerleader Bailey Davis has once again revealed the hypocritical rules of the NFL and its teams. Davis, a three-year veteran of the Saintsations cheerleading squad, posted a photo of herself on her private Instagram account wearing a lacy one-piece body outfit that was no more revealing than her cheerleading uniform. She was subsequently fired by the football team for violating its rules of conduct for cheerleaders. Cheerleaders are required to block NFL players from following them on social media — even though there is no corresponding rule forbidding the players from seeking out squad members. Cheerleaders cannot go to restaurants where players are dining. And if the squad is at a restaurant and team members walk in, it is the cheerleaders who must leave. Following her dismissal from the squad, Davis filed a discrimination complaint before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging that the league permits two sets of rules: one for the female cheerleaders and another for the male NFL players. Predictably, the next step in Davis’ claim will likely be a deflection from the NFL, which will argue that her firing was a team decision, and not reflective of the league or its policies. But the NFL cannot ignore its responsibility in promoting a system rife with double-standards. The league has a history of implementing lenient punishments that protect players, even when their behavior caused harm. Such disparate treatment can be found in a simple comparison of the punishment inflicted on Davis for wearing lace in a photo on her personal Instagram account, and the NFL’s more lenient treatment of New Orleans Saints players who kept their jobs despite significantly more egregious behaviors. For example, a wide receiver who drove while intoxicated and crashed his car was not terminated; he was suspended for three games. A tight end involved in a road rage incident in which he allegedly pointed a gun at another driver was not terminated; he was suspended for one game. A cornerback arrested for driving his Jaguar 100 miles-per-hour in a 65 mile-per-hour zone was not suspended and remained a part of the team. Other players have had suspensions — not firings — for violations of league substance abuse and performance-enhancing drugs policies. And this is the same team where players and administrative personnel were suspended for operating a bounty system in which players were paid bonuses for hard hits and deliberately injuring opposing players. The occasional peek behind the NFL’s curtain of secrecy shows that discrimination against cheerleaders is a league-wide problem. Players are paid millions, while cheerleaders’ stipends are so low teams keep that information a closely guarded secret, one that only occasionally spills out in lawsuits indicating that wages can be less than $10 per hour. For the past several years, lawsuits have been filed by NFL cheerleaders and, even today, it is not clear whether every team pays even the minimum wage to their squad members. (Like their fellow teams, the Patriots refuse to disclose how much their cheerleaders earn.) The average NFL team is valued at $2.5 billion. Yet the league continues to allow teams to pay substandard wages to its cheerleaders and to impose unacceptable and demeaning limits on their non-workplace behaviors. Davis’ legal action offers an opportunity for the NFL to recognize cheerleaders as athletes who deserve to be fairly treated, on and off the field, for their commitment to their teams and their skills. That would, of course, require the league to stand for more than Commissioner Roger Goodell’s goal of “protecting the shield,” the NFL’s emblem. It’s time for the NFL to quit hiding behind the shield and summon the courage to protect all of the athletes who contribute to the wealth and success of the league, and its teams. Follow Cognoscenti on Facebook and Twitter, and sign up for our twice-weekly newsletter.

– There's some disagreement about what went down when the Washington Redskins cheerleading squad traveled to Costa Rica in 2013. According to the five unnamed women Juliet Macur spoke to for the New York Times, the trip ended up feeling exploitative. They were at the Occidental Grand Papagayo resort for a calendar photo shoot; some of the 36 women were required to take off their tops at times to facilitate the shots, others wore body paint. And the women say they weren't able to model in privacy, but that male Redskins suite holders and sponsors were invited to watch. And they allege that one evening, nine of the women were told they had been selected to accompany the men to a club. The women describe their evening as escorts (no sex was involved) as "mandatory" and said they felt as if the team was "pimping us out." Some reportedly cried at the news they had to participate. Macur writes the trip "provides a vivid illustration of how NFL teams have used cheerleaders for far more than sideline dancers during games," particularly as the allegations of discrimination and mistreatment mount. But the women's account is contradicted by both the squad's director and choreographer, Stephanie Jojokian, and two women who were then squad captains and described the night at the club as unforced and "just a night of relaxation." Jojokian tells the Times she "would never put a woman in a situation like that. I actually mentor these women to be strong and to speak up, and it kills me to hear that." Read the full story here.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (2nd L) and his son Kim Jong-un (L) visit the newly-built Soy Sauce Shop at the Ryongsong Foodstuff Factory in North Korea, in this undated picture released by North Korea's official KCNA news agency on November 24, 2010. SEOUL | SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and his son and successor Jong-un visited the artillery base from where shells were fired at a South Korean island just hours before the attack, South Korean media reported on Thursday. North Korea's attack on Yeonpyeong Island that killed two South Korean marines and two civilians on Tuesday was probably ordered by Kim Jong-il himself, the Joongang Daily quoted a well-informed government source as saying. Seoul government officials contacted by Reuters could not comment on the reports. The United States says it believes North Korea's actions were an isolated act tied to leadership changes in Pyongyang, and many experts say the North carried out the shelling to burnish the image of the inexperienced and little-known younger Kim. The ailing leader is desperate to give a lift to his youngest son, named as heir apparent to the family dynasty in September, but who has little clear support in the military. South Korean media reported the father and son had met General Kim Kyok-sik, the commander of the frontline fourth corps in charge of a Navy base in South Hwanghae province, just before the North shelled the island. A member of the National Assembly's Defense Committee said military intelligence obtained the information and was trying to figure out whether the visit was directly related to the attack, the Chosun Ilbo reported. Just before the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, the South Korean military "had confidential information that Kim Jong-il met Kim Yong-chol, the director of the general reconnaissance bureau at the People's Armed Forces, so now it's focusing on the possibility of Kim Jong-il and his son approving the shelling of Yeonpyeong while meeting with Kim Kyok-sik," he said. JoongAng Daily quoted a source as saying that Kim visited the coastal artillery base in Gaemori from where the shells were fired with his son a day before the attack. "This is circumstantial evidence that the attack was meticulously planned (by North Korea) beforehand," said the source. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency issued a report on Monday saying Kim Jong-il had made a trip to a fish farm in Yongyon, South Hwanghae province, and that he was accompanied by top military brass, including Jong-un. There was no mention of any visit to military sites. Yongyon is just a few kilometers from the North Korean coastal military base where the artillery was fired from, reports said. North Korea has entered a potentially long and unpredictable period of leadership transition, with the elevation of Kim's youngest son to the rank of general in a clear signal he is the chosen successor. The media has begun celebrating Kim Jong-un as "the young general" -- even though his military experience appears to be zero. Analysts have been warning since September that North Korea would likely carry out an act of brinkmanship to boost the younger Kim's standing, to mirror the iron rule of his father. (Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Andrew Marshall) ||||| South Korea's president vowed Thursday to boost security around islands near the site of a North Korean artillery attack while the North warned of more retaliation if the South carries out any "reckless military provocations." A South Korean resident walks by destroyed houses on Yeonpyeong island, South Korea, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2010. South Korean troops remained on high alert, and the country's Cabinet held a special meeting... (Associated Press) South Korean President Lee Myung-bak takes a moment of silence for South Korean marines and civilians killed in a North Korean bombardment during an emergency meeting of top security officials and economy... (Associated Press) South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, second from right, and ministers take a moment of silence for South Korean marines and civilians killed in a North Korean bombardment during an emergency meeting... (Associated Press) South Korean marines take a moment of silence for fellow soldiers killed in Tuesday's North Korean bombardment on Yeonpyeong island during a memorial service at a military hospital in Seongnam, South... (Associated Press) A South Korean reporter walks by destroyed houses following Tuesday's artillery barrage by North Korea on Yeonpyeong island, South Korea, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2010. (AP Photo/Yonhap, Park Ji-ho) KOREA... (Associated Press) South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, center, speaks during an emergency meeting of top security officials and economy ministers to discuss measures for North Korea's artillery attack on the South's Yeonpyeong... (Associated Press) South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, second from left, speaks during an emergency meeting of top security officials and economy ministers to discuss measures for North Korea's artillery attack on the... (Associated Press) Kim Oh-bock, right, mother of Seo Jeong-woo, a Marine who was killed on South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island following Tuesday's attack by North Korea, weeps during a memorial service at at a military hospital... (Associated Press) A South Korean reporter walks by destroyed houses following Tuesday's artillery barrage by North Korea on Yeonpyeong island, South Korea, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2010. (AP Photo/Yonhap, Park Ji-ho) KOREA... (Associated Press) Kim Oh-bock, mother of Seo Jeong-woo, a Marine who was killed on South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island after it was shelled by North Korea, weeps during a memorial service at a military hospital in Seongnam,... (Associated Press) Seoul and Washington also increased pressure on China to use its influence on ally North Korea to ease soaring tensions that erupted after an exchange of fire Tuesday that left four South Koreans dead _ including two civilians. China urged both sides to show restraint. The North's bombardment of a tiny South Korean island along a disputed maritime frontier has alarmed world leaders including President Barack Obama, who reaffirmed plans for joint maneuvers with Seoul in the Yellow Sea starting Sunday. "We should not let our guard down in preparation for another possible North Korean provocation," South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said during an emergency meeting on security and economic repercussions from the attack, according to Yonhap news agency. The U.S.-South Korean drills involving aircraft carrier USS George Washington, although previously scheduled, are sure to infuriate North Korea. The North made no specific mention of those exercises in its statement but warned that its military would "launch second and third strong physical retaliations without hesitation if South Korean warmongers carry out reckless military provocations." The North's statement said Washington was to blame for South Korean artillery exercises earlier in the week near disputed waters which prompted the North to respond with its artillery barrage on Yeongpyeong island Tuesday. Washington "should thoroughly control South Korea," it said. The warning was issued by North Korea's military's mission at the truce village of Panmunjom and was carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency. The Obama administration urged China to rein in its ally North Korea, with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, saying, "We really think it's important for the international community to lead, but in particular China." Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao called on all sides to show "maximum restraint" over recent tensions on the Korean Peninsula and says his country opposes military provocations of all forms. Wen also urged the international community to work to ease tensions. He repeated Chinese calls for renewed six-nation talks aimed at persuading North Korea to dismantle its nuclear programs. Wen said those talks, involving the two Koreas, China, Russia, Japan and the United States, are the best way to ensure stability on the peninsula and its denuclearization. Wen's remarks were made in Russia on Wednesday on a state visit and posted on the Chinese Foreign Ministry's website. South Korea said it will increase diplomatic efforts toward China to secure Beijing's help over North Korea's provocation, according to Yonhap. Repeated calls to the presidential office seeking confirmation went unanswered. Residents of Yeongpyeong who evacuated the island and began arriving at the South Korean port of Incheon on Wednesday told harrowing tales of fiery destruction and narrow escapes. Ann Ahe-ja, one of hundreds of exhausted evacuees from Yeonpyeong island arriving in the port of Incheon on a rescue ship, said the artillery barrage that killed four people _ two of them civilians _ had caught her by surprise. "Over my head, a pine tree was broken and burning," Ann told AP Television News on Wednesday. "So I thought 'Oh, this is not another exercise. It is a war.' I decided to run. And I did." About 10 homes suffered direct hits and 30 were destroyed in the midafternoon barrage, according to a local official who spoke by telephone from the island just seven miles (11 kilometers) from the North Korean shore. About 1,700 civilians live on Yeonpyeong alongside South Korean troops stationed there. "I heard the sound of artillery, and I felt that something was flying over my head," said Lim Jung-eun, 36, who fled the island with three children, including a 9-month-old strapped to her back. "Then the mountain caught on fire." Many of those evacuated from Yeonpyeong had spent the night in underground shelters and embraced tearful family members on arrival in Incheon. The shower of artillery from North Korea was the first to strike a civilian population. In addition to the two marines killed, the bodies of two men, believed in their 60s, were pulled from a destroyed construction site, the coast guard said. At least 18 people _ most of them troops _ were injured. Officials in Seoul said there could be considerable North Korean casualties. North Korea's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper published a military statement accusing South Korea of triggering the exchange, but did not mention any casualties.

– North Korea has warned it will attack the South again if it carries out any "reckless military provocations." The statement from a North Korean military delegation—which promised "second and third strong physical retaliations without hesitation"—didn't specifically mention the US-South Korea joint military exercises set to begin on Sunday, but the drills are certain to infuriate Pyongyang, the AP notes. The statement blamed the US as well as the South for the artillery attack, because at the end of the Korean War, the US drew a border in the Yellow Sea which the North refuses to recognize. South Korean media say North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and his son and successor Jong-un visited the artillery base from where the South was attacked several hours before the shells were launched, Reuters reports.

A Northern Ireland bus driver was commanded by suspected IRA militants to deliver a bomb to a police station, but instead she parked her vehicle and called police, authorities who praised the driver's bravery said Thursday. No group claimed responsibility for the failed attack in Londonderry on Wednesday night, but police and politicians blamed IRA militants, who are particularly active in the predominantly Irish Catholic city with pockets of high unemployment where the extremists are based. The episode illustrated the relative weakness of today's IRA die-hards, who continue to mount occasional bomb and gun attacks in defiance of Northern Ireland's 1998 peace accord. Leaders of the Catholic-Protestant government in Northern Ireland praised the unidentified driver for refusing to deliver the bomb as instructed after police said they recovered a viable bomb on board the bus. About 70 nearby homes were evacuated overnight. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, the former IRA commander in Londonderry who today helps lead Northern Ireland's unity government, in a tweet praised "the courage of the bus driver who last night prevented a bomb attack on the peace process in Derry." Translink, which operates Northern Ireland buses, says two masked men dropped a bag containing the bomb on the woman's bus and ordered her to drive it to the police headquarters in Londonderry. IRA members have repeatedly targeted the fortified building. The driver told the militants she would, but parked the bus at a stop and called police. The episode illustrates the limits of today's small IRA splinter groups. The dominant faction, the Provisional IRA, killed nearly 1,800 people before calling a 1997 cease-fire and renouncing violence in 2005. Breakaway factions have killed a half-dozen people, but most of their attacks fail either because bombs are badly designed or police surveillance thwarts the attack. The Provisional IRA pioneered the use of civilian drivers to deliver bombs in 1973, adopting the tactic to avoid the risk of their own members being arrested. The Provisionals ruthlessly enforced the threats by taking the driver's family hostage and threatening to kill them if the driver stopped short of the target. Sometimes the Provisionals also followed the victimized driver in a second car and warned they would detonate the bomb, killing the driver, if they tried to raise an alarm. In 1990 the Provisionals killed one driver, a Catholic chef, as he arrived at his British Army workplace in Londonderry. By contrast, recent IRA attempts to force civilians to deliver bombs all have failed, with the drivers stopping short of the target and raising an alarm. ||||| Dissident republicans have been blamed for planting a bomb on a bus in Northern Ireland. Police said a masked man ordered the viable explosive device to be transported to the main police station in Derry last night. Superintendent Stephen Cargin said it was capable of causing death or serious injury. The alert began at about 6.15pm yesterday when the masked man boarded the bus in the Ballymagroarty area. The bomb, which was concealed inside a holdall and had a two-hour timer, was placed directly behind the driver's seat. There were up to ten passengers on board at the time and they were ordered off. The driver was able to abandon the bus in a place of safety in the Northlands area and raise the alarm. She has been left extremely distressed by the ordeal. Supt Cargin said she should be praised for her bravery. He said: "To be prepared to put a bomb on a public bus, to put the lives of the driver and the passengers at risk and in the knowledge that it had to be driven through a built up area is totally mindless." The suspect was dressed in a black jacket and used a black scarf and hood to hide his identity. Supt Cargin said he claimed to have been from the IRA. "We believe this was one of the dissident groups," he said. In the past, dissidents have forced taxi drivers to transport bombs but it is understood this is the first time a public transport worker has been targeted. Ciaran Rogan from Translink, which operates the network, insisted services would not be impacted. Stormont Transport Minister Danny Kennedy condemned those responsible. He said: "Attacks on public transport impact the entire community who depend on buses and trains to get to work, school, hospital and go about their daily business." About 70 families from 40 houses were evacuated while army bomb disposal teams worked to make the device safe. The alert ended at about 3.30am and residents were allowed to return home. Strand Road PSNI station has been the target of a number of bomb bids including thwarted mortar attacks in March and October. ||||| A bus driver has been labelled a "selfless heroine" after risking her life to stop a bomb placed on her vehicle exploding outside Derry's main police station. She managed to evacuate up to 10 passengers on the service, which was bound for the city centre, on Wednesday night and then drove the bus alone with a bomb on board for almost a mile to a less built-up area. She had defied a masked man who said he was from the new IRA terror group when he boarded the bus at about 6.15pm on Wednesday. He had ordered her to drive the bus with an explosive device on board to Strand Road police station – the target of repeat bomb attacks by republican dissidents. It emerged on Thursday that instead of taking the bomb along a three-mile journey into central Derry the driver found the nearest bus stop in a less built-up area. She then got off the bus and telephoned police. Her actions were hailed on Thursday as the work of a "heroine" by local politicians, who condemned the republican terrorist group's actions. SDLP councillor John Boyle said: "This selfless heroine put the lives of her passengers and people living around ahead of herself." He added: "Up to 10 passengers were traumatised by this incident and up to 40 families had to spend several hours out of their homes on a brutally cold evening. But thanks to this courageous woman there was no loss of life or injuries." Army bomb disposal experts were called in to deal with what the Police Service of Northern Ireland later said was a "viable device". Northern Ireland's transport minister, Danny Kennedy, said: "I want to praise the bravery of the bus driver who had to deal with this frightening situation." The Ulster Unionist member added: "Attacks on public transport impact the entire community who depend on buses and trains to get to work, school, hospital and go about their daily business. The driver showed immense courage under very difficult circumstances." Sinn Féin councillor Eric McGinley said those responsible for leaving the bomb on the bus "are going against the will of the vast majority of the people in this area who have indicated that they want to move forward without this type of disruption". Security alerts involving improvised explosive devices have become almost a weekly occurence in Derry during the past few months as dissident republicans step up their armed actions in the city. So far, however, no one has been killed or badly injured in any of the attacks. The use of a potential proxy to drive a bomb to a security force base will bring back memories in Derry of the 1990 murder of Catholic contractor Patsy Gillespie. He died in an explosion that also killed five British soldiers. He had been strapped into a van packed with explosives and was forced to drive the vehicle towards an army vehicle checkpoint while his family were held at gunpoint back in their Derry home. The use of a so-called human bomb along with two other similar attacks on the same day provoked widespread condemnation throughout Ireland and beyond.

– A bus driver in Northern Ireland is winning a hero's praise for keeping cool and defying orders to drive a timed bomb to a police station, reports the Guardian and RTE. The scene unfolded last night, when either one or two men (accounts differ) boarded the bus, placed the bomb behind the driver's seat, and ordered her to drive to the police station in downtown Londonderry. The men didn't remain on the bus, however, so the driver evacuated her 10 or so passengers, then drove with the bomb alone for about a mile to a less populated area and called police. "The driver showed immense courage under very difficult circumstances," says the regional transportation chief, while a local politician praised her as a "selfless heroine." Police were able to deactivate the device before it exploded, describing it as small but viable, reports the BBC. Though no group has claimed responsibility, the AP says IRA splinter groups unhappy with the 1998 peace accord continue to wage occasional attacks. And it adds that the use of civilian drivers to deliver bombs is a tactic that dates back to the 1970s in the region. (Another recent hero: the Detroit teen who used a piece of wood to knock his friend off a live wire.)

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's political future may not be clear, but her backers have already created a new super PAC to support a potential 2016 presidential bid. A group called "Ready for Hillary" registered Friday with the Federal Election Commission. Its chairperson? Allida Black, a George Washington University professor and historian, who has been a vocal Clinton supporter for years. Four years ago, Black called for President Barack Obama to name Clinton as his vice presidential pick, and she helped launch a political action committee called WomenCount that pushed back against calls for Clinton to drop out of the 2008 Democratic presidential primary. In its first month of operation, WomenCount PAC raised more than $350,000. "She's the candidate that I have wanted for decades," Black, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, told The New Republic in 2008. "I had heard about Hillary for a good 15 years before Bill ran in '92, and I was for Bill because of Hillary." Ready for Hillary's treasurer is listed as Judy A. Beck, who is married to Black, according to Black's Twitter profile. This is the second Hillary Clinton-themed super PAC to materialize this month. Davenport, Iowa, resident Nigel Wallace formed Hillary Clinton Super PAC on January 10. He declined to comment on its creation. Update: Jan. 28, 2013, 3:55 p.m.: In an email to the Center for Public Integrity, Black described Ready for Hillary as "a small group of skilled and dedicated Hillary supporters and Obama supporters" who are ready to devote their "organizational expertise and energy to helping Hillary become president." She continued: "Our purpose is simple: we are ready to work for Hillary to be president when she is ready to run. When our website launches in a few weeks, we plan to reach out to our grassroots networks and contributors to mobilize them to support her." ||||| Fans of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have launched a super PAC on her behalf as speculation continues to swirl about her 2016 ambitions. “Ready for Hillary” on Friday filed with the Federal Election Commission, following on the heels of another group called “HILLARYCLINTONSUPERPAC.” Text Size - + reset Clinton brushes off 2016 question (PHOTOS: Who’s talking about Hillary, 2016?) Allida Black, who is chairing the Ready for Hillary PAC, told the Center for Public Integrity in a piece posted on Monday that the group is “‘a small group of skilled and dedicated Hillary supporters and Obama supporters’ who are ready to devote their ‘organizational expertise and energy to helping Hillary become president.’” “Our purpose is simple: we are ready to work for Hillary to be president when she is ready to run,” Black, a George Washington University professor and historian, as well as a longtime Clinton backer, said to the Center for Public Integrity in an email. “When our website launches in a few weeks, we plan to reach out to our grassroots networks and contributors to mobilize them to support her.” The organization’s Twitter account already sports nearly 50,000 followers. News of the filing comes amid mounting chatter concerning whether Clinton will run for president. On Sunday, she and President Barack Obama appeared together on “60 Minutes” and Clinton dodged a question about her future ambitions. “I think that, you know, look, obviously the president and I care deeply about what’s going to happen for our country in the future,” Clinton said. “And I don’t think, you know, either he or I can make predictions about what’s going to happen tomorrow or the next year.”

– Sure, she may not even run, but Hillary Clinton has already got a 2016 support network in place: Two super PACs are poised to fund a potential presidential run. The group "Ready for Hillary" filed with the Federal Election Commission on Friday, Politico reports, not long after "HillaryClintonSuperPAC" did so. "Our purpose is simple: We are ready to work for Hillary to be president when she is ready to run," says the George Washington University professor chairing the former. "When our website launches in a few weeks, we plan to reach out to our grassroots networks and contributors to mobilize them to support her," Allida Black tells the Center for Public Integrity, calling the organization "a small group of skilled and dedicated Hillary supporters and Obama supporters." HillaryClintonSuperPAC, meanwhile, was formed by Iowa resident Nigel Wallace.

In 2014, Chris Wright was on his way to church with his wife and children in Georgia when he passed a car idle on the side of the road. It was drizzling outside and a woman, carrying a gas can, was walking in the direction of a gas station. Wright said the gas station was maybe half a mile away. He dropped his family off at church and then made his way back to find the woman. "I said, 'Hey, are you OK? Do you need help?'" he said. "She said, 'I ran out of gas' and I felt I had to give her a ride." He took her to the gas station, where they filled her gas can up, and then drove her back to her car; all the while the two conversed. He said the woman shared that she was going through some hard times and having financial struggles. eacher raises $80K for bikes for elementary school's entire student body "I was being tugged on the inside again and felt the Lord said, 'Whatever you have in your pocket just give it to her. She needs that,'" Wright said. "I gave her the $40 and she cried and I didn't know if I'd ever see her again. But I felt like it was what I was led to do at that point." =Wright said he went back to church and told no one of the incident besides his wife. “ ” I didn't know if I'd ever see her again. But I felt like it was what I was led to do at that point. Three years later, in Georgia, Chris Wright found himself in the hospital with his mother, Judy Wright, suffering from complications due to Parkinson's disease. When Judy Wright was able to finally leave the hospital, Chris Wright and his family decided to get nursing aides to help at home. On Judy Wright's first day back home, Chris Wright said his parents called him, saying that they were really taken with one particular aide. The aide had come to the house despite not being scheduled to be there and had taken great care of Judy Wright, Chris Wright's father told him. "My dad called me after she leaves and said, 'Hey, I got a lady that we need to use because for whatever it is, there's something different about her that I feel better when she's in the house and your mom loves her as well,'" Chris Wright said. "And I said, 'Oh, great.' I texted her and set up a time for her and I to meet to talk about the times she can care for her and what we wanted to have done." During that first face-to-face meeting, Chris Wright did not recognize the woman in front of him. Her hair was different, he said, and he was wearing a hat. The aide's name was TunDe Hector. Then, during their talk, she relayed to him a story about a man who had helped her years ago in the rain. Chris Wright said his eyes quickly started welling with tears. "I just looked at her and I said, 'TunDe, that was me.' And we both just start crying. And she said, take your hat off. And so I took my hat off and she said, 'It was you.' And we both, we just cried and had a moment right there," Chris Wright said. Chris Wright said he watched Hector care for his mother with quality, respect and dignity. On July 9, Judy Wright died. "She was the best mom that I could have ever dreamed of. She loved unconditionally," he said. "Just a loving, gentle, yet powerful woman. That's probably a good way to explain her." “ ” We know that God orchestrated this whole thing and wove it together. The Wright family decided that instead of flowers, they'd ask family and friends to help Hector achieve a goal she had spoken often about while at their home: completing nursing school. They put up a post on YouCaring with a goal of $1,000. Within 45 minutes, Chris Wright said the goal was surpassed. And, in less than a week, family and friends had not only shared the fundraiser on social media but had also helped raise $8,000. Chris Wright and his family captured the moment on video when they presented Hector with the check. In tears, she thanked them. "Lord, have mercy! ... Y'all don't know how worried, I was so worried [about] how I'm going to pay for my school. ... I'm overwhelmed!" she said. Chris Wright said family, friends and even strangers have continued to give to the site. So far, more than $20,000 has been raised by 463 donors to help Hector's nursing-school education. "We know that God orchestrated this whole thing and wove it together. ... We just kept saying, 'There's got to be something good that will come for this.' We just kept praying. ... It's just amazing what's been done," he said. "It's a neat thing. It's helped my wife and I, it's almost like the Lord has used all this to somewhat take some of the sting out of the grief of losing my mom." ||||| http://Www.youcaring.com/inhonorofJudyWright A beautiful story from beginning to end. See TunDe's reaction. THANK YOU to all who have been part of this blessing. As requested, will leave the site open for another week. $8,000 raised so far (not all donations visible on funding page) Rom 8:28 In all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. ❤️ ||||| Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2. While we are immensely grateful for all the nursing care provided to Judy during her illness, there was one nursing aide in particular that touched our hearts. TunDe provided gentle love and kindness to Judy, sweet words of prayer when we needed them most and a connection that only Divine Intervention could orchestrate. We quickly realized that she was our guardian angel. During one of TunDe's shifts with Judy, she shared a story about an encounter with a stranger back in 2014. She told us how she had run out of gas and was walking to a gas station with $5 in her pocket. A young man circled back to help her. He picked her up, filled her gas can and gave her what he had in his wallet. Following TunDe's story, Judy's son, Chris, was stunned. He then informed TunDe and those listening, that the "young man" in her story was him. Tears were shed. God was praised because we don't believe in coincidence. We knew at that moment that God had woven every fiber of this story together. The encounter that had blessed them both 3 years ago, came full-circle when the Lord appointed TunDe to show up on our doorstep to care for Judy. In the following days we learned more about TunDe, her family and her dreams. Her mother is a local pastor, and Tunde recently gave the Easter message at church where she spoke of her encounter with the stranger. She loves the Lord and incorporates God's love into the care she gives each family she helps. In Judy's final days, nurses were amazed at how hard she fought to stay alive. Five days before she passed away, TunDe pulled Chris aside on the front porch of Judy's new home. She informed him that the Holy Spirit had revealed to her that Judy would pass away on her birthday...and that is exactly what happened. TunDe rushed to the house shortly after Judy passed; still in her birthday celebration attire. We cried, we laughed and we rejoiced in a God that is bigger than our circumstances. He was in the midst all along. Chris had entertained an angel 3 years ago and TunDe completed her mission from beginning to end. It would be an understatement to describe TunDe as amazing. She exudes joy and lives every breath to serve people as she was designed to do by our Heavenly Father. TunDe is a nursing aide struggling to cover educational costs to fulfill her dream of becoming a nurse. We would love to surprise and bless her in Judy's honor. In lieu of flowers, we are asking friends and loved ones to donate to TunDe's education so she can continue to fulfill her calling. To know her is to love her and we are all in awe of how God worked so miraculously for our paths to cross again when we needed her most.

– Chris Wright was driving to church in Georgia in 2014 when he spotted TunDe Hector walking in the rain carrying a jerrycan. She'd run out of gas with $5 in her pocket. The Good Samaritan tells ABC News he offered her a lift to a gas station and back, and "then the Lord said, 'Whatever you have in your pocket, just give it to her. She needs that.'" He gave her the $40 he had on him, noting she cried at this act of kindness, which would end up changing both of their lives. In June, Hector was working as a nurse's aide when she recounted the story to the family of the terminally ill woman she was caring for. "That was me," a stunned Chris Wright told her, per CBS News. Neither family could believe it, but they also didn't think the meeting was random. "We don't believe in coincidence," says Carmen Wright, Chris' wife. "We're a family of faith." The Wrights knew about Hector's desire to attend nursing school, and so as a thank you for taking such good care of Chris' mother, Judy Wright, in her last days—she died July 9—they decided to help Hector achieve her dream. Their crowdfunding page had collected nearly $34,000 for Hector as of Monday, far surpassing their original $1,000 goal. The Wrights posted a video of Hector's reaction when they told her: "Oh Lord have mercy. Lord, you're so good to me. … You're kidding me." (The Facebook clip has racked up 1.2 million views.) "I don't know why God chose our two families," Carmen Wright tells CBS. "But she's family. It's like she's known us forever." (A Good Samaritan who lost both legs got a precious gift.)

Anne Scott entered St. George’s School as a 10th-grader in 1977, just a few years after the prestigious prep school first admitted girls at its campus in Middletown, R.I. She was a good student, and a three-sport athlete, from the suburbs of Wilmington, Del. But a month after she arrived, a field hockey injury brought her into the orbit of the school’s longtime athletic trainer. He molested and raped her, and threatened to come after her if she told anyone. For years, terrified and ashamed, she did not. Finally, in her mid-20s, her life a shambles of diagnoses and hospitalizations, she told her parents, who took her to see Eric MacLeish, an attorney who would later gain renown representing abuse victims of Catholic priests. It was his first sexual abuse case. Advertisement MacLeish filed a lawsuit seeking $10 million, but when the school pushed back aggressively, Scott backed off — and moved abroad to rebuild her life. Get Metro Headlines in your inbox: The 10 top local news stories from metro Boston and around New England delivered daily. Sign Up Thank you for signing up! Sign up for more newsletters here This year, almost 40 years after she first arrived at St. George’s, Anne Scott felt strong enough to pursue her unfinished business with St. George’s. Reunited with MacLeish, she has sought not money but accountability from the school — an end to what she and her attorney call a pattern of coverup and denial concerning the alleged sexual assaults of multiple students at the school in the 1970s and 1980s. They have urged the school to launch an investigation, to inform alumni of its findings, and to set up a therapy fund for victims. “This was the school’s dirty secret,” said MacLeish. “They’re an educational institution with a mission statement of respect and compassion, and they acted in a way that is completely at odds with that.” St. George’s officials didn’t act immediately on Scott’s demand, but they did act. Months after MacLeish and Scott voiced their concerns — and shortly after the Globe contacted the school for comment on the case — officials sent a letter on Nov. 2 to alumni saying they had received “multiple credible reports of sexual misconduct at the school, ranging from unprofessional behaviors to outright sexual assault” by former employees. It also named Scott’s assailant. Advertisement It was a breakthrough moment. Scott’s courage has moved others to come forward this fall with their stories and their sorrows. And as the school completes its investigation, the full measure of this dark chapter may soon be known. . . . Stew Milne for The Boston Globe A view of the chapel and old school at St. George's School in Middletown, R.I. Founded in 1896, St. George’s has educated several Astors and Vanderbilts, Howard Dean, and Prescott Bush, father of President George H.W. Bush. Today, it has 365 students in Grades 9 through 12 and charges $56,000 annual tuition for boarders. It is the latest in a string of New England prep schools that have had to deal with allegations of sexual impropriety, including Deerfield Academy, Fessenden, and the Berkshire School. At St. George’s, in the fall of 1977, Anne Scott had been sent for treatment of her back to Al Gibbs, the gruff, cigarette-smoking athletic trainer, who began to assault her in his locked training room. He told her that if she reported him to anyone, he would come after her and that she “would be in trouble,” according to court papers. When she objected, “the trainer threatened to send a note to her coach and adviser, requiring that [she] return for ‘treatments.’ ” ST. GEORGE’S SCHOOL Al Gibbs, in a 1980 yearbook photo. Advertisement Her grades dropped. She called her parents begging to come home. For a while, she simply stopped talking. “I just kind of stopped caring,” Scott said. Her sister Liz, who is four years older, recalls those days vividly. “I remember we sent off a happy, healthy, vibrant girl and when she came home for Thanksgiving, she was definitely changed. She was withdrawn, anxious, obviously upset, but we didn’t have any idea why. It was very scary for the family.” She returned to school and, Scott said, the assaults resumed. According to her therapist’s affidavit in the 1989 lawsuit, she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, dissociative disorder, anorexia, bulimia, and major depression because of the assaults and was hospitalized several times between 1983 and 1987. When she filed her suit against the school, Scott faced a different kind of pain, in the tactics of St. George’s lawyers. They told the court that Scott either could be lying or could have had consensual sex with the trainer, who was 67 years old when the assaults began. She was 15. Court records revealed that four other girls had told school authorities that Gibbs had also molested them, MacLeish said. School attorneys also sought to change it from a “Jane Doe” case and reveal Scott’s real name. “Maybe people will come forward and say the plaintiff is a, with all due respect to those in the court, has a tendency to lie, and that would be relevant, also,” said defense attorney William P. Robinson III of the Providence firm Edwards & Angell. (In 2004, Robinson was appointed to the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Robinson did not return calls from the Globe.) But Judge Jacob Hagopian of the US District Court in Rhode Island denied the school’s motion to dismiss and admonished its attorneys that the teenager could not consent to such “detestable” acts. “It violates the criminal laws of the United States,” he said. In the end, it was Scott who dropped the case. School attorneys had investigated and deposed her parents and were preparing to depose neighbors. “I was 27 years old, I had struggled, and then they came down on my family like a ton of bricks,” she said. “I just wanted it all to go away.” St. George’s would not agree to the dismissal unless Scott signed a gag order that prohibited her from speaking about the case. MacLeish advised against it. “The school did everything they could to intimidate Anne,” said MacLeish, of the Cambridge law firm of Clark, Hunt, Ahern & Embry. “It worked.” . . . Stew Milne for The Boston Globe The school has 365 students in grades 9 through 12. After she dropped the suit, Scott, who had earned a PhD in folklore and anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania, moved overseas. She and MacLeish lost touch. But the case continued to haunt him. Over the years, he tried to find Scott, who was working in maternal health in the West Bank, in HIV/AIDS prevention in Senegal and Botswana, and for a nonprofit in Indonesia. Independently, MacLeish, himself an alumnus of St. George’s, contacted the school in 2012, writing current headmaster Eric Peterson about the lawsuit he had filed concerning events at the school under former headmaster Tony Zane. Around the same time, in 2012 or 2013, Peterson heard from another alumna. “She had been abused by Mr. Gibbs,” he said in an interview. “She asked for help with counseling costs and we gave it.” In 2013, Scott returned to the United States. She now runs a nonprofit in Virginia. “I’ve worked very hard to get strong,” said Scott, who is 52. “You live with it and you get better at managing it, but the damage runs deep.” At Scott’s and MacLeish’s urging, the school sent two letters to alumni, in April and August, saying it was launching an investigation into possible sexual misconduct. Scott and MacLeish told the school that the letters failed to give specifics or offer relief to victims. But the most recent letter, sent Nov. 2 and signed by Peterson and board chair Leslie Heaney, finally named Gibbs, who died at 86 in 1996. It also said there were two other perpetrators who no longer live in Rhode Island, but did not identify them. The letter apologized for what happened and for the school’s failure to respond. It also said it will establish a fund for counseling costs related to the sex abuse and will arrange victims’ support gatherings. Scott said that for her, the latest letter resolves the major issues. “I was really heartened by it and sensed a shift toward action and clear, concrete steps,” she said. But she and MacLeish question the independence of the school’s investigation, which is being conducted by attorney Will Hannum, whose law partner is St. George’s legal counsel. “It’s an inherent conflict of interests,” MacLeish said. Harvard Law professor Larry Lessig, who has known Scott since they were students at Penn, has signed on as co-counsel to MacLeish. Lessig, who was abused by the choir director as a student at the American Boychoir School in Princeton, N.J., said St. George’s needs to make therapy support “immediately available and not filtered through a lawyer.” Scott said it took Hannum more than a month to respond to her request for therapy costs, and when he did, on Dec. 9, he said that she “may be eligible” for assistance, and asked for documentation. Scott was upset. “It’s distressing on so many levels to submit to the school’s authority to make a determination on whether or not they will reimburse me . . . I’d rather pass than place the school in that position of power over me ever again.” Peterson, who arrived at the school in 2004, said he hopes the investigation will conclude by the year’s end. He told the Globe that the two unnamed perpetrators were male faculty members who had left the school by 1988, and that their victims were male. According to his letter, the school is working with law enforcement “with respect to next steps” regarding them. “The heart of the issue for me is that the school today is trying to do what’s right and trying to help alumni who need it,” he told the Globe. He declined to say how many victims have come forward since he sent out the letter. After the school’s first letter in April, Peterson told MacLeish that tens of women came forward to complain about Gibbs, a fact that Peterson confirmed to the Globe, though he says not all were “firsthand reports.” But one firsthand report came from Katie Wales, class of 1980, who went to see Gibbs after a horseback riding injury. He began to molest her and took photos of her naked in the school’s whirlpool, she says, which he then circulated among the boys at school. “The taunting by the boys was horrible,” said Wales, 53, who lives in Granby, Conn. She said she went to see Zane in 1979 about Gibbs. “He told me I was crazy, making it up to get attention, and that I had to see the school shrink,” Wales said. Zane says today that he believed Wales at the time, but thought that she came to him in confidence and “didn’t authorize me to go to Al Gibbs.” He added: “Gibbs declared his innocence until the end, so I was operating on hearsay.” But Wales said that after the experience, her school life was miserable, and she began drinking and smoking marijuana. By the end of her senior year, she was into heavier drugs, and the week before graduation, she was expelled. “This whole thing kind of screwed me up,” said Wales. When she got the school letter in April, Wales reported her experience to Hannum and has met with Peterson. She also posted a comment on Facebook. Among the alumnae who responded was Joan Reynolds. Reynolds, class of 1979, was 13 years old when she entered St. George’s as a freshman. Now 54, she is a teacher who lives in Idaho and shared her story with the Globe — a story she said she had told no one but her husband and, recently, St. George’s. Her father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were St. George’s alumni. Her father was director of development and alumni affairs at the school, her mother was director of day student affairs, and Reynolds lived on campus with them. The Reynolds family has for 35 years sponsored an annual scholarship at the school. Reynolds played three sports, and sometimes her female coach would send her to Gibbs. “She’d say, ‘Al wants to see you for hamstrings,’ or this or that,” Reynolds said. There was no girls’ locker room; Gibbs’s training room was next to the boys’ locker room. All three women who spoke to the Globe recalled the sound of Gibbs locking the door behind them. When she was first sent to Gibbs, Reynolds said, he started off by showing her how to “properly dry” her breasts. “He’d talk about what a good athlete I was, how I had to get healthy for these games. He’d tell me to strip down. There was this metal hot tub and he’d hang the towel far away. He would hug you, these suffocating hugs.” Reynolds refused to take off her underwear; Gibbs never raped her, she says, but groped her on the training table. This went on periodically for two years, she said — until she got her first boyfriend, a strong athletic type. After graduation, Reynolds moved out west, cutting all ties with the school. When, at her mother’s urging, she returned to campus for the first time in 2006 to be inducted into St. George’s sports hall of fame, she became physically ill. . . . Stew Milne for The Boston Globe The Zane dormitory at St. George’s School. Zane, now 85 and living in New Bedford, said after he heard from students about Gibbs, he fired him in 1980. “He was doing things he shouldn’t have done as a trainer,” Zane said. He did not, however, report the incidents to law enforcement, as required by law. Asked why not, he responded, “Was that true in Rhode Island in 1980?” By 1967, MacLeish said, all 50 states had mandatory reporting laws about child abuse, which means Zane was required to call child protective services and the police. “If that had occurred, then Gibbs would have been stopped, treatment would have been provided to children, and a tremendous amount of human suffering would have been avoided,” MacLeish said. In 2002, St. George’s named a new girls’ dorm after Zane. Asked about the school’s aggressive response to Scott’s lawsuit, Zane said: “Instead of bringing a lawsuit against the school, she could have called me up and said, this happened to me. Don’t blame us for trying to defend ourselves against a $10 million lawsuit.” Gibbs would have been 70 when he left St. George’s. According to an obituary in the Providence Journal, he had previously spent 30 years in the Navy. Though they appreciate that the newest letter names Gibbs, the women who have brought forward complaints are upset that it doesn’t mention Zane. They want Zane Dormitory renamed and his portrait removed from the dining hall. “At the very least, they shouldn’t be enshrining him,” said Scott. “It undermines the credibility of what they’re doing.” Peterson has met twice with Scott, who says she is grateful that he apologized to her. Asked what he apologized for, he said: “I’m sorry she was hurt. I’m sorry she came away from the school with her experience with Gibbs and thereafter feeling the school didn’t care for her, because the school does. I’m sorry she was wounded in all the ways she was.” Bella English can be reached at Isobel.English@globe.com ||||| BOSTON — The prestigious St. George’s School in Rhode Island has been investigating what it says are “multiple credible reports” of sexual abuse of students in the 1970s and ’80s by three former employees, and said in a statement that its investigation was nearing an end. The Rhode Island State Police is also looking into the accusations. Capt. Matthew Moynihan said the school had contacted the state police in early November. He said he could not say when the police inquiry might be completed. St. George’s School, a coed boarding and day school for grades 9 to 12, began its investigation nearly a year ago, according to its statement, issued Tuesday. The statement, which was not signed, said the school had kept its alumni informed about “this important and difficult process” in letters sent in April, August and November. The investigation was prompted by a lawyer for a former student, Anne Scott, who started at St. George’s School as a 10th grader in 1977, according to a detailed account Monday by The Boston Globe. She told the newspaper that she had been sexually molested and raped by Al Gibbs, the athletic trainer, who died in 1996 at age 86, but that he had warned her not to tell anyone, and for years she did not. ||||| BOSTON (AP) — Two former students of a prestigious Rhode Island boarding school spoke haltingly or cried Tuesday as they detailed being sexually abused as teenagers by an ex-athletic trainer. A third former student said he was raped with a broomstick by another pupil and described how his assault was so well-known on campus that there was a joking reference to it in the yearbook. Katie Wales Lovkay, of Granby, Conn., left, who attended St. George's School from 1977-1980, is tearful while facing reporters as Harry Groome, of Arlington, Mass., right, who attended the school from... (Associated Press) Katie Wales Lovkay, of Granby, Conn., right, who attended St. George's School from 1977-1980, hugs a former classmate, following a news conference, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016, in Boston. Former students of... (Associated Press) Katie Wales Lovkay, of Granby, Conn., who attended St. George's School from 1977-1980, is tearful while facing reporters during a news conference Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016, in Boston. Former students of the... (Associated Press) Former students at St. George's School, from the left, Harry Groome, of Arlington, Mass., who attended from 1978-1982, Katie Wales Lovkay, of Granby, Conn., and Anne Scott, of Charlottesville, Va., who... (Associated Press) Anne Scott, of Charlottesville, Va., center, and Katie Wales Lovkay, of Granby, Conn., right, who both attended St. George's School from 1977-1980, face reporters during a news conference as attorney... (Associated Press) The three former students, who spoke at a Boston news conference, are among dozens who allege they were sexually abused at St. George's School in Middletown, where tuition costs $56,000 a year. Lawyers who represent them said they have heard from 40 people who have reported being molested or raped by former school staffers and students, most during the 1970s and 1980s but some as recently as 2004. The former students called on the school to commission an independent investigation of the allegations and to set up a fund to help pay for therapy for the victims. In a prepared statement, the school apologized "for the harm done to alumni by former employees and former students of the school." "We also apologize that the way in which the school addressed these incidents has served to compound this harm," the statement said. The school said it has authorized reimbursement for counseling for victims. "We recognize the long-lasting impact of sexual abuse and are dedicated to working with survivors to aid them in healing from its painful aftermath," the school said. Last month, the school said its investigation found that 26 students were sexually abused by six school employees in the 1970s and '80s. It acknowledged it didn't report abusers to authorities at the time and apologized for not doing more. But the accusers say they are not satisfied with the school's investigation, particularly since it was conducted by the law partner of the school's attorney. Anne Scott and Katie Wales Lovkay, who attended St. George's in the late 1970s, described being led through the boys locker room into a training room by the school's now-deceased athletic trainer. Scott said she was repeatedly raped by the trainer over a two-year period, beginning when she was 15. The trainer was 67. Lovkay said the trainer repeatedly sexually abused her and took pictures of her naked, then showed them to male students. She said she was taunted mercilessly. "I became known as the slut of the school," she said. Lovkay said she reported the abuse to the school's headmaster, but he did nothing. "I was made to believe that I was nuts," she said. Both women described years of mental health issues following the assaults, including eating disorders, post-traumatic stress syndrome and alcoholism. The Associated Press typically doesn't name accusers of sexual assault but is naming the three former students who appeared at the news conference because they have come forward publicly. Rhode Island State Police began investigating in November and encourage any other victims to come forward. There is no statute of limitations on rape in Rhode Island. State Police Col. Steven O'Donnell said not reporting a sex assault is a misdemeanor, though he would not discuss the specifics of the St. George's case. Harry Groome, who said he was raped with a broomstick in front of several other students, said he wrote a letter describing the rape to the school's headmaster in 2002, but no action was taken. He said he met with the school's current headmaster in 2012. "I want this school to thrive in the future, but it cannot thrive until we flush out the bad," Groome said.

– A sex abuse scandal is swirling around a Rhode Island prep school. At least 40 former students of St. George's School in Middletown have said they were abused—raped, in some cases—by seven former staffers and four students between 1974 and 2004, lawyers say. The scandal came to light in December, when St. George's announced it was investigating reports of sex abuse in the '70s and '80s. The Rhode Island State Police is also investigating the accusations forwarded to the department by the school and the lawyers of the alleged victims, the New York Times reports. No one has yet been criminally charged. The school's investigation was prompted by a former student who says she was molested by the school's athletic trainer in 1977 and who finally pushed St. George's to investigate her accusations last year, the Boston Globe reports. When the school announced its investigation, other alleged victims started coming forward. Four of the accused staff members are still living, and at least two of them may still be working around young people. Lawyers and three of the victims said at a recent news conference that the school downplayed the abuse for years, and St. George's admitted that though it did fire some of the accused, it did not report suspects to the police or relay the accusations to their next employers. Some victims are calling for Eric Peterson, the head of the school, to step down, accusing him of not taking the reports from alumni seriously. "Eric Peterson has been covering this up since 2004, my issue as well as others," says one 1982 grad. The alleged victim who finally successfully demanded that the school investigate first tried to sue decades ago, but says she was pressured into dropping the case by the school. Click for more on the accusations.

Michelle Obama says she's eyeing another campaign in 2016 and, contrary to speculation, it doesn't involve running for public office. This image released by NBC shows host Jimmy Fallon dressed as a mom, left, dancing with first lady Michelle Obama during an appearance of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 in New York.... (Associated Press) This image released by Sony Pictures television shows first lady Michelle Obama, center, and host Dr. Mehmet Oz dancing with third graders from the Terence C. Reilly #7 School in Elizabeth, N.J. to demonstrate... (Associated Press) This image released by NBC shows host Jimmy Fallon dressed as a mom, left, dancing with first lady Michelle Obama during an appearance of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 in New York.... (Associated Press) This Feb. 22, 2013 photo released by ABC shows host Robin Roberts, left, chef Marcus Samuelson,, center, and first lady Michelle Obama during a taped segment on "Good Morning America," in New York. ... (Associated Press) During her first appearance on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" on Friday, the host asked her to consider a Michelle-Hillary ticket for president in 2016. The latter is former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who lost the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination to Mrs. Obama's husband. Speculation is rampant that Clinton is gearing up to run again in 2016. "You know, I have my eye actually on another job. And I hear that when Jay Leno retires that `The Tonight Show' position is going to open and I'm thinking about putting my hat in the ring," the first lady says, according to an excerpt of the appearance released before airtime by NBC. "I got my hat in the ring," Fallon replies. Mrs. Obama then asks for his opinion, but Fallon's answer suggests he's had a quick change of heart about challenging her. "I'm done thinking about it," he says, laughing. The first lady visited the late-night talk show to promote "Let's Move," her anti-childhood obesity campaign, which marked its third anniversary this month. She also danced with Fallon, who was dressed like a woman. Besides the appearance on "Late Night," Mrs. Obama discussed the initiative while in New York City during segments taped for broadcast Tuesday on ABC's "Good Morning America" and Thursday on "The Dr. Oz Show." Next Wednesday, Mrs. Obama embarks on a two-day promotional tour, with stops in Clinton, Miss.; Chicago; and Springfield, Mo. For the second anniversary of "Let's Move," she and Fallon turned the East Room of the White House into a playground. They did pushups, twirled hula hoops, and competed at dodge ball and tug-of-war before the first lady triumphed over the comedian in a climactic potato sack race. ___ Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap ||||| First Lady Michelle Obama went on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on Friday and showed off her dancing skills. Appearing on the show to promote her fitness initiative “Let’s Move,” the first lady demonstrated an uncanny ability to make the lamest dance moves look cool. Jimmy Fallon put on a soccer-mom wig and danced alongside Obama to “the sprinkler,” “go shopping, get groceries,” “raise the roof,” and “happy snapper,” to name a few. In her first appearance on the NBC show, Obama joked she was considering a career in television. Fallon asked the first lady what her plans were for 2016, and urged her to consider running alongside Hillary Clinton. “I've said it here first—Dream Team, Michelle and Hillary '16. What do you think?” Fallon asked, according to the Associated Press. "You know, I have my eye actually on another job," the first lady replied. "And I hear that when Jay Leno retires that The Tonight Show position is going to open and I'm thinking about putting my hat in the ring.”

– Michelle Obama appeared on Jimmy Fallon's show last night and displayed "an uncanny ability to make the lamest dance moves look cool" as the pair spoofed "mom dancing," writes Daniel Politi at Slate. The AP notes that Fallon also asked about a "dream team—Michelle and Hillary '16. What do you think?” It's not to be, she replied. "You know, I have my eye actually on another job. And I hear that when Jay Leno retires that the Tonight Show position is going to open, and I'm thinking about putting my hat in the ring." Obama is making the rounds to push her Let's Move initiative. Click for more.

Updated May 3: Revised throughout to include new details. By JULIETA CHIQUILLO and TOM STEELE Staff Writers The wife of the suspect in an Arlington slaying says a revealing selfie set off an argument that ended with a fatal shooting Monday outside a drugstore. Ricci Bradden, 22, is accused of injuring his wife and killing an armed good Samaritan. Bradden turned himself in at Department of Public Safety office in Hill County on Monday after talking with his Army supervisors and confessing to the shooting, police said. Bradden was booked Tuesday afternoon into the Arlington City Jail, where his bail is set at $500,000. Quinisha Johnson, who works at the Walgreens at 5600 New York Ave., told police she was surprised to see her husband there Monday because he was supposed to be at Fort Hood. Johnson told WFAA-TV (Channel 8) that Bradden was upset about a photo that she had posted to Facebook that showed her cleavage. She said Bradden accused her of trying to get attention from other people. “And I was trying to explain it to him, that I married you,” Johnson told WFAA. “You’re all the attention that I needed. And I could feel that he was getting mad, so I tried to walk off, and that’s when I heard him pull the gun out.” Bradden fired a handgun twice, striking his wife’s ankle the second time, according to an arrest warrant. Johnson told police she went into the Walgreens yelling for help. Bradden ran to his truck after shooting at his wife’s feet, according to the arrest warrant. He told Army supervisors that a man ran up to him and told him to drop his gun. Bradden confessed to slapping the gun out of the man’s hand and shooting him, according to the arrest warrant. Officials identified the man who was killed as Anthony “T.J.” Antell Jr., 35. He owned the CrossFit Abattoir gym in Arlington, according to his Facebook page. Antell had served as a Marine, KXAS-TV (NBC5) reported. Antell, who had a concealed-carry permit, had grabbed a gun from his car and pointed it at Bradden’s car, said Arlington police spokesman Christopher Cook. Witnesses told police the gunman shot Antell in the head. Police said Antell’s wife was with him at the drugstore when he was shot. Bradden fled the scene and was headed south on Interstate 35, according to an arrest warrant. A relative took Bradden to a Department of Public Safety office near Hillsboro to turn himself in, police said. Cook said it’s a subjective call as to what an armed person should do in this kind of situation. The scene outside an Arlington Walgreen’s, where police say a man shot his gf or wife and then shot a Good Samaritan pic.twitter.com/EVZaZrYrr3 — Julieta Chiquillo (@jmchiquillo) May 2, 2016 “Without having all the details, it would be inappropriate for me to speculate,” he said. But Cook said police do not ask citizens to try to stop armed suspects. “Any time that you can be the best witness you can be, we always recommend that,” he said. “Sometimes things turn out like this when you’re trying to stop a bad guy.” Bradden faces a murder charge. Police said he will be taken from Hill County to Tarrant County after a court appearance. A gym owner in Arlington has started a GoFundMe page to raise funds for Antell’s family. ||||| A former Marine who witnessed and tried to intervene during a domestic shooting Monday was fatally shot by an Army soldier accused in the initial altercation, Arlington police say. (Published Monday, May 2, 2016) A former Marine who witnessed and tried to intervene during a domestic shooting Monday was fatally shot by an Army soldier accused in the initial altercation, Arlington police say. The shooting happened at about 11:50 a.m. outside a Walgreens store on Green Oaks Boulevard at New York Avenue in Arlington. Police identified the suspect as 22-year-old Ricci Chambless Bradden, currently a U.S. Army soldier at Fort Hood, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. The affidavit said Bradden's wife, Quinisha Shermon Johnson, 22, is an employee at the Walgreens. Police said Bradden went to see the woman at work, got into an argument with her and shot her in the ankle. Suspect In Arlington Walgreens Shooting Arrested A man is dead and a woman is injured after a shooting at an Arlington drug store, police say. Arlington police said the man responsible for the shooting, 22-year-old Ricci Bradden, has been arrested. (Published Monday, May 2, 2016) Anthony Antell Jr., 35, saw the confrontation in the parking lot as his wife sat in their vehicle. Police said Antell, a former Marine, got his gun out of his vehicle and tried to stop Bradden from leaving, acting as a good Samaritan. "At that point the suspect exits the vehicle, shoots the good Samaritan. The good Samaritan is pronounced deceased at the scene," said Arlington Police Lt. Christopher Cook. On his way back to Fort Hood, Bradden later surrendered at a Texas Department of Public Safety office in Hillsboro. Police said Antell's wife witnessed her husband's death at the Walgreens. Friends said the couple has three children. Antell owned the CrossFit gym in Arlington where people were grieving Monday evening. Video Therapy Dogs Visit Mansfield Hospital Patients "T.J. Antell lost his journey of life very suddenly today in a very heroic act of courage for the well-being of other people," said the family's pastor, Rev. Marc Lowrance of United Methodist Church in Arlington. "He went out of this world on top." Deadly Shooting at Arlington Walgreens One person is dead after a shooting outside an Arlington drug store, police say. (Published Monday, May 2, 2016) Neighbor Courtney Hill said she heard the gunfire in the Walgreens parking lot. "I frequent all these locations here and it is pretty shocking, I'll tell you that," Hill said. Police are still investigating the circumstances, but Cook said police do not ask citizens to try and stop armed suspects. "Any time that you can be the best witness you can be, we always recommend that," Cook said. "Sometimes things turn out like this when you're trying to stop a bad guy." Police said Bradden will be brought back to Arlington to face a murder charge. His bond was set at $500,000. Aerial View of Deadly Shooting at Walgreens in Arlington Chopper 5 was over the scene shortly after a deadly shooting at Walgreens on New York Ave. in south Arlington. (Published Monday, May 2, 2016) Johnson was recovering Monday evening at Medical Center Arlington. A friend said Bradden and Johnson had only been married a short time. The affidavit said Bradden's commanding officers urged him to surrender to civilian authorities Monday. NBC 5's Holley Ford contributed to this report.

– An ex-Marine in Texas who witnessed a shooting in a Walgreens parking lot was shot dead as he tried to make a citizen's arrest, police say. The Arlington Police Department says Anthony Antell Jr., 35, went to his vehicle to get his gun after he saw Ricci Bradden shoot his wife in the ankle after an argument, the New York Daily News reports. "The good Samaritan tried to stop him, pointed his firearm at the suspect, told him to stop," Arlington police Lt. Chris Cook told reporters after the incident on Monday. "Suspect exited his vehicle and exchanged gunfire with the good Samaritan, killing unfortunately the good Samaritan." Police say Antell's wife witnessed her husband's death from their vehicle. NBC-DFW reports that the couple has three children. Bradden, a 22-year-old soldier, fled the scene but confessed the shooting to his Army supervisors, telling them he slapped the gun out of Antell's hand and shot him, reports the Dallas Morning News. Bradden, accompanied by a relative, surrendered to authorities later Monday and will be charged with murder. His wife—who ran into the Walgreens screaming for help after she was shot—is expected to survive. Cook told reporters that until all the details are known, it would be inappropriate to speculate on what an armed person should do in this kind of situation.

MOSCOW—Russian President Vladimir Putin played the statesman in his annual press conference Thursday, offering praise for President Donald Trump while offering few specific solutions to the country’s domestic problems. Mr. Putin’s year-end press conferences have become a political ritual that dominates the airwaves in Russia. This year’s was no exception: The press conference, which lasted nearly four hours, showcased the 65-year-old leader in command of the minutiae of governance. ... ||||| The subtext was that anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny has been barred from running. “It's not my job to raise competitors,” Mr Putin said, noting that Russia had seen huge growth in GDP and incomes during his 18 years in power. He said the opposition “shouldn't make noise in the streets,” hinting at the street protests Mr Navalny called in dozens of cities across Russia this spring. “That's the main problem of those who want to be a competitive opposition … they need to present real issues that people will believe in,” he said. Mr Navalny was among those live-tweeting the press conference, lampooning softball questions and Mr Putin's rose-tinted answers. After Mr Putin argued that the opposition should offer real alternatives rather than street protests, Mr Navalny tweeted the electoral platform he published on Wednesday. “This is what the non-parliamentary opposition is offering, Vladimir Vladimirovich,” he wrote. “You're just trying hard not to notice.” Mr Putin also said he will run as an independent, a logical move given that his personal popularity is higher than that of the ruling United Russia party. The party is headed by PM Dmitry Medvedev, who served as president from 2008-12 before giving up the seat to Mr Putin in a maneuver to avoid the constitutional two-term limit. Mr Putin then batted away a question about whether over-reaching security officials were the real traitors to the country. “You love to provoke with you traitors and fifth columnists,” he said before taking a more staid question about the central bank. The first hour of the press conference were focused on the economy, which is expected to return to moderate growth after flagging under low oil prices and Western sanctions. Putin will 'defend the honour' of its athletes in civil courts After an hour-and-a-half of questions about the economy and the election, Mr Putin's press secretary shifted the conversation to sport. Last week, the International Olympic Committee banned Russia from the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics for its systematic doping, saying its athletes would have to compete under a neutral flag. Mr Putin argued that Russia was the victim of double standards and said the government would bring lawsuits in civil courts to “defend the honour” of its athletes who had been banned for doping violations. ||||| Russian President Vladimir Putin took a page out of the playbook of President Donald Trump on Thursday by referring to allegations of contact between U.S. and Russian officials during the 2016 election as "all invented." Interested in Russia Investigation? Add Russia Investigation as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Russia Investigation news, video, and analysis from ABC News. Add Interest Putin spoke to reporters at a marathon press conference on Thursday -- an annual tradition for the Russian leader. ABC News' Terry Moran asked Putin about the allegations of contact between Trump and the Kremlin during last year's election, a charge currently being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller. Putin echoed Trump's favorite phrase of "fake news" in dismissing the allegations. "All of this has been invented, made up by people who are in opposition to President Trump with a view to shedding a negative light on what President Trump is doing " Putin said, translated from Russian, and going on to call it "nonsense." He accused those suggesting collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign as "not respecting the voters who voted for him." Trump has used similar language to deny any Russian meddling in the election. Putin praised the work of Trump in the first year of his presidency, citing the record-high stock market as evidence. "Objectively, we see some serious achievements accomplished over the short span he is president," Putin said. "Look at the markets, how they’ve grown. This attests to the trust investors show in him on the American economy." Putin said there "were also things that [Trump] has not yet managed to do that he would like to." Mueller's probe into the Trump campaign continues, with him interviewing White House communications director, and former campaign aide, Hope Hicks earlier this week. Donald Trump Jr. also appeared on Capitol Hill Wednesday for a nine-hour interview with the Senate Intelligence Committee about Russian interference in the 2016 election. Two Trump associates -- campaign chairman Paul Manafort and aide Richard Gates -- have been indicted on multiple charges resulting from Mueller's investigation. They have pleaded not guilty. Former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn have both pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI while in the course of the investigation. ||||| Russian President Vladimir Putin smiles during his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) (Associated Press) Russian President Vladimir Putin smiles during his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) (Associated Press) MOSCOW (AP) — Allegations of collusion between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia have been "invented" by his political foes to undermine his legitimacy, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday, adding that the reports have undermined the U.S. political system. Speaking at his annual marathon news conference, Putin reaffirmed his firm denial of meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. "All of it was invented by people who oppose President Trump to undermine his legitimacy," he said. "I'm puzzled by that. People who do it are inflicting damage to the domestic political situation, incapacitating the president and showing a lack of respect for voters who cast their ballots for him." He argued that Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, whose contacts with Trump's entourage are part of the FBI and Congressional probes into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, was simply performing his routine duties like any other ambassador. Putin also insisted Russia's state-funded RT TV and Sputnik news agency had a very minor presence in the U.S. media market, adding that the U.S. demand for them to register as foreign agents represented an attack on media freedom. Russia has responded in return, requesting the U.S. government-funded Voice of America and the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to register as foreign agents. Putin noted Trump's achievements, saying that global markets have demonstrated investors' confidence in Trump's economic course. The Russian leader said he and Trump had spoken on a first-name basis during their encounters on the sidelines of two international summits this year and voiced hope that Trump eventually would be able to fulfill his campaign promises to improve ties with Russia. Putin emphasized that the two countries need to cooperate on tackling global challenges. He said Russia, in particular, is ready for "constructive" cooperation on tackling the North Korean standoff. Putin has warned the U.S. not to use force against North Korea, adding that the consequences will be "catastrophic." He emphasized that Russia opposes Pyongyang's nuclear bid, but added the U.S. had "provoked" Pyongyang into developing its nuclear and missile programs by spiking a 2005 deal under which North Korea agreed to halt them. Putin said Moscow was encouraged to hear U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's statement about readiness for talks with Pyongyang, hailing it as a "realistic" approach. The Russian leader also voiced concern about the U.S. considering a pullout from key nuclear arms control pacts, adding that Moscow intends to stick to them. He noted that Russia is particularly worried about what he described as U.S. violations of the INF Treaty, a Cold-War era pact banning intermediate range missiles. The U.S. has accused Russia of pact violations — charges that Russia has denied. Putin said the U.S. accusations are part of a "propaganda" campaign to pave the way for the U.S. withdrawal. He emphasized that Russia will "ensure its security without entering an arms race." Russia's military spending next year will amount to 2.8 trillion rubles (about $46 billion) compared to the Pentagon's budget of about $700 billion, he noted. Putin, who declared his re-election bid last week, said he would run as a self-nominated candidate, keeping a distance from the main Kremlin-controlled party, United Russia, whose many members have been dogged by corruption accusations. He said he would welcome political competition but insisted that the opposition should offer a positive program. Answering a question from 36-year-old celebrity TV host Ksenia Sobchak, who is challenging him in the March 18 presidential election, Putin said Thursday that he doesn't fear political competition but emphasized that the government would protect the country from attempts by radicals to destabilize Russia. Answering Sobchak's question about opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who declared his intention to run for president but is being kept from entering the campaign by an embezzlement conviction that he calls politically motivated. Without mentioning his name, Putin likened Navalny to former Georgian president turned Ukrainian opposition leader, Mikhail Saakashvili, who has challenged the Ukrainian government with a series of anti-corruption protests. Putin said his government wouldn't let "people like Saakashvili" plunge Russia into instability like that now in Ukraine. Asked about accusations of state-supported doping that led to Russia being banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, Putin alleged that there is a political element behind the claims, which Russia has denied. Putin says Russian doping expert Grigory Rodchenkov — who is under witness protection after fleeing to the United States last year — is "under the control" of the FBI and "American special services." He suggested U.S. agencies may be giving Rodchenkov unspecified "substances so that he says what's required." Putin said the fact that Rodchenkov was appointed to run Moscow's anti-doping laboratory "was a mistake on the part of those who did it, and I know who did it," but didn't name names or say they should be punished. Rodchenkov's testimony played a key role in International Olympic Committee investigations that led last week to Russian athletes being required to compete under a neutral flag at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. ___ Nataliya Vasilyeva and James Ellingworth in Moscow contributed to this report.

– He may not have said the term "fake news," or the Russian equivalent of it, but Vladimir Putin made it clear in his annual year-end press conference that he's labeling assertions of Russian meddling in the US election "nonsense," per ABC News. Putin railed against the probe by special counsel Robert Mueller and government panels into Russian interference, saying the investigation was "invented by people who are in opposition to [President] Trump to characterize his work as illegitimate," the Wall Street Journal reports. He also said Washington, DC, is now caught up in "spy mania" and that those pushing for answers are "not respecting the voters who voted for [Trump]." As for the president himself, Putin praised him for how he's doing so far, noting his "significant achievements," per the Times of Israel, adding that stock market performance "speaks of investor confidence in the US economy, which means that they trust what President Trump is doing." He also says he and Trump are now on a first-name basis after they met on the sidelines of two international summits in 2017. Other Putin pontifications from the presser, per the AP and the Telegraph: On Russian meddling, Part II: Putin insisted the Russian ambassador at the center of much of the controversy, Sergey Kislyak, never did anything beyond the reach of his official duties. Putin also pooh-poohed reaction to the presence of RT TV and the Sputnik news agency on the US media landscape, saying they barely made a blip and shouldn't have to register as foreign agents. On nuclear weapons: Generally, Putin says he's concerned about the US possibly yanking itself out of key nuclear arms control pacts, including the INF Treaty. More specifically, Putin is worried the US recently "provoked" North Korea on its nuclear weapons program, and that if the US decides to use force against the North, the results could be "catastrophic." Instead, Putin would prefer "constructive" talks with the US on the matter. On competition against him in next year's election: He says he's all for that "may the best man or woman win" mentality, but he adds he only welcomes rivals who offer a positive campaign, saying Russia will fend off "radicals" looking to throw the country into chaos. "It's not my job to raise competitors," he said. On Russia being banned from 2018 Olympics in South Korea: Putin continues to deny the state-supported doping that led to the ban, even going so far as to say the Russian doping expert who provided testimony "is 'under the control' of the FBI and 'American special services.'" He also made the cryptic statement that US agencies may be giving that expert "substances so that he says what's required."

HILO, Hawaii (AP) — A University of Hawaii professor is working to get an entire curriculum at the university taught in Hawaiian to supplement the language courses taught to children across the state. About 3,000 students in preschool through high school are involved in Hawaiian language immersion programs statewide, associate professor Larry Kimura told The Hawaii Tribune-Herald (http://bit.ly/2mpuYoB). "We're trying to convince our state — the University of Hawaii is part of the state — that we need to continue Hawaiian native education at the college level as well," Kimura said. He said having college courses such as math and chemistry taught in Hawaiian would benefit students and help make Hawaiian one of two official languages of the state. Kimura discussed his plans this week at the He Olelo Ola Hilo Field Study, a two-day gathering of people from around the globe who are trying to save indigenous languages. Attendees visited Hawaiian language immersion classes on Monday and Tuesday to learn how they can incorporate the Big Island programs into their own schools. Participants came from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the mainland, including from states such as Arizona, Minnesota, New Mexico, Alaska and California. Kimura said they learned how to deal with "new concepts — in a language that has been sleeping for quite a while." "It's not only about traditional things," he said. "The hardest thing is understanding how our traditions and laws are going to transition into today." The field study participants are hoping their efforts save indigenous languages and the information passed down through the languages with each passing generation. "It really shows that when a dedicated small group of people comes together for the language with purpose, great things are possible — and great things are happening," said Victoria Wells of the Nuuchaknulth Nation, indigenous people from the Canadian Pacific Coast. ___ Information from: Hawaii Tribune-Herald, http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/ ||||| A University of Hawaii at Hilo professor says he wants a full UH college curriculum taught in Hawaiian. About 3,000 students are in preschool through high school Hawaiian language immersion programs at 21 sites statewide, said Larry Kimura, associate professor of Hawaiian language and language studies at UH-Hilo’s College of Hawaiian Language, Ka Haka ‘Ula o Ke‘elikolani. “We’re trying to convince our state — the University of Hawaii is part of the state — that we need to continue Hawaiian native education at the college level as well,” Kimura said. Already, there are families raising grandchildren of the first students who entered immersion programs in 1985. “These kids that are being born and raised now in Hawaii are the new native speakers,” Kimura said. They should be able to look forward to college courses in subjects such as math and chemistry taught in Hawaiian, he said. That will complete the process, he said, that needs to occur to make Hawaiian, one of two official languages of the state, once again fully integrated into everyday life. Kimura spoke to journalists Wednesday in Hilo during the He ‘Olelo Ola Hilo Field Study, a two-day gathering of people from around the globe who are trying to save indigenous languages — and save the information passed down, through language, generation to generation. A critical mass has been reached to help Hawaiian, once banned from being spoken in the school system, to prosper and regain widespread use, he said. All that’s needed is college-level courses to let Hawaiian speakers go from preschool to adulthood immersed in their native language. Attendees of the field study sought to learn how to make school language immersion successful. They came to Hilo on Monday and Tuesday and visited Hawaiian language immersion classes to get ideas about how they might incorporate what is being done successfully on the Big Island into their own schools. Participants came from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the mainland, including from states such as Arizona, Minnesota, New Mexico, Alaska and California. They learned how to deal with “new concepts — in a language that has been sleeping for quite a while.” For example, how are topics such as apps and web games and solar panels infused into a centuries-old language? “It’s not only about traditional things,” Kimura said. “The hardest thing is understanding how our traditions and laws are going to transition into today.” Field study participants spoke during a luncheon Wednesday and shared their appreciation for what they saw. “It really shows that when a dedicated small group of people comes together for the language with purpose, great things are possible — and great things are happening,” said Victoria Wells of the Nuuchaknulth Nation, indigenous people from the Canadian Pacific Coast. Three Nuuchaknulth member nations were represented at the field study, including the indigenous Ehattesaht Tribe, the Ahousaht Tribe and the Tla-oqui-aht, she said. They live remotely on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Another attendee, Doris Robinson, said, “the village where we come from, Ahousaht, we’re in a very isolated village. We can only get there by boat.” Seeing fewer elders alive there, who speak their native language, is worrisome, Robinson said. “We would like to see a full-immersion class, especially with the little ones. They take in so much when they’re young,” she said. She’s hopeful an elder who speaks the native language can become a daily facet in the classroom. Currently, one visits occasionally. Linguist Masahiro Yamada came to the field study two years ago and invited Hiroki Osako from Japan to attend this year. Osako is a primary school principal and wants his school to get involved in revitalization of a form of Japanese that was banned in the schools in Japan during the 1950s. The Hilo field study experience helped. “What people are doing here greatly encouraged him,” Yamada said, translating for Osako. Many of the attendees Wednesday planned to fly to Oahu for the fifth International Conference on Language Documentation and Conservation at UH-Manoa, which continues through Sunday. Email Jeff Hansel at jhansel@hawaiitribune-herald.com.

– A University of Hawaii professor is working to get an entire curriculum at the university taught in Hawaiian to supplement the language courses taught to children across the state, reports AP. About 3,000 students in preschool through high school are involved in Hawaiian language immersion programs statewide, associate professor Larry Kimura told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald. "We're trying to convince our state—the University of Hawaii is part of the state—that we need to continue Hawaiian native education at the college level as well," Kimura said. He said having college courses such as math and chemistry taught in Hawaiian would benefit students and help make Hawaiian one of two official languages of the state. Kimura discussed his plans this week at the He Olelo Ola Hilo Field Study, a two-day gathering of people from around the globe who are trying to save indigenous languages. Attendees visited Hawaiian language immersion classes on Monday and Tuesday to learn how they can incorporate the Big Island programs into their own schools. They learned how to deal with "new concepts—in a language that has been sleeping for quite a while," said Kimura. "It's not only about traditional things," he added. "The hardest thing is understanding how our traditions and laws are going to transition into today."

In Kiev, the provisional government also said that it would quit the Commonwealth of Independence States, the group of former Soviet republics, and that it was considering imposing visa requirements on Russian citizens — a step that would potentially create huge inconveniences for Ukrainians as well, in the likely event that Russia reciprocated. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Russia did not flinch. Outside Moscow, President Vladimir V. Putin opened a meeting of senior government ministers by demanding updates on the transportation and infrastructure in Crimea. Mr. Putin ordered that the government move swiftly to begin construction of a bridge that would provide an overland link for cars and trains directly between Crimea and Russia. At present, no such link exists. The takeover of the base proceeded as anger intensified in the West over Russia’s move to annex Crimea, with calls for Russia’s expulsion from important international bodies like the G-8 grouping of leading economic powers. At the same time, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. continued his effort to reassure American allies in the Baltic region, once part of the Soviet Union, that the United States would protect them from any aggression by Russia. The United Nations said Wednesday that Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general, would travel to Moscow and Kiev on Thursday and Friday for meetings with leaders, including Mr. Putin, whose moves to reclaim Crimea have set off the biggest crisis in East-West relations since the Soviet Union’s demise two decades ago. Video Mr. Ban has expressed disappointment over the Kremlin-backed weekend referendum in Crimea that created the basis for Russia’s annexation, but he has said nothing about whether he considers the Russian step to be illegal. The United States and other Western members of the Security Council proposed a resolution on Saturday declaring the referendum illegal, but Russia, acting alone, vetoed that measure. At the Ukrainian naval headquarters here, soldiers with machine guns, wearing green camouflage but still no identifying insignia, were deployed in and around the base. A large military truck just outside the base bore the black-and-white license plates of the Russian forces. Although the gates were forced open during the initial storming of the base, there were no reports of shooting or injuries. And while there was no indication that the Ukrainian government was prepared to issue a formal surrender in Crimea, capitulation by military units surrounded throughout the peninsula seemed increasingly inevitable. When asked why they did not return fire, one Ukrainian soldier leaving the base here said, “We had no order and no weapons.” Another said, “We met them empty-handed.” On Tuesday evening, after reports that a shooting at another military installation, not far from the Crimean capital of Simferopol, had left at least one Ukrainian soldier dead, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry in Kiev issued a statement saying its troops had been authorized to use force to defend themselves. At the base here in Sevastopol, however, the troops seemed to feel less of a threat of deadly harm than the resolute sense of facing eviction at gunpoint. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The local militiamen have been guarding the perimeter of the base along with professional soldiers who have no identifying badges but whose equipment and organization leave little doubt they are Russian military personnel. The militiamen entered the base around 8 a.m. and an hour or so later hoisted a Russian flag on the main flagpole. Andrew Yankov, a member of a local self-defense group, described the takeover as “a big victory.” “We stood here for weeks, and now we’re finally successful,” Mr. Yankov said. “It’s also freedom for the guys inside. We took responsibility. They’re happy because they’re tired. They want to go home.” At a far side of the base, local militia units appeared to be looting some equipment, removing a refrigerator through one gate, and throwing bags over the walls, which were then loaded onto a truck. Photo The base, like other military installations across Crimea, had been surrounded since shortly after Russian forces occupied the region at the beginning of March. Several Ukrainian officers and soldiers said that they felt abandoned by the government in Kiev, which has been virtually powerless to help them, but also had given no hint of yielding until the evacuation announcement on Wednesday evening. Governments continued to scramble for a response to the Kremlin’s audacious actions. In an interview with a San Diego television station, President Obama said the United States would continue to apply diplomatic pressure to Russia, but ruled out the use of American military forces, Reuters reported. “There is a better path,” he said, “but I think even the Ukrainians would acknowledge that for us to engage Russia militarily would not be appropriate and would not be good for Ukraine either.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story Speaking in Britain’s Parliament on Wednesday, Prime Minister David Cameron said the world’s leading industrialized countries should consider ejecting Russia from the G-8. The United States, Britain and their allies in the older G-7 body will meet in The Hague next week to debate further measures. Before the crisis in Crimea, Mr. Putin was scheduled to host a gathering of the G-8 countries in June in Sochi, where the Winter Olympics were held, but Western countries have suspended their participation. “If we turn away from this crisis and don’t act,” Mr. Cameron said, “we will pay a very high price in the longer term.” Photo On Thursday, leaders of the 28-nation European Union are scheduled to discuss a response over Crimea. Germany’s government has expressed caution, reflecting its deep intertwined economic relations with Russia. Although Chancellor Angela Merkel took a tough tone with Moscow in public last week, business executives are reluctant to jeopardize trade ties, and diplomats and officials steeped in decades of conciliation with Russia are hesitant to sever avenues for negotiation. High-level talks scheduled for April have not been canceled. Nonetheless, the German government spokesman, Steffen Seibert, speaking Wednesday after Ms. Merkel’s weekly cabinet meeting, said that Russia was “pursuing a path of international isolation, and it is a path containing great dangers for the coexistence of states in Europe.” He also gave the first official response to Mr. Putin’s appeal on Tuesday to the German people to support what he depicted as Russian reunification, just as Russia supported German reunification in 1990. German reunification brought together two German states, Mr. Seibert said, while “Russia’s intervention, by contrast, is leading to a division of Ukraine.” ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Watch key footage as pro-Russians take over Sevastopol navy base Ukraine is drawing up plans to withdraw its soldiers and their families from Crimea, Kiev's security chief says. Andriy Parubiy said they wanted to move them "quickly and efficiently" to mainland Ukraine. Earlier, pro-Russian forces seized two naval bases - including Ukraine navy's HQ - in Crimea. Kiev says its navy chief has been detained. It comes a day after Crimean leaders signed a treaty with Moscow absorbing the peninsula into Russia. A referendum in Crimea on Sunday, approving its split from Ukraine, came nearly a month after Kiev's pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was replaced by Western-leaning interim authorities. Analysis In modern times, Moscow has staged three major invasions: Hungary in November 1956 and Czechoslovakia in August 1968, when the Communist governments there began showing dangerously Western tendencies; and Afghanistan in December 1979, when the pro-Communist regime was on the point of collapse. These were huge and brutal operations, involving large numbers of tanks, and sometimes great bloodshed. The takeover of Crimea has been completely different. This was an infiltration, not an invasion. And unlike in Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan it was welcomed by a large proportion of the local population. Smoothest invasion of modern times Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has called the crisis in Crimea "the gravest threat to European security and stability since the end of the Cold War". There were charged exchanges in a session of the UN Security Council, during which US envoy Samantha Power said her Russian counterpart Vitaly Churkin "showed more imagination than Tolstoy or Chekhov". "Russia it seems has re-written its borders but it cannot rewrite the facts," said Ms Power, who was then accused by Mr Churkin of dropping "to the level of the tabloid press". 'Demilitarised zone' Mr Parubiy, in a news conference, set out more details on Kiev's position in light of the events in Crimea. He said arrangements were now being set up to introduce visas for Russian nationals travelling to Ukraine. And he said Kiev was seeking UN support to "proclaim Crimea a demilitarised zone", which would involve the withdrawal of Russian troops and the "relocation of Ukrainian troops to continental Ukraine as well as facilitate evacuation of all the civilian population who are unwilling to remain on the occupied territory". Ukraine is also leaving the Moscow-led Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) alliance, and is preparing for military exercises with the US and the UK, Mr Parubiy added. With reference to plans to withdraw troops and their families, Ukraine's interim Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya told the BBC that they would not be forced to leave if they did not want to. But he said: "The situation is unpredictable and uncontrolled sometimes, so that's why there is a danger also for the civilians". Meanwhile, a deadline of 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT) set by Ukraine's interim President Olexander Turchynov for the release of navy chief Serhiy Hayduk has passed. Shortly afterwards, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu called on the Crimean authorities to release him. A defence ministry statement said Commander Hayduk had been obliged to carry out orders in accordance with Ukrainian military regulations. Mr Turchynov earlier said that unless Serhiy Hayduk and "all the other hostages - both military and civilian ones - were released, the authorities would carry out an adequate response... of a technical and technological nature". It is not clear exactly what he means, but it could involve the electricity or water that Ukraine supplies to Crimea, the BBC's David Stern in Kiev suggests. Image copyright AP Image caption Pro-Russian crowds broke into the Ukrainian navy headquarters in Sevastopol Image copyright AFP Image caption They removed Ukrainian symbols including this gate Image copyright AP Image caption Ukrainian flags have been removed and replaced with Russian ones Image copyright AFP Image caption Many Ukrainian officers left the base, although some said they would not surrender Kiev said Mr Hayduk was detained soon after Ukraine's naval headquarters was stormed by some 200 pro-Russian activists, some armed, in Sevastopol - the port city which is also home to Russia's Black Sea fleet. They were filmed going through offices, removing Ukrainian insignia and replacing Ukraine's flag with the Russian tricolour. There were cheers from the crowd when Russia's Black Sea Fleet commander Aleksandr Vitko arrived and entered the building. A handful of Ukrainian servicemen have refused to surrender. One told the BBC's Mark Lowen that they had been told to stay overnight to protect the equipment but fully expected to be told by Kiev in the morning to withdraw. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Footage shows the head of Ukraine state TV being beaten until he signs his own resignation letter Ukraine's navy base in Novo-Ozyorne in west Crimea was also infiltrated after a tractor was used to ram the front gates. Some 50 Ukrainian servicemen were seen filing out of the base. Ukrainian Defence Minister Ihor Tenyukh and First Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Yarema reportedly tried to enter Crimea to defuse tensions but were prevented from doing so. 'Clear warning' Earlier on Wednesday, Russia's constitutional court approved the treaty absorbing Crimea into the Russian Federation. The treaty now only needs ratifying by parliament which correspondents say it is certain to do. Crisis timeline 21 Nov 2013: President Viktor Yanukovych abandons an EU deal President Viktor Yanukovych abandons an EU deal Dec: Pro-EU protesters occupy Kiev city hall and Independence Square Pro-EU protesters occupy Kiev city hall and Independence Square 20-21 Feb 2014: At least 88 people killed in Kiev clashes At least 88 people killed in Kiev clashes 22 Feb: Mr Yanukovych flees; parliament removes him and calls election Mr Yanukovych flees; parliament removes him and calls election 27-28 Feb: Pro-Russian gunmen seize key buildings in Crimea. Parliament, under siege, appoints pro-Moscow Sergei Aksyonov a PM Pro-Russian gunmen seize key buildings in Crimea. Parliament, under siege, appoints pro-Moscow Sergei Aksyonov a PM 6 Mar: Crimea's parliament votes to join Russia Crimea's parliament votes to join Russia 16 Mar: Crimea voters choose to secede in disputed referendum Crimea voters choose to secede in disputed referendum 17 Mar: Crimean parliament declares independence and formally applies to join Russia Crimean parliament declares independence and formally applies to join Russia 18 Mar: Russian and Crimean leaders sign deal in Moscow to join the region to Russia Ukraine crisis timeline In an emotionally charged speech on Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin said Crimea had "always been and remains an inseparable part of Russia". Meanwhile, shocking footage has emerged of MPs from Ukraine's far-right Svoboda party roughing up Oleksandr Panteleymonov, the acting chief executive of the state broadcaster, over his decision to broadcast the treaty ceremony in the Kremlin. The crisis in Crimea is expected to dominate a meeting of European Union leaders who meet in Brussels on Thursday. UK Prime Minister David Cameron said the EU must send "a very clear warning" to Russia, raising the possibility of further sanctions against Moscow. He also said the G8 group should discuss whether to expel Russia "if further steps are taken". Moscow said any expansion of sanctions was "unacceptable and will not remain without consequences". UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is heading to the region. He will meet Mr Putin in Moscow on Thursday and Ukraine's interim leaders in Kiev on Friday. Pro-Russian forces effectively took over Crimea - with its predominantly ethnic Russian population - after Mr Yanukovych fled Ukraine on 22 February following protests in which more than 80 people were killed. Are you in the region? Email us haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk adding 'Crimea' in the subject heading and include your contact details. ||||| UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is heading to Moscow and Kiev to meet with President Vladimir Putin and other officials Thursday and Friday in efforts to resolve the crisis over the Crimean Peninsula. U.N. United Kingdom Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, left, and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power confer during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the crisis in the Ukraine, Wednesday March... (Associated Press) U.N. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin speaks, during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the crisis in Ukraine, Wednesday March 19, 2014, at United Nations Headquarters. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) (Associated Press) U.N. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin arrives early and is seated alone as he waits for the start of a U.N. Security Council meeting on the crisis in the Ukraine, Wednesday March 19, 2014, at United... (Associated Press) U.N. Ukraine Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev speaks during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the crisis in the Ukraine, Wednesday March 19, 2014, at United Nations Headquarters. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) (Associated Press) U.N. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, far left, listens as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power, far right, is critical of Russian actions in the Ukraine as she speaks during a meeting of the... (Associated Press) The United Nations also announced the deployment of a 34-member human rights monitoring mission to Ukraine, scheduled to be in place by Friday. Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic briefed the Security Council on Wednesday on his recent visit to Ukraine. He expressed particular concern over the security of Tatars and other ethnic minorities in Crimea. Simonovic highlighted the disappearance of a Tatar activist after participating in a March 3 protest. Simonovic said the activist was found dead March 16 and his body bore marks of "mistreatment." Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin dismissed Simonovic's assessment as "one-sided." ||||| Ukraine is planning to withdraw its forces and their families from Crimea "quickly and efficiently" after more Ukrainian bases were taken over by local militias and Russian troops on Wednesday. Andriy Parubiy, head of the national security and defence council, told reporters in Kiev that it planned to relocate 25,000 service personnel and families. "We are developing a plan that would enable us not only to withdraw servicemen but also members of their families in Crimea, so that they could be quickly and efficiently moved to mainland Ukraine." His comments came before Russian forces took over a naval base in Bakhchisaray in Crimea on Wednesday night, the latest in a series of takeovers of Ukrainian bases by Russian troops and local self-defence forces using a mixture of attrition and threats, as well as the dawning realisation that Kiev has lost control over the peninsula and has no way of fighting to regain it. On Wednesday, the day after Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would absorb Crimea and a Ukrainian soldier was shot dead by a sniper at a base in Simferopol, a pro-Russian militia took control of the Ukrainian naval headquarters in Sevastopol. "We freed the prisoners inside this base. This is Russian territory. Moscow already accepted Crimea," said Vladimir Melnik, head of a local self-defence unit, shortly after the Russian flag was raised at the base. According to Melnik, several branches of the local militia co-ordinated in storming of the site during the morning. "We are peaceful people, but we are military people and if we receive orders to storm we will follow them," he said, adding that the civil defence units were under the command of the city administration. Andrey Kochebarov, a deputy leader of local Cossacks, said: "There was no fight, no resistance; the guys inside clearly understood what situation they are in. This is the naval base headquarters so if they gave up this one, they will give them all up." In the hours that followed, the Ukrainian troops, who had been inside the besieged base for three weeks, slowly trickled out with heads bowed. Morale is low and the soldiers say they are uncertain what the future holds. "We have no word from Kiev about what to do next," said Sergei, who has served as an officer in the Ukrainian army for 21 years and remained inside the building until the bitter end. "Of course, there was no resistance [when the building was stormed]. What are we meant to do, outnumbered and without weapons?" Sergei denied the local militia's claims that the men inside were liberated: "This is a lie. We remained there of our own free will." Sergei, from Sevastopol, said he and the 50 colleagues who remained inside had been able to leave the building, but would not have been able to return if they did so. "I stayed because I swore an oath to the Ukrainian army." He said the Ukrainian officers were not physically threatened, but they were kept without enough food and water, and the electricity was often shut off. Outside, his tearful wife greeted him with a hug. "It's been a very difficult time. I was very anxious about his safety," she said. "I'm delighted to have him back." Tough decisions lie ahead for all the troops in the Crimea region who have remained loyal to Ukraine. Russian and Crimean officials have issued an ultimatum to the Ukrainian troops either to join the Russian army or take the option of a safe passage out of the peninsula. Parubiy said the Ukrainian government would appeal to the UN to declare Crimea a de-militarised zone, which he hoped would lead to Russia and Ukraine both withdrawing its forces. The Ukrainian navy commander, Serhiy Haiduk, was captured during the storming of the headquarters and was believed to have been taken into Russian detention. On Wednesday evening, acting Ukrainian president Oleksandr Turchynov gave the Russians and Crimean authorities three hours to free Haiduk or face "adequate responses, including of a technical and technological nature", without clarifying further. There was no immediate time frame given for Parubiy's announcement that the troops would be relocated. Ukrainian politician Vitali Klitschko had earlier said Ukraine should not recognise Russian rule over Crimea, but did call for safe passage to be granted so Ukrainian troops on the peninsula could withdraw to "temporary bases" elsewhere in Ukraine, to prevent further bloodshed. The Ukrainian government wanted to dispatch two ministers to Crimea on Wednesday to "resolve the situation", but were informed by Crimean authorities that they would not be allowed to enter the territory. The process of annexation continued apace, with Ukrainian signs being removed from government buildings. Russia's constitutional court reviewed the treaty to join Crimea to Russia and found it legal, and the parliament is expected to ratify the decision by the end of the week. Putin announced that a rail and road bridge connecting the Crimean peninsula to Russia across the two-mile Kerch Strait would be built. Russia had already begun distributing passports in the region, said Konstantin Romodanovsky, head of Russia's federal migration service. "Some passports were issued today, and the work will only get more intensive with each new day," he told RIA Novosti. He did not clarify what would happen with those Crimea residents who did not take up Russian citizenship. Concerns have been voiced about the fate of Crimean Tatars, who make up 13% of the population and, on the whole, are loyal to Kiev. They mostly boycotted the hastily organised referendum that returned a 97% vote for union with Russia. Crimean officials have said some of them may have to return land to which they do not own proper legal rights. Many Tatars live on unregistered land; they were deported en masse during the Stalin era and often found their property in new hands when they returned a generation later. The most pressing issue remains what happens with the remaining Ukrainian servicemen in bases. Crimean authorities claimed that the officer who was shot dead on Tuesday was shot by a 17-year-old radical Ukrainian nationalist, which has been dismissed as implausible by authorities in Kiev. A spokesperson for the defence ministry was unable to clarify how many soldiers were left on bases, saying he did not know himself. But there was little fighting talk at bases around the peninsula and more of a sense of resignation that the territory has been lost. Evgeniy Cherednichenko, an officer at the logistical command centre in Sevastopol, on Wednesday made the decision to abandon his position inside the besieged base. "It's a very difficult and complicated situation. We don't have proper information. In the end, I just decided to pick up my personal stuff and leave," he said. "I have not deserted the Ukrainian army, I don't know what to do next." The base is surrounded by Russian troops; through the wire fence it is possible to see the Ukrainian troops moving around. A sniper sits calmly on top of a garage watching the men below. Speaking by telephone from inside the base, lieutenant colonel Aleksandr Lusyan said: "Kiev should have given the order to use weapons at the beginning, because then we could fight back, but they were afraid to give this command because they were afraid to spill blood. Now we are outnumbered and we cannot fight back."

– It looks like Vladimir Putin's swift annexation of Crimea will be a largely peaceful one, too. Ukraine is pulling all of its troops and their families out of the peninsula and relocating them on the mainland, reports the Guardian. The announcement by the government "effectively amounted to a surrender of Crimea, at least from a military standpoint," says the New York Times account of the move. Not that it was a huge surprise: Hours earlier, Russia-backed forces seized two more naval bases without a fight and even detained the head of Ukraine's navy in Sevastopol, reports the BBC. “We had no order and no weapons," said one Ukraine soldier in Sevastopol when asked why there was no resistance. He and others were seen gathering up personal belongings and streaming off the base. Meanwhile, UN chief Ban Ki-moon is on his way to Kiev and Moscow for meetings tomorrow and Friday with Putin and others, reports the AP. The meetings come as the international community weighs its next steps on how to penalize Russia. In a speech in Washington, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen called the situation in Crimea "the gravest threat to European security and stability since the end of the Cold War."

Yesterday was National Coming Out Day - a day devoted to supporting the members of the LGBT community who are our family, friends, and loved ones. It's an especially good time to affirm that support, given the fact that there have been several recent incidents of teenage suicide related to the broad discrimination and bigotry that gay teens face on a daily basis. Naturally, the Washington Post thought that the occasion called for an editorial from anti-gay bigot Tony Perkins, lest there be one day in which support for the LGBT community go without someone decrying them, for "balance." The good news is that Perkins does come out against the practice of literally hounding gay teens to take their own life, so if you had imagined he might fail to clear the bar that is, in fact, laying on the ground, worry no more! But really, what's terrible is that organizations dedicated to people not being hounded to suicide because of their sexual orientation seem to want to advocate against the practice, as well: However, homosexual activist groups like GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) are exploiting these tragedies to push their agenda of demanding not only tolerance of homosexual individuals, but active affirmation of homosexual conduct and their efforts to redefine the family. Yes, how dare GLSEN speak out against the people who are driving teens to suicide. Why can't they learn to sit back, passively, and accept that teenage suicide is just part of being gay? There is an abundance of evidence that homosexuals experience higher rates of mental health problems in general, including depression. However, there is no empirical evidence to link this with society's general disapproval of homosexual conduct. In fact, evidence from the Netherlands would seem to suggest the opposite, because even in that most "gay-friendly" country on earth, research has shown homosexuals to have much higher mental health problems. Within the homosexual population, such mental health problems are higher among those who "come out of the closet" at an earlier age. Yet GLSEN's approach is to encourage teens to "come out" when younger and younger--thus likely exacerbating the very problem they claim they want to solve. Right away, you're probably wondering why the very obvious causal link is going unmentioned (it's because Perkins is an anti-gay bigot, remember?): Per Media Matters: While Perkins is right, "Several studies suggest that gay men, lesbians and bisexuals appear to have higher rates of some mental disorders compared with heterosexuals," he's totally wrong that these rates have nothing to do with discrimination. In fact, the article immediately goes on to report that "[d]iscrimination may help fuel these higher rates." The article reported: "In a study that examines possible root causes of mental disorders in LGB people, [Susan] Cochran [PhD] and psychologist Vickie M. Mays, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, explored whether ongoing discrimination fuels anxiety, depression and other stress-related mental health problems among LGB people. The authors found strong evidence of a relationship between the two." Several other studies back up this finding. The truly galling thing, of course, is that Perkins is happy to share this opinion on any day of the year, but the WaPo thought that this would be a good thing to run on a day specifically given over to the support of the LGBT community. But then, 2010 has been a banner year for anti-gay sentiment at the paper. When the National Organization for Marriage took on Washington, DC's support for marriage equality, the Washington Post was happy to endorse their chosen emissary, Delano Hunter, in the Ward 5 council race against incumbent Harry Thomas. In a remarkably naive take on the matter, the Post's editors averred: Mr. Hunter is not a supporter of marriage equality, but he is not the homophobe his critics make him out to be, but rather someone who thinks there is a way to provide equality for gays while respecting the beliefs of religious groups. He said he would not seek to change the law. Oh, sure he wouldn't! NOM apparently felt very differently. You would think that the Post wouldn't be so easily snowed, but then again, this was the paper that penned a glowing profile of the organization's executive director -- a man who heads a pressure group dedicated to constructing byzantine theories about how the private lives and the desire for equality of the LGBT community is actually a form of tyranny -- "ruthlessly sane." Maybe homophobes are the only people subscribing to newspapers or something? [Would you like to follow me on Twitter? Because why not? Also, please send tips to tv@huffingtonpost.com -- learn more about our media monitoring project here.] ||||| October 12, 2010 7:59 am ET by Julie Millican Continuing the paper's tradition of giving a platform to bigots, the Washington Post felt it appropriate to open its arms to Tony Perkins's anti-gay bigotry on "National Coming Out Day." In a column on the paper's On Faith blog, Perkins complained that "homosexual activist groups like GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) are exploiting" recent incidents of gay youth committing suicide after anti-gay "bullying." Perkins suggests that these tragedies are not caused by the homophobic attacks these individuals were subjected to, but rather because "homosexuals experience higher rates of mental health problems in general, including depression," and, according to Perkins, there's no "evidence to link this with society's general disapproval of homosexual conduct." Unfortunately for Perkins, the article he links to says no such thing. Perkins links to a February 2002 American Psychologist article, which reported on the "results of several breakthrough studies are offering new insights on gay men, lesbians and bisexuals." While Perkins is right, "Several studies suggest that gay men, lesbians and bisexuals appear to have higher rates of some mental disorders compared with heterosexuals," he's totally wrong that these rates have nothing to do with discrimination. In fact, the article immediately goes on to report that "[d]iscrimination may help fuel these higher rates." The article reported: "In a study that examines possible root causes of mental disorders in LGB people, [Susan] Cochran [PhD] and psychologist Vickie M. Mays, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, explored whether ongoing discrimination fuels anxiety, depression and other stress-related mental health problems among LGB people. The authors found strong evidence of a relationship between the two." Several other studies back up this finding. Undaunted that research completely undermines his bigoted claims, Perkins goes on to blame the "homosexual movement" for the contributing to the "sense of despair" that could have led to the recent suicides that have gripped headlines nationwide: Some homosexuals may recognize intuitively that their same-sex attractions are abnormal--yet they have been told by the homosexual movement, and their allies in the media and the educational establishment, that they are "born gay" and can never change. This--and not society's disapproval--may create a sense of despair that can lead to suicide. Perkins goes on to declare that being gay is a "self-destructive behavior," like "the excessive use of alcohol, drugs, reckless driving, or heterosexual activity outside of marriage." He announced that "homosexual conduct... qualifies as a behavior that is harmful to the people who engage in it and to society at large. It is not loving to encourage someone to indulge in such activities, no matter how much sensual pleasure they may derive from them." National Coming Out Day, brought to you by the Washington Post.

– The Washington Post is taking a drubbing from critics for running an anti-gay essay yesterday—which happened to be National Coming Out Day—that featured lines like this: "There is an abundance of evidence that homosexuals experience higher rates of mental health problems in general, including depression. However, there is no empirical evidence to link this with society's general disapproval of homosexual conduct." It's from Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council. He also thinks that homosexuality "qualifies as a behavior that is harmful to the people who engage in it and to society at large." One small problem, writes Julie Millican at Media Matters. The very study that Perkins links to in order to prove his statement "completely undermines his bigoted claims." Those same researchers say that anti-gay discrimination "may help fuel" the higher rates of mental disorders. "The truly galling thing, of course," writes Jason Linkins at the Huffington Post, "is that Perkins is happy to share this opinion on any day of the year, but the WaPo thought that this would be a good thing to run on a day specifically given over to the support of the LGBT community."

After a week of silence in the wake of the Newtown shootings, the National Rifle Association finally spoke out Friday defending guns and decrying violence. NRA’s Wayne LaPierre called for schools to be protected with armed guards, just as sports stadiums, the President of the United States and government buildings. (The Washington Post) After a week of silence in the wake of the Newtown shootings, the National Rifle Association finally spoke out Friday defending guns and decrying violence. NRA’s Wayne LaPierre called for schools to be protected with armed guards, just as sports stadiums, the President of the United States and government buildings. (The Washington Post) Here's a transcript of the remarks from the NRA press conference on the Sandy Hook school shooting. Statements are being updated as the remarks unfold. More Coverage: NRA’s Wayne LaPierre: Put “armed police officers in every school.” DAVID KEENE, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION: Good morning. I’m Dave Keene, president of the National Rifle Association of America. And I’d like to welcome you here this morning for the purposes of beginning our discussion of the topic that’s been on the mind of American parents across this country, and that is, what do we do about the tragedies of the sort that struck in Newtown, Connecticut -- to avoid such events in the future? Like most Americans, we were shocked by what happened. Like all Americans, we’ve been discussing all of the various options that are available to protect our children, and at this point we would like to share our thinking with you. View Graphic Look at gun homicides and gun ownership by country And for that purpose I’d like to introduce Wayne LaPierre, our executive vice president. Thank you again for being with us. And at the end of this conference we will not be taking questions, but next week we will be available to any of you who are interested in talking about these or other issues of interest to you, so contact us, please, at that point. Thank you very much. Wayne? WAYNE LAPIERRE, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, NRA: Good morning. The National Rifle Association -- 4 million mothers, fathers, sons and daughters -- join the nation in horror, outrage, grief, and earnest prayer for the families of Newtown, Connecticut, who have suffered such an incomprehensible loss as a result of this unspeakable crime. Out of respect for the families and until the facts are known, the NRA has refrained from comment. While some have tried to exploit tragedy for political gain, we have remained respectably silent. Now, we must speak for the safety of our nation’s children. LAPIERRE: Because for all the noise and anger directed at us over the past week, no one, nobody has addressed the most important, pressing and immediate question we face: How do we protect our children right now, starting today, in a way that we know works? The only way to answer that question is to face the truth. Politicians pass laws for gun free school zones, they issue press releases bragging about them. They post signs advertising them. And, in doing so, they tell every insane killer in America that schools are the safest place to inflict maximum mayhem with minimum risk. How have our nation’s priorities gotten so far out of order. Think about it. We care about our money, so we protect our banks with armed guards. American airports, office buildings, power plants, court houses, even sports stadiums are all protected by armed security. LAPIERRE: We care about our president, so we protect him with armed Secret Service agents. Members of Congress work in offices surrounded by Capitol Police officers. Yet, when it comes to our most beloved, innocent, and vulnerable members of the American family, our children, we as a society leave them every day utterly defenseless, and the monsters and the predators of the world know it, and exploit it. That must change now. The truth is... PROTESTER: (inaudible) stop killing our children. It’s the NRA and -- the assault weapons that are killing our children, not (inaudible) teacher. We’ve got to end (inaudible). We’ve got to end the violence. We’ve got to stop the killers, stop the killing our children, stop killing our (inaudible) stop killing in our streets. The NRA is killing our children. We’ve got to stop the violence, and violence begins with the NRA. Stating the true facts that they are the perpetrators of the violence that is taking place in our schools and on our streets. LAPIERRE: The truth is, that our society is populated by an unknown number of genuine monsters. People that are so deranged, so evil, so possessed by voices and driven by demons, that no sane person can every possibly comprehend them. They walk among us every single day, and does anybody really believe that the next Adam Lanza isn’t planning his attack on a school, he’s already identified at this very moment? LAPIERRE: How many more copycats are waiting in the wings for their moment of fame from a national media machine that rewards them with wall-to-wall attention and a sense of identity that they crave, while provoking others to try to make their mark. A dozen more killers, a hundred more? How can we possibly even guess how many, given our nation’s refusal to create an active national database of the mentally ill? The fact is this: That wouldn’t even begin to address the much larger, more lethal criminal class -- killers, robbers, rapists, gang members who have spread like cancer in every community across our nation. Meanwhile, while that happens, federal gun prosecutions have decreased by 40 percent, to the lowest levels in a decade. So now, due to a declined willingness to prosecute dangerous criminals, violent crime is increasing again for the first time in 19 years. Add another hurricane, terrorist attack, or some other natural of manmade disaster, and you’ve got a recipe for a national nightmare of violence and victimization. LAPIERRE: And here’s another dirty little truth that the media try their best to conceal. There exists in this country, sadly, a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells and stows violence against its own people. Through vicious, violent video games with names like “Bullet Storm,” “Grand Theft Auto,” “Mortal Combat,” and “Splatterhouse.” And here’s one, it’s called “Kindergarten Killers.” It’s been online for 10 years. How come my research staff can find it, and all of yours couldn’t? Or didn’t want anyone to know you had found it? Add another hurricane, add another natural disaster. I mean we have blood-soaked films out there, like “American Psycho,” “Natural Born Killers.” They’re aired like propaganda loops on Splatterdays and every single day. 1,000 music videos, and you all know this, portray life as a joke and they play murder -- portray murder as a way of life. And then they all have the nerve to call it entertainment. But is that what it really is? Isn’t fantasizing about killing people as a way to get your kicks really the filthiest form of pornography? In a race to the bottom, many conglomerates compete with one another to shock, violate, and offend every standard of civilized society, by bringing an even more toxic mix of reckless behavior, and criminal cruelty right into our homes. Every minute, every day, every hour of every single year. LAPIERRE: A child growing up in America today witnesses 16,000 murders, and 200,000 acts of violence by the time he or she reaches the ripe old age of 18. And, throughout it all, too many in the national media, their corporate owners, and their stockholders act as silent enablers, if not complicit co-conspirators. Rather than face their own moral failings, the media demonize gun owners. PROTESTER: (OFF-MIKE) coming from the NRA. The NRA has blood on its hands. The NRA has blood on its hands. Shame on the NRA. Ban assault weapons now. Ban assault weapons now. NRA (inaudible) assault weapons now. (CROSSTALK) PROTESTER: Mr. LaPierre, what is reaction to this? LAPIERRE: Rather than face -- rather than face their own moral failings the media demonize lawful gun owners, amplify their cries for more laws, and fill the national media with misinformation and dishonest thinking that only delay meaningful action, and all but guarantee that the next atrocity is only a news cycle away. LAPIERRE: The media calls semi-automatic fire arms, machine guns. They claim these civilian semi-automatic fire arms are used by the military. They tell us that the .223 is one of the most powerful rifle calibers, when all of these claims are factually untrue, they don’t know what they’re talking about. Worse, they perpetuate the dangerous notion that one more gun ban or one more law imposed on peaceable, lawful people will protect us where 20,000 other laws have failed. As brave and heroic and as self-sacrificing as those teachers were in those classrooms and as prompt and professional and well- trained as those police were when they responded, they were unable -- through no fault of their own, unable to stop it. As parents we do everything we can to keep our children safe. It’s now time for us to assume responsibility for our schools. The only way -- the only way to stop a monster from killing our kids is to be personally involved and invested in a plan of absolute protection. The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Would you rather have your 911 call bring a good guy with a gun from a mile away or from a minute away? LAPIERRE: Now, I can imagine the headlines, the shocking headlines you’ll print tomorrow. “More guns,” you’ll claim, “are the NRA’s answer to everything.” Your implication will be that guns are evil and have no place in society, much less in our schools. But since when did “gun” automatically become a bad word? A gun in the hands of a Secret Service agent protecting our president isn’t a bad word. A gun in the hands of a soldier protecting the United States of America isn’t a bad word. And when you hear your glass breaking at three a.m. and you call 9/11, you won’t be able to pray hard enough for a gun in the hands of a good guy to get there fast enough to protect you. So, why is the idea of a gun good when it’s used to protect the president of our country or our police, but bad when it’s used to protect our children in our schools? They’re our kids. They’re our responsibility. And it’s not just our duty to protect them, it’s our right to protect them. LAPIERRE: You know, five years ago after the Virginia Tech tragedy, when I said we should put armed security in every school, the media called me crazy. But what if -- what if when Adam Lanza started shooting his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School last Friday, he’d been confronted by qualified armed security? Will you at least admit it’s possible that 26 little kids, that 26 innocent lives might have been spared that day? Is it so important to you (inaudible) would rather continue to risk the alternative? Is the press and the political class here in Washington D.C. so consumed by fear and hatred of the NRA and American gun owners, that you’re willing to accept the world, where real resistance to evil monsters is alone, unarmed school principal left to surrender her life, her life, to shield those children in her care. No one. No one, regardless of personal, political prejudice has the right to impose that sacrifice. Ladies and gentlemen, there’s no national one size fits all solution to protecting our children. But do know that this president zeroed out school emergency planning grants in last year’s budget and scrapped Secure Our Schools policing grants in next year’s budget. With all the foreign aid the United States does, with all the money in the federal budget, can’t we afford to put a police officer in every single school? Even if they did that, politicians have no business and no authority denying us the right, the ability, and the moral imperative to protect ourselves and our loved ones from harm. LAPIERRE: Now, the National Rifle Association knows there are millions of qualified and active retired police, active, Reserve, and retired military, security professionals, certified firefighters, security professionals, rescue personnel, an extraordinary corps of patriotic, trained, qualified citizens to join with local school officials and police in devising a protection plan for every single school. We could deploy them to protect our kids now. We can immediately make America’s schools safer, relying on the brave men and women in America’s police forces. The budgets -- and you all know this, everyone in the country knows this -- of our local police departments are strained, and the resources are severely limited, but their dedication and courage is second to none. And, they can be deployed right now. I call on Congress today, to act immediately to appropriate whatever is necessary to put armed police officers in every single school in this nation. And, to do it now to make sure that blanket safety is in place when our kids return to school in January. Before Congress reconvenes, before we engage in any lengthy debate over legislation, regulation, or anything else, as soon as our kids return to school after the holiday break, we need to have every single school in America immediately deploy a protection program proven to work and by that I mean armed security. LAPIERRE: Right now today every school in the United States should plan meetings with parents, school administrators, teachers, local authorities and draw upon every resource that’s out there and available to erect a cordon of protection around our kids right now. Every school is gonna have a different solution based on its own unique situation. Every school in America needs to immediately identify, dedicate and deploy the resources necessary to put these security forces in place, though, right now. And the National Rifle Association, as America’s preeminent trainer of law enforcement and security personnel for the past 50 years -- we have 11,000 police training instructors in the NRA -- is ready, willing and uniquely qualified to help. Our training programs are the most advanced in the world. That expertise must be brought to bear to protect our schools and our children now. We did it through (ph) our nation’s defense industries and military installations during World War II. We did it for very young kids with our Eddie Eagle child safety program that is throughout the country in schools right now, and we’ll do it again today. LAPIERRE: The NRA is gonna bring all its knowledge, all its dedication and all its resources to develop a model national schools shield emergency response program for every single school in America that wants it. From armed security to building design and access control, to information technology, to student and teacher training, this multifaceted program will be developed by the very best experts in the field. Former Congressman Asa Hutchinson will lead the effort as national director of the National Model School Shield Program, with a budget provided by the NRA of whatever scope the task requires. His experience as United States attorney, director of the Drug Enforcement Agency, and undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security will give him the knowledge and expertise to hire the most knowledgeable and credentialed experts that are available in the United States of America to get this program up and running from the first day forward. If we truly cherish our kids, more than our money, more than our celebrities, more than our sports stadiums, we must give them the greatest level of protection possible. And that security is only available with properly trained, armed good guys. Under Asa’s leadership, our team of security experts will make this program available to the world for protecting our children in school. And we’ll make the program available to every single school in America, free of charge. That’s a plan of action that can, and will make a real positive, indisputable difference in the safety of our children, and it will start right now. LAPIERRE: There’s going to be a lot of time for talk, and debate later. This is a time this is a day for decisive action. We can’t wait for the next unspeakable crime to happen before we act. We can’t lose precious time debating legislation that won’t work. We mustn’t allow politics or personal prejudice to divide us. We must act now for the sake of every child in America. I call on every parent. I call on every teacher. I call on every school administrator, every law enforcement officer in this country, to join with us and help create a national schools shield safety program to protect our children with the only positive line of defense that’s tested and proven to work. And now, to tell you more about the program, I’d like to introduce the head of the effort, former U.S. congressman, former U.S. attorney for the western district of Arkansas, and former administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the Honorable Congressman Asa Hutchinson. Asa? FORMER REP. ASA HUTCHINSON, R-ARK.: Thank you, Wayne. One of the first responsibilities I learned at Homeland Security was the importance of protecting our nation’s critical infrastructure. And there’s nothing more critical to our nation’s well being than our children’s safety. They are this country’s future and our most precious resource. HUTCHINSON: We all understand that our children should be safe in school. But it is also essential that the parents understand and have confidence in that safety. As a result of the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, that confidence across this nation has been shattered. Assurance of school safety must be restored with a sense of urgency. That is why I’m grateful that the National Rifle Association has asked me to lead a team of security experts to assist our schools, parents, and our communities. I took this assignment on one condition, that my team of experts will be independent and will be guided solely by what are the best security solutions for the safety of our children while at school. Even though we are just starting this process, I envision this initiative will have two key elements. First of all, it would be based on a model security plan, a comprehensive strategy for school security based upon the latest, most up-to-date technical information from the foremost experts in their fields. This model security plan will serve as a template, a set of best practices, principles, and guidelines that every school in America can tweak as needed and tailor to their own set of circumstances. Every school and community is different, but this model security plan will allow every school to choose among its various components to develop a school safety strategy that fits their own unique circumstance, whether its a large urban school or a small rural school such as we have in Arkansas or anything in between. Armed, trained, qualified school security personnel will be one element of that plan, but by no means, the only element. If a school decides, for whatever reason, that it doesn’t want or need armed security personnel, that, of course, is a decision to be made by the parents and the local school board at the local level. HUTCHINSON: The second point I want to make is that this will be a program that does not depend on massive funding from local authorities or the federal government. Instead, it will make use of local volunteers serving in their own communities. In my home state of Arkansas, my son was a volunteer with a local group called Watchdog Dads (ph) who volunteer their time at schools, who patrol playgrounds and provide a measure of added security. President Clinton initiated a program called Cops In School, but the federal response is not sufficient for today’s task. Whether they’re retired police, retired military, or rescue personnel, I think there are people in every community in this country who would be happy to serve if only someone asked them and gave them the training and certifications to do so. The National Rifle Association is the natural obvious choice to sponsor this program. Their gun safety, marksmanship, and hunter education programs have set the standard for well over a century. Over the past 25 years, their Eddy Eagle (ph) gun safe program has taught over 26 million kids that real guns aren’t toys, and today child gun accidents are at the lowest levels ever recorded. School safety is a complex issue with no simple, single, solution, but I believe trained, qualified, armed security is one key component among many that can provide the first line of difference as well as the last line of defense. Again, I welcome the opportunity to serve this vital, potentially life-saving effort. HUTCHINSON: Thank you, very much. LAPIERRE: (inaudible) thank you. QUESTION: Do either of you feel like any talks with... KEENE: As I indicated... QUESTION: ... will stop gun... KEENE: As I indicated at the outset, this is the beginning of a serious conversation. We won’t be taking questions today, but Andrew Arulanandam, our public affairs officer, is here. (CROSSTALK) KEENE: We will be willing to talk to anybody beginning on Monday. A text of the speech by Wayne and Asa Hutchinson’s remarks are available at nra.org. I want to thank all of you for being with us. And I look forward to talking to you and answering any of your questions next week. Thank you very much. QUESTION: One question. One question, Mr. Keene? (CROSSTALK) QUESTION: (inaudible) White House for any discussions (ph)? Mr. Keene, is the door completely closed (inaudible) White House for any discussion, sir? END ||||| The nation's largest gun-rights lobby called Friday for armed police officers to be posted in every American school to stop the next killer "waiting in the wings." Under a flag at half-staff and a Christmas tree, traffic piles up along a main road in Newtown, Conn., Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) (Associated Press) The National Rifle Association broke its silence Friday on last week's shooting rampage at a Connecticut elementary school that left 26 children and staff dead. The group's top lobbyist, Wayne LaPierre, said at a Washington news conference that "the next Adam Lanza," the man responsible for last week's mayhem, is planning an attack on another school. "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," LaPierre said. He blamed video games, movies and music videos for exposing children to a violent culture day in and day out. "In a race to the bottom, many conglomerates compete with one another to shock, violate, and offend every standard of civilized society, by bringing an even more toxic mix of reckless behavior and criminal cruelty right into our homes," LaPierre said. He refused to take any questions after speaking. Still, though security was tight, two protesters were able to interrupt LaPierre's speech, holding up signs that blamed the NRA for killing children. Both were escorted out, shouting that guns in schools are not the answer. More than a dozen security officers checked media credentials at various checkpoints and patrolled the hotel ballroom. LaPierre announced that former Rep. Asa Hutchison, R-Ark., will lead an NRA program that will develop a model security plan for schools that relies on armed volunteers. The 4.3 million-member NRA largely disappeared from public debate after the shootings in Newtown, Conn., choosing atypical silence as a strategy as the nation sought answers after the rampage. The NRA temporarily took down its Facebook page and kept quiet on Twitter. Since the slayings, President Barack Obama has demanded "real action, right now" against U.S. gun violence and called on the NRA to join the effort. Moving quickly after several congressional gun-rights supporters said they would consider new legislation to control firearms, the president said this week he wants proposals to reduce gun violence that he can take to Congress by January. Obama has already asked Congress to reinstate an assault weapons ban that expired in 2004 and pass legislation that would stop people from purchasing firearms from private sellers without a background check. Obama also has indicated he wants Congress to pursue the possibility of limiting high-capacity magazines.

– Those waiting for the NRA to give some ground on gun legislation today got just the opposite from a defiant Wayne LaPierre: "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," said the group's executive vice president, calling on Congress to immediately require armed police officers in all the nation's schools. The NRA will help by developing what LaPierre called a "national schools shield emergency response program." Expect no concessions: The group's reactivated Facebook account warns that "President Obama supports gun control measures, including reinstating an assault weapons ban," reports AP. LaPierre predicted "shocking headlines" about his recommendations. "But since when did 'gun' automatically become a bad word?" He blamed shoot-em-up video games and movies for perpetuating a culture of violence in the country, and said the mainstream media allows it to happen even while demonizing gun owners. At one point, a woman began shouting, "The NRA has blood on its hands" and "Ban assault weapons now" and got escorted from the building. The Washington Post has the full transcript of LaPierre's speech here.

Story highlights Christie and his family starred in ads for New Jersey tourism after Sandy New Jersey Democratic Rep. Pallone said he was concerned about bidding process Christie fired two aides last week over the George Washington Bridge scandal Christie's office says it worked with the Obama administration on marketing plan Just days after dismissing two top advisers for their roles in the George Washington Bridge scandal, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie faced questions over the use of Superstorm Sandy relief funds. CNN has learned that federal officials are investigating whether Christie improperly used some of that money to produce tourism ads that starred him and his family. The news couldn't come at a worse time for the embattled Republican, who is facing two probes in New Jersey of whether his staff orchestrated traffic gridlock near the country's busiest bridge to punish a Democratic mayor who refused to endorse his re-election. If the Sandy inquiry by a watchdog finds any wrongdoing, it could prove even more damaging to Christie's national ambitions. He's considered a possible presidential candidate in 2016. JUST WATCHED Rep.: Relief funds had much better use Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Rep.: Relief funds had much better use 03:04 JUST WATCHED Feds probe Chrisite's use of Sandy funds Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Feds probe Chrisite's use of Sandy funds 03:27 Photos: Political dirty tricks Photos: Political dirty tricks Political dirty tricks – Aides and appointees of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have been accused of closing lanes on the George Washington Bridge to punish Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, pictured, for not endorsing Christie for re-election. If true, this wouldn't be the first time an American politician was targeted with dirty tricks -- the practice goes back as far as running for office. Click through to see other examples of less-than-ethical campaign tactics. Hide Caption 1 of 7 Photos: Political dirty tricks Political dirty tricks – Prostitution allegations: Sen. Robert Menendez of New York denied that he paid a woman for sex, saying allegations that he did were part of a smear campaign. "Any allegations of engaging with prostitutes are manufactured by a politically motivated right-wing blog and are false," Menendez's office said in a statement. The alleged prostitute later filed a notarized statement saying she had never even met Menendez. Hide Caption 2 of 7 Photos: Political dirty tricks Political dirty tricks – Fake letters: Sen. Edmund Muskie of Maine, running for president, was expected to do well in the 1972 Democratic primary in neighboring New Hampshire. But the Manchester Union-Leader published a letter alleging that Muskie condoned the use of the term "Canuck," a derogatory term used against French-Canadians. Muskie denied the charge but still suffered at the polls in the early primary, which doomed his chances. The Washington Post later reported that the letter was a hoax and was probably written by Ken Clawson, deputy White House communications director in the Nixon administration. Hide Caption 3 of 7 Photos: Political dirty tricks Political dirty tricks – Watergate: The break-in at the Watergate office complex was just the tip of the iceberg in regards to what was going on within President Nixon's re-election campaign in 1972. The Nixon machine was hell-bent on destroying its opponents, and Donald Segretti, pictured, was one of the primary dirty tricksters. The Nixon operative printed fliers that attacked Muskie on his stance against Israel, and he placed them outside synagogues. He also pitted Democrats against one another in a tactic he called "rat-f---ing," like the letter addressed from Citizens for Muskie that accused Democratic primary rival Sen. Henry Jackson of being a homosexual and fathering an illegitimate child with a teenager. Segretti was one of several Nixon operatives who ended up in jail. Hide Caption 4 of 7 Photos: Political dirty tricks Political dirty tricks – Doctored photos?: Ross Perot was the first major third-person candidate in modern American politics to mount a serious run for the White House. His plainspokenness got attention, and his platform appealed to the far right. Most of all, he was seen as a threat to split the Republican vote with President George H.W. Bush, who was running for his second term. Despite the energy in his campaign, Perot dropped out of the race, claiming that Republican operatives were about to smear his daughter with doctored photos and try to ruin her wedding. Perot never explained what the photograph purportedly showed. Hide Caption 5 of 7 Photos: Political dirty tricks Political dirty tricks – The mystery of Alvin Greene: When Alvin Greene suddenly won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in South Carolina, experts asked, "Who?" Greene didn't campaign, had no political experience and was rarely seen in public. A CNN interview led to more questions of whether Greene, pictured, was intellectually capable of running a viable campaign. Others felt that Greene was planted by Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, who was running for re-election. Greene was cleared by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division before he lost overwhelmingly to DeMint. Hide Caption 6 of 7 Photos: Political dirty tricks Political dirty tricks – Swift-boating: Before John Kerry, far right, was elected senator, he won the Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam and later protested against the war. When he ran for president in 2004, he spoke out against the Iraq War. Although Kerry was seen as the underdog in the race, he was gaining momentum before a political ad released by the group known as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth accused Kerry of speaking ill of his fellow veterans and lying to get his medals. Kerry first tried to ignore the ads before denying the allegations, but by then the ads -- and Kerry's avoiding them -- stopped whatever momentum was building. Hide Caption 7 of 7 JUST WATCHED Bridge scandal investigator speaks out Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Bridge scandal investigator speaks out 05:49 His performance during and after the October 2012 storm just before the presidential election has been widely praised and is a fundamental illustration of his straight-shooting political brand. In the new investigation, federal auditors will examine New Jersey's use of $25 million in Sandy relief funds for a marketing campaign to promote tourism at the Jersey Shore, New Jersey Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone told CNN In an August letter , Pallone asked the Department of Housing and Urban Development inspector general to look into how Christie chose to spend the marketing money approved by the department. The inspector general's office confirmed the investigation. Pallone wrote that he was concerned about the bidding process for the firm awarded the marketing plan; the winning firm is charging the state about $2 million more than the next lowest bidder. The winning bid of $4.7 million featured Christie and his family in the advertisements while the losing $2.5 million proposal did not feature the Christies, Pallone said. On Sunday, Pallone told CNN that the inspector general conducted a preliminary review and concluded there was enough evidence to launch a full-scale investigation into the state's use of federal funds. The audit will take several months and the findings will be issued in an official report, he said. Pallone, a 27-year veteran of the House and vocal Christie critic, said this is not about politics. "This was money that could have directly been used for Sandy recovery. And, as you know, many of my constituents still haven't gotten the money that is owed them to rebuild their homes or raise their homes or to help," he said. JUST WATCHED Legal concerns for Gov. Christie Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Legal concerns for Gov. Christie 05:05 JUST WATCHED McCain: Christie can move past scandal Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH McCain: Christie can move past scandal 02:00 JUST WATCHED How Christie can rebuild his 'brand' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH How Christie can rebuild his 'brand' 04:09 Democrats slammed Christie over the summer for starring in taxpayer-funded ads as he was running for re-election in November, arguing it gave him an unfair advantage. Christie aides said at the time that the winning bid provided more value. In a statement on Monday, Christie's office said the "Stronger than the Storm" campaign was part of an "action plan" approved by the Obama administration and developed with the goal of showing that the New Jersey shore was open for business just several months after the storm. "Federal agency reviews are routine and standard operating procedure with all federally allocated resources to ensure that funds are distributed fairly. We're confident that any review will show that the ads were a key part in helping New Jersey get back on its feet after being struck by the worst storm in state history," according to the statement issued in response to questions from CNN. Last week, Christie dismissed two top aides for their apparent involvement in the closure of access lanes to the George Washington Bridge, which caused traffic nightmares for days in and around Fort Lee. New Jersey legislators are investigating whether the aides -- a senior Christie staffer and a high-level appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey -- ordered the lane closures as political retribution. The U.S. Attorney in New Jersey also is looking into the matter. Christie has said he didn't know about the alleged scheme and was "embarrassed and humiliated" by it. Democrats in New Jersey and nationally have jumped on the scandal, saying it gives the nation a chance to see what they've said for years -- that Christie is a bully who governs by fear. His supporters say his swagger and frank nature convey confidence and have helped make him a successful governor. But as bad as the bridge scandal is for Christie, any finding that he improperly spent Sandy aid would tarnish the signature achievement that has helped elevate his legacy and made him a serious potential challenger for the White House. Sandy, a historic storm, pummeled coastal areas along the mid-Atlantic, knocking out power to millions, causing massive flooding and killing more than 100 people in the United States. Parts of the New Jersey shore were devastated, but the state and local communities in many hard-hit areas rebounded surprisingly quickly and reopened their beaches last summer. Christie and President Barack Obama toured one community in May to demonstrate the effectiveness of recovery efforts helped by billions in federal money that went to New Jersey and other states affected by the storm. ||||| By his own account, Mark Sokolich rarely asks people for anything. “When you ask,” he said, “you usually have to give.” And that is how he likes to govern as the mayor of Fort Lee, N.J., a dot of a borough perched atop the Palisades in the shadow of the George Washington Bridge. One day last spring, though, he was the person asked to give. A member of Gov. Chris Christie’s re-election campaign staff came calling to see if Mr. Sokolich, a Democrat, would endorse the governor, a Republican. There was scant doubt that Mr. Christie would win. But his ambition was to win big. He joked that he wanted to eclipse the landslide record held by his mentor, former Gov. Thomas H. Kean, who prevailed by 40 points in 1985. His advisers hoped to demonstrate such broad support that Mr. Christie would become his party’s logical presidential candidate in 2016. The campaign vigorously courted Democratic officials and notified reporters of fresh conquests. Mr. Sokolich, however, was noncommittal. “I said, ‘Yes, I’ll consider it, because I’ll consider anything,’ ” he recalled. He chewed it over with local council members and two objections arose: It would be rude to State Senator Barbara Buono, the Democratic candidate for governor, and they were miffed at Mr. Christie for his decision to spend millions of dollars to hold a special election to fill New Jersey’s vacant United States Senate seat three weeks before Election Day. And so the mayor let the request go. “I never called and said no, I never called and said yes,” said Mr. Sokolich, who would not name the official who had reached out to him. “I think they interpreted my response to that conversation to be a no.” Not long afterward, on Sept. 9, a police commander at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Capt. Darcy Licorish, led a crew that set up a long, curving line of traffic cones at Fort Lee’s southern approach to the upper level of the George Washington Bridge. The cones funneled drivers normally served by three tollbooths into just one. Other drivers advanced through the two lanes, so tantalizingly close but suddenly off limits. Backups began, and soon much of Fort Lee’s three square miles became a montage of idling cars and collective exasperation. Workers were hours late to their jobs. Emergency vehicles were slowed. And the police were baffled. So was Mr. Sokolich. Who ordered this? It was the first day of school, the anniversary of Sept. 11 was two days away and there was colossal gridlock outside the world’s busiest bridge. So began four strange days in Fort Lee. They might have wound up as a negligible entry in the lengthy ledgers of commuter inconvenience. Yet the traffic jam at the bridge was actually the tangible face of a farce sloppily written inside the government corridors of Trenton, featuring spiteful characters from Mr. Christie’s staff and the patronage-laden Port Authority. The release last week of messages between conspiring government officials exposed a back story of a political ruse and cover-up. A chronicle of what happened, based on a review of documents and numerous interviews, shows how that ruse impinged on unsuspecting lives and ricocheted between two states before metamorphosing into a national scandal that has shaken Mr. Christie’s administration. There have been resignations, at least one high-profile firing, and incalculable damage to the governor’s reputation and national aspirations. In the months after the cones came down, bizarre scenes bumped into one another: the chief characters huddling on the bridge for an evening fire drill as if nothing had happened; Mr. Christie summoning his top aides and giving them an hour to own up to any involvement; one of the scheme’s presumed architects soliciting rudimentary bridge facts from a co-conspirator days before appearing before a legislative committee to deliver the cover story. Damning Emails It remains unclear who hatched the bridge idea and how many signed on, but what is known is that on Aug. 13, Bridget Anne Kelly, Mr. Christie’s deputy chief of staff for legislative and intergovernmental affairs, sent an email from her personal account to David Wildstein, who was a high school friend of Mr. Christie’s and an ally of the governor’s at the Port Authority, which runs the George Washington Bridge. The email said: “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” A minute later, Mr. Wildstein responded: “Got it.” The clipped nature of the exchange strongly suggests that the idea had some history. It made sense that they selected traffic. Northern New Jersey is infamous for its traffic jams. In addition, Mayor Sokolich had written to Bill Baroni, the Port Authority’s deputy executive director and a Christie appointee, in late 2010 seeking help in relieving congestion caused by bridge spillover. The mayor’s soft spot was well known. On Aug. 28, Mr. Wildstein, the authority’s director of interstate capital projects, exchanged emails with traffic engineers about closing lanes in Fort Lee. Then, on Sept. 6, he contacted Robert Durando, the general manager of the bridge, and his supervisor, Cedrick Fulton, the director of tunnels, bridges and terminals, and ordered two of the lanes reallocated the following Monday as a “test.” Mr. Wildstein shrugged off their warnings of likely havoc. Mr. Fulton later testified that he had told Mr. Wildstein, “This will not end well.” On Sept. 9, Captain Licorish and his crew went to work. Cars stopped moving. Mr. Wildstein showed up at 6 a.m. to watch it unfold. Contacted last week, Mr. Licorish declined to comment. Colossal Gridlock Christian Carrillo is a seasoned taxi driver in Fort Lee; he has been delayed by car crashes, construction and the bottlenecks that are quintessential New Jersey. But even by his benchmarks, the immobility in the streets on that morning stood out. “Sometimes it moves like a snail, but this time it wasn’t even doing that,” he said. “It was wall-to-wall cars going nowhere in rush-hour traffic the whole day.” His foot cramped. His neck ached. He was losing money. Shortly after 7 a.m., Mr. Sokolich got a call at home from Chief Keith M. Bendul of the Fort Lee police, alerting him to the frightful congestion. Both men tried repeatedly and fruitlessly to get answers from the Port Authority. Mr. Bendul said he called Port Authority officials with whom he had decades-long relationships and could not find out anything. He contacted only those from the New Jersey side of the bifurcated operation, no one from the New York side. Mr. Sokolich called Mr. Baroni, and told an aide that he faced an “urgent safety matter.” That message was conveyed to Mr. Wildstein, who sent it to Ms. Kelly. She asked Mr. Wildstein if Mr. Baroni had returned the mayor’s call. “Radio silence,” Mr. Wildstein responded. Traffic piled up two miles from the bridge. Drivers accustomed to half-hour commutes into New York needed two, three, four hours. School buses were late. Mr. Bendul removed police officers from administrative tasks and dispatched them to direct traffic. Ila Kasofsky, a Fort Lee real estate agent and a councilwoman, said a colleague could not get to New York to be with her husband while he underwent a stem cell transplant. A man unemployed for a year was 40 minutes late for his first day at a new job. The impact wound deeper into the state. Paul Saxton, the interim superintendent of schools in Fort Lee, had arisen at 5:30 for the lengthy drive from Waretown to his office two blocks from the bridge. The last mile and a half took 45 minutes. Meanwhile, the police were hunting for a missing 4-year-old — who was subsequently found — and had to deal with a car that had hit a building. Paul E. Favia, the Fort Lee emergency medical services coordinator, wrote to the mayor about delays in response time. He said it took him seven minutes to reach a car accident with four people hurt, when it should have taken him under four, and he needed to jump a curb to get there. Christie allies and staff members wise to the stunt plainly found it all highly amusing. A text message from Mr. Sokolich to Mr. Baroni pleading for help found its way to Mr. Wildstein, who forwarded it on to someone whose name was redacted in the released messages. That person replied, “Is it wrong that I’m smiling?” Mr. Wildstein wrote back, “No.” Retaliation Speculation Rumors swirled right away that the lane closings might have been a dart aimed at Mr. Sokolich. Was he being punished for not endorsing Mr. Christie? Or might it be because he opposed the latest toll increase? Or was it something more far-fetched? Mr. Sokolich heard the rumors, but discounted them as fanciful. His reasoning was simple. On the totem pole of state politics, even he saw himself near the bottom. The orange cones still stood the next morning, by which point the Port Authority reported dozens of voice mail messages and emails denouncing the altered traffic patterns. They were still there the next day, the anniversary of Sept. 11. The bridge itself, of course, is a potential terrorist target. Mr. Sokolich said his blood pressure rose “two ticks each day” the lanes were closed, adding, “It went up twice that on Sept. 11.” The police chief remembered a 20-page response plan that had been developed by the Fort Lee police and the Port Authority in the wake of the Sept. 11 attack. He said that it imagined myriad scenarios, but not that the Port Authority itself would intentionally close bridge lanes for no apparent reason. The cones remained on Thursday. Commuters and residents began awakening much earlier to belt themselves into their cars. An increasingly agitated Mr. Sokolich wrote to Mr. Baroni to complain. Mr. Baroni forwarded the complaint to Mr. Wildstein, who in turn shared it with Bill Stepien, Mr. Christie’s campaign manager, and Ms. Kelly. As a news story, the bridge backup seemed minor. After all, if you were going to write about traffic jams in New Jersey you might as well also report on someone getting a cold sore or the fact that a man had his driveway paved. But at The Record newspaper in Bergen County, the publisher heard from a friend that it was taking hours to cross the bridge, a tidbit that found its way to John Cichowski, who writes the paper’s “Road Warrior” column. His first thought was, “Oh gosh, the George Washington Bridge is tied up every day.” On the other hand, he reasoned, “I tend to follow up the dumbest things.” He poked around, found that delays had persisted all week and wrote a column that was published on Friday, Sept. 13. He quoted Mr. Sokolich as saying: “Please print this. I’m always proud and pleased with this administration even though I didn’t support the toll increases. So I don’t understand the basis for this. Is there a punitive overtone here? Is there something we should have done?” The column also included a terse statement from a Port Authority spokesman that the agency was reviewing safety patterns at the bridge to make sure toll lanes were properly placed. The evening before, Patrick J. Foye, the executive director of the Port Authority and an appointee of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, had noticed the inquiries from Mr. Cichowski on an internal sheet recording calls from the news media. They led him on Friday morning to find out from bridge officials about the closed lanes. In a blistering memo to agency officials, Mr. Foye suggested the “ill-advised” lane closings were dangerous and violated federal and state law. He ordered them reopened and vowed, “I will get to the bottom of this abusive decision.” At 8:15 that morning, after many rush-hour commuters were subjected to one final miserable trip, the cones were taken up. When Mr. Wildstein heard this, he sent an email to Ms. Kelly saying that “we are appropriately going nuts” that the New York side of the Port Authority had overridden New Jersey. He added that David Samson, the authority’s chairman and a Christie appointee, would help them retaliate. Mr. Christie has denied that Mr. Samson knew of the scheme; Mr. Samson has not commented publicly. But after the lanes reopened, emails suggested he was more troubled about who was feeding information to the news media than about why the closings happened. After the cones were removed, a Port Authority spokesman said that a weeklong study of traffic safety patterns had been undertaken and that officials would “now review those results and determine the best traffic patterns.” Cover-Up Collapses By early October, calls for investigations were being advanced by New Jersey state legislators, particularly Assemblyman John S. Wisniewski and State Senator Loretta Weinberg, both Democrats. Ms. Weinberg told reporters that part of her found it implausible that politics were involved. “And then there was part of me,” she added, “that pictured a whole bunch of frat-boy types sitting in their office one night having a beer and a pizza. ‘Hmm. Let’s get even with that, you know, whoever.’ ” A peculiar scene played out on the evening of Oct. 5. Standing together on the shuttered lower roadway of the bridge were Mr. Baroni, Mr. Wildstein, Mr. Fulton, Mr. Durando and Mr. Foye — all key players in the twisted episode. Along with dozens of local police and fire officials, they watched as emergency responders fought a simulated fire as part of a drill. They acted, according to someone familiar with the event, as if nothing whatsoever had happened. In late November, hearings began before the Assembly Transportation Committee. On Nov. 25, Mr. Baroni was set to testify, though not under oath. In the days leading up to his appearance, he scrambled to learn elementary facts about the bridge. He texted Mr. Wildstein to find out the number of lanes on the upper level. “Will take gw bridge to work,” Mr. Wildstein texted back. Pointing to bridge diagrams and rattling off statistics, Mr. Baroni told committee members that the lanes had been closed for the traffic study. Afterward, he was keen to know how Mr. Christie’s office graded his performance. “Trenton feedback?” he texted Mr. Wildstein. “Good,” Mr. Wildstein texted back. “Just good?” he replied, and cursed. Mr. Wildstein comforted him that Ms. Kelly and another Christie aide were “VERY happy,” as was Mr. Christie’s chief counsel, Charles McKenna. Throughout all of this, Mr. Christie and his top spokesman, Michael Drewniak, repeatedly said the governor did not bother with trivial traffic decisions. On Dec. 2, Mr. Christie pilloried Democrats for playing politics. “I moved the cones, actually, unbeknownst to everybody,” he said with sarcasm. The fallout began on Dec. 6, when Mr. Wildstein submitted his resignation from the Port Authority, explaining it as something planned but hastened by the “distraction” of the “Fort Lee issue.” The cover story itself, though, began to unravel once Mr. Foye and bridge officials testified on Dec. 9. Mr. Foye said he knew of no bridge study. The other officials portrayed the notion as senseless. They said they were given three days’ notice to close the lanes, something that normally would involve years of planning. They were instructed not to tell anyone, including Fort Lee officials and Mr. Foye, they said, and complied out of fear of reprisals. On the day of the hearings, The Wall Street Journal reported, Mr. Christie had called Mr. Cuomo to complain that Mr. Foye was pushing too hard to get to the bottom of the closings. Mr. Christie denied he had called Mr. Cuomo. The next day, the office of the Port Authority’s inspector general opened an investigation into the closings. On Dec. 13, Mr. Baroni quit. Before going out to a news conference where the resignation would be announced, Mr. Christie decided, finally, to question his aides about whether they had any culpability. He gathered most of his senior staff inside his State House office and issued an ultimatum: They had an hour to confess any involvement with what had happened at the bridge or knowledge of who was behind it. None did. At the news conference, he praised Mr. Baroni for his service. He said no members of his staff had anything to do with the lane closings and the whole matter had been “sensationalized.” On Wednesday, when emails emerged that had been subpoenaed by the Assembly, the truth became evident: This was always rank political payback. The next day, Mr. Christie said he had been deceived and was “humiliated.” He fired Ms. Kelly, whom he called “stupid,” and severed ties with Mr. Stepien, his former campaign manager. The United States attorney for New Jersey began a preliminary inquiry. Then, Governor Christie traveled to Fort Lee to apologize to Mayor Sokolich. His arrival, accompanied by an onslaught of reporters and photographers, snarled traffic once again in the borough. On Friday, the mayor relaxed in his unassuming law office, his golden retriever slumbering nearby. He told how at his meeting with Mr. Christie the day before he had not requested anything from the governor beyond a simple apology to the people of Fort Lee. He said he does not like to ask for things. ||||| New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie's ability to secure Democratic endorsements supported his overwhelming re-election last year and helped establish him as a 2016 presidential contender, but now a traffic scandal has put the spotlight on his campaign's tactics with local officials across the state. Interviews with mayors and other New Jersey Democratic officials show that Mr. Christie's allies in conversations that swung from friendly to persistent fostered a perception of better access to the governor's office...

– Looks like Chris Christie's trouble is just beginning. The latest: Federal officials are investigating whether he misused Superstorm Sandy relief funds. Christie used $4.7 million of the federal funds allotted to tourism marketing to produce advertisements. The problem? Those ads featured Christie and his family—and this during an election year—and cost $2.2 million more than the next lowest bidder, whose ads would not have included the Christie family. New Jersey Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone asked the feds to review, and he tells CNN the audit will take several months. "This was money that could have directly been used for Sandy recovery," Pallone says. "And, as you know, many of my constituents still haven't gotten the money that is owed them to rebuild their homes or raze their homes or to help." Meanwhile, the George Washington Bridge traffic scandal continues: Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich initially said he didn't recall Christie even asking for an endorsement before the lane closure; but now he tells the New York Times he does remember a staffer from Christie's re-election campaign making the request; he says he was noncommittal in his response. The Wall Street Journal (whose source says the staffer was regional political director Matt Mowers) adds that another Democratic mayor, Jersey City's Steve Fulop, claims he was also "punished" for refusing to endorse Christie. Fulop says he saw his meetings with several state commissioners suddenly canceled, and has had a hard time scheduling meetings with them since.

Published: Nov. 5, 2012 at 7:30 AM Advertisement WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Washington said it took additional steps to help U.S. East Coast residents deal with a shortage of diesel fuel in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it was waiving federal clean diesel fuel requirements in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York City so highway vehicles and off-road vehicles could use home heating oil for emergency response purposes. Regional gasoline shortages were "getting better," though New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said last weekend that it might be a "couple of days" before the shortage was resolved. The EPA last week waived some gasoline mandates to help cope with the shortage. Power outages and distribution issues after Hurricane Sandy have created long lines of customers at gasoline stations. The U.S. Energy Department said it was working with the Defense Department and National Guard to get emergency generators to gas stations that lost power in the storm. Sandy, a Category 1 hurricane, battered the East Coast last week, causing at least 110 deaths. More than 182,000 residents of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have applied for federal disaster assistance. ||||| NEW YORK | NEW YORK (Reuters) - The average U.S. price for a gallon of regular gasoline took its biggest drop since 2008 in the past two weeks, due to lower crude oil prices, a big price drop in pump prices in California and Hurricane Sandy, according to a widely followed survey released on Sunday. Gasoline prices averaged $3.5454 per gallon on November 2, down 20.75 cents from October 19 when drivers were paying $3.7529 at the pump, Lundberg said. The decline was the biggest two-week price drop since the survey recorded a 21.9 cents price decline December 5, 2008 due to a crash in petroleum demand during the global recession. Even though many people had to line up for gasoline for hours after Sandy devastated much of the Northeast coast, the storm played a part in the price decline as many would-be consumers were not able to travel as a result, according Trilby Lundberg, editor of the Lundberg Survey. Lundberg also cited the seasonal dip in demand that typically comes after August. While demand appeared to be very high for gasoline in New York and New Jersey after the storm, Lundberg said that purchases were down because many people could not get to fuel. However, supply shortages were not causing an increase in the average price of gasoline, according Lundberg. "There is a fear among retailers that they will be accused and prosecuted for price gouging if they raise prices enough to prevent running out," she said, adding that the problems would be unlikely to end soon. "It's going to be a long and hard recovery for infrastructure and fuel supply but also for fuel demand," Lundberg said. Another reason for the total U.S. price decline in the latest survey is California, the biggest state consumer, where pump prices fell 49 cents in past two weeks after an extreme price increase a month ago because of refinery problems. The November 2 survey shows that gas prices have fallen a total of 29.21 cents in the last month, Lundberg said. The highest prices for regular gasoline recorded in the November 2 survey were in San Francisco at $4.05 a gallon, while drivers in Memphis, Tennessee were paying the least at $3.11 per gallon. (Reporting By Sinead Carew; Editing by Marguerita Choy) ||||| NEW YORK Nov 5 New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Monday launched an investigation into post-Sandy price gouging after receiving hundreds of complaints from consumers across the state. Schneiderman said his office has received complaints from consumers from areas of the state hit hardest when the massive storm struck one week ago - New York City, the Hudson Valley and Long Island. The largest number of complaints are related to increased gasoline prices, he said in a statement, but consumers also have reported possible gouging for emergency supplies like generators, hotels raising rates due to "high demand," as well as increased prices for food and water.

– More steps in the effort to ease the post-Hurricane Sandy fuel crisis: UPI reports that the EPA lifted clean diesel regulations in the New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and NYC area, allowing vehicles to use heating oil for emergency response purposes, while the Energy Department said it was working with the Pentagon to deploy emergency generators to gas stations. But the area's gas woes stand in contrast to what the country as a whole is experiencing: a dramatic drop in gas prices. Between Oct. 19 and Nov. 2 they fell from an average of $3.7529 to $3.5454, the most sizable two-week decrease since 2008, Reuters reports. In other gas-related news, New York's attorney general opened an investigation into alleged price gouging in the wake of Sandy after receiving hundreds of complaints, Eric Schneiderman's office announced today. Those complaints covered a host of products, including emergency supplies, food, water, and even hotel space, but the majority centered around gas, Reuters reports.

A spokeswoman for Alaska State Troopers says the standoff continues Monday at the village of Hoonah where a gunman killed two local lawmen. Spokeswoman Megan Peters says no further information will be released until the situation ends. She says, "We want a peaceful resolution." Two Hoonah police officers were ambushed late Saturday, and the suspect, 45-year-old John Marvin Jr., barricaded himself in his home. Hoonah is on an island about 40 miles west of Juneau. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) _ A SWAT team and dozens of other law officers surrounded a house in a tiny Alaskan village where a gunman took refuge after he allegedly killed two local lawmen in an ambush, authorities said. Hoonah police officers Tony Wallace and Matt Tokuoka died after the shooting late Saturday, said Bob Prunella, acting city administrator. "We believe they were ambushed by the individual," Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said. John Marvin Jr., 45, barricaded himself in his home and Alaska State Troopers and other law enforcement agencies were at the scene Sunday and would maintain their positions through the night, authorities said. Purnella said he didn't know what led to the shooting. Police officials said they were investigating motives but have not released any details. There was no sign of a quick end to the standoff, Prunella said Sunday evening. It was unclear how long Marvin had been inside the home. "This could go on for a while," Prunella said. Peters said police are doing what they could to resolve the standoff peacefully. "We don't want to have another tragedy on our hands," she said. "We don't want to lose another officer." Troopers were urging residents in the shoreline community of about 800 to stay away from the area. Hoonah is situated on an island about 40 miles west of Juneau, the capital. Tokuoka left the home of his father-in-law, George Martin, just before the shooting. The 39-year-old officer was off-duty and had spent the evening there before leaving with his wife and two children, Martin said. Soon after they left, Martin heard two shots. Wallace was knocked down, and Tokuoka told his wife and children to get away and then he was shot as well, Martin said. "I imagine he was trying to administer help to this other officer when he got hit," Martin said. Wallace was on-duty at the time of the shooting. It was unclear why he was in the area. Wallace, 32, died during surgery in Juneau and Tokuoka died early Sunday at a clinic in the Native village, according to Martin. "The whole town's in shock," he said. "I've been getting calls all day. It's a bad situation." Martin said his home is just a block and a half from Marvin's. He didn't know why the officers were ambushed but said police have had run-ins with Marvin in the past. He said Marvin lives alone. Alaska State Troopers were leading a multi-agency response, and Peters said a warrant was issued for Marvin's arrest. The Coast Guard transported the Juneau Police Department's SWAT team to the village, Peters said. Prunella said the deaths leave the Tlingit community with just two full-time officers _ the police chief and a trainee. He said the southeast Alaska town of Wrangell sent some officers to help out as needed. Wallace was originally from Ohio and one of the few hard-of-hearing officers in the nation, according to officials at Rochester Institute of Technology in upstate New York, where he attended the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. He also was a wrestler and was inducted into the university's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008. He first joined the Hoonah police force in 2006, left after seven months and then rejoined in 2008. He served as the small department's evidence officer, and was recently designated as a breath-test maintenance technician. According to the law enforcement networking website http://www.usacops.com, Tokuoka was a former Marine Corps staff sergeant who served in special operations. The Hawaii native had been with the department since spring 2009. ||||| State troopers say 45-year-old John Marvin Jr., the suspect in the shooting of two police officers in Hoonah Saturday night, surrendered at about 9:30 a.m. Monday after a weekend standoff. Officials say Marvin shot and killed 39-year-old Officer Matthew Tokuoka and 32-year-old Sgt. Anthony Wallace, then barricaded himself in his home. This incident wasn't the first run-in Marvin had with the officers he is accused of murdering. Court records show, Marvin was charged with assaulting the two policemen in 2009, but those charges were eventually dropped. Agencies from all over Alaska, including State Troopers, Coast Guard, U.S. Forest Service and Wildlife Troopers worked to arrest the man allegedly responsible for the shooting. “This was the best way it could have ended,” said Capt. Barry Wilson, Alaska State Troopers. Wilson won't reveal specific details on the tactics used to get Marvin out of the home where he was barricaded. “All I know is that he came out of the house and peacefully surrendered and followed all the instructions of the team and nobody was harmed in that incident, which is the good outcome of this incident,” Wilson said. Troopers say around 10:30 Saturday night on front street, Marvin ambushed the two Hoonah officers. Witnesses say Tokuoka and his family were driving home when they stopped to talk to Wallace. According to witnesses, while the two were engaged in a conversation, Marvin approached them and opened fire on Wallace without warning. As Wallace collapsed, Tokuoka got out of the car to help him. That's when he was shot. Tokuoka's wife and children witnessed the shooting, as well as Wallace's mother, who was visiting from Florida. “Everybody is in shock and they're in wonder, you know, nobody just really understands it,” said David Austin, owner of Tideland Tackle in Hoonah. The attack has left many in Hoonah trying to comprehend what prompted Marvin to shoot and kill the two officers. “He must be insane. I don't know how anyone else could do that without being mentally deranged,” said Austin. Despite the tragedy, Troopers say they are happy the standoff ended without other lives being lost. “In the outcome of the event, we are very pleased with the peaceful, calm way in which we were able to get him out of the residence, that it was solved from that perspective and that he is in custody so the department of justice can deal with outcome of the investigation,” said Wilson. The Alaska Bureau of Investigation is in Hoonah to hopefully figure out why Marvin went after these two men, for a second time. In the meantime, Gov. Sean Parnell ordered state flags to be lowered to honor the lives of the two slain officers.

– A SWAT team and dozens of other law enforcement officers were locked in a standoff this morning with a man suspected of murdering two police officers in the town of Hoonah, Alaska—which happens to amount to half the town’s cops. Police suspect 45-year-old John Marvin Jr. “ambushed” the two officers late Saturday night. He then barricaded himself in his home, in a standoff that, according to the latest AP report, is still ongoing today. With the police force so badly depleted, Hoonah called in Alaska State Troopers, US Forest Service and Wildlife Troopers, and even the Coast Guard. They’re urging the area’s 800 residents to stay in their homes; several businesses have closed. “We heard a gunshot and … looked out the window and he saw one policeman down,” one witness told KTUU. “Another policeman was trying to drag him away and the suspect shot him twice. And then he just took off.”

POLITICO launched Arena in 2008 with the hopes of creating a vibrant forum where Washington’s sharpest minds could debate and dissect the issues of the day. And Arena became just that. Over the past four years, Arena has hosted thousands of constructive, serious, provocative and civil debates on issues facing Washington and the nation. But the spirit of innovation that led to the creation of Arena now drives us to think about new ways in which POLITICO can present outside opinion with maximum impact. And as we plan our next steps in the opinion space, we’ve decided to draw the curtains on Arena. We’re grateful to everyone who participated in Arena over the years – as contributors, as moderators, as producers and as readers. Thanks for making Arena a success, and we look forward to continuing the conversation in the pages of POLITICO soon. ||||| Jon Huntsman will quit the Republican presidential race today and endorse Mitt Romney. One of his aides told Fox News, “Governor Huntsman was encouraged [by his third place in] New Hampshire, but does not want to stand in the way of the best candidate to beat Barack Obama.” It’s a turnaround in human relationships that could only happen in the fickle world of politics. A little over a week ago, Huntsman was accusing Romney of putting party before country and dividing America. Now he’s giving him his unequivocal support. Jon Huntsman’s campaign faced three problems. First, it started too late. Huntsman thought he could sit out the deeply religious Iowa caucus and concentrate his resources on New Hampshire instead. Big mistake. It cost him a lot of media attention and made him miss a couple of debates. The Iowa results dominated the news cycle, meaning that even candidates who had crashed and burned got more coverage than Huntsman. “We had strong numbers in New Hampshire,” one campaign insider told me, “But after Iowa we were always playing catch up.” The media only started talking about the candidate a couple of days before the Granite State voted. Hypotheticals are no use to anyone, but it’s fair to speculate that with more time and attention Huntsman could have pulled away moderates from Romney concerned about the Massachusetts moderate’s fair weather ways. Yes, Mitt places well against Obama in polls at the moment, but all the dirt thrown at him this primary season is bound to slow his progress. A part of me suspects that Americans will never vote for a man who straps his dog to the roof of his car. Second, Huntsman never quite shook off the weirdo factor. He can be a tad Vulcan – all deadpan phrasing and alien eyebrow twitches. His first ad was nonsensical: Jon on a motorbike speeding through the desert. Then he regaled us with his knowledge of Mandarin, breaking into it every five seconds. If voters find Romney’s French off putting, how were they going to react to Huntsman’s channelling of those commie devils? It didn’t help that he sometimes sounded like he was running purely to promote business with the Middle Kingdom (see his rousing defence of Chinese trade policy), or that his foreign policy sounded sub-Ron Paul. Then there were the jokes – the execrable, painful jokes. Jon Huntsman made Gordon Brown sound like Oscar Wilde. Huntsman’s third problem was the most significant for US politics watchers: he had no constituency. He ran as a moderate. On the one hand he was fiscally conservative, on the other he had some nice things to say about evolution and homosexuality. I heard (but have no confirmation) that on the stump he sometimes took an “I’m against it but it’s your call” approach to abortion. Huntsman wanted the votes of aspirant suburbanites – people with college degrees who worry about the state of the economy but not about the sex lives of their transgendered friends. If the demographic sounds familiar, then it’s because it’s very similar to the coalition David Cameron strung together in the UK. Huntsman’s staff included several British Tory aides who desperately wanted to see the compassionate conservative revolution replicated in the USA. They not unreasonably thought that Cameron’s brand of liberal conservatism would have a trans-Atlantic appeal, that Right-wing Republicans desperate to beat Obama would put aside their religious chauvinism and elect a trendy moderate. It had worked in Utah, where Huntsman extended gay rights while also cutting taxes. It would seem that there is some part of a foreign field that is forever Notting Hill. But it didn’t work nationally. The reality is that the GOP and the British Tories are very different. In America, principle trumps electoral calculation for the most part – and American conservative principles are imbued with a gutsy, aggressive cultural conservatism that Huntsman was unable to tap. There were simply not enough liberal Republicans to give the candidate anymore than 16.8 percent of the vote. Those folks who share his socially moderate instincts have either drifted to the Democrats or sit out the party as registered independents. Perhaps Huntsman could have attracted more of these people to participate in New Hampshire if he had gained more media attention early on. But even then, it’s hard to imagine his patrician style getting more support than Ron Paul – a man who understands that it takes populist energy to generate heat. There is a Jon Huntsman in almost every Republican presidential primary. In 1980, it was John B Anderson. In 1996 it was Lamar Alexander. In 2000 it was John McCain. Every cycle, this moderate vote shrinks and their tally gets a little smaller. Despite all the cultural changes that have taken place around it, the Republican Party is arguably even more socially conservative than it was twenty years ago. America will never give us another David Cameron. Some on the Right might say that one is more than enough. ||||| His hair’s looked better. (JASON REED/REUTERS) “Huntsman’s dropping out!” It’s like misheard bad news. “What? Who? Oh, Huntsman. I thought you said something else.” I was going to do a highlight reel of Memorable Huntsman Moments, but I couldn’t remember any. Even if I could have, they would have resembled a highlight reel of Favorite Waters or Most Exciting Taupes. The only people really depressed about Jon Huntsman’s exit from the race are people who wouldn’t in their wildest dreams have voted for him — or any Republican candidate, for that matter. It was a stillborn campaign hooked up to life support by the media. It did the campaign no good, and it cost everyone money and time. Everything he did that made the press fawn — that cheeky tweet about believing in global warming, to name one — just ticked off the people whose votes he actually needed. His attitude toward the primaries was that of a lion tamer charming the stands and ignoring the lion. And it showed. In South Carolina, Huntsman was polling behind Stephen Colbert. Even in Utah, Huntsman’s home state, Mitt Romney was raising more funds than Huntsman was. Anyone who’s sad that Jon Huntsman is out of the race would be equally sad about the news that, say, “Downton Abbey’s” second season was subpar, or that they might not release a special collectors’ edition of “The West Wing” with commentary from Aaron Sorkin. “Aw,” they’d say, and go back to leafing through menswear catalogs. “Nuts.” Jon Huntsman’s out? Nobody cares about that, not even the people who’d said they were voting for Jon Huntsman. It’s like being told that the Num Lock key is leaving the race. You feel like you should be disappointed, but you can’t think of anything that it was adding. Each of the Huntsman voters had a different reason for supporting him. One liked his hair. Three more were confused and thought this was the Democratic primary. Another one just thought he looked the “most Mad Men” of the Republican field. The last turned out to be Jon Huntsman in disguise. With Huntsman gone, his support behind Romney, these voters can return to what they did before Huntsman came into their lives — shopping for antiques, watching “The Help,” “relating” to their kids, playing the violin badly, buying Word of the Day calendars, reading Annie Proulx stories, forwarding YouTube links to their nephews, trying to figure out how Windows Me works, watching 2006 Best Picture winner “Crash” again, buying pocket squares, reading “The Help,” raising funds for PBS, really intending to watch “Breaking Bad” but not getting around to it yet, taking Centrum Silver and saying, “Well, that’s a good point.” Jon Huntsman’s campaign does go to show that if you put a lot of effort into making your hair look nice, people will take you more seriously than perhaps they ought. You can show up at Republican debates and they’ll even let you participate — although I’m not sure why you’d want to. It’s like crashing an annual awards dinner for advances in geriatric care, where Newt Gingrich is sure to be the keynote speaker. Whenever someone leaves the race, questions mount: What will happen to the voters who supported him? Huntsman is endorsing Romney. Will the voter follow his lead? The Huntsman voter was easy to track down. There was only one left, a nice, middle-aged woman who spent most of the year in Maine painting watercolors of sunsets. “I miss him already,” she said. “He was really going to turn this country around, with his clear, common-sense 9-9-9 plan.” “No,” I said. “Jon Huntsman.” “What? Who? Oh, Huntsman. I thought you said something else.” ||||| “I hope it’s good enough for you,” Jon Huntsman said at the Huckabee Forum 2, a serial public interrogation of the Republican candidates, in South Carolina on Saturday night. An undecided voter had just asked him how he could possibly call himself pro-life when he would still allow women who had been raped or whose lives were at risk to have access to abortions. Huntsman talked about how glad he was that a Chinese woman had abandoned the baby girl who would become his adoptive daughter Gracie at a vegetable market, and about how the parameters he set on the abortion question were the ones he’d always followed. He hoped, again, that his answer would suffice. But that and a hundred other things would never be enough. On Sunday night, about twenty-four hours after the forum, word came that Huntsman was dropping out of the race. There will be an announcement on Monday morning, probably at 11 A.M. He’ll endorse Mitt Romney, “whom he accused a week ago of putting party ahead of country,” as the Times put it. Why did Huntsman leave? The better question is: Why did he stay as long as he did? All elections have their oddities, but this one has been a carnival in which all of the clowns turn out to be carrying knives, and ready to use them. (See The Players, Hendrik Hertzberg’s guide to candidates, for more details.) Sanity and relative moderation were meant to be Huntsman’s appealing qualities, but, whatever genuine support they generated, they seemed to drag him down in this race. (Nor did Huntsman, in the seven months since declaring his candidacy, consistently adhere to those principles.) His exit will be of limited use to those who are torn between Gingrich and Santorum.

– Jon Huntsman is dropping out of the presidential race today—but does anyone care? "The only people really depressed about Jon Huntsman’s exit from the race are people who wouldn’t in their wildest dreams have voted for him—or any Republican candidate, for that matter," writes Alexandra Petri in the Washington Post, who places the impact of his announcement at close to zero: "It’s like being told that the Num Lock key is leaving the race. You feel like you should be disappointed, but you can’t think of anything that it was adding." But there is one big takeaway from his bid: "If you put a lot of effort into making your hair look nice, people will take you more seriously than perhaps they ought." Her highly amusing column is worth a read. More reactions: "Huntsman's failure proves that there's no constituency for liberal Republicanism," declares the Telegraph. Huntsman was fiscally conservative, but he also "had some nice things to say about evolution and homosexuality," writes Tim Stanley. But those "aspirant suburbanites" whose votes Huntsman was courting? They're either Democrats or independents who won't be voting in the GOP primary, while the Republican party itself "is arguably even more socially conservative than it was 20 years ago." "Sanity and relative moderation were meant to be Huntsman’s appealing qualities, but, whatever genuine support they generated, they seemed to drag him down in this race," writes Amy Davidson in the New Yorker. "His exit will be of limited use to those who are torn between Gingrich and Santorum." Politico's Arena features an extensive discussion of what went wrong. Grover Norquist says Huntsman's strategy could have worked had he gotten started earlier, an impression shared by many. (One former Obama administration official quips: "What went wrong? He ran for the GOP nomination in 2012 instead of 1988.") A few guess that Huntsman is now angling for the secretary of state appointment in Romney's administration, or that this whole thing was just a trial for a real run in 2016. Click for more on why Huntsman decided to drop out.

EXCLUSIVE: This is a quite a bombshell — I have learned that Frank Darabont, the creator, executive producer and director of AMC’s smash hit The Walking Dead, is stepping down as showrunner of the series, which is now in production on its upcoming second season. The news is even more surprising given the fact that Darabont was on hand for Walking Dead’s Comic-Con panel just this past Friday alongside fellow executive producers Robert Kirkman, on whose graphic novel the series is based, and Gale Anne Hurd and appeared excited about Season 2. There is speculation that Darabont might be off the show completely, but I hear talks are still ongoing about him possibly staying on in some capacity. Darabont, who spent five years trying to get a TV version of the zombie saga off the ground and wrote and directed the AMC pilot, hails from the feature world, and I hear that he never quite adjusted to the daily grind of producing a TV series. Last December, he considered forgoing a writing staff for Season 2 and assigning scripts to freelancers but ultimately went for the traditional writing staff model recommended by the network and tapped Glen Mazzara as an executive producer and his No. 2. It is unclear if The Shield alum Mazzara, who has showrunning experience, would now step in to run Walking Dead. I hear that the behind-the-scenes turmoil has not affected production on the show, which continues as scheduled. Season 2 of Walking Dead is slated to premiere Oct. 16. In addition to huge ratings, the series has garnered awards recognition for its freshman season, including a best drama series Golden Globe nomination as well as DGA and WGA noms. In a Deadline Emmy Q&A last month, Darabont raved about his transition to television. “In TV, you have to get ideas across in a more economical way,” he said. “But the process is fundamentally the same (as features), just accelerated. There’s no time for second guessing. The wheels are in constant motion. I love that about television. If I’d known how much fun it was, I’d have done it years ago.” TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here. ||||| Many of you became hooked on AMC’s rather zombierific The Walking Dead last season and at WhatCulture! we are addicted by the show more than most. Our very own Simon Gallagher has been reminding how awesome it was with his episode by episode retrospective recaps and just last week we heard the second series would premiere two weeks earlier than expected on October 16th, rather than the Halloween weekend when the show debuted last year. Things were certainly shaping up well for the new, bigger sized season but shocking and disturbing news comes through the wire today as Deadline are reporting that the genius and mastermind of the show Frank Darabont has decided to step down as show runner and although it’s not explicitly stated, he will probably end his writing/directing/consulting duties too. Talks are desperately on-going at AMC to keep him involved in some way with the show but I think his time looks to be done. Now we’ve been following the production trouble of The Walking Dead’s highly anticipated second series quite closely here since last fall, the most worrying sign was when Darabont fired the entire writing staff, and made it known he was going to hire freelance writers to script the 13 episodes of season 2 along with himself and comics creator Robert Kirkman. We reported last year this was because he pretty much wrote or re-wrote the entirety of the first seasons scripts anyway but it turns out AMC didn’t go the freelance route in the end and just made up the scripts from within. But along with the constant battles over money and censorship with the network and the daily grind of producing, writing, directing & making the major decisions on the show, he is probably exhausted and done with it now. Plus he’s a film director by choice and is probably getting the itch for the big screen again, his last movie being The Mist in 2007 with Deadline saying “Darabont hails from the feature world and… never quite adjusted to the daily grind of producing a TV series.” Then came the revelation back at the end of May that AMC was looking to trim the budget on their hit series, which naturally troubled Darabont. Just the same, he was at Comic Con just the other day promoting season 2 of the series and they even debuted a cracking trailer; So things look like thery’re going well, right? Mmmm, maybe not. Darabont’s replacement is likely to be The Shield’s Glen Mazzara who previously showran the notoriously awful Crash series at Starz, and was hired as Darabont’s second-in-command for the second series and as it’s probably chaos right now at The Walking Dead offices – he will probably get the promotion rather than hiring from the outside. The great horror/drama series focuses on survivors in a post apocalyptic, zombie-infested world. Based on “The Walking Dead” graphic novel, created by Robert Kirkman, the story centers around lawman Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), his wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies), his best friend and in his absence, wife’s lover Shane (Jon Bernthal) and a ragtap group of survivors – the cable network’s original series broke records when it premiered last Halloween garnering 5.3 million viewers from the 90 minute pilot. This helped cement AMC’s reputation for quality programming alongside other standouts like “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men”. Darabont sounded enthusiastic about the new season and new writers last week saying “The first six episodes, nobody knew what the hell they were dealing with, except me,” and revealed how 6 years ago he unsuccessfully proposed the series to NBC. While season 2 begins October 16th after nearly a yearlong wait, it is troubling when there are all these changes made. And it’s also quite peculiar that the show’s creator was at Comic Con just recently hyping his show and talking about his hopes for it’s second season, and then drops out early in it’s production. But hey, at least a lot of his work will go into the second series and then there’ll be a long break before a proposed third season so plenty of time to take a stab back and make the right decision in hiring new faces. In the mean time we look forward to Darabont’s new venture. (Article co-written by Matt Holmes)

– Can the Walking Dead survive without its head? Frank Darabont—creator, executive producer, and director of the critically acclaimed AMC hit series—has stepped down as its head honcho, reports Deadline Hollywood. It's unclear whether Darabont will depart the zombie show entirely or remain in another role. Darabont—who made his name directing features like the Shawshank Redemption and the Green Mile—spent five years trying to bring Robert Kirkman's graphic novel to TV. This real-life drama isn't expected to delay the premiere of the second season on Oct. 16. WhatCulture! has more background on the production troubles heading into the second season.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will change the name of North America's tallest mountain peak from Mount McKinley to Denali, the White House said Sunday, a major symbolic gesture to Alaska Natives on the eve of the president's historic visit to Alaska. FILE - This Aug. 19, 2011 file photo shows Mount McKinley in Denali National Park, Alaska. President Barack Obama on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2015 said he's changing the name of the tallest mountain in North... (Associated Press) By renaming the peak Denali, an Athabascan word meaning "the high one," Obama waded into a sensitive and decades-old conflict between residents of Alaska and Ohio. Alaskans have informally called the mountain Denali for years, but the federal government recognizes its name invoking the 25th president, William McKinley, who was born in Ohio and assassinated early in his second term. "With our own sense of reverence for this place, we are officially renaming the mountain Denali in recognition of the traditions of Alaska Natives and the strong support of the people of Alaska," said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. The announcement came as Obama prepared to open a three-day visit to Alaska aimed at infusing fresh urgency into his call to action on climate change. To the dismay of some Alaska Republicans, the White House has choreographed the trip to showcase melting glaciers and other cherished natural wonders in Alaska that Obama says are threatened by warmer temperatures. But Obama's visit is also geared toward displaying solidarity with Alaska Natives, who face immense economic challenges and have warned of insufficient help from the federal government. As his first stop after arriving in Anchorage on Monday, Obama planned to hold a listening session with Alaska Natives. The president was also expected to announce new steps to help Alaska Native communities on Wednesday when he becomes the first sitting president to visit the Alaska Arctic. It was unclear whether Ohio would mount an effort to block the name change. There was no immediate response to inquiries seeking comment from Republican Rep. Bob Gibbs, House Speaker John Boehner and other Ohio lawmakers. At 20,320 feet, the mountain stands as the continent's tallest, and is still growing at a rate of about one millimeter per year, according to the National Park Service. Known for its majestic views, the mountain is dotted with glaciers and covered at the top with snow year-round, with powerful winds that make it difficult for the adventurous few who seek to climb it. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who had pushed legislation for years to change the name, said Alaskans were "honored" to recognize the mountain as Denali — a change in tone for the Alaska Republican, who had spoken out against Obama's energy policies in anticipation of his visit to her state. "I'd like to thank the president for working with us to achieve this significant change to show honor, respect, and gratitude to the Athabascan people of Alaska," Murkowski said in a video message recorded atop the mountain's Ruth Glacier, with cloudy snow-capped peaks behind her. Gov. Bill Walker joined Murkowski and other Alaskans in praising Obama for the change. The state of Alaska has had a standing request to change the name dating back to 1975, when the legislature passed a resolution and then-Gov. Jay Hammond appealed to the federal government. But those efforts and legislation in Congress have been stymied by members of Ohio's congressional delegation eager to protect the namesake of the state's native son. Even when Mount McKinley National Park was renamed Denali National Park in 1980, the federal government retained the use of Mount McKinley to refer to the actual peak. The White House cited Jewell's authority to change the name, and Jewell issued a secretarial order officially changing it to Denali. The Interior Department said the U.S. Board on Geographic Names had been deferring to Congress since 1977, and cited a 1947 law that allows the Interior Department to change names unilaterally when the board fails to act "within a reasonable time." The board shares responsibility with the Interior Department for naming such landmarks. The peak got its officially recognized name in 1898, when a prospector was exploring mountains in central Alaska, the White House said. Upon hearing the news that McKinley, a Republican, had received his party's nomination to be president, the prospector named it after him and the name was formally recognized. Obama won't personally visit the mountain during his tour of Alaska. He'll spend much of the trip in Anchorage, south of the peak, where Obama will speak at a climate change summit on Monday. While in Alaska, Obama also planned to meet with fishermen in Dillingham, hike a glacier in Seward and cross the Arctic Circle to visit the rural town of Kotzebue. In an attempt to show Obama wasn't coming to Alaska empty-handed, the White House on Sunday also announced plans to create a "young engagement program" to help rural and Alaska Native youth in the Arctic. The administration said it would also provide nearly $400,000 for a pair of commissions that govern local fishing, along with more than $1 million in funding from the federal government and Alaska groups to fund U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service advisers. ___ Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska. ___ Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP and Mark Thiessen at https://twitter.com/mthiessen ||||| Crawl of outlinks from wikipedia.org started March, 2016. These files are currently not publicly accessible. Properties of this collection. It has been several years since the last time we did this. For this collection, several things were done: 1. Turned off duplicate detection. This collection will be complete, as there is a good chance we will share the data, and sharing data with pointers to random other collections, is a complex problem. 2. For the first time, did all the different wikis. The original runs were just against the enwiki. This one, the seed list was built from all 865 collections.

– Looks like North America's tallest mountain won't be Mount McKinley anymore. President Obama announced today that Sally Jewell, the secretary of the interior, has renamed it Denali—restoring a name that Alaska Natives and state residents have used for years, Alaska Dispatch News reports. "I think for people like myself that have known the mountain as Denali for years and certainly for Alaskans, it's something that's been a long time coming," says Jewell. The "secretarial order," released the day before Obama's three-day trip to Alaska, appears to end a longstanding battle between Alaska and Ohio over who gets to name the 20,000-foot peak. A gold prospector christened the mountain in 1896 after hearing that William McKinley—not yet a US president—had just won the Republican presidential nomination, the New York Times reports. But Alaska Natives had long called it Denali (which means "the great one" or "the high one") and revered it in the creation story of Koyukon Athabascans, who have lived in Alaska long before the US existed. For decades, Alaska has filed a bill every year to change the peak's name to Denali and saw the move blocked by legislators in Ohio, McKinley's home state. Ohio officials haven't yet said whether they'll try to block the name change, the AP reports. (The National Park Service recently said it didn't object to changing the name.)

Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell , center, is surrounded by media as he walks to the federal courthouse in Richmond. Aug. 11, 2014 Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell , center, is surrounded by media as he walks to the federal courthouse in Richmond. Bob Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch via Associated Press Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, are battling a 14-count public-corruption indictment that alleges they lent the prestige of the governor’s office to a Richmond area businessman in exchange for gifts and loans. Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, are battling a 14-count public-corruption indictment that alleges they lent the prestige of the governor’s office to a Richmond area businessman in exchange for gifts and loans. Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, are battling a 14-count public-corruption indictment that alleges they lent the prestige of the governor’s office to a Richmond area businessman in exchange for gifts and loans. After Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) endorsed Mitt Romney for president in 2012, McDonnell’s wife sought out the candidate to promote the dietary supplement now at the heart of the former first couple’s corruption trial, a onetime aide testified Monday. Maureen McDonnell and then-Star Scientific chief executive Jonnie R. Williams Sr. showed up together at a news media session in South Carolina hoping to pitch Anatabloc to the prominent Republican, said Phil Cox, Robert McDonnell’s chief political adviser at the time. [ Follow our liveblog for the latest ] Cox, also executive director of the Republican Governors Association, said that he put a stop to that plan but that Maureen McDonnell went on to talk up the supplement to Romney’s wife on a campaign bus. He said she told Ann Romney that the anti-­inflammatory supplement, Anatabloc, could “potentially cure MS.” While Ann Romney, who has multiple sclerosis, listened politely, Cox said, he feared the episode would reflect poorly on his boss, who at the time was considered a possible Romney running mate. “I was horrified,” Cox testified. “I thought it was a train wreck.” The sixth day of the McDonnells’ trial — in which they are accused of using the governor’s office to benefit Williams in exchange for his lavishing vacations, luxury goods and cash on them — was marked again by revelations that could be damaging to the couple. It was also notable in that Williams — after 15 hours on the witness stand — finally stepped down with his account largely intact and with a few key points clarified in prosecutors’ favor. Williams testified Monday that the photo he was texted in December 2012 showing Robert McDonnell grinning and flashing a Rolex watch came from the governor. That is important because McDonnell has said publicly that he received the expensive timepiece as a Christmas gift from his wife a year earlier. Williams said the picture was a confirmation to him that McDonnell knew he had purchased the watch. While the sender is disputed — defense attorneys note phone records show no corresponding text message; prosecutors say iPhones sometimes do not keep such records — Williams was confident in his assessment. Claiming “it said G-O-V on my phone” when the message came, Williams testified that the image was as troubling as it was unforgettable. “This shows up on the nightly news, I have a problem,” Williams testified. Williams also seemed to score points when defense attorney Henry Asbill questioned him about a phone call the governor made to Williams’s father on his 80th birthday. The inquiry seemed to be designed to show Williams and the governor had a personal relationship. Williams had other ideas. Prosecutors in the corruption case against former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, introduced the infamous Rolex watch on Thursday as a key piece of evidence in the trial. The Post’s Rosalind Helderman explains. (Jackie Kucinich/The Washington Post) “This was a very personal thing for my father,” Williams said. “But this cost me, in my mind, as I sit here, hundreds of thousands of dollars to even do that.” Williams is far from a rock- solid witness, and defense attorneys will continue to attack his credibility as they question others in the case. Even Cox — whose testimony immediately followed Williams’s — called the businessman “a little bit of a snake oil salesman” who “seemed like he was trying a little too hard.” But Cox’s criticisms were not reserved for prosecutors’ star witness. He said, for example, that he told the governor that he was angry and frustrated and that he thought McDonnell had exercised poor judgement after learning from a Washington Post story that Williams had lent $120,000 to Maureen McDonnell and a small real estate company owned by the governor and his sister. However, Cox, who served as McDonnell’s campaign manager and top political adviser, said he still considers the governor a friend. Cox also took aim at Maureen McDonnell. Of particular note: Cox said he was involved in rejecting Williams’s offer in 2009 to buy an Oscar de la Renta dress for her to wear at her husband’s inauguration. The first lady, he said, then dashed an e-mail off to him — on Christmas Eve — complaining that he was not loyal to her and the governor. “The e-mail literally had no basis in reality,” Cox testified, adding that he’d been concerned about the “optics” of the first lady wearing an expensive gown in the height of a recession. “It was sort of an insane rant of an e-mail, and coming on Christmas Eve, it angered me.” Cox also testified that Maureen McDonnell “adored” Williams and “would light up when he walked into a room” and vice versa. E-mails shown to jurors later at the trial seemed to press the point. When the governor’s scheduler Monica Block was asked to shoehorn a Williams-driven event into her boss’s calendar, she asked another McDonnell aide (and future son-in-law) in an e-mail whether that was necessary. “Yes. 102 loves Johnnie,” the aide replied, using the state police’s numerical code for the first lady and misspelling the executive’s name. “Why does 102 like him? Because he’s loaded?” Block responded. “Yep. He wanted to make the gown for the inauguration,” the aide answered. Those are important sentiments because William Burck, Maureen McDonnell’s defense attorney, has asserted that his client’s marriage was in shambles — making it impossible for her and her husband to conspire together, as prosecutors must prove they did. Burck has said his client was innocently seeking Williams’s affection, rather than corruptly seeking his money. How jurors view the relationship between the two could make or break the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Dry launched a vigorous attack Monday on the notion that Williams and Maureen McDonnell had any sort of romantic connection — flashing pictures of the first lady and her husband whispering or holding hands as Williams flatly denied any sort of tryst with the governor’s wife. Williams denied any “physical contact” with the first lady and said neither of them had ever suggested romantic interest to the other. As if to drive home the point, Dry asked about Williams’s attendance at the McDonnells’ anniversary party and about items — the Rolex and a Ferrari to use on a vacation — that Maureen McDonnell is accused of soliciting for her husband. “Who does she want that car available for?” Dry asked. “Her husband,” Williams responded. “When Mrs. McDonnell asked you to buy the Rolex, who was the Rolex going to?” he continued. “Her husband,” Williams said. Justin Jouvenal contributed to this report. ||||| Gather round, kiddies, it’s time for another installment of the As The Grift Turns, the tragic tale of the former Lord and Lady McDonnell of Virginia, now on trial for being corrupt, greedy, generally awful, and dumb enough to get caught, all because Her Majesty Maureen really wanted an Oscar de la Renta gown for her husband’s inaugural, and also they had “an unconscionable amount in credit card debt.” One thing led to another, as such things do, and suddenly they were awash in fabulous gifts and prizes from Richmond businessman Jonnie Williams Sr., for the basement-bargain price of maybe breaking a few laws here and there by pimping his company’s magical tobacco-based “dietary supplement” Antabloc. Allegedly. And that’s just the recap. On Monday, Phil Cox, the former head of former Gov. McDonnell’s former political action committee, added a new twist with his trial testimony. Enter Ann Romney. (Yes. That’s right. Her Even MORE Royal Majesty, Ann freakin’ Romney.) Cox also testified that he witnessed Maureen McDonnell tried to pitch Ann Romney on Anatabloc while they were all on a campaign bus shortly after the endorsement. “Mrs. McDonnell was talking to Ann Romney about how Anatabloc could potentially cure MS,” he said. [Pause for laughter. And more laughter. Go on, take your time.] Asked Ann Romney’s response, he replied, “She’s extremely classy. She listened.” Asked for his own, Cox said, “I was horrified. I thought it was a train wreck. I thought it was improper that Maureen would try to push this product on Ann Romney, and I didn’t think it showed the governor in a great light.” Obviously, we are aghast at the classy-less-ness of trying to pimp Uncle Jonnie’s miracle weed — now in new snake oil flavor! — to the presumptive* next first family of the United States of America. Quelle horreur! (That’s French for “SERIOUSLY, lady?) But we are stone cold shocked that in this story of bad Republicans behaving badly, Ann Romney — whose horse has more style and class than you, and you over there, and you women, of course, and you people — is not, in this one-time-only particular instance, the rottenest egg. Allegedly. *Unskewed, of course. [WaPo] Follow Kaili Joy Gray on Twitter. She cures what ails you. ||||| RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The person who handled former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell's schedule is testifying in his public corruption trial. Former McDonnell scheduler Monica Block began testifying Monday about events the former first couple attended with Jonnie Williams, the former CEO of Star Scientific Inc. Among them was one in Richmond that was a last-minute addition to McDonnell's schedule while the General Assembly was in session, which Block said was unusual. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, are charged in a 14-count indictment with accepting more than $165,000 in gifts and loans from Williams in exchange for their help promoting his company's products. Williams testified under immunity as the prosecution's star witness, starting late last Wednesday and finishing Monday. Block will be back on the stand for cross-examination by defense lawyers Tuesday.

– As Virginia's former first couple faces trial for alleged graft, a former aide to ex-Gov. Bob McDonnell is offering some damning testimony. McDonnell's wife tried to pitch a nutritional supplement to Mitt Romney, the aide testified, and when that fell through, she pitched it to Ann Romney instead. The supplement, Anatabloc, is produced by Star Scientific—which was then headed by Jonnie Williams, who allegedly provided the couple with gifts while they allegedly used their power for his benefit. Maureen McDonnell and Williams arrived at a press conference aiming to pitch Anatabloc to Mitt Romney, whom Bob had recently endorsed, in 2012, ex-aide Phil Cox said, per the Washington Post. After Cox halted them, he testified, Maureen spoke to Ann Romney about the supplement on a Romney campaign bus. Ann Romney has multiple sclerosis, and Maureen told her Anatabloc could "potentially cure" it, Cox said. (In other words, as Wonkette sees it, Maureen McDonnell "offered to cure Ann Romney's MS with this one weird trick.") "I was horrified," Cox said. “I thought it was a train wreck." Meanwhile, a former McDonnell scheduler has testified that the first couple once went to a last-minute event with Williams even though the General Assembly was in session, the AP reports.

A 19-year-old rape survivor has been sentenced to 30 years in prison in El Salvador after she suffered a stillbirth due to complications during her pregnancy. Evelyn Beatriz Hernandez Cruz was convicted of "aggravated homicide" on Wednesday under what Amnesty International called El Salvador's "retrograde anti-abortion law". Local rights groups say Hernandez Cruz had been raped months before going into labour, but had not told police out of fear. She also said she did not know she was pregnant when she suffered severe abdominal pain and fainted in her bathroom in April 2016. Hospital staff reported her to officials and she was charged after the body of the feotus was found in a toilet. According to local media, Hernandez Cruz was convicted on grounds that she did not get prenatal care. Prosecutors also argued that the baby may have died after birth. El Salvador is one of five countries where abortion is criminalised in all cases. Under the country's law, which was implemented in 1998, women can be charged for murder and other related charges even when a pregnancy is the result of rape, incest or when the life or health of the pregnant woman or girl is at risk. A woman can be punished by up to eight years, and in some cases women have been given sentences of up to 40 years if a judge determines "homicide" was committed. Politics in El Salvador are highly influenced by the Catholic Church. "El Salvador's anti-abortion law is causing nothing but pain and suffering to countless women and girls and their families," Amnesty's Americas Director Erika Guevara-Rosas said in a statement on Thursday. "It goes against human rights and it has no place in the country or anywhere." Human Rights Watch has also called the law a risk to "women's life and health". Evelyn was sentenced 30 yrs for an obstetric emergency today. This is Justice in #ElSalvador When will it end? #Las17 pic.twitter.com/AK4xLhfJkC — Kristen Thompson (@herequeer) 5 July 2017 According to the Citizens Group for the Decriminalisation of Abortion (CDFA), Hernandez Cruz's attorneys plan to appeal the ruling. "Evelyn has been charged unfairly," defence attorney Dennis Munoz said, according to CDFA. "It's a decision based on morality, not the law or justice." Pressure mounts El Salvador-based Alliance for Women's Health and Life documented at least 147 cases where women were charged with crimes under the abortion law between 2000 and 2014. Among them was Maria Teresa Rivera, who was sentenced to 40 years in prison for "aggravated homicide" in 2011 after having a stillbirth in her bathroom. She did not know she was pregnant at the time. She was released in 2016 after serving four-and-a-half years. Pressure from women and rights groups has mounted across Latin America for governments to relax abortion laws. READ MORE: Dying woman denied abortion in El Salvador Earlier this year, a bill was introduced in the El Salvador that would change the law to allow abortion in some circumstances, such as rape or when a woman's health was a risk. The proposed legislation remains in committee and there has been no decision as to whether it will be sent to parliament. In May, a group of UN experts urged El Salvador to "allow the termination of pregnancy in specific circumstances". "The criminalisation of the termination of pregnancy imposes an intolerable cost on the women, their families and the society," the experts said. "It restricts women's access to sexual and reproductive health services and information," they added, saying El Salvador's law is in "contrary to international human rights standards and violates the country's international obligations". A protest against the court's decision in Hernandez Cruz's case is expected later on Friday. ||||| The sentence against a 19-year-old rape survivor of 30 years in prison on charges of “aggravated homicide” after she suffered pregnancy-related complications, is a terrifying example of the need for El Salvador to urgently repeal its retrograde anti-abortion law, Amnesty International said. “El Salvador’s anti-abortion law is causing nothing but pain and suffering to countless women and girls and their families. It goes against human rights and it has no place in the country or anywhere,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International. “The total ban on abortion in El Salvador violates women’s rights to life, health, privacy, due process and freedom from discrimination, violence and torture and other ill-treatment. All women and girls imprisoned for having had an abortion or experiencing obstetric emergencies should be immediately and unconditionally released, and the law must be repealed without delay.” Evelyn Beatriz was admitted to a health center in Cojutepeque, north of San Salvador, on April 6, 2016 after she fainted at home. She was in labor but unaware she was pregnant. Local organizations say Evelyn had been raped months earlier but that she had not reported it to the authorities due to fear. Staff at the hospital reported Evelyn to the authorities. She was taken to court and on July 5, 2017, was sentenced to 30 years in jail for an “aggravated homicide.” Her lawyers are appealing the sentence. Background Information Abortion has been criminalized in all circumstances in El Salvador since 1998, even when the pregnancy is the result of rape, incest, or when the life or health of the pregnant woman or girl is at risk. Many women and girls have lost their lives or been imprisoned due to the total abortion ban. The current legal framework forces women and girls to resort to unsafe abortions to save their lives, and creates an atmosphere of suspicion around women who miscarry or experience other obstetric emergencies. As a result, women who experience complications during pregnancy have been prosecuted and convicted on charges of “aggravated murder” with sentences of up to 40 years’ imprisonment. ||||| A high school student was convicted on the grounds that failing to seek antenatal care amounted to murder, after giving birth in a bathroom in 2016 A teenage rape victim in El Salvador has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for murder after having a stillbirth, the latest in a long line of failures of justice against pregnant women in the Central American country. El Salvador: where women are thrown into jail for losing a baby | Jonathan Watts Read more Evelyn Beatriz Hernandez Cruz, 19, from a small rural community in Cuscatlán, eastern El Salvador, was convicted on the grounds that failing to seek antenatal care amounted to murder. Hernandez, a high school student, gave birth into the toilet in April 2016 after falling ill with acute back and stomach pain. Hernandez, who at the time was 18, was in her third trimester, but hadn’t realised that she was pregnant. She had been repeatedly raped by a gang member over several months as part of a forced sexual relationship. Medical experts were unable to ascertain whether the foetus died in utero or in the moments after delivery. The female judge accepted the prosecutor’s claims that Hernandez failed to seek antenatal care because she did not want the baby, and threw him into the toilet intending to kill him. In sentencing, the judge went further and suggested that Hernandez could not have acted alone and that her mother may also be criminally responsible. According to Morena Herrera, executive director of the Citizens’ Group for the Decriminalisation of Abortion, the verdict was based on prejudices held by the prosecutor and judge. “The judgment sentencing Evelyn to 30 years in prison shows how in El Salvador justice is applied without direct proof, without sufficient evidence that clarifies what a woman has done,” Herrera said. El Salvador – one of five countries where abortion is illegal in all circumstances – has imprisoned dozens of mainly poor young women for murder after they suffered obstetric complications. Abortion was criminalised in El Salvador 20 years ago, after legislators from across the political spectrum voted to strip women of their reproductive rights without any public debate or medical consultation about the consequences. The 1997 reform was passed after a shadowy campaign by a small group of powerful anti-choice groups linked to the Catholic church. Hopes had been raised that the ban would be relaxed amid a groundswell of public and medical support for a parliamentary bill proposing to allow abortion in cases of rape or human trafficking; when the foetus is unviable; or to protect the pregnant woman’s health or life. But four months after the parliamentary hearings ended, the bill remains in the hands of the legislative committee. The nine cross-party deputies have yet to decide whether the bill should be sent to the legislative assembly for a vote. Hernandez insists that she only realised she had given birth after the fact, when her mother took her to hospital with severe abdominal pain. The perils of pregnancy in a country where abortion is a crime - in pictures Read more Hernandez was arrested after police found the deceased foetus in the toilet. She spent a week handcuffed to a hospital bed while being treated for severe anaemia and a urinary tract infection, and has been detained ever since. Her lawyer condemned Wednesday’s decision as unjust and unlawful. “The judge’s verdict doesn’t reflect the evidence presented in court. It’s a decision based on morality, not the law or justice,” said Dennis Munoz. Lawyers will appeal the verdict, but Hernandez faces a long road to justice. In 2014 the Citizens’ Group launched a campaign to seek clemency for 17 women wrongly jailed for murder who had exhausted all other legal appeals. Three of the women known as Las 17 have so far been freed; another will be released next year after her sentence was reduced from 30 to 15 years. At least five other women including Hernandez have since been jailed. ||||| Image copyright Getty Images A teenager in El Salvador has been sentenced to 30 years in jail for aggravated homicide after delivering a stillborn baby in a toilet. Prosecutors argued Evelyn Beatriz Hernandez Cruz had avoided antenatal care, tantamount to killing the child. Her lawyers said she did not know she was pregnant and no crime had occurred. They said the pregnancy was as a result of repeated rapes she did not report. The Central American country completely bans abortion in all circumstances. Dozens of women have been imprisoned for the deaths of their foetuses in cases where they said they had suffered miscarriages or stillbirths. In April last year, Ms Hernandez gave birth in the latrine of her home in a small rural community. She lost consciousness after losing large amounts of blood. When her mother took her to hospital, leaving the baby's remains behind, Ms Hernandez was detained on suspicion of procuring an abortion. Eleven days later she had an initial court hearing and she has been in custody since. Her charge was changed to aggravated homicide when no evidence was found of her having had an abortion. Although she was in the third trimester, Ms Hernandez said she had confused the symptoms of pregnancy with stomach ache because she had experienced intermittent bleeding, which she thought was her menstrual period. She told the court: "I did not want to kill my son." The judge did not believe she did not know she was pregnant. Much of the case centred on whether the baby was dead at birth or died in the moments afterwards, but medical experts were unable to determine the answer definitively. The human rights organisation Amnesty International condemned the sentence and Ms Hernandez's lawyer, Bertha de Leon, said she would appeal. Efe Alberto Romero, from the Citizens' Group for the Decriminalisation of Abortion, said witnesses could not determine whether Ms Hernandez had intended for the baby to die, and that she had become pregnant due to repeated rapes in a forced sexual relationship. Her lawyers said she had been too frightened to report the rapes. Some reports say the man who raped her was a gang member. Pro-choice campaigners in El Salvador and around the world have argued that the country's absolute abortion ban criminalises people who have not sought abortions but have had natural miscarriages, as well as forcing women to carry pregnancies to term despite risk to their own lives. Countries with an absolute ban on abortion: ||||| Notes: Data and designations from the United Nations Population Division as of 2013. Countries included are the 193 U.N. member states and three nonmember states: Cook Islands, Holy See and Niue. Data pertain to pre-secession Sudan. Data for South Sudan, a U.N. member state, are not available; South Sudan is shown as "data unavailable." Territories and overseas departments are shown as "no data" regardless of governing country's abortion laws. Many countries that allow abortions on request do not allow women to terminate their pregnancies after a certain point (e.g., 20 weeks).

– In what the Guardian is calling "the latest in a long line of failures of justice against pregnant women" in El Salvador, a 19-year-old was on Wednesday sentenced to 30 years in prison after a stillbirth. Per Al Jazeera, Evelyn Beatriz Hernandez Cruz was convicted of "aggravated homicide," accused by prosecutors of not seeking proper prenatal care. Hernandez says she hadn't known she was pregnant until, at the age of 18, she went into labor in a bathroom in April 2016 after severe stomach and back pain; her pregnancy reportedly came about after she'd been raped repeatedly by a gang member. Per the BBC, Hernandez's lawyers say she'd been too scared to ever report the rapes to police. She gave birth into a toilet, and prosecutors scoffed at her claims of ignorance, saying she knew about the pregnancy, didn't want the baby, and tried to kill him by tossing him into the toilet after he was born. Medical experts couldn't say for sure if the baby had been born deceased or died just after delivery. El Salvador is one of just six countries in the world that don't allow abortions under any circumstances. (The others are Chile, the Dominican Republic, Malta, Nicaragua, and Vatican City, per the Pew Research Center.) A parliamentary bill is now in circulation to ease the nation's abortion restrictions, but the bill is currently stuck in a legislative committee. The case is "a terrifying example of the need for El Salvador to urgently repeal its retrograde anti-abortion law," says Amnesty International in a release. (A tragic ending to one El Salvadoran woman's pregnancy.)

In its first public communication since Segal and Millership took over, Avid Life Media is sharing a social media and radio message with its members — and has announced a new direction and total repositioning of all its brands. "A year ago, Avid Life Media was silenced by a devastating, criminal hack that affected our company and some of our members. The company is truly sorry for how people's lives and relationships may have been affected by the criminal theft of personal information. That's why we're charting a new course and making some big changes," says Segal. "Like all businesses in today's security reality, Avid Life Media has been investing even more heavily in security enhancements and privacy safeguards to deal with evolving cyber threats over the past year, and that will continue," he adds. Following the criminal hack on the company, Segal says Avid Life Media partnered with Deloitte's cyber security team, one of the world's leading integrated cyber risk management consultants, to implement new and enhanced security safeguards and 24/7 monitoring. The company is also introducing new, secure and discreet payment options. "Our new team is committed to taking care of our members and to building on our portfolio of unique and open-minded online dating brands," says Millership, who confirms a total business transformation and rebranding is in the works for Avid Life Media, Ashley Madison and all the company's brands. "Millions of people have continued to connect on our sites during the past year and they deserve a discreet, open-minded community where they can connect with like-minded individuals," he says. Due Diligence Journey Both Segal and Millership were carefully selected for their unique leadership abilities: Segal for his marketing and communications leadership; and, Millership for his operational and repositioning experience. Millership and Segal each bring more than 20 years' experience in helping companies reposition, evolve and grow. New Leadership & Vision Set to Transform Ashley Madison When they first were presented with the opportunity to lead Avid Life Media, Segal says they were intrigued enough to embark on an extensive due diligence process. "We talked about how we could help modernize Ashley Madison with a more open-minded, adventurous spirit," recalls Segal. "Soon we were deep into a few months of due diligence to discover what challenges the company was facing and if the fundamentals were in place to allow the company to evolve and grow," he says. During their due diligence process, the Board mandated a team of independent forensic accounting investigators to review past business practices around bots and the ratio of male and female US members who were active on the site. The investigation confirmed for Segal and Millership that bots were no longer in use and verified the authenticity of female members. "My understanding is that bots are widespread in the industry, but they are no longer being used, and will not be used, at Avid Life Media and Ashley Madison," says Millership. The independent report confirms that the company discontinued the practise in North America in 2014 and internationally in 2015, he explains. Building the World's Most Open-Minded Dating Community "Thousands of new members join Ashley Madison every day from all around the world," says Millership. "With the right investment, innovation and customer care, the brand has promising potential to overcome its current challenges," he says. Segal and Millership's ultimate goal is to rebuild Ashley Madison as the world's most open-minded dating community. "We're investing heavily in technology – and we're looking at acquisitions, a total rebranding, new features, partnerships and new ventures," says Millership, adding that the company is in the midst of constructing a new office in Toronto to give its team of 100 employees a completely fresh start. "Repositioning Avid Life Media and Ashley Madison is an exciting challenge," says Segal. "We believe Ashley Madison can transform to better reflect modern relationships and operate with open-minded integrity and an adventurous spirit. Our team will continue to share updates and more information over the next few months as we build upon that vision," he says. About Avid Life Media Avid Life Media is a privately held company that owns and operates many of the world's most open-minded and unique dating brands, including: Ashley Madison, Established Men and Cougar Life. Founded in 2007, the company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. To learn more and follow the transformation, visit ashleymadison.com Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160705/386008 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160705/386009 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/avid-life-media-breaks-its-silence---announces-new-ceo--president---new-leadership-and-vision-set-to-transform-ashley-madison-300293808.html SOURCE Avid Life Media ||||| Have you been flirting with a computer program behind your wife’s back? "Life is short, have an affair" was the slogan of infidelity website Ashley Madison, which was famously hacked in 2015. What they didn't say was that you might be having a strictly online affair with a fake female profile, designed to trick you into entering your credit card details, under the misapprehension that you were chatting with a real woman rather than an algorithm. Now Reuters reports that Ashley Madison's parent company Avid is being investigated by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after class action law suits were filed in the United States and Canada on behalf of customers whose details were exposed following the hack, and amid allegations that fake female profiles were used by the site to manipulate users: An Ernst & Young report commissioned by Avid and shared with Reuters confirmed that Avid used computer programs, dubbed fembots, that impersonated real women, striking up conversations with paying male customers. Avid shut down the fake profiles in the United States, Canada and Australia in 2014, and by late 2015 in the rest of the world, but some U.S. users had message exchanges with foreign fembots until late in 2015, according to the report. Ashley Madison had been planning to IPO before it was royally hacked. You have to imagine that it would have found itself in even hotter water if it had successfully floated on the stock market only to have it later revealed that it had been less than transparent with investors about its true (human) membership numbers. The controversial dating site is under new management following the departure of CEO Noel Biderman (who has since been busy trying to clean the internet of references to his past with Ashley Madison), and the site has a brand new look which de-emphasises having an affair and claims it "is about so much more than infidelity." New bosses Rob Segal and James Millership tell Reuters that the firm is spending millions on security and privacy improvements. But that, of course, is going to be little comfort for those have already been burnt by Ashley Madison - having had their personal information exposed, and in some cases found themselves on the receiving end of blackmail letters or even driven to suicide. The greatest irony of all is that some men have had their lives ruined and privacy invaded, when their chances of having an affair were close to zero, because they were speaking to a computer program rather than a flirting female. Further reading:

– Two new executives at cheaters dating site Ashley Madison are offering up a mega-mea culpa for last year's hack-and-leak of user information, but that's likely not going to stem the flow of issues its parent company is now facing, including class-action lawsuits and an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, Reuters reports. CEO Rob Segal and President James Millership have been at the helm of Avid Life Media for three months, notes a Tuesday press release, trying to rebrand and rescue the site after the privacy debacle and the resignation of ex-CEO and self-proclaimed "king of infidelity" Noel Biderman, who Graham Cluley's security site says has "been busy trying to clean the Internet" of his past association with Ashley Madison. "A year ago, Avid Life Media was silenced by a devastating, criminal hack that affected our company and some of our members," Segal says. "The company is truly sorry for how people's lives and relationships may have been affected by the criminal theft of personal information." Some of the "big changes" Segal notes include a partnership with a Deloitte cybersecurity team—whose leader tells Reuters they found "simple backdoors" into the site's servers—to add privacy and security safeguards, as well as discreet ways to pay. And the Ashley Madison site itself has seen subtle changes, including an assertion that the site "today is about so much more than infidelity, it's about all kinds of adult dating." As for the FTC probe, Avid says it doesn't yet know the specifics, but they're likely to partly revolve around multiple suits for the security breach, as well as for allegations of using "fembots" to interact with male users—something security blogger Cluley calls the "greatest irony of all." "Some men have had their lives ruined and privacy invaded, when their chances of having an affair were close to zero, because they were speaking to a computer program rather than a flirting female," he writes. (Are those masks announced earlier this year part of the site's new security changes?)

(Courtesy Campaign Against Sex Robots) Imagine: It’s 2030, or 2040, or 2050. You’re at home with your robot. It’s a hot night, and there’s not much to do. You’re feeling a little romantic. So you sidle on over … Stop. According to a new paper, having intercourse with sex robots — a technology that’s not quite there yet, but easy to imagine in the decades to come — is unethical. “I started thinking, ‘Oh, no, something needs to be said about this,'” Kathleen Richardson, a senior research fellow in the ethics of robotics at De Montfort University in Leicester, England, said of her early research into sex robots that recreated what she called the “prostitute-john” relationship. “This is not right.” Richardson’s umbrage was explained in a paper, “The Asymmetrical ‘Relationship’: Parallels Between Prostitution and the Development of Sex Robots,” presented at Ethicomp, “a forum to discuss ethical issues around computers” held in Leicester early this month. “I propose that extending relations of prostitution into machines is neither ethical, nor is it safe,” the paper read. “If anything the development of sex robots will further reinforce relations of power that do not recognise both parties as human subjects.” In a telephone interview with The Washington Post, Richardson — with Erik Billing of the University of Skövde in Sweden, the co-creator of the Campaign Against Sex Robots — said that she is not anti-sex. But she does object that the unequal power relationship that’s part of sex work between humans may be replicated in robot-human encounters — that will then be reinforced in human-human encounters, like a vicious circle. “Technology is not neutral,” she said. “It’s informed by class, race and gender. Political power informs the development of technology. That’s why we can do something about it. These robots will contribute to more sexual exploitation. ” From “Westworld” to “Blade Runner” to “A.I.” to more recent fare like the film “Ex Machina” and the AMC show “HUMANS,” robotic sex workers are a familiar presence in science fiction. But we’re not really at the point where one can cruise down to a red-light district — or click over to an e-tailer — and purchase a sexual encounter with a machine that seems human. So what is Richardson talking about? In the AMC show “HUMANS,” about sentient robots, a family’s life becomes complicated when a husband has sex with his “synthetic,” played by Gemma Chan, above. Like Elon Musk decrying the rise of killer robots, Richardson is less worried about what exists than what soon will. She mentioned companies like True Companion and Real Doll whose merchandise looks primitive — even creepy — but may be a harbinger of sex work’s future. She also said some businesses planned to build models that look like children. [Why Elon Musk is scared of artificial intelligence — and Terminators] “There are companies … that don’t have animatronics but rely on the same idea,” she said. “It’s a new and emerging technology, but let’s nip in the bud.” Billing, an associate senior lecturer in informatics — that’s the study of information — in Sweden, said that films such as “Ex Machina,” with attractive robots played by indie film darlings, ask big questions about what it will mean when machines becomes sentient. But these big questions can distract from the robots we already have, and how we interact with them. “To some degree, these robots already exist,” he said. “… I think that the actual machines that are out there are debated too little.” The nascent sex robot industry, however, defended its evolving product line. “We are not supplanting the wife or trying to replace a girlfriend,” True Companion’s chief executive Douglas Hines told the BBC. “This is a solution for people who are between relationships or someone who has lost a spouse. … People can find happiness and fulfillment other than via human interaction.” If sex robots still look like the equivalent of the Apple IIe, the philosophical literature on their rise is already quite deep. In 2007, David Levy took on the topic in “Love and Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships.” “Love with robots will be as normal as love with other humans,” Levy wrote, “while the number of sexual acts and lovemaking positions commonly practiced between humans will be extended, as robots teach us more than is in all of the world’s published sex manuals combined.” Almost a decade later, he hasn’t changed his mind. Levy also pointed out something perhaps obvious — machines are already a part of our sex lives. “There is an increasing number of people who find it difficult to form relationships and this will fill a void,” he told the BBC. “It is not demeaning to women any more than vibrators are demeaning.” Asked whether “male” sex robots might also appeal to consumers, Richardson and Billing said that the majority of sex workers are women — though, for the record, there is a male Real Doll. “Well, it will probably happen to minor degree,” Billing said of the rise of male sex robots. “There are certainly male prostitutes but not at all to same degree that there are female prostitutes.” Richardson saw the campaign against sex robots as part of broader efforts to combat both potentially Terminator-like artificial intelligence and sex trafficking. She also criticized Amnesty International’s recent decision to call for decriminalization of the sex trade. There’s nothing inevitable, she said, about exploitation. The future of our technology belongs to us. “It’s important that we have a debate about this,” she said. “Einstein’s theory of relativity — it didn’t have to turn into the atom bomb, right?” More from Morning Mix Suspected Mississippi college shooter dead of self-inflicted gunshot wound Rape, murder and a deepening mystery on a tiny tropical island At least 8 dead, 5 missing in Utah as ‘wall of water’ engulfs cars in flash flooding A cruel death in raging wildfire for elderly Calif. woman with M.S. trapped in home ||||| Robot ethicists have launched the Campaign Against Sex Robots, seeking a ban on the development of robotic sexytimes. The reality of pleasure bots is fast approaching. Mechanical toys for sexual pleasure already exist, of course, and hardware developers are working to incorporate A.I. into their designs. A company called True Companion claims to be producing “the world’s first sex robot,” Roxxxy, this year. Despite questions of technical readiness and ethics, Roxxxy, priced at $7000, has thousands of pre-orders. Advertisement Robot ethicists Kathleen Richardson of De Montfort University and Erik Billing from University of Skövde are the co-creators of the Campaign Against Sex Robots, which seeks to bring awareness to the issue and proposes a robot sex ban. They compare it to similar campaigns that seek to limit development of “killer” robots. Richardson and Billing believe that sex robots will degrade human relationships and reinforce a view of women as sexual objects. “We think that the creation of such robots will contribute to detrimental relationships between men and women, adults and children, men and men and women and women,” Richardson told the BBC. On the Campaign’s website, these ideas are unpacked further, including: We believe the development of sex robots further objectifies women and children. The development of sex robots and the ideas to support their production show the immense horrors still present in the world of prostitution which is built on the “perceived” inferiority of women and children and therefore justifies their uses as sex objects. We propose that the development of sex robots will further reduce human empathy that can only be developed by an experience of mutual relationship. Advertisement The Campaign rejects the argument that the development of sex robots could actually improve the plight of sex workers around the globe, or that there are plenty of lonely people—of any gender—interested in a robot companion for a variety of reasons. Richardson is also against Amnesty International’s call to decriminalize human sex work. While I do not want to dismiss the ethicists’ concerns or claims entirely—sex bots should be a topic for spirited debate—it seems to me that the Campaign should be focusing more on helping to establish reasonable guidelines moving forward, rather than an outright ban. That ban isn’t going to happen, nor should it. Prohibition is seldom a fix. We’re moving towards a future of sex with robots whether we like it or not. An outright ban would simply empower a new kind of robot pimp and create an unregulated robot sex black market where anything goes. Why not push for reasonable regulations instead, like ensuring the robots are secure against malware, must look/act of legal age, and establishing legal minimum ages (18+) to use their services? Advertisement There’s a puritanical element to the Campaign’s written goals, and despite their stated primary concern for women and children, a sort of sexist edge that assumes few women would be interested in sexual relations with bots. Richardson and Billings spoke to The Washington Post: Asked whether “male” sex robots might also appeal to consumers, Richardson and Billing said that the majority of sex workers are women — though, for the record, there is a male Real Doll. “Well, it will probably happen to minor degree,” Billing said of the rise of male sex robots. “There are certainly male prostitutes but not at all to same degree that there are female prostitutes.” Advertisement This is, however, brave new uncharted robot sex-land, and these two have clearly never seen Jude Law as a dashing sex mecha in the movie A.I. Nor do they venture into the realms of alternative sexualities or consideration of bodies or relationships that might benefit from a helping robot hand. Despite their focus on a highly advanced future, these ethicists are heavily weighted by the traditions of the past. It’s impossible to extrapolate exactly what our lives with potential robot sex parters will mean. In the book Love and Sex with Robots, author David Levy suggests the time when human-bot relations are commonplace is fast approaching, and that they will be normalized by 2050. We need to talk about what robot companions mean and how they will fit into humanity, not condemn them. The Campaign Against Robot Sex feels too much like an anti-porn brigade, blaming the product instead of the culture for wrongs committed. Instead of demonizing what we don’t know, we should be working on proposals to make the forthcoming industry safe—for humans and robots both. Advertisement [BBC; Washington Post; Campaign Against Robot Sex] ||||| Image copyright True Companion Image caption Robot ethicist Kathleen Richardson has called for a ban on sex robots like Roxxxy, currently a prototype A campaign has been launched calling for a ban on the development of robots that can be used for sex. Such a use of the technology is unnecessary and undesirable, said campaign leader Dr Kathleen Richardson. Sex dolls already on the market are becoming more sophisticated and some are now hoping to build artificial intelligence into their products. Those working in the field say that there is a need for such robots. Dr Richardson, a robot ethicist at De Montfort University in Leicester, wants to raise awareness of the issue and persuade those developing sex robots to rethink how their technology is used. "Sex robots seem to be a growing focus in the robotics industry and the models that they draw on - how they will look, what roles they would play - are very disturbing indeed," she told the BBC. She believes that they reinforce traditional stereotypes of women and the view that a relationship need be nothing more than physical. "We think that the creation of such robots will contribute to detrimental relationships between men and women, adults and children, men and men and women and women," she said. Intelligent Machines - a BBC News series looking at AI and robotics Self-learning engine Image copyright Thinkstock Image caption Will robot/human relationships ever be real? Abyss Creations, which sells male and female sex toys, is now starting to introduce electronics into its creations. Meanwhile True Companion boasts that it is developing "the world's first sex robot" and promises to launch its first doll, Roxxxy, later this year. Chief executive Douglas Hines believes there is a real need for products such as Roxxxy. "We are not supplanting the wife or trying to replace a girlfriend. This is a solution for people who are between relationships or someone who has lost a spouse. "People can find happiness and fulfilment other than via human interaction," he added. He told the BBC that he hopes Roxxxy will eventually become a self-learning engine that is able to talk to her owner and learn his likes or dislikes. "The physical act of sex will only be a small part of the time you spend with a sex robot - the majority of time will be spent socialising and interacting," he said. Some experts are sceptical about the claims made for Roxxxy, given the huge complexity of creating intelligent machines but the first version - which will sell for $7,000 (£4,530) - has had thousands of pre-orders, according to Mr Hines. Dr Kevin Curran, a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, believes such products are about to become mass market. "We would be naive to ignore market forces for 'intimate robots'. Building human-like robots is quite easy once the mechanics are taken care of," he told the BBC. "Turning these robots into attractive companions is simply adding a 'skin'. Not difficult at all and not done much to date as most robots are built in research-led institutions - not businesses. That time is coming to an end," he said. However, he thinks a public backlash is inevitable. "There have been campaign groups actively voicing opposition to killer robots but I foresee the time soon when humans are lobbying against robot companions or at least shouting 'not in my backyard'," he said. Attractive companions David Levy, author of the book Love and Sex with Robots, believes that there will be a huge market for dolls such as Roxxy and predicts that by 2050, intimate relationships between robots and humans will be commonplace. "There is an increasing number of people who find it difficult to form relationships and this will fill a void. It is not demeaning to women any more than vibrators are demeaning," he told the BBC. As such robots become more sophisticated and are able to simulate human behaviour, so the relationship with humans will become more complex, he thinks. Dr Curran worries that society as a whole is ill-prepared for an age where sophisticated robotic companions are the norm. "Have we sufficient legalisation in place for the issues that can arise in a future where robots are sufficiently advanced as to be indistinguishable from humans at first glance? Can a robot marry? Can a robot couple adopt a child?" he said.

– Sex bots are coming—one expert believes they'll be commonplace by 2050—and two robot ethicists say now is the time to act to make sure R2D2 doesn't end up trapped in white slavery. Professors Kathleen Richardson and Erik Billing, who launched the Campaign Against Sex Robots today, claim the proliferation of artificially intelligent sex toys will prevent humans from forming meaningful relationships with each other and reinforce the sexual objectification of women, Gizmodo reports. "These robots will contribute to more sexual exploitation," Richardson tells the Washington Post. In an interview with the BBC, she calls these future sex machines "very disturbing indeed." But, not everyone is buying it. "There is an increasing number of people who find it difficult to form relationships, and this will fill a void," David Levy, author of Love and Sex with Robots, tells the BBC. "It is not demeaning to women any more than vibrators are demeaning." Gizmodo's Kaila Hale-Stern says the goal should be guidelines on the construction and use of sex robots. "That ban isn’t going to happen, nor should it," she writes. "Prohibition is seldom a fix." She worries a ban would create "robot pimps" and an "unregulated robot sex black market." This is certainly a complex issue worthy of further of debate, so let's turn to an educational film from the year 3000 for the final word.

Add a location to your Tweets When you tweet with a location, Twitter stores that location. You can switch location on/off before each Tweet and always have the option to delete your location history. Learn more ||||| @ TheMJCast it angers me to see how obviously intentional it was for them to be this insulting, not just towards my father, but my godmother liz as well ||||| @ TheMJCast i'm so incredibly offended by it, as i'm sure plenty of people are as well, and it honestly makes me want to vomit. ||||| British actor explains his decision to play the pop star in an upcoming Sky TV comedy – a casting that has led to a row over race Joseph Fiennes has defended his decision to play Michael Jackson in an upcoming comedy, despite a furore over the casting of a white British actor in the role of a black American superstar. Fiennes told AFPTV on Thursday that he was “shocked” at being chosen for the role, but insisted he had no qualms about taking on “a wonderful role” in what was “just a satire”. Joseph Fiennes as Michael Jackson shows race problems before Oscars row Read more Fiennes plays Jackson in the upcoming Elizabeth, Michael and Marlon, a short and surreal comedy produced by British pay-TV channel Sky Arts, which imagines Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando taking a road trip together in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on New York. “Sky Arts, who are dedicated to half-hour comedies, this year have commissioned a series of comedies, one of which surrounds the road-trip of Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando,” Fiennes told AFPTV in Rome. “I was shocked that they would come to me for the casting. You have to ask them as to why they would want to cast me.” The decision to give Fiennes the role has triggered suggestions that mainstream media have learned nothing from the row over the lack of black candidates for the major Oscar acting awards this year, for the second straight year. But he suggested critics getting worked up about his casting were overplaying the importance of the piece. “I felt this was a wonderful challenge, I read the script and it’s very funny. “It’s a satire, it’s just a 20-minute satire. It’s a sketch about a story that could have been a legend or could have been true. So we’ll see what the audience make of it.” Fiennes was in Rome to promote his latest film, Risen, in which he plays a Roman officer investigating the disappearance of Jesus Christ’s body after his crucifixion – the point at which Christian tradition maintains he was resurrected. The film has been given the blessing of the Vatican, and Fiennes and his wife María Dolores Diéguez met Pope Francis on Wednesday. The actor said he was a fan of the Argentinian pontiff and his efforts to modernise the Church. “I like what he represents,” he said. “I feel it’s something tangible to me in the modern age. He’s a man who carries his own suitcase. He’s a man that doesn’t want the pomp and the ceremony. He’s stripping it down. “I don’t know if that’s his Jesuit roots, but I like that he’s challenging, especially in today’s world. I think it’s wonderful that he represents an authenticity that speaks to the people. So he’s an important man, he’s deeply connected in a spiritual way.” Fiennes, best known for playing England’s most famous playwright in 1998 movie Shakespeare in Love, admitted that experiencing Francis’s charisma at close hand had been an emotional experience. “I tried to maintain a face that was calm and cool but I blubbered like a baby,” he said. “I don’t know what it is, he’s authentic!” ||||| Important Announcement As of January 31, 2017, CBS Local will no longer be a part of the mPLUS Rewards network. At that time, registered users will no longer accrue points by visiting CBS Local sites; however, users will be able to start earning and redeeming mPLUS reward points following the instructions below. Don't worry -- you will not lose your mPLUS Rewards account or any of your points. You can keep enjoying mPLUS Rewards in many other apps. Here's how: Check out the mPLus Rewards apps in iTunes or find one on the mPLUS Rewards website. Download an app you're interested in & log into mPLUS Rewards. You'll see your point balance & can start earning points again! If you have any questions, please contact us at: support@audioadcenter.com Thank you for your attention, please continue to CBS Local Rewards ||||| Photo: Getty Images Michael Jackson may have been adamant about not wanting a white person to portray him, but Joseph Fiennes, a white actor who will play the black music icon in a 9/11 road-trip comedy airing on British TV, says his whitewashed depiction of the King of Pop is a case of artistic license. Fiennes tells the AP, “I deal in imagination, so I don’t think imagination should have rules stamped on them” — and insists the “colorblind” casting wasn’t meant to be offensive: “If it promotes stereotyping, then it’s wrong. I made a distinction that the Jackson project doesn’t do that.” Still, even Fiennes admits that he “wouldn’t be the guy for the job” if the project were anything more than a 20-minute “sweet comedy” sketch. (The project also stars Stockard Channing as Liz Taylor and Brian Cox as Marlon Brando.) “This is territory that is sensitive,” he says. “One must determine if this portrayal is one that is going to be positive entertainment, and one that will not bring about division and put anyone’s noses out of joint, so I went with the mind that this was a positive, lighthearted comedy.” He likens his role to a black actress he once saw play Marilyn Monroe at the National Theatre, and decries the “lack of imagination” that kept some critics from accepting the race-bent casting. ||||| Add a location to your Tweets When you tweet with a location, Twitter stores that location. You can switch location on/off before each Tweet and always have the option to delete your location history. Learn more ||||| @ TheMJCast where is the respect? they worked through blood sweat and tears for ages to create such profound and remarkable legacies. shameful portrayal

– In case you were wondering how Paris Jackson feels about a white British guy playing her father, well ... she is not a fan. Michael Jackson podcast The MJCast, which had previously called for a boycott of Joseph Fiennes-starring Urban Myths, tweeted at Paris Wednesday asking for her thoughts. She didn't hold back, replying that Fiennes' casting as her dad makes her "want to vomit." She added that she's similarly upset with how her godmother, Elizabeth Taylor, is portrayed in the TV special, and that she finds both portrayals "shameful." Sky Arts, which is running Urban Myths, responded with a statement to Mashable noting that the series is meant to be "a light hearted look at unlikely stories involving a range of cultural and historical figures" and that "Sky Arts puts the integrity of the creative vision at the heart of all of its original commissions and casting decisions are made within the overall diversity framework which we have set." Fiennes himself has defended his role in the show, calling it "just a satire" and insisting it's "colorblind" and doesn't "[promote] stereotyping." See Fiennes as Michael here.

(CNN) A group of Palestinians set fire overnight to a compound housing Joseph's Tomb -- a religious site in the West Bank venerated by Jews -- sparking condemnations from Palestinian and Israeli authorities. The tomb appeared to be unharmed, but the fire marked another downturn in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after weeks of renewed violence, including the stabbings of Israeli civilians and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces. Jews consider the site in Nablus the final resting place of Joseph, a high Israelite patriarch and son of Jacob who, according to biblical accounts, was sold into slavery as a boy but then rose to become a powerful figure in ancient Egypt, second only to the pharaoh. Jewish devotees at times go to the tomb under Israel Defense Forces escort at night to pray. Christians also consider Joseph's Tomb a holy site. It's been targeted before -- including in 2011 when vandals painted swastikas on its walls. According to a Palestinian official, people went to the site early Friday to erect a barricade to thwart Israeli troops from demolishing homes, a key bone of contention in the Mideast. Israeli officials say tearing down homes of terrorists can deter future attacks, while Palestinians see the tactic as unfair collective punishment that hurts innocent women and children. At some point, a group tried to set fire to Joseph's Tomb, said the official, who did not want to be named. But Palestinian security forces pushed out the crowd and managed to put out the fire. Vow to bring perpetrators of 'despicable act to justice' Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas -- whom Israeli officials have accused of not being vocal enough in condemning attacks on Israeli civilians -- quickly spoke out about the torching of the religious site. "These kinds of acts, or any other acts that violate the law and order ... offend our culture, religion and morals," Abbas said, according to WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency. Abbas ordered a committee to investigate, WAFA reported. But such a move may not placate some Israelis. David Halvry, a spokesman for Jewish settlers in the West Bank, called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to have Israeli troops "retake full responsibility for the holy place." IDF spokesman Peter Lerner promised action. "The burning and desecration of Joseph's Tomb ... is a blatant violation and contradiction of the basic value of freedom of worship," Lerner said. "The IDF will take all measures to bring the perpetrators of this despicable act to justice, restore the site to its previous condition and ensure that the freedom of worship returns to Joseph's Tomb." #IDF will bring perpetrators to justice, restore the site & ensure that freedom of worship returns to Josephs Tomb pic.twitter.com/33xZoN0KWF — Peter Lerner (@LTCPeterLerner) October 16, 2015 Situation on U.N. Security Council agenda The fire follows a spate of recent violence, with both sides trading blame about who is responsible. In the past month, eight Israelis died in 30 attacks involving knives and other weapons, with many more being wounded. Some of the worst have been in Jerusalem -- though Israelis have been targeted elsewhere. The IDF said Palestinian attackers have wielded knifes against Israeli civilians and authorities, and Israeli security forces have turned their guns on them. Israeli authorities have also fired during Palestinian protests that have turned riotous. Five Palestinians were killed Friday in clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank and Gaza, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. Also Friday, 269 Palestinians were injured during confrontations with the IDF in the West Bank, the Palestinian Red Crescent told CNN. Earlier, Palestinian officials said more than 30 Palestinians have been killed in the past month. More than 1,100 have been injured, mostly in fighting with Israeli forces. JUST WATCHED Lone wolf attacks: Jerusalem on edge Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Lone wolf attacks: Jerusalem on edge 02:30 The United States -- consistently supportive of the right of Israelis to defend themselves and usually reserved in its criticism -- has expressed concern about Israeli security forces allegedly using live ammunition in the face of rock-throwing Palestinian youths. The U.N. Security Council is meeting Friday over the unrest. Attacks not believed to be organized The recent knife attacks have confounded Israeli authorities. They have spent millions to prevent suicide bombings with high concrete barriers and to stop rockets from Gaza with the Iron Dome anti-missile system. But a knife is easy to obtain and carry into a crowd. Israeli authorities so far don't believe the attacks are the result of any campaign of violence organized by militant groups. Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians Israeli security forces and emergency personnel attend to an Israeli victim of a Palestinian stabbing attack in Jerusalem on October 30. A Palestinian stabbed two Israelis in Jerusalem before being shot, police and the army said, in the first knife attack in the city in two weeks. Hide Caption 1 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians Israeli police inspect the scene of a stabbing attack in Beit Shemesh, Israel, on Thursday, October 22. Two Palestinian men armed with knives tried to board a bus carrying children but were forced back by people inside the vehicle, police said. The two men were shot by police after they stabbed an Israeli man at a bus stop. Hide Caption 2 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians A police officer injured during an attack at a bus station in Beer Sheva, Israel, is carried from the scene on Sunday, October 18. Ten people were injured and one person, a soldier, was killed, according to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. The attacker -- identified by police as a Bedouin man -- was killed in the shootout on Sunday, but so was an Eritrean migrant who was apparently misidentified by a security guard as a second attacker, police said. Hide Caption 3 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians Israeli border police check Palestinians' identification on October 18 at a checkpoint as they exit the Arab neighborhood of Issawiyeh in Jerusalem. Hide Caption 4 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians Left-wing activists march on Saturday, October 17, in Jerusalem. About 2,000 participants took part in an Arab-Israeli demonstration for peace. Israeli police and security forces remain on high alert around Israel and the West Bank. Hide Caption 5 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians Israeli border police order a Palestinian to lift his shirt at a checkpoint as he exits the Arab neighborhood of Issawiyeh in Jerusalem on October 17. Hide Caption 6 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians An injured Israeli soldier is taken into Hadas hospital on October 17 in Jerusalem after being stabbed in the West Bank city of Hebron. Hide Caption 7 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians Israeli medics carry away the body of a Palestinian man who attempted to stab an Israeli soldier in the east Jerusalem Jewish settlement of Armon Hanatsiv, adjacent to the Palestinian neighborhood of Jabal Mukaber, on October 17. Hide Caption 8 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians Palestinians carry the body of Iyad Awawdeh, 26, during his funeral in the West Bank village of Dora, near Hebron, on October 17. Awawdeh was killed after he stabbed an Israeli soldier, while posing as a journalist, during clashes Friday. Hide Caption 9 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians Palestinian mourners carry the body of Mahmud Homaida, who was killed by the Israeli military the day before, during his funeral in Gaza City. Homaida, 22, was killed near the Nahal Oz border crossing with Israel. Hide Caption 10 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians An Israeli soldier runs to help another who was just stabbed by an alleged Palestinian assailant, seen on the ground holding a knife, during clashes in Hebron, West Bank, on Friday, October 16. In recent weeks, there has been a spike in violence across Israel and the Palestinian territories. Why now? CNN's Ben Wedeman breaks down the issues Hide Caption 11 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians A Palestinian protester uses a slingshot to throw stones toward Israeli security forces during clashes in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on October 16. Hide Caption 12 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians Palestinians kneel during noon prayers in Jerusalem on October 16. Hide Caption 13 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians Two Palestinian women cry Wednesday, October 14, during the funeral of Muataz Ibrahim Zawahra, who was killed in clashes with Israeli troops near Bethlehem. Hide Caption 14 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians Palestinian mourners carry Zawahra's body on October 14. Hide Caption 15 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men gather around the body of Yeshayahu Kirshavski during his funeral in Jerusalem on Tuesday, October 13. According to the Times of Israel, Kirshavski was killed by a Palestinian in a car-ramming attack. Hide Caption 16 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians Kirshavski's funeral continues on October 13. Hide Caption 17 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians Medics attend the scene of a stabbing attack in Jerusalem on October 13. Random, unpredictable attacks have stumped Israeli police, CNN's Ben Wedeman reported. Hide Caption 18 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians A member of Israel's security forces cordons off the site in Jerusalem where a Palestinian man drove into a bus stop and carried out a stabbing attack on October 13. Hide Caption 19 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians A member of Israel's security forces stands in front of Palestinian protesters throwing stones during clashes in Bethlehem on October 13. Hide Caption 20 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians An Israeli police vehicle drives in front of Palestinian protesters in Bethlehem on October 13. Hide Caption 21 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians Palestinians take part in an anti-Israel protest in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on October 13. Hide Caption 22 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians Jewish children pray at the site of a stabbing attack in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City on Monday, October 12. Hide Caption 23 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians A Palestinian protester in Bethlehem throws a tear-gas canister back at Israeli security forces on October 12. Hide Caption 24 of 25 Photos: Tensions escalate between Israelis, Palestinians Israeli soldiers aim their weapons toward Palestinian protesters during clashes in Bethlehem on October 12. Hide Caption 25 of 25 Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, has praised the attacks but not claimed responsibility for them. It's often young Palestinians who may be acting out alone or recruited or at least encouraged via social media, Israeli authorities have said. Civilians arming themselves In this atmosphere of fear, many Israelis are changing the routes of their commutes, and many who have handgun permits are carrying weapons. Others are applying for permits. The Israeli government has even called for them to do so. "The responsible civilian population -- in the framework of the rule of law -- has a part to play," Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Thursday. "We've urged Israelis to be vigilant. ... Having the civilian population work closely with law enforcement is one of the keys in defeating this threat." In recent days, Israeli security forces have swiftly shot dead two Palestinian teenagers who attacked with knives. Abbas, the Palestinian President, accused Israel of committing what he called "extrajudicial executions." Clashes at holy site Palestinian resentments are hardly new, but Israelis and Palestinians have had better relations at times. Those have since been buried by the second intifada, in which organized deadly attacks targeted Israelis from 2000 to 2005, and three wars in Gaza that killed thousands of Palestinians. Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinians in Gaza celebrate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on Tuesday, August 26. After more than seven weeks of heavy fighting, Israel and Hamas agreed to an open-ended ceasefire that puts off dealing with core long-term issues. Hide Caption 1 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinians inspect the damage to a residential building following several late night Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on August 26. Hide Caption 2 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Gila, center, mother of 4-year-old Israeli boy Daniel Tragerman, sits next to his grave during his funeral near the Israel-Gaza border on Sunday, August 24. Hide Caption 3 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinians run away from debris after a bomb from an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Gaza on Saturday, August 23. Hide Caption 4 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – An Israeli soldier smokes a cigarette in a large concrete pipe used as shelter at an army deployment point near the Israeli-Gaza border on Wednesday, August 20. Hide Caption 5 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Light trails made by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip stand out against the night sky on Tuesday, August 19. Despite efforts to come to a peaceful agreement, Gaza militants launched rockets into Israel on Tuesday, and Israel responded with its own rockets. Hide Caption 6 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – An injured Palestinian man is helped into the Shifa hospital in Gaza City on August 19. Hide Caption 7 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Police examine the remains of a rocket launched from Gaza that landed near the kibbutz of Yad Mordechay on August 19. Hide Caption 8 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City on August 19. Hide Caption 9 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Islam El Masri begins to sort through the rubble of her destroyed home in Beit Hanoun, Gaza, on Thursday, August 14. Hide Caption 10 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Israelis gather in Tel Aviv during a protest August 14 calling on the government and the army to end Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza once and for all. Hide Caption 11 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Smoke rises in Gaza City after an airstrike on Saturday, August 9. Hide Caption 12 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli soldiers walk past a Merkava tank as they patrol a field near Israel's border with Gaza on August 9. Hide Caption 13 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – A Palestinian boy salvages family belongings from the rubble of a four-story building after an airstrike in Gaza City on Friday, August 8. Hide Caption 14 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Israelis flee after a rocket fired from Gaza hit the residential neighborhood of Sderot, Israel, on August 8. Hide Caption 15 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – A Palestinian man looks out over destruction in the al-Tufah neighborhood of Gaza City on Wednesday, August 6. Hide Caption 16 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Displaced Palestinians carry their belongings as they leave a United Nations school in Beit Lahiya, Gaza, to return to their homes Tuesday, August 5. Hide Caption 17 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – The body of Avrohom Wallis is carried during his funeral in Jerusalem on Monday, August 4. Wallis was killed in what Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld called a "terror attack," when a man drove an earthmover into a bus in Jerusalem. Hide Caption 18 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli soldiers fire a mortar shell toward Gaza from the Israeli side of the border on August 4. Hide Caption 19 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinians remove rubble from a house hit by an airstrike in the al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on August 4. Hide Caption 20 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – An Israeli drone circles over Gaza City on Sunday, August 3. Hide Caption 21 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – A Palestinian man sits in a hospital in Rafah, Gaza, on August 3. Hide Caption 22 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – An honor guard caries the coffin of Israeli Lt. Hadar Goldin during his funeral in Kfar-saba, Israel, on August 3. Goldin was thought to have been captured during fighting in Gaza but was later declared killed in action by the Israel Defense Forces. Hide Caption 23 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – A Palestinian boy looks for belongings after an airstrike in Rafah on Saturday, August 2. Hide Caption 24 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli soldiers walk to their tank at a staging area near the border with Gaza on August 2. Hide Caption 25 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – A young Palestinian carries damaged copies of the Quran from the rubble of the Imam Al Shafaey mosque in Gaza City on August 2. Hide Caption 26 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinians displaced from their houses return to check their homes in Gaza City on Friday, August 1. Hide Caption 27 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – An Israeli soldier carries a shell as he prepares a tank along the Israel-Gaza border on Thursday, July 31. Israel called up 16,000 additional reservists, bolstering forces for its fight against Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza. Hide Caption 28 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Smoke rises from a building after an airstrike in Rafah on July 31. Hide Caption 29 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – The parents and a sister of Israeli soldier Guy Algranati mourn during his funeral in Tel Aviv on July 31. Hide Caption 30 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – U.N. workers remove a donkey injured at a U.N.-run school in Gaza on Wednesday, July 30. Hide Caption 31 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinians walk under the collapsed minaret of a destroyed mosque in Gaza City on July 30. Hide Caption 32 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinians gather leaflets that fell from an Israeli plane on July 30. The leaflets warned residents of airstrikes in Gaza City. Hide Caption 33 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Israelis take cover from a Palestinian rocket attack from Gaza during the funeral of Israeli soldier Meidan Maymon Biton, which was held at a cemetery in Netivot, Israel, on Tuesday, July 29. Hide Caption 34 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Smoke and fire rise above Gaza City after an Israeli airstrike on July 29. Hide Caption 35 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – An Israeli soldier prays on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza on July 29 as smoke billows from the only power plant supplying electricity to Gaza. Hide Caption 36 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Near the rubble of their home in Rafah, Palestinian men mourn July 29 for people killed during an airstrike. Hide Caption 37 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – A Palestinian man places a portrait of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya on the rubble of Haniya's Gaza City home July 29 after it was hit by an overnight airstrike. Hide Caption 38 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Flares from Israeli forces light up the night sky of Gaza City on July 29. Hide Caption 39 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli soldiers carry the coffin of 2nd Lt. Roy Peles, an infantry officer who was killed in combat, during his funeral in Tel Aviv on Sunday, July 27. Hide Caption 40 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – During a 12-hour cease-fire in Gaza City's Shijaiyah neighborhood on Saturday, July 26, a Palestinian man sits atop a car filled with belongings that were salvaged from a destroyed home. Hide Caption 41 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli soldiers watch a bomb explode along the border with Gaza before the 12-hour cease-fire on July 26. Hide Caption 42 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – As her brother-in-law Mazen Keferna weeps on the ground, Manal Keferna cries upon discovering her family home destroyed by airstrikes in Beit Hanoun on July 26. Hide Caption 43 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinians dig a body out of the rubble of a destroyed house in Gaza during the cease-fire on July 26. Hide Caption 44 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – An Israeli soldier mourns at the grave of reserve Master Sgt. Yair Ashkenazy during his funeral at the military cemetery in Rehovot, Israel, on Friday, July 25. Ashkenazy was killed during operations in northern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces reported. Hide Caption 45 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – A Palestinian man cries after bringing a child to the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya on Thursday, July 24. The child was wounded in a strike on a school that was serving as a shelter for families in Gaza. It's unclear who was behind the strike. The Israeli military said it was "reviewing" the incident, telling CNN that a rocket fired from Gaza could have been responsible. Hide Caption 46 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli soldiers carry a wounded soldier to a helicopter near the Israel-Gaza border on July 24. Hide Caption 47 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli soldiers patrol the Israel-Gaza border on July 24. Hide Caption 48 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – A trail of blood is seen in the courtyard of the school that was hit July 24 in the Beit Hanoun district of Gaza. Hide Caption 49 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – An Israeli tank fires toward Gaza from a position near Israel's border on July 24. Hide Caption 50 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – A photograph tweeted by astronaut Alexander Gerst on Wednesday, July 23, shows major cities of Israel and Gaza. Gerst said in his tweet: "My saddest photo yet. From #ISS we can actually see explosions and rockets flying over #Gaza & #Israel." Hide Caption 51 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – A woman in Philadelphia passes by a departure board that shows US Airways Flight 796, scheduled to fly to Tel Aviv, has been canceled on Tuesday, July 22. The Federal Aviation Administration told U.S. airlines they were temporarily prohibited from flying to the Tel Aviv airport after a Hamas rocket exploded nearby. Hide Caption 52 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Smoke and fire from the explosion of an Israeli strike rise over Gaza City on July 22. Hide Caption 53 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – A relative of Israeli soldier Jordan Ben-Simon mourns over his coffin during his funeral in Ashkelon, Israel, on July 22. Hide Caption 54 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinians inspect destroyed buildings and collect usable items after an Israeli air assault on July 22. Hide Caption 55 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli soldiers weep at the grave of Israeli Sgt. Adar Barsano during his funeral Sunday, July 20, in Nahariya, Israel. Hide Caption 56 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinian medics carry a body in Gaza's Shaja'ia district on July 20. Hide Caption 57 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli soldiers give medical care to soldiers who were wounded during an offensive in Gaza on July 20. Hide Caption 58 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – A Palestinian boy injured during an Israeli airstrike is taken to the hospital by his father in Gaza City on July 20. Hide Caption 59 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinians flee their homes as Israeli troops focus their firepower on the Gaza town of Shaja'ia on Sunday, July 20. The shelling and bombing killed at least 60 people and wounded 300, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Hide Caption 60 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Smoke rises after an Israeli missile hit Shaja'ia on July 20. Hide Caption 61 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – A Palestinian child walks on debris from a destroyed house following an overnight Israeli strike in Beit Lahiya on Saturday, July 19. Hide Caption 62 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – An explosion rocks a street in Gaza City on Friday, July 18. Hide Caption 63 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli ground forces move to the Gaza border on July 18. Hide Caption 64 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli soldiers patrol near the Israel-Gaza border on July 18. Hide Caption 65 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – A relative mourns July 18 during the funeral of Rani Abu Tawila, a Palestinian who was killed in an Israeli attack on Gaza City. Hide Caption 66 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – A Palestinian demonstrator, protesting Israel's military operation in Gaza, runs through smoke July 18 during clashes with Israeli soldiers at the entrance of the Ofer prison in the West Bank village of Betunia. Hide Caption 67 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – This image, made from video shot through a night-vision scope, was released by the Israeli military on July 18. It shows troops moving through a wall opening during the early hours of the ground offensive in Gaza. Hide Caption 68 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Children stare as Palestinians flee Khan Yunis, Gaza, to safe areas July 18. Hide Caption 69 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – An Israeli tank fires a shell into Gaza on July 18. Hide Caption 70 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – A Palestinian carries a gas cylinder salvaged from the rubble of an apartment building after it was hit by Israeli fire on July 18. Hide Caption 71 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – An Israeli reservist prays July 18 near the Gaza border by Sderot, Israel. Hide Caption 72 of 73 Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Israel-Gaza crisis – Flare smoke rises into the Gaza City sky on Thursday, July 17. Hide Caption 73 of 73 Hard-line Jewish activists have begun demanding greater access to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, in Jerusalem's Old City, and right-wing politicians have called for the rights of Jews to pray there. Known as Haram Al-Sharif or the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims, it's also one of the holiest sites in Islam. The Palestinian representative to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, has accused Israeli security forces of escorting Jewish hard-liners onto the Temple Mount and into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Clashes at the site have become common. Jewish settlements Attempts by the United States to revive the Mideast peace process have fallen flat for more than a decade, with the most recent hopes being dashed last year, followed by the third Gaza war. In the meantime, Israel has forged ahead with the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which cut crisscrossing furrows through Palestinian territory. This week, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry addressed the boom in settlements. "There's been a massive increase in settlements over the course of the last years," Kerry said. "Now you have this violence because there's a frustration that is growing, and a frustration among Israelis who don't see any movement." ||||| Add a location to your Tweets When you tweet with a location, Twitter stores that location. You can switch location on/off before each Tweet and always have the option to delete your location history. Learn more ||||| Skip Ad x Embed x Share Palestinians set fire to a Jewish shrine in the West Bank on Friday as the Islamist group Hamas called for a day of rage against Israel, with tensions still running high after two weeks of violence. USA TODAY A Palestinian protester uses a slingshot to throw stones toward Israeli soldiers during clashes near the border fence between Israel and the central Gaza Strip east of Bureij on Oct. 15. (Photo: AFP) Palestinians late Thursday set fire to a religious site in the West Bank revered by some Jews as the tomb of biblical patriarch Joseph. In a separate incident Friday, a Palestinian impersonating a journalist stabbed an Israeli solider. The attacks came as the militant group Hamas called for a "day of rage" against Israel to begin following afternoon prayers. Palestinian security forces extinguished the blaze early Friday at Joseph's Tomb, a small stone structure in the West Bank city of Nablus. The tomb has become a popular prayer site in recent years among some religious Jews. An Israeli soldier grabs a Palestinian's hand holding a knife after he stabbed another Israeli soldier in the West Bank. The Palestinian man wearing a yellow "press" vest and a T-shirt identifying him as journalist stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier before being shot dead by troops. (Photo: Nasser Shiyoukhi, AP) Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israel's Defense Forces, said the "burning and desecration of Joseph's Tomb (was) a blatant violation and contradiction of the basic value of freedom of worship." Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack and called for an investigation. Separately, the IDF said that one of its soldiers was stabbed in Kiryat Arba, a town on the outskirts of Hebron. The soldier was lightly wounded and the assailant, who was disguised as a news photographer, was shot on site, the IDF said. The Palestinian man had been wearing a T-shirt with the word "press" written on it. The two incidents arrived at a time of heightened tensions between Israel and the Palestinians. Eight Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks over the last month, the majority of them as a result of stabbings. Over the same period, 31 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, including 14 labeled by Israel as attackers. The rest were killed in clashes with Israeli troops. Hundreds of Palestinians from Gaza on Friday clashed with Israeli troops. Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1Lx6r6h ||||| The biblical Joseph was the 11th son of Jacob. He was born to Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel, in Paddan-Aram after she had been barren for seven years. Joseph fathered two of the twelve tribes of Israel: Ephraim and Manasseh. Information about Joseph is found in Genesis chapters 37-50. At the age of 17, Joseph was a shepherd alongside his brothers. Jacob loved Joseph more than he loved his other sons. Joseph would report his brothers’ misdeeds to his father and Jacob gave Joseph a "coat of many colors." The other brothers were jealous of Joseph and hated him. Joseph only further provoked this hatred when he told his brothers about two of his dreams. In the first, sheaves of wheat belonging to his brothers bowed to his own sheaf. In the second, the son, moon, and 11 stars bowed to him. One day, Jacob sent Joseph to Shechem to check on his brothers. Joseph went to Shechem and, when his brothers were not there, followed them to Dothan. When the brothers saw him, they plotted to kill him and throw him into a pit. The oldest brother, Reuben, suggested that they merely throw Joseph into the pit, so Reuben could secretly save Joseph later. When Joseph approached, the brothers took his coat and threw him into the pit. They sat down to eat and saw a caravan of Ishmaelite traders from Gilead in the distance. Judah came up with the idea to sell Joseph into slavery. Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver. The brothers then dipped his coat into the blood of a slaughtered goat and brought it back to Jacob. Jacob recognized the coat and concluded that a beast had killed his son. He mourned for many days and was inconsolable. Meanwhile, the traders took Joseph down to Egypt where Potiphar, an officer and head of the kitchen of Pharaoh, bought him. Joseph was successful there and Potiphar made Joseph his personal attendant, putting him in charge of the entire household. Joseph was well built and handsome and after some time Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him. She approached Joseph day after day but he refused her each time, citing loyalty to Potiphar and to God. One day, Joseph came into the house to work. Potiphar’s wife grabbed his coat and he ran away. She then pretended that Joseph had tried to seduce her and slandered him first to her servants and then to her husband. Potiphar was furious and sent Joseph to a jail for the king’s prisoners. In prison, the chief jailor liked Joseph and put him in charge of all the other prisoners, including Pharaoh’s butler and baker. One night both the butler and the baker had strange dreams. Joseph interpreted the dreams, saying that in three days time the butler would be recalled to his former position while the baker would be killed. Sure enough, three days later, Pharaoh restored the butler to his job and killed the baker. Joseph asked the butler to mention his name to Pharaoh in the hope that he would be freed, but the butler forgot about Joseph. Two years later, Pharaoh himself had two dreams that his magicians could not interpret. The butler then remembered Joseph and told Pharaoh about him. Pharaoh sent for the 30-year-old Joseph. He appeared before Pharaoh and told him in the name of God that the dreams forecasted seven years of plentiful crops followed by seven years of famine. He advised Pharaoh to make a wise man commissioner over the land with overseers to gather and store food from the seven years of abundance to save for the years of scarcity. Joseph’s prediction and advice pleased Pharaoh and he made Joseph his second-in-command. He gave Joseph his ring and dressed him in robes of linen with a gold chain around his neck. Pharaoh gave him the Egyptian name Zaphenath-paneah and found him a wife named Asenath, daughter of Poti-phera the priest of On. Joseph traveled throughout Egypt, gathering and storing enormous amounts of grain from each city. During these years, Asenath and Joseph had two sons. The first Joseph named Manasseh, meaning, "God has made me forget (nashani) completely my hardship and my parental home" (Genesis 41:51). He named the second son Ephraim, meaning, "God has made me fertile (hiprani) in the land of my affliction" (Genesis 41:52). After seven years, a famine spread throughout the world, and Egypt was the only country that had food. Joseph was in charge of rationing grain to the Egyptians and to all who came to Egypt. The famine affected Canaan and Jacob sent his 10 oldest sons to Egypt to get food, keeping only Benjamin, Rachel’s second son and Jacob’s youngest child, at home out of concern for his safety. Joseph’s brothers came and bowed to Joseph, who recognized them immediately but pretended they were strangers. He asked them where they were from and accused them of being spies. They denied his claim but he continued to speak harshly to them and interrogate them. They told him they had a younger brother at home. Joseph then locked them in the guardhouse for three days before commanding the brothers to go home and bring their youngest brother back with them to prove that they were telling the truth. The brothers spoke among themselves lamenting that they were being punished for what they had done to Joseph, who overheard them, turned away and wept, but then continued his act. He gave them grain and provisions for the journey, secretly returned their money and kept Simeon in jail pending their return. The brothers returned to Canaan and told Jacob all that had happened in Egypt. They asked Jacob to send Benjamin down with them but he refused, "Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you would take away Benjamin" (Genesis 42:36). Even Reuben’s offer that Jacob could kill Reuben’s two sons if Benjamin did not return safely did not move Jacob. Eventually, they finished the rations from Egypt and the famine became so severe that Jacob no longer had a choice. Judah told Jacob to send Benjamin in his care and if Benjamin did not return, "I shall stand guilty before you forever" (Genesis 43:9) So Jacob sent the brothers back to Egypt with Benjamin, along with a gift for Joseph and double the necessary money to repay the money that was returned to them. When the brothers arrived, Joseph brought them to the entrance of his house and instructed his servant to prepare a meal. The brothers were scared and told Joseph they did not know how the money got back in their bags. Joseph replied that their God must have put it there because he received their payment. The brothers then went inside and waited for Joseph to come eat with them. When he returned, they gave him the gifts and bowed to him. He asked about their father, and they responded that he was well, and bowed a second time. He asked if Benjamin was their brother, and left the room, overcome with emotion after seeing his brother again. He then returned and ate and drank with his brothers, giving Benjamin more food than the others. He then instructed his servant to fill the brothers’ bags with food, return each one’s money a second time, and put his own silver goblet in Benjamin’s bag. As soon as the brothers left the city, Joseph’s servant overtook them and accused them of stealing Joseph’s goblet. He said that whoever had the goblet in his possession would be kept as a slave, while the others would go free. He searched their possessions and found the goblet in Benjamin’s bag. All the brothers returned to the city and threw themselves on the ground before Joseph. Judah expressed their willingness to become Joseph’s slave. Joseph answered that only the one in whose possession the goblet was found would become a slave. Judah then pleaded with Joseph, telling him of Jacob’s reluctance to send Benjamin and of his own responsibility for Benjamin. He told of the sorrow that would overtake Jacob if Benjamin did not return. At this point, Joseph could not longer control himself. He sent away all of his attendants, began to cry loudly and revealed his true identity to his brothers. Joseph’s first query was about his father, but the brothers were too shocked to answer. He reassured them that it was God’s providence that sent him to Egypt to ensure their survival during the famine, and he was not angry with them. He sent them back with instructions to tell Jacob what had become of Joseph and to bring Jacob and his household to the nearby town of Goshen where Joseph could care for them during the next five years of famine. He then embraced Benjamin, kissed all of his brothers and wept. Pharaoh heard that Joseph’s brothers had come and told them to bring their households to Egypt where he would give them the best of the land. Joseph gave each of them a wagon, provisions for the trip and a change of clothing. He gave Benjamin 300 pieces of silver and several changes of clothing. He also sent a large present back for his father. At first Jacob did not believe that Joseph was alive. After he saw the wagons that Joseph sent, however, he realized it was true. Then Jacob, at age 130, set out for Goshen with the 70 members of his household. He sent Judah ahead of him so Joseph knew that his father was coming. Joseph went to meet him and they embraced and cried. Joseph told Pharaoh that his brothers and father had arrived. The brothers informed Pharaoh that they were shepherds and Pharaoh put them in charge of his livestock. They lived in the best part of Egypt, in Rameses, and Joseph provided them with bread. As the famine continued, the Egyptians eventually ran out of money. They begged Joseph for food and he gave them bread in exchange for their animals. After a year, their animals were gone and Joseph made a new deal with the people. He gave them seed to plant on their farms and in exchange they gave Pharaoh one-fifth of their crops. He nationalized all farmland except that belonging to the priests, and turned the people into serfs. After Jacob had lived in Egypt for 17 years, he called Joseph to him and made him swear that when Jacob died, Joseph would not bury him in Egypt, but would take him to the burial place of his fathers. Joseph swore to this. Soon after, Joseph was told that his father was sick. He brought his two sons to Jacob. Jacob assured Joseph that he would consider Ephraim and Manasseh to be his sons just like Reuben and Simeon were when it came to the inheritance that God had promised Jacob’s offspring. Jacob then blessed Ephraim and Manasseh. Although Manasseh was the first-born, Jacob put his right hand, the stronger hand, on Ephraim’s head. When Joseph corrected him, Jacob said he did it on purpose and predicted that Ephraim would surpass Manasseh in greatness. Jacob told Joseph that he was about to die, but reassured him that God would be with him. He also assigned him an extra portion of his inheritance, a privilege usually given to the first-born. Jacob blessed all of his sons, giving the longest blessing to Joseph. He instructed them to bury him in the cave of Machpelah, and then he died. Joseph flung himself at his father, cried and kissed him. Joseph then ordered his physicians to embalm Jacob. The Egyptians mourned for 70 days. Joseph received permission to go to Canaan to bury Jacob. He took his brothers and his father’s household, along with all of Pharaoh’s officials and dignitaries, and left Egypt in a large group. When they came to Goren ha-Atad, he observed a seven-day mourning period. Joseph and his brothers then continued to the cave of Machpelah where they buried Jacob. They then returned to Egypt. Once Jacob was dead, the brothers were scared that Joseph would take revenge on them for selling him. They sent a message to Joseph saying that before his death Jacob had instructed them to tell Joseph to forgive them. They then offered to be his slaves. Joseph reassured them, saying that God intended for Joseph to go down to Egypt to ensure the survival of many people, and Joseph would take care of them and their children. So Joseph, his brothers and his father’s household remained in Egypt. Joseph lived 110 years. He saw great-grandchildren from both his sons. Before he died, he told his brothers that God would one day bring them up from Egypt into the land that God promised their fathers. He made them swear to carry his bones out of Egypt into that land. Joseph died and was embalmed and put in a coffin in Egypt. When the Jews eventually left Egypt, Moses carried out Joseph’s bones. Joseph was buried in Shechem, on a piece of land that Jacob had previously bought. Joseph’s two sons both became tribes in Israel and the northern Israelite kingdom is many times referred to as the "House of Joseph." Sources: >"Joseph" Encyclopedia Britannica Online; Encyclopedia Judaica. "Joseph". CD-ROM Edition, Judaica Multimedia (Israel) Ltd; The World Book Encyclopedia. "Joseph". Vol. 11, 1988 Edition.

– A holy site in the West Bank often visited by Jewish pilgrims under the cover of darkness with the Israeli military protecting them was set on fire by Palestinians Thursday night. Though firefighters put out the blaze, the incident has only added fuel to the fire already burning between the region's Israelis and Palestinians, the BBC reports. The attack in Nablus on Joseph's Tomb, said to be the burial site of the Bible's Joseph, 11th son of Jacob, involved gas bombs and occurred just hours after Benjamin Netanyahu implored Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to call for a stop to local violence—and a day before a planned Palestinian "day of rage," per USA Today. Peter Lerner, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, called it "a blatant violation of the basic value of freedom of worship" in a tweet; Israel's agriculture minister called the tomb arson "unforgivable." Tensions had already descended into a death spiral, with dozens of deaths from stabbings and shootings in Israel over the past month, CNN and the BBC report; at least seven Israelis and at least 30 Palestinians have been killed. The tomb itself has also been attacked before, including when it was almost decimated by Palestinians in 2000. CNN cites a Palestinian official who says the tomb is still standing but part of the compound has burned. Abbas spoke out against "these kind of acts or any other acts that violate the law and order and offends our culture, religion, and morals," per the Palestinians' WAFA news group, but Israel doesn't plan on letting things lie: Lerner tweeted that the "#IDF will bring perpetrators to justice."

What You Need To Know About Amazon's New Music Service i itoggle caption istockphoto.com istockphoto.com Amazon announced early today that it would immediately make available a cloud-based media service called Cloud Drive. Actually, it's less a music service and more like an off-site storage locker with an app that serves as a mobile interface. Amazon is pushing the convenience angle hard, appealing to hypothetical consumers' sense of frustration at having to save and copy between multiple music libraries. The Cloud Drive, it says, will get rid of all that hassle. Customers who use the service will essentially lease storage space on Amazon servers from which they will be able to download or stream content: music, videos, photos — from any computer with an Internet connection, or from an Android phone — that they have bought from Amazon, or uploaded to the service. We spent the morning playing around with Amazon's Cloud Player to try and figure out how it works and what it means for users. What do you need to know? Here are some of the highlights. - Do I have to buy all of my songs over again, or can I just upload songs from my hard drive to the cloud until my locker is full? When you log in to the Cloud Player and download the uploader tool, Amazon searches your hard drive — including your iTunes folder — and asks if you want to upload the MP3s it finds to your Cloud Drive. It took about an hour to upload 460 songs from one hard drive in our office to the Cloud Drive. On a wireless connection it took 3 1/2 hours to upload about 300 songs. There were 490 audio files on that drive, though. And here's where you run into Amazon's restrictions. The Cloud Drive only accepts MP3 and AAC files, so fans of .wav, .flac and other lossless formats will have to convert those files or leave them out of the cloud. Here are the other files Amazon says you won't be able to upload: songs with DRM; songs that are bigger than 100 MBs; ringtones, podcasts, audiobooks and "other non-music audio files."* *Amazon says it won't upload podcasts, but we had no problem uploading an hour-long podcast saved as an MP3 and listening to it from the Cloud Player. - Which labels are involved? All of them and none of them. Right now, if you've got a song on your computer, it doesn't matter who released it. But Amazon doesn't have agreements with any particular label, because it says there's no need to have the permission of copyright holders — since the Cloud Drive is just holding onto your property. The labels might not see it the same way, and this is the problem an older cloud-based music service called MP3tunes ran into. It continues to operate, but under the shadow of a pending lawsuit from from labels and publishers under the umbrella of the major label EMI. - How does this change the way labels and musicians get paid? It doesn't. Which will generate plenty of controversy, especially if the Cloud Player takes off. Amazon is calling the Cloud Drive just another storage option for users, one that has many ports of entry. That position allows them to argue that uploading and copying MP3s from one drive to another isn't a transaction that needs to involve labels, publishers, musicians or other copyright holders in any way. - How much will this cost me? The first 5 GB of storage are free. Amazon says it will store each and every MP3 you buy from them for free – so those files don't count toward your first 5 GB. Right now Amazon is offering 20 GB of additional free storage if you buy one MP3 album from it. If you want more, it will cost you about a $1 a GB, so that means $100 a year will get you space for maybe 20,000 songs or 7 hours of HD video. Compare this to buying a hard drive to store your files: 500 GB for a onetime payment of $50. itoggle caption via Amazon.com - If I'm on the subway and have no network access, can I listen to a song that's on my Cloud Drive? Yes, sort of. The Amazon MP3 app for Android phones (not available via the iTunes App store, which means iPhone users won't have access to their Cloud Drive on the go) has two settings. (1) You can listen to the music saved to your phone's memory at any time. (2) If you have cellular reception or a wifi connection, you can access your locker and either stream those songs or download them to your device. - Is this going to make AT&T; and Verizon extremely happy? Are my data rates going to go up if I'm streaming my library from a cloud-based locker? There's no reason to think that streaming or downloading songs from your locker wouldn't count toward whatever data limits your cell phone plan includes. And yeah, if lots of users go over their limits, carriers will probably make a bundle, as long as their networks don't crash from the increased traffic. - What format will songs be in? Do I have a choice? Are the songs in my locker mine? Or are they just links to saved versions of files on the cloud that everybody shares access to? The songs you stream from Amazon's player will be MP3s or AACs, because those are the only formats it allows you to upload. Rather than sharing access to a central library of material, the songs in the locker are yours — when you upload them to Amazon's cloud, you're uploading a copy of each one. - So now all of my songs are safe forever, right? They're not gone if my laptop gets run over by a lawn mower or my baby sister eats my hard drive or I drop my Droid in my whiskey? Here's where storage space that keeps all of your files and identifies them with you becomes a double-edged sword. Ostensibly, yes. Your files are now away from moving parts and become the responsibility of a corporate entity. They are also away from your direct control. What if the people that own the copyrights to the songs you uploaded to Amazon's cloud make and win the argument that you didn't pay for them, or you didn't pay enough for them, or they just never really belonged to you and convinces Amazon to destroy the files in question from their servers? If that happens your files are just as gone. Unless, of course, you back them up somewhere else. But doesn't that sound like a hassle? ||||| Internet retailer gets the jump on Apple and Google with a service that lets users upload song files to its servers for playback on any PC, Mac, or Android device, wherever they are. Amazon's new digital music locker service. (Credit: Screenshot by Steven Musil/CNET) Amazon got the jump on Apple and Google this evening with the launch of a much-anticipated digital music locker service that allows users to store their music on the Web and then listen to their collections on computers with a Web browser or on Android devices. Amazon Cloud Drive allows users to upload their digital music files--either AAC or MP3 formats--at their original bit rate to Amazon servers for storage and playback on any Web-connected PC, Mac, or Android device, wherever they are. "Our customers have told us they don't want to download music to their work computers or phones because they find it hard to move music around to different devices," Bill Carr, vice president of movies and music at Amazon.com, said in a statement. "Now, whether at work, home, or on the go, customers can buy music from Amazon MP3, store it in the cloud and play it anywhere." Related Links: • Google begins testing Google Music internally • Rumor: New MobileMe to cost $20/year, include music 'Locker' • Study: Streaming music use to explode in five years The Amazon service's Cloud Player for Web allows customers to listen to their music on any computer running the Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari for Mac, or Chrome browsers. The Cloud Player for Android is a new version of the Amazon MP3 app and includes the full Amazon MP3 Store and the mobile version of Cloud Player. Customers can use the app to play music stored on their Cloud Drive and music stored locally on their device. The Cloud Drive also allows customers to upload photos, videos, and documents, but those digital files are accessible only via a Web browser on a computer. Customers will automatically start with 5GB of free storage, upgradable to 20GB with the purchase of an Amazon MP3 album. Additional storage space can be purchased in plans beginning at $20 per 20GB per year. CNET was first to report last week that Amazon was working on creating a digital locker service for users' film and music libraries and might make an announcement as early as this week. Sources told my colleague Greg Sandoval that as of last week the online retailer giant had not obtained all the necessary licenses, but that Amazon might announce the service before all the negotiations were complete. This evening's launch gives Amazon a leg up on Apple and Google, which are reportedly working on competing efforts. Apple has reportedly been looking to expand its MobileMe service into a music storage and streaming service. However, the Mac and iPhone maker is supposedly looking at a fall release date to coincide with a revamped mobile OS with a greater focus on cloud-based services and other enhancements. Meanwhile, Google has begun testing its Google Music streaming service for Web-connected devices with its employees--a sign that the service is nearly ready to launch. A working version of the service was reportedly discovered after an installation of the Honeycomb version of the Android operating system on a phone. It's reportedly close to being ready to launch but is being held up by music licensing negotiations. Story updated throughout the evening.

– Amazon has launched a new service that allows people to store their music on the company's servers and play it on their computers or Android devices, reports CNET. The move is getting plenty of buzz because Amazon beat both Apple and Google in the development of a so-called cloud system, notes the Los Angeles Times. A handful of smaller companies offer such digital musical lockers, but Amazon is the first big player. With the Cloud Player and Cloud Drive, customers start with 5GB of free storage (figure about 1,000 songs), but that jumps to 20GB if they buy an Amazon MP3 album. Additional storage can be purchased in various plans. NPR's The Record blog has been playing with the new service and provides some basics for potential users. TechDirt, meanwhile, thinks Amazon could run into legal trouble over whether it needs licenses from record labels to store all this stuff.

With countless cookbooks, food shows, and restaurants to their name, Paula Deen, her brother Bubba Deen, and her sons Jamie and Bobby Deen have proven that cooking talent runs in their family. But unfortunately, so do health code violations! RadarOnline.com has exclusively uncovered a history of violations at both Paula’s Savannah restaurant, Lady & Sons, and her brother, Bubba’s spot, Uncle Bubba’s Oyster House. What inspectors found will shock you! Just a few weeks ago, Bubba’s was slapped with a “B” grade and a score of 83 — just 4 points above a “C” — on February 7, 2013. According to state public health records viewed by Radar, the restaurant was cited for having inadequate hand washing facilities and improper cold holding temperatures. READ: The Health Inspector Reports Deen Doesn’t Want You To See! Specifically, an inspector wrote, “Hand sink used as a dump sink. Repeat violation. .. Observed potentially hazardous food cold held at greater than 41 degrees.” According to the inspector, even just the former represented a “known risk factor for food borne illness.” Things had not been much better at the restaurant’s previous inspection on June 20, 2013, when it racked up just 84 points and a “B” grade. PHOTOS: Celebrity Racist Rants The inspector’s extensive comments noted “no soap or paper towels located at hand washing sink … dirty knife magnet holder … old food buildup on shelves in coolers [that] dries and falls onto food below … observed build-up of food debris, dust or dirt … [and] dirty dumpster areas.” TV chef Paula has typically fared better with inspectors than her brother, but her restaurant Lady & Sons hasn’t been without violations. At the most recent inspection on February 2, 2014, the inspector noted that “Salad bar/buffet plates/bowls [were] not properly protected or inverted to prevent contamination,” and there were “no chemical sanitizer strips available for testing the sanitizer containers.” Those were minimal violations, and the restaurant got a respectable score of 98 and “A” grade. But it wasn’t always that way. As recently as 2012, Lady & Sons racked up several violations, including “food-contact surfaces encrusted with grease and/or soil deposits,” “hand wash sink not accessible for employee use at all times,” “grit cakes found stored in walk-in cooler uncovered and subject to contamination,” and more. Employees were also cited for improper personal cleanliness. EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: Paula Deen Mocked In ‘Butter’ Comic Book All told, that added up to a score of 89, or “B.” Would you eat at one of the Deen family restaurants? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments! ||||| As long-time employees collected severance checks in the parking lot, Uncle Bubba’s Seafood and Oyster House announced its closing Thursday morning on its website and Facebook page. “Thank you for 10 great years,” the written comment stated, “Uncle Bubba’s is now closed.” The Whitemarsh Island restaurant is co-owned by Paula Deen and her younger brother, Earl W. “Bubba” Hiers Jr. It was at the center of a storm of negative publicity Deen weathered last year after a former Uncle Bubba’s employee filed a lawsuit alleging racial and sexual discrimination. In a deposition, Deen admitted she had used a racial slur 30 years earlier. The claims and lawsuit were eventually dismissed but not before she lost millions in national endorsements and the Food Network announced it would not renew her contract. Hiers decided “to close the restaurant in order to explore development options for the waterfront property on which the restaurant is located,” he said in a written statement released through the Key Group Worldwide, a New York-based public relations firm. The 350-seat, nearly 10,000-square-foot restaurant sits on 2.7 acres. Its most recent tax assessment puts the property value at $1.5 million. Brother & Sister Enterprises LLC acquired it in 2004 for $2 million, tax records indicate. “At this point, no specific plans have been announced, and a range of uses are under consideration in order realize the highest and best use for the property,” the prepared statement continued. “The closing is effective today, Thursday, April 3, 2014. Employees will be provided with severance based on position and tenure with the restaurant. All effort will be made to find employees comparable employment with other Savannah restaurant organizations.” A spokesman for the New York firm did not respond to the question of how many people were employed by Uncle Bubba’s. In Hiers’ deposition in 2013 he testified that he frequently viewed pornography on company-owned sites at work and had a history of cocaine use and alcohol abuse. He admitted taking money from the restaurant in 2010 — allegedly as much as $25,000 to $30,000 a month, a practice Deen eventually discovered. He said his sister was in control of the business but it was never a big moneymaker. “The company had never shown a lot of profit,” Hiers testified. The health department last inspected Uncle Bubba’s in February. It received a score of 83 with points deducted for repeated violations of proper hand-washing procedures and improper temperature holding of potentially hazardous foods. Late Thursday morning a barrier blocked traffic to the former restaurant’s parking lot where a uniformed police officer turned some vehicles away and let others pass. Savannah-Chatham police patrol cars remained in the area for much of the morning; people gathered near the roadblock declined to speak about the establishment’s closing or why a roadblock with police officers was set up. Some long-term employees were shocked to discover they no longer had a job and turned to the restaurant’s Facebook page to vent. “I’ve been water works all a.m.,” wrote one poster who said she’d been employed there for seven years. “I’ve worked there since I was 16. I woke up this a.m. to no job and no forewarning.” Earlier this year Deen signed a deal with Phoenix-based private investment firm Najafi Cos. worth between $75 million and $100 million. Called Paula Deen Ventures, the partnership will be the umbrella name for Deen’s many brands. Its first major investment will be Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen, a $20 million, 20,000-square-foot restaurant and retail operation, scheduled to open in late summer in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., home of the Dollywood theme park. A statement released by Najafi in February when the partnership was announced praised Deen’s The Lady & Sons as “one of the country’s most popular regional restaurants.” It did not mention Uncle Bubba’s. ||||| Food Network personality Paula Deen laughs before throwing out the first pitch prior to the Washington Nationals versus New York Mets MLB baseball game in Washington, May 19, 2010. Food Network personality Paula Deen laughs before throwing out the first pitch prior to the Washington Nationals versus New York Mets MLB baseball game in Washington, in this May 19, 2010, file photo. ATLANTA Celebrity chef Paula Deen's popular Savannah, Georgia, restaurant, which was at the center of a racially charged lawsuit against her, abruptly closed on Thursday after a decade in business. "Thank you for 10 great years," Uncle Bubba's Oyster House, owned by Deen and her brother, Bubba Hiers, told customers on its website. "Uncle Bubba's is now closed." A white employee of Uncle Bubba's sued Deen and her brother claiming she had been the victim of sexual harassment and that there was a pattern of racial discrimination against black employees at the restaurant. Deen said in a deposition in the case that she had used a racial slur, which prompted Scripps Networks Interactive Inc to drop her cooking show from its cable television channel, the Food Network. The controversy prompted companies such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Target Corp and Home Depot Inc to stop selling Deen products. A federal judge last summer dismissed the lawsuit. Hiers closed the restaurant "in order to explore development options for the waterfront property on which the restaurant is located," Jaret Keller, spokesman for the Deen family, said in a written statement. "At this point, no specific plans have been announced and a range of uses are under consideration in order to realize the highest and best use for the property." Keller declined to comment on whether the restaurant's closure was related to the lawsuit. Deen has lately been staging a comeback, with The Wall Street Journal reporting that a private equity firm agreed earlier this year to invest $75 to $100 million in the recently formed Paula Deen Ventures. (Editing by Kevin Gray and Richard Chang) ||||| Paula Deen Restaurant Sorry We Screwed You Over ... But Here's Our Card! Paula Deen Restaurant Closes -- Sorry We Screwed You Over, But Here's Our Card!

– The restaurant owned by Paula Deen and her brother Bubba continues to be controversial even while shutting down. Uncle Bubba's Oyster House was the Savannah, Georgia, restaurant at the middle of a sexual harassment lawsuit that ultimately sparked Deen's n-word controversy. It closed "abruptly" yesterday after 10 years in business, Reuters reports. There's no official word on whether the closure was related to the lawsuit (which was ultimately dismissed) and ensuing scandal; a family spokesperson says the eatery was closed "in order to explore development options for the waterfront property on which the restaurant is located." But the siblings somehow could not manage to avoid yet more controversy while closing the restaurant: The Savannah Morning News reports that employees were given no warning of the closure and were surprised to show up to work yesterday and discover they no longer had jobs. The paper describes a scene of "long-time employees collect[ing] severance checks in the parking lot" as police officers turned away would-be customers. An official statement from the family says "all effort will be made to find employees comparable employment with other Savannah restaurant organizations," but TMZ reports that so far, all the former employees have received is a list of other restaurants in the area that are hiring. (The last not-so-appealing headline related to Uncle Bubba's involved "old food buildup" and similar grossness.)

The secret life inside the depraved family who live in the hills of a quiet country town ON A rough block of scrub hidden in the hills above a quiet NSW country town, the Colt family had a terrible secret. Living in a row of ramshackle tents and sheds which had no showers, toilets or running water were 40 adults and children. But the Colts kept to themselves. Neighbours on one of the large properties or hobby farms occasionally heard a chainsaw, but no laughter or play. The men occasionally sold firewood and two of the adult men worked as council labourers. Occasionally, the womenfolk would come into town in a four-wheel drive. Out would pile a dirty troupe of ragtag children, some of them rail thin, wearing dirty clothes. The town people didn't even know their names. Occasionally, when the welfare officers came visiting, the children would be forced to attend a few days of school, where they needed remedial teaching. It wasn't until a squad of police and child protection officers arrived unannounced on the property one day in early June last year, that the shocking truth about the Colts would be revealed. DEPRAVED SECRETS IN A COUNTRY TOWN Not only were the Colt family closely related by generations of incest. In fear of discovery the appalling facts about their family, the Colts had fled three other Australian states before coming to rest in rural NSW. And it was here that four generations of interbreeding exploded into a life of depravity. Under the eye of the family matriarch, Betty Colt, who slept in the marital bed with her brother, the children copulated with each other and with adults. Years of interrelations had resulted in some of the children misshapen and intellectually impaired. Many of them could not speak intelligibly. They were profoundly neglected, to the point they didn't know how to shower or use toilet paper, and were covered in sores and racked with disease. Left to their own devices, brothers with sisters, uncles with nieces, fathers with daughters, they engaged in sexual activities. The children also mutilated the genitalia of animals. When the girls became pregnant, they would often simply miscarry on the farm, not wanting to arouse suspicions among doctors or health professionals. While the Colt women claim outsiders had fathered their children - itinerant men, a wheat worker, a Swedish backpacker - science told otherwise. When they finally managed to get test swabs into a laboratory, geneticists uncovered a family tree which was a nightmare of "homozygosity", when a child's parents are closely related. Eight of the Colt children have parents who were either brother and sister, mother and son or father and daughter. A further six have parents who were either aunt and nephew, uncle and niece, half siblings or grandparents and grandchild. Interviews with the Colts revealed the family saga began back in New Zealand, in the first half of last century when June Colt was born to parents who were brother and sister. June married Tim and in the 1970s the couple emigrated to Australia. The family would then move, several times, between South Australia, Western Australia, and Victoria, usually living in remote rural communities, shying away from public knowledge about the truth. Tim and June gave birth to four daughters and two sons. Three of the daughters - Rhonda, 47, Betty, 46, and Martha, 33, and at least one of the sons, Charlie, form the elder members of the family group in the NSW bush camp. Betty had 13 children. She contended their father was a man called Phil Walton, now dead, who was known to the family as Tim. But genetics show one of her children, Bobby, 15, was fathered either by her father, whose name was Tim, or the brother she was sleeping with. Four more of Betty's children were fathered by a close family member. Betty's eldest child, Raylene, now aged 30, has a 13-year-old daughter, Kimberly. Raylene insists Kimberly's father is a man called Sven, from Sweden or Switzerland. Testing identifies Kimberly's father as either her half brother, an uncle or a grandfather. Betty's second oldest child, Tammy, now aged 27, has given birth to three daughters, one of whom died from a rare genetic disorder, and all of whom, she eventually admitted, were fathered by her closest brother, Derek, 25. Betty's younger sister, Martha Colt, 33, has five children, four of whom were fathered by her own father, Tim, or by her brother, and another who is the product of a union with a close relation. It was the 10 youngest of Betty and Martha's children, and Raylene's daughter, Kimberly, 13, who ran wild in a sexual spree about the property. Betty's children, Bobby, 15, Billy, 14, Brian, 12, Dwayne, 9, and Carmen, 8, all have parents who are close family members. Martha's children, Albert, 15, Jed, 14, Ruth, 9, and Nadia, 7, are also the product of closely-related parents. Interviewed by child protection workers and psychologists, they told of a virtual sexual free-for-all. Ruth and Nadia said Albert, Jed and Karl showed them pornographic magazines, touched their breasts and Albert had sexual intercourse with them. Kimberly said she had oral sex with Dwayne, while Carmen watched. Her mother Raylene had been aware of the incident. Albert, Jed, Karl, Bobby and Billy admitted they tortured animals, including puppies and cats. Carmen said her father was her uncle Charlie. Ruth said her father was Charlie. She also said her brothers, Jed and Karl, had sex with her. Following the discovery of the Colt family in the hills, 12 children have been removed from their parents. Their mothers have hired lawyers to argue in the courts for the children's return. One of the mothers is due to face court on charges of procuring the removal of a child from care and recruiting a child for a crime, and further charges are expected. ### ||||| The case of incest and depravity which came to rest in the hills of a quiet country town 40 adults and children living in filthy caravans, sheds and tents with no running water. A kangaroo was sleeping on one of the children's beds. Children did not know how to brush teeth or use toilet paper Adult brother and sisters slept in same bed every night IT is a case of shocking depravity which came to rest in the hills surrounding a picturesque farming community nestled in a valley southwest of Sydney. Unknown to the 2000 citizens of the town in a fertile valley amid the south-western slopes of NSW, a dark family secret was unravelling. Now it can be revealed, not only could the case of the Colt family be the nation's most appalling saga of child abuse, it is among one of the worst accounts of incest ever made public. The NSW Children's Court has taken the rare step of publishing its judgment of actions taken to remove children from the Colt family (a court-appointed pseudonym to protect identification of minors). Four generations of intimate relations among the Colts had taken place in South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia and finally come to NSW. Moving state to state, possibly to evade detection, the scandal only came to light when authorities were alerted there were children living in the hills who didn't attend school. When they turned up on a remote bush block, they uncovered scenes which wouldn't soon be forgotten. It was an early winter's day last year when officers from the NSW Police and Community Services turned up on one of the blocks which lie around 30km out of the town between large established farms and the untamed scrub of old bushranger territory. They found 40 adults and children living in two filthy caravans, two sheds and tents on an unsewered block with no running water. Dirt caked the surfaces of stoves and cooking facilities, rotten vegetables lay in a refrigerator and a kangaroo was sleeping on one of the children's beds. Exposed electric wires, bags of rubbish and chainsaws lay about. There were no toilets, showers or baths. The children were unwashed and wore dirty clothes. They were shy and made little eye contact. Few were capable of intelligible speech; almost all had fungal infections in their feet. Some had oddly-formed features, which scientific tests would later reveal was a result of "homozygosity" or identical gene patterns of both of the children's parents. The police and welfare officers were taking in the squalor, the deprivation and the fact some of the children seemed developmentally delayed or cognitively impaired. What they didn't realise was the children were the result of intimate relations between brothers and sisters, and uncles and nieces and fathers and daughters. Their family threw back to a set of great-great grandparents who were a brother and sister. The family compulsion was regenerating itself. The children were sexually involved with each other and only one, the youngest, a five-year-old girl, had parents who weren't related. It was a social time bomb exploding before their eyes. As one police officer later reportedly told her colleagues, she would never get over it. Over coming days and weeks, the enormity of what they had uncovered dawned on them. The five family groups comprised of sisters, Rhonda, 47, Martha, 33, and Betty Colt, 46, who slept every night with her brother, Charlie, and two of Betty's daughters who each had children who proved to be from unions of related parents. Not only were the children dirty and unschooled, they had multiple health problems and no concept of hygiene. Betty's son Bobby Colt, 15, had a walking impairment, severe psoriasis and needed urgent dental work. His speech was not understandable. He wet and soiled the bed and his learning ability was at kindergarten level. Martha's sons Albert, 15, and Jed, 14, were similarly challenged with their speech, personal hygiene and lack of dentistry. Betty's 14-year-old son Billy was underweight and not growing properly, had hearing and sight problems, spoke unintelligibly, had an intellectual disability and could barely read or count. Kimberly Colt, 14, Betty's grandaughter Raylene, was underweight and unable to clean her teeth, use toilet paper or comb her hair. She had urgent dental problems, hearing, speech and sight issues and was unable to read or write. She threatened to cut off a caseworker's fingers. Betty's son Brian, 12, did not understand showering. He had extensively decayed teeth, and borderline normal hearing. His eyes were misaligned and he could not read, write, or recognise numbers. Martha's nine-year-old daughter Ruth was neglected and malnourished. She was unable to bathe or dry herself. She did not know how to use a toilet or what toilet paper was. Her features were dysmorphic. She could not read or write, couldn't hear well and her speech was fragmented and stunted. The caseworkers left and returned again two days later, making a further two visits and finally removed 12 children on July 18, 2012. Back in town, the locals were unaware of what was unfolding. As one of the townspeople told news.com.au, on occasional visits two women with "about ten children" would pile out of a car with interstate plates, buy something in the shops and then leave. "They were never clean looking," the man said, "we always used to make jokes that if you came from that area you'd be inbred. "But we didn't really know anything about them except those blocks, they might look like a good deal, [40 hectares] for about $20,000 but there's nothing out there, no electricity, no water, just scrub." Taken into care, the children underwent sessions with psychologists. The tales they told were harrowing. Kimberly, 13, reported sexual contact with her uncle, Dwayne, who was nine years old while her aunt, Carmen, 8, watched on. Sisters Ruth, 7, and Nadia, 9, had sexual touching with their brothers Albert, 15, Jed, 14, and Karl, 12. On one occasion, three brothers aged 14 years and under tied their sister, 8, and niece, 13, naked to a tree. The accounts of incestuous underage sex fill pages of court documents. Clinicians took buccal, or mouth swabs from the children and geneticists deduced five of the Colt children had parents who were "closely related" and another five had parents who were "related". Interviews with the parents and other members of the family revealed an astonishing tale. Betty, Martha and Rhonda's maternal grandparents had been brother and sister. Betty had 13 children, some of whom were probably fathered by her father, Tim, and her brother, Charlie. Martha's children may also have been fathered by Tim. Betty's son, Bobby, and Martha's children, Albert, Jed, Ruth and Nadia were the result of closely related parents, as were the three children of Betty's daughter, Tammy, 27, one of whom had died from a rare genetic disease called Zellweger syndrome. Victorian Police removed Tammy's remaining two daughters when they found her living in a caravan park and she revealed her younger brother, Derek, 25, had fathered all her children. In the fallout from the discovery of the Colt Family, some children have been placed with foster families, others are in treatment programs for sexualised behaviour and psychological trauma, and they have some contact with their parents and siblings. They have made progress with schooling and hygiene. The mothers have taken varying degrees of responsibility for the neglect, the incest or intra-familial sexual abuse which allegedly took place in the family. Betty Colt, who has supervised contact with her children, appears to be in denial, and her lawyer has disputed the court's findings. The Children's Court ruled she is not willing "to disentangle herself from her family" and "is incapable of addressing her own traumatic history". ### ||||| Filthy, disabled children found at grim Australian incest farm (AFP) – Dec 12, 2013 Sydney — A dozen filthy, neglected children, some with deformities or disabilities due to generations of inbreeding, have been found on a rural Australian settlement in an incest case that has shocked the nation. The 12 children, aged between five and 15, were removed by social workers who responded in July 2012 to complaints that they were failing to attend school and when they did show, were thin, dirty and suffering a lack of even basic hygiene. When police and child protection workers visited the farm compound where they were living with some 30 adults -- multiple generations of the same family -- they found what legal documents described as "very dirty and hazardous" conditions. Over four generations uncles and aunts and brothers and sisters had sex with each other, raising younger generations that also went on to create further inbred offspring together. Genetic testing revealed that 11 of the 12 children had parents that were related -- five "closely related" -- and they had a range of disabilities including deafness and blindness. They displayed varying degrees of sexualised behaviour towards one another and strangers, and had disturbing stories of sexual acts in the commune involving children. All the evidence pointed "inescapably to inter-generational incestuous relationships and intra-familial sexual abuse," a Children's Court judgment in the case, published for the first time this week, revealed. The group lived a squalid existence, in two caravans, two sheds and two tents without running water or sewerage. "Observations of the children were that they appeared to be dirty, wore dirty clothing and were shy and unable to make eye contact," the court said. "Their speech was difficult to understand, and they appeared to have very poor dental health and hygiene. There were no toilets, showers or baths. The children had to go into the bush to go to the toilet. They hand washed in a tub of water." A young kangaroo was sleeping in one of the children's beds, while exposed electricity wires, chainsaws and large bags of rubbish littered the property. A number of the girls didn't know how to use a toilet or what toilet paper was and had never seen a toothbrush before. Some of the children had no formal schooling, others only sporadic, and the court documents said they were either developmentally delayed or cognitively impaired, with seven of the group "unable to speak intelligibly". Another of the children had died when she was two months old due to a genetic condition. Due to the seriousness of the case the Children's Court took the unusual step this week of publishing its ruling -- originally made in September -- saying "there is no realistic possibility of restoration of any of the children" to their parents. They were ordered to remain in state care until they are 18 years old. Copyright © 2014 AFP. All rights reserved. More »

– Kimberly Colt is only 13 years old, but she's already had sexual contact with her uncle Dwayne—who is 9—while her aunt Carmen, 8, watched. She can't read or write, because she can barely see or hear, and she doesn't know how to clean her teeth, use toilet paper, or comb her hair. Kimberly is one of 12 children who has been seized in New South Wales, Australia, in one of the most startling cases of incest and depravity ever reported anywhere. The children range from age 5 to 15, the AFP reports, and genetic testing reveals that in 11 cases, their parents are related. They were found with roughly 30 adults, a multi-generational incestuous family—or, as the New Zealand Herald characterizes it, a "family cult"—tracing back to one pair of great-great grandparents, who were brother and sister. Police found the clan last year, after getting reports of children who weren't in school, and the case was so insane that the Children's Court made the rare move this week of publishing its findings, using the false family name "Colt" to keep the children anonymous. The story was first reported by news.com.au in excruciating detail. Here are some of those excruciating details, if you can stomach them: The family lived in tents and temporary sheds, moving around frequently to avoid detection. They had no running water, toilets, or showers. The area was littered with exposed electrical wires, chainsaws, and garbage. The children were filthy, diseased, and covered in sores. Most had fungal infections on their feet. In most cases their speech was unintelligible. They were uneducated, and many could not read or count; one 15-year-old had a kindergarten-level learning ability. They had no concept of hygiene, either personal or dental—one boy's teeth were described as "extensively decayed." The inbreeding left many with deformities and disabilities. One girl was described as having dysmorphic features, another boy had misaligned eyes. Children frequently had sex with each other, and with adults. Other specific examples in the report include two sisters sexually touching their three brothers, and in another instance three brothers tying their 8-year-old sister naked to a tree. When girls became pregnant, they would often miscarry on the farm rather than visit a hospital or doctor who might ask questions. A kangaroo was found sleeping on one child's bed. The children apparently habitually mutilated the genitalia of animals. There's far too much to list. For more of the details, see the original report. You can also see the full family tree here.

A museum in southern France dedicated to painter Etienne Terrus has discovered that more than 80 works in its collection are fakes. Local police are now investigating an art forgery ring specialising in Catalan painters. Suspicion that the paintings, watercolors and sketches were fake was first sparked by art historian Eric Forcada, entrusted with overseeing the Terrus collection during a renovation of the small museum in the artist’s hometown of Elne. A key detail was that some of the buildings in the paintings were built after Terrus’s death, local radio station “France Bleu” reported. The museum assembled a committee of experts to inspect the works, which concluded that 82 of them had not been painted by Terrus. The forged works are currently being housed at the Elne police station. The police investigation is also looking into trafficked paintings by other artists throughout the region. Terrus, who was a close friend to artists Henri Matisse and Aristide Maillol, died in 1922. The museum, which is run by City Hall, purchased the works in question over a 20-year period between 1990 and 2010. They are thought to have spent around 160,000 euros on the works. The museum has filed a case against X, a French custom which puts pressure on the authorities to seek out the culprits. ||||| A state-owned French art museum has discovered that more than half of its collection consists of worthless fakes and experts fear that other public galleries may also be stuffed with forgeries. An art historian raised the alarm after noticing that paintings attributed to Etienne Terrus showed buildings that were only constructed after the artist’s death in 1922. Experts confirmed that 82 of the 140 works displayed at the Terrus museum in Elne, the artist’s birthplace in southern France, were fakes. Many of the forged oil paintings, watercolours and drawings were bought with £140,000 of municipal funds over the past few decades. Others were given to the museum by two local groups that raised money to buy them by appealing for donations. Some were bequeathed by a private collector. Yves Barniol, the mayor of Elne, near the Spanish border, said: “It’s a catastrophe. I put myself in the place of all the people who came to visit the museum, who saw fake works of art, who paid an entrance fee. It’s intolerable and I hope we find those responsible.” ||||| Image copyright Musée Terrus Image caption More than 80 paintings said to be by Étienne Terrus were fake (this one, of Collioure in the Pyrenees, is real and is now on display) A French museum dedicated to painter Étienne Terrus has discovered paintings it thought were by him were fakes. The Terrus museum in Elne in the south of France discovered 82 works originally attributed to the artist were not painted by him. More than half the collection is thought to be fake. The paintings cost about €160,000 (£140,000). Staff at the museum were not aware of the forgeries until a visiting art historian alerted them. The council in Elne bought the paintings, drawings and watercolours for the museum over a 20-year period. Eric Forcada, an art historian, contacted the museum in the town near Perpignan several months ago to express his doubts about the authenticity of the paintings. The museum assembled a committee of experts from the cultural world, who inspected the works and concluded that 82 of them had not been painted by the Elne-born artist. The news was announced on Friday as the museum opened after a renovation. Read more fakes news: In interviews on Friday, the mayor of the Pyrenees town, Yves Barniol, said the situation was "a disaster" and apologised to those who had visited the museum in good faith. Terrus was born in 1857 and died in 1922 in Elne, although he lived most of his life in Roussillon, also in the Pyrenees. He was a close friend of painter Henri Matisse. Image copyright Musée Terrus Image caption The authentic Vue Cathédrale remains on display Some of the paintings show buildings that were built after Terrus' death, France 3 said. The town hall has filed a complaint against those who ordered, painted, or sold the fake paintings. Local police are investigating the case, which they say could affect other regional artists too.

– A museum in southern France suffered a terrible blow when experts declared that over half its paintings are forgeries, the BBC reports. The Terrus museum, dedicated to the work of painter Étienne Terrus, apparently knew nothing of the fakes until an art historian informed them. "It's a catastrophe," the mayor of Elne, where the museum resides, tells the Telegraph. "I put myself in the place of all the people who came to visit the museum, who saw fake works of art, who paid an entrance fee. It's intolerable and I hope we find those responsible." Police have taken the fakes and are trying to find those responsible. Apparently 82 of the museum's 140 works are phony, spotted at times because they contained buildings constructed after Terrus died in 1922. Acclaimed for his landscapes of French Catalonia, Terrus was close with artists Aristide Maillol and Henri Matisse and lived mostly in Elne, a town on the Tech River that's less than three miles from the Mediterranean coast of Languedoc-Roussillon, France 24 reports. The museum spent over $190,000 acquiring paintings they thought were his. But the Terrus likely isn't alone: Art experts say at least one in five paintings in the world's top museums may well be fake.

We all knew that Paul Rosolie didn't die — he has, after all, given media interviews in recent days. But just how did his attempt at getting "eaten alive" by a mega-anaconda turn out? Viewers of Discovery Channel's Sunday night special, appropriately titled Eaten Alive, were treated to footage of how it all went down. "The Amazon is the greatest natural battlefield on Earth. Everything, from the biggest tree to the smallest ant, is going to be eaten," Rosolie says near the beginning of the two-hour special. See more The Dark Side of Reality TV: 27 Tragic Deaths Of the anaconda, he says it's "the most terrifying species in the Amazon. We're dealing with power that's very difficult to even imagine, and I'm going to be in search of one individual snake that I know could be the largest snake on the planet." He explains that the reason he wanted to perform the stunt — in which the strategy was to find the serpent, entice it to eat him and hope that he could either be pulled out once the snake had ingested him up to waist level, or perhaps startle the snake into regurgitating him — was to draw attention to the ecological crisis currently threatening the West Amazon from mining, illegal logging and rapid deforestation. His journey takes him to a remote part of the Amazon called the Floating Forest, where he is in search of an anaconda he encountered years ago that he believes is the largest on Earth, surpassing a previously caught anaconda that measured at 24 feet, 7 inches. On his first encounter, he jumped on the snake's back, only to be dragged into the water and forced to jump off to save his life. A good portion of the special is spent following Rosolie and his team as they track the anaconda. Once found, the serpent proves elusive. Rosolie sees it in the murky water and dives after it. He says it's at least 25 feet long. See more When Leads Vanish: TV Shows That Have Killed Off Major Characters Using nighttime surveillance, since the giant snakes are hard to spot during the day, the team decides to go after the snake when it's out hunting at night for prey. In another attempt to capture it, Rosolio grabs its tail but can't keep hold: "I felt myself getting ripped off my feet, holding the tail of a snake that felt like it was a team of horses. I came out, and I was absolutely shaking." It's too dangerous to continue searching for that particular snake, as the rainy season has now arrived. After securing a smaller anaconda, Rosolie puts on a one-of-a-kind suit soaked "head to toe in pig's blood, so I really smell like dinner to this animal," he explains. The snake does, in fact, take the bait. It coils around Rosolie and eventually renders him unable to move. At one point, he says he cannot feel his arms at all and is unable to move as he struggles to turn his body. His heart rate soars above 180. Then the snake looks as if it's going to eat him. It opens its jaws onto his helmet, but then Rosolie says his arm feels like it's about to break, and he calls the whole thing off before being rescued. Read more Eaten by an Anaconda? What's Behind the Rise in Go-Wrong TV Later he explains: "I felt her jaws lock onto my helmet. I felt her gurgling and wheezing, but then I felt her let go. She got my arm into a position where her force was fully on my exposed arm. I started to feel the blood drain out of my hand, and I felt the bone flex. And when I got to the point where I felt like it was going to snap, I had to tap out." He adds that if he hadn't had the suit, "my ribcage would have lasted 10 seconds at best." Now that he knows the suit will protect him, "I'm ready to take this to a real giant," he says, adding that he plans to continue searching for the one that got away. As for the snake? It was unharmed and released back into the environment. ||||| Eaten Alive's Paul Rosolie: The Snake Is 'Absolutely Fine' It probably should have been called Squeezed Alive.That's because Sunday's Discovery special Eaten Alive – which led viewers to believe that naturalist Paul Rosolie was going to get swallowed by a massive anaconda – never even got to the appetizer stage.At worst, Rosolie nearly got the breath squeezed out of him before he called uncle and his team rushed out to save him. Never once did the 20-foot, 250 lb. anaconda ever swallow – much less bite the bejesus out of – Rosolie.And get this: that wasn't a snake that Rosolie and his team happened upon during filming. Reached by PEOPLE on Sunday, Rosolie admitted that the production actually relied upon a Peruvian green anaconda in captivity to complete the experiment."We didn't want to stress out a snake and then release her to the wild," explains Rosolie. "We wanted to be able to check her out, make sure she was okay. We kept in touch with her keeper for weeks afterwards to make sure she was alive and back to normal. We wanted to keep the suspense but really, it wasn't that big of a deal for the snake. But people have been drawing such crazy conclusions, we let them wonder."So did the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals get their panties in a bunch for nothing? Heck no, admits Rosolie."PETA promoted the hell out of it," said Rosolie of PETA, which initially slammed the special by suggesting the snake was probably "tormented" for ratings. "They helped me out a lot."In response, PETA senior vice president Lisa Lange said in a statement: "The animals were removed from their water habitat and transported to a filming location, and the chosen snake was deceived into using her precious energy reserves to constrict a human being pretending to be a pig, all for a publicity stunt. … Study after study has shown that entertainment features such as this one that show humans interfering with and handling wild animals are detrimental to species conservation. Rosolie knows this. Discovery knows this. Yet they chose to contrive and air this shameful stunt for ratings anyway." ||||| Herpetologist, naturalist and author Paul Rosolie is just 30, but his experiences while living and working in the forests of Peru’s remote Madre de Dios region could fill many volumes. Rosolie suffered a jaguar panting down his neck and survived a deadly infection while alone for days in the wilderness. He raised a baby anteater, foiled gun-toting poachers trafficking endangered species and wrestled enormous reptiles as he gathered data on them. It's hard, however, to top his latest project: being eaten alive by a giant green anaconda, which is the largest and most powerful snake in the world. The snake was completely unharmed, and although Rosolie wore a protective suit, he wound up battered and bruised. Now healed, Rosolie shared thoughts about the encounter and some of his other adventures in the western Amazon. Play Video How Snakes Got Their Venom Find out how snakes evolved to become venomous, and why they must keep evolving this tool to keep their deadly reputation. DCI This wasn’t your first close encounter with an anaconda. What happened during those earlier encounters? Rosolie: In order to study snakes that are anywhere from 15 to over 25 feet long, you have to catch them from behind the head to measure and weigh them. During one expedition, with only myself and another individual present, we encountered an enormous anaconda that weighed about 350 pounds. I have a 6-foot arm span, so I jumped on the snake when I couldn’t wrap my arms around it. It kept slithering and moving rapidly, so I wound up riding on the snake while it wanted to dive under water, with me nearly going down with the anaconda. It was an overwhelming experience. This happened in a newly discovered ecosystem called a floating forest. The discovery helped me to realize the importance of such huge apex predators. When their population decreases, everything else can suffer too. Conservation of this region is essential. Consider that one-fifth of the planet’s oxygen is produced by the Amazon rainforest. Nearly half of the world's species will be destroyed or severely threatened over the next quarter century due to rainforest deforestation. We need to act now to save the Amazon rainforest. My colleagues and I have focused on the Madre de Dios region, where the Amazon River begins. What gave you the idea to create and work on the “Eaten Alive” project? What do you say to critics who question why you, as a naturalist, would do something so outrageous? Rosolie: The huge loss of biodiversity in the region cannot continue. We need to call attention to an area that a lot of people don’t even know or think about. Snakes regurgitate all of the time. It’s a common behavioral response. There are also accounts of anacondas eating humans. The father of the cook who tours with us in the Amazon was eaten by an anaconda, so it’s not a myth. Anacondas eat prey that is much bigger and heavier than a human. When you’re in a small village and your mother gets eaten by an anaconda, no cameras are running. You don’t call the press. In our project, we explored the possibility. We kept it within the parameters of a normal day in the wild. A snake did lose its lunch: me. ||||| Eaten Alive failed to show anyone being eaten alive! Credit: Discovery It was billed as the one of the most amazing animal stunts ever to be seen on TV, but as viewers tuned in to watch Discovery's Eaten Alive special, there was disappointment ahead. PHOTOS: Stars who got their start on reality TV Naturalist Paul Rosolie donned a protective outfit which he claimed would enable him to be eaten alive by an enormous anaconda snake, without being killed. But after a lengthy search for a suitable creature, Rosolie called time on the stunt after only his head had been consumed by the reptile, and Twitter exploded with disappointment. The Amazon conservationist wore a carbon-fiber suit, to protect him from the snake's potentially heart-stopping constriction. Viewers watched as the snake bit his helmet. But before Rosolie could go any further into the snakes stomach (the promise of which had created outrage amongst animal rights activists), he called his security team to get the animal off him. PHOTOS: Celebs and their pets “I'm calling it, I need help!” he screamed as he felt his arm starting to break. There was no second attempt, and the animal was released back into the wild. “I started to feel the blood drain out of my hand and I felt the bone flex," Rosolie explained, after his attempt. "And when I got to the point where I felt like it was going to snap I had to tap out,” he said. Within minutes of the show airing, Twitter erupted with viewer disappointment, many of whom likened the stunt to The Mysteries of Al Capone's Vaults in 1986, where a TV special watched by 30 million viewers promised a look into the Chicago hotel vault where the famous gangster kept some of his wealth. In the end, the show, presented by Geraldo Rivera, revealed a vault containing nothing but a load of dust and some empty Coke bottles. PHOTOS: Celebs doing extreme sports "Geraldo prob just watched #EatenAlive and high-fived himself. His 'Al Capone's vault' special is no longer the biggest letdown in TV history," one Twitter user wrote. "Calling it #EatenAlive is like having a show on the Food Network about cooking a turkey and all they do after 2 hours is preheat the oven," added another. "The eaten alive guy didn't get eaten alive... #Disappointed," another tweeter summed up. In response to the complaints, Rosolie has claimed that he carried out the risky move in a bid to raise money to save the snake's habitat in South America, and that the animal was not harmed. "I wanted to do something to grab people’s attention to the plight of the disappearing rainforests, something completely crazy," he said earlier this month. "Everything else has been tried." Tell Us: Was Eaten Alive a big con or was it worth a watch?

– Eaten Alive, the Discovery Channel special that was supposed to feature Paul Rosolie being swallowed whole, then regurgitated, by an anaconda, aired last night ... but Rosolie's encounter with the giant snake didn't exactly go down as planned. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Rosolie spent most of the two-hour special searching for an anaconda he first saw years ago, one he believes to be the biggest on Earth at at least 25 feet. In his first on-camera encounter with the snake, he jumped on its back but had to jump off when he was dragged into the water. After another encounter during which Rosolie grabbed its tail but couldn't hang on, he determined it would be safer to settle for a smaller anaconda. He put on his pig-blood-soaked protective suit, and the snake (a 20-footer that was already in captivity, according to People) coiled around him. Then, just as the snake opened its jaws onto Rosolie's helmet, he called the whole thing off and was rescued. "I felt her jaws lock onto my helmet," he explained afterward. "I felt her gurgling and wheezing but then I felt her let go. She got my arm into a position where her force was fully on my exposed arm. I started to feel the blood drain out of my hand and I felt the bone flex, and when I got to the point where I felt like it was going to snap I had to tap out." He says he couldn't move and, at one point, couldn't feel his arms; his heart rate went higher than 180. Twitter exploded with complaints after Rosolie called off the stunt, Us reports, with one viewer noting, "Calling it #EatenAlive is like having a show on the Food Network about cooking a turkey and all they do after 2 hours is preheat the oven." But Rosolie says he accomplished what he set out to—being eaten alive was just the hook, he explains. "I wanted to do something to grab people’s attention to the plight of the disappearing rainforests," he explained earlier this month. "Something completely crazy." And, yes, the snake is fine; as for Rosolie, he was "pretty beaten up," he tells Discovery. (Read about the controversy that swirled around the special.)

Advocates are concerned by a recent uptick in sightings of uncontacted people. This image was released by Survival International in 2011. Indigenous people with no prior contact to the outside world have just emerged from the Amazon rainforest in Brazil and made contact with a group of settled Indians, after being spotted migrating to evade illegal loggers, advocates say. The news, which was released yesterday (July 2), comes after sightings of the uncontacted Indians in Brazil near the border with Peru, according to the group Survival International. Officials with the organization had warned last month that the isolated tribes face threats of disease and violence as they moved into new territory and possibly encountered other people. "Something serious must have happened," José Carlos Meirelles, a former official with the Brazilian Indian Affairs Department FUNAI, said in a statement. "It is not normal for such a large group of uncontacted Indians to approach in this way. This is a completely new and worrying situation, and we currently do not know what has caused it." [See Photos of Uncontacted Amazon Tribe] Survival International officials said dozens of uncontacted Indians were recently spotted close to the home of the Ashaninka Indians in Brazil's Acre state along the Envira River, while a government investigation in the region uncovered more ephemeral traces of the tribe on the move: footprints, temporary camps and food leftovers. On Sunday (June 29), reports suggest, the vulnerable group of Indians made contact with the Asháninka. Advocates think the Indians crossed into Brazil from Peru to escape drug traffickers and illegal loggers who started working in their territory, Fiona Watson, research and field director for Survival International, told Live Science in an email. Advocates warned this could be a deadly development. As they travel, the tribe may be at risk of clashes with other groups and contagious diseases to which they have no immunity. Illnesses like the flu and malaria, for example, devastated the Zo'e tribe in northern Brazil after Christian missionaries established a base camp in the area in the 1980s. "I am from the same area as they are," Nixiwaka Yawanawá, an Indian from Brazil's Acre state, said in a statement. "It is very worrying that my relatives are at risk of disappearing. It shows the injustice that we face today. They are even more vulnerable because they can’t communicate with the authorities. Both governments must act now to protect and to stop a disaster against my people," added Yawanawá, who joined Survival to speak out for the rights of such indigenous peoples. Another uncontacted tribe was famously photographed near the Brazil-Peru border in 2008. Images released by Survival International at the time showed men pointing arrows at the plane photographing them. In 2011, a government post that was monitoring the area was overrun by illegal loggers and drug smugglers. "International borders don't exist for uncontacted tribes, which is why Peru and Brazil must work together to prevent lives being lost," Survival director Stephen Corry urged in the statement. "Both governments must act now if their uncontacted citizens are to survive." Follow Megan Gannon on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science. ||||| Image: FUNAI/Gleison Miranda For the first time in nearly 20 years, the Brazilian government has made contact with a previously isolated indigenous tribe after the group was likely forced to take refuge from illegal logging in the Amazon rainforest. According to FUNAI, Brazil's indigenous affairs department, the contact was made last weekend near the Peru-Brazil border after the group approached a settlement. It's the first time the Brazilian government has has extensive interactions with a previously uncontacted tribe since 1996. The group is believed to have been pushed there by illegal logging in Peru and comes just days after FUNAI warned of "imminent death and tragedy" if the logging didn't stop. The group has no name known outside of the tribe, and it's unclear what language its people speak, Kayla Wieche, a spokesperson for Survival International, a London-based group that fights for indigenous rights worldwide, told me. "There is no name for the group. We can't be sure how the refer to themselves or even what language they speak," she said. "It's difficult to know how many people are in the group in total and how many made contact. One FUNAI official has mentioned a figure of 70, but nobody can really be sure at the moment." The contact was somewhat expected, because in recent weeks, Brazil's Ashaninka people, a contacted tribe living near this group, reported many more sightings of the group. Sunday, a large group of them apparently approached the Ashaninka village. The group is believed to be the same one that was photographed from the air in both 2008 and 2010, though officials don't know for sure yet. In those photos, men can be seen pointing spears and arrows at a helicopter. Back in 2008, a widely-circulated rumor suggested that the photos were somehow a hoax, a claim that originated at The Observer. That paper has since apologized, retracted its article, and deleted it off its website. FUNAI says the increased sightings started June 13, and contact occurred on June 29. This image was taken from a helicopter in 2008 and is believed to be of the same group that was just contacted. Image: FUNAI/Gleison Miranda This is, of course, not good news. The general consensus is that uncontacted tribes should be left alone in the forest, where many of them have lived for hundreds of years or more. A recent study suggested that many uncontacted tribes die out almost immediately after they are contacted. Of the 238 tribes that have been contacted over the past several decades, three fourths have died out. The ones that have survived see mortality rates of up to 80 percent due to contracting diseases they've never been exposed to, among other things. FUNAI "has the premise of no contact, respecting the self-determination of peoples and doing the work of territorial protection with the presence of these people," the group said in a press release about the contact. It added that it has sent experts in indigenous health and interpreters to do their best to communicate with the uncontacted people and to keep them safe. Back in 2011, WikiLeaks released documents that showed as much as 90 percent of Peru's mahogany exports were illegally logged from the Amazon, much of that in the region where these people lived. Survival International believes that illegal logging was to blame for pushing the tribe into Brazil, where they eventually bumped up against the contacted tribe. It's the same thing that experts fear could happen in Ecuador, where oil drilling is boxing in an uncontacted tribe and pushing them toward contacted ones. What happens from here is anyone's guess, according to Sarah Shenker, a campaigner with Survival International who has been in close contact with people on the ground in Brazil. The group will be given the choice about whether or not it wants to settle in a village associated with outside society. There have been instances of a group being contacted and eventually electing to return to live in isolation. She says Brazilian officials believe that in order for an uncontacted group to approach a settlement like this, external pressures must have been involved. "It seems there were real pressures on them—logging and drug trafficking forcing them to do this," she told me. "It seems like something big has happened, for them to approach a village like this. Maybe they saw loggers and felt they had no where left to go." ||||| Last week, Brazilian officials announced that an isolated Amazonian tribe took a momentous and potentially tragic step. Emerging from dense rainforest along the Upper Envira River in the state of Acre, Brazil, the group willingly approached a team of Brazilian government scientists on 29 June and made peaceful contact with the outside world. Officials suspect that the tribe fled illegal logging and drug trafficking in their traditional homelands in Peru. The meeting was Brazil's first official contact with an isolated Amazonian tribe in 20 years. Anthropologists remain deeply concerned about the tribe's future as it encounters novel diseases and resource-hungry outsiders. Many previous contacts have ended in tragedy, as diseases such as influenza and whooping cough ravaged tribes. For more, see the full story in this week's issue of Science. *Correction, 9 July, 1:51 p.m.: The photo caption contained an incorrect date; the photograph was taken in 2010.

– An Amazon tribe that has managed to remain isolated from the outside world is isolated no more. Members of the unnamed tribe have taken what Science calls the "momentous and potentially tragic step" of approaching a group of Brazilian scientists in the rainforest. (It's believed to be the same tribe that was photographed a few years ago by a government plane, notes Vice, though no contact was made at that time.) The government dispatched the team of scientists to the Upper Envira River region after getting complaints from local villagers that members of the tribe had shown up and were raiding their fields. Brazil has a strict no-contact policy with such tribes—about 70 are thought to exist in the rainforest—but an Arizona anthropologist thinks it made sense to send the team in this case given the "serious threat of violence" that existed between the tribe and villagers. Little is known about the group, and scientists haven't yet identified its language, but LiveScience reports that the tribe likely came from Peru when illegal loggers and drug traffickers encroached on its territory. Maybe they "felt they had nowhere left to go," says a member of advocacy group Survival International. Scientists have quarantined the area because the tribe's members are at high risk of picking up diseases. They'll eventually get to decide whether they want to settle in a village with ties to the modern world. Click to read about another remote tribe thought (by Westerners, anyway) to be exceedingly dull.

Pit bull chews off owner's arm, hand WILTON -- In a scene out of a horror movie, a pit bull -- apparently without provocation -- attacked its owner, tearing out one of her arms and ripping off her other hand. The victim, Anne Murray, 56, was recovering at Norwalk Hospital, her son Matthew Murray said Tuesday. "She's better -- she's awake now," he said. "I don't really know what happened. I just want to stay with her and get her to a full recovery." The attack at the Murrays' 77 Range Road home happened about 11:30 a.m. Monday. Police Lt. Donald Wakeman said one passing motorist, and then another, stopped because the dog had wandered into the road. "The first motorist found the dog to be somewhat aggressive, so she retreated to her car," Wakeman said. "And then one of the two motorists heard someone calling for help, so she called 911." He said the dog in the street was the one that attacked Murray, who was found underneath a vehicle in her driveway, trying to fend off the animal, said Wakeman, the Wilton Police Department spokesman. The first arriving officer, Capt. John Lynch, determined that the dog was an immediate threat to the victim and others nearby, so he shot and killed the dog, Wakeman said. The pit bull's remains will be tested for rabies at a state laboratory, officials said. In additional to the loss of a limb and another hand, Murray had bite wounds all over her body, Wakeman said. She was brought by ambulance to Norwalk Hospital, where she was listed in stable condition. "She lost all of her left arm and a portion of her right arm," he said. Monday's mauling recalls the 2009 chimpanzee attack on Charla Nash, of Stamford. In that incident she was blinded and horribly mutilated; she later received a face transplant. But the big difference between that case and Monday's dog attack is that chimpanzees, cute as they may be when they're infants, grow up to be wild animals -- muscular, temperamental and unpredictable ones at that. Dogs, conversely, have been domesticated for tens of thousands of years, making Monday's attack all the more terrifying. Still, pit bulls, although they have legions of admirers, have killed and maimed countless times before. The most recent pit bull death occurred last week in Kernersville, N.C., when 25-year-old Katherine Atkins was set upon by her two dogs while she was attempting to feed them. She had owned the dogs since they were puppies, Kernersville police said. And last month, 5-year-old Jason Ryan, of Baker City, Ore., was set upon by a neighbor's pit bull. He died in the ambulance. In September, two toddlers were mauled to death by pit bulls, one in Colton, Calif., the other in Gilbert, Ariz. No one was home at Murray's house on Tuesday, but the front yard bore the remains of what must have been a chaotic and gruesome scene. The driveway was littered with some of the contents of the ambulance that arrived to take Murray to the hospital, including a pillow, a blanket, a blue latex glove, a blister-pack of bandages and an orange biohazard bag. Also in the driveway was the pit bull's black nylon collar, with tags bearing his name: "Tux" -- for Tuxedo -- a name that was confirmed by police who said the animal was a 2-year-old male. Range Road is in a neighborhood of tidy suburban homes, but the red house at number 77 has fallen on hard times. The garage door is mostly missing; a picket fence covers the opening. The electricity meter has a shut-off tag affixed to it. On the front stoop is a large plastic tub, partially filled with water, into which a winter coat was draped. The front yard is covered in brambles and the mailbox hadn't been emptied in days. Neighbors said they had never met Anne Murray and that the family kept to themselves. Police said she lives with her twin 26-year-old sons. "Technically, the dog belonged to one of the sons," Wakeman said. "The sons weren't home all the time, so she took care of the dog when they weren't there. Why the dog turned on her, we don't know." As was the case in the North Carolina tragedy, Tuxedo was part of the family since puppyhood, police said. Wakeman said the investigation is continuing. "At this point, we don't know whether criminal charges will be filed," he said. jburgeson@ctpost.com; 203-330-6403; http://twitter.com/johnburgeson ||||| Pit bull likely ate owner's hands Photo: Lindsay Perry Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Image 1 of 1 Buy photo The house at 77 Range Road in Wilton, Conn., on Tuesday, November 12, 2013, where a pit bull attacked his owner, Anne Murray, 65, on Monday. The house at 77 Range Road in Wilton, Conn., on Tuesday, November 12, 2013, where a pit bull attacked his owner, Anne Murray, 65, on Monday. Photo: Lindsay Perry Buy this photo Pit bull likely ate owner's hands 1 / 1 Back to Gallery WILTON -- Two days after a dog bit off a woman's hand and her other arm, sources said her hands were likely eaten. And police said they had been to her home in the past for problems with the same dog. Wilton's animal control officer had been called to the home of 56-year-old Anne Murray twice, both times on complaints that the pit bull had roamed off the property, police Lt. Don Wakeman said Wednesday. "They determined during the contact in July that the dog was not currently licensed and a temporary license was issued," said Wakeman, the department's spokesman. Police have also come to Murray's home several times to arrest her 26-year-old son, Ian, according to state court records. Ian Murray was given a five-year suspended sentence after he was found guilty of a 2005 robbery and conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery. He was also found guilty of violating his probation in 2010 in connection with that case. On Monday morning, a town police officer shot and killed the dog in the driveway of the home after it attacked Anne Murray. The attack remains under investigation, Wakeman said, but he said that it likely won't result in criminal charges. "We are looking at this as an extremely unfortunate accident," he said. Wakeman declined to comment on whether the 2-year-old pit bull, Tuxedo, had eaten the victim's limbs, but another law enforcement source said that most of the flesh and bone the animal ripped from the victim was not recovered at the scene. "Use your imagination as to what happened," the source said. Murray lost all of one arm and the other up to the elbow in the attack, and suffered bite wounds all over her body, police said. Passing motorists saw the dog in the street and stopped to call 911. Murray was found under a car in her driveway, trying to shield herself from further attack. Murray is recovering from her injuries at Norwalk Hospital, where her son, Matthew Murray, said Tuesday night that she was awake and hopeful of a full recovery. Hospital spokeswoman Maura Romaine did not immediately return a reporter's call seeking an updated condition for Murray on Wednesday. Wakeman said Wednesday morning that police have not questioned Murray about what happened, but that they plan to "when she is able." The incident sent shock waves through the region's pet community this week. Dog owners, particularly pit bull owners, swiftly defended the breed, saying that any breed of dog can become aggressive and that incidents involving pit bulls tend to be unfairly sensationalized. Milford resident Rob Masud said his adopted pit bull is his first dog. He said his canine companion has the "sweetest disposition," but he's still mindful of the fact that the breed is naturally muscular and energetic. He said that any potential dog owner should do research about the breed they own and should consider whether they can properly handle and care for the dog. "I think a lot of this has to do with education," he said. "You have to use caution with any dog, of any breed. You have to exhibit proper etiquette around the dog." The head of Murray's dog was taken to a state Department of Public Health lab in Rocky Hill to be tested for rabies. Those results were not available Wednesday morning. It wasn't immediately clear whether the pit bull's remains would be further examined. When a chimpanzee mauled Charla Nash of Stamford in 2009, the animal was brought to the University of Connecticut in Storrs, which has a bioscience lab and other facilities. UConn spokeswoman Sheila Foran said that the lab has a "confidentiality agreement," and that she couldn't comment on whether the pit bull's remains are there.

– The Connecticut Post describes it as "a scene out of a horror movie": On Monday morning, a pit bull attacked its 56-year-old owner so savagely her left arm was ripped off; Anne Murray also lost her other arm up to the elbow, and sustained many bite wounds. More gruesome still, and a police source says most of the woman's flesh and bone weren't found after the attack, indicating they were likely eaten by the dog, reports Greenwich Time. "Use your imagination as to what happened," says the source. Drivers passing by Murray's Wilton, Conn., home apparently spotted the 2-year-old male dog, Tuxedo, in the street; one heard a cry for help, and phoned police; that marks the third time calls had been placed about the dog leaving Murray's property. Except in this case, Murray was found beneath a car in her driveway, where she was trying to take shelter from the animal. The dog was shot and killed; Murray is in the hospital in stable condition. She's unlikely to face any criminal charges, says a local police lieutenant, who calls it "an extremely unfortunate accident." He added that the dog was owned by one of Murray's adult sons, and that she cared for it when he wasn't home. "Why the dog turned on her, we don't know."

No matter where Anthony Davis and his buddies go to make their millions, their ol' Kentucky home will long remember this championship season. Kentucky guard Doron Lamb,left, forward Terrence Jones (3) and guard Marquis Teague celebrate after the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball championship game Monday, April 2, 2012, in New Orleans.... (Associated Press) Kentucky players celebrate at the end of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball championship game against Kansas Monday, April 2, 2012, in New Orleans. Kentucky won 67-59. (AP Photo/David J.... (Associated Press) Kentucky players celebrate at the end of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball championship game against Kansas Monday, April 2, 2012, in New Orleans. Kentucky won 67-59. (AP Photo/David J.... (Associated Press) Kentucky head coach John Calipari reacts during the second half of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball championship game against Kansas, Monday, April 2, 2012, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Mark... (Associated Press) Kentucky forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (14) reacts during the second half of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball championship game against Kansas, Monday, April 2, 2012, in New Orleans.... (Associated Press) Kansas head coach Bill Self talks to guard Elijah Johnson (15) and guard Tyshawn Taylor (10) during the second half of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball championship game Monday, April... (Associated Press) Kentucky guard Marquis Teague (25) and guard Doron Lamb (20) react during the second half of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball championship game against Kansas, Monday, April 2, 2012,... (Associated Press) The Kentucky bench cheers during the second half of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball championship game against Kansas, Monday, April 2, 2012, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) (Associated Press) ADDS ID FOR JUDD'S HUSBAND - Actress Ashley Judd reacts as she stands next to her husband, two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti, of Scotland, during the second half of the NCAA Final Four... (Associated Press) Kansas head coach Bill Self calls out during the second half of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball championship game against Kentucky, Monday, April 2, 2012, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/David... (Associated Press) The Wildcats hit the jackpot with their lottery picks Monday night, ignoring Davis' bad shooting night and parlaying a roster full of NBA talent into a 67-59 victory over Kansas for the team's eighth national title _ and its first since 1998. The one-and-doners did it in a wire-to-wire victory _ a little dicey at the end _ to cap a season in which anything less than bringing a title back to the Bluegrass State would have been a downer. They led coach John Calipari to his first title in four trips to the Final Four with three different schools. Doron Lamb, a sophomore with first-round-draft-pick possibilities, led the Wildcats (38-2) with 22 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers that put them up by 16 with 10 minutes left. The Jayhawks (32-7), kings of the comeback all season, fought to the finish and trimmed that deficit to five with 1:37 left. But Kentucky made five free throws down the stretch to seal the win Davis' fellow lottery prospect, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, was another headliner, creating space for himself to score all 11 of his points in the first half. Davis, meanwhile, might have had the most dominating six-point night in the history of college basketball, earning the nod as the most outstanding player. He finished with 16 rebounds, six blocks, five assists and three steals _ and made his only field goal with 5:13 left in the game. It was a surefire illustration of how the 6-foot-10 freshman can exert his will on a game even on a rare night when the shot isn't falling. Helps when you've got teammates like this. Davis is the likely first pick in the draft should he choose to come out, and Kidd-Gilchrist won't be far behind. Another first-round prospect, freshman Marquis Teague, had 14 points. And yet another, sophomore Terrence Jones, had nine points, seven rebounds and two of Kentucky's 11 blocked shots. Kansas also has a lottery pick in AP All-American Thomas Robinson. But he was harassed all night by Davis and Jones and finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds on a 6 for 17 shooting night. The Jayhawks won the "B" League this year, as Calipari avenged a final-game loss to Bill Self back in 2008 when Cal was coaching the Tigers. Not a bad season in Lawrence, though, considering where KU began. Kansas lost four of its top five scorers off last year's roster. There were times early in the season when Self and his old buddy and mentor, Larry Brown, would stand around at practices and wonder if this was a team that could even make the tournament. It did. Won its eighth straight conference title, too. None of this, however, was for the faint of heart. The Jayhawks trailed by double digits in three of their five tournament games leading to the final and played every game down to the wire. They fell behind by 18 late in the first half of this one and this time, there was no big comeback to be made; not against these guys. Davis went only 1-for-10 from the floor, but he realized early this was no shoot-first night for him at the Superdome. Sporting his near-unibrow, which the UK Wildcat mascot also decided to paste on, he endured the worst shooting night of a short college career in which he makes 64 percent. No big deal. He set the tone early on defense, swatting Robinson's shot twice, grabbing rebounds, making pretty bounce passes for assists. Early in the second half, he made a steal that also could have been an assist, knocking the ball out of Robinson's hands and directly to Jones, who dunked for a 46-30 lead. Then, finally. With 5:13 left in the game, he spotted up for a 15-foot jumper from the baseline that swished. The crowd, a little more full of Kentucky fans than Kansas, went crazy. If this guy only stays one year and only makes one shot, they're fine with that. It's the new normal at Kentucky, where Adolph Rupp set a standard, Rick Pitino lived up to it for a while, then Calipari _ hardly the buttoned-down type _ was hired to bring back the glory. He goes for the best player, no matter what their long-term goals. Normally, the prospect of losing all those players in one swoop would have people thinking about a tough rebuilding year. But Cal has mastered the art of rebuilding on the fly. He's the coach who brings in the John Walls, Brandon Knights and Derrick Roses (at Memphis) for cups of coffee, lets them sharpen up their resumes, then happily says goodbye when it becomes obvious there's nothing left for them to do in school. The coach won't apologize for the way he recruits or how he runs his program. Just playing by the rules as they're set up, he says, even if he doesn't totally agree with them. Because he refuses to promise minutes or shots to any recruit and demands teamwork out of all of them, he says he comes by these players honestly. He has produced nine first-round picks in the last four drafts with a few more coming. This latest group will have an NCAA title in tow and the everlasting love of a fan base that bleeds basketball. ||||| NEW ORLEANS – Throughout the NCAA men's basketball tournament the prevailing question was: Can anyone beat Kentucky? The answer arrived Monday night at the Superdome: not this year. The Wildcats (38-2), who started five underclassmen and dominated most of their opponents this season, outlasted Kansas 67-59 to win their first NCAA championship since 1998. Kentucky did it all with only six points from superstar freshman Anthony Davis—though he did contribute 15 rebounds and six blocks. Doron Lamb led Kentucky with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Wildcats Strike Kansas for NCAA View Slideshow AP Kentucky players celebrate at the end of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball championship game against Kansas Monday, April 2, in New Orleans. Kentucky won 67-59. "I was struggling offensively and told my team, 'Y'all score the ball,'" Davis said. "'I'm just going to defend and rebound.'" Kansas (32-7) performed several escapes in the NCAA tournament but couldn't clamber out of Monday's early hole. The Jayhawks had the ball at Kentucky's end with one minute left and a chance to score. But point guard Tyshawn Taylor threw away the ball on an errant pass, then was forced to foul. Kentucky's Marquis Teague sank both free throws, putting the Wildcats up 65-57 with 54 seconds to go. The Wildcats' victory sealed their status as one of the elite teams in college basketball history, and one that will stand as a successful test case for talent trumping inexperience. Kentucky coach John Calipari has made a practice of recruiting the nation's very best high-school players despite several of them moving on to the pros after just one season. The Wildcats' entire starting lineup—three freshmen and two sophomores—is expected to enter June's NBA draft. Calipari won his first NCAA title in his fourth Final Four appearance over tenures with three teams. (The Final Fours at Memphis and Massachusetts were later vacated due to NCAA sanctions.) As he stood amid confetti, Calipari called the championship trophy he was holding for the first time "kind of heavy, to be honest with you." The same could be said of leading Kentucky to its eighth title – behind only UCLA's 11 for most in the nation. Thomas Robinson, Kansas' spectacular forward who also is destined for the NBA, finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds. The Jayhawks played their characteristic bruising low-post defense, but Kentucky was too balanced, too prolific, too talented—too much. The Wildcats controlled most of the game despite Davis's going scoreless until early in the second half. As Kansas inched back late in the game, coach Bill Self said he thought of the 2008 final, when the Jayhawks charged back from a nine-point deficit in little more than two minutes to snatch a championship. In that game they secured overtime on Mario Chalmers' three-pointer at the buzzer and cruised to a 75-68 victory over Memphis, at the time coached by Calipari. "It crossed my mind," Self said. "But we just didn't have the mojo tonight." Kentucky, its roster spangled with high-school All-America players, boasted an offense that averaged nearly 78 points per game and a defense that set an NCAA record with 344 blocks. While Kentucky mostly dominated its tournament games, the Jayhawks scrambled to win theirs. Kansas hadn't led at halftime in any game since its tournament opener against Detroit, and came from 13 points down to beat Ohio State in the semifinal. On Monday, KU ran into a team with unparalleled stamina and talent. Davis, the Wildcats' 6-foot-10 freshman and national player of the year, went scoreless in the first half but still managed to be a force on both ends of the floor: He had nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Davis, the erstwhile 6-foot-2 high school guard, rode a growth and skill spurt to a starring role in the NCAA championship game and the likely overall No. 1 spot in June's NBA draft. Kentucky's 38 victories is an NCAA Division I season record, breaking the previous mark of 37 held by four teams—including Kansas in 2008. Calipari's Memphis team was from that year finished 38-2, but those wins were later vacated due to NCAA violations. Write to Rachel Bachman at Rachel.Bachman@wsj.com

– Kentucky turned out to be just too good for Kansas to overcome in the NCAA men's basketball final. The Wildcats—who dominated most opponents this season—beat the Jayhawks 67-59 to win their eighth national title and their first since 1998, reports the Wall Street Journal. Kentucky's Anthony Davis—selected as Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four—had an incredible night despite finishing with just six points. Davis, expected to be the No. 1 pick in June's NBA draft, tied Joakim Noah's individual record for blocks in the NCAA championship game with six, grabbed 16 rebounds, and had five assists and three steals, AP notes. The title win is Kentucky coach John Calipari's first in four trips to the Final Four with three different schools.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop are considering all options – including the dramatic step of recalling Australia's ambassador to Indonesia – in a sign of the federal government's growing fury at the looming executions of Bali nine duo Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan. As Canberra publicly stepped up calls for clemency for the pair on Monday, Ms Bishop said she was "profoundly dismayed" at the looming executions but refused to comment publicly on what the government's response might be. Ms Bishop also revealed the Australian government asked Indonesia not to announce the pending executions on Anzac Day, but that request fell on deaf ears and that she was "very disappointed that it proceeded in this way". Behind the scenes, discussions are underway at the highest levels of the Australian government about Canberra withdrawing Australia's ambassador to Indonesia, Paul Grigson. SHARE Share on Facebook SHARE Share on Twitter TWEET Link Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop: "profoundly dismayed". Photo: Nic Walker Canberra did not, for example, recall Australia's ambassador to Singapore after the execution of Van Tuong Nguyen​ in 2005, nor was the Australian ambassador recalled from Malaysia in 1986 or 1993 when Australian citizens were executed. If the withdrawal of Australia's ambassador to Jakarta went ahead, it would likely be couched in the standard diplomatic language of "bringing the ambassador home for consultations" for several months. Advertisement Australia in the past has typically taken the pragmatic view that its interests can be better represented by leaving ambassadors in place even after sharp disagreements with other countries. In line with the actions of other countries – Brazil and the Netherlands both withdrew their ambassadors after two of their citizens were executed in January – the move is being considered to express Australia's extreme displeasure. SHARE Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Link Australian ambassador to Indonesia, Paul Grigson. Photo: Jeffrey Chan But the view inside the Abbott government is the Bali nine case has gone beyond that of a normal diplomatic hitch, especially in view of the international outcry it has provoked, culminating at the weekend with a special plea from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for a death penalty moratorium. And even as it has faced an international backlash, Indonesia has forcefully pressed other countries to spare the lives of its own nationals when they are convicted of capital crimes and sentenced to death. The Foreign Minister appealed for the executions to be delayed on Monday until two legal processes regarding the men's cases, currently under way, are completed. "The lawyers for Mr Chan and Mr Sukumaran​ have been granted a hearing before the constitutional court. There is also a judicial commission review under way into the original trial," she said. "There have been some allegations made in relation to the trial and I said [in a conversation with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno​ Marsudi on Sunday] that Australia, indeed the international community, would expect those legal processes to be concluded before any other action was taken." Fairfax Media reported on Monday the former lawyer of Chan and Sukumaran​ has outlined explosive allegations of corruption by the judges that sentenced the Bali nine duo to death, saying they asked for more than $130,000 to give them a prison term of less than 20 years. Ms Bishop said those allegations were very serious. "They call into question the integrity of the sentencing process and it's a matter for Indonesia's judicial commission to investigate these matters." As the diplomatic row over the impending execution of the two men deepens, former Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday postponed a visit to Perth for a University of Western Australia conference due to be held on Friday. "Due to the sensitivity of the timing of his visit, Dr Yudhoyono​ has decided to postpone his trip, but still plans to deliver his keynote address via video technology," UWA vice-chancellor Professor Paul Johnson said. Ms Bishop would not say whether Mr Abbott was attempting to call President Widodo to ask for clemency. But she did reveal the pair had spoken recently at the funeral of former Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew. ANU Indonesia expert Greg Fealy​ told Fairfax Media there was no sign President Widodo​ would reconsider his position, though there were now signs out of Jakarta that the president had realised his decision to proceed with the execution had been based on flawed advice. "The reality for him is that public opinion is in favour of these executions proceeding ... he simply can't change his mind," he said. Labor foreign affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek said it was "absolutely completely unacceptable for this sentence to be carried out while those legal matters are still pending". Mr Abbott is in France and expected to discuss the pending executions with French President Francois Hollande on Monday. Mr Hollande​ has publicly warned Indonesia of grave consequences for Indonesia's relationship with France and the EU if French citizen Serge Atlaoui, who is one of the 10 people on death row and who has earned a temporary reprieve pending a legal appeal, is executed. Dave McRae, an Indonesia expert at Melbourne University's Asia Institute, said Australia should take firm action to make it clear to Indonesia "there will be consequences" if the executions go ahead. "I think it has to be more than simply expressing condemnation. I think you're looking at a firmer response that might include suspending certain areas of co-operation for a period," he said. He said it was important for all countries to "act together to show there are costs". For instance, Indonesia should be made to feel that its stubbornness could put its citizens at risk because other countries that have the death penalty would spurn Jakarta's pleas for clemency for its own nationals in future. "The things that have allowed abolitionists to gain even temporarily the upper hand in Indonesia have all been things that create pragmatic reasons to abolish [the death penalty], of which the imperative to protect Indonesia's citizens abroad … was the most prominent example." ||||| Two Australians, four Nigerians, a Brazilian, a Filipina and Indonesian convicted of drug offences could be executed by firing squad as early as midnight local time Last-ditch diplomatic efforts to spare some of the eight foreign nationals scheduled to face a firing squad in Indonesia for drug offences have intensified as the end of a 72-hour notice period looms. Along with Indonesian Zainul Abidin, four Nigerians, two Australians, a Brazilian and a Philippines citizen could be executed as early as midnight on Tuesday local time. They include Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, for their part in the plot to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin from Bali in 2005. Amnesty International has called on Joko Widodo, the Indonesian president, to grant all nine drug offenders clemency. In a letter signed by 13 directors of the group from around the world, they acknowledge Indonesia’s need to punish and deter criminal acts, but argue that there is no evidence the death penalty is effective. Hopes were raised that 30-year-old Filipina Mary Jane Veloso could be spared following lobbying by her country’s president, Benigno Aquino, on the sidelines of the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur. Veloso was visited by her two sons, aged six and 12. “She tried to explain again [to them], ‘If Mumma does not go home, just think Mumma is in heaven,’” Veloso’s elder sister Marites Veloso-Laurente told AFP. A statement on Monday from Widodo indicated he was sympathetic to her case and would consult with Indonesia’s attorney general before “resum[ing] the conversation” with Aquino. The attorney general, however, said the execution would go ahead, Reuters reported. Death penalty in Indonesia: an executioner's story Read more Veloso’s supporters, who have held rallies in the Filipino capital, Manila, claim she was unaware her suitcase contained about 2.6kg of heroin when she flew into Yogyakarta, Java, in 2010. Filipino boxer and congressman Manny Pacquiao joined the calls to show Veloso clemency. “I am begging and knocking at your kind heart that your excellency grant executive clemency to her by sparing her life and saving her from execution,” he said in an appeal to Widodo on Sunday. Relations between Jakarta and Canberra have frayed because of plans to execute Chan and Sukumaran. The Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, has been trying to speak with Widodo by phone for seven weeks, and wrote a letter to him at the weekend, appealing for mercy. “This is not in the best interests of Indonesia, let alone in the interests of the young Australians concerned,” Abbott said on Monday. Widodo brushed aside a last-minute plea for a stay of execution of the two Australians, saying concerns that their trial had been tainted by corruption should have been raised when the case went through the courts nine years ago. Julie Bishop, the Australian foreign minister, warned on Monday that carrying out the mass execution would “harm Indonesia’s international standing”. Bali Nine: timeline of the convicted Australian drug smugglers' story Read more Protesters gathered outside the Indonesian consulate in Sydney on Monday evening. The former Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhyohono has cancelled an address at the University of Western Australia, Perth, citing “sensitive timing”. Controversy also surrounds the Brazilian on death row, Rodrigo Gularte. His lawyers say he has bipolar disorder and that psychological assessments last year conclude he also has paranoid schizophrenia. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, joined the chorus of opposition to the executions on Sunday, asking that Widodo “urgently consider declaring a moratorium on capital punishment in Indonesia, with a view toward abolition”. French national Serge Atlaoui won a temporary reprieve at the weekend after officials agreed to wait until his legal challenges have been exhausted. The French president, Francois Hollande, has warned of severe “consequences with France and Europe” if Atlaoui is executed. The Indonesian president has otherwise refused to be swayed by the international pressure, pledging to clear the country’s death row of drug offenders as part of a crackdown on what he calls the “national emergency” of narcotics. Official figures are unreliable, but it is estimated around 41 foreign nationals are on death row in Indonesia for drug crimes. Six people, including five foreigners, were shot in the first round of executions on 18 January, among them a Dutch and Brazilian citizen. Both countries pulled their ambassadors from Indonesia in retaliation. Brazil has also refused to accept the credentials of the new Indonesian ambassador. It was revealed on Monday that the Dutch monarch, Willem-Alexander, had appealed to Widodo to spare 52-year-old Dutch national Ang Kiem Soe. ||||| Image copyright AFP Image caption Andrew Chan, left, and Myuran Sukumaran were sentenced to death in 2006 France and Australia have condemned the death penalty as executions for three of their nationals loom in Indonesia. Earlier, Australia called on Indonesia to delay executing two convicted Australian drug traffickers until corruption claims were investigated. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were convicted in 2006. The two, along six other foreigners and an Indonesian, have been formally told of their execution. A French trafficker is appealing against his conviction. Under Indonesian law, convicts must be given 72 hours' notice of execution. This means the executions by the firing squad could be carried out as early as Tuesday. "France and Australia share the same attachment to human rights and condemn the death penalty in all places and all circumstances," the French presidency said in a statement after a meeting between French President Francois Hollande and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott in Paris. French convict Serge Atlaoui still has an appeal before the courts. France has warned of "consequences" if the execution goes ahead. Meanwhile, Philippine President Benigno Aquino appealed to Indonesian President Joko Widodo for "humanitarian consideration" in connection with the case of a Filipina woman, Mary Jane Veloso, who is also on death row for drug-trafficking offences. Mr Widodo's spokesman said he was "sympathetic" and was consulting the attorney general on legal issues. Australia made last-minute pleas on behalf of the two Australian men to delay their execution until a corruption investigation into their case was complete. But on Monday evening, Indonesia's attorney general confirmed that the nine death row convicts would be executed as planned, without giving an indication of when the executions would be likely to take place. Attorney General HM Prasetyo told the BBC a judicial review "could not amend [a] previous court ruling" and that "foreigners do not have any legal standing for a judicial review on the Constitutional Court". Image copyright Reuters Image caption The government has shown sympathy to the convicts - including Filipina Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso At the scene: Alice Budisatrijo, BBC News, Jakarta The Indonesian government is determined to carry out the execution because it believes the country is facing a national emergency - it says more than 30 people die from drug abuse every day. It doesn't seem to matter to President Joko Widodo that the statistics he based that assessment on have been called into question. And then there is domestic politics. President Jokowi, as he is known, was elected with popular support but his approval ratings have plummeted in just six months in office. While Indonesia's death penalty has been widely criticised abroad, most Indonesians don't have a problem with the government executing drug convicts and murderers, as the law currently allows. Many people are even calling for an expansion of the law, to allow death sentences for corruption convictions. At this point there doesn't seem to be any political will to do that, but if the government calls off the execution of drug traffickers, particularly foreigners, it will have serious political consequences in Indonesia. Who are the 10 facing execution? 'Dismayed' Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the two Australians should not be executed while legal issues remained. "I should point out that Mr Chan and Mr Sukumaran's lawyers are pursuing action before the Constitutional Court in Indonesia," she told Australia's ABC News. Ms Bishop also said she was "profoundly dismayed" by the 72-hour execution notice. Claims that the Indonesian judges in the trial had asked for bribes for lighter sentences first surfaced earlier this year. One of the judges involved in the case denied there had been political interference or negotiations about bribes. "I can assure you there was none," the judge told Fairfax Media. "We protected ourselves from everybody. It was purely our decision." Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC looks at the prison which has been called 'the Alcatraz of Indonesia', where condemned prisoners are executed by firing squad Chan and Sukumaran, along with seven other Australians, were arrested in Bali in 2005 for trying to smuggle more than 18lb (8.3kg) of heroin from Indonesia to Australia. The pair were later found to be the ringleaders of the group and sentenced to death. Australia's top politicians have been actively campaigning for clemency for the two. The other seven members of the "Bali Nine" are currently serving either life or 20 years in prison. Indonesia has some of the toughest drug laws in the world and ended a four-year moratorium on executions in 2013.

– The execution of 10 convicted drug traffickers is imminent in Indonesia, with the country this weekend issuing a 72-hour notice for the nine foreigners and one local man; the Guardian reports that means they could be put in front of a firing squad as soon as midnight Tuesday, local time. Officials have asked the men—four Nigerians, two Australians, and one each from Brazil, France, and Indonesia—and Filipino woman for their last wish, per the AP, with the attorney general today confirming the executions would take place, reports the BBC. But leaders and organizations from around the world are undeterred, and are increasing their cries for intervention—and their warnings. Philippines President Benigno Aquino asked that Mary Jane Veloso be granted clemency, and a rep for Indonesian President Joko Widodo today indicated he was "sympathetic." France and Australia have been bolder in their statements. French President Francois Hollande has warned of diplomatic consequences if Serge Atlaoui is executed; the Sydney Morning Herald today reports Australia may recall its ambassador to Indonesia if the executions occur, though it didn't name its source of that information. A rep for Indonesia's attorney general says nine are out of legal options, with Atlaoui's pending appeal likely to be settled by the country's Supreme Court today. But the two Australian men to be executed—members of the Bali Nine—have a case before Indonesia's Constitutional Court; their original lawyer says the trial judges offered a lighter sentence in exchange for a $77,000 bribe, reports the AP.

Hacker Guccifer claims he hacked Hillary Clinton's servers Thursday, 5 May 2016 | 9:21 AM ET | 00:26 The Romanian hacker who first exposed Hillary Clinton's private email address is making a bombshell new claim—that he also gained access to the former Secretary of State's "completely unsecured" server. "It was like an open orchid on the Internet," Marcel Lehel Lazar, who uses the devilish handle Guccifer, told NBC News in an exclusive interview from a prison in Bucharest. "There were hundreds of folders." Lazar was extradited last month from Romania to the United States to face charges he hacked political elites, including Gen. Colin Powell, a member of the Bush family, and former Clinton advisor Sidney Blumenthal. A source with knowledge of the probe into Clinton's email setup told NBC News that with Guccifer in U.S. custody, investigators fully intend to question him about her server. ||||| EXCLUSIVE: The infamous Romanian hacker known as “Guccifer,” speaking exclusively with Fox News, claimed he easily – and repeatedly – breached former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s personal email server in early 2013. "For me, it was easy ... easy for me, for everybody," Marcel Lehel Lazar, who goes by the moniker "Guccifer," told Fox News from a Virginia jail where he is being held. Guccifer’s potential role in the Clinton email investigation was first reported by Fox News last month. The hacker subsequently claimed he was able to access the server – and provided extensive details about how he did it and what he found – over the course of a half-hour jailhouse interview and a series of recorded phone calls with Fox News. Fox News could not independently confirm Lazar’s claims. In response to Lazar’s claims, the Clinton campaign issued a statement Wednesday night saying, "There is absolutely no basis to believe the claims made by this criminal from his prison cell. In addition to the fact he offers no proof to support his claims, his descriptions of Secretary Clinton's server are inaccurate. It is unfathomable that he would have gained access to her emails and not leaked them the way he did to his other victims.” The former secretary of state’s server held nearly 2,200 emails containing information now deemed classified, and another 22 at the “Top Secret” level. The 44-year-old Lazar said he first compromised Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal's AOL account, in March 2013, and used that as a stepping stone to the Clinton server. He said he accessed Clinton’s server “like twice,” though he described the contents as “not interest[ing]” to him at the time. “I was not paying attention. For me, it was not like the Hillary Clinton server, it was like an email server she and others were using with political voting stuff," Guccifer said. The hacker spoke freely with Fox News from the detention center in Alexandria, Va., where he’s been held since his extradition to the U.S. on federal charges relating to other alleged cyber-crimes. Wearing a green jumpsuit, Lazar was relaxed and polite in the monitored secure visitor center, separated by thick security glass. In describing the process, Lazar said he did extensive research on the web and then guessed Blumenthal’s security question. Once inside Blumenthal's account, Lazar said he saw dozens of messages from the Clinton email address. Asked if he was curious about the address, Lazar merely smiled. Asked if he used the same security question approach to access the Clinton emails, he said no – then described how he allegedly got inside. “For example, when Sidney Blumenthal got an email, I checked the email pattern from Hillary Clinton, from Colin Powell from anyone else to find out the originating IP. … When they send a letter, the email header is the originating IP usually,” Lazar explained. He said, “then I scanned with an IP scanner." Lazar emphasized that he used readily available web programs to see if the server was “alive” and which ports were open. Lazar identified programs like netscan, Netmap, Wireshark and Angry IP, though it was not possible to confirm independently which, if any, he used. In the process of mining data from the Blumenthal account, Lazar said he came across evidence that others were on the Clinton server. "As far as I remember, yes, there were … up to 10, like, IPs from other parts of the world,” he said. With no formal computer training, he did most of his hacking from a small Romanian village. Lazar said he chose to use "proxy servers in Russia," describing them as the best, providing anonymity. Cyber experts who spoke with Fox News said the process Lazar described is plausible. The federal indictment Lazar faces in the U.S. for cyber-crimes specifically alleges he used "a proxy server located in Russia" for the Blumenthal compromise. Each Internet Protocol (IP) address has a unique numeric code, like a phone number or home address. The Democratic presidential front-runner’s home-brew private server was reportedly installed in her home in Chappaqua, N.Y., and used for all U.S. government business during her term as secretary of state. Former State Department IT staffer Bryan Pagliano, who installed and maintained the server, has been granted immunity by the Department of Justice and is cooperating with the FBI in its ongoing criminal investigation into Clinton’s use of the private server. An intelligence source told Fox News last month that Lazar also could help the FBI make the case that Clinton’s email server may have been compromised by a third party. Asked what he would say to those skeptical of his claims, Lazar cited “the evidence you can find in the Guccifer archives as far as I can remember." Writing under his alias Guccifer, Lazar released to media outlets in March 2013 multiple exchanges between Blumenthal and Clinton. They were first reported by the Smoking Gun. It was through the Blumenthal compromise that the Clintonemail.com accounts were first publicly revealed. As recently as this week, Clinton said neither she nor her aides had been contacted by the FBI about the criminal investigation. Asked whether the server had been compromised by foreign hackers, she told MSNBC on Tuesday, “No, not at all.” Recently extradited, Lazar faces trial Sept. 12 in the Eastern District of Virginia. He has pleaded not guilty to a nine-count federal indictment for his alleged hacking crimes in the U.S. Victims are not named in the indictment but reportedly include Colin Powell, a member of the Bush family and others including Blumenthal. Lazar spoke extensively about Blumenthal’s account, noting his emails were “interesting” and had information about “the Middle East and what they were doing there.” After first writing to the accused hacker on April 19, Fox News accepted two collect calls from him, over a seven-day period, before meeting with him in person at the jail. During these early phone calls, Lazar was more guarded. After the detention center meeting, Fox News conducted additional interviews by phone and, with Lazar's permission, recorded them for broadcast. While Lazar's claims cannot be independently verified, three computer security specialists, including two former senior intelligence officials, said the process described is plausible and the Clinton server, now in FBI custody, may have an electronic record that would confirm or disprove Guccifer’s claims. "This sounds like the classic attack of the late 1990s. A smart individual who knows the tools and the technology and is looking for glaring weaknesses in Internet-connected devices," Bob Gourley, a former chief technology officer (CTO) for the Defense Intelligence Agency, said. Gourley, who has worked in cybersecurity for more than two decades, said the programs cited to access the server can be dual purpose. "These programs are used by security professionals to make sure systems are configured appropriately. Hackers will look and see what the gaps are, and focus their energies on penetrating a system," he said. Cybersecurity expert Morgan Wright observed, "The Blumenthal account gave [Lazar] a road map to get to the Clinton server. ... You get a foothold in one system. You get intelligence from that system, and then you start to move." In March, the New York Times reported the Clinton server security logs showed no evidence of a breach. On whether the Clinton security logs would show a compromise, Wright made the comparison to a bank heist: "Let’s say only one camera was on in the bank. If you don‘t have them all on, or the right one in the right locations, you won’t see what you are looking for.” Gourley said the logs may not tell the whole story and the hard drives, three years after the fact, may not have a lot of related data left. He also warned: "Unfortunately, in this community, a lot people make up stories and it's hard to tell what's really true until you get into the forensics information and get hard facts.” For Lazar, a plea agreement where he cooperates in exchange for a reduced sentence would be advantageous. He told Fox News he has nothing to hide and wants to cooperate with the U.S. government, adding that he has hidden two gigabytes of data that is “too hot” and “it is a matter of national security.” In early April, at the time of Lazar’s extradition from a Romanian prison where he already was serving a seven-year sentence for cyber-crimes, a former senior FBI official said the timing was striking. “Because of the proximity to Sidney Blumenthal and the activity involving Hillary’s emails, [the timing] seems to be something beyond curious,” said Ron Hosko, former assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division from 2012-2014. The FBI offered no statement to Fox News. Catherine Herridge is an award-winning Chief Intelligence correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC) based in Washington, D.C. She covers intelligence, the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security. Herridge joined FNC in 1996 as a London-based correspondent. Pamela K. Browne is Senior Executive Producer at the FOX News Channel (FNC) and is Director of Long-Form Series and Specials. Her journalism has been recognized with several awards. Browne first joined FOX in 1997 to launch the news magazine “Fox Files” and later, “War Stories.”

– The Romanian hacker who shared George W. Bush's paintings with the world is now in American custody, and he's turned out to be pretty chatty. Marcel Lehel Lazar, better known as "Guccifer," says he broke into Hillary Clinton's "completely unsecured" server and it was like "an open orchid on the Internet," reports NBC News, which interviewed him in a Bucharest jail before his extradition last month. It's not clear why NBC, which notes that Lazar didn't provide any evidence to back up his claim, waited so long to disclose the interview. Lazar, who was the first to expose Clinton's private email account, is accused of hacking the accounts of political figures such as Colin Powell and Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal, whose AOL account he says led him to the Clinton server. In a jailhouse interview in Virginia, Lazar tells Fox News that it was easy to access Clinton's server—and he detected up to 10 other users on there. He says he didn't have much interest in the content. "I was not paying attention," he says. "For me, it was not like the Hillary Clinton server, it was like an email server she and others were using with political voting stuff." He says he wants to cooperate with American prosecutors, and he has hidden two gigabytes of information from other hacks that are "too hot." The Clinton campaign issued a statement saying his descriptions of the Clinton server are inaccurate, and "it is unfathomable that he would have gained access to her emails and not leaked them the way he did to his other victims." (Those other victims are believed to include "everyone from high-level military officials to C-list actresses.")

The 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic is being remembered at a number of a special events, including one in the ship's birthplace Belfast. A memorial service for the 1,500 people who died was held at the North Atlantic wreck site on cruise ship MS Balmoral, which is retracing the Titanic's route. A minute's silence was held and wreaths were cast into the sea at the moment the Titanic sank. And a plaque featuring the names of those who died was unveiled in Belfast. The ship, which at the time was the largest vessel in the world, was built in the city. The plaque, in the Titanic Memorial Garden, lists the names of those who died in alphabetical order. At the scene In the middle of the Atlantic a ship's whistle sounded to mark exactly 100 years since the Titanic struck an iceberg. At that moment passengers stood in silence on the decks all around the MS Balmoral looking out into the darkness. Hundreds of miles from land some imagined the despair they would have felt being lowered into the sea in a lifeboat. Others thought of their relatives who had drowned here a century earlier. After the excitement of the departure and earlier days at sea, the ship seemed eerily quiet. In the cold of the north Atlantic one person described the atmosphere as "almost ghostly". The Balmoral had traced the route of the Titanic from Southampton to the spot where the ship sank. There it was met by another vessel that had travelled from New York, the destination Titanic never reached. The ships sat side-by-side thousands of metres above the wreckage, allowing passengers to pay tribute at what some relatives regard as a grave site. Thousands attended or listened to the Belfast service, which was held at the city hall. Una Reilly, head of the local Titanic Society, said: "We are all proud of this ship. What happened was a disaster, she was not." And a memorial service was held in Southampton, from where the ship set sail five days before its sinking. The anniversary has been marked in a number of services across the UK. who died after staying at his post until his equipment failed was unveiled at his home town of Barmouth, Gwynedd, because records show he commanded the only lifeboat to look for survivors, pulling four people from the freezing water in the accident were commemorated with the unveiling of a plaque And a service described as an act of remembrance Earlier, on the Balmoral, passengers and crew members listened in silence as the names were read out of those who died when the liner sank on its maiden voyage. Jane Allen's great-uncle, Thomas Pears, was one of those who died. Explaining the emotions she felt during the service, she told the BBC: "It was just so eerily quiet. "And then you look down over the side of the ship and you realise that every man and woman who was not fortunate enough to get into a lifeboat had to make that decision of when to jump or to stay with the ship, until the lights went out. "And when the lights went out it must have been horrendous. We witnessed that tonight." Melinda Norris, whose relative Charles Lightoller was a surviving crew member, said: "You still get a chill just looking at that water, imagining you have to go into it. "We've been listening to the names of the 1,500 people who died. Image caption A newly unveiled plaque at the Titanic Memorial Garden in Belfast features the names of those who died on the Titanic "It's just an unimaginable amount of suffering took place here, so it's surreal to be here." Richard Hyman's great-grandfather was also on board Titanic and lived to tell the tale. Mr Hyman said: "You imagine it's pitch black, freezing cold, nothing is anywhere near you other than an iceberg. "The fear that must have been with all those people who were either stuck on the ship or in a lifeboat, not knowing whether they were going to survive or not. "And people did freeze to death as well, even though they'd survived the disaster." Another cruise ship, Azamara Journey, which has travelled from New York, also held a service at the site of the disaster, which occurred 400 miles (640km) off the coast of Newfoundland. Image caption Many of those who participated in a memorial service on board MS Balmoral were related to people who died when the Titanic sank 100 years ago The sinking is also being remembered in other parts of the globe including New York, which had been the Titanic's intended destination. About 1,300 passengers, ranging from millionaires to poor emigrants, and about 900 crew were on board the Titanic when it sank on its maiden voyage. The ship left Southampton on 10 April 1912. It headed to Cherbourg in France and Queenstown - now Cobh - in the Irish Republic before heading for New York. The ship hit an iceberg at 23:40 (Ship's Time) on 14 April 1912, and sank two-and-a-half hours later. ||||| Helena Beaumont-Jones from Airlie Beach, Australia is overcome with emotion as the MS Balmoral Titanic memorial cruise ship approaches the wreck site of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean, Saturday, April... (Associated Press) Cruise ship passengers and crew said prayers Sunday at the spot in the North Atlantic where the Titanic sank 100 years ago with the loss of more than 1,500 lives. Passengers lined the decks of MS Balmoral, which has been retracing the route of the doomed voyage. After a moment of silence, three floral wreaths were cast onto the waves as the ship's whistle sounded in the dark. Jane Allen from Devon in southwest England, whose great-uncle perished on the Titanic, said the moment had vividly reminded her of the horror of the disaster. "All you could hear was the swell splashing against the side of the ship. You could see the white breakers stretching out to sea," she told the BBC. "You are in the middle of nowhere. And then you look down over the side of the ship and you realize that every man and every woman who didn't make it into a lifeboat had to make that decision, of when to jump or stay on the ship as the lights went out." Another cruise ship, Journey, which has traveled from New York, also held a service at the site of the disaster, 400 miles (640 kilometers) off the coast of Newfoundland. The Titanic, the world's largest and most luxurious ocean liner, was traveling from England to New York when it struck an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912. It sank less than three hours later, with the loss of all but 700 of the 2,208 passengers and crew. A century on, events around the globe are marking a tragedy that retains its grip on the world's imagination. In Belfast, Northern Ireland, where the Titanic was built, a memorial monument was unveiled Sunday at a ceremony attended by local dignitaries, relatives of the dead and explorer Robert Ballard, who discovered the wreck of the Titanic on the ocean floor in 1985. A brass band played as the granite plinth which bears bronze plaques was uncovered beside Belfast City Hall. Officials say it is the first Titanic memorial to list all victims alphabetically, with no distinction between passengers and crew members, or between first- and third-class travelers. After a minute's silence, a choir sang "Nearer My God To Thee" _ the hymn Titanic's band is reported to have played as the ship went down. Belfast spent decades scarred by its link to the disaster, but has come to take pride in the feats of engineering and industry involved in building the Titanic. On Saturday, thousands attended a memorial concert in Belfast featuring performances by Bryan Ferry and soul singer Joss Stone. At St. Anne's Cathedral in the city, a performance of composer Philip Hammond's "The Requiem for the Lost Souls of the Titanic" was followed by a torch-lit procession to the Titanic Memorial in the grounds of city hall. The requiem _ performed by male choristers dressed as ship's crew and female performers in black _ also included words by Belfast novelist Glenn Patterson, who imagined the victims reflecting on all they had missed in the last 100 years. "We passed instead into myth, launched a library full of books, enough film to cross the Atlantic three times over, more conspiracy theories than Kennedy, 97 million web pages, a tourist industry, a requiem or two," Patterson said. "We will live longer than every one of you." Remembrance ceremonies also were being held in the ship's departure port of Southampton, southern England _ home to hundreds of Titanic crew who perished _ and in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where more than 100 victims of the tragedy are buried. The most famous maritime disaster in history was being marked even in places without direct links to it. Venues in Las Vegas, San Diego, Houston and Singapore are hosting Titanic exhibitions that include artifacts recovered from the site of the wreck. Among the items: bottles of perfume, porcelain dishes, and a 17-foot piece of hull. The centenary of the disaster has been marked with a global outpouring of commemoration and commerce. Events have ranged from the opening of a glossy new tourist attraction telling the ship's story in Belfast to a 3-D re-release of James Cameron's 1997 romantic weepie "Titanic," which awakened a new generation's interest in the disaster. Helen Edwards, one of 1,309 passengers on memorial cruise aboard the liner Balmoral who have spent the past week steeped in the Titanic's history and symbolism, said the story's continuing appeal was due to its strong mixture of romance and tragedy, history and fate. "(There are) all the factors that came together for the ship to be right there, then, to hit that iceberg. All the stories of the passengers who ended up on the ship," said Edwards, a 62-year-old retiree from Silver Spring, Maryland. "It's just a microcosm of social history, personal histories, nautical histories. "Romance is an appropriate word right up until the time of the tragedy _ the band playing, the clothes. And then there's the tragedy." As the world paused to remember the victims, a U.S. official revealed that there may be human remains embedded in the ocean floor where Titanic came to rest. James Delgado, director of maritime heritage at the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, said Saturday that one photograph taken during a 2004 expedition shows a coat and boots in the mud. He said the way they are "laid out" makes a "compelling case" that it is where "someone has come to rest." He released the full image this week to coincide with the disaster's centenary. It was previously seen in a cropped version. ___ Jill Lawless reported from London. She can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless

– Amid a buildup to the centennial of the Titanic's sinking that went on and on, the actual event arrived last night, with ceremonies from Belfast to the North Atlantic marking the disaster that claimed nearly 1,500 lives. The MS Balmoral, on a cruise retracing the doomed liner's first and final voyage, observed a moment of silence at the site of the sinking with passengers lining the decks, reports the AP. Three wreaths were tossed into the waters. "It was just so eerily quiet," says the great-niece of one of the ship's victims. "And then you look down over the side of the ship and you realize that every man and woman who was not fortunate enough to get into a lifeboat had to make that decision of when to jump or to stay with the ship, until the lights went out." Says another passenger aboard the Balmoral, "You still get a chill just looking at that water, imagining you have to go into it." In Belfast, where the Titanic was built, a plague with the names of the victims was unveiled in the Titanic Memorial Garden, notes the BBC. Titanic hit an iceberg some 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland at 11:40pm on April 14, 1912, and sank a scant three hours later.

Attorneys Call Charlie Sheen's Legal Case Sound, Hilarious Email This Charlie Sheen may have long ago departed on the train to crazy town, but his legal team is entirely sane and "It is the most hilarious lawsuit I have ever seen written on legal paper," says trial attorney Stacy Schneider, who is betting that Lorre and Warner Bros. will seek to settle quickly rather than continue to allow Sheen to publicly embarrass them. Warner Brothers claims they fired Sheen because of his lack of moral turpitude. But Sheen's lawyer, Marty Singer, quite aptly points out in his 30-page complaint that they had no trouble with Charlie's morals a few months ago when they signed him to a two year extended contract knowing he was in rehab and on the verge of a conviction for holding a knife to his wife's throat in Aspen. "There is a legitimacy to his claims. They put up with so much bad behavior in the past that they waive their right to pursue a morality clause when it becomes convenient," says attorney Joey Jackson. "He behaved like a horrific person but he wasn't terminated until he said horrible things about Chuck Lorre and that was his First Amendment right." Charlie Sheen may have long ago departed on the train to crazy town, but his legal team is entirely sane and his $100 million lawsuit against former boss Chuck Lorre and production company Warner Brothers has some serious legs -- in addition to being wildly entertaining."It is the most hilarious lawsuit I have ever seen written on legal paper," says trial attorney Stacy Schneider, who is betting that Lorre and Warner Bros. will seek to settle quickly rather than continue to allow Sheen to publicly embarrass them.Warner Brothers claims they fired Sheen because of his lack of moral turpitude. But Sheen's lawyer, Marty Singer, quite aptly points out in his 30-page complaint that they had no trouble with Charlie's morals a few months ago when they signed him to a two year extended contract knowing he was in rehab and on the verge of a conviction for holding a knife to his wife's throat in Aspen."There is a legitimacy to his claims. They put up with so much bad behavior in the past that they waive their right to pursue a morality clause when it becomes convenient," says attorney Joey Jackson. "He behaved like a horrific person but he wasn't terminated until he said horrible things about Chuck Lorre and that was his First Amendment right." Schneider adds, "You can't cancel a deal because you decide it's OK for him to abuse drugs yesterday, and today it isn't."Sheen's legal eagles claim his dismissal had more to do with Lorre's bruised ego than their client's bad behavior and allege that when the actor tried to return to work after his January hospitalization, Lorre pushed production back with a variety of excuses.In an altruistic turn, Sheen and his attorneys are also demanding "the entire cast and crew get paid for the balance of the season's 24 episodes.""Once you file a lawsuit, you don't get paid and you don't get hired," Sheen's attorney told The Hollywood Reporter . "Charlie is looking out for the people he's working with. Warner Brothers can try to cast this however they want but the complaint speaks for itself."The suit also alleges that Sheen's contract includes a "pay or play" clause that guarantees he be paid for 24 episodes per season and all ancillary revenues, regardless of whether he works."This lawsuit really rips into the insider industry practices of the producers of this show and could prove that some of Charlie's claims against the network and Lorre are legitimate. there actually may be more than one 'bad boy' in this situation," Schneider says. "Just as Charlie has been trying to sell his version of the truth with his wild media campaign, this lawsuit goes a step further. There are no details left unsaid in these legal papers."It would be prudent for Warner Brothers and Lorre to settle if their opponent were anyone but Sheen-anyone who doesn't have tiger blood and Adonis DNA (not mentioned in the lawsuit)."Charlie is the kind of guy who is all or nothing. I don't think he will take less than $100 million," Jackson says. ||||| I read in the paper today that Conan O'Brien's documentary is out this weekend. The one that chronicles the purportedly healing journey/concert tour he went on after his messy divorce from NBC. I also read that Charlie Sheen is suing Warner Brothers for $100 million and the two of these things reminded me of one of the more character-building experiences that I had in my career, many years ago. People often ask me why I never continued in the role of Jack Ryan in the movies based on Tom Clancy's great novels. Usually, I have given a half truth as an answer, something about scheduling conflicts and so forth. But the truth is the studio cut my throat. Or, more specifically, an executive at the studio named David Kirkpatrick who was, as studio executives are on their way both up and down the ladder, eager to prove he had that special quality that studio executives are eager to display. That quality is an utter lack of sentimentality while transacting deals around a business built on sentimentality. The run of events in 1991 went like this. John McTiernan, who directed The Hunt For Red October, called me repeatedly over a period of a few days and that got my attention because John was not someone who did that. I knew it must be something important. I had been traveling to Syracuse to see my mother who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. I had lost my dad in 1983 to lung cancer when he was fifty-five and the idea of being an orphan, technically speaking, at the age of 33 weighed heavily on me. It took a few rounds before John and I connected. On the phone, John told me that during the period of the previous few months, he had been negotiating to do a film with a very famous movie star who had dropped out of his film days before so that he could go star in the sequels to The Hunt For Red October. John further told me that Paramount owed the actor a large sum of money for a greenlit film that fell apart prior to this, and pushing me aside would help to alleviate that debt and put someone with much greater strength at the box office than mine in the role. I sat there mildly stunned because not only was I in an active negotiation with Paramount, but for them to negotiate simultaneously with another actor was against the law. My mother was about to have a double mastectomy. I asked John if he was sure about all of this and he said yes, he had talked with the famous actor directly who confirmed the story. All of this served to explain why the studio would not close my deal over what I thought were some relatively arbitrary issues surrounding the dates of production. I got a call from Mace Neufeld, the film's producer who I had worked with on Hunt. The call resembled that final scene in Sorry, Wrong Number (great film), where Burt Lancaster exhorts Barbara Stanwyck to get out of bed and scream for help lest she be killed by emissaries of Lancaster himself. Neufeld told me to sign whatever deal they were offering and "the rest would take care of itself." I flew from Syracuse to Long Island to attend to some business. I drove to a friend's home where I was to have dinner and was informed by my assistant that I should call David Kirkpatrick right away. Kirkpatrick was a beady-eyed, untalented tool who had seemed like he was up to something throughout my sequel negotiation. Now, he became vividly clear. I had to decide if I would agree to an open-ended clause relating to dates for the first sequel and thus completely give up the chance to do one of the greatest dramas in the American theatre, or he would rescind my offer. They had the other guy all lined up, and they were looking for a way to gut me. I thought he wasn't serious at first. Then, when I realized he was, I chose A Streetcar Named Desire. A lot changed in my life with that decision. And I do not regret it. The movie and television business are filled with some of the most wonderful and talented people you could ever know. It is also the rock under which you find the biggest, lyingest, thievingest scumbags on Earth. (They tend to be the ones that are not in any craft or union related to actually making a movie.) However, one of the great oddities in show business is how someone you respect can have a good experience with someone you loathe. Conan had a tough time reconciling Jeff Zucker's decisions. Maybe I would have too. Meanwhile, Jeff has only been supportive of me during my recent years at NBC. Go figure. Conan has moved on and his great talent is undiminished by his difficult experiences. I had wanted to say to him back then what I will now offer to Charlie. You can't win. Really. You can't. When executives at studios and networks move up to the highest ranks, they are given a book. The book is called How to Handle Actors. And one principle held dear in that book is that no actor is greater than the show itself when the show is a hit. And, in that regard, they are often right. Add to that the fact that the actor who is torturing their diseased egos is a drug-addled, porn star-squiring, near-Joycean Internet ranter, and they really want you to go. Granted, it didn't get real until you insulted them. And your suit may have real grounds. But you know what you should do? Take a nap. Get a shower. Call Chuck. Go on Letterman and make an apology. Write a huge check to the B'Nai Brith. And then beg for your job back. Your fans demand it. You will never win because when you are as big a douchebag as some of these guys are, they have no choice but to snuff you. (Do you secretly want to get snuffed? So you can go back and make movies?) Sober up, Charlie. And get back on TV, if it's not too late. This is America. You want to really piss off Chuck and Warner Brothers and CBS? Beg for America's forgiveness. They will give it to you. And then go back. You are a great television star. And you've got the gig. As I learned from closely observing Tony Bennett so I could impersonate him on SNL, this is supposed to be fun.

– Alec Baldwin has a message for recently fired Charlie Sheen: When it comes to studio executives, “You can't win. Really. You can't,” he writes on the Huffington Post. In light of that stark fact, he also has some advice for Sheen: “Take a nap. Get a shower. Call Chuck. Go on Letterman and make an apology. And then beg for your job back.” Baldwin can speak to all this because he had his own run-in with a studio executive, back when David Kirkpatrick bounced him from the sequels to The Hunt for Red October, an experience he recounts in detail in the HuffPo piece. From that, Baldwin learned that the entertainment industry is “the rock under which you find the biggest, lyingest, thievingest scumbags on Earth.” And “when you are as big a douchebag as some of these guys are, they have no choice but to snuff you,” Baldwin concludes. “Sober up, Charlie. And get back on TV, if it's not too late. This is America. You want to really piss off Chuck and Warner Brothers and CBS? Beg for America's forgiveness. They will give it to you. And then go back. You are a great television star. And you've got the gig.” One last piece of advice: “PS ... buy Cryer a really nice car.” (Click to see why Sheen’s lawsuit is not without merit.)

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey showed no remorse over the alleged bad behavior of a former "hero" cop who is now being held on a $60 million dollar bail -- charged with sex assaults at gunpoint. (Published Monday, May 20, 2013) Former Philadelphia police officer Richard DeCoatsworth, once honored by President Barack Obama for his heroism, remains in jail on $60 million bail for allegedly raping two women -- forcing one into prostitution. Now, NBC10 has learned the City of Philadelphia is spending more than $1.5 million defending itself against DeCoatsworth's checkered past on the force. Law enforcement sources say DeCoatsworth had nine citizen complaints against him over his nearly five year stint with the department. The complains, sources say, included allegations of assault, abuse and misconduct. Issues with the 27-year-old began to arise in 2005 when he was in the Philadelphia Police Academy. DeCoatsworth allegedly injured a Girard Avenue business owner during a fight. However, he was allowed to remain a recruit despite the allegations. Former Hero Officer Charged With Rape A former Philadelphia Police Officer once hailed a hero is now in jail on $60 million bail after he allegedly raped two women at gunpoint. NBC10's Katy Zachry has the latest details. (Published Sunday, May 19, 2013) In 2007 as a rookie officer, DeCoatsworth was severely injured after being shot in the face. After being shot, he managed to chase down the suspect for several blocks before collapsing. He called in enough information by radio that police were able to track down and arrest the suspect later the same day. His actions earned him an invitation from Vice President Joe Biden to attend President Obama’s first congressional address at the U.S. Capital in February 2009. The officer sat in the gallery with First Lady Michelle Obama during the speech. He was also honored by his peers as a 2008 Top Cop. Exclusive Beaten Man Flabbergasted by Police Arrest Soon after, though, he was involved in two more dramatic incidents. In April 2009, police say DeCoatsworth was jumped and attacked by a man when he tried to disperse a crowd at the Logan section of the city. During the struggle, sources say DeCoatsworth’s gun went off and hit the suspect who took off running. Another officer responding to the scene shot the suspect dead, according to sources. Bail Set at $60M for Hero Officer Charged With Rape Bail was set at $60 million Saturday for a former Philadelphia police officer Richard Decoatsworth who has been charged with raping two women at gunpoint. NBC10's Nefertiti Jaquez reports on the developing case. (Published Sunday, June 9, 2013) In September 2009, DeCoatsworth and another officer stopped a man on a motorcycle in the Kensington section of the city. While they were questioning him, a second man allegedly jumped on the motorcycle and drove at the officers. Police say DeCoatsworth shot at the suspect, who sped off. The suspect was found later at the hospital where his mother had taken him to be treated for a shotgun wound. During the incident, local witnesses claimed the two suspects did nothing wrong and that DeCoatsworth and the other officer acted recklessly -- shooting while children were nearby. In November 2011, Internal Affairs investigated an alleged scuffle between DeCoatsworth and another officer, according to Philly.com. DeCoatsworth retired from the police force on disability back in December 2011. Hero Officer Charged With Raping Women A former Philadelphia police officer once hailed as a hero and given a seat next to the first lady at a speech by President Obama has been arrested and charged with raping two women and other crimes. Former officer Richard DeCoatsworth was arrested and charged Saturday with rape, sexual assault, terroristic threats and related offenses. NBC10's Cydney Long reports. (Published Saturday, May 18, 2013) In February of 2012, an arrest warrant was issued for DeCoatsworth after he allegedly threatened a woman in Port Richmond. The most recent incident began two weeks ago after DeCoatsworth allegedly met a woman at a bar on North Front Street. Police say the former officer forced the woman into prostitution at a Days Inn hotel along Roosevelt Boulevard in the Lawncrest section of the city. Then, between 2 a.m. Thursday and Friday evening, DeCoatsworth went to the woman’s home along North Howard Street in the Fishtown-Kensington area, according to a law enforcement source close to the investigation. Once he arrived, DeCoatsworth allegedly forced that woman and a second woman, both in their 20s, to use drugs and perform oral sex on him at gunpoint. The alleged victims reported the assault Friday only after DeCoatsworth went home, according to police. Hero Officer Arrested A former Philadelphia Police Officer once hailed a hero was arrested on Saturday for allegedly holding two women captive. NBC10's Katy Zachry has the details. (Published Saturday, May 18, 2013) Police raided DeCoatsworth’s house on the 2700 block of Salmon Street in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia around 6:30 a.m. on Saturday. He was arraigned and charged with rape, sexual assault, terroristic threats and other related offenses. Police also confiscated drugs and guns from the home, according to a source. No word yet on what kind of drugs were removed from the home. Video Crossing Gate Hits School Bus as Train Approaches According to court documents, bail was set at $25 million for each of the alleged victims. Another $10 million bail was set in a separate domestic violence case DeCoatsworth is now being charged with, according to investigators. Police say he assaulted his live-in girlfriend on May 9. The $60 million bail is reportedly one of the highest set in Philadelphia history. DeCoatsworth faces more than 32 crimes in all three cases. He is scheduled for another court appearance on June 17. One of DeCoatsworth’s neighbors said she was relieved to hear about his arrest. “I am scared to be saying this now but I hope he stays where he is at, he has been a thorn in the side of this neighborhood for so long,” said the woman who did not want to be identified. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter's Office says of the nine complaints lodged against DeCoatsworth -- one resulted in a lawsuit. The suit alleged DeCoatsworth used aggressive behavior while on the job. The city settled that suit for $1.5 million. However, officials say Philadelphia has accrued other legal costs related to DeCoatsworth. Last year, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told police he believed he failed DeCoatsworth by letting him go back to work with a stressful unit too soon after he was shot in the face. "I think I screwed up on that," Ramsey told the Daily News. "I think I should have given him more time. He didn't want more time but I should have done that." In light of his most recent arrest however, Ramsey had much harsher words for DeCoatsworth on Monday. "He has to be held accountable," Ramsey said. "Just like anybody else. There should be no special consideration given simply because he once served as a police officer." DeCoatsworth is being held on $60 million bail. A figure that is rarely seen in the U.S. criminal justice system. Philadelphia District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Tasha Jamerson said prosecution did not request a high bail amount, rather that DeCoatsworth be held without bail. “Being held without bail is the highest bail situation you could face as a defendant in Philadelphia," Jamerson said, “At DeCoatsworth's arraignment on Saturday, we requested that he be held without bail, but the judge instead chose to impose bail at $60 million.” Other high-profile cases, including federal trials held in Pennsylvania, have included large sums, but none are near what the 27-year-old is held on. While many with similarly egregious crimes are held without bail, some are held on bonds that reach into the millions of dollars. Christina Regusters, the 20-year old woman charged with abducting and raping a 5-year old girl in Cobbs Creek, is currently held on $4 million bond. Ariel Castro, the Ohio man who is facing four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape for holding three women captive in his home for a decade, is held on only $8 million. While DeCoatsworth is listed as being represented by a public defender, family members are currently helping him acquire an attorney. NBC10's Emad Kahlil contributed to this report. ||||| Get the latest Philly.com Daily Headlines newsletter delivered to your email. Sign up now! Richard DeCoatsworth in happier times, as he joined first lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden at a presidential address in 2009. (Associated Press/File) A retired Philadelphia police officer once hailed as a hero and invited by Michelle Obama in 2009 to sit next to her during the president's State of the Union address has been arrested and charged with raping and holding two women captive for two days. Richard DeCoatsworth, 27, was taken into custody early Saturday. When police arrived at his Port Richmond house on the 2700 block of Salmon Street, DeCoatsworth, who was armed, went to the basement to open a garage door and let out his pit bull, a law enforcement source said. The dog ran away after police fired two flash grenades. DeCoatsworth, discarding his gun, ran into the bedroom, where there was a loaded shotgun. Police subdued and arrested him without incident, the source said. DeCoatsworth had been under investigation by the Special Victims Unit after two women alleged that he forced them to use drugs and engage in sexual activity. The women said they came into contact with DeCoatsworth about 2 a.m. Thursday at a party, said Officer Christine O'Brien, a police spokeswoman. They left the party with him, and the three went to another location. Police did not identify the site of the party or say where the alleged crimes took place. At the second site, DeCoatsworth took out a handgun and allegedly forced the two women "to engage in the use of narcotics and sexual acts," O'Brien said. The women reported the incident to police, and DeCoatsworth was charged with rape, sexual assault, terroristic threats, and related charges. His bail was set at $60 million. The women told police DeCoatsworth had held them captive for two days, according to the law enforcement source. It was a long fall from grace for the former officer, who in 2007 was lauded as a hero. 2009 tribute As a 21-year-old rookie, DeCoatsworth took a shotgun blast to the face and, bleeding heavily and returning fire, pursued his attacker for several blocks before collapsing and radioing for help. The gunman, Antonio Coulter, was caught and later pleaded guilty in the shooting. DeCoatsworth underwent extensive surgery and returned to duty in June 2008. His heroism in that case led to an invitation to sit next to the first lady during the president's 2009 address. DeCoatsworth then became involved in two controversial incidents in which he shot at suspects. In April 2009, he shot Anthony Temple when the man lunged for his gun, police said, and a backup officer then shot and killed Temple. The following September, he wounded a man in a leg who allegedly ran at him on a motorcycle. DeCoatsworth racked up a number of Internal Affairs complaints, and he retired in December 2011 at age 25. He left, a police spokesman said at the time, due to injuries from the 2007 shooting. 'Something like this' Some in the Police Department had feared DeCoatsworth was badly troubled. One officer said DeCoatsworth's unpredictable behavior and temper had led some in the department to view him as a time bomb. "I hate to say it, but I did see something like this coming," the officer said Saturday. Neighbors at a diner down the block from DeCoatsworth's home said he had been known to behave erratically. A woman who asked not to be named said she avoided the former officer after an incident in the fall in which his pit bull allegedly charged at her chihuahua. "From the look in his eyes," she said, "I was terrified." Shattered glass from DeCoatsworth's door spilled out over his front steps Saturday afternoon, and people inside refused to answer the door. When two people left the apartment, they declined to comment. Contact Jonathan Lai at 856-779-3220, jlai@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @elaijuh. Inquirer staff writer Allison Steele contributed to this article.

– In 2007, now-former Philadelphia police officer Richard DeCoatsworth was hailed as a hero for chasing down a suspect after being shot in the face. Yesterday, he was arrested on charges of rape, sexual assault, and terroristic threats, as police raided his home, also confiscating guns and drugs, NBC Philadelphia reports. According to police, DeCoatsworth met two women at a party, then is alleged to have pulled a gun on them and forced them "to engage in the use of narcotics and to engage in sexual acts." His bail was set at $60 million. DeCoatsworth received a "Top Cops" award in 2008 and was promoted to an elite highway patrol unit following his act of bravery. But he retired from the force in 2011, after accruing a large number of Internal Affairs complaints and two controversial incidents where he shot at suspects, reports the Inquirer.

Just how harmful is pornography? According to some Icelandic politicians, its effects on women and children are potentially dangerous enough to warrant proposing a ban on Internet porn. As the Telegraph reports, the government's introduction of online filters used to block Icelanders from accessing pornographic sites would mimic China's restrictions on its citizens' Internet use, and would make Iceland the first Western democracy to impose online censorship. Iceland already has an existing law that prohibits the printing and distribution of pornography. The Telegraph says the proposal to broaden that ban to include Internet porn is expected to become law this year. "We have to be able to discuss a ban on violent pornography, which we all agree has a very harmful effects [sic] on young people and can have a clear link to incidents of violent crime," Iceland's interior minister, Ogmundur Jonasson, told the newspaper. In an interview with the Daily Mail, the interior minister's political adviser, Halla Gunnarsdottir, explained there is a strong consensus in favour of the proposal. "We have so many experts from educationalists to the police and those who work with children behind this, that this has become much broader than party politics," she said. "At the moment, we are looking at the best technical ways to achieve this. But surely if we can send a man to the moon, we must be able to tackle porn on the Internet." But is pornography really such a threat? While some researchers (and yes, young men too) find that pornography has become increasingly violent and alters users' attitudes toward sex and women, other research suggests pornography is relatively benign. A 2010 study compared sex-related crime rates before and after the Czech Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia) lifted its strict prohibition against porn as it transitioned to democracy after 1989. The researchers found no increase in reported sex-related crimes, and an actual decrease in reported cases of child sex abuse, after the ban was lifted. A 2009 study from the University of Montreal examined the influence of pornography on a small group of heterosexual men whose sex practices were considered conventional, and found the participants’ use of porn affected neither their support of gender equality, nor their real-life sexual experiences. "Aggressors don't need pornography to be violent," the study's researcher Simon Louis Lajeunesse said in a press release. "If pornography had the impact that many claim it has, you would just have to show heterosexual films to a homosexual to change his sexual orientation." Report Typo/Error ||||| Iceland's bid to ban web porn: Nation could become first western country to block filth over fears of effects on children Iceland could become the first Western democracy to block all internet porn under radical new proposals. Fears about the damaging effects on children have led the government to work on legal measures to try and stop the flood of graphic sexual material reaching the island’s shores. Interior Minister Ögmundur Jónasson has set up working parties to find the best ways to stem the tide of online images and videos being accessed by young people through computers, games consoles and smartphones. The Icelandic government's study suggested that children exposed to violent pornography at an early age showed similar signs of trauma to those who had been actually abused Methods under consideration include blocking porn IP addresses and making it illegal to use Icelandic credit cards to access x-rated sites. A law forbidding the printing and distribution of porn has long been in place in the Nordic nation – but it has yet to be updated to cover the internet. Two years ago, the Icelandic Parliament – led by female prime minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir - successfully banned all strip clubs on the grounds that they violated the civil rights of the women who worked there and were harmful to society. This argument - that porn violates the rights of both women who appear in it and children who are exposed to it - is the cornerstone of the new proposals under discussion. Spearheading reform: Interior Minister Ögmundur Jónasson Alarm over the harmful effects of internet sex were raised in Iceland in 2010 when the Government launched a wide-ranging consultation process on how rape cases are handles in the justice system. The investigation was followed by a further consultation on porn, which included teachers, law enforcers and organisations working with abused children. It concluded that the extremely violent nature of the material now freely available on the web was increasing the intensity of sex attacks. It also found that children exposed to violent pornography at an early age were showing the similar signs of trauma as youngsters who had been actually abused. These included becoming increasingly isolated and playing out what they had seen on the internet on younger family members or other children. Mr Jónasson of the country’s Left Green Movement says the safety of children must be ‘a priority’. He says filtering out porn is not a question of censorship, adding: ‘We have to be able to discuss a ban on violent pornography, which we all agree has a very harmful effects on young people and can have a clear link to incidences of violent crime.’ Halla Gunnarsdóttir, political adviser to the Interior Minister, said the agreement among education experts, law enforcers and other bodies that action must be taken means she is optimistic the proposals will become law, despite a general election in April. She says: ‘There is a strong consensus building in Iceland. ‘We have so many experts from educationalists to the police and those who work with children behind this, that this has become much broader than party politics. ‘At the moment, we are looking at the best technical ways to achieve this. But surely if we can send a man to the moon, we must be able to tackle porn on the internet. ‘This move is not anti-sex. It is anti-violence because young children are seeing porn and acting it out. That is where we draw the line. ‘This material is blurring the boundaries for young people about what is right and wrong.’ It is no longer acceptable to keep blaming parents for the fact that children see graphic sexual content, added Miss Gunnarsdóttir. ‘Parents are not the only ones responsible for protecting our young people. They cannot be with their children all the time and the porn industry actively tries to seek children out. ‘Children also no longer use computers just in their homes. They access the internet in many places, in many ways and on smartphones. We say protecting our children is a task for the whole society.’ Iceland, which has a claim to be the world’s oldest parliament democracy, has a population of 319,000 – around the same number of people who live in Southampton. It is the second largest island in Europe after Great Britain – and its relatively isolated position at the most western edge of Europe, just below the Arctic Circle, may make the measures easier to implement. The move is liked to be monitored by Prime Minister David Cameron who has said he finds it ‘utterly appalling’ that so many children in the UK have been exposed to the ‘darkest corners’ of the internet. The Daily Mail has also been campaigning for an automatic block on online pornography that means customers must ‘opt in’ for access. Growing British consensus: David Cameron, left, has said that it is 'utterly appalling' that so many children have seen online pornography. A sentiment echoed by Labour's Diane Abbott, right Just as in Iceland, recent comments by Labour frontbenchers, like Diane Abbott, suggests an emerging political consensus on the need for radical thinking to deal with the pornification of childhood. While countries like China have also tried to stamp out internet pornogaphy within its borders, this is the first attempt by a Western democracy. Professor Gail Dines, a world authority on pornography and speaker at a recent conference at Reykjavik University on the issue, says: ‘Iceland is taking a very progressive approach that no other democratic country has tried. ‘It is looking a pornography from a new position - from the perspective of the harm it does to the women who appear in it and as a violation of their civil rights.

– Calling all porn a civil rights violation against the women who appear in it and the children who see it, Iceland is considering a ban on Internet pornography, reports the Daily Mail. Iceland's interior minister has created a working group to find the best way of doing so, with methods like a block on offending IP addresses and a ban on the use of Icelandic credit cards to pay for porn sites under review. "At the moment, we are looking at the best technical ways to achieve this," says an adviser to the minister. "But surely if we can send a man to the moon, we must be able to tackle porn on the Internet." Should an eventual proposal pass, which the Telegraph reports is expected within the year, Iceland would become the first Western country with such a block. But it wouldn't be the island nation's first foray into outlawing porn and the like: Residents are already forbidden from printing and disseminating porn, and strip clubs were banned in 2010. "This move is not anti-sex. It is anti-violence," explains the adviser. But the Globe and Mail reports on two studies that indicate porn doesn't increase the incidence of sexual violence: One, a 2010 look at the Czech Republic before and after a ban on porn was lifted in 1989, found no such increase.

John Oliver kicked off the fourth season finale of his Emmy-winning HBO talk show Last Week Tonight with a “lightning recap of the week,” including a brief riff on the biggest news out of Hollywood: the fall of renowned comedian Louis C.K. Yes, this week in Tinseltown terribleness offered us “The New York Times reporting Louis C.K.’s gross sexual misconduct, which is completely indefensible, and which inevitably resulted in the cancellation of his new film, Exhibit A if This Ever Goes to Trial.” At least five then up-and-coming female comedians have accused C.K. of extreme sexual harassment—trapping them in a room and forcing them to watch him masturbate. The deeply disturbing (yet widely whispered) revelations resulted in FX, HBO, and Netflix severing professional ties with the comic, and The Orchard canceling the release of his upcoming film/provocation, I Love You, Daddy. “Now, as for the president,” Oliver continued, “he’s been overseas all week, which should have been relaxing for the rest of us—until this happened last night.” Oliver then threw to a tweet from @realDonaldTrump, the online alias of the biggest troll in Twitterville: the 45th president of the United States. Yes, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un calling President Trump “old” apparently got under his spray-tanned skin. After all, he once told Dr. Oz, “I feel the same age as [Tom Brady],” adding that he sees a 35-year-old when he looks in the mirror (Brady is an in-shape 40, Trump is 71 and fluctuates between three and four chins). “This would be the stupidest possible reason for all of us to die,” Oliver remarked of the Lil’ Kim tweet. “I’m serious: If the entire country simultaneously tripped while putting on its underwear and fell face-forward into the toilet, got stuck, and drowned, it would be considerably less stupid than if that tweet caused a nuclear apocalypse.” Later on in the program, Oliver sped through a recap of Trump’s chaotic first year in the White House, concluding: “Trump’s presidency is like one of his handshakes: It pulls you in whether you like it or not.” ||||| John Oliver spent the bulk of Sunday’s season finale of Last Week Tonight skewering President Donald Trump, but the late-night host did find time to score one blow against disgraced comedian Louis C.K. During the opening of Last Week Tonight, Oliver ran through the past week of news, calling out the New York Times exposé on Louis C.K.’s sexual misconduct, which included stories from five women who alleged the Louie creator masturbated in front of them (either in person or on the phone). Louis C.K. later confirmed the “stories are true” in a statement. Said Oliver on Sunday, “The New York Times reporting Louis C.K.’s gross sexual misconduct, which is completely indefensible, and which inevitably resulted in the cancellation of his new film, Exhibit A if This Ever Goes to Trial.” In reality, Louis C.K.’s new film, I Love You, Daddy, was pulled from the release calendar by its distributor. The movie — a black-and-white homage to Woody Allen films starring Louis C.K. as a famous television producer — includes a scene where an actor, played by Charlie Day, vigorously pantomimes masturbating in front of a female colleague. Following the New York Times report, FX dumped Louis C.K. from all its shows, Netflix canceled an upcoming stand-up special featuring the comic, and HBO yanked all of Louis C.K.’s specials from its library. Louis C.K. was also fired as a voice actor on The Secret Life of Pets 2. “These stories are true. At the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay because I never showed a woman my dick without asking first, which is also true. But what I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your dick isn’t a question. It’s a predicament for them,” Louis C.K. said in a statement last week after the Times story broke. “The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly. I have been remorseful of my actions. And I’ve tried to learn from them. And run from them. Now I’m aware of the extent of the impact of my actions. I learned yesterday the extent to which I left these women who admired me feeling badly about themselves and cautious around other men who would never have put them in that position.” In addition to Oliver, other late-night hosts and shows have taken on the Louis C.K. story — including Saturday Night Live, Stephen Colbert, and Trevor Noah. ||||| Tweet with a location You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| UPDATED with video: John Oliver devoted the entirety of Last Week Tonight’s season finale to at look at the way President Donald Trump has violated the norms of our country. But first, he took a moment to mention, in a “lightning quick recap of the week,” Louis C.K.’s admission, a couple days earlier, of sexual misconduct – conduct which is completely indefensible and which inevitably resulted in the cancellation of his new film, Exhibit A If This Ever Goes To Trial. Trump has been overseas all week which should have been relaxing for the rest of us, except Trump on Saturday night tweeted this: Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me "old," when I would NEVER call him "short and fat?" Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend – and maybe someday that will happen! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2017 “This would be the stupidest possible reason for all of us to die,” Oliver described. Oliver walked us down some of Trump’s more memorable terrible moments of the past year, including creepily telling the French president’s wife she is in good shape, the State Department plugging one of his golf resorts on its official website, shoving aside the president of Montenegro at a NATO event because Trump saw a camera, and the speech in which he explained a new mine is taking out “clean coal meaning they’re taking out coal and they’re going to clean it.” Even more concerning than the daily Trump-induced chaos are the norms his presidency has violated. Not the obvious ones, like never releasing his tax returns, or having his own daughter and son-in-law “work” in the White House. The more lasting damage comes from the three techniques Trump uses to insulate himself from criticism: Delegitimizing the media. This has been Trump’s thing for years, “the difference now is he is crying fake news as president,” and even tried to take credit for the term in an interview with Mike Huckabee. “Whataboutism.” Aka, changing the subject to someone else’s perceived wrongdoing. It’s an old Soviet propaganda tool, Oliver said, lifting from a New York Times report, and it’s dangerous because it implies all actions, regardless of context, share a moral equivalency. It’s the depressingly effective tool Trump used in arguing about the neo-Nazi who mowed down a protester in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trolling. Trump is America’s first Troll President, Oliver said. Trump, way back in 2013, retweeted a claim he was “the most superior troll on the whole of twitter” calling it “a great compliment.” Which, Oliver noted, it is not. “Because some time when you do something that makes a lot of people mad it’s because – and bear with me — you’re a d*ck.” Trolling is not without political value, Oliver acknowledged, because many Trump supporters think he’s scored a major win when he does it. It’s a level of discourse now being used by various Republican politicians, Oliver revealed in video clips, including, most recently, Roy Moore after a WaPo piece alleging the Senate candidate tried to initiate a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old when he was in his 30’s. Tuesday election results must not make Trump opponents complacent, Oliver warned, calling it no guarantee the midterm elections will turn out same. Which is why, though his show is going on hiatus, he will continue to buy ad time on Fox & Friends in the Washington D.C. market, to air more Catheter Cowboy ads directed at Trump, who gets his morning briefing from the Fox News Channel program. The first spot features Catheter Cowboy explaining to Trump that “clean coal” is a marketing term the coal industry came up with to describe a process that has had limited results at best. Also, Frederick Douglass is dead. In other ads, Catheter Cowboy will explain to Trump that the U.S. Virgin Islands has a governor, not a president. In another ad, he will tell Trump, “just because Jared Kushner is smarter than you are does not mean he’s smart.” Oliver wound up the show reminding viewers he bought five wax POTUS’s during the season, which set up its wrap: A Tom Hanks trailer, in which he marches purposefully into the commander-in-chief’s chambers, to tell him the world is in so much trouble “we need all of you,” so that all five Wax POTUS’s can make an appearance, and Hanks can say, “Gentlemen, let’s go wax these bastards.”

– John Oliver outlined "the stupidest possible reason for all of us to die" in the season finale of Last Week Tonight on Sunday, and it involves a specific tweet by President Trump. "I'm serious: If the entire country simultaneously tripped while putting on its underwear and fell face-forward into the toilet, got stuck, and drowned, it would be considerably less stupid than if that tweet caused a nuclear apocalypse," Oliver said of Trump's post, which alluded to Kim Jong Un being "short and fat," per the Daily Beast. That was just the kickoff for Oliver's parade through what Deadline describes as "Trump's more memorable terrible moments of the past year" and his violation of norms, with Oliver pointing out the president's delegitimizing of the media, his wielding of the "depressingly effective tool" of "whataboutism," and his self-proclaimed "superior" trolling. Which Oliver doesn't agree with, "because sometimes, when you do something that makes a lot of people mad it's because—and bear with me here—you're a d**k." The HBO host also took on the allegations against Louis CK with a single joke, per Entertainment Weekly. "The New York Times [reported on] Louis CK's gross sexual misconduct, conduct which is completely indefensible, and which inevitably resulted in the cancellation of his new film, Exhibit A If This Ever Goes to Trial," he noted (the film contains a scene with a character pretending to masturbate in front of a female co-worker, which is what Louis CK is accused of doing in real life). Oliver also welcomed a "surprise" guest: Tom Hanks, who converses in a fake trailer about the "fate of humanity" with wax figures of five former US presidents. "Gentleman, let's go wax these bastards," Hanks solemnly proclaims about their mission.

Michael Cera 'Got Drunk' With 'Jersey Shore' Cast Email This Michael Cera, that increasingly adult (but always awkward) young fella from 'Superbad' and 'Year One,' is the newest target of "Actually, it was one of the most pleasant days I've had in a long time. We got drunk and laughed and danced and got in a hot tub and ate pizza," Cera says, adding a zinger, "It was sort of like my eighth birthday party." The interview, filled with what Playboy calls "Cera's standard sarcasm" -- what we'd dub as "slight humorous fictionalization" -- touches on Cera losing his virginity, his new film 'Scott Pilgrim vs. The World,' and the oddest pickup line the 22-year-old has dared use. Michael Cera, that increasingly adult (but always awkward) young fella from 'Superbad' and 'Year One,' is the newest target of Playboy magazine's illustrious 20 Questions series. And he talks about 'Jersey Shore'! Apparently he hung out with the cast for a day:"Actually, it was one of the most pleasant days I've had in a long time. We got drunk and laughed and danced and got in a hot tub and ate pizza," Cera says, adding a zinger, "It was sort of like my eighth birthday party."The interview, filled with what Playboy calls "Cera's standard sarcasm" -- what we'd dub as "slight humorous fictionalization" -- touches on Cera losing his virginity, his new film 'Scott Pilgrim vs. The World,' and the oddest pickup line the 22-year-old has dared use. http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,entry&id=691977&pid=691976&uts=1273167996 http://www.popeater.com/mm_track/popeater/music/?s_channel=us.musicpop&s_account=aolpopeater,aolsvc&omni=1&ke=1 http://cdn.channel.aol.com/cs_feed_v1_6/csfeedwrapper.swf PopScene: Week's Hottest Pics Gabourey Sidibe attends The American Cancer Society's Choose You luncheon on May 5th in New York City. Amy Sussman, Getty Images Amy Sussman, Getty Images PopScene: Weeks Hottest Pics "To be honest I don't remember too much about it. All I remember is I had been awake for almost 86 hours, I was on the roof of a Public Storage building in what seemed to be a freezing rainstorm, and Crispin Glover was there with a disposable camera he kept winding even though it had clearly run out of exposures.""Yes, but they're hard to find. For example, when I go out to a restaurant I know every girl in there wants to come say hi and be sexually aggressive, but they're all so gripped by shyness that they don't even make a move. In some cases the shyness is so severe they won't even look at me.""Hey, lady, those are some sexy-ass extensions. I guess you won't mind if I extend to you a personal invitation to party with me one-on-one in a scary motel room.""I would say this movie is both a nerd and a non-nerd's dream come true. For the nerds there are lots of Nintendo references and sound effects, and the non-nerds will enjoy making fun of all the nerds in the theater exploding with joy and afterward will possibly beat them all up.""Natural transition is not the phrase I would use. Handsome transition seems to be a better phrase to encapsulate what that lucky girl has experienced. Unfortunately, Anna and I got to work together for only one day. Though she plays my sister in the movie, one of our biggest scenes together takes place over the phone, and we shot our respective sides of the conversation at completely different times on the shooting schedule. She regrets that we weren't able to spend more time together. We got close enough for me to feel comfortable in assuming that.""Well, in a way it was. Kids around school started asking if I had been in a commercial. They all seemed baffled by it. I enjoyed the recognition until the older kids started poking me in the stomach. Hard. With their fists." ||||| 'Jersey Shore' Cast Launches New PSA Campaign Email This In honor of this year's 2010 Do Something Awards, 'The Jersey Shore' crew decided they needed to come up with a real solution to solve all of the world's problems. Snooki, Pauly D and Mike "exclusive first look. (Okay, so maybe it's fake. But it's hilarious!) Watch below and tune in to the 2010 Do Something Awards live on VH1 Monday July, 19th at 9pm ET/8pm CT. VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip In honor of this year's 2010 Do Something Awards, 'The Jersey Shore' crew decided they needed to come up with a real solution to solve all of the world's problems. Snooki, Pauly D and Mike " The Situation " Sorrentino teamed up to launched their own PSA -- The "GUI-DO" campaign, and PopEater has thefirst look. (Okay, so maybe it's fake. But it's hilarious!) The 2010 Do Something Awards will be hosted by Jane Lynch and feature musical performances by Natasha Bedingfield and Lifehouse. DoSomething.org also announced the 2010 celebrity categories, honoring the entertainment industry for its continued dedication to activism and charity projects.DoSomething.org honors the nation's best young world-changers, 25 and under and this year with VH1. The Do Something Award is the premier national award for social change, and nominees and winners represent the pivotal "do-ers" in their field, cause, or issue. In May, five young people were announced as the nominees for a chance to win a $100,000 grant to help them continue their efforts. The evening will conclude with the announcement of the grand prize winner.

– Sad news for Jersey Shore addicts: The cast is unhappy with their contracts and striking until a better deal is reached. They’ll do appearances instead of filming scenes for the third season, TMZ reports, so perhaps you can get your fix at a mall near you. Or you can check out Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino’s upcoming book (yep, another cast member apparently knows how to read and write), which the New York Post describes as “self-help.” Here’s the Situation, out in November, will only help you, though, if you’re looking for “ripped abs” and “grooming” tips. Speaking of help, the The Situation, Snooki, and Pauly D recently filmed a PSA for tonight’s VH1 Do Something Awards, hilariously titled “Gui-Do Something.” Watch it here—or for an odd story about Michael Cera’s night with the Jersey Shore cast, click here.

Julian Assange, co-founder of WikiLeaks, has announced that the whistleblowing website is suspending publishing operations in order to focus on fighting a financial blockade and raise new funds. Assange, speaking at a press conference in London on Monday, said a banking blockade had destroyed 95% of WikiLeaks' revenues. He added that the blockade posed an existential threat to WikiLeaks and if it was not lifted by the new year the organisation would be "simply not able to continue". The website, behind the publication of hundreds of thousands of controversial US embassy cables in late 2010 in partnership with newspapers including the Guardian and New York Times, revealed that it was running on cash reserves after "an arbitrary and unlawful financial blockade" by the Bank of America, Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Western Union. WikiLeaks said in a statement: "The blockade is outside of any accountable, public process. It is without democratic oversight or transparency. "The US government itself found that there were no lawful grounds to add WikiLeaks to a US financial blockade. But the blockade of WikiLeaks by politicised US finance companies continues regardless." Assange said donations to WikiLeaks were running at €100,000 a month in 2010, but had dropped to a monthly figure of €6,000 to €7,000 this year. This had cost the organisation a cumulative €40m to €50m, he claimed, assuming donations had stayed at their 2010 level without the financial blockade. Assange said WikiLeaks was facing legal cases in Denmark, Iceland, the UK and Australia, as well as an existing action in the EU. He is also fighting extradition from the UK to Sweden to answer allegations of sexual misconduct. The Guardian, New York Times, El País, Der Spiegel and Le Monde worked with WikiLeaks in publishing carefully selected and redacted US embassy cables in December, but have since criticised the website's decision to publish its full archive of 251,000 unredacted documents in early September. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook ||||| Tor Tor is an encrypted anonymising network that makes it harder to intercept internet communications, or see where communications are coming from or going to. In order to use the WikiLeaks public submission system as detailed above you can download the Tor Browser Bundle, which is a Firefox-like browser available for Windows, Mac OS X and GNU/Linux and pre-configured to connect using the anonymising system Tor. Tails If you are at high risk and you have the capacity to do so, you can also access the submission system through a secure operating system called Tails. Tails is an operating system launched from a USB stick or a DVD that aim to leaves no traces when the computer is shut down after use and automatically routes your internet traffic through Tor. Tails will require you to have either a USB stick or a DVD at least 4GB big and a laptop or desktop computer. ||||| The whistleblowing website set up by Julian Assange said that it is temporarily suspending publication of leaks to fight a “blockade” by credit card companies. The refusal to accept donations has cost the website “tens of millions of dollars” in lost funding, the website said. Mr Assange was due to make the announcement at a press conference in London at 1pm today , and appeal for donations to help flight the blockade. WikiLeaks said “in order to fight for its survival” it has decided temporarily to stop publishing secret state documents, while it battles the financial blockade through the courts. In a statement, WikiLeaks said: “In order to ensure our future survival, WikiLeaks is now forced to temporarily suspend its publishing operations and aggressively fundraise in order to fight back against this blockade and its proponents.” The financial problems for WikiLeaks started on 7 December last year when Bank of America, VISA, MasterCard, PayPal and Western Union refused to accept donations for WikiLeaks. This “unlawful financial blockade”, WikiLeaks said, “destroyed 95 per cent of its revenues”, leaving the website near-broke. The website blamed the blockade on a reaction to its decision to start publishing the first of 250,000 leaked US Government cables days earlier. The website said: “WikiLeaks has published the biggest leaks in journalistic history. This has triggered aggressive retaliation from powerful groups. “Since 7th December 2010 an arbitrary and unlawful financial blockade has been imposed by Bank of America, VISA, MasterCard, PayPal and Western Union. “The blockade came into force within ten days of the launch of Cablegate as part of a concerted US-based, political attack that included vitriol by senior right wing politicians, including assassination calls against WikiLeaks staff. “The blockade is outside of any accountable, public process. It is without democratic oversight or transparency.” WikiLeaks continued in its statement: “As a result, WikiLeaks has been running on cash reserves for the past eleven months. “The blockade has cost the organization tens of millions of pounds in ost donations at a time of unprecedented operational costs resulting from publishing alliances in over 50 countries, and their inevitable counter-attacks. “Our scarce resources now must focus on fighting the unlawful banking blockade.” WikiLeaks said that it had “commenced pre- litigation action against the blockade in Iceland, Denmark, the UK, Brussels, the United States and Australia. “We have lodged an anti-trust complaint at the European Commission and expect a decision by mid-November as to whether the European Competition Authority will open a full investigation into the wrongdoing of VISA and MasterCard.” WikiLeaks is today setting out a number of ways that people can donate to the website.

– WikiLeaks won’t be releasing any more secrets in the near future, Julian Assange announced today; the credit card companies have brought it down. In a statement, WikiLeaks said it was making the move in response to the “blockade” against donations established by banks and credit card companies. “We are forced to temporarily suspend publishing whilst we secure our economic survival,” its website reads today. At a press conference in London today, Assange said the blockade had shrunk its donations from more than $100,000 a month to around $8,000-$9,000, and that if the ban wasn’t lifted the organization would be “simply not able to continue,” according to the Guardian. What money the organization does have will now be devoted to legal action against the banks—it’s already taken “pre-litigation action” in six countries, including the US, the Telegraph reports.

Cable and telephone companies are urging the Federal Communications Commission to ease off its proposal to help municipalities offer Internet service, arguing the agency lacks the authority to override state rules. Lobbyists for the industry made their case after FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler earlier this year suggested the federal government could override laws passed by some states that prevent local governments from setting up broadband... ||||| The US telecoms industry called on the Federal Communications Commission on Friday to block two cities’ plans to expand high-speed internet services to their residents. USTelecom, which represents telecoms giants Verizon, AT&T and others, wants the FCC to block expansion of two popular municipally owned high-speed internet networks, one in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the other in Wilson, North Carolina. “The success of public broadband is a mixed record, with numerous examples of failures,” USTelecom said in a blogpost. “With state taxpayers on the financial hook when a municipal broadband network goes under, it is entirely reasonable for state legislatures to be cautious in limiting or even prohibiting that activity.” Chattanooga has the largest high-speed internet service in the US, offering customers access to speeds of 1 gigabit per second – about 50 times faster than the US average. The service, provided by municipally owned EPB, has sparked a tech boom in the city and attracted international attention. EPB is now petitioning the FCC to expand its territory. Comcast and other companies have previously sued unsuccessfully to stop EPB’s fibre optic roll out. Wilson, a town of a little more than 49,000 people, launched Greenlight, its own service offering high-speed internet, after complaints about the cost and quality of Time Warner cable’s service. Time Warner lobbied the North Carolina senate to outlaw the service and similar municipal efforts. USTelecom claims the FCC has no legal standing over the proposed expansions and does not have the power to preempt the North Carolina and Tennessee statutes that would prevent them. “States have adopted a wide range of legislative approaches on how much authority they give local governments to build, own and operate broadband networks. Some states require an election or public hearings before a public project can move forward. Others ask for competitive bids, and still others put restrictions on the terms of service so the public entities bear the same regulatory burdens as private service providers,” said USTelecom. “States are well within their rights to impose these restrictions, given the potential impact on taxpayers if public projects are not carefully planned and weighed against existing private investment.” In January this year, the FCC issued the “Gigabit City Challenge”, calling on providers to offer gigabit service in at least one community in each state by 2015. The challenge has come amid intense lobbying from cable and telecoms firms to stop municipal rivals and new competitors including Google from building and expanding high speed networks. In a statement EPB said: “Communities should have the right – at the local level – to determine their broadband futures. “The private sector didn’t want to serve everyone, but public power companies like EPB were established to make sure that everyone had access to this critical infrastructure. ” • This article was amended on 30 August 2014. Comcast is not a member of USTelecom, as was stated, and has not filed comments in the FCC proceeding to which the article refers. ||||| A group representing giants in the cable industry is trying to shut down two municipalities' proposals to expand their public broadband networks, arguing that public broadband has a "mixed record" and can be harmful to taxpayers, despite these two networks already being successful where they're already operational. Laws in 20 states prevent municipalities from creating their own broadband networks — much to the pleasure of private cable companies, which have shown an impressive dedication to avoiding any competition and any suggestion that their service is merely a utility. Municipalities have on occasion created their own public networks to make up for shortcomings from local internet providers, and it's easy to see why private providers wouldn't want that around. Chattanooga offers gigabit internet. Yes, gigabit. The two municipalities, those of Chattanooga, TN, and Wilson, NC, have petitioned the FCC to allow them to work around state laws that block their broadband service's expansion. The FCC has previously said that it plans to use its powers to invalidate these laws, but there's some contention over whether it can do that. In a filing and blog post today, USTelecom — which the Guardian says represents Comcast and Time Warner Cable, among other industry giants — argues that the FCC doesn't have the power to do this. That's hardly the only reason that USTelecom provides for why these municipalities should remain blocked, however, generally arguing that it should be up to the state to decide. For what it's worth, state governors are in agreement. The National Governors Association also submitted a comment on Friday asking that the FCC "honor the longstanding partnership between states and the federal government" and reject these two municipalities' petitions. While USTelecom is right that some public broadband networks have turned into blunders, many have been incredibly successful and have actually proven to be legitimate competitors to private networks. In fact, Chattanooga offers gigabit internet to every home and business in its community — a speed that's still incredibly rare to see from private providers in the US. Community Broadband Networks says that 40 communities in 13 states are currently offering gigabit service. With the FCC having said that it will allow municipal broadband networks to work around these laws, it seems that the cable companies may have an uphill battle. Still, it's not clear when the FCC will find time to rule on this — and, if the cable industry loses, it wouldn't be surprising to see it continue the fight from there. ||||| The success of public broadband is a mixed record, with numerous examples of failures — from St. Cloud, Fla. and Groton City, Conn., to Philadelphia and the Utah Telecommunications Open Infrastructure Agency (“UTOPIA”). With state taxpayers on the financial hook when a municipal broadband network goes under, it is entirely reasonable for state legislatures to be cautious in limiting or even prohibiting that activity. For this and other reasons, USTelecom opposes the petitions filed by the city of Wilson, N.C., and the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, Tenn., asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to preempt state laws restricting public entities from offering broadband service. The FCC should not interfere with state decisions on how best to extend broadband service. States have adopted a wide range of legislative approaches on how much authority they give local governments to build, own and operate broadband networks. Some states require an election or public hearings before a public project can move forward. Others ask for competitive bids, and still others put restrictions on the terms of service so the public entities bear the same regulatory burdens as private service providers. States are well within their rights to impose these restrictions, given the potential impact on taxpayers if public projects are not carefully planned and weighed against existing private investment. Municipal broadband is often hailed as the solution to providing service in difficult to build areas where it’s been hard to attract private investment. But municipal broadband is not the only or the most efficient way to do this. The FCC’s Connect America Fund (CAF), which is just getting off the ground, is dedicated to serving rural America. The CAF program is focused on stimulating investment by providing public funds for broadband in areas where there is no business case. In contrast to municipal broadband networks, which can undermine competition and saddle local communities with significant debt if such networks fail, the CAF offers an efficient, rational means of helping to expand broadband access to all Americans. The commission has the power to preempt state laws under appropriate circumstances. However, Supreme Court precedent requires a clear and unambiguous statement of congressional intent in order to interfere with the relationship between states and their political subdivisions. Because the commission lacks this clear intent under Section 706 of the Communications Act, the FCC does not have the power to preempt the North Carolina and Tennessee statutes. The FCC could make positive use of its preemption authority to facilitate broadband deployment at the local level by removing barriers to entry, specifically around local rights of way. These barriers, which can include the expense of obtaining permits and leasing pole attachments, can amount to 20 percent of the cost of fiber optic deployment, according to the National Broadband Plan. Read the comments here.

– Municipalities, take note: A group representing cable giants like Time Warner and Comcast is pressing US officials to stop two cities from expanding high-speed Internet services, the Guardian reports. Those cities—Chattanooga, TN, and Wilson, NC—are already providing unusually fast 1GB-per-second service to residents. Chattanooga's broadband helped trigger a tech boom, and Wilson's reached people who were complaining about the quality and cost of Time Warner service. Now each city wants to expand service into a wider area, the Wall Street Journal reports. US Telecom's lobbyists are urging the FCC not to let cities work around laws designed to protect private broadband companies (20 states have such laws, the Verge notes). US Telecom is also arguing in a blog that public broadband has "a mixed record, with numerous examples of failures"—and it's true that a group of Utah towns had to sell its service to Google for $1 after failing to make enough money. So, is municipal broadband anti-competitive? Cable companies say subsidies give cities an unfair leg up, while cities argue that they are improving competition in their areas. (On the lighter side, read about the Comcast "call from hell.")

The sun sets over San Francisco and behind the Bay Bridge in this view from the bay in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014. California's dry weather is expected to last for another three months according to federal scientists. The Obama administration declared 27 California counties, including most of the Bay Area, as "natural disaster areas." (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) (Jane Tyska/MediaNews Group) In a new dose of bad news for a state growing increasingly concerned about lack of rain, California's historically dry weather is expected to last for at least another three months, federal scientists said Thursday. The dire forecast for the rest of the state's winter rain season came as federal officials classified much of California as being in "extreme drought." And the Obama administration declared 27 California counties, including most of the Bay Area, as "natural disaster areas," eligible for emergency federal loans for farmers. Computer models based on data from satellites, buoys in the Pacific Ocean and other sources favor below-normal levels of rainfall for California, much of Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and West Texas until April, according to a new report from the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center. The water level has been declining at Los Padres Reservoir in Carmel Valley, shown on Friday. (VERN FISHER/The Herald) "There will be a few precipitation events, but we're looking at drier-than-normal conditions in February, March and April," said Matthew Rosencrans, a meteorologist with the agency, which is based in College Park, Md. "Right now we are saying the odds do not indicate a Miracle March, which is not a good thing." To be sure, long-range forecasts are not as accurate as short-term weather forecasts. The 90-day precipitation outlook for the West has turned out to be right about 60 percent of the time over the last 20 years. Gov. Jerry Brown was expected Friday in San Francisco to declare a drought emergency, which would make it easier to transfer water between different regions of the state, and raise awareness for conservation. Meanwhile, the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly update of drought conditions by federal agencies and researchers at the University of Nebraska, classified large sections of Northern California, including the Bay Area, as the fourth most severe of five drought categories: "extreme drought." "It means that things are not getting better. They are getting drier," said David Simeral, a meteorologist with the Western Regional Climate Center in Reno, who is part of the Drought Monitor team. "We're starting to see a lot more impacts showing up around the state," he said. "Groundwater issues, low snowpack, less forage available for cattle grazing, more fire risk." Farmers in 27 California counties -- including Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey and San Benito -- declared "natural disaster areas" and in eight adjacent counties -- including San Mateo and Santa Cruz -- can now receive low-interest federal loans. "Our hearts go out to those California farmers and ranchers affected," U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. Last week, 27 percent of California's land area was listed as being in "extreme drought." This week it is it is 63 percent -- the most since the Drought Monitor began 14 years ago. California is a historically arid place. Los Angeles and San Jose, for example, each get about 15 inches of rain in an average year. That's the same amount as Casablanca, Morocco. The state has periodic droughts but has not suffered a sustained one since 1987-92. Increasingly, political leaders and scientists are concerned that California is entering another such period. Sierra Nevada snowpack on Thursday was 17 percent of normal. Last year, most cities in the state received the lowest amount of rain in any living person's lifetime -- with records going back to 1850. Although smaller water agencies, such as in Willits, in Mendocino County, where there is just a 100-day supply of water left, are struggling, most large Bay Area water districts have not called for rationing and don't plan to make a decision until March or April. Years of rebates for conservation and increased storage -- both underground at places like the Santa Clara Valley Water District, and in reservoirs, like the recently expanded Los Vaqueros Reservoir in Contra Costa County -- have put them in better positions than during previous dry spells, they say. "We are in fair shape and examining our options. But we've been planning for this for a generation," said Abby Figueroa, a spokeswoman for the East Bay Municipal Utility District. For the past 13 months, a huge ridge of high-pressure in the atmosphere has sat off the West Coast, blocking storms that normally would bring rain during winter months. Such high-pressure zones normally rise and break down as temperatures change and the jet stream shifts every winter, but this one has been different. Some scientists say it may be linked to climate change, which has melted polar ice and warmed the oceans. Others, including many who strongly support the broad scientific consensus that the Earth is warming due to human burning of fossil fuels, say it is too early to know. It may be related to other factors, such as naturally occurring temperature fluctuations in the Pacific Ocean, similar to El Niño and La Niña, or simply random bad luck. Part of the National Weather Service's 90-day dry outlook, however, is based on the fact that there is a large section of the North Pacific Ocean where water temperatures now are 4-5 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the historic average, Rosencrans said. And water along the California coast is about 1 degree cooler than average -- a condition known as a negative Pacific Decadal Oscillation, which historically has been linked to more high pressure, and drier weather in years past. Paul Rogers covers resources and environmental issues. Contact him at 408-920-5045. Follow him at Twitter.com/paulrogerssjmn. ||||| Story highlights Some in Azusa can return home, other wildfire evacuees cannot, police say State faces perhaps worst drought since records began 100 years ago Governor asks residents and businesses for voluntary 20% conservation "This could be a giant fire year" for California, CNN's Chad Myers says California Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday declared a drought emergency for the state, saying it is facing "perhaps the worst drought that California has ever seen since records (began) about 100 years ago." The governor's announcement, made in San Francisco, came as a wildfire burned Friday with only 30% containment in 1,700 acres of foothills of Los Angeles County near Glendora. An illegal campfire apparently ignited the wildfire, and fire officials cited drought conditions as contributing to the blaze. In his declaration, the governor called for voluntary "20% conservation of our water use" statewide. "It's important to wake all Californians to the serious matter of the drought and lack of rain," Brown told reporters. "We are in an unprecedented, very serious situation that people should pause and reflect on how dependent we are on the rain, nature and one other. "This is an effort to call for arms," he continued. "That's the point of the declaration." JUST WATCHED Wildfire threat looms in severe drought Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Wildfire threat looms in severe drought 02:14 JUST WATCHED Race to contain wildfire near Los Angeles Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Race to contain wildfire near Los Angeles 03:21 Brown said he would set into motion an initiative that would make water transfers easier between regions in the state. The snowpack in California's mountains is at 20% of normal levels. The state's largest water reservoirs are below record lows, and the major waterways, including the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers, flow with "significantly reduced" water. Since 2011, extremely dry conditions have parched the state. Under the proclamation, Brown directed officials to take "all necessary actions" to address the drought, including assisting farmers and communities with water shortages. He directed state agencies to use less water and hire more firefighters. Ninety percent of California is in a severe drought, CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said. "This could be a giant fire year coming up," Myers added. Meanwhile, about 800 firefighting personnel brought a Los Angeles-area wildfire under some control Friday, with 30% containment -- an improvement over 0% a day earlier. "I've seen the sky turn gray from smoke before during fires here in Los Angeles, but this red sun was more eery than others," said CNN iReporter Corinne Shor from about a 20-minute drive away. "I could also smell the fire and my eyes started to sting." About 3,600 people at one point were ordered to evacuate, though that number had fallen to about 1,600 as of late Thursday night, according to Angeles National Forest's update on the Incident Information System's website The number of evacuees fell even further Friday, when police in the inland Southern California city of Azusa announced that select residents could return to their homes at 4 p.m. (7 p.m. ET). Residents of Mountain Cove in that city, however, were not being let back in due to continued "concern for the roadway and homes in that area." Meanwhile, a red flag warning was extended to Friday because of anticipated warm, dry breezes called Santa Ana winds, InciWeb said. The blaze began before dawn Thursday and allegedly originated with three men camping in the foothills near Glendora, authorities said. The campers were tossing paper into a campfire, and a gust of wind spread embers, authorities said. The three men, all in their early 20s, were arrested on suspicion of recklessly starting a fire, said Police Chief Tim Staab of Glendora. One man is from Glendora and another is from Irwindale, he said. The third man's home was not known. Bail was set Thursday at $20,000 for each. "The way it's told to us is that all three of them were together at the time, sitting around this campfire," he said. "Breeze kicked up, and that's what caused this fire. "It's not a camping area, but people do camp up in the hills above Glendora," Staab said. The arrests were made after authorities received a call that at least two people were suspiciously walking away from the fire, the chief said. The three men arrested were identified as Jonathan Carl Jerrell, 23; Clifford Eugene Henry Jr., 22; and Steven Robert Aguirre, 21, police said. They and their attorneys couldn't be reached for comment. The wildfire, named the Colby Fire, destroyed two homes and injured one person Thursday morning, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby said. The injured civilian suffered minor burns, Osby told reporters. "We predicted that this is going to be an intense fire season because this is the third year of an ongoing drought," he said. There hasn't been a fire in Glendora's foothills since 1968, so the area has lots of brush and other fuel for a wildfire, authorities said.

– Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for California today, over what the governor called "perhaps the worst drought that California has ever seen" in the roughly 100 years the state has been keeping records. Brown asked all residents to voluntarily cut back their water usage by 20%. "It's important to wake all Californians to the serious matter of the drought," Brown said, according to CNN. "We are in an unprecedented, serious situation." He also promised an initiative to facilitate water transfers in the state. More than 90% of California is experiencing drought conditions, and the Obama administration has already declared 27 counties "natural disaster areas." Yesterday the National Weather Service predicted that the dry conditions would drag on for at least three more months, the San Jose Mercury News reports. "We're starting to see a lot more impacts," said one meteorologist. "Groundwater issues, low snowpack, less forage available for cattle grazing." Probably the most visible impact is a 1,700-acre wildfire in the foothills of LA that's still only 30% contained.

“At all times there is supposed to be someone at the outside and the inside of the door,” the official said. “The intruder was running so fast that he gets right past the woman who didn’t lock the door. She tries to catch him, and eventually she and another officer tackle the man to the ground, but by that time he was pretty far in.” It has been unheard of in recent decades for an intruder to force his way into the White House, even if only a few steps inside what is supposed to be one of the most secure buildings in the world. Officials in Washington were stunned that Mr. Gonzalez was able to pass by the staircase that leads to the White House family quarters and get as far as the East Room, the ballroom where the cellist Pablo Casals played for President John F. Kennedy and where President Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden. Mr. Chaffetz said that Mr. Gonzalez ran from the north front of the White House into the Entrance Hall and then into the 80-foot-long East Room, where he was finally stopped by Secret Service officers at a Green Room entrance near the south side of the mansion. The Obama family was not home at the time. In addition, Mr. Chaffetz said a system designed to alert agents that a breach of security was in progress apparently did not work as intended, allowing Mr. Gonzalez to surprise the officer at the door. Mr. Chaffetz said that he was told the “crash box” had been silenced or muted at the request of White House ushers, who had complained the boxes were too noisy. “It’s an astounding set of facts,” said Representative Gerald E. Connolly of Virginia, a Democratic member of the committee. “It just boggles the imagination and is deeply destabilizing in terms of public confidence in the Secret Service and how it is carrying out its mission.” The new details are strikingly different from what Secret Service officials first said happened on Sept. 19, the day Mr. Gonzalez breached the building. In a statement on Sept. 20, the agency said Mr. Gonzalez “was physically apprehended after entering the White House North Portico doors” — leaving the impression that Secret Service officers tackled Mr. Gonzalez just steps after he opened the door and walked through. Secret Service officials said nothing in their public comments to suggest otherwise. In its initial briefings, the Secret Service did not inform the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the agency, that the intruder had made it so far inside the White House, according to an official familiar with the conversations. But the official said that until a final investigation was complete, the department could not confirm or deny the new account. Major Security Breaches at the Obama White House New revelations about recent security lapses at the White House have led lawmakers to question the competence of the president's Secret Service. Intruder enters the White House Armed with a knife, Omar J. Gonzalez managed to jump the fence of the White House, sprint 70 yards, enter the unlocked front door, overpower a Secret Service agent and run into the ceremonial East Room. He was eventually tackled as he tried to enter the Green Room, a parlor used for receptions and teas. Related article » Bullets hit the residence Secret Service was slow to identify and respond to an incident in which a man with a semiautomatic weapon fired shots into the south side of the White House, smashing a window in the first family's residence and causing over $100,000 in damage. Related article » State dinner crashed Michaele and Tareq Salahi, then a married couple aspiring to be featured on “The Real Housewives of D.C.,” managed to get past Secret Service checkpoints for President Obama's first state dinner without being on the guest list. The couple was photographed meeting the president and Vice President Joseph R. Biden, among others. Related article » White House officials also did nothing in the last week to correct the impression that Mr. Gonzalez had been stopped just inside the front door of the building. Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, was asked repeatedly about the incident in the days after it happened and did not disclose the extent of the breach. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Asked about the new disclosures on Monday, Mr. Earnest referred to comments he made to reporters earlier in the day. Mr. Earnest said that the president retained “full confidence” in Ms. Pierson but that the incident was “an issue that the president is obviously concerned about.” It is unclear when Mr. Obama learned of how far Mr. Gonzalez had penetrated the White House. West Wing officials previously said Ms. Pierson briefed Mr. Obama about the incident during an Oval Office meeting last week, but they would not say what details she disclosed at the time. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. On Tuesday, Ms. Pierson will appear before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and will hear from lawmakers in both parties who said they would demand explanations for other breaches as well, including recent revelations about a slow and incomplete response by the Secret Service to the incident in 2011, when a man fired seven shots into the south side of the White House. “Have there been some other serious breaches?” Mr. Chaffetz said. “Absolutely.” He said the 2011 incident was “about as bungled as could possibly be,” but he said lawmakers on the committee have received numerous reports about security breaches that have not yet been made public. The Washington Post reported that Mr. Obama and Michelle Obama were furious that they had not been made aware of the 2011 incident until days after it happened. Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, the senior Democrat on the committee, said he would insist that Ms. Pierson explain why Secret Service officials in charge of protection around the grounds of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue appear not to have listened to agents on the ground that night in 2011 who believed shots had been fired at the White House. “I want to know what culture allows that to happen in an organization that is supposed to be the most elite protective agency in the world,” Mr. Cummings said. ||||| Security is heightened around the White House following Friday’s breach. Omar Jose Gonzalez, 42, appeared before a judge on one charge of unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds while carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon. Sept. 22, 2014 Security is heightened around the White House following Friday’s breach. Omar Jose Gonzalez, 42, appeared before a judge on one charge of unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds while carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon. Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post The Secret Service is under scrutiny after a man scaled the White House fence and made it all the way into the East Room. Here are images showing how security has changed over the years at the White House. Here are images showing how security has changed over the years at the White House. The man who jumped the White House fence this month and sprinted through the front door made it much farther into the building than previously known, overpowering one Secret Service officer and running through much of the main floor, according to three people familiar with the incident. An alarm box near the front entrance of the White House designed to alert guards to an intruder had been muted at what officers believed was a request of the usher’s office, said a Secret Service official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The officer posted inside the front door appeared to be delayed in learning that the intruder, Omar Gonzalez, was about to burst through. Officers are trained that, upon learning of an intruder on the grounds — often through the alarm boxes posted around the property — they must immediately lock the front door. After barreling past the guard immediately inside the door, Gonzalez, who was carrying a knife, dashed past the stairway leading a half-flight up to the first family’s living quarters. He then ran into the 80-foot-long East Room, an ornate space often used for receptions or presidential addresses. Gonzalez was tackled by a counterassault agent at the far southern end of the East Room. The intruder reached the doorway to the Green Room, a parlor overlooking the South Lawn with artwork and antique furniture, according to three people familiar with the incident. Secret Service officials had earlier said he was quickly detained at the main entry. Agency spokesman Edwin Donovan said the office is not commenting during the ongoing investigation of the incident. Breaches of the White House fence have become more common, but most jumpers are tackled by Secret Service officers guarding the complex before they get even a third of the way across the lawn. Gonzalez is the first person known to have jumped the fence and made it inside the executive mansion. Secret Service Director Julia Pierson has said the breach was “unacceptable” to her, and on Friday she briefed President Obama on her plans to shore up security. Pierson is expected to face tough questions about the Gonzalez incident Tuesday at a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The hearing is likely to cover a number of security lapses by the agency, including new revelations published over the weekend by The Washington Post about the failure to identify and properly investigate a 2011 shooting attack on the White House. The more detailed account of this month’s security breach comes from people who provided information about the incident to The Post and whistleblowers who contacted Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the oversight panel’s subcommittee on national security. Chaffetz said he plans to ask Pierson how an alarm meant to alert officers to intruders could be silenced or turned down. The congressman said two people inside the agency told him that boxes were silenced because the White House usher staff, whose office is near the front door, complained that they were noisy. A Secret Service official told The Post that the usher’s office was concerned the boxes were frequently malfunctioning and unnecessarily sounding off. The alarm boxes, which officers call “crash boxes,” are key pieces of the agency’s first-alert system, according to former agents and officials. If officers spot an intruder, they are trained to hit the large red button on the nearest box — sending an alert to every post on the complex about the location of an incursion and piping sound from that location to other boxes around the property. There were some heated moments Tuesday when Secret Service Director Julia Pierson testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about two security breaches at the White House, one in 2011 and one less than two weeks ago. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post) “If true, the fact that crash boxes were muted to avoid being ‘disruptive’ is not due to a lack of resources or an insufficient number of checkpoints or barriers,” Chaffetz said. He called the incident a “failure of leadership” by the Secret Service. “The agency needs a solution that goes deeper than more fences and more people,” Chaffetz said. “It must examine what message is being sent to the men and women who protect the president when their leader sacrifices security to appease superficial concerns of White House ushers.” The new revelations follow accounts provided to The Post last week detailing how Gonzalez’s ability to enter the White House reflected a failure of multiple levels of security at the compound. The agency relies on these successive layers as a fail-safe for protecting the president and the White House complex. In this incident, a plainclothes surveillance team was on duty that night outside the fence, meant to spot jumpers and give early warning before they made it over. But that team did not notice Gonzalez. There was an officer in a guard booth on the North Lawn. When that officer could not reach Gonzalez, there was supposed to be an attack dog, a specialized SWAT team and a guard at the front door — all at the ready. The dog was not released, a decision now under review. Some people familiar with the incident say the handler probably felt he could not release the dog, because so many officers were in pursuit of Gonzalez and the dog may have attacked them instead. Since the incident, the Secret Service has added an additional layer of temporary fencing while the agency reviews its procedures. Alice Crites contributed to this report.

– The fence-jumper who bolted across the White House lawn with a knife this month made it further than previously admitted—inside the building and within a stone's throw of the First Family's living quarters, the Washington Post reports. Insiders say former Army soldier Omar Gonzalez overpowered a Secret Service officer and ran inside, passing a stairway that leads up a half-flight to the Obamas' home. Gonzalez then ran into the East Room, which is used for presidential addresses or receptions, and got taken down by a counter-assault agent. The Secret Service had said that Gonzalez was apprehended at the main entry. Why the security lapse? Apparently the White House usher's office had asked that the alarm box near the front entrance be muted, because the boxes were noisy, malfunctioning, and regularly going off. So the Secret Service officer inside the front door had no time to prepare for Gonzalez and was overpowered. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, says he plans to grill Secret Service Director Julia Pierson about the incident at a House committee meeting tomorrow. "Have there been some other serious breaches? Absolutely," Chaffetz tells the New York Times—and not all are publicly known, he adds. It's more bad news for the Secret Service, which apparently bungled its reaction to a White House shooter in 2011.

When Rebekka Garvison boarded her Spirit Air flight from Chicago to Atlanta earlier this week with an infant in tow, she saw the annoyed looks of her seatmates. When baby Rylee started crying before takeoff, the situation with her in-flight neighbors didn't improve. "As soon as we got on the plane at 5:30 a.m. it was very quiet and it was a full flight," Garvison wrote in a Facebook post that's now been shared almost 85,000 times. "I noticed that the 2 seats next to me were taken and this couple looked very annoyed and I could tell by their body language sitting right next to me that they weren't thrilled about sitting next to Rylee. Of course I'm already stressing and then Rylee started crying when we were just getting ready to taxi." Garvison asked if she could change seats. That, and her new seatmate, made all the difference in the day of this young mom from Kalamazoo, Michigan, who was on a trip to surprise her military husband. "[The] next thing I know I was sitting next to this amazing woman! I'm not sure if she could tell how stressed and upset I looked or what, but she turned our day completely around. Rylee wouldn't stop crying no matter what I would try and do ... so she had asked if I didn't mind if she tried and of course I let her. As soon as she had her, Rylee was looking out the window and stopped crying. When we got in the air she fell right asleep and slept in her lap the whole flight until we got to our gate. She kept saying it wasn't a problem at all and it was actually a comforting feeling for her. She even carried her off the plane and held her so I could get the stroller and carseat put back together so I wasn't struggling to try and do it all alone." Garvison told ABC News that her "airplane angel" Nyfesha Miller is "an incredible woman who deserves all the accolades she is getting." "She [Miller] was such a relief and so calming to me. I was already stressed and then seeing everyone else's faces, that just made it even worse." Garvison said she and Miller are in close contact. "Nyfesha Miller," she wrote, "you will never understand how happy this act of kindness has made my family. You could've just rolled your eyes and been irritated like everyone else, but you took her and held her the entire flight and let me get some rest and peace of mind. It brought tears to my eyes while I sat there and watched you and Rylee sleeping next to me. I just couldn't believe how that ended up working out and how caring you were to us. Thank you SO much!! God bless you!!" ||||| The new mom from Kalamazoo, Michigan planned a trip to Fort Rucker, Alabama to surprise her husband, who is in the U.S. Army. In a Facebook post, she wrote that she was nervous about traveling alone with her daughter Rylee, and after boarding the plane she noticed the people sitting next to her didn't seem happy about sitting next to a mom with a baby. While on her way to see her husband, Rebekka Garvison became stressed while traveling on a plane with her baby. Then, a kind stranger surprised her. "I noticed that the 2 seats next to me were taken and this couple looked very annoyed and I could tell by their body language sitting right next to me that they weren't thrilled about sitting next to Rylee," she wrote. "Of course I'm already stressing and then Rylee started crying when we were just getting ready to taxi." According to the post, Rylee continued crying and Garvison asked to move up a couple of rows. She was trying to soothe her daughter at her new seat when the woman next to her, Nyfesha Miller, asked if she could try comforting the child. Garvison agreed. "As soon as she had her, Rylee was looking out the window and stopped crying," Garvison wrote. "When we got in the air she fell right asleep and slept in her lap the whole flight until we got to our gate." In the Facebook post, Garvison thanked Miller for her kind gesture and for letting her "get some rest and peace of mind." "It brought tears to my eyes while I sat there and watched you and Rylee sleeping next to me," she wrote. Since being posted on Sept. 24, the touching story has been shared more than 69,800 times. Garvison told The Huffington Post she got Miller's contact information so she could send her a token of appreciation for being so kind to Rylee, who will be 4 months old this week. "We have messaged every day, and we plan on meeting up again someday for sure," she said. This seems like just the start of a beautiful friendship. Also on HuffPost:

– When new mom Rebekka Garvison boarded her 5:30am flight from Michigan to surprise her military husband in Alabama last week, she was already nervous about bothering her seatmates. Then she saw the looks on their faces, and just about crumbled. "This couple looked very annoyed and I could tell by their body language sitting right next to me that they weren't thrilled about sitting next to Rylee," she writes on Facebook. Then, as the plane started to taxi, 4-month-old Rylee began to cry, and Garvison asked if she could move a few rows up where there were two empty seats. Her new seatmate, Nyfesha Miller, asked if she could help calm the baby. "As soon as she had her, Rylee was looking out the window and stopped crying," Garvison continues. "Rylee ended up sleeping in her lap the whole flight, and Miller "kept saying it wasn't a problem at all and it was actually a comforting feeling for her." Her Facebook post has gone viral, shared more than 87,000 times, and Garvison tells ABC News that Miller is her "airplane angel" who "deserves all the accolades she is getting." She adds to Huffington Post that she and Miller have been messaging every day and that they plan to meet up again someday. "Nyfesha Miller," she writes on Facebook, "you will never understand how happy this act of kindness has made my family.... It brought tears to my eyes while I sat there and watched you and Rylee sleeping next to me." (See what this waitress did for grieving parents.)

In 1986, divers stumbled upon a nearly 2,000-year-old Roman shipwreck some six miles off the coast of the town of Grado, Italy. Measuring 55 feet long and 16 feet wide, the small trade vessel was stocked with 600 amphorae, or vases, packed with sardines and other fish. Further study of the shipwreck revealed that the ancient Roman engineers also had built in a hydraulic system that allowed the ship to carry an aquarium with live fish. Over the years, metal detector enthusiasts, particularly those in the United Kingdom, have uncovered archaeological treasures buried beneath the Earth. In 2009, 30-year-old Nick Davies hauled in 10,000 ancient Roman coins that he had found inside a clay pot buried in Shropshire, U.K. That same year, a trove of 1,500 gold and silver pieces dating back to the Dark Ages were found on a farmer's field in the western region of Staffordshire, England. Last year, 63-year-old David Crisp uncovered 52,000 ancient Roman coins, later given a value of around $1 million, in a clay pot in southwestern England. In 1991, German tourists stumbled upon a frozen body in a glacier on the Ötztal Alps between Italy and Austria. Although they originally thought the corpse to be the result of a recent death, the iceman mummy, named Ötzi, in fact dated back 5,300 years. Since Ötzi's discovery, the mummy has been extensively studied. Scientists have learned everything from his last meal to his cause of death to his possible occupation and they have even made reconstructions of his face. Ötzi died in the spring as a result of an arrowhead striking his left clavicle artery. He likely received a ceremonial burial and was found beside tools and other personal items. In case you don't know what a geoglyph is, ancient Peruvians went through the trouble of leaving a picture-perfect definition. Known as the Nazca Lines, these giant carvings into the Earth were only discovered by airplane in the 1930s. Located in the Nazva desert in southern Peru around 250 miles (400 kilometers) south of Lima, the geoglyphs resemble a number of animals including a spider (as seen here), a condor, a monkey, a tree, as well as human figures and geometric patterns. Why exactly indigenous tribes living in the area between 100 B.C. and 650 A.D. felt compelled to produce these works remains a mystery, though archaeologists agree that it is likely tied to religious customs. As Napoleon Bonaparte's army marched through north Africa during his campaign in Egypt, they stumbled upon what would become known as the Rosetta Stone, after the town where it was discovered. Within Bonaparte's army was a squadron of scholars called Institute of Egypt, also known as the Scientific and Artistic Commission. As the military settled around the Nile Delta, the Institute explored local ruins and artifacts. After the discovery of the stone in 1799, several copies of the inscriptions on its face were made, since no one could read them at the time. By 1802, the Greek and Demotic portions of the stone had been deciphered by scholars. The hieroglyphics posed a different challenge all together, however, and it would take 20 years before French scholar Jean-François Champollion announced that he had cracked the code. By deciphering the hieroglyphs, Champollion opened a whole new door to understanding the civilization of ancient Egypt. The Rosetta Stone is currently kept in the British Museum. The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of over 800 biblical texts made of animal skin and papyrus. Dating to around 2,000 years ago, between the years 200 B.C. and 70 A.D., the scrolls could well be the oldest such documents in existence and have deepened historians' understanding of religious history. These documents may have been lost to history had a Bedouin shepherd named Muhammed edh-Dhib and his cousin not stumbled upon the first manuscripts along the northern shore of the Dead Sea at a remote site known as Qumran in 1947. The last fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls collection was uncovered in the mid-1950s. Although the scrolls have been extensively studied and translated, one big mystery remains: Who exactly wrote them? On Sept. 12, 1940, four teenagers followed their wayward dog into a cave complex near the village of Montignac in southwestern France. To their surprise, the caves hosted something remarkable: nearly 2,000 paintings and etchings of animals, humans and abstract shapes on the walls dating back between 15,000 and 25,000 years. Known as the Lascaux caves, the complex features figures depicted in surprising detail given the age of the illustrations. Animals portrayed on the cave walls included horses, stags, bison and felines. Archaeologists believed the caves were used for ritualistic purposes. Some parts of the illustrations even appear to construct a narrative, but what they mean exactly has yet to be deciphered. The caves were open to the public in 1948, but closed in 1963 in order to preserve the site from damage. In the search for buried history, archaeologists pour their resources into uncovering the remnants of the distant past. With know-how, persistence and a little luck, archaeologists can push aside dirt and rock and find an artifact of historical significance. Although chance plays a big role in unearthing history, archaeological treasures have been stumbled upon purely by accident, often by those outside the scientific community. In these photos, explore several particularly serendipitous finds of unique artifacts, some of which reach as far back as prehistory. Toxic wine made from a harmless looking plant might have been the culprit for Alexander the Great’s untimely and mysterious death more than 2,000 years ago, new research claims. Published in the medical journal Clinical Toxicology, the study points to a white flowering plant, Veratrum album, more commonly known as white hellebore and a fabled poison, as the most likely candidate to have killed the Macedonian king in 12 days. “If Alexander the Great was poisoned, Veratrum album offers a more plausible cause than arsenic, strychnine, and other botanical poisons,” wrote New Zealand researchers Leo Schep, of the National Poisons Centre, Pat Wheatley, a classics expert at Otago University, and colleagues. NEWS: Alexander the Great Killed by Toxic Bacteria? The researchers reviewed ancient literary evidence associated with the Macedonian leader’s demise in 323 B.C. Indeed, there are basically two divergent reports of Alexander’s death. The first originated in the Royal Diary, allegedly kept in Alexander’s court. The second account survives in various versions of the Alexander Romance, a collection of texts and manuscripts about the exploits of the Macedonian king. “The Royal Diary describes a gradual onset of fever, with a progressive inability to walk, leading to Alexander’s death, without offering a cause of his demise,” Schep and Wheatley said. “In contrast, the Romance implies that members of Alexander’s inner circle conspired to poison him,” they added. ANALYSIS: Laminated Linen Protected Alexander the Great Alexander fell ill at one of many all-night drinking parties in Babylon, in modern Iraq. The overlord of one of the largest empires in the ancient world, stretching from Greece to India and Egypt, was taken to bed with severe stomach pain and fever. Over the next 12 days, he worsened. Alexander could only move his eyes and hands and was unable to speak. He later fell into a coma. The Macedonian king was pronounced dead on June 11, 323 B.C. — just before his 33rd birthday. According to the researchers, white hellebore, a plant well known to the Greeks as a herbal treatment for inducing vomiting, could have been fermented as a wine that was given to the leader during the banquet. BLOG: ‘Alexander the Sexy’ Seen in New Portrait The drunk general probably wouldn’t notice the bitterness of the herb, which was sweetened as wine. The researchers noted that Veratrum poisoning matches Alexander’s symptoms and course of illness, beginning with “a sudden onset of epigastric and substernal pain.” They added that nausea and vomiting may follow, along with by bradycardia and low blood pressure, with severe muscular weakness. “Of all the chemical and botanical poisons reviewed, we believe the alkaloids present in the various Veratrum species, notably Veratrum album, were capable of killing Alexander with comparable symptoms to those Alexander reportedly experienced over the 12 days of his illness,” Schep and Wheatley said. Other scholars disagree with the hellebore poisoning theory. According to Adrienne Mayor, a research scholar at Stanford University's Departments of Classics and History of Science, the symptoms of an overdose of hellebore were very well known in antiquity. “The harsh gastrointestinal effects are immediate and an overdose would have been distinctively violent. I think the symptoms would probably have been recognized by Alexander’s doctors and his companions,” Mayor, author of the Mithradates biography "The Poison King,” told Discovery News. She noted that hellebore not only induces vomiting but always causes severe, profuse diarrhea, which doesn’t appear to be mentioned by any of the ancient sources who described Alexander’s death. "If Schep now proposes that Alexander was secretly and deliberately poisoned with ‘hellebore wine’ mixed with regular wine, is there any evidence that hellebore was ever fermented into a bitter wine in Alexander's day?” she asked. Alexander’s agonizing death has long puzzled scholars. NEWS: Egyptian City Aligns with Sun on King’s Birthday Retrodiagnoses have included poisoning from a deadly bacterium found in the River Styx, complications from heavy drinking, septicemia, pancreatitis, an unhealthy environment in Babylon possibly exacerbated by malaria, West Nile fever, a typhoid fever or some other parasitic or viral illness. But with no corpse to examine, any hypothesis is pure speculation and Alexander’s fate remains a very cold case. The researchers admitted it’s impossible to establish whether he was really poisoned. “We’ll never know really,” Schep said. Photo: Alexander the Great is depicted in a third century B.C. statue at Istanbul Archaeological Museum. Credit: Giovanni Dall’Orto/Wikimedia Commons ||||| Alexander the Great may have been killed by toxic wine made from a poisonous but harmless-looking plant, scientists have claimed. The mystery of why the Greek King of Macedon, ruler of the largest empire in the ancient world, died at just 32 has baffled historians and scientists for over 2000 years. Some argue that he passed due to natural causes while others believe he was secretly murdered using poison at a celebratory banquet. His death in 323BCE came at the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon after he developed a fever and soon became unable to speak and walk. He was ill for 12 days. Dr Leo Schep, a toxicologist from New Zealand’s National Poisons Centre says it is impossible that poisons such as arsenic were to blame - as cited in some theories - as death would have come too fast. Instead, in his new research, Dr Schep argues that the most likely culprit was Veratrum album, a poisonous plant from the lily family also known as white or false hellebore. Often fermented by the Greeks as a herbal treatment for inducing vomiting, importantly, it could account for the 12 days it took for the leader to die. It would also match an account of Alexander the Great’s death written by ancient Greek historian Diodorus, who said he was struck with pain after drinking a large bowl of unmixed wine in honour of Hercules. “Veratrum poisoning is heralded by the sudden onset of epigastric and substernal pain, which may also be accompanied by nausea and vomiting, followed by bradycardia and hypotension with severe muscular weakness. Alexander suffered similar features for the duration of his illness,” the research, printed in the medical journal Clinical Toxicology says. Dr Schep has been working on the mystery for over 10 years after he was approached by a team for a BBC documentary in 2003. “They asked me to look into it for them and I said, 'Oh yeah, I'll give it a go, I like a challenge' - thinking I wasn't going to find anything. And to my utter surprise, and their surprise, we found something that could fit the bill,” he told The New Zealand Herald. Dr Shep does however caution that despite his theory, the actual cause of death cannot be proven: “We'll never know really,” he says.

– One of the greatest mysteries surrounding Alexander the Great—namely, why he died at age 32—may finally have been solved, with a scientist who has been researching the question for a decade now theorizing that he was done in by wine made from an innocent-looking but poisonous plant, reports the Independent. Poison has long been named as his possible killer (along with pancreatitis, a deadly River Styx bacterium, typhoid fever...), but New Zealand toxicologist and study co-author Dr. Leo Schep easily ruled out speedy killers like arsenic, strychnine, and "other botanical poisons" like hemlock, Discovery News reports, based on what's known about Alexander's death: That it came in 323 BC after a 12-day illness, in which he had a fever and eventually lost the ability to speak and walk. Schep now believes Veratrum album, a member of the lily family, was the culprit, writing in the journal Clinical Toxicology that "Veratrum poisoning ... may also be accompanied by nausea and vomiting, followed by bradycardia [a heart-rate below 60 bpm] and hypotension with severe muscular weakness. Alexander suffered similar features for the duration of his illness." The determination also jibes with one written account of his death, with Greek historian Diodorus noting that pain set in after Alexander consumed a large bowl of wine in Hercules' honor. Schep notes the wine would have been "very bitter," but could have been mixed with sweeter wine, reports the Herald. But a Stanford research scholar sees a problem with the theory: the lack of a mention of intense diarrhea, which is always present with Veratrum album poisoning. Even Schep admits "we'll never know really" what killed Alexander (unless, perhaps, his long-lost tomb and remains are discovered.)

Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon and Republican presidential candidate, doesn’t mention race in his stump speech. Asked about it, he tends to deflect, rejecting racial distinctions as divisive. But Carson’s ad campaign in the runup to last week’s South Carolina GOP primary was a different story. On right-wing talk radio in the state, his campaign had two race-based ads in heavy rotation. One inveighed against affirmative action as “racial entitlement,” while the other depicted black crime as a “crisis.” Taken together, the ads were a striking attempt to provoke white voters’ racial attitudes by a candidate who has otherwise avoided the subject. The first ad began with a timely invocation of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who, the female narrator says, “thought affirmative action was wrong—that racial entitlement preserves the way of thinking that produced slavery, racial privilege, and hatred.” It continued: More than anyone else running for president, Dr. Ben Carson knows about race and hatred. He was raised in the ghettos of Detroit. He saw the face of hatred, bigotry, and violence firsthand. So when Dr. Carson says we should replace affirmative action with compassionate action, that it’s a fairer way to treat people, we should listen to him. Judge Scalia’s life has taught us, if you’ve lived the life you believe in, you’ve earned the right to speak about what it has taught you. The rest is just political correctness. The second ad began by describing the recent meeting between Al Sharpton and Bernie Sanders, which it depicted as a pandering photo-op. “Al Sharpton loves posing for pictures,” the male narrator says, “but what has he done to ease the plight of African Americans?” It went on: FBI crime statistics show 52 percent of murders were committed by African Americans last year. It’s a national tragedy. Only one candidate knows firsthand what it takes to overcome poverty and racial violence: Dr. Ben Carson. Growing up on the mean streets of Detroit, he lived it, day in, day out. So when Dr. Carson says government dependency leads to more poverty, broken homes, crime, and incarceration, we should take note. He’s a leader who’s spent his life helping others, saving lives. And he can spot the difference between a crisis and a photo op. Such sentiments—that affirmative action harms blacks, that black crime is the biggest threat to the black community—are a staple of black conservative rhetoric, but they are usually directed at black audiences, urging African Americans to lift themselves up by changing their ways rather than seeking policy solutions. (Liberal critics charge that this type of talk ignores the structural racism that prevents black people from rising on their merits.) But Carson’s commercials were airing on conservative talk radio, where the audience is overwhelmingly white. ||||| GREENVILLE, S.C. – Ben Carson is the only person in the 2016 presidential field who is vying to become the country’s second African-American president. If truth be told, however, he’s not entirely sure he wouldn’t actually be the first. Story Continued Below Carson, speaking during a half-hour sit-down with POLITICO’s “Off Message” podcast as he waited for the results of Saturday’s South Carolina primary (he finished sixth out of six), laid out his views on racism – and his belief that his experience as poor black kid in 1960s Detroit represents the real experience of his people in way that Barack Obama could never understand. “He’s an ‘African’ American. He was, you know, raised white,” said the world-renowned neurosurgeon, whose single mother worked three jobs – and occasionally relied on government aid – to elevate Carson and his older brother from the grinding poverty of ghetto life. “I mean, like most Americans, I was proud that we broke the color barrier when he was elected, but … he didn’t grow up like I grew up … Many of his formative years were spent in Indonesia. So, for him to, you know, claim that, you know, he identifies with the experience of black Americans, I think, is a bit of a stretch.” Carson also suggested that what passes for racism now – in the age of Ferguson and Freddie Gray – isn’t comparable to the overt discrimination he encountered a half-century ago as a young man. “Remember now, I’ve been around for 64 years, you know,” he added. “I’ve had a chance to see what real racism is.” Carson has largely, if not entirely, downplayed the role of race in his brief rise. But as he fades (and many Republicans are calling for him to drop out for the sake of stopping Donald Trump if he flops, as expected, tonight in Nevada), he’s begun to expound more on his views on the role of race in the country. Touring through South Carolina, the sword-tip of the segregation movement and one of the most racially polarized states in the country, put him in a reflective mood – and he made a point of campaigning in black neighborhoods and African-American college campuses last week. When I pressed Carson on whether he’d experienced any racism in today’s Republican Party, though, he flatly denied it – and said the real issue was progressives who couldn’t accept the existence of a truly conservative black man. “They assume because you’re black, you have to think a certain way,” he said. “And if you don’t think that way, you’re ‘Uncle Tom,’ you’re worthy of every horrible epithet they can come up with; whereas, if I weren’t black, then I would just be a Republican.” Yet, for a nanosecond, he admitted that he’s not exactly on the lookout for racists lurking in a party that is, by most estimates, about 90 percent white – with blacks like Carson making up just two percent of the total. “I don’t find any particular problem being an African American in the Republican Party,” he said. But he quickly added: “Maybe I’m just very nonobservant. You know, I don’t go around looking for things, and you have to understand that whatever you think is going on is probably what you’re going to see. So, if somebody told you that you’re about to meet somebody and they’re really a mass murderer and they’re just looking for an opportunity to kill you, everything they say, you’re going to say, 'Uh‑huh, I see what he’s trying to do.' Whereas, if they told you the very same person really loves everybody and is looking for a way to enhance them and the very same thing,you say, ‘Oh, wow, yeah, that’s really good.’” At that point, I admitted to being a little befuddled. I’ve personally witnessed racist comments at events staged for candidates in both parties – the most recent being at a Trump rally in Lowell, Massachusetts earlier this year when I witnessed two young men calling a pro-immigrant protester a “nigger.” Back in 2008, I heard a Clinton supporter in Toledo, Ohio use the same epithet to describe then-Sen. Obama. Carson was steadfast in defending his party (this is a candidate who has said a Muslim shouldn’t run for president unless he or she renounces sharia law) and when I asked him if Trump was a racist, he replied, “I have not witnessed anything that would make me say that about him.” But when I followed up with a question about Trump’s general tone on racial issues, he shook his head: “No, it’s not the tone that I would use. Absolutely not.” One of the great ironies of 2016 is that Carson, a free-market conservative who rose by railing against big-government Obamacare, views race through the larger prism of class – putting him (very) roughly more on the Bernie Sanders side of the race-vs.-class argument. When I ask him if racism played a role in the contaminated water crisis in Flint, Michigan, he says, “Let me put it this way: If that were going on in an affluent black community, it would have not gone on,” adding: “A lot of things that people classify as racism is classism, and, believe me, there's a lot of classism in our society, and if people of a certain race happen to fall into a lower class, then they get the brunt of it.” There was a time, at the end of 2015, when Carson seemed poised to challenge Trump – but a series of setbacks, languid debate performances and the near-collapse of his campaign from mismanagement scuttled the effort. At the Embassy Suites here on election night, several of his staff and volunteers could be heard musing about what they planned to do when – not if – he dropped out. Still, Carson has a substantial war-chest and a still-functional online fundraising operation and professed to be in for the long haul, without a lot of force behind the statement. “Well, I don't have any immediate plans of cessation,” he says. Outside observers have suggested Carson is soldiering on through Nevada to thumb his nose at Ted Cruz, whose campaign floated the rumor that he was about to drop out of the race during the Iowa caucuses. Cruz has repeatedly apologized – and blamed his staff’s actions, dubiously, on a CNN report – and he tried his luck again in a private meeting here; Carson “wasn’t impressed,” a staffer later told me. And the candidate himself cast doubt on the Texas senator’s contrition tour. “As a Christian, I do accept his apology, but, you know, God forgives us when we sin, but he doesn’t remove the consequences,” he says – and sure enough, a couple of days later, Cruz sacked a top aide for playing a dirty trick on Marco Rubio. The central theme of Carson’s inspiring personal story is his triumph over a self-destructive, volcanic temper though the salvation of his Christian faith. This makes him an unusual candidate and an unusual person – with a clerical, un-Trump-like tendency towards self-reflection and admitting his own shortcomings (he says he’s stopped providing so much “lip service” – controversial comments – to reporters like me who obscure his compassionate conservative message). In person, he projects an unnerving calm, and when you sit with him a while you can see the mechanism of this reflexive self-soothing: Ask a tough or annoying question and he closes his eyelids – full stop – and opens them slowly, with a Gautama smile, rolling out an answer with deliberation and care. “As a pediatric neurosurgeon, when you’re deep in somebody's brain and a blood vessel pops, if you panic, the patient is dead,” he explains. “You have to be very calm. You have to keep everybody else very calm, and you will generally find that neurosurgeons are calm people.” C’mon, Dr. Carson, I want to know, don’t you ever get angry? “I generally don’t, you know,” he replies. “If I’m, you know, working with a very obnoxious person, you know, I just say, ‘That used to be a cute little baby. I wonder what happened to them.’”

– Ben Carson has strong words about the first black American president: "He's an 'African'-American. He was, you know, raised white," Carson tells Glenn Thrush in a Politico interview published Tuesday. "He didn't grow up like I grew up," says Carson, who was raised poor by a single mother in Detroit. "So, for [Obama] to, you know, claim that, you know, he identifies with the experience of black Americans, I think, is a bit of a stretch." Carson, meanwhile, has certainly experienced "real racism," he says—as opposed to what's considered racism today. "A lot of things that people classify as racism is classism," he notes. Speaking of racism today, Carson insisted he's never experienced any in the current-day GOP, which is just 2% black and about 90% white. Democrats, however, have some issues: "They assume because you’re black, you have to think a certain way," he says. "And if you don’t think that way, you’re 'Uncle Tom,' you’re worthy of every horrible epithet they can come up with; whereas, if I weren’t black, then I would just be a Republican." In the earlier days of his campaign, Carson didn't talk much about race, but the Atlantic also pointed out on Tuesday that his campaign has been running two "race-based ads" recently: one calls affirmative action "racial entitlement" that hurts blacks and the other calls black crime a "crisis" and implies it's the biggest threat to the black community.

GAZA/JERUSALEM Israel extended a humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip for another 24 hours, but Hamas, which dominates the coastal enclave, said it would only accept the truce if Israeli troops left the territory. Israeli ministers had signaled that a comprehensive deal to end the 20-day conflict with Hamas and its allies, in which at least 1,050 Gazans - mostly civilians - have been killed, and 42 soldiers and three civilians in Israel have died, was remote. "At the request of the United Nations, the cabinet has approved a humanitarian hiatus until tomorrow at 2400 (midnight local time, 1700 EST Sunday)," the official, who was not named, said in a statement after the cabinet session held in Tel Aviv had ended. "The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) will act against any breach of the ceasefire." On Saturday, Gazans took advantage of the lull in fighting to recover their dead and stock up on food supplies, flooding into the streets after the ceasefire began at 8 a.m. (0100 EST) to discover scenes of massive destruction in some areas. The positions of both Israel and Hamas regarding a long-lasting halt to hostilities have remained far apart. Hamas wants an end to an Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza before agreeing to halt hostilities. Israeli officials said any ceasefire must allow the military to carry on hunting down the Hamas tunnel network that crisscrosses the Gaza border. Israel says some of the tunnels reach into Israeli territory and are meant to carry out attacks on its citizens. Other underground passages serve as weapons caches and Hamas bunkers. The IDF said it had uncovered four such tunnel shafts inside Gaza during the truce on Saturday. The Israeli official added that troops would continue to act against any breaches of the ceasefire, adding that the military would continue to act against the tunnels during the entire 24-hour period. He said the cabinet would reconvene on Sunday to consider a continuation of the operation "until calm is restored to Israeli citizens for an extended period." The Gaza turmoil has stoked tensions amongst Palestinians in Arab East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. Medics said eight Palestinians were killed on Friday in incidents near the West Bank cities of Nablus and Hebron - the sort of death toll reminiscent of previous uprisings against Israel's prolonged military rule there. DIPLOMATIC EFFORT On the diplomatic front, international efforts to bring an end to hostilities and secure a longer-lasting truce were being led by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Paris. Kerry, who has been spearheading international efforts to end the fighting, arrived in Paris on Saturday where he met the foreign ministers of France, Italy, Britain, Germany, Turkey and Qatar. "All of us call on the parties to extend the humanitarian ceasefire that is currently under way," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said after the meeting. But an Israeli security cabinet minister, Gilad Erdan, said on Saturday that a definitive deal looked remote, with no representatives from Israel, Egypt or the Palestinian Authority attending the Paris talks. The deputy leader of Islamic Jihad, a militant group allied to Hamas, said Egypt's mediation efforts were still being considered but improvements were being sought and, in the meantime, the fight would go on. "We are still open to the Egyptian initiative and there are hot contacts to improve it ... We are going to pursue the battle until the blockade is ended. The resistance carries our demands," he said in a text message to reporters. CASUALTIES Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra said rescue teams had taken advantage of the truce to search wrecked neighborhoods and had recovered some 147 bodies. Stunned residents of Beit Hanoun wandered through destroyed streets lined with damaged houses or mounds of rubble where once whole buildings had stood. "Pull yourself together, be strong! Aren't you used to this by now?" one man barked at a sobbing younger relative, only to break down himself. "God help us!" he moaned. Israeli tanks stood by as people searched through the debris for their belongings, packing whatever they could, blankets, furniture and clothes into taxis, trucks, rickshaws and donkey carts before fleeing the town. Naser Tattar, director of Gaza's main Shifa hospital, said most of the bodies recovered on Saturday came from Beit Hanoun, Khan Younis and Shejaia - a district east of Gaza City that has witnessed huge clashes between Israeli troops and militants. (Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem, Noah Browning in Gaza, Ali Sawafta in Ramallah, Arshad Mohammed in Paris and Michelle Nichols in New York, Writing by Ori Lewis, editing by G Crosse) ||||| Israel agreed to extend by four hours a humanitarian truce agreed with Hamas and other armed groups in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, but Hamas said it never agreed to the extension that would take the 12 hour humanitarian ceasefire that began at 8:00 a.m. to midnight. Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas said there was no agreement to extend the ceasefire. Relevant to your professional network? Please share on Linkedin Just after 8:00 p.m. three rockets from Gaza were fired at Israel at the Eshkol Regional Council. Rocket sirens sounded in the Shfela area at around 9:45 p.m.Earlier on Saturday, the government source said Israel was leaning towards extending the truce."As far as Israel is concerned, there is no reason to prevent Gaza's people from stocking up on supplies, so long as the military can continue its work against the tunnels. Our war is not against the population," the official said.Earlier Saturday, Foreign ministers from the United States, Europe and the Middle East called for an extension of the 12-hour ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said."All of us call on the parties to extend the humanitarian ceasefire that is currently underway," he told reporters after a gathering that included the foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Qatar, Turkey and the United States."All of us want to obtain, as quickly as possible, a durable, negotiated ceasefire that responds both to Israeli needs in terms of security and to Palestinian needs in terms of the social-economic development (of Gaza) and access to the territory of Gaza," Fabius added.The ministers in Paris, along with senior EU diplomat Pierre Vimont, met on the same day that Israel began a 12-hour ceasefire during which it said it would press on searching for tunnels used by militants. The Islamist group Hamas, which dominates Gaza, said all Palestinian factions would abide by the brief truce.US Secretary of State John Kerry has been spearheading international efforts to end 19 days of conflict in which 940 Palestinians, many of them civilians, have been killed. The diplomatic push was to continued on Saturday with the Paris meeting of the foreign ministers - including from Qatar and Turkey, which are prime interlocutors with Hamas. ||||| Palestinians carry the body of Eid Fadhelat, 32, who was injured during clashes with Israeli soldiers Friday, during his funeral at Al-Arrub refugee camp near Hebron city in the West Bank on Saturday,... (Associated Press) Palestinians salvage usable things in their belongings they find at their destroyed houses during a 12-hour cease-fire in Gaza City's Shijaiyah neighborhood, Saturday, July 26, 2014. Thousands of Gaza... (Associated Press) Upon their return, Palestinians pour water to save the family birds after finding them alive at the family house destroyed by Israeli strikes, while visiting the area during a 12-hour cease-fire in Beit... (Associated Press) Palestinian men climb on Israel's military vehicle that was left behind by the forces in Gaza City's Shijaiyah neighborhood, Saturday, July 26, 2014. Thousands of Gaza residents who had fled Israel-Hamas... (Associated Press) A Palestinian woman carries her belongings past the rubble of houses destroyed by Israeli strikes in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 26, 2014. Thousands of Gaza residents who had fled... (Associated Press) Palestinians gather around the rubble of a building where at least 20 members of the Al Najar extended family were killed by an Israeli strike in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July... (Associated Press) Israeli soldiers observe bombings of Gaza before a 12-hour cease-fire, seen from the border of Israel and the Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 26, 2014. Gaza residents used a 12-hour humanitarian cease-fire... (Associated Press) Palestinians walk by the rubble of houses destroyed by Israeli strikes in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 26, 2014. Thousands of Gaza residents who had fled Israel-Hamas fighting streamed... (Associated Press) Palestinian mourners carry the body of Taib Mohammed Odeh, 22, during his funeral in Hawara near Nablus, the northern West Bank, Saturday, July 26, 2014. On Friday, several Palestinians were shot and... (Associated Press) A Palestinian boy carries pillows as he passes by destroyed houses, during a 12-hour cease-fire in Gaza City's Shijaiyah neighborhood, Saturday, July 26, 2014. Gaza residents used a 12-hour humanitarian... (Associated Press)

– Palestinians and Israelis got a respite from bombs today as a 12-hour truce actually held for the full 12 hours. But the quiet appears to be over, with Israel reporting three rockets fired from Gaza, reports AP. Just before the ceasefire expired at 8pm local time (1pm EDT), Israel agreed to extend it for another four hours, but Hamas rejected the idea, reports the Jerusalem Post. Earlier today, families in Gaza emerged from shelters during the 12-hour lull to survey damage, bury their dead, and stock up on supplies. Palestinian authorities announced that the death toll there had exceeded 1,000 in 19 days of bombing, reports the New York Times. Among the new victims were at least 18 members of a single family killed in an airstrike just before the truce got underway, reports Reuters. Five more Israeli soldiers also were killed, bring the army's death to 37, in addition to two civilians and a laborer from Thailand killed by bombs launched from Gaza. In Paris, meanwhile, John Kerry and other diplomats worked on a longer-term fix. In a statement, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said, "All of us want to obtain, as quickly as possible, a durable, negotiated ceasefire that responds both to Israeli needs in terms of security and to Palestinian needs in terms of the social-economic development (of Gaza) and access to the territory of Gaza."

WASHINGTON (CN) — The Federal Circuit ordered the Patent and Trademark Office to reconsider its decision to give a trademark to Dale Earnhardt’s son, over his stepmother’s objections that the mark uses her late husband’s last name. The dispute is whether Kerry Earnhardt, Earnhardt’s son who also raced professionally for more than a decade, can license a custom home design service under the name Earnhardt Collection. His stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt, says the mark will cause confusion with merchandise she sells emblazoned with her late husband’s name. Dale Earnhardt Sr. was a legendary NASCAR driver who died at 49 in 2001, in a crash during the final lap of the Daytona 500. Kerry Earnhardt is his father’s elder son, and half brother of Dale Earnhardt Jr., also a racer. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board rejected Teresa Earnhardt’s objection to her step-son’s application to register the name, saying there would be no confusion between the marks. Teresa Earnhardt also claimed that Earnhardt is not trademarkable because it is “primarily merely a surname,” but the board found that Kerry Earnhardt skirted that restriction by adding the word “collection” to the last name, according to the July 27 ruling. The board cited Federal Circuit precedent in in re Hutchinson Technology Inc.: that a mark whose individual components might not be trademarked might still receive protection when considered as a whole. Teresa Earnhardt argued on appeal that merely tacking on the word “collection” to her late husband’s surname does not change the primary focus of the trademark. Writing for the unanimous three-judge panel, Federal Circuit Judge Raymond Chen vacated and remanded, finding that the board was not clear enough in explaining why it granted Kerry Earnhardt’s trademark. Citing the board’s duties under Hutchinson, Chen wrote: “First, it had to determine whether the additional term was ‘merely descriptive’ of the applicant’s goods and services, and second, it had to determine whether adding the additional term to the surname altered the primary significance of the mark as a whole to the purchasing public. Because here, the board did not adequately explain whether ‘collection’ was merely descriptive of KEI’s goods and services, its analysis of the mark as a whole was likewise deficient.” Chen concluded: “On remand, the Board should determine (1) whether the term ‘collection’ is merely descriptive of KEI’s furniture and custom home construction services, and (2) the primary significance of the mark as a whole to the purchasing public.” Teresa was represented by Sam Gunn, with Alston & Bird in Atlanta, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Kerry Earnhardt was represented by Blaine Sanders with Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson in Charlotte, N.C., who did not respond to a request for comment. Like this: Like Loading... ||||| Teresa Earnhardt won a small victory Thursday as the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board must clarify its decision that allowed Kerry Earnhardt to use the term "Earnhardt Collection" for a collection of custom homes. The trademark appeal board must reconsider its ruling because "it is unclear whether the Board's analysis properly applied" a past U.S. Court of Appeals decision that is being used as precedence in the Earnhardt case, the three-judge panel ruled. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is 22nd in the standings with five races left to make the playoffs. Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY The trademark board isn't required to change its decision; it needs to clarify its reasoning in ruling on the trademark battle between Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s widow and her stepson, Kerry. Kerry Earnhardt Inc. licensed "Earnhardt Collection" in 2011 to Schumacher Homes, which Kerry and his wife, Rene, helped with the designs. The battle over the trademark began in May 2012, the trademark board ruled in February 2016, and appeals court judges Raymond Chen, Todd Hughes and Evan Wallach heard arguments in the case March 10. "This [trademark board] opinion is certainly not a model of clarity. ... This opinion could have been written much better," Chen said during the appeals court hearing. Chen worked as an attorney in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from 1998 to 2013 before his appointment to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, a court with nationwide jurisdiction in areas such as international trade, government contracts, patents, trademarks and veteran benefits. "Kerry Earnhardt Inc. believed the [trademark board's] judgment could have been affirmed as it was, but we understand the Federal Circuit's desire to have more clarity," Kerry Earnhardt attorney Blaine Sanders said in a statement. "We are confident that, on remand, the [board] will again determine that 'Earnhardt Collection' is registrable." Teresa Earnhardt has owned the trademark to "Dale Earnhardt" since the death of the seven-time NASCAR Cup champion in the 2001 Daytona 500. She had initially argued to the trademark board that people would believe that the homes were endorsed by her and also that for all intents and purposes, it was primarily an attempt to trademark a surname, which is not legal. The trademark board rejected those arguments, and Teresa dropped the confusion claim and on appeal focused solely on the technicality of trademark law that Kerry could not pair his surname with a merely descriptive term, such as "collection." For Kerry Earnhardt to use the term "Earnhardt Collection," the law requires that a customer must use imagination, thought and perception to reach a conclusion as to the nature of the homes and not just have an immediate idea of the qualities or characteristics of the homes. "Because ... the [trademark board] did not adequately explain whether 'collection' was merely descriptive of KEI's goods and services, its analysis of the mark as a whole was likewise deficient," Chen wrote in the decision. Teresa has a long history of attempting to protect Earnhardt's name and legacy. When Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is Kerry's half-brother, first formed their race team, they used the term "JR Motorsports." The JR was capitalized and pronounced "Jay Are" because Earnhardt Jr. didn't own the rights to his name. He eventually procured those rights in 2006. Both Earnhardt Jr. and Earnhardt Miller have come out publicly in support of Kerry. "I hate this for my brother," Earnhardt Jr. tweeted. "He's a good soul and my father would be proud of him and what he's accomplished."

– A messy legal battle over how the Earnhardt family name is used just got more complicated. According to Courthouse News, Kerry Earnhardt, the eldest child of racing legend Dale Earnhardt Sr., received a setback in court after his stepmother Teresa Earnhardt successfully challenged a trademark decision that allowed him to use the family name for his custom home design service. Partnering with Schumacher Homes, Kerry initially licensed the business as “Earnhardt Collection” in 2011, reports ESPN, and was eventually granted the right to use the name in 2016. But following an appeal by Teresa, who has owned the trademark to Dale Earnhardt’s name since his death in 2001 and uses it to market her own merchandise, the US Court of Appeals ruled that the use of the word “collection” must be clarified for Kerry to move forward. The judge who issued the ruling said that the trademark board’s “opinion is certainly not a model of clarity” and believed the board “did not adequately explain whether 'collection' was merely descriptive of KEI's goods and services.” But Kerry’s attorney expressed optimism despite the ruling. In a statement, he wrote that they understood the “Federal Circuit's desire to have more clarity” and said they’re “confident” the board will determine the name is registrable. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has also been to court with Teresa over the use of the family name, has publicly come out in support of his half-brother. After the decision, he tweeted, “This s--- again? Damn I hate this for my brother. He's a good soul and my father would be proud of him and what he's accomplished.” Kerry has, like his brother and father, also raced professionally.

John Legend clapped back at someone on Twitter who made a joke about Kim Kardashian wanting another baby on Tuesday, March 28. On Sunday, March 26, Kardashian, 36, announced in a preview clip of her family’s hit TV show, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, that she wants to have a third child, despite having dealt with two tough pregnancies. “I’m going to try to have one more baby,” she said in the clip, adding, “I want my kids to have siblings but the doctors don’t think it’s safe for me.” Mike Coppola/Getty Images A Kardashian source exclusively told Us, “Having a kid would jeopardize Kim’s health incredibly. Doctors have told her no.” As news of the reality star’s quest for more kids hit the headlines, political consultant Stuart Stevens, who was Mitt Romney’s top strategist during his 2012 presidential campaign, decided to weigh in. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images “Sometimes it seems the Chinese might have been on to something,” he tweeted along with a link to an article about Kardashian’s fertility prospects. Stevens was most likely referencing China’s One Child Policy, a government mandate that restricts citizens to one child per family in order to curb population growth. (The mandate is controversial in that it has led to forced abortions and other high-risk actions.) When Legend, 38, caught wind of the tweet, he admonished Stevens for his comment. “That was pretty awful. Shame on you,” the La La Land star wrote. He and wife Chrissy Teigen are parents of daughter Luna, 11 months, and are longtime pals of Kardashian and her husband, Kanye West. Stevens has yet to respond to Legend’s tweet. Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter to get breaking celebrity news, hot pics and more delivered straight to your inbox! ||||| Less than two years after giving birth to her first son, Kim Kardashian has revealed she would like to have a third child, the reality television star said in a new promotional video for her family’s show on E! “I want my kids to have siblings, but the doctors don’t feel like it’s safe for me,” Kardashian says in the clip. Both of Kardashian’s previous pregnancies were considered high-risk. During her first pregnancy, Kardashian had pre-eclampsia, a condition characterized by high blood pressure. During her second, she experienced placentia accreta, which happens when the placenta attaches too deeply in the uterine wall. Kardashian wrote about her pregnancy struggles on her website before delivering her son in 2015. “I’m going to try to have one more baby,” Kardashian says in the clip, which teases scenes of the 36-year-old at a doctor’s office. “I don’t want you to do something that would put you in danger,” Kris Jenner told her daughter. Kardashian and rapper Kanye West welcomed their first child, daughter North West, in June 2013. The couple wed in 2014, and welcomed son Saint West in December 2015. RELATED: The latest in the Kardashian robbery saga: Kim brings Paris to her ||||| There’s been little word from Kim Kardashian for a few days now, so it was only a matter of time before she came swinging back into our lives with zero chill. It turns out the 36-year-old is trying for another baby. Yeah, as if her life isn’t already ridiculously overwhelming. She dropped the bombshell in a teaser clip for “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” on E! Sunday night. She tells her sisters, I’m going to try to have one more baby. Her siblings are stunned by the news, obviously. But Kim, who is already a mother to North, 3, and Saint, 1, revealed experts have warned her about the dangers of having a third child. She said, I want my kids to have siblings, but the doctors don’t feel like it’s safe for me. No details are given about what exactly the doctors are concerned about. Kim’s mom tells her, I don’t want you to do something that would put you at danger. The producers behind this fiendishly addictive show know how to keep the drama flowing. Earlier this month, Kim was forced to relive the ordeal she suffered at the hands of masked robbers in a Paris hotel. 'They're going to rape me': Kim Kardashian on her Paris ordeal To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video She explained, He grabbed my legs and I had no clothes on under, so he pulled me towards him at the front of the bed and I thought, OK, this is the moment you’re going to rape me, and I fully mentally prepped myself. Kim was not sexually assaulted. But one assailant pulled a gun to her head and threatened her life before ransacking her apartment and taking jewelry worth millions. The robbery happened six months ago, but Kim is still living with it. Another “KUWTK” clip shows her talk about how she has flashbacks whenever Kanye comes home late from work. Kim has painful flashback to Paris robbery when Kanye comes home To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video She said, Kanye came home, he had a concert. He always comes up the back stairs, like, I always know he comes out the stairs that go to my room. But he came up the front stairs, and all I heard was his feet stopping at the stairs, at like 3 in the morning, he came in. We’re wishing Kim all the best as she recovers from the ordeal, as well as with her efforts to have a third child. Subscribe to Elite Daily's official newsletter, The Edge, for more stories you don't want to miss.

– Kim Kardashian wants a third baby, and as that fact made headlines this week, the former top strategist to Mitt Romney managed to get into a one-sided Twitter feud with John Legend about it. "Sometimes it seems the Chinese might have been on to something," Stuart Stevens tweeted alongside a link about Kardashian's desires. He was likely talking about China's One Child Policy, Us notes. Legend quickly replied, "that was pretty awful. Shame on you." No word back yet from Stevens. (Having a third child could be risky for Kim.)

Today, President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Grants of Clemency (Full Pardons) for Dwight Lincoln Hammond, Jr., and his son, Steven Hammond. The Hammonds are multi-generation cattle ranchers in Oregon imprisoned in connection with a fire that leaked onto a small portion of neighboring public grazing land. The evidence at trial regarding the Hammonds’ responsibility for the fire was conflicting, and the jury acquitted them on most of the charges. At the Hammonds’ original sentencing, the judge noted that they are respected in the community and that imposing the mandatory minimum, 5-year prison sentence would “shock the conscience” and be “grossly disproportionate to the severity” of their conduct. As a result, the judge imposed significantly lesser sentences. The previous administration, however, filed an overzealous appeal that resulted in the Hammonds being sentenced to five years in prison. This was unjust. Dwight Hammond is now 76 years old and has served approximately three years in prison. Steven Hammond is 49 and has served approximately four years in prison. They have also paid $400,000 to the United States to settle a related civil suit. The Hammonds are devoted family men, respected contributors to their local community, and have widespread support from their neighbors, local law enforcement, and farmers and ranchers across the West. Justice is overdue for Dwight and Steven Hammond, both of whom are entirely deserving of these Grants of Executive Clemency. ||||| President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned two eastern Oregon ranchers serving time in federal prison for setting fire to public land in a case that inflamed their supporters and gave rise to the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Dwight Hammond Jr., 76, and son Steven Hammond, 49, walked out of a federal prison in California about 6 1/2 hours later. They were convicted in 2012 of arson on Harney County land where they had grazing rights for their cattle. They were ordered back to prison in early 2016 to serve out five-year sentences. "The Hammonds are devoted family men, respected contributors to their local community and have widespread support from their neighbors, local law enforcement and farmers and ranchers across the West,'' the White House said in a statement. "Justice is overdue for Dwight and Steven Hammond, both of whom are entirely deserving of these Grants of Executive Clemency.'' Susie Hammond, Dwight's wife and Steven's mother, said she was sound asleep when a call from U.S. Rep. Greg Walden awakened her Tuesday morning. "He said it's a done deal, the papers were signed,'' she said. "We've been waiting a long time. I think it's wonderful.'' Though Susie Hammond believed her husband and son had a strong case for clemency, she was reluctant to get her hopes up. "I've just been sitting here, on the phone since,'' she said. "I still can't believe it. I won't believe it until I see them.'' Walden said he looks forward to welcoming the Hammonds back to Oregon. "Today is a win for justice and an acknowledgement of our unique way of life in the high desert, rural West,'' he said. "I applaud President Trump for thoroughly reviewing the facts of this case, rightly determining the Hammonds were treated unfairly and taking action to correct this injustice.'' Trump's move marks yet another big victory for backers of the Hammonds, including Ammon Bundy and his followers who repeatedly cited the case as the trigger for the 41-day occupation of the wildlife refuge that abuts the Hammond family ranch. A jury acquitted him and other key takeover figures of all federal charges. "The true reason the Hammonds have suffered has not been corrected. It must be corrected," Bundy said. He pledged to continue to fight against the federal government's "control over land and resources inside our states." White House statement on pardon for Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steven Hammond Both Hammonds were convicted of setting a fire in 2001, and the son was convicted of setting a second fire in 2006. A federal judge initially sentenced the father to three months in prison and the son to one year after they successfully argued that the five-year mandatory minimum was unconstitutional. They served the time and were out of prison when prosecutors challenged the shorter terms before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and won. Another federal judge in 2015 sent the ranchers back to complete the full sentences. According to the Trump administration, federal prosecutors who challenged the Hammonds' original sentences filed "an overzealous appeal.'' "This was unjust,'' the White House said. The Hammond family also said in a statement that they hoped the pardon will "help signal the need for a more measured and just approach by federal agents, federal officers and federal prosecutors - in all that they do." Amanda Marshall, who was Oregon's U.S. attorney when the appeal occurred, defended it and said she was disturbed by Trump's pardons. "It means their conviction doesn't exist. I find that incredibly troubling,'' Marshall said. "I think it's a slap in the face to the people in Pendleton who served on that jury and a slap in the face to the Constitution.'' Marshall said the Hammonds' first sentences veered from the mandatory minimum set by Congress. The trial judge's decision to issue shorter sentences violated the law, she said. Oregon rancher pardon draws swift praise, condemnation Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities, also criticized Trump's decision, saying it sends a "dangerous message'' to America's park rangers, wildland firefighters and public land managers. "President Trump, at the urging of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, has once again sided with lawless extremists who believe that public land does not belong to all Americans,'' Rokala said. As of this month, Dwight Hammond has served two years and nine months in prison and 31 months of supervised release. His son has served three years and four months in prison and two years of supervised release. "I am very happy for the entire Hammond family, who I have known and respected for 25 years,'' said attorney Larry Matasar, who represents Steven Hammond. "I hope that Dwight and Steven will soon be able to continue their work on the Hammond Ranch." Attorney Kendra Matthews, who represents Dwight Hammond Jr., said the pardon is "a just and proper resolution of the Hammonds' criminal prosecution and we are thrilled that the Hammond family will soon be reunited.'' Susie Hammond had heard several weeks earlier that Trump was considering a pardon. At the time, she said she had a "sense that things are moving forward and I have faith in our president. If anyone is going to help them, he'd be the one." Ryan Bundy, who joined his brother Ammon as a leader of the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, said the pardons were "long overdue. It's time. It's overtime.'' Bundy said he and others would like to return to Burns to give the Hammonds a "hero's welcome'' when they get out of Terminal Island Federal Correctional Institution in San Pedro, Calif. In clemency petitions, lawyers for the Hammonds cited the ranchers' longtime service to their community, the severity of their punishment, the trial judge's support and their family situation. "Unlike some cases where clemency may outrage the community, clemency for the Hammonds would be embraced by the Oregon community, both rural and urban,'' Matasar wrote. The lengthy sentences, plus the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's refusal in 2014 to renew a grazing permit for the Hammond ranch, have crippled the operation, the family has said. The Hammonds have appealed the federal agency's denial. "If the Hammonds are unable to return to the ranch in the near future, the legacy and livelihood Dwight and Steven Hammond have been building for their family could truly be lost,'' Matasar wrote in his petition. "A clemency would not only serve as a balm to the community's angst about these sentences, but very practically, give the Hammonds a real chance to keep their ranch afloat.'' Dwight Hammond set a prescribed burn on about 300 acres of his own land that then traveled onto Bureau of Land Management property and burned an additional 139 acres, his lawyer wrote. The elder Hammond said he was trying to fend off invasive species. Prosecutors argued the fire also was to cover up illegal deer poaching and got out of control, placing firefighters who had to be airlifted out of the area in grave danger. The federal pursuit of the Hammonds followed years of permit violations and unauthorized fires, and they never accepted responsibility, Marshall said. The Hammonds could have faced less than a year in prison under a plea offer they declined, she said. The Hammonds' lawyers pointed out in their clemency petitions that the father and son faced other sanctions. They paid $400,000 in 2015 to settle a civil suit brought by the government and are having a hard time sustaining the cattle operation because of the grazing permit denial. They cited the opinion of the trial judge, U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan, who found the five-year sentences "grossly disproportionate to the severity of the offenses here'' and noted that the fires didn't endanger any people or property. Prosecutors argued the fires did endanger others. When the government won the appeal of the Hammonds' lower sentences, Acting U.S. Attorney Billy Williams issued a release, saying that the fires illegally set on public lands, even in remote areas, endanger firefighters called to respond. Marshall said "firefighters were in grave danger and had to be dramatically evacuated'' after the fires set by the Hammonds. Williams was asked by the Office of the Pardon Attorney to submit a written brief summarizing the Hammond litigation and his office's position on the Hammonds' clemency requests. He prepared a brief and submitted it, but his office declined to release it or summarize what Williams' position was, calling the document privileged. Williams also declined any comment Tuesday about Trump's pardons. Steven Grasty, a former Harney County commissioner, said he's glad the Hammond saga has come to an end. He said he disagreed with first sentence, but didn't see the value of sending the Hammonds back to prison after they had served their initial term. "I'm really proud of the efforts of our community, Greg Walden, the Oregon Cattlemen's Association,'' Grasty said. But he said the pardons shouldn't be considered a win for the Bundys. "The Bundys complicated this. They made it worse. The Bundys didn't know the Hammonds. They used them.'' Among those who wrote letters of support for the Hammonds' clemency petitions were Walden, Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward, Malheur County Sheriff Brian Wolfe as well as leaders of the Oregon Cattlemen's Association and Oregon Farm Bureau. Ward, who was the face of law enforcement during the 2016 occupation of the wildlife refuge in his county, wrote to the White House that he personally felt the initial sentences and the financial penalties "covered the debt owed to society.'' "This case was thrust into the national spotlight when, for lack of a better term, anti-government extremists exploited the Hammond family and began attempting to use their unfortunate circumstance to gain support for their own agendas,'' Ward wrote. He noted that Dwight and Steven Hammond rejected pressure they faced from Ammon Bundy and others to defy federal orders and instead turned themselves in to prison. "It is my humble opinion that justice would be better served if these gentlemen were afforded the opportunity to return home,'' Ward wrote. "For Dwight to spend his remaining years with his wife. For Steven to return to his family ... and to set an example that along with being a nation of laws, we are a nation of compassion and forgiveness.'' On Tuesday, Ward said he was "happy for their families and I respect the decision, as it is a responsible and lawful use of our governmental system. ... Now please allow this community to move on.'' Other letters of support described good deeds done for their neighbors, children and grandchildren's schools, the county's 4H and FFA clubs and many others in need. They spoke of Dwight Hammond's sincerity, decency, his humility and the respect for him in Harney County -- a man who dressed up as Santa Claus for schoolkids and what one friend described as "a real life John Wayne." Dwight Hammond's wife, who is ailing, lives alone in Burns. Steven Hammond is married with three children. "I am seeking commutation of my sentence so that I can return home to take care of my wife,'' Dwight Hammond wrote. "I live in fear that one of us will pass before we are reunited.'' Trump's action follows a flurry of pardons, including for Dinesh D'Souza, a conservative author convicted of illegal campaign contributions; I. Lewis Libby Jr., a former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney; former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio; and Alice Johnson, 63, serving life for her role in a cocaine distribution ring. -- mbernstein@oregonian.com 503-221-8212 @maxoregonian

– Father and son cattle ranchers whose sentences for arson triggered the 2016 armed takeover of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon are the latest to receive a presidential pardon. President Trump pardoned Dwight Hammond Jr., 76, and Steven Hammond, 49, on Tuesday, according to a White House statement describing the pair as "devoted family men" with "widespread support from ... local law enforcement and farmers and ranchers across the West." Convicted in 2012 of setting fires that spread to federal land near the family's ranch in southeastern Oregon, the father was sentenced to three months and the son to one year by a judge who decided the five-year mandatory minimum was too harsh, reports the Oregonian. However, in 2015, an appeals court sent the Hammonds back to prison for about four years each, per the AP. They will now go free. Prosecutors defended the appeal that sent the men back to prison, arguing the fires were meant to cover up deer poaching, not a response to invasive species as the Hammonds claimed. In protest, ranchers led by Ammon Bundy took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge for 41 days beginning in January 2016, reports CNN. Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward, who oversaw the response, said the Hammonds had little involvement. "Anti-government extremists exploited the Hammond family and began attempting to use their unfortunate circumstance to gain support for their own agendas,'' he wrote in support of clemency. Dwight's wife, Susie Hammond, hinted at the pardon last week. "I have faith in our president. If anyone is going to help them, he'd be the one," she said.

Orders from the top of News International allegedly tried to "ensure there were no libels or any hidden mocking messages of the chief executive" in the final edition of News of the World, the Daily Mail reports. But that didn't stop the paper's wily, bitter, and freshly unemployed staff from hiding clues mocking Rebekah Brooks in the crossword puzzle in the final issue of the paper. Clues to the Quickie puzzle included: "Brook," "stink," "catastrophe," and "digital protection." Answers included "stench," "racket," and "tart." The Cryptic Crossword had clues ranging from "criminal enterprise," "mix in prison," and "string of recordings." If these still seems like mere coincidences, note the clue for 24 Across, which reads "Woman stares wildly at calamity." The Telegraph speculated that it was a reference to the photo of Brooks staring from the window of a car as she left News International's Wapping headquarters following the announcement the News of the World was to be shut down. The answer to that clue? "Disaster." The paper's staff has been expressing their fury against Brooks, with one journalist scolding her for her "arrogance" in a brief speech, and another secretly making a recording of that off-the-record meeting. No doubt Brooks was on her guard: a source told the Daily Mail that she had ordered two "very senior" Sun journalists "to go through every line on every page with a fine toothcomb." But the source added, "But they failed and we've had the last laugh." Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at usehgal at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire. ||||| 'Brook, criminal enterprise, catastrophe': How Rebekah's clueless proofreaders failed to spot parting shot in NotW crossword Host of sardonic phrases printed despite Brooks ‘sending in Sun men’ Clues included: ‘Mix in prison’, ‘string of recordings’ and ‘woman stares wildly at calamity’ Answers counted: ‘Deplored’, ‘stench’, ‘stir’, ‘disaster’ ‘menace’, ‘desist’, ‘racket’ and ‘tart’ Final edition printed as nine journalists and three police officers face arrest Aware that News of the World staff might use their final edition to fire a parting shot at her, Rebekah Brooks is said to have instructed two senior executives to read the paper with a ‘fine-tooth comb’. According to sources, they received the simple instruction to ‘ensure there were no libels or any hidden mocking messages of the chief executive’ of News International. However, while the news pages may have been sanitised of any subliminal messages, the proofreaders appear to have failed to spot some less subtle jibes in the crossword section. Crossword crossfire: The News of the World puzzle page appeared to contain several parting shots at Rebekah Brooks and News International bosses despite two senior Sun journalists allegedly being asked to proofread it Among the clues in the ‘Quicky’ puzzle were: ‘Brook’, ‘stink’, ‘catastrophe’, ‘digital protection’, ‘cease’, ‘lamented’, ‘servant’ and ‘prestige’. The Cryptic Crossword was perhaps even more sardonic, with clues including: ‘Criminal enterprise, ‘mix in prison’, ‘string of recordings’, ‘will fear new security measure’. Also among them was the hint ‘woman stares wildly at calamity’ – which may refer to the photograph of Mrs Brooks’s stony-faced departure from the News International HQ in Wapping, East London, on Thursday after staff were told the Rupert Murdoch-owned paper would be shut down. Answers printed on page 47 counted: ‘Deplored’, ‘stench’, ‘stir’, ‘disaster’ ‘menace’, ‘desist’, ‘racket’ and ‘tart’. Also there was ‘firewall’, which may have referred to the anger felt by NotW journalists after internet access was blocked by bosses for ‘operational reasons’. A source at the paper told MailOnline: ‘Rebekah tried everything to stop the staff having the last word and she utterly failed. Team: NotW editor Colin Myler brandished the final ever edition of the paper in front of his staff before announcing: 'And now in the best traditions of Fleet Street, we are going to the pub' Emotion: A News of the World journalist proudly carries a memento 'splash' page specially printed for staff left, while another, wearing a T-shirt with the re-top's logo, cannot hold back her tears as she heads to the pub Goodbye: The staff at the News of the World managed to smile through the pain as they gathered for a last picture in the newsroom, with editor Colin Myler sitting on the left of the desk ‘She brought in two very senior Sun journalists to go though every line on every page with a fine toothcomb to ensure there were no libels or any hidden mocking messages of the chief executive. ‘But they they failed and we’ve had the last laugh.’ The apparent parting shot in print was made as editor Colin Myler led staff out to the pub after the NotW signed off after 168 years with the headline: 'Thank You & Goodbye'. Waiting TV cameramen and photographers captured the emotional scene as nearly 200 journalists walked out of Wapping and into an uncertain future. Mr Myler, who has edited the paper since Andy Coulson’s reign ended in 2007, said: 'As you can see this is the latest and last News of the World.' He went on: 'It is the 8,674th edition after 168 years. Its not a position that any editor would want, to close a title and, of course, I didn't close it. 'I want to pay tribute to these wonderful team of people here who after a very difficult day have produced a wonderful paper. Focus of ire: Rupert Murdoch reading the last ever News of the World as he was driven to Wapping and Rebekah Brooks, on Thursday, looking perhaps like the crossword clue: 'Woman stares wildly at calamity' The last word: Copies of the final edition of the News of the World were printed on the presses at Wapping 'It is a sad day for the staff, this is not where we want to be and not where we deserve to be. 'As a final tribute to seven-and-a-half million readers, this is for you - and for the staff, thank you, 'And now in the best traditions of Fleet Street, we are going to the pub.' It was the climax of an emotional day at the Wapping headquarters. The newspaper's front and back pages were covered with images of past exclusives and scoops, and the edition contained a 48-page pull-out. It promised its readers that profits from the edition will go to charity. A sub-headline read: 'After 168 years, we finally say a sad but very proud farewell to our 7.5m loyal readers.'And in the top right corner are the words: 'The world's greatest newspaper 1843-2011'. On social networking site Twitter, staff spoke of the 'very emotional' atmosphere in the newsroom as the paper was put to bed for the last time. CLUES (PROOFREADERS MISSED) BROOK STINK CATASTROPHE DIGITAL PROTECTION CEASE LAMENT CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE MIX IN PRISON STRING OF RECORDINGS WOMAN STARES WILDLY AT CALAMITY ANSWERS (THEY FAILED TO SPOT) DEPLORED STATUS STENCH STIR DISASTER FIREWALL MENACE DESIST RACKET TART Sub-editors also put together a special front page for staff, headlined 'Best in the world' and with the poignant picture of all the newsroom team gathered together on their final day. On its back page were two quotes. The first, from George Orwell's Decline of the English Murder, 1946, reads: 'It is Sunday afternoon, preferably before the war. 'The wife is already asleep in the armchair and the children have been sent out for a nice long walk. 'You put your feet up on the sofa, settle your spectacles on your nose, and open the News of the World.' The second quotation, from Jeanne Hobson, Lymington, Hants, and written this year, stated: 'I have read this paper since I was old enough to read newspapers. 'I'm 68 now. I cannot imagine Sundays without you. 'I will always remember the News of the World for the good things you have brought to light. I am sad to say goodbye to my Sunday favourite.' Final laugh: One of the News of the World staff wore a T-shirt with a poignant message

– The final edition of News of the World contains a secret message to News International CEO and former NotW editor Rebekah Brooks—and it’s not a nice message. Staff members found a way around orders from News International to “ensure there were no libels or any hidden mocking messages of the chief executive”: They hid their mockery in the crossword puzzle, the Telegraph reports. Clues included “Brook,” “stink,” “catastrophe,” “digital protection,” “criminal enterprise,” “mix in prison,” “string of recordings,” and “woman stares wildly at calamity,” while answers included “disaster,” “stench,” “racket,” “tart,” “deplored,” and “menace.” A source at the now-defunct paper tells the Daily Mail that Brooks had two senior Sun journalists looking for just such hidden messages, “but they failed and we’ve had the last laugh.” The Atlantic has a shot of the crosswords.

Image caption Burgers and ready meals were among the products affected by the mislabelling of horsemeat Horse DNA has been found in up to 5% of beef products randomly tested across the EU, according to results from the European Commission. Inspectors also found the banned anti-inflammatory horse drug phenylbutazone, or "bute", in 0.5% of horsemeat tested. The EU said it was "a matter of food fraud and not of food safety". The three-month programme of checks was agreed by the 27 EU member states in February after horsemeat had been found in a batch of Findus frozen lasagne. "Restoring the trust and confidence of European consumers and trading partners in our food chain following this fraudulent labelling scandal is now of vital importance for the European economy," said EU Commissioner for Health and Consumers Tonio Borg. He said the Commission would "propose to strengthen the controls along the food chain in line with lessons learned." Of the 4,144 tests carried out across the EU for the presence of horsemeat DNA, 193 were positive (4.66%). There were 3,115 tests for bute, of which 16 were positive (0.51%). In addition, member states reported another 7,951 tests for horse DNA performed by food business operators; of these 110 were positive (1.38%). The number of tests varied between 10-150 samples depending on the size of the EU country and on consumption habits, the Commission said. Corned beef The tests were commissioned by the EU amid concerns about possible fraudulent attempts to sell horsemeat as processed beef in a number of member states. The tests, although not comprehensive, provide an indication of the scale of the problem. Last week the Dutch government announced that, as part of its investigations, it had identified two processing plants that might have supplied horsemeat as beef since January 2011. The UK's Food Standards Agency conducted 150 tests for the Commission, with no positive results. However, separately, Britain has announced a "wide-ranging" strategic review of its food chain. There have been 6,000 tests carried out by the industry and local councils in the UK. So far 24 have shown the presence of horsemeat in a range of food. Ripple effect BBC European correspondent Christian Fraser, in Brussels, said the Commission believed the EU had one of the best food safety systems in the world but it relied on a complex web of suppliers. In a food chain that might stretch from Romania to the Netherlands, the south of France and Britain, pinning down where the system had gone wrong had proved difficult, he added. Our correspondent said the food companies across the EU were so interwoven that one fraud could have a serious ripple effect across a number of countries. In the UK, Food Minister David Heath said the government's review would look for any vulnerabilities in the food chain that could be exploited by fraudsters. Consumers "must have confidence in the food they buy", he said. ||||| Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool at the bottom of any article or visit www.djreprints.com

– Bite into beef anywhere in Europe, and there's a 5% chance you're actually biting into horse meat. An EU study across 27 nations in the wake of the region's horse meat scandal found that 5% of beef products had some horse DNA, reports the BBC. France and Greece were the worst offenders. Of those horse-meat samples, about 0.5% were positive for a banned animal painkiller known as phenylbutazone, reports the Wall Street Journal. "Bute" is considered a health risk for humans. EU officials promised to put into place tougher rules and penalties—including prison time—on food labeling. But all in all, they said the study showed that people were deceived but not endangered. "Today's findings have confirmed that this is a matter of food fraud and not of food safety," says the EU health commissioner.

President Bill Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention was a travelogue and a love poem, taking the audience — and the rest of America — on his journey through meeting and wooing Hillary Rodham. It was his twist on the traditional spiel by the candidate’s spouse, who is there to remind everyone that the person they are nominating is actually a real human being. And, Clinton being Clinton, it was overstuffed and detail-laden, going through the Clintons’ history year by year... ...with one very obvious exception. The 1998 portion of this speech should be interesting.... — Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 27, 2016 There was no 1998 portion of the speech. Clinton covered 1997, when Chelsea Clinton started college, then said, literally, “Now fast-forward,” and launched into the events of 1999. That meant one of the darkest chapters of the Clintons’ political careers and, presumably, personal lives — when Bill Clinton had oral sex with intern Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office, lied about it under oath, and was impeached — was entirely absent from the speech. Fast-forward indeed. Clinton got up onstage on Tuesday night to support his wife. Referencing what must be one of the more humiliating periods of her life, just as she was formally nominated to be the first woman president of the United States, could have come off as jarring and graceless. Even a tactful allusion — one that said, essentially, he hadn’t always been a model husband — could easily have seemed like he was building himself up by tearing her down. But this was the difficult task Clinton faced by giving a traditional spousal speech: He had to tell the story of one of the best-known marriages in America, a marriage split by a nationally televised drama about sex and infidelity and power, while constructing a political argument about one of America’s most disliked politicians. Bill Clinton’s speech was very similar to Ann Romney’s. Really. The arc of Bill Clinton’s speech is familiar, because it’s the same story — with a few more policy details — that Ann Romney told in 2012 and Michelle Obama told in 2008. Boy meets girl. Boy marries girl, with a humorous anecdote or two about the vicissitudes of young love. Boy and girl start a family. The spouse admires the candidate’s character and commitment. The couple undergoes some kind of difficulty that, in the end, only makes them stronger. “A storybook marriage?” Ann Romney said in 2012. “No, not at all. What Mitt Romney and I have is a real marriage.” In both cases, after less personal sections with a bit more relevance to politics — Romney talked about her husband’s business, Obama about her husband’s community organizing — both spouses underlined that they truly know this person and are uniquely capable of vouching for his character. “The Barack Obama I know today is the same man I fell in love with 19 years ago,” Michelle Obama said in 2008. “It has been 47 years since that tall, kind of charming young man brought me home from our first dance,” said Ann Romney in 2012, closing with: “He will take us to a better place, just as he took me home safely from that dance.” On Tuesday, Bill Clinton struck the same note: I have lived a long, full, blessed life. It really took off when I met and fell in love with that girl in the spring of 1971. … For this time, Hillary is uniquely qualified to seize the opportunities and reduce the risks we face, and she is still the best darn change-maker I have ever known. But he had the unique difficulty of telling a story that Americans know much better. Ann Romney had to show the audience that her husband really cared about people. Michelle Obama had to prove that she and Barack were regular, everyday Americans like everyone else. Meanwhile, Bill Clinton’s message was something closer to awe: Can you believe, he seemed to ask, that my wife did all this? Alluding to 1998 might have fit firmly into that framework. It could have reminded Americans of what Hillary Clinton went through — and why her popularity jumped 10 percentage points during that period. But it also would have made the speech all about Bill — when, perhaps for the first time in his career, he was giving a speech that was barely about himself at all. As it was, there was just one tiny, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it allusion. “You should elect her because she will never quit when the going gets tough,” Clinton said. “She will never quit on you.” He went on to talk about coal miners in West Virginia. He could just as easily have been talking about himself. ||||| PHILADELPHIA — Hillary Clinton transcended her own flaws, and a spirited progressive insurgency, to become the first female major-party nominee in the 240-year history of the United States. “History,” Clinton tweeted at around 7 p.m. Tuesday, after her subdued rival Bernie Sanders rose from a seat in the Vermont delegation to request that all of his delegates, the hard-won token of his political life’s work, switch their allegiances to Clinton. Story Continued Below The storyline inside the Wells Fargo Center was “chaos” during the first 36 hours of the Democratic National Convention, with the forced resignation of DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and talk of a last-minute mass rebellion by renegade Sanders supporters. And it was true to a point. But the roll-call vote that many in the hall saw as a flash point for conflict turned into a standard exercise in post-primary consolidation, thanks to the quiet coordination of once-feuding Sanders and Clinton campaign officials. Still, this was a Hillary Clinton convention, so there was one final spasm of rancor as dozens of the hardest-core Sanders supporters stalked noisily out of the hall and over to the flimsy white tents that housed the press filing center. At first reporters and cameramen raced over to cover them — but they decided to block access and linger for two shouting hours, pissing off the very messengers they needed to make a case for Sanders that the Vermont senator explicitly demanded they not make on his behalf. The animating force behind the Sanders movement (and the runner-up spent much of Tuesday soaking up adulation for moving Clinton to the left on trade and the minimum wage) was principle and grievance. But on Tuesday, it boiled down to the building-block elements of politics — winning and losing. Outside, the Bernie-or-Bust protesters yelled into journalists’ iPhones. Inside, Donna Brazile, the stand-in chair of the party, danced slowly offstage after celebrating Clinton’s victory. Here are five takeaways from Clinton’s winning night. 1. Bill Clinton is an awkward surrogate. The former president has been battling the teleprompter nearly as long as he’s been fighting the Republicans — and he wrestled it to the ground decisively on Tuesday night. His goal was to outline a personal case for his wife as a dedicated and trustworthy person, and he largely succeeded, at least to fans who applauded, standing as he strode slowly onto the stage, and hung on his every word. But if his highly effective 2012 address on Barack Obama’s behalf was a masterstroke of persuasive concision (by Clinton standards), this was a weedy rambler. As anyone who has ever delivered a wedding toast knows, it’s sometimes tougher to talk about family than friends — and that seemed to be the case as he wove the familiar tale of her courtship in the Yale Law School library into a meta pitch for her gifts as a “change-maker.” He documented their shared history and her accomplishments with the exhaustive, off-script granularity that made his memoir “My Life” every Clinton reporter’s favorite doorstop and his tedious, hourlong, 1988 DNC address a near-career killer. This wasn’t that bad. Bill Clinton has always been a wear-you-out (if flashes-of-genius) talker, and those tendencies only become more pronounced with age. But his prolixity actually illustrates a bigger problem that afflicts the candidate herself as she struggles to find a pithy, appealing message to voters. Setting aside the obvious elisions in Bill’s year-by-year biography (he completely omitted the Lewinsky/impeachment era), the story of the Clintons is old, oft-told, oft-fact-checked — a disputed narrative whose mere recitation reminds a change-craving electorate of how long they’ve been on the national stage. His speech did no damage — and fired up the faithful — but it was a shadow of Michelle Obama’s deeply moving address to the convention the night before. And it also raised an awkward question: Will the Big Dog ever really be comfortable ceding the spotlight to his wife? To his credit, Clinton has labored mightily to be a Team Hillary player for most of 2016. But it’s not a discipline that comes naturally to him, as anyone (me) who spent two hours in a rural Iowa fire station watching him hold up a color copy of a chart showing economic growth during his administration can tell you. 2. Bernie’s graceful exit (stage, far left). It took Bernie Sanders quite a while to internalize the fact that he hadn’t actually beaten Clinton despite receiving 3.7 million fewer votes — but he’s been a more or less exemplary partner to Clinton as she tried to tame the Never Hillary crowd. The nascent Sanders-Clinton alliance is neither intuitive (she questioned whether he was even a real Democrat during the primaries) nor especially warm, but it’s proving durable enough for their mutual purposes. Clinton’s aides were intent to give Sanders something Donald Trump was never willing to offer Ted Cruz — dignity and respect in defeat, a graceful exit, an evening to bask in his accomplishments. It worked. Cruz was defiant and divisive, Sanders was domesticated and uncharacteristically sentimental. “We have no complaints about Bernie or his people,” one Clinton campaign official in the arena on Tuesday told me. During the roll-call vote, the fiery insurgent sat like a progressive prince enthroned as state delegation members lauded his accomplishments and tallied his 1,894 delegates, eyes moistening as he shared whispered observations with wife Jane. Coupled with Sanders’ campaign to shape the party’s platform in his image, the Clinton camp’s charm offensive softened his stony support for Clinton into something more convincing. And, after a day’s worth of not especially rancorous negotiation, Sanders agreed to enter his rival’s name into nomination, as Clinton herself had done eight years earlier for Barack Obama. 3. The protests were outside. Sanders, worried that booing or back-turning by his supporters would hurt the cause, feverishly attempted to defuse and divert anger over his loss. Whatever he did worked: The 200 die-hard delegates who refused to jump on the bandwagon staged a protest walkout, leaving the arena more visibly and audibly united than it’s been yet. 4. Hillary’s here. The first 36 hours of Clinton’s coronation — by design or accident — were curiously free of the nominee’s image or presence: That is to say, Clinton’s face appeared fleetingly if at all in many of the convention videos, in sharp contrast to Trump, who insisted on helicoptering into every scene of his shaggy Cleveland carnival. The curious Hillary-free first day was a pretty shrewd move according to a few Democrats I spoke to: Her team may have wanted to avoid antagonizing Sanders supporters — and feelings were running so hot that her mere image might have shattered the fragile truce. Moreover, they were perfectly happy to let Bernie — who wanted his moment in the sun — be the face of the convention during its fractious opening hours. As soon as the roll call was completed — boom — Clinton’s face was everywhere, and the candidate herself appeared via video linkup after her husband left the stage. 5. Macker’s unforced error. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is one of Bill Clinton’s best friends, and like the former president, speaks expansively about topics more wisely left undiscussed. Minutes after the Sanders threat dissipated, McAuliffe decided to tell POLITICO that Hillary Clinton might not have been entirely serious about her opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade deal, a core Sanders (and Trump) economic-populist article of faith. “I worry that if we don’t do TPP, at some point China’s going to break the rules — but Hillary understands this,” the Macker told my colleague Annie Karni, who approached him after he’d finished a TV interview. “Once the election’s over, and we sit down on trade, people understand a couple things we want to fix on it, but going forward we got to build a global economy. ... Yes. Listen, she was in support of it. There were specific things in it she wants fixed.” To say it was an unforced error is gross understatement: Trump tweeted out the story and will almost certainly bring it up as proof “Crooked Hillary” can’t be trusted. And Clinton’s team wasted little time in making clear that McAuliffe had gone rogue and needed to zip it. Campaign Chairman John Podesta told Karni that Clinton has never suggested she would roll back her opposition — then tweeted out an affectionately brutal corrective. “Love Gov. McAuliffe, but he got this one flat wrong,” Podesta wrote. “Hillary opposes TPP BEFORE and AFTER the election. Period. Full stop.” Authors: ||||| Bill Clinton Pours On the Estrogen By Maureen Dowd PHILADELPHIA — His life took off, he said, when he fell in love with “that girl.” He told a familiar love story, recounted in his memoir, about springtime at Yale Law School in 1971 and a “magnetic” girl with thick blond hair and big glasses and no makeup and a long, white flowery skirt. He said when he first saw her in a political and civil rights class that he wanted to tap her on the shoulder but he knew if he did, he would be starting something beyond his control. With a sky-blue tie and silvery hair and an easy smile, the 69-year-old looked healthier than he has on the trail. And he was sharp. The Big Dog basked in the unique historic moment: a former president and a husband and a wannabe first lad making the case for a former first lady, a wife and a wannabe first woman president. In an act of amazing self-restraint, the man who relishes the word “I” managed to make the talk, as he prefers to call his folksy speeches, all about her. He was positively uxorious. She “calls you when you’re sick, when your kid’s in trouble or when there’s a death in the family,” Bill said of his partner of 40 years. It has been said that the essence of the Clinton marriage is coming to each other’s rescue in critical moments. Or maybe more precisely, their byzantine conjugal dynamic works like this: One of them creates chaos — usually Bill — and then they get out of it together. Or as a former aide described the Clinton pattern: “Hubris. Funk. Reintroduction.” “You could drop her in any trouble spot, pick one, come back in a month and somehow, some way, she will have made it better,” he said, in a line that could have applied to global crises or marital. (An earlier celebrity speaker tonight was Tony Goldwyn, who plays the philandering president in a series inspired by Bill and Monica). After the email shaming and a bloodless campaign, tonight it was Bill’s turn to rescue Hillary from being the most unknown known person in history. One of the most liked presidents was charged with humanizing one of the least liked presidential candidates. “One of the most seductive characters we’ve seen in American politics in our lifetime,” as David Axelrod calls Bill Clinton, had to melt the sphinx-like aura of his guarded wife. The uncontrollable Clinton had to make the tightly-controlled Clinton seem less coiled and more endearing. The Protean pol had to take his wife’s ever-shifting personas and policies, and paint a cohesive portrait. He rivaled Ivanka in his talent for airbrushing, but he probably won’t be offering his convention outfit for sale tonight. Hill and Bill both have 100-percent name ID but Bill’s task was to reintroduce her as “the best darn change-maker I have ever met in my entire life.” A quarter-century after Clinton aides wrote memos about how to warm up and round out Hillary by raising her profile as a mother, Bill was still trying to drive that point home. “My daughter had the best mother in the whole world,” he said tonight, adding that Hillary was “first and foremost” a mother, “our family’s designated worrier” who only worried about Bill’s parenting when he took a couple days off with Chelsea to watch all six “Police Academy” movies “back-to-back.” He described Hillary on her knees, lining Chelsea’s Stanford dorm room drawers with paper when their daughter moved to college, until Chelsea told them it was time to leave. It is another example of the overcorrecting that marks Hillary’s career. In trying to feminize and maternalize Hillary, Bill almost went overboard about that “girl,” as he called her three times. He poured on the estrogen, presaging his role as helpmeet in the East Wing. He never mentioned Donald Trump, the man he used to be friendly with and play golf with. He simply alluded to the way the Republican convention had tried to turn Hillary into a “cartoon” villainess. “Life in the real world is complicated and hard,” he said, and “a lot of people think it’s boring.” “One is real, the other is made up,” he said of the caricature of Hillary. “You nominated the real one.” He implicitly compared his wife to her gilded rival, limning her as someone genuinely seeking a life of service. He talked about her summer sliming fish in Alaska and all her work for poor children. Hillary has said that she never realized how hard it was to be as great a persuader and performer as Bill until she tried to do it herself. Bill has now given 10 convention speeches and he has had awful moments and great ones. I was there in 1988 when he talked for 33 minutes and the Dukakis delegates began cheering when he finally said “In closing…” And I was there in 2012, when he won raves for selling Barack Obama’s agenda, after the articulate-but-aloof president somehow wasn’t able to, and had to appoint Bill as “Secretary of Explaining Stuff.” This speech was slightly over 40 minutes. Donald Trump had a soap opera actress speak at his convention but the Clintons easily topped that. Their lives have been an astonishing soap opera in which Bill has played many starring roles – the loyal spouse, the betraying spouse and the subconscious saboteur. This was a night a long time coming for the former moot court partners, a night celebrating the promise that animates the Clinton partnership: She helped him. She moved to Arkansas for him. “I really hoped that her choosing me and rejecting my advice to pursue her own career was a decision she would never regret,” Bill said tonight. She added the Clinton name to Rodham to please old-fashioned Southerners when Bill lost the governor’s mansion to help him win it back. Bill told the story tonight about how she engineered his comeback, noting “My experience is it’s a pretty good thing to follow her advice.” Hillary chafed at eight years of the anachronistic role of first lady, even through slights like getting stationery with the restored middle name of Rodham missing as her husband campaigned for the White House. (She sent it back.) “That girl” put up with the humiliations of Bill’s hound-dog ways with “that woman” and others, and let him hide behind her skirt. And tonight Bill paid her back — and tried to extend his own legacy — even as Trump gets ready to exert more effort dragging the former president through the mud. Jeb Bush had faltered partly on dynasty fatigue, but Bill does not intend to let that happen to Hillary. Starting tonight and through the fall as he tries to woo back white voters and older voters in the Rust Belt and the South, he is trying to conjure the halcyon days of Clinton peace and prosperity. He does not want to remind people of the shady days of Clinton avarice and deceit, or the parts of his presidency or post-presidency that haven’t aged well, like Nafta, the crime bill, deregulation of Wall Street and the Defense of Marriage Act, the Marc Rich pardon or the unseemly braiding of the Clinton Foundation with Hillary’s State Department. Bill tried to augment Hillary’s sparse vision, talking about how she would be the right pilot for “the ride to America’s future.” “In the greatest country on earth we have always been about tomorrow,” 42 said, urging America to choose Hillary as 45. In other words: As Donald Trump tries to drag us back to the past — and to the Clintons’ past — don’t stop thinking about tomorrow. Maureen Dowd is an Op-Ed columnist for The Times.

– There was no shortage of history made on Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention: Hours after Hillary Clinton became the first female major-party nominee, Bill Clinton delivered the first convention speech from a would-be "first gentleman," offering a heartfelt account of his life with the woman he first met at Yale Law School in 1971. Four takes on the speech: Only the Clintons could give America "a former president who wants to be first man extolling the virtues of a former first lady who wants to be president," writes David Maraniss at the Washington Post. He describes the speech as a "quiet, rambling, at times touching, at times prosaic love letter, the likes of which no modern convention has ever quite seen or heard." Libby Nelson at Vox looks at Bill's decision to skip 1998 when recounting their history year by year. Referring to impeachment and the Monica Lewinsky scandal—which must have been "one of the more humiliating periods" of Hillary's life—could have seemed "jarring and graceless" on a night where she made history, writes Nelson. Bill's speech had a lot in common with Ann Romney's 2012 address, she writes, and it may have contained one allusion to 1998 after all: "You should elect her because she will never quit when the going gets tough," he said. "She will never quit on you." The speech was a "weedy rambler" by Bill Clinton standards, and it suggests he could be an "awkward surrogate" on the campaign trail, according to Glenn Thrush at Politico. The speech "did no damage—and fired up the faithful—but it was a shadow of Michelle Obama's deeply moving address to the convention the night before," he writes, adding that it raised the question of whether Bill will "ever really be comfortable ceding the spotlight to his wife." With this speech, "one of the most liked presidents was charged with humanizing one of the least liked presidential candidates," and he "poured on the estrogen," writes Maureen Dowd at the New York Times. "This was a night a long time coming for the former moot court partners, a night celebrating the promise that animates the Clinton partnership: She helped him. She moved to Arkansas for him," Dowd writes, predicting that this speech marks the start of Bill "trying to conjure the halcyon days of Clinton peace and prosperity" as he tries to win over older voters in the South and the Rust Belt.

The European Union received the Nobel Peace Prize on Monday for promoting peace and human rights in Europe following the devastation of World War II, and the bloc was urged to use that unity in its battle with the region's economic crisis. People walk with torches to protest against the awarding to the Peace Prize to the EU bloc, in Oslo, Norway, Sunday Dec. 9, 2012. The Nobel Peace Prize Committee awarded the prize to the European Union... (Associated Press) A placard of Alfred Nobel is displayed during the Nobel Peace Prize winner media conference, at the Nobel institute in Oslo, Norway, Sunday Dec. 9, 2012. The Nobel Peace Prize Committee awarded the prize... (Associated Press) About 20 European government leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, attended the ceremony in the Norwegian capital. But not everyone approved the decision to give the prize to the EU, which was created 60 years ago. Three Peace Prize laureates _ South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mairead Maguire of Northern Ireland and Adolfo Perez Esquivel from Argentina _ have demanded that prize money of $1.2 million not be paid this year. They said the bloc contradicts the values associated with the prize because it relies on military force to ensure security. Amnesty International said Monday that EU leaders should not "bask in the glow of the prize," warning that xenophobia and intolerance are now on the rise in the continent of 500 million people. Prize committee Chairman Thorbjoern Jagland handed the Nobel diplomas and medals to EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy and president of the EU Parliament Martin Schulz at a ceremony of in Oslo's City Hall. Jagland said the EU was instrumental in making "a continent of war (become) a continent of peace." "In this process the European Union has figured most prominently," he told an applauding gathering of several hundred people. This year's prize comes against a backdrop of protests as the debt crisis for countries using the euro currency triggers tensions within the union, causing soaring unemployment and requiring massive austerity measures. In his speech, Jagland said that European unity has become even more important as the EU battles its financial problems. "The political framework in which the union is rooted is more important now than ever," he said. "We must stand together. We have collective responsibility." Jagland said the awarding committee had decided to honor the EU, which grew out of the conviction that ever-closer economic ties would make sure that century-old enemies such as Germany and France never turned on each other again. He described that reconciliation as "probably the most dramatic example in history to show that war and conflict can be turned so rapidly into peace and cooperation." He said the presence of Merkel and Hollande on Monday made "this day very particular, symbolic for all of us," prompting applause and bows from the two leaders. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death in 1896. Similar ceremonies are to be held in the Swedish capital for the Nobel laureates in medicine, chemistry, physics and literature. ||||| 1 of 18. Guests gather near a bust of dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel in the Stockholm Concert Hall prior to the Nobel prize award ceremony in Stockholm December 10, 2012. STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden held its annual Nobel awards ceremony on Monday attended by laureates, royals and the Who's Who of Swedish society with little evidence of the cost-cutting forced upon it by a downturn in the global economy. More than 1,200 glittering guests - women in elegant gowns and men in white tie and tails - gingerly made their way over slippery snow and ice to the Nobel dinner in Stockholm City Hall to dine, chat and hear Nobel literature winner Mo Yan and other laureates speak at Sweden's most prestigious social event. Mo did his best to again steer clear of human rights issues after refusing last week to publicly back a petition by fellow laureates to free jailed compatriot and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo. "I am well aware that literature only has a minimal influence on political disputes or economic crises in the world," Mo said in a translated speech that was prepared in advance and distributed to guests at the banquet. Although organizers talked of unspecified reductions in the expenditure on a night which cost 20 million Swedish crowns ($3 million) last year, frugality was not a feature that stood out among the fine French wines, cuisine from top Swedish chefs and the trapeze artists who entertained diners between courses. "There have been some cuts," Nobel Foundation Executive Director Lars Heikensten told reporters ahead of the banquet, but refusing to give any details. "You will not notice them." BOOGIE For more than a century, the foundation has managed the roughly $450 million capital that forms the base for the awards, donated in the will of dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel. But in recent years returns have suffered amid the global crisis. "We are in this forever and we should safeguard it (the prize)," said Heikensten, a former Swedish central bank chief known for reducing staff during his tenure. The awards are now worth $1.2 million each, down from around $1.5 million in recent years. Still, Monday evening's festivities at Stockholm's City Hall - itself decorated with 11 kg of gold leaf - were never likely to be spartan. Details of a menu, which included Joseph Perrier Cuvée Royale Champagne and pheasant with chanterelle mushrooms, were only revealed minutes before the food was served. Guests at the event touted as one of the world's biggest set dinners ate from some 7,000 pieces of porcelain using 10,000 items of silverware and drank from 5,400 glasses. There was also a fair share of bling on show, from jewel encrusted handbags to glittering tiaras, as Sweden's small and influential political and business elite jettisoned its famed egalitarian image to hobnob with diplomats and political leaders from around the globe. The strict dress code - white tie and tails for men and gowns for women - was complemented by a similarly strict code of behavior. Toasting, for example, is done Swedish style: raise your glass, look your table companions in the eyes, swing the glass in the air ever so slightly - no clinking - sip and repeat eye contact before setting the glass down. However, the formal setting did not dissuade guests from having an after-dinner boogie on the dance floor to the music of Swedish pop group ABBA and other hits played by a live band. Neighboring Norway was expected to have Australian pop-princess Kylie Minogue perform as the European Union receives this year's Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo on Monday. The EU's win raised a few eyebrows when announced in October. ($1 = 6.6344 Swedish crowns) (Editing by Paul Casciato)

– The European Union officially received the Nobel Peace Prize today in an Oslo ceremony attended by some 20 EU leaders, including Angela Merkel, Francois Hollande, and UK deputy PM Nick Clegg. The prize committee applauded the EU's efforts toward peace in Europe after World War II, and called leaders to work together amid the economic crisis, the AP notes. This year's ceremony was more austere than usual, with prize money cut 20% and fewer chauffeured cars for winners, Reuters reports. Protesters in Oslo and worldwide voiced opposition to the award. Previous winners, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Northern Ireland's Mairead Maguire, and Argentina's Adolfo Perez Esquivel, said the $1.2 million in prize money shouldn't be paid out this year; the EU, they said, uses military power for security, which isn't in keeping with the prize's ideals. Yesterday, hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Oslo, chanting, "The EU is not a worthy winner," the New York Times reports. Peace activists argued that a prize initially aimed at disarmament shouldn't go to the bloc, while a Greek MP said the EU had "pushed my country and the whole of southern Europe back to the Middle Ages."

Bloomberg News Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook Inc., at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 18, 2013. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg Mark Zuckerberg has decided he’s a $1-a-year man. Zuckerberg, who is Facebook Inc. (FB:US)’s chief executive officer and also the 22nd richest person in the world as ranked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, was paid $1 in salary for 2013, according to a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday. That’s down from a base salary of $503,205 in 2012, the year that Facebook went public. Zuckerberg is following the well worn path of other Silicon Valley technology moguls who also chose to take on the symbolic annual salary of $1 after they were already wealthy. Apple Inc.’s late co-founder Steve Jobs helped popularize the practice, which is today also espoused by Google Inc. co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, among others. All own sizable equity stakes in their own companies. Related: Video: Does Zuckerberg Expect Facebook Stock to Drop? Does Zuckerberg Expect Facebook Stock to Drop? Zuckerberg Loses $3 Billion in a Week as Tech Titans Fall Facebook Makes $2 Billion Virtual-Reality Bet With Oculus Zuckerberg, whose wealth totals around $27 billion, owns Facebook shares that give him 61.6 percent of voting power in the Menlo Park, California-based social network, according to the filing. He saw his net worth balloon last year as Facebook’s stock more than doubled (FB:US) in value. The 29-year-old has ramped up his public service and philanthropy, including starting a group called Internet.org to connect the world to the Web. Private Planes Zuckerberg’s total compensation last year was $653,165, down from $1.99 million in 2012. The amount, besides the $1 salary, was for the passenger fees, fuel, crew and catering costs for his use of private planes for personal reasons, as part of his security program, according to the filing. The CEO also made $3.3 billion last year after exercising stock options to purchase 60 million shares, according to the filing. Zuckerberg offered 41.35 million of those shares in a secondary offering by Facebook in December. At the time, the company said Zuckerberg would use the majority of the proceeds to pay for the taxes incurred in connection with the transaction. He also gifted 18 million shares to charity. Other Facebook leaders also saw their compensation fall from 2012 levels. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg received $16.2 million in total compensation in 2013, compared with $26.2 million a year earlier. She became a billionaire in January as Facebook’s shares soared, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman made $10.5 million in compensation last year, compared with the $17.5 million in 2012. Vice President David Fischer’s compensation totaled $8 million last year, down from $12 million in 2012, while Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer gained $12.6 million last year, down from $20.7 million a year earlier. To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Frier in San Francisco at sfrier1@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pui-Wing Tam at ptam13@bloomberg.net Reed Stevenson ||||| SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reaped a $3.3 billion gain last year by exercising stock options in the social networking company that he founded in a Harvard University dorm room. FILE - In this Thursday, March 20, 2013 file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. Zuckerberg reaped a $3.3 billion gain last year by exercising stock... (Associated Press) The windfall saddled Zuckerberg with a huge tax bill, even though he limited his Facebook salary to just $1, according to regulatory documents filed Monday. It marks the second straight year that Zuckerberg has realized a huge gain on the holding that he has accumulated in Facebook Inc. since he started the company in 2004. In 2012, Zuckerberg made $2.3 billion off his stock options. Zuckerberg, 29, now has exhausted his supply of stock options after exercising 60 million of them last year a price of 6 cents per share. He then sold 41.35 million shares for $55.05 apiece in December, primarily to pay for his tax bill on the gains. Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, also donated 18 million Facebook shares to a Silicon Valley nonprofit. The December gift, then valued at nearly $1 billion, landed the couple at the top of The Chronicle of Philanthropy's annual list of the most generous Americans. Even after selling and donating so much Facebook stock, Zuckerberg still owns 426.3 million Facebook shares currently worth $25.7 billion. The stock has more than doubled in value during the past year as Zuckerberg fulfilled his promise to sell more ads on the smartphones and tablet computers that bring in most of the traffic to Facebook's social networking service. The Menlo Park, Calif., company now gets more than half of its ad revenue from mobile devices, up from 23 percent at the beginning of last year. Like many company founders who have gotten wealthy off their early stakes, Zuckerberg asked Facebook to limit his annual salary to $1 annually. Besides that token sum, Zuckerberg also received perquisites valued at $653,164. All but $3,000 of that amount went toward Zuckerberg's bills for personal travel on chartered jets. Excluding stock option gains, Zuckerberg's total compensation last year plunged 67 percent from nearly $2 million in 2012. The Associated Press formula calculates an executive's total compensation during the last fiscal year by adding salary, bonuses, perks, above-market interest that the company pays on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock and stock options awarded during the year. The AP formula does not count changes in the present value of pensions, a benefit that Facebook and most other technology companies don't provide.

– Steve Jobs did it; Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page did, too. Now Mark Zuckerberg is joining the ranks of the $1-a-year CEOs, Bloomberg reports. That's what the Facebook boss earned in salary last year, compared to $503,205 the year before. The low salary shouldn't hurt much, given that Zuck has a $27 billion fortune (though he did reportedly lose $3 billion last week). His total compensation last year was $653,165, much of it going to travel costs. Even with his $1 salary, the 29-year-old brought in $3.3 billion last year, the AP reports. He exercised 60 million stock options at 6 cents per share; then, he sold 41.35 million shares at $55.05 each to cover tax expenses. His shares in Facebook—some 426.3 million, worth $25.7 billion—mean he has 61.6% voting power in the social network. He and his wife, Priscilla Chan, donated 18 million shares, worth about $1 billion, to charity last year.

Oliver James was born at 6:59 a.m. Sunday in Pensacola. The baby boy came as a shock to his mother, who didn't realize she was pregnant and instead thought she had eaten bad Chinese food. (Photo: Courtesy of Brian Westerfield on Facebook) A Pensacola woman gave new meaning to the term "food baby" over the weekend. Crystal Gail Amerson, 29, said she woke up around 4 a.m. Sunday with stomach pains that had her running back and forth between the bathroom and bedroom for more than an hour. "I had Chinese food the night before and I kind of figured maybe I had food poisoning or something like that," Amerson said. But it turned out there was nothing wrong with the General Tso's chicken Amerson ate the previous night. Unbeknownst to her, she was actually 37 weeks pregnant and was on the verge of giving birth to her second son. More: Molino honors midwife who helped birth hundreds in community Amerson called off work at 5 a.m., and an hour later, as the pain worsened, she woke her fiance up because they needed to call an ambulance. Oliver James was born at 6:59 a.m. Sunday in Pensacola. The baby boy came as a shock to his mother, who didn't realize she was pregnant and instead thought she had eaten bad Chinese food. (Photo: Courtesy of Brian Westerfield on Facebook) "The stomach pains were just excruciating and I could hardly move," Amerson said. "I think it was about 6:30 (a.m.) when (the ambulance) got there. ... It escalated so quickly that I was having contractions and we figured out kind of what was going on because at first we really didn't know what was going on." So how was it possible that Amerson didn't realize she was pregnant? Amerson had already been through one pregnancy but said she was never the type to feel a lot of the symptoms typically aligned with pregnancy, such as morning sickness. She also said she didn't notice much weight gain. "I gained a little bit of weight, but I think with my first baby I didn't notice either," Amerson said. "I never gained that pregnancy shape, really. And then I wear scrubs to work because I work at a retirement home for Alzheimer's and dementia patients. So I guess the way they fit me as well, it was hard to notice anything or tell anything." Dr. Julie DeCesare, an obstetrician-gynecologist with Sacred Heart Hospital, said it is possible for a woman to learn of her pregnancy just hours before going into labor, but in her 20 years of practice, she's only witnessed it three times. "Sometimes a woman doesn't have a normal menstrual cycle so they don't notice when they don't have a period," DeCesare said. "Or they use a method of contraceptive so they think they can't get pregnant, but then that method fails. Or some I've seen are just flat out in denial." More: Escambia County Sheriff's Office deputies help deliver a baby on Michigan Avenue Amerson was a rare exception to the traditional pregnancy. When it comes to warning signs, DeCesare said it is very unusual for fetal movement to go unnoticed by a pregnant woman, especially one with more than one pregnancy under her belt. "Usually by 20 weeks you can feel the baby kicking," DeCesare said. "You can feel the baby move about 12-14 weeks in, usually, with a second or third baby. With a first baby it often takes longer." At 6:59 a.m. Sunday, Oliver James was born in the back of an ambulance, a short way from the home of Amerson and her fiance, Brian Westerfield. Oliver was 18.9 inches and 5.27 pounds. Amerson said the EMT who helped deliver Oliver had never delivered a baby solo before, so there were a lot of firsts that morning. As for the Chinese food, Great China on West Nine Mile Road won't be receiving a negative Yelp review. It was a false alarm, Great China, you're good. Regardless, Amerson said she thinks she'll lay off the Chinese for a while. "That's what I was telling my mother-in-law, I think I'm traumatized from Chinese food," Amerson said. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to look at it the same way again." Jake Newby can be reached at jnewby@pnj.com or 850-435-8538. Read or Share this story: https://www.pnj.com/story/news/local/2018/03/28/pensacola-mom-didnt-know-baby-way-she-thought-bad-chinese-food-culprit-pensacola-woman-mistakes-37-w/465431002/ ||||| PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — A Florida woman awoke to what she believed were the consequences of a bad dish of General Tso's chicken, but instead had an unexpected baby in arms three hours later. The Pensacola News Journal reports 29-year-old Crystal Gail Amerson thought food poisoning was responsible for the stomach pains that woke her up early Sunday, unaware that she was actually 37 weeks pregnant. An ambulance arrived hours later, as the pain escalated. Her second son, 19-inch (48-centimeter), 5-pound (2.3-kilogram) Oliver James, soon entered the world in the back of the ambulance en route to the hospital. Amerson says she's never felt many pregnancy symptoms and didn't notice much weight gain. Although the Chinese food was absolved of blame, Amerson says she may never look at it the same way again. ___ Information from: Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com

– A Florida woman awoke to what she believed were the consequences of a bad dish of General Tso's chicken, but instead had an unexpected baby in arms three hours later, per the AP. The Pensacola News Journal reports 29-year-old Crystal Gail Amerson thought food poisoning was responsible for the stomach pains that woke her up early Sunday, unaware that she was actually 37 weeks pregnant. An ambulance arrived hours later, as the pain escalated. Her second son, 5-pound Oliver James, soon entered the world in the back of the ambulance en route to the hospital. Amerson says she's never felt many pregnancy symptoms and didn't notice much weight gain. Although the Chinese food was absolved of blame, Amerson says she may never look at it the same way again.

The mother of an Alabama boy held for days in an underground bunker said in an interview broadcast Wednesday that she forgave her son's captor early in the standoff and asked authorities not to harm him. In this photo provided by the Governor's office, six-year-old Ethan Gilman plays under the table during a visit to the Governor's Office in Montgomery, Ala. on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2012. Ethan was held... (Associated Press) In this photo provided by the Governor's office, Gov. Robert Bentley, left, draws with 6-year-old Ethan Gilman during a visit to the Governor's Office in Montgomery, Ala. on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2012.... (Associated Press) In this photo provided by the Governor's office, from right to left, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley and First Lady Dianne Bentley watch as Ethan Gilman shows his mother, Jennifer Kirkland, a toy mouse Bentley... (Associated Press) Jennifer Kirkland's son, Ethan Gilman, was a captive for six days in rural Midland City, Ala., before FBI agents entered the bunker and killed 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes. Dykes "took care of Ethan to the best of his abilities" by cooking chicken for the boy and asking hostage negotiators to bring the child his favorite toy car, his mother told Dr. Phil McGraw in an interview for the "Dr. Phil Show." "From the very beginning I had already forgiven Mr. Dykes, even though he still had my child," Kirkland said. "...I asked that he not be hurt. But if it came down to it, you know, of course I want my child safe." Authorities returned Ethan unharmed after a gunbattle in which Dykes, according to a coroner, was shot multiple times. Kirkland said her son, who turned 6 just two days after the rescue, told her that he witnessed the shooting. Members of the rescue team used stun grenades to disorient Dykes, who had a gun and had become agitated with negotiators, before rushing into the bunker, she said. "They went in and covered Ethan with a vest and they shot Mr. Dykes," Kirkland said. Ethan saw the agents kill his captor, his mother said, just as days earlier he had witnessed Dykes storm onto his school bus and fatally shoot the driver, Charles Albert Poland Jr. Poland and Ethan had become close, Kirkland said, as the driver had helped the boy work up the courage to get off the bus by himself. "Ethan has always been scared of coming down the bus steps," Kirkland said. "And Mr. Poland would always cheer him on, you know, `Come on, little buddy, you can do it.'" Ethan typically sat right behind Poland on the school bus, where the driver could keep an eye on him, Kirkland said. That's where the boy was sitting the day police say Dykes came aboard the bus armed with a gun and demanding two hostages. Authorities say Poland was shot trying to stand between Dykes and the children. "The reason I think Ethan was taken off the bus is because when he saw Mr. Poland shot, Ethan passed out," Kirkland said. "Mr. Dykes went down to catch him and he picked him up. And I think, in his own way, he was trying to care for him." After the shooting, authorities say, Dykes fled to the bunker with the child as the standoff opened. ||||| MIDLAND CITY, Alabama -- Ethan, the 6-year-old held hostage in an underground bunker for seven days, whispered to his mother, “My bus driver is dead” in an interview with Dr. Phil, which aired today. His mother, Jennifer Kirkland, nodded her head not knowing what to say. Kirkland and Ethan’s interview with Dr. Phil McGraw took place just four days after Ethan was freed from the underground bunker and his captor, Jimmy Lee Dykes, shot. Kirkland told Dr. Phil that she hadn’t discussed the ordeal with her son. She said she didn’t know how to talk to her son since she had never been through that situation. Kirkland said Ethan did see his bus driver, Charles Albert Poland Jr., and his captor shot and killed. Dr. Phil advised Kirkland that she shouldn’t ask Ethan to recount the details of what happened in the bunker. He said let the details of what happened “decay in his young mind.” “If he needs to cry, cry with him,” Dr. Phil said. “It is OK to cry.” Dr. Phil told Kirkland to reassure her son and let him know that he is OK now, and that he was missed when he was gone. Kirkland described the day Ethan was taken. She said Ethan usually returned home on the school bus between 3:45 and 4 p.m. On Jan. 29, the day Ethan was snatched off his school bus, Kirkland said she started pacing in her front yard when his school bus had not arrived by 4:15 p.m. She said a neighbor walked out and said the bus driver had been shot. A short time later, a police car pulled up in front of her home and a deputy and Ethan’s principal Phillip Parker got out and told Kirkland to come with them. “At that point I didn’t know what it is but I knew it involved Ethan,” Kirkland said to Dr. Phil. “I was scared that maybe one of the shots may have missed Mr. Poland and had hit Ethan.” Kirkland was taken to a police department and told that Ethan was believed to be safe but he was being held hostage. “I honestly can’t describe it,” she said of the feeling of having her son taken away.” No one can express how you feel. He is my baby. He is my world - my everything. Everything I do I do for him. I was afraid I wouldn’t get him back.” Kirkland said she couldn’t help but think that Dykes had shot and killed Poland so what reason did Dykes have to free her son. Kirkland said she thinks her son made it through the ordeal by adapting. “Ethan is a loving, forgiving child," she said. He is likely to go up to a perfect stranger and ask for a hug. She thinks Ethan was taken by Dykes because he fainted. And, Dykes took care of him because he felt sorry for him due to his bipolar disorder, Asperger’s Syndrome and ADHD, which required him to take medication. Kirkland said Dykes even cooked fried chicken for her son. By the last day, Kirkland said she couldn’t get comfortable in her own skin. “I was beginning to doubt that I would get Ethan back,” she said. Kirkland had been told that Dykes had enough water and food in his bunker to last for months. She told Dr. Phil that there was no way she could have made it that long. She wanted to speak to Dykes, but wasn’t allowed to. Law enforcement didn’t want her to do anything that could get a reaction from her son which then could affect Dykes. Kirkland said Ethan wasn’t physically hurt except for a skinned knee, a rash and ant bites. When she saw him for the first time after his release, Ethan was coloring and putting stickers on people in the emergency room of the hospital. Kirkland told her son that she missed him. He said he missed her, too. Dr. Phil pledged to Kirkland that he would continue to assist the family and help Ethan continue to heal. (Article was updated at 1:21 a.m. to correct a typo).

– Jennifer Kirkland quickly forgave Jimmy Lee Dykes for taking her child hostage in Alabama for almost a week, she says. Dykes, who cooked for Ethan Gilman and asked authorities to pass him a favorite toy, "took care of Ethan to the best of his abilities," Kirkland told Dr. Phil McGraw. "From the very beginning I had already forgiven Mr. Dykes, even though he still had my child." Ethan saw Dykes die at the hands of authorities, Kirkland said, per the AP. Days before, he had seen his bus driver shot by Dykes. The driver, Charles Albert Poland, had been a friend to Ethan, who often sat near him while riding, Kirkland noted—as on the day of the shooting. "The reason I think Ethan was taken off the bus is because when he saw Mr. Poland shot, Ethan passed out," his mother said. "Mr. Dykes went down to catch him and he picked him up. And I think, in his own way, he was trying to care for him." During the interview, Ethan whispered to her, "My bus driver is dead," AL.com reports.

This image released by Paramount Pictures shows, from left, Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael in a scene from "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows." The movie opened to $35.3 million according to comScore estimates Sunday, June 5, 2016, close to half of what the first film opened... (Associated Press) This image released by Paramount Pictures shows, from left, Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael in a scene from "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows." The movie opened to $35.3... (Associated Press) ||||| Skip Ad Ad Loading... x Embed x Share The Turtles are back in this action-packed adventure. VPC Leonardo, Michelangelo and Donatello take to the skies in 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.' (Photo: Lula Carvalho) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows won the weekend box office with $35.3 million, according to studio estimates. But it was a shell of its former self. The sequel fell fall short of 2014's first Ninja Turtles reboot with producer Michael Bay, which opened with $65 million on its way to $493 million at the worldwide box office. "In 2014, people were running out to see Ninja Turtles out of nostalgia for the past movies and the TV show," says Jeff Bock, box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. "But the fans are clearly not as enthusiastic about one movie every two years. This is a lesson for Hollywood, which is suffering with sequels this summer." In TMNT2, the sewer-dwelling crime fighters did improve in terms of audience reaction. Moviegoers gave the 2014 version a B grade on CinemaScore, while the 2016 sequel received an A-. But critics still loathed Out of the Shadows, branding it with a lowly 37% approval rating on review aggregate site RottenTomatoes. Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin in 'Me Before You.' (Photo: Alex Bailey, Warner Bros.) The latest installment of the X-Men franchise, X-Men: Apocalypse, earned $22.3 million in its second weekend, bringing it to $116.5 million total. Romantic drama Me Before You, starring Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke and The Hunger Games' Sam Claflin, had a strong third-place debut with $18.3 million. The modestly budgeted love story based on Jojo Moyes' best-selling novel was strong counterprogramming to the big summer releases. "Me Before You was a true bright spot in this weekend's box-office derby that clearly struck a chord with audiences looking for something completely different from the typical summer fare," says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore. "This paid off big." Me Before You faltered with critics, receiving a 55% positive rating on RottenTomatoes, but scored an A with devoted audiences on CinemaScore. Alice Through the Looking Glass took fourth with $10.7 million ($50.8 million total) in its second weekend. The sequel to 2010's Alice in Wonderland has disappointed domestically since opening Memorial Day weekend. The animated Angry Birds Movie rounded out the top five with $9.8 million. The PG-rated screen adaptation of the popular game app has earned $86.7 million in three weeks. 'Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping' is headlined by musical digital-shorts superstars Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, collectively known as the Lonely Island. (Photo: Glen Wilson, Universal Pictures) Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping landed out of the top five in its opening weekend, ranking No. 8 with $4.6 million for the pop music mockumentary from the comedy trio known as the Lonely Island (Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer). Even positive reviews and knocks at a Justin Bieber-esque star (played by Samberg) couldn't bring in the audience. "It's a low opening gross, but I haven't written it off," Dergarabedian says. "This movie could turn into a cult classic eventually on the small screen." Popstar scored a 78% critical rating on RottenTomatoes and a B with CinemaScore audiences. Final numbers are expected Monday. Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1sYKabw

– The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise appears to be debuting in half-lives, with Out of the Shadows scoring a $35.3 million win at this weekend's box office that was a sharp drop from the first reboot's $65 million. "In 2014, people were running out to see Ninja Turtles out of nostalgia for the past movies and TV show," an analyst tells USA Today. "But the fans are clearly not as enthusiastic about one every two years. This is a lesson for Hollywood, which is suffering with sequels this summer." Speaking of sequels, X-Men: Apocalypse took a mighty tumble to No. 2 with $22.3 million, reports the AP, while Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke pulled off a surprisingly strong third-place finish with $18.3 million in the romance Me Before You. Also of note: Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping took eighth place with $4.6 million.

ZAWIYAH, Libya — In the second-floor office of a burned-out police station here, the photographs strewn across the floor spun out the stories of the unlucky prisoners who fell into the custody of the brutal government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi . Some depicted corpses bearing the marks of torture. One showed scars down the back of a man dressed only in his underwear, another a naked man face down under a sheet with his hands bound. The faces of the dead bore expressions of horror. Other pictures showed puddles of blood, a table of jars, bottles and powders and, in one, a long saw. In a labyrinthine basement, workers were clearing out burned books and files. One room contained a two-liter bottle of gin. Gesturing into another room that was kept dark, a worker mimicked a gun with his hands and murmured “Qaddafi,” suggesting it was an execution chamber. A spokesman in Tripoli for the Qaddafi government said Wednesday that the photographs depicted crime victims or crime scenes, not scenes of torture. But the marks and bindings on some of the bodies appeared to depict captives, and the origin of the photographs could not be verified. Journalists discovered the photographs and records on an official trip to this devastated city, where Qaddafi forces battled rebels for nearly a week to retake control. They were the latest reminder of the long record of arbitrary violence against civilians that now overshadows the government’s efforts to broker an end to the international airstrikes and domestic rebellion threatening Colonel Qaddafi’s four decades in power. As Colonel Qaddafi’s son, Seif al-Islam, promised in a television interview to usher in a new era of constitutional democracy in which his father would be a mere figurehead “like the queen of England,” the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court escalated international pressure on the government by declaring that it had deliberately ordered the killing of civilians in a bid to hold back the democratic revolution sweeping the region. “We have evidence that after the Tunisia and Egypt conflicts, people in the regime were planning how to control demonstrations in Libya,” the prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, told Reuters. “The shootings of civilians was a predetermined plan.” In the rebel-held city of Misrata in western Libya and on the eastern front with the rebels around the oil town of Brega, Qaddafi forces continued to hammer rebels with rockets, artillery and mortars, as rebel leaders expressed exasperation at the limits of NATO’s support. In Brussels, Brig. Gen. Mark van Uhm of NATO said Tuesday that Western airstrikes had destroyed about 30 percent of Colonel Qaddafi’s military power. But Gen. Abdul Fattah Younes, the head of the rebel army, lashed out at his Western allies during a news conference in Benghazi, accusing NATO of tardiness and indecision. “What is NATO doing?” he asked. “Civilians are dying every day. They use the excuse of collateral damage.” He charged that NATO was enforcing the United Nations-sanctioned no-fly zone too equally, barring the rebels from providing cover for their troops with the few warplanes he said they had repaired. “They said, ‘No, don’t use your planes,’ ” he said. General Younes also charged that Qaddafi forces had attacked oil installations in southeastern Libya, “to deprive the Libyan people from their right of selling the oil.” He said the damage was “not significant.” Nor was there was any sign Tuesday of the air power that two weeks ago sent the loyalist forces reeling toward the Qaddafi stronghold of Surt. Instead, they hammered rebels once again along the coastal road around the strategic oil town of Brega, more than 100 miles to the east. On Tuesday the Qaddafi forces reversed some minor rebel gains with rocket attacks and pushed vehicle patrols northeast from their positions. They forced the rebels to withdraw nearly to Ajdabiya, to be safely out of the superior range of the loyalist forces’ weapons. Resting on dunes and knolls, soldiers peered down the road toward Brega nervously. They said that it appeared that the Qaddafi forces, less pressured now by airstrikes, had managed to resupply their forward troops, and were emboldened and dangerous. The rebels had pulled back so quickly under fire that their casualties on Tuesday were light, said Dr. Habib Multadi, who was organizing the evacuation of wounded from the front. But as cargo trucks moved more ammunition forward at dusk, their force seemed stuck. In the rebel capital, Benghazi, a military spokesman said he was not ashamed to admit that the rebel forces needed help. ||||| THE HAGUE The International Criminal Court prosecutor said on Tuesday Libyan authorities had decided they were ready to kill unarmed protestors opposed to Muammar Gaddafi's rule even before unrest spread from Tunisia and Egypt. ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said the plan, which the government of Gaddafi began developing in January, authorized the use of tear gas and, if necessary, killings. His comments mark the first time since Libya was referred to The Hague-based institution in February that a senior international legal official has said evidence exists the Gaddafi government planned to kill its own people, although Western political leaders have previously alluded to this. "We have evidence that after the Tunisia and Egypt conflicts in January, people in the regime were planning how to control demonstrations inside Libya," Moreno-Ocampo told Reuters. "They were hiding that from people outside and they were planning how to manage the crowds ... the evidence we have is that the shooting of civilians was a pre-determined plan." "The planning at the beginning was to use tear gas and (if that failed to work)..., shooting," he added. The U.N. Security Council last month authorized "all necessary measures" to protect civilians under threat of attack in Libya, opening the way for air strikes on government military targets, a no-fly zone and an arms embargo. Gaddafi, his sons and key aides are under investigation by Moreno-Ocampo over the violent crackdown on protestors, which Britain says has cost at least 1,000 lives, and Moreno-Ocampo has said he will request arrest warrants in the coming weeks. The prosecutor said defection from the Gaddafi camp would be viewed as a mitigating circumstance in the investigation but it was up to the U.N. Security Council to decide on any political deal with the Gaddafi authorities. The U.N. Security Council referred Libya to the court on February 26 and can suspend ICC investigations for 12 months at a time. Moreno-Ocampo said he was keen to speak with Moussa Koussa, the Libyan foreign minister who defected to London last month, saying he opposed attacks by Gaddafi's forces on civilians. Investigators were assessing who was most responsible for attacks on civilians, but Moreno-Ocampo said that it was too early to say whether Koussa would be granted immunity or what impact his defection might have on the ICC investigation. "The fact is that when we warned different people, including Moussa Koussa, that the troops were committing crimes, if someone cannot control them, defecting is a valid option and that is what Moussa Koussa did. We will see what responsibility he had," he said. "We would like to see what Moussa Koussa knows. But the fact that he defected is a factor we will consider seriously." ICC investigators say at least 565 unarmed civilians were killed in Libya between February 15 and February 28 but Moreno-Ocampo also raised concern about abductions, torture and killing of people in Tripoli considered disloyal to the Gaddafi regime. Although high-profile defections have undermined Gaddafi, diplomatic efforts to end the war have stalled even as Western forces continue a campaign of air strikes. Some Western officials say threat of an appearance at The Hague-based court is an obstacle to persuading Gaddafi and his entourage to go into exile, and other top aides to defect. But Moreno-Ocampo said such considerations were for others: "We have judicial responsibilities. We collect evidence and present to the judges. Political responsibilities are in the hands of the Security Council." According to some legal observers, the threat of an arrest warrant could be used as leverage in any political negotiations to end the violence. The Security Council could suspend the ICC investigation to allow Gaddafi to leave power, or rule out an international intervention to arrest the veteran leader. That last option could allow Gaddafi to travel to any of the 80 states that have yet to sign up to the ICC, leaving the way open to him departing into exile, though Moreno-Ocampo said it was not his place to negotiate such matters. "The political responsibilities are in the hands of the Security Council ... any political decision will be taken by the Security Council, not by me," Moreno-Ocampo said.

– In pictures uncovered by journalists in Zawiyah, the dead prisoners of Moammar Gadhafi's forces are shown naked or clad only in underwear, hands bound, backs scarred. Other pictures depict ominous scenes: Puddles of blood, a saw. The pictures were discovered in a burned-out police station, where one worker pointed to a dark room and implied it was used to execute prisoners. After nearly a week of fighting, Gadhafi's forces retook Zawiyah from the rebels, leaving the city devastated, the New York Times reports. Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court has ratcheted up pressure on Libya's government, claiming it ordered the killing of civilians in order to keep a lid on the unrest rapidly moving across the region. "We have evidence that after the Tunisia and Egypt conflicts, people in the regime were planning how to control demonstrations in Libya,” the ICC prosecutor told Reuters. “The shootings of civilians was a predetermined plan.” Gadhafi's forces are still hammering rebels in Misrata and Brega as rebel leaders pushed NATO to give them more support.

A budget planning guide from McDonald's for its employees, shown above, caught flak this past week for being out of touch. For starters, it didn't account for food and gasoline. The second line on the sample budget leaves room for income from a second job, which many called an admission by the fast food giant that its workers can't live on its wages alone. McDonald's (MCD) said in a statement that the sample is a generic example and is intended to provide a general outline of what an individual budget may look like. Four real McDonald's workers shared their budgets with us, shedding light on how far their wages actually go. ||||| The more we hear about McDonald's HR resource center, appropriately titled McResources, the more we learn about the darkness of the human soul. Almost one month to the day after learning that their help center tells its employees to sign up for food stamps, Mickey D's has struck again. This time their website suggests its hungry, underpaid employees to break their food up into smaller bites so that it "results in eating less and still feeling full." The New York Times's Steve Greenhouse, a labor reporter, tweeted this screenshot of the McResources page that has many people aghast. And here's a closer look of that "advice" in question: Greenhouse says McDonald's is actually giving "Ralph" advice on how to "avoid hunger & stretch food budget." In other words, an ultra-profitable company that makes really cheap, calorie-laden food is telling its own employees to nibble here and there to avoid feeling hunger pangs, instead of feeding them more nutritious food or paying them a living wage. But is this really what's going on? Is this the same as Wal-Mart holding a food drive for its own struggling workers? When you try and rationalize the language, the only other believable theory that makes sense is that this is more diet advice than hunger/budget advice. Maybe it's some health-initiative targeting excessive snacking, and maybe McDonald's is just looking out for the health of its employees? Maybe. However, even in that case, they are a food company. Either way, it's not a good look for a Fortune 500 company. After all, it was revealed recently that McDonald's HR helpers actually advise employees to go on food stamps if they're struggling with bills. A help-line call leaked by a fair-pay advocacy group captured a McResources HR operator acknowledging that 10-year employee doesn't make a lot of money and also urging that employee to sign up for federal benefits. Ergo, if McResources operators know that their employees are struggling to make ends meet and pay for food, then it wouldn't be too far-fetched for that company to also tell them how to stretch their budget too. ||||| Economy McDonald’s Advice To Underpaid Employees: Sell Your Christmas Presents For Cash CREDIT: Fast food workers strike in New York in May (Credit: Salon) Tis the season for holiday spirit: Yule logs, egg nog, festive lights and exchanging gifts with loved ones. If you work for McDonald’s, though, be sure to save those receipts. McDonald’s McResource Line, a dedicated website run by the world’s largest fast-food chain to provide its 1.8 million employees with financial and health-related tips, offers a full page of advice for “Digging Out From Holiday Debt.” Among their helpful holiday tips: “Selling some of your unwanted possessions on eBay or Craigslist could bring in some quick cash.” Elsewhere on the site, McDonald’s encourages its employees to break apart food when they eat meals, as “breaking food into pieces often results in eating less and still feeling full.” And if they are struggling to stock their shelves with food in the first place, the company offers assistance for workers applying for food stamps. McDonald’s corporate officers have a history of offering questionable advice to their low-wage workers. Four months ago, the company partnered with Visa to distribute a sample “budget.” In it, the chain suggested that workers needn’t pay for such frivolous expenses like their heating bills, and factored in a monthly rent of $600. To workers living in New York City (home of 350+ stores) and other expensive metropolises, that number is almost comical. McDonald’s employees are some of the most underpaid workers in the country. The company’s cashiers and “team members” earn, on average, $7.75 an hour, just 50 cents higher than the federal minimum wage. Responding to rising living costs, many stores have staged walk-outs, strikes and protests, demanding a living wage. In Europe, where the minimum wage for employees is $12, customers pay just pennies more than their American counterparts for the same menu items, while the stores themselves typically bring in higher profit margins than ones in the United States. Of course, McDonalds has shown little willingness to negotiate higher salaries for their poorest workers even as labor rights groups up the pressure. Instead, their website has another piece of advice for people who are stressed about their meager paychecks: “Quit complaining,” the site suggests. “Stress hormones levels rise by 15% after 10 minutes of complaining.”

– More handy financial advice from McDonald's, which recently suggested its workers might want to get second jobs: The chain's McResource tip website says readers can make money in a pinch by selling "unwanted possessions on eBay or Craigslist." The advice comes in a section on "Digging Out From Holiday Debt," ThinkProgress reports. A separate suggestion from the site on how to "avoid hunger & stretch food budget": "Breaking food into pieces often results in eating less and still feeling full." This comes shortly after it emerged that McDonald's was advising workers to get on food stamps, the Wire notes. CNNMoney, meanwhile, compares the budgets of real McDonald's workers to the sample budget the company recently issued. The differences are drastic; for instance, food is reportedly the top monthly cost for most workers CNNMoney interviewed, and it doesn't appear at all on the sample budget. (Meanwhile, Mickey Dee's isn't the only corporation getting kicked for hamfisted efforts at helping workers.)

President-elect Donald Trump’s team is considering moving the press briefing room out of the White House's West Wing, according to Trump's incoming chief of staff, Reince Priebus. When asked about an Esquire magazine report that the incoming administration plans to move the press room out of the West Wing to the Old Executive Office Building next door, Priebus told ABC's George Stephanopoulos on "This Week", "The one thing that we discussed was whether or not we want to do conferences in the [Executive Office Building]." "Which, by the way, is the White House," Priebus added. "So no one is moving out of the White House. That is the White House, where you can fit four times the amount of people in the press conference, allowing more press, more press coverage from all over the country to have those press conferences. That's what we're talking about." Situated just to the west of the White House at 1650 Pennsylvania Ave., the Old Executive Office Building houses White House offices and staff, but is a physically separate building. The news of a possible change in venue for White House press corps briefings comes after a very contentious first press conference by the president-elect last week. “I know some of the folks in the press are uptight about this and I understand,” Priebus said on “This Week.” “The only thing that's been discussed is whether or not the initial press conferences are going to be in that small press room. For the people listening to this that don't know this, the press room that people see on TV is very, very tiny -- 49 people fit in that press room.” “We had like 500 or 600 folks at the press conference last week so we started thinking, 'Man alive, if we can have more people involved than less people involved, that would be a good thing' -- that's what this is about, George,” Priebus said. Priebus added that the change in venue would allow for more press coverage and greater access by journalists. Incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer gave a statement to ABC News following the report in Esquire. "While no decisions have been made, there is enormous interest in covering Donald Trump and his agenda to improve the lives of every American," Spicer's statement said. "The current briefing room only has 49 seats so we have looked at rooms within the White House to conduct briefings that have additional capacity to accommodate members of media including talk radio, bloggers and others." Meanwhile, the president of the White House Correspondents Association, an organization of journalists who cover the White House and president, said he plans to meet with Trump's incoming press secretary on the issue. In a statement to the media, association President Jeff Mason said he is seeking "clarity" about reports that the press-briefing room may be moved. Mason also made it clear that the association's preference is to keep the press room where it is. "The briefing room is open now to all reporters who request access. We support that and always will. The WHCA will fight to keep the briefing room and West Wing access to senior administration officials open. We object strenuously to any move that would shield the president and his advisers from the scrutiny of an on-site White House press corps," the statement concluded. ABC News' Michael Edison Hayden, Katherine Faulders and Alexander Mallin contributed to this report. ||||| The upset to the existing order caused by the presidential election has been acutely felt by no one, perhaps, so much as it has by the national press. At Donald Trump's press conference on Wednesday, reporters found themselves not only subject to a scolding ("Fake news!" "Disgraceful!") but also awakened to the strong suggestion that, at least in tactical terms, the showdown had been won by the president-elect. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below The media's sense of dislocation may soon become literal. According to three senior officials on the transition team, a plan to evict the press corps from the White House is under serious consideration by the incoming Trump Administration. If the plan goes through, one of the officials said, the media will be removed from the cozy confines of the White House press room, where it has worked for several decades. Members of the press will be relocated to the White House Conference Center—near Lafayette Square—or to a space in the Old Executive Office Building, next door to the White House. "There has been no decision," Sean Spicer, Trump's press secretary, said about the plan today. But Spicer acknowledged that "there has been some discussion about how to do it." Getty Images Spicer cast the possible relocation of the press corps as a matter, in part, of logistics. "There's been so much interest in covering a President Donald Trump," he said. "A question is: Is a room that has forty-nine seats adequate? When we had that press conference the other day, we had thousands of requests, and we capped it at four hundred. Is there an opportunity to potentially allow more members of the media to be part of this? That's something we're discussing." Another senior official, however, suggested a more pointed motivation for the move. According to the official, the potential relocation reflected a view within the transition team that coverage of Trump has been so hostile as to indicate that the press has abandoned its role as neutral observer. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below "They are the opposition party," a senior official says. "I want 'em out of the building. We are taking back the press room." Reporters have had some sort of workspace at the White House since Teddy Roosevelt's time, but the current press room is an artifact of the Richard Nixon era, the dawn of the symbiosis of the press and the modern presidency. The "room" is actually a space containing work stations and broadcast booths, as well as the briefing area that is so familiar to viewers of presidential news conferences. "I want 'em out of the building. We are taking back the press room." For the media, the White House press room—situated on the first floor, in the space between the presidential residence and the West Wing—is not only a convenience, with prime sources just steps away. It is also a symbol of the press' cherished role as representatives of the American people. In the midst of the George W. Bush presidency, when relations between reporters and the Administration were growing testy, the White House press corps was removed from the press room for nearly a year, while the facility was remodeled. The move prompted such concern that the president himself had to offer his assurance that it was only temporary. (As it happened, press conferences were held at the White House Conference Center during the renovation). Trump himself, of course, is in many ways a creature of the press, and it remains to be seen whether he will sign off on a plan that puts more distance between him and the cameras whose attention he has long sought. But for some Trump officials, the media's presumption of entitlement all but requires a change. If there is a credo that reflects the culture inside the James Brady Briefing Room (named after President Ronald Reagan's first press secretary, who was wounded by a bullet meant for Reagan), it is that presidents come, and presidents go, but the White House press corps is forever. In that sentiment, some in the transition team discern precisely the attitude that led to the revolt that elected Trump president. ||||| The sense of alarm was clear last week when more than 100 reporters showed up to a routine meeting of the White House Correspondents’ Association. The group, which promotes reporters’ access to presidential administrations, pledged to be vigilant about responding to any erosion of press freedoms. “We are all in this together,” said Jeff Mason of Reuters, the group’s president. Since the 1970s, reporters from broadcast, print and radio outlets have worked in small cubicles on the former site of a West Wing swimming pool. The reporters can walk, without a security escort, to the offices of White House press aides and the press secretary to check in on developments or to pick up the latest gossip. It was not clear on Sunday whether the administration’s idea to relocate the White House press corps might extend to evicting reporters from their office space. “That hasn’t been determined,” Mr. Priebus told Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Later, on ABC’s “This Week,” Mr. Priebus said, “The only thing that’s been discussed is whether or not the initial press conferences are going to be in that small press room.” Few presidents relish sharing their home with reporters who are responsible for questioning their every move. But journalists have been granted space in the White House since the William McKinley administration, and their presence is seen as a potent symbol of a president’s willingness to be held to account. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. Sean Spicer, the incoming White House press secretary, issued a statement on Sunday that did not address the issue of a dedicated work space. “While no decisions have been made, there is enormous interest in covering Donald Trump,” he wrote. “The current briefing room only has 49 seats, so we have looked at rooms within the White House to conduct briefings that have additional capacity.” In a two-hour meeting on Sunday, Mr. Mason told Mr. Spicer that it would be “unacceptable” to evict reporters from their work space. Mr. Spicer did not appear to disavow such a plan, only agreeing to discuss any changes ahead of time. “We object strenuously to any move that would shield the president and his advisers from the scrutiny of an on-site White House press corps,” Mr. Mason wrote in an email. Mr. Trump’s communications team has pledged to shake up the status quo, inviting nontraditional journalists, including talk radio hosts and conservative bloggers, to the West Wing and prohibiting television coverage of daily press briefings, an idea that is supported by some former press secretaries of both political parties. Mr. Spicer denounced the news media last week at a news conference, describing CNN and BuzzFeed News as “sad” and “pathetic” for reporting on unverified allegations about Mr. Trump and Russia. Advertisement Continue reading the main story But initial discussions between the White House press corps and the new administration have been described as diplomatic, with Mr. Trump’s team pledging to retain reporters’ access to the president’s motorcade and his flights on Air Force One. Bob Schieffer, a longtime CBS News anchor who has covered eight presidential administrations, said he was not surprised to see tensions between a new president and the news media. “They’re not the first administration that’s come to office thinking they can control every single word that’s said about them,” he said in an interview. “It’s their call, they can do what they want to do, and if the public puts up with it, they’ll continue to do it that way.” But, he added: “If they think they’re not going to get the same intense coverage, they’ve been smoking something.”

– Could reporters covering White House goings-on soon be relegated to standing in front of the fence, much like the New York Times describes reporters in the 1890s? A report published Saturday night by Esquire suggested a move of some sort, with three senior transition team officials telling the magazine discussions have been had to move the press corps out of the 49-seat West Wing press room and to one of two other nearby locations: the White House Conference Center, which was used as a temporary press center during a previous press-room revamp, or the Executive Office Building just west of the White House. The announcement surprised those in the journalism arena, fresh off a contentious press conference the president-elect held earlier in the week. Trump's incoming press secretary Sean Spicer told Esquire the topic had been broached but not decided on. "There's been so much interest in covering a President Donald Trump," he said, attributing a possible move to, among other things, not enough seats to accommodate a growing number of reporters. Another senior official offered a different take, calling the press "the opposition party" and noting, "I want 'em out of the building. We are taking back the press room." Reince Priebus, Trump's incoming chief of staff, tried to assuage jittery feelings Sunday on This Week With George Stephanopoulos, noting a move to the EOB—"which, by the way, is the White House"—had been discussed, and that such a move would offer more access, per ABC News. White House Correspondents' Association President Jeff Mason said in a statement that the WHCA "[objects] strenuously to any move that would shield the president and his advisers from the scrutiny of an on-site White House press corps."

Image copyright Getty Images A man has been killed as at least 1,500 migrants tried to enter the Channel Tunnel in Calais during Tuesday night, French police have said. Eurotunnel, which says incursions are now a nightly occurrence, said migrants had been removed from the site. It advised freight services to consider alternative transport for Wednesday. Sections of the M20 in Kent are closed in both directions for Operation Stack. It comes as the UK government comes under pressure to combat the crisis. Speaking after a meeting of the government's emergency Cobra committee, Home Secretary Theresa May said the UK was pressing for the rapid installation of 1.2 miles of new security fencing which it has pledged to pay for at Coquelles, near the tunnel entrance. Mrs May added there were some migrants "particularly trying to get into the Eurotunnel and on to the trains before that security fencing is going up". France's interior minister said 120 police officers were being sent to Calais to reinforce security at the site. 'Urgent work' The man who died is described as Sudanese, aged between 25 and 30. French police said he was probably crushed by a lorry which was exiting one of the shuttles that transport vehicles through the tunnel. He is the ninth person to die trying to access the tunnel since June. Travel latest M20 closed London-bound from J9 to J8 and closed coast-bound from J8 to J11 Eurotunnel says its passenger services are running, with a delay of two hours on the UK side and one hour on the French side Freight services face a one-hour delay before check-in on the UK side; with an estimated more than six-hour wait to check-in in France P&O ferries and DFDS Seaways say all their services are operating to schedule between Dover and Calais BBC travel information Calais crisis: Advice for travellers Eurotunnel said some 2,000 migrants had tried to get into the terminal on Monday. A spokesman said it was an issue for the government to "sort out", adding. "We need them to stop the migrant flow from Calais but it appears to be too much for them to handle." Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Home Secretary Theresa May: ''Urgent work'' will be carried out to stop migrants boarding trains at Calais Mrs May said some migrants had reached Britain through the Channel Tunnel, but did not say how many had arrived. Speaking after Wednesday's Cobra meeting, she said: "Crucially what we are looking at now is improving security at the railhead at Coquelles, so we can ensure people are not trying to come through the tunnel. "That means some urgent work in government but also with Eurotunnel, and Eurotunnel has a role to play here in the measures they themselves put in place to protect their trains." The Home Office has pledged to spend £7m on 1.2 miles of fencing there. 'Drunk with tiredness' Lorry driver Sean Swan took 23 hours to travel from the M20 to Calais on Tuesday and said he only got through because he was carrying live fish. "I was given a police escort from Junction 8 all the way to Dover, even after making the officer aware that it was now illegal for me to drive. "We bypassed thousands of stranded lorries. At one stage I felt drunk with tiredness at the wheel of a 44 tonne machine." He said in the past month, migrants had managed to board the train on every journey he made from France to Britain. Drivers found with migrants hiding on their vehicles can be fined but many are afraid to challenge them. "They are jemmying the padlocks off, with hammers, crowbars and Stanley knives. "On one side you risk your life and on the other you risk your livelihood." Are you travelling by Eurotunnel? Do you live in the areas affected? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk Whatsapp: +44 7525 900971 Tweet: @BBC_HaveYourSay 'Get a grip' Speaking from Singapore, PM David Cameron said: "I have every sympathy with holidaymakers who are finding access to Calais difficult because of the disturbances there and we will do everything we can to work with the French to bring these things to a conclusion. "There's no point trying to point fingers of blame - it's about working with the French, putting in place these additional security measures, adding in the investment where that's needed. Britain will always come forward with that." Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Peter Whittlesea, in Calais, explains the route many migrants take to gain access to the railway tracks But Labour's interim leader, Harriet Harman, urged the government to "get a grip" as the Calais situation caused a "major problem" for Kent. She said diplomacy with the French had not worked, adding: "What the government should be doing is getting the French to sort out the people who are all massed at Calais to discover - are these people genuine refugees who the French should give asylum to, or are they people who the French need to be deporting?" Meanwhile, Kent Police has reintroduced Operation Stack, leading to long delays for lorries on sections of the M20 near the Channel Tunnel. Richard Burnett, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, which represents lorry drivers, repeated a call for the French military to "contain, segregate and control the situation". And UKIP leader Nigel Farage said the port of Calais had become "virtually lawless", fearing that "unless something radical is done it is only a matter of time before a British holidaymaker or lorry driver dies". He told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme he was surprised the French had not brought in their army to help with the crisis. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Eurotunnel has called on the government to stop the migrant flow from Calais Image copyright Getty Images Image caption An official count in July found about 3,000 migrants were camping in Calais, AFP reported Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Many waited for darkness before trying to access the tunnel entrance on Tuesday night The home secretary held talks on the migrant issue with French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve on Tuesday, saying the two governments were working "in close collaboration and co-operation". An official count at the beginning of July found about 3,000 migrants - mainly from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and Afghanistan - were camping in Calais and trying to get across the Channel, AFP reported. ||||| (CNN) In just the past two days, 3,500 migrants have tried to cross the Channel Tunnel between France and the United Kingdom -- a dangerous breach that has paralyzed traffic and resulted in at least one death, officials said. The tunnel, also known as the Chunnel, runs 50 kilometers (31 miles) from a point near Calais, in northern France, to Folkestone, in southeastern England. On Tuesday night, 1,500 migrants tried to enter the Channel Tunnel, operator Eurotunnel said. It said its teams found a corpse, which French state radio said is the body of a Sudanese migrant. And overnight Monday, 2,000 migrants tried to enter the Channel Tunnel through the French terminal near Calais, Eurotunnel said. Some of those migrants were injured, Eurotunnel France spokeswoman Cecile Carreras said. French authorities and Eurotunnel personnel were able to enter the tunnel and intervene. Cutting through fences Calais police Officer Gilles Debove told French state radio that "2,000 migrants didn't arrive just like that." "We can't possibly imagine it's a wave of 2,000 migrants," Debove said. "Let us be clear: Those are 2,000 intrusions on the site. To compare, about three weeks ago, it was around 500." Debove said about 1,000 migrants had been waiting around the Eurotunnel site and had repeatedly cut fences. Eight recent deaths Calais has long been a gathering place for migrants trying to find a way into the UK. This year alone, Eurotunnel has intercepted 37,000 migrants, the operator said. And the attempted journey has been deadly. Last Friday, a 23-year-old Eritrean woman died after being hit by a car as she was trying to cross into the UK, said Gaetan Genel, a spokesman for France's Nord Pas de Calais region. The woman was the eighth migrant to die since June 1, Genel said. Since her death, Pas de Calais administrator Fabienne Buccio announced new safety measures involving the Chunnel. "The authorities will now work with migrants to inform them about the potential dangers they could face on the A16," Genel said, referring to the road leading to the tunnel. "They need to be aware that they are putting their lives in danger." Genel said Buccio also asked authorities to continue installing barriers and to add lighting, which would allow drivers to see when migrants try to jump onto their trucks at night. An international problem British Home Secretary Theresa May said France and Great Britain agreed to work together "to return migrants, particularly to West Africa, to ensure that people see that making this journey does not lead to them coming to Europe and being able to settle in Europe." She said both countries have invested heavily in tunnel security. "In Calais, the French government has already been pushing in for extra resources and extra police resources," May said. "And the UK government will be pushing up to 17 million pounds ($26.5 million) more to ensure the security of the Eurotunnel." British Prime Minister David Cameron said such security measures include added fencing. He also acknowledged the massive disruption in traffic because of the flood of migrants. "I have every sympathy with holiday makers who are finding access to Calais difficult because of the disturbances there," he said Wednesday. "We will do everything that we can to work with the French and bring these things to a conclusion." But French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the problem extends beyond France and Britain. "If we want to solve this problem in Calais, if we want to prevent the networks of smugglers from driving vulnerable men, women and kids to Calais, we need to work on this problem in its origin," he said. "We need to work on this from the migrants' countries of origin and follow their path which leads to the European territory."

– Some 1,500 migrants tried to storm the tunnel that links Britain and France last night, and French police say one of them, a Sudanese man, was killed by a truck, the BBC reports. The latest attempt follows a Monday night attempt by 2,000 people to storm the area around the tunnel before they were repelled by police. A Eurotunnel rep tells CNN that some of the migrants were injured in the Monday night incident, and mass attempts to storm the area in Calais, northern France, are becoming an almost nightly occurrence. Calais is a key port for sea and land crossings to Britain. In recent months, thousands of migrants from Eritrea, Sudan, and beyond have camped out around the city. Some try to sneak across the English Channel by getting on trucks and freight trains. The encampments have soured relations between Britain and France, which blame each other for failing to cope with the crisis. The BBC reports that the man killed last night was the ninth person killed trying to enter the tunnel area since June.

A "brave little girl" who survived a deadly plane crash in a wooded area of western Kentucky on Friday walked away from the wreckage to seek help at a stranger's doorstep. Larry Wilkins, 71, was watching the local news at his Buckberry Trail home at around 6:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. ET) when he said he heard a knock. "The little girl come to my door," Wilkins told NBC News in a telephone interview late Friday. "She was bleeding pretty bad, her legs were bleeding, her face had a bloody nose. She was barefoot, only had one sock on." "She told me that her mom and her dad were dead, and she was in a plane crash, and the plane was upside down," he said. "She asked if she could stay here. I said, 'Honey, what can I do for you?' I got a wash cloth and cleaned her up. And of course called 911." A search was launched, and the wreckage of a Piper PA-34 aircraft and the bodies of four people were later found in a heavily wooded area near Buckberry Trail in Lyon County, Kentucky State Police said. Marty Gutzler, 48, and Kimberly Gutzler, 46; their daughter, 9-year-old Piper Gutzler; and Sierra Walder, 14, Piper's cousin were killed in the crash, according to state police. The identity of the 7-year-old survivor was not released. The victims were from Nashville, Illinois, police said. A Facebook photo showing Marty and Kim Gutzler. Facebook The girl was treated at Lourdes Hospital in Paducah, Kentucky, for non-life-threatening injuries and released early Saturday morning, according to a statement from state police. The statement said the plane was flying from Key West, Florida, to Mount Vernon, Illinois, when it crashed. The FAA lost contact with the plane at about 5:55 p.m. local time, shortly after the pilot reported engine problems, authorities said. Federal Aviation Administration authorities arrived on the scene of the crash on Saturday morning and National Transportation Safety Board investigators were expected to arrive later in the day, police said. After Wilkins called 911, police arrived within minutes, he said. "The little girl was so shook up we couldn't understand much of what she said," he said. Wilkins said he didn't hear anything out of the ordinary before the girl knocked on his door. He said the area was recently hit by an ice storm that had knocked down trees in the woods nearby, making the terrain even more rugged. He wishes he could have done more for the girl before she was taken to the hospital. "I felt so sorry for her, tears come to my eyes," Wilkins said. "Seven years old. Brave little girl." NBC News' Christopher Nelson and Krista Brunson contributed to this report. ||||| (CNN) The knock was faint. But, alerted by his two dachshunds, Larry Wilkins went to his door and opened it to see a young girl -- her lips quivering, her nose bloodied, her arms and legs scratched up. And, somehow, still alive. "She told me that her mom and dad were dead," Wilkins said of the girl, Sailor Gutzler. "And that she had been in a plane crash." The girl's sister and cousin also died when their Piper PA-34 aircraft went down Friday evening in western Kentucky. Even with the plane upside down, the 7-year-old made it out and trekked three-quarters of a mile in the dark through what Wilkins described as "very, very rough territory," mired with fallen trees, creeks, ditches and blackberry briars. Sailor was barefoot except for one sock and was dressed for Florida -- shorts, no coat -- not for slogging through the January cold of Kentucky. Wilkins got her on his couch and called 911, alerting authorities that a plane had gone down and there was at least one survivor. Kentucky State Police troopers arrived in about 10 minutes. Sgt. Dean Patterson said the girl was taken to a local hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. "She's a terribly brave little girl, I'll tell you that," Wilkins said. "I can't imagine a 7-year-old doing that." FAA: Pilot reported engine problems The plane Sailor was on had left the warm, sunny climes of Key West, Florida, earlier Friday, heading for Mount Vernon, Illinois, a city roughly 80 miles east of St. Louis. Until something went wrong. Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen explained that air traffic controllers "lost contact with a Piper PA-34 aircraft ... shortly after the pilot reported engine problems and (said) that he was diverting to the Kentucky Dam State (Park) Airport." The twin-engine aircraft didn't make it, crashing in Lyon County, about 30 miles east of Paducah, and less than 10 miles from the airport. Two National Transportation Safety Board members left Washington late Saturday morning for Kentucky, agency spokesman Keith Holloway said. They will join FAA investigators there to try to find out what caused the crash. Kentucky State Police identified the dead early Saturday as Marty Gutzler, 48; Kimberly Gutzler, 46; and 9-year-old Piper Gutzler -- a husband, wife and their daughter. Also killed was 14-year-old Sierra Wilder, the survivor's cousin. All were from Nashville, Illinois, a community of just over 3,000 people. Kimberly and Marty Gutzler in a photo from his Facebook page. Lt. Brent White told CNN affiliate KFVS that first responders "worked tirelessly to find this wreckage and hopefully salvage the lives of those that were on board." "But, ultimately, it just wasn't meant to be." Their bodies were removed and the plane was covered early Saturday morning, Lyon County Judge Executive Wade White said. Patterson, with the state police, said that members of the NTSB were expected to arrive later in the day. Inclement weather was hampering the investigation, he said in a statement. "Officials have indicated a minimum of two days to conduct an investigation at the scene," he said. Marty Gutzler's Facebook page showed photos of his smiling daughters, political posts and his family sitting in a small plane with him at the controls. The latest one is of him and his wife celebrating New Year's Eve at a Key West resort. The Rev. Matthew Wietfeldt of Nashville's Trinity Lutheran Church said those killed -- whom he's known for four years -- "will be deeply missed." "The Gutzlers were a wonderful family and wonderful members of our congregation and community," Wietfeldt said. Kent Plotner, an attorney representing the family, said in a statement, "The Gutzler family mourns the loss of Marty, Kim and Piper Gutzler and Sierra Wilder. We are devastated by this loss, but are confident that they rest in God's loving arms. We ask that you respect our privacy at this difficult time. Please pray for us, especially for Sailor Gutzler." A fund has been set up "for the benefit of Sailor Gutzler," at sailorgutzlerfund.com , Plotner said. "The family thanks you for the heartfelt words of sympathy that have been expressed during this unimaginable loss," he added. Police: 'It's just really a miracle' How the youngest person on the plane managed to emerge alive also hit close to home for many like Trooper White, who has an 8-year-old girl of his own. "When I saw ... what appeared to be a 7-year-old child that had walked through this dense forest and through some really tough terrain and some awfully poor conditions tonight and survived this," he said, "it's just really a miracle." Wilkins says he believes Sailor saw his street lights through the woods and, thankfully, found him -- in one of only three homes in his neighborhood that are occupied in winter. White, the Lyon County executive, said the fact she went that way "saved her life." "Any other direction could have ended badly with the cold weather," he said. Sailor was released from Lourdes Hospital in Paducah just after 1 a.m. Saturday, state police said. Thinking about what the 7-year-old went through and what comes next brings tears to Wilkins' eyes, he said. "I just feel so sorry for that little girl, I can't understand it," Wilkins said. "I just can't imagine (going through) that, for someone that young."

– A 7-year-old girl survived the crash of a small plane in Kentucky that killed the other four people on board, and she managed to walk to a nearby home for help, say police. Police haven't identified her or her relationship to those killed, but the resident of the home in remote Lyon County tells NBC News the sad details: "She told me that her mom and her dad were dead, and she was in a plane crash, and the plane was upside down," says Larry Wilkins, 71. "She asked if she could stay here. I said, 'Honey, what can I do for you?' I got a wash cloth and cleaned her up. And of course called 911." Authorities say the victims were Marty Gutzler, 49; Kimberly Gutzler, 45; their daughter Piper, 9; and Sierra Walder, 14, Piper's cousin, all from Nashville, Ill. They were flying from Florida to Illinois when their small plane, a Piper PA-34, went down shortly after the pilot reported engine trouble, reports CNN. The wreckage was found about 10 miles away from a local airport. The lone survivor was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries. "I felt so sorry for her, tears come to my eyes," says Wilkins. "Seven years old. Brave little girl."

Image copyright Getty Images China has shut down the Chinese websites of Marriott International for a week, after the firm listed Tibet and others as separate countries. The hotel group has apologised for the error and said it did not support separatist movements in China. Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau were listed as individual nations in an online survey sent to customers. Beijing considers self-ruling Taiwan to be a breakaway province and Tibet is governed as an autonomous region. Hong Kong and Macau are both special administrative regions of China. Marriott was also chastised after one of the firm's social media accounts "liked" a post made by a group supporting a separatist Tibet. Chinese media is reporting that some travellers are cancelling Marriott reservations in response. 'Respect Chinese sovereignty' China is usually quick to respond to any actions or statements it deems supportive of separatist movements, especially related to Tibet and Taiwan. While the hotel's international website is still available within China, the Shanghai Cyberspace Administration ordered it to close a Mandarin version. Authorities also shut down Marriott's Chinese mobile phone app as part of its punishment for the Mandarin-language survey. But having being closed earlier, the app now appears to be functioning. Image caption This is what you see when you visit the Marriott website in China -it says the site is being updated, and also gives an apology On Thursday the hotel group's chief executive Arne Sorenson issued an apology, saying his firm "respects and supports Chinese sovereignty and its territorial integrity". "We don't support anyone who subverts the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China and we do not intend in any way to encourage or incite any such people or groups," Mr Sorenson said. "Unfortunately, twice this week, we had incidents that suggested the opposite." The statement added that the company would take "necessary" disciplinary action against staff involved, which may include termination. Mr Sorenson has previously described China as his firm's biggest market. While Marriott has over 100 hotels in the country under different brands, it is also keen to profit from the swelling number of Chinese people travelling internationally. Last year it launched a joint travel venture with China's ecommerce giant Alibaba. ||||| Mercedes-Benz apologizes to the Chinese people for quoting Dalai Lama on its Instagram page The brand has promised to deepen its employees understanding of Chinese culture and values Shanghaiist.com Blocked Unblock Follow Following Feb 6, 2018 Mercedes-Benz has apologized — rather profusely — for quoting the Dalai Lama in an advertisement on its Instagram page. That apparently offensive quote from His Holiness? “Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open.” For finding some #MondayMotivation in the words of the Tibetan spiritual leader — who China regards as a separatist and “wolf in monk’s robes” — the luxury German automaker posted an apology on its official Weibo page earlier this afternoon: This morning, we noticed that our company’s international social media had posted an extremely erroneous message. For this, we sincerely apologize. Although we deleted the post as soon as possible, we fully understand how it has hurt the feelings of people in this country, including our colleagues who work in the country. For this, we express our sincerest apologies. We fully understand and respect the feelings of our compatriots on this issue and accept criticism and comments from all parties. Taking this incident as a guide, we will immediately take practical actions to deepen our understanding of Chinese culture and values — including for our overseas colleagues — and regulate our behavior to prevent such incidents from occurring again. Finally, we sincerely apologize again. While Mercedes-Benz has not allowed comments on its apology post, a lively discussion on the issue is ongoing over on the official Weibo account of the nationalistic Global Times tabloid. “ Foreign companies do not understand our national conditions, but this is not an excuse to not deal with them,” argued one netizen. “Just one apology and that’s it? At least give all your Weibo fans a car!” commented another. “Why has this apology been issued only in Chinese? Why not on international social media as well?” wrote one inquisitive net user. Meanwhile, the brand’s Instagram page has been hit with the usual deluge of angry Chinese commenters, who reliably emerge en masse following feelings-hurting incidents like these: “Apologize please,If u still want China’s market.Use Dalai Lama’s words is not a good choice.If our advertisement use Hitler’s words,what do you think,” wrote one of these internet warriors. Last month, international brands like Marriott, Delta, and Zara were also forced to apologize to China and the Chinese people after being exposed for listing Taiwan and/or Tibet as “countries” on their websites. “Marriott International respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China. We don’t support separatist groups that subvert the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China. We sincerely apologize for any actions that may have suggested otherwise,” the hotel chain tweeted after being outed. ||||| Mercedes-Benz has apologised for "hurting the feelings" of the people of China for quoting the Dalai Lama on Instagram. The German auto giant became the latest of several international companies that have backpedalled recently for offending Chinese consumers with advertising or information that clashes with Beijing's official position on Tibet and other Chinese-claimed regions. Mercedes' seemingly benign post to its official Instagram account showed a Benz on a beach before rolling white-capped waves. "Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open," the ad copy ran, citing the Dalai Lama, who is seen by Beijing as a separatist. "Start your week with a fresh perspective on life from the Dalai Lama," the carmaker wrote in the tagline. ||||| Mercedes-Benz China apologized on Tuesday for its parent company quoting the Dalai Lama in an “extremely wrong message” on social media. The apology came after a post on Mercedes-Benz’s Instagram account showed a luxury vehicle and quoted the Dalai Lama saying “Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open.” The post not only hurt the feelings of the Chinese people, but also challenged their bottom line on national sovereignty. Mercedes-Benz delivered more than 600,000 new cars in China in 2017, setting a global record in a single market, according to Hubertus Troska, who is responsible for the Greater China, attributing the result to Chinese customers’ trust in the company. The car company followed in the footsteps of U.S. hotel chain Marriott, who just recently apologized for wrongly labeling Chinese territories as independent countries. Chasing profits in China while hurting the feelings of the Chinese people, the reason for this conduct of some foreign enterprises is unacceptable. The Dalai Lama’s agenda to split the country in the name of “autonomy” is well-known around the world, and anyone who supports him is clearly against China. At a Tibet work conference held in August 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out that the international community should understand that foreign interference in China’s domestic affairs is intolerable. The President sent a clear message that any country, enterprise, or individual should not challenge the core interests of China, and any activity to split China will never be tolerated. As a foreign enterprise, Mercedes–Benz always stresses its social responsibilities, but hurting Chinese customers and crossing the red line of sovereignty is not socially responsible. Tolerance is a virtue of the Chinese culture, but tolerance has its limits. How will the German people react if a foreign enterprise speaks highly of Adolf Hitler and propagates his quotes, or worships views that try to separate German? Clearly, cultural tolerance should not an excuse for a foreign firm to challenge the limits of a host country. In its apology, Mercedes-Benz said it will deepen understanding of Chinese culture and values among its staff, including overseas staff. But the apology lacks sincerity and reflects the German carmaker’s lack of understanding of Chinese culture and values. China’s core interests cannot be challenged. Without sincere reflection, any foreign car business will not survive in China.

– "Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open." These words are hardly controversial, but in China, the figure who spoke them is. It's for that reason that Mercedes-Benz and its parent company have each apologized after the German automaker included the quote from the Dalai Lama in a #MondayMotivation Instagram post this week, per the BBC. Instagram isn't accessible in China, where the Tibetan spiritual leader is viewed as a threatening separatist, but Chinese users who caught wind of the post were furious, with one likening it to quoting Hitler, per Shanghaiist. After the post was deleted, Mercedes-Benz offered a resounding apology Tuesday on social media site Weibo, describing the ad as carrying "an extremely erroneous message." While China's Foreign Ministry approved of the apology, it wasn't enough for some. The People's Daily newspaper said the apology "lacks sincerity and reflects … [a] lack of understanding of Chinese culture and values." Mercedes-Benz's parent company, Daimler, then sent a written apology to China's ambassador to Germany on Wednesday, acknowledging "the hurt and grief that its negligent and insensitive mistake has caused to the Chinese people." Too much? Not for a company that wants to keep a foothold in China's massive consumer market, reports the Telegraph, which notes the band Placebo was permanently banned from China for posting a photo of the Dalai Lama on Instagram.

By David Andrews, Senior Scientist, and Bill Walker, Managing Editor 'Erin Brockovich' Carcinogen in Tap Water of More than 200 Million Americans UPDATE: With the release of EWG's Tap Water Database, we found an additional 32 million Americans who have been supplied water with chromium-6 contamination. In the film "Erin Brockovich," the environmental crusader confronts the lawyer of a power company that polluted the tap water of Hinkley, Calif., with a carcinogenic chemical called chromium-6. When the lawyer picks up a glass of water, Brockovich says: “We had that water brought in ‘specially for you folks. Came from a well in Hinkley.” The lawyer sets down the glass and says, "I think this meeting’s over." But almost 25 years after that real-life confrontation,[1] the conflict over chromium-6 is not over. A new EWG analysis of federal data from nationwide drinking water tests shows that the compound contaminates water supplies for more than 200 million Americans in all 50 states. Yet federal regulations are stalled by a chemical industry challenge that could mean no national regulation of a chemical state scientists in California and elsewhere say causes cancer when ingested at even extraordinarily low levels. The standoff is the latest round in a tug-of-war between scientists and advocates who want regulations based strictly on the chemical’s health hazards and industry, political and economic interests who want more relaxed rules based on the cost and feasibility of cleanup. If the industry challenge prevails, it will also extend the Environmental Protection Agency’s record, since the 1996 landmark amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act, of failing to use its authority to set a national tap water safety standard for any previously unregulated chemical.[2] In 2008, a two-year study by the National Toxicology Program found that drinking water with chromium-6, or hexavalent chromium, caused cancer in laboratory rats and mice.[3] Based on this and other animal studies, in 2010, scientists at the respected and influential California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment concluded that ingestion of tiny amounts of chromium-6 can cause cancer in people, a conclusion affirmed by state scientists in New Jersey and North Carolina. The California scientists set a so-called public health goal of 0.02 parts per billion in tap water, the level that would pose negligible risk over a lifetime of consumption.[4] (A part per billion is about a drop of water in an Olympic-size swimming pool.) But in 2014, after aggressive lobbying by industry and water utilities, state regulators adopted a legal limit 500 times the public health goal.[5] It is the only enforceable drinking water standard at either the state or federal level. Potentially unsafe concentrations for two-thirds of Americans Spurred by a groundbreaking 2010 EWG investigation that found chromium-6 in the tap water of 31 cities[6] and a Senate hearing prompted by the findings, the EPA ordered local water utilities to begin the first nationwide tests for the unregulated contaminant. From 2013 to 2015, utilities took more than 60,000 samples of drinking water and found chromium-6 in more than 75 percent of them.[7] EWG's analysis of the test data estimates that water supplies serving 218 million Americans – more than two-thirds of the population – contain more chromium-6 than the California scientists deemed safe. Average level of chromium-6 in U.S. drinking water SOURCE: EWG, from EPA Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule 3 data The California scientists based their public health goal of 0.02 parts per billion solely on protecting people from cancer and other diseases. Public health goals are not legally enforceable, but legal limits are supposed to be set as close as possible to health goals “while considering cost and technical feasibility.”[8] But the California Department of Public Health relied on a flawed analysis that exaggerated the cost of treatment and undervalued the benefits of stricter regulation,[9] and adopted a legally enforceable limit of 10 parts per billion. Even by that far-too-lax benchmark, EWG's analysis of EPA tests shows that more than seven million Americans are served tap water from supplies that had at least one detection of chromium-6 higher than the only legal limit in the nation. Because the EPA tests covered only a fraction of the small systems and private wells that supply water to more than a third of Americans, it is highly likely that chromium-6 contamination is even more widespread.[10] 12,000 Americans at risk of cancer The EPA tests show that water tested in 1,370 U.S. counties had an average level of chromium-6 exceeding California's non-binding public health goal – the amount posing no more than a one-in-a-million risk of cancer for people who drink it daily for 70 years. (By contrast, the state's legal limit represents a cancer risk of 500 per million.) Comparing the public health goal to levels of contamination found in the EPA tests, EWG estimates that if left untreated, chromium-6 in tap water will cause more than 12,000 excess cases of cancer by the end of the century.[11] The tests found chromium-6 in almost 90 percent of the water systems sampled. Oklahoma, Arizona and California had the highest average statewide levels and the greatest shares of detections above California's public health goal. Among major cities, Phoenix had, by far, the highest average level, at almost 400 times the California health goal, and St. Louis and Houston also had comparatively high levels. Average level of chromium-6 in largest U.S. water systems SOURCE: EWG, from EPA Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule 3 data Battles in New Jersey, North Carolina Scientists in California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment are not alone in determining that extraordinarily low levels of chromium-6 in drinking water can cause cancer. In 2010, New Jersey's Drinking Water Quality Institute, a state agency comprised of scientists, utility officials and citizen experts, calculated a health-based maximum contaminant level – what California calls a public health goal – of 0.06 parts per billion, just slightly higher than California's.[12] This year, scientists in North Carolina's Department of Environmental Quality, also drawing on the 2008 National Toxicology Program study that drove the California goal, calculated a do-not-drink level matching the New Jersey number.[13][14] But neither New Jersey nor North Carolina has set a legal limit for chromium-6 in tap water. In both states, scientists' health-based recommendations were at odds with the decisions of politically appointed regulators. In New Jersey, the press reported the water quality institute's recommendation before it could be formally submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection for development of a regulation. According to former DEP planner Bill Wolfe, now an environmental advocate, this angered Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin, appointed by Gov. Chris Christie. Wolfe said Martin not only blocked submission of the recommendation, but effectively stopped the institute from meeting for four years,[15] delaying drinking water regulations for more than a dozen chemicals. In a statement to EWG, a Department of Environmental Protection spokesman said the department "vehemently disagrees with the EWG's contention that political pressure in any way influenced the New Jersey Drinking Water Quality Institute's consideration of an MCL for chromium-6." The spokesman said EWG's characterization is based on the "opinion of a single, former NJDEP employee who was last employed by the agency 12 years ago," and that EWG's criticism is "critically flawed – and blatantly misleading." In North Carolina, scientists at the Department of Environmental Quality were alarmed by levels of chromium-6 in hundreds of private wells near unlined pits where Duke Energy dumped coal ash. The scientists warned well owners not to drink water with chromium-6 levels higher than their calculations found were safe. But higher-ups at the department rescinded the do-not-drink warnings, citing the lack of federal regulation as justification for telling well owners their water met all state and federal standards.[16] The head of the Department of Environmental Quality, Donald R. van der Vaart, previously worked for a utility that is now part of Duke Energy.[17] He was appointed by Gov. Pat McCrory, who worked for Duke Energy for 29 years before he ran for office.[18] After the McCrory administration issued a public statement attacking the integrity of a scientist who resisted their plan to rescind the do-not-drink warnings, state epidemiologist Dr. Megan Davies resigned, saying she “cannot work for a department and an Administration that deliberately misleads the public.”[19] Sources of contamination and health hazards The conflict over chromium-6 regulation stems not only from the question of how much is safe, but the staggering cost of cleaning up such a widespread contaminant that is an industrial pollutant but also occurs naturally. The California Department of Public Health estimates that treating the state's water to meet the legal limit of 10 parts per billion will cost nearly $20 million a year,[20] so the cost of meeting the much more stringent public health goal would be far higher. There are two main types of chromium compounds. Chromium-3, or trivalent chromium, is a naturally occurring compound and an essential human nutrient. Chromium-6 also occurs naturally, but is manufactured for use in steel making, chrome plating, manufacturing dyes and pigments, preserving leather and wood and, as in the Brockovich case, lowering the temperature of water in the cooling towers of electrical power plants. Chromium-6 is also in the ash from coal-burning power plants, which is typically dumped in unlined pits that a 2011 report by the nonprofit Earthjustice said may threaten hundreds or thousands of water supplies and private wells.[21] And recent research has suggested that some methods of treating water supplies to remove other contaminants may actually increase levels of chromium-6.[22] Human studies by government and independent scientists worldwide have definitively established that breathing airborne chromium-6 particles can cause lung cancer, and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration sets strict limits for airborne chromium-6 in the workplace. Whether inhaled or ingested, it can also cause liver damage, reproductive problems and developmental harm.[23] Studies have found that exposure to chromium-6 may present greater risks to certain groups, including infants and children, people who take antacids, and people with poorly functioning livers.[24] But because of the unsettled science – including the crucial question of how much chromium-6 the stomach converts into mostly harmless chromium-3 – the EPA has only set a drinking water limit for total chromium, the combined level for both compounds. That outdated regulation from 2001, based on skin rash concerns, is 100 parts per billion – 5,000 times California's public health goal for chromium-6 and 10 times the state's legal limit.[25] Industry scheme to discredit stomach cancer link After Brockovich uncovered chromium-6 pollution in Hinkley, residents filed a class-action lawsuit that Pacific Gas and Electric Company, or PG&E, settled in 1996 for a record $333 million. The case pushed California legislators to pass a law calling for regulators to set an enforceable drinking water standard. The law set a 2004 deadline for the regulation, but it was delayed by a PG&E-backed scheme. In 2001, as state scientists conducted a risk assessment to guide the regulation, an epidemiologist named Jay Beaumont noticed something fishy. A Chinese scientist had revised a key study of chromium-6 in drinking water, reversing his original finding of a strong link to stomach cancer. Some members of a "blue-ribbon" panel advising the state cited the revised study as evidence against a strong regulation. But when Beaumont tried to find out why the scientist had changed his mind, it turned out he was dead. Beaumont learned that the study was rewritten not by the original author, but by consultants hired by PG&E to help defend the Brockovich case. Before the Chinese scientist died, they paid him a token amount[26] for access to his original data, manipulated it to hide the link to stomach cancer, and published the revised study in a scientific journal without disclosing their or PG&E's involvement. What's more, the advisory panel included the head of the consulting firm, Dennis Paustenbach of San Francisco-based ChemRisk, who was once described in a Newark Star-Ledger investigation of his role in weakening New Jersey chromium regulations as having “rarely met a chemical he didn’t like.”[27] A 2013 investigation by the nonprofit Center for Public Integrity found that Paustenbach and other ChemRisk employees also worked for General Electric, Lockheed Martin and Merck, all companies with liability for chromium pollution, and the Chrome Coalition, an industry lobbying group.[28] After his role in tampering with the Chinese study was exposed, Paustenbach resigned from the advisory panel. Beaumont and his colleagues started over, using the authentic study to guide the public health goal. In 2005, EWG obtained and published documents and emails that detailed the deception,[29] which was also recounted in a front-page story in The Wall Street Journal.[30] The scientific journal that published the bogus study retracted it.[31] EWG conducts first-ever tests for chromium-6 in U.S. cities In 2010, in the first-ever tests for chromium-6 in U.S. tap water, EWG found the chemical in 31 of 35 cities, with water in 25 cities containing levels above the California public health goal.[32] The worst contamination was in Norman, Okla., where the level was 600 times the public health goal. Levels in Honolulu, Hawaii; Riverside and San Jose, Calif.; Madison, Wis.; and Tallahassee, Fla., ranged from 100 to 62 times the California health goal. Sources of the contamination are largely unknown, although Oklahoma and California have high levels of naturally occurring chromium[33] and California has the nation’s highest concentration of industrial sites that use chromium.[34] EWG’s tests and a petition from environmental groups pushed the EPA to add chromium-6 to the chemicals for which local utilities must test under the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule. The 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act require the EPA to select up to 30 previously unregulated contaminants for testing every five years. In 20 years, the agency has ordered testing for 81 contaminants, but has moved forward on setting a regulation for just one, the rocket fuel ingredient perchlorate, and is two years behind schedule on finalizing and implementing the regulation.[35][36] For our analysis, EWG matched the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule database with the federal Safe Drinking Water Information System to obtain county and population data.[37] Population calculations for each utility were based on EPA data, and when projected to the county or state level, EWG used the U.S. Census Bureau estimates from July 2014.[38] The EPA results match EWG’s 2010 tests closely, with exceptions such as Phoenix and Scottsdale, Ariz., and Albuquerque, N.M., where the EPA tests detected significantly higher levels of chromium-6. The EPA results identify several communities where levels of chromium-6 are strikingly higher than those in the surrounding state, but determining whether this is because of industrial pollution or natural occurrences would require site-by-site investigation. Industry stalls EPA risk assessment After the 2008 National Toxicology Program study found that mice and rats who drank chromium-6-laced water developed stomach and intestinal tumors, scientists in the EPA's Integrated Risk and Information System, or IRIS, began a risk assessment, the first step toward drafting a national regulation to cap chromium-6 contamination in drinking water. They saw that the 2008 study provided clear evidence that chromium-6 is carcinogenic,[39] and reviewed hundreds of other studies. In 2010, the EPA completed, but did not officially release, a draft risk assessment that classified oral exposure to chromium-6 as “likely to be carcinogenic to humans.”[40] The American Chemistry Council, the chemical industry's powerful lobbying arm, argued that before formally releasing the draft for public comment, the EPA should wait for the publication of studies funded by the Council and the Electric Power Research Institute on the biological mechanisms through which chromium-6 triggers cancer. In an April 2011 letter obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, Vincent Cogliano, acting director of IRIS, responded to the chemistry lobby that "granting your request could entail a delay of unknown duration with no public discussion or review of the strong new studies that are now available."[41] That's exactly what happened. An external review panel, which the Center for Public Integrity later found included three members who consulted for PG&E in the Brockovich case, pressured the EPA to grant the American Chemistry Council's request. In 2012, the EPA quietly announced that the draft risk assessment will be held up until the chemical lobby's studies are finished. EWG and other public health groups objected vociferously, not only due to the delay on chromium-6 but "the dangerous precedent suggested by delaying risk assessment activities to allow incorporation of as-yet unpublished, industry-funded research."[42] The EPA's prediction of when the risk assessment will be released for public comment has been pushed back repeatedly – from 2015 to the second quarter of 2016, and then to early 2017.[43] When asked for an update, Cogliano wrote in an Aug. 24 email to EWG: "We expect to release a draft health assessment document in 2017, though I wouldn't use the word 'early.'"[44] EPA may choose to do nothing Also on Aug. 24, an EPA spokesperson wrote in an email to EWG that the agency "has not made any decision regarding revising the drinking water regulations for [total] chromium or establishing regulations for hexavalent chromium."[45] That's troubling, as the industry studies are expected to support the position that the EPA should do nothing at all. The industry-funded studies are being conducted by ToxStrategies, a Texas-based science-for-hire consulting firm. The Center for Public Integrity found that a principal scientist at ToxStrategies, Mark Harris, had worked on the PG&E-funded scheme to revise the Chinese scientist's paper linking chromium-6 to stomach cancer while at ChemRisk. The Center reported that Harris and his ToxStrategies colleague Deborah Proctor previously "were leaders in the chrome industry's efforts to dissuade the Occupational Safety and Health Administration from setting stricter rules for airborne chromium in the workplace."[46] In June, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality released a proposal for a daily safe dose of chromium-6 in drinking water that drew heavily on studies by Proctor and other ToxStrategies scientists.[47] It argues that the EPA's current legal limit for total chromium – 100 parts per billion, with no separate limit on chromium-6 – is adequate to protect public health. Joseph T. Haney Jr., the Texas state toxicologist who was the lead author of the paper, told the newsletter Inside EPA it was "a remarkable coincidence" that his calculations yielded a daily safe dose corresponding exactly to the EPA's current regulation for total chromium.[48] Haney's paper assumes there is a threshold for how much of a contaminant is harmful, and that no level of chromium-6 the EPA tests found in U.S. drinking water exceeded that amount. But the so-called linear method the EPA generally requires for mutagens – carcinogenic chemicals that cause cancer by damaging DNA, which can occur when even a single molecule enters a cell – assumes that any level of exposure carries some risk. The National Toxicology Program's 2008 two-year study of lab animals found clear evidence that chromium-6 causes cancer, and the EPA's 2010 draft risk assessment found that it is a powerful mutagen, so the linear method should be used to calculate cancer risk.[49] The ToxStrategies model rejects the EPA's finding that chromium-6 causes cancer by damaging DNA, instead arguing that it causes hyperplasia, an increase in the number of cells, which may or may not be cancerous. It is based on a 90-day animal exposure study, in contrast to the more rigorous two-year National Toxicology Program study. It also ignores the growing body of independent research exploring the effects of small doses of carcinogens in combination with the myriad other cancer-causing chemicals Americans are exposed to daily.[50] A dangerous precedent If the EPA accepts the ToxStrategies threshold model, it could mean not only that chromium-6 will remain unregulated in drinking water, but also set a precedent that could undermine health protections for other carcinogenic chemicals. The EPA must reject the industry-backed effort, which is supported not by unbiased science to protect health, but by agenda-driven research to protect polluters from paying cleanup costs. The recent conflict in North Carolina is one example of how the EPA's failure to set enforceable national regulations is leaving Americans at risk from chromium-6 contamination. The result is not just an unsettled scientific debate, but the exposure of hundreds of millions of people to a cancer-causing chemical in their drinking water. Cleaning up water supplies contaminated with chromium-6 will not be cheap. But the answer to high costs is not allowing exposures at unsafe levels while pretending water is safe. And the fact that some unknown level of chromium-6 contamination comes from natural sources does not negate Americans’ need to be protected from a known carcinogen. Instead, the EPA and state regulators must set drinking water standards to protect the public, including those more susceptible to the toxic effects of chromium-6. Chromium-6 polluters must be held accountable and pay their shares of cleanup costs. The EPA and state regulators must focus on ensuring that water systems lacking the resources to meet health-protective standards have access to necessary funding, expertise and support so they can provide communities with truly safe water. Are you outraged? Us too. Take action today! Are you ready to take the next step? Join EWG and tell the EPA it’s time to take action on chromium-6 contamination in drinking water. Enter your information below and we’ll add your name to EWG’s petition to the EPA urging it to set a national safety limit for chromium-6 in drinking water. Email: Zip Code: Optional Member Code This report has been updated to include a response from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to allegations that political interference blocked development of a chromium-6 drinking water standard. 1 In the film the exchange takes place in a law firm’s conference room, but it was actually in a courtroom. 2 U.S. Government Accountability Office, Safe Drinking Water Act. EPA Should Improve Implementation of Requirements on Whether to Regulate Additional Contaminants. May 2011. Available at www.gao.gov/assets/320/318967.pdf 3 National Toxicology Program, Technical Report on the Toxicology and Carcinogenesis Studies of Sodium Dichromate Dihydrate (CAS No. 7789-12-0) in F344/N Rats and B6C3F1 Mice (Drinking Water Studies). Available at https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/htdocs/lt_rpts/tr546.pdf 4 California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, Final Technical Support Document on Public Health Goal for Hexavalent Chromium In Drinking Water. July 29, 2011. Available at www.oehha.ca.gov/water/phg/072911Cr6PHG.html 5 California EPA, Chromium-6 Drinking Water MCL. Available at www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/Chromium6.shtml 6 EWG, Chromium-6 in U.S. Tap Water. Dec. 20, 2010. Available at www.ewg.org/research/chromium6-in-tap-water 7 U.S. EPA, Occurrence Data for the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule. April 2016. Available at www.epa.gov/dwucmr/occurrence-data-unregulated-contaminant-monitoring-rule#3 8 California Department of Public Health, Hexavalent Chromium MCL Initial Statement of Reasons. Aug. 4, 2013. Available at www.cdph.ca.gov/services/DPOPP/regs/Documents/DPH-11-005HCMCLISOR.pdf 9 EWG et al., Letter to Michael McKibben, California Department of Public Health, Re: CDPH-11005 (Hexavalent Chromium). Oct. 11, 2013. Available at https://static.ewg.org/pdf/Hex-Chrome-Joint-Comments-10-11-13jc.pdf 10 U.S. EPA, Drinking Water and Ground Water Statistics, Fiscal Year 2011. Available at www.epa.gov/waterdata/drinking-water-tools 11 Excess cancers were calculated by dividing the average chromium-6 level in each state by the California public health goal of 0.02 ppb, which the state's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment said represents a one-in-a-million risk of cancer if consumed daily for 70 years. This value was then multiplied by the state's 2014 population according to the Census Bureau, then linearly scaled to the 84 years until the end of the 21st century. These estimates assume an equal distribution of chromium-6 across each state, that all residents consume two liters of unfiltered water daily and that the population and hexavalent chromium levels will remain constant until the year 2100. 12 New Jersey Drinking Water Quality Institute, Sept. 10, 2010 Meeting Minutes. Available at www.nj.gov/dep/watersupply/pdf/minutes100910.pdf 13 Mollie Young, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Memorandum to Environmental Review Commission and Joint Legislative Oversight Committee. April 1, 2016. Available at www.ncleg.net/documentsites/committees/ERC/ERC%20Reports%20Received/2016/Department%20of%20Environmental%20Quality/2016-April%20Study%20of%20Cr(VI)%20and%20V%20Stds.pdf 14 In their initial draft, California scientists set a public health goal of 0.06 parts per billion, the same number later calculated by scientists in New Jersey and North Carolina, but after reviewing more studies lowered it to 0.02 parts per billion. 15 Personal communication to EWG from Bill Wolfe, former policy analyst for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Aug. 25, 2016. Wolfe spoke at the news conference to announce the Drinking Water Quality Institute's health-based maximum contaminant level for chromium-6 in drinking water. 16 Craig Jarvis, Chief Epidemiologist Resigns as Fight Over Well Water Safety Escalates. The News & Observer, Aug. 10, 2016. Available at www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/under-the-dome/article94769757.html 17 John Murawski, NC’s New Environmental Regulator is Polarizing Figure. The News & Observer, Oct. 31, 2015. Available at www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article42125817.html 18 Richard M. Barron, Breaking Silence, McCrory Discussed Career with Duke. (Greensboro, N.C.) News & Record March 2, 2014. Available at www.godanriver.com/news/coal-ash/breaking-silence-mccrory-discusses-career-with-duke/article_8d86b81e-a1ac-11e3-abca-001a4bcf6878.html 19 Letter from Dr. Megan Davies to Richard Brajer, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Aug. 10, 2016. Available through WNCN-TV at https://mgtvwncn.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/daviesresignationpdf10aug2016.pdf 20 Michael S. Feely and John A. Heintz, Calif. to Make Waves with New Drinking Water Standard. Law360, Feb. 28, 2014. Available at www.law360.com/articles/508031/calif-to-make-waves-with-new-drinking-water-standard 21 Earthjustice, Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Environmental Integrity Project, EPA’s Blind Spot: Hexavalent Chromium in Coal Ash. Feb. 1, 2011. Available at www.earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/CoalAshChromeReport.pdf 22 Michelle Chebeir and Haizhou Liu, Kinetics and Mechanisms of Cr(VI) Formation via the Oxidation of Cr(III) Solid Phases by Chlorine in Drinking Water. Environmental Science & Technology, January 2016. Available at pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.5b05739. Also: Dana R. Lindsay et al., Oxidation of Cr(III) to Cr(VI) during chlorination of drinking water. Journal of Environmental Monitoring, March 2012. Available at pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2012/EM/c2em00012a 23 U.S. EPA, Chromium Compounds Hazard Summary. Revised January 2000, accessed August 2016. Available at www3.epa.gov/airtoxics/hlthef/chromium.html 24 California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, Final Technical Support Document On Public Health Goal for Hexavalent Chromium In Drinking Water. July 29, 2011. Available at www.oehha.ca.gov/water/phg/072911Cr6PHG.html 25 California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, Final Technical Support Document On Public Health Goal for Hexavalent Chromium In Drinking Water. July 29, 2011. Available at www.oehha.ca.gov/water/phg/072911Cr6PHG.html 26 Testimony in a trial of PG&E for chromium-6 pollution in other California communities indicates the amount was $1,960. 27 Alexander Lane, When Corporations Need an Expert, He Gladly Answers the Call. Newark Star-Ledger, March 7, 2004. Republished at www.precaution.org/lib/06/scientist_for_hire.20040308.htm 28 David Heath, How Industry Scientists Stalled Action on Carcinogen. The Center for Public Integrity, March 13, 2013. Available at www.publicintegrity.org/2013/03/13/12290/how-industry-scientists-stalled-action-carcinogen 29 EWG, Chrome-Plated Fraud: How Scientists-For-Hire Reversed Findings of Cancer Study. Dec. 23, 2005. Available at www.ewg.org/research/chrome-plated-fraud 30 Peter Waldman, Study Tied Pollutant to Cancer; Then Consultants Got Hold of It. Wall Street Journal, Dec. 23, 2005. Available at www.wsj.com/articles/SB113530126572230084 31 Paul Brandt-Rauf, Editorial Retraction. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, July 2006. Available at journals.lww.com/joem/Citation/2006/07000/Editorial_Retraction.19.aspx 32 EWG, Chromium-6 in U.S. Tap Water. Dec. 20, 2010. Available at www.ewg.org/research/chromium6-in-tap-water 33 U.S. Geological Survey, Geochemical Landscapes of the Conterminous United States – New Map Presentations for 22 Elements, 2001. Available at pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1648/ 34 U.S. Bureau of Mines, Chromium Life Cycle Study. May 3, 1995. Available at pubs.usgs.gov/usbmic/ic-9411/ic-9411.pdf 35 U.S. EPA, Monitoring the Occurrence of Unregulated Drinking Water Contaminants. Available at www.epa.gov/dwucmr 36 William Gorta, EPA Owns Up to Blowing Deadline to Limit Perchlorate. Law 360, Aug. 31, 2016. Available at www.law360.com/articles/835111/epa-owns-up-to-blowing-deadline-to-limit-perchlorate 37 U.S. EPA, Chromium in Drinking Water. Accessed June 2015. Available at water.epa.gov/drink/info/chromium/#one 38 U.S. Census Bureau, 2014 Population Estimates. Accessed August 2016. Available at www.census.gov/popest/data/index.html 39 National Toxicology Program, Technical Report on the Toxicology and Carcinogenesis Studies of Sodium Dichromate Dihydrate (CAS No. 7789-12-0) in F344/N Rats and B6C3F1 Mice (Drinking Water Studies). Available at https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/htdocs/lt_rpts/tr546.pdf 40 U.S. EPA, Statement from Administrator Jackson Regarding Her Meeting with 10 U.S. Senators on Chromium-6. Dec. 22, 2010. Available at yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/5876c7ed5950679385257801006be6bc!OpenDocument 41 Letter from Vincent Cogliano, EPA Integrated Risk information System, to Ann Mason, American Chemistry Council, April 7, 2011. Available through the Center for Public Integrity at www.documentcloud.org/documents/551115-vincent-cogliano-to-acc.html 42 EWG, Letter to Vincent Cogliano, EPA Integrated Risk Information System, Aug. 30, 2011. Available at https://static.ewg.org/pdf/EWG-IRIS-Cr6.pdf 43 Maria Hegstad, Texas Approach to Cr6 May Increase Pressure For EPA to Use Industry Data. Inside EPA, July 14, 2016. Available at insideepa.com/daily-news/texas-approach-cr6-may-increase-pressure-epa-use-industry-data 44 Email from Cogliano, Aug. 24, 2016. 45 Email from Enesta Jones, EPA Office of Media Relations, Aug. 24, 2016. 46 David Heath, How Industry Scientists Stalled Action on Carcinogen. The Center for Public Integrity, March 13, 2013. Available at www.publicintegrity.org/2013/03/13/12290/how-industry-scientists-stalled-action-carcinogen 47 Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Proposed Development Support Document, Hexavalent Chromium Oral Reference Dose. June 2016. Available at www.tceq.com/assets/public/implementation/tox/dsd/proposed/june2016/hexchromoral.pdf 48 Maria Hegstad, Inside EPA, op. cit. 49 Nancy McCarroll et al., An Evaluation of the Mode of Action Framework for Mutagenic Carcinogens Case Study II: chromium (VI). Environmental and Molecular Mutagenisis, March 2010. Available at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19708067. Also: Anatoly Zhitkovich, Chromium in Drinking Water: Sources, Metabolism, and Cancer Risks. Chemical Research in Toxicology, October 2011. Available at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21766833 50 Getting to Know Cancer, Assessing the Carcinogenic Potential of Low Dose Exposures to Chemical Mixtures in the Environment. Accessed August 2016. Available at www.gettingtoknowcancer.org/taskforce_environment.php ||||| ‘We simply can’t continue to survive with toxic drinking water,’ says Erin Brockovich, as a new report finds 200 million people exposed to chromium-6 In the 2000 biographical film about a legal clerk who brings a major utility company to its knees for poisoning residents of Hinkley, California, Erin Brockovich ended on a Hollywood high note with a $333m settlement from PG&E. But chromium-6 contamination of America’s drinking water is an ongoing battle the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is losing. Nearly 200 million Americans across all 50 states are exposed to unsafe levels of chromium-6 or hexavalent chromium, a heavy metal known to cause cancer in animals and humans, according to a new report released Tuesday by the nonprofit research and advocacy organization Environmental Working Group (EWG). Today, Brockovich says Hinkley wasn’t an isolated event. “The water system in this country is overwhelmed and we aren’t putting enough resources towards this essential resource,” Brockovich wrote in an email to the Guardian. “We simply can’t continue to survive with toxic drinking water.” We simply can’t continue to survive with toxic drinking water. Erin Brockovich In their analysis of the EPA’s own data collected for the first nationwide test of chromium-6 contamination in US drinking water, the report’s co-authors Dr David Andrews and Bill Walker, senior scientist and managing editor of EWG, found that 12,000 Americans are at risk of getting cancer. Drinking water in Phoenix, Arizona, has the highest concentration of chromium-6 contamination. Of the 80 water samples taken across the city – water that serves 1.5 million people – 79 showed average concentrations of 7.853 ppb. California scientists have recommended a public health goal of 0.02 ppb, but industry pressure led to the adoption in 2014 of a legal safe limit of 10 ppb. “More than two-thirds of Americans’ drinking water supply has more chromium than the level that California scientists say is safe – a number that’s been confirmed by scientists in both New Jersey and North Carolina,” according to Walker. “Despite this widespread contamination, the US currently has no national drinking water standard for chromium-6.” Dr Andrews said: “Part of the reason behind writing this report is really highlighting how our regulatory system is broken – in its ability to incorporate new science, and its ability to publish and update drinking water standards.” Lives in the balance: climate change and the Marshall Islands Read more Hexavalent chromium is used in a variety of processes: leather tanning, chrome-plating and small cottage industries that use dyes and pigments. But few unleash as much of it into the environment as the electric power industry. “In 2009, the electric power industry reported 10.6m pounds of chromium and chromium compounds were released to the environment,” according to a 2011 Earthjustice report. “These 10.6m pounds represent 24% of the total chromium and chromium compounds released by all industries in 2009.” In 2008, the National Toxicology Program, part of the National Institutes of Health, released a report detailing how cancerous tumors developed in mice and rats that drank heavy doses of chromium-6. According to EWG, based in part on this study, scientists at the California Office of Health Hazard Assessment concluded in 2010 that ingestion of tiny amounts of chromium-6 can cause cancer in people. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, an advisory, non-regulatory agency formed to oversee hyper-toxic Superfund sites, reports long term oral exposure to unsafe levels of chromium-6 compounds are associated with gastrointestinal system cancers. “The California scientists set a so-called public health goal of 0.02 parts per billion in tap water, the level that would pose negligible risk over a lifetime of consumption,” according to the EWG report. “But in 2014, after aggressive lobbying by industry and water utilities, the state regulators adopted a legal limit 500 times the public health goal.” EWG says the California Department of Public Health relied on a flawed analysis that “exaggerated the cost of treatment and undervalued the benefits of stricter regulation”. How your clothes are poisoning our oceans and food supply Read more The report also details how New Jersey and North Carolina scientists recommended a maximum chromium-6 concentration of 0.06 parts per billion following the 2008 report, meeting similar resistance that has impeded passage of drinking water standards. In their first major chromium-6 report in 2010, EWG found chromium-6 contamination levels 600 times the public health goal in Norman, Oklahoma – the worst found in 31 of 35 US cities tested. Those tests, and a petition from environmental activists, triggered the EPA to add chromium-6 to the list of chemicals for which local utilities must test under the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, according to EWG. This rule requires the EPA to establish a new list every five years of 30 previously unregulated contaminants to be monitored by public water systems. In the 20 years since the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act amendments passed to monitor previously unregulated contaminants, the EPA ordered 81 contaminants to be monitored. To date, only perchlorate, a rocket fuel ingredient, has been recommended for regulation. Though two years behind schedule, implementation has yet to occur. Asked what steps are necessary to fix the country’s broken drinking water program, Dr Andrews said: “One of the first steps has to occur here: EPA has to be able to complete its health risk assessment about the toxicity of chromium-6.” EWG reports that in 2010, scientists in the EPA’s Integrated Risk and Information System (Iris) “completed but did not officially release a draft risk assessment that classified oral exposure to chromium-6 as ‘likely to be carcinogenic to humans’”. But the American Chemistry Council, a powerful lobby for the chemical industry, requested that the EPA withhold the release until after studies funded by the Council and the Electric Power Research Institute could trace the biological mechanisms through which chromium-6 triggers cancer. Dr Vincent Cogliano, director of Iris, initially resisted industry pressure. In an April, 2011 letter to Ann Mason at the American Chemistry Council, he congratulated their willingness to invest $4m in targeted research on hexavalent chromium, but he denied their request for a delay. “Without prejudging the outcome of mechanistic studies being written up for publication,” he wrote, “it is entirely possible that granting your request could entail a delay of unknown duration with no public discussion or review of the strong new studies that are now available.” But then an external review panel, found by the Center for Public Integrity to include three members who consulted for PG&E in the Brockovich case, convinced the EPA to grant the American Chemistry Council time to fund their own studies. In 2012, the EPA quietly announced it had decided to delay the draft risk assessment following the review panel’s recommendation. Cogliano wrote in an August 24 email to EWG: “We expect to release a draft health assessment document in 2017, though I wouldn’t use the word ‘early’.” In an email statement to the Guardian, EPA said: “Ensuring safe drinking water for all Americans is a top priority for EPA.” It's our duty as Americans to protect our national parks for the next hundred years | Alex Honnold Read more The EPA says that less than 2% of the latest national monitoring systems reported hexavalent chromium at levels exceeding California’s enforceable maximum contaminant level of 10ppb. The EWG report, however, found that “even by that far-too-lax benchmark ... more than seven million Americans are served tap water from supplies that had at least one detection of chromium-6 higher than the only legal limit”. Erin Brockovich urges Americans to disregard the EPA’s reassurances and to take a more active role in their communities to fix the country’s broken water supply. “Superman’s not coming,” Brockovich said. “Be informed, ask questions, band together with your community and fight at the local level. And make sure you take your local elections as seriously as the national ones. The issues that most impact the average person are made at the local level.” ||||| (CNN) Dangerous levels of chromium-6 are contaminating tap water consumed by hundreds of millions of Americans, according to a national report released Tuesday. Chromium-6 is the carcinogenic chemical that was featured in the popular 2000 movie "Erin Brockovich," starring Julia Roberts as the titular activist. The US Environmental Protection Agency has never set a specific limit for chromium-6 in drinking water. There is scientific uncertainty regarding safe levels of this chemical in drinking water and possible long-term consequences of ingestion. But this new analysis from the Environmental Working Group, an independent advocacy group, examines evidence from water systems throughout the nation and concludes that the tap water of 218 million Americans contains levels of chromium-6 that the group considers dangerous. "Whether it is chromium-6, PFOA or lead, the public is looking down the barrel of a serious water crisis across the country that has been building for decades," Brockovich said in a written statement Tuesday, blaming it on "corruption, complacency and utter incompetence." Specifically, the new report indicates that levels of chromium-6 are at or above 0.03 parts per billion in 75% of the samples tested by local water utilities on behalf of the EPA between 2013 and 2015. Seven million Americans receive tap water with levels of chromium-6 that are higher than the legal limit established by California -- 10 ppb -- which is the only state to enforce a maximum contaminant level. All these figures may be confusing, but the real point is that chromium-6 is one of many chemicals in our environment, said Bill Walker, co-author of the report and managing editor of the Environmental Working Group. The group receives grant money from the Turner Foundation, which is chaired by CNN founder Ted Turner, who is no longer involved with the news organization or any Turner entity. "Americans are exposed to dozens if not hundreds of other cancer-causing chemicals every day in their drinking water, their consumer products and their foods," Walker said. "And what the best science of the last decade tells us is that these chemicals acting in combination with each other can be more dangerous than exposure to a single chemical." What is chromium-6? Chromium is a naturally occurring element found in rocks, animals, plants, soil and volcanic dust and gases, according to the National Toxicology Program It comes in several forms, including what is commonly called chromium-3, an essential nutrient for the body. Chromium-6, which is rare in nature, is produced by industrial processes. Chromium-6 is used in electroplating, stainless steel production, leather tanning, textile manufacturing and wood preservation, according to the National Toxicology Program (PDF). Chromium-6 is also found in the ash from coal-burning power plants and used to lower the temperature of water in the cooling towers of power plants. Scientific reports have indicated that breathing in airborne chromium-6 particles can cause lung cancer. Based on these reports, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration sets strict limits for airborne chromium-6 in the workplace. By contrast, although it lacks a specific limit for chromium-6, the EPA has established a drinking water standard of 100 parts per billion for all forms of chromium. This limit was established in 1991 based on scientific information at that time indicating that large quantities of chromium were toxic. In 2008, a two-year study by the National Toxicology Program found that drinking water with chromium-6 caused cancer in laboratory rats and mice. "In terms of cancer studies, that is the gold standard of animal studies," said David Andrews, co-author of the report and a senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group. He said a separate scientific study (PDF) found a higher incidence of stomach cancers in workers routinely exposed to chromium-6. Based on the 2008 report and other research, scientists at the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment set a public health goal of 0.02 parts per billion in tap water. The new report notes that the scientists believe this level would pose only "negligible risk over a lifetime of consumption." Still, Walker and Andrews say this is a problem. Exposure to very low levels at crucial periods during the development of a fetus, infant or child could cause "much more serious problems" than it does for an adult drinking a larger dose, Walker explained. In 2014, California regulators adopted a legal limit of 10 ppb as the state's enforceable standard: 500 times higher than the public health goal established by scientists. New Jersey and North Carolina government scientists independently assessed a health-based maximum contamination level for chromium-6 that is only slightly higher than California's. "They essentially confirmed what California found. The difference is minimal," Andrews said. Unregulated contaminants For its report, the Environmental Working Group reviewed the EPA's third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule. "The EPA periodically does this: goes down and looks for what it calls unregulated contaminants," or chemicals in drinking water that are not regulated, Walker said. The EPA gathers its information through local utilities and then takes the results "under advisement," according to Walker. According to the group, the report indicated that only one public water system had total chromium exceeding EPA standards, but 2% of the water systems -- 1,370 counties -- had chromium-6 levels exceeding California's standard of 10 ppb. Oklahoma, Arizona and California had the highest average statewide levels and the greatest shares of detections above California's public health goal of 0.02 ppb, the report found. Of major cities, Phoenix had the highest average level at almost 400 times this health goal. St. Louis County, Houston, Los Angeles and Suffolk County, New York, also had relatively high levels. "EWG's report is another wakeup call that we must take this issue seriously," said New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, who this month introduced an amendment to require testing of all public water supplies for unregulated contaminants. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said in a statement that it weighed all of the scientific evidence and "does not anticipate excess cancer risks from chromium-6 concentrations routinely measured in drinking water in Texas." The EPA did not directly address the report, but a representative said the agency is working on a health assessment of chromium-6 that will be released for public comment in 2017. According to Andrews and Walker, this means more delays and more time wasted. Join the conversation See the latest news and share your comments with CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter. "The inability to complete health assessments is hindering health protective regulations," Andrews said. "When you find widespread evidence of contamination, do something about it. Don't just study it to death," Walker said, adding that the new report is not about "trying to raise the alarm about a single chemical. We're kind of using chromium-6 as a poster child for systemic failures of drinking water regulation."

– If chromium-6 rings a bell for some odd reason, that reason is likely Erin Brockovich, who famously helped secure a massive settlement for the Hinkley, Calif., residents who had been exposed to dangerous levels of the heavy metal. And there's a chance you have been exposed, too, according to a report released Tuesday. The Environmental Working Group analyzed EPA-ordered samples taken by local water utilities from 2013 to 2015 and found that Americans—an estimated 218 million of them—in every single state are being exposed to what the study's authors say are unsafe levels of the probable carcinogen. The unsafe level isn't one that's federally defined, reports the Guardian. California scientists want to see 0.02 parts per billion (ppb) become the benchmark, but the limit the state ultimately established (it's the only state to have such a limit, reports CNN) is 10 ppb. For comparison, New Jersey and North Carolina scientists think 0.06 ppb is a safe upper limit. The analysis showed that 75% of the 60,000 water samples had a chromium-6 level of at least 0.03 ppb; it was above 10 ppb in water used by an estimated 7 million Americans. The news is gloomiest for Phoenix, Ariz., where all but one of the 80 water samples taken had an average concentration of 7.853 ppb. Co-author Dr. David Andrews says exposing the "broken" nature of our regulatory system was a motivating factor in conducting the analysis. Of the 81 unregulated contaminants the EPA has tested for since 1996, just one, the rocket fuel ingredient perchlorate, has been designated for regulation, though that effort is two years behind schedule. Brockovich's advice: "Superman’s not coming. Band together with your community and fight at the local level."

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The number of manatee deaths in Florida has topped 800 for the first time since such record-keeping began in the 1970s. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg says 803 manatee deaths have been recorded this year. That's about 16 percent of the state's estimated population of 5,000 manatees. Martine DeWit of the institute's Marine Mammal Pathology Laboratory tells the Tampa Bay Times that 173 of the dead were breeding-age females. It's unclear what effect these deaths will have on the endangered species' population. The previous record for manatee deaths was 766, set in 2010 after a lengthy cold snap. Scientists blame a massive bloom of red tide algae in southwest Florida and a mysterious ailment affecting manatees in the Indian River Lagoon for this year's deaths. ___ Information from: Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.), http://www.tampabay.com. ||||| Lowry Park Zoo Manatee Hospital veterinary staff assess Cheer, a manatee in their care after exposure to Red Tide last spring, which is one of the main causes for this year’s deaths. For the first time since records began being kept in Florida in the 1970s, the number of manatee deaths in a single year has topped 800, with two weeks remaining to the end of 2013. Numbers released by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg this week showed the number of dead manatees at 803 as of Dec. 13. That's about 16 percent of the state's estimated population of 5,000 manatees. And 173 of the dead were breeding-age female manatees, Martine DeWit of the institute's Marine Mammal Pathology Laboratory said Thursday. Although it's too soon to say how this will affect the future of the species, she said, "It must have an impact to lose these important breeding females." For comparison, last year's total number of manatee deaths was 392, which is more in line with what's normal. The old record for manatee deaths, set in 2010, resulted from a lengthy cold snap that killed hundreds of manatees, pushing that year's number of deaths to 766. That cold snap mostly affected younger manatees that had not yet attained breeding age, DeWit said. This year's record die-off was driven by two causes — one of which remains a mystery. First a massive bloom of Red Tide algae along the state's southwestern coast caused 276 deaths early in the year. Red Tide has been around for centuries and has killed manatees before. But this year was the worst Red Tide die-off ever recorded. Meanwhile, a mysterious ailment has been killing manatees in the Indian River Lagoon on the state's east coast. That's been going on since last year but hit a fever pitch in the spring. Twenty-five died in March. All told, 117 manatees have died in the Indian River Lagoon since July 2012, including one that died this month, according to Kevin Baxter, spokesman for the state marine science laboratory. No one can explain the die-off, which appears to be unprecedented. Scientists are also baffled as to why scores of dolphins and pelicans died in the lagoon too, or whether there is any connection among the three unusual events. The deaths of the three species may be a result of pollution-fueled algae blooms that wiped out some 47,000 acres of sea grass in the 156-mile-long lagoon that stretches along the state's Atlantic Coast. Manatees normally eat sea grass, but with the sea grass gone they turned to less healthful sources of nutrition. They ate a reddish seaweed called Gracilaria. Tests have found "a suite of toxins" on the Gracilaria, but there is no confirmation that that's what killed the manatees. And that would not normally affect dolphins and pelicans, which eat fish, not sea grass. There was one piece of good news in the figures. This year, 71 manatees have been killed by boats. That's down from the 81 that were killed by boats in 2012 and well below the record of 95 in 2002. Craig Pittman can be reached at craig@tampabay.com or follow him on Twitter @craigtimes.

– Last year's 829 Florida manatee deaths—a figure that doesn't include December, UPI notes—is more than double the number that died in 2012, according to one conservation group. Another organization, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, put the 2013 figure at 803. Either way, it's the first time the number has broken 800 since record-keeping began in the 1970s, the AP reports. The numbers mean roughly 16% of the Florida manatee population died last year; some 176 were breeding-age females, an expert tells the Tampa Bay Times. Manatees remain an endangered species. Experts point to toxic red tides, prompted by algal blooms, as a major factor; they left 276 manatees dead last year, according to the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. That's almost as many as died from red tides in the past eight years total, and the group's director calls it "the product of systemic environmental irresponsibility." Anti-water pollution rules and enforcement "have completely broken down in the state of Florida," he notes. Another big killer last year was a still-undiagnosed disease in the manatee-populated Indian River Lagoon; the illness killed 115. Some died so quickly, they still had food in their mouths; click for more on the baffling die-off.

E-cigarettes should be banned indoors over fears that they can be as toxic to bystanders as normal cigarettes, the World Health Organisation has said. Despite releasing vapour instead of smoke, the devices still pollute the air with harmful chemicals, health experts warned. Many smokers use e-cigarettes as a way to quit, as they deliver the nicotine hit but without the carcinogens associated with breathing in smoke. There are no laws currently banning their use inside. But a report by the WHO questioned the safety of e-cigarettes, officially known as electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). "The fact that ENDS exhaled aerosol contains on average lower levels of toxicants than the emissions from combusted tobacco does not mean that these levels are acceptable to involuntarily exposed bystanders,” said the report. "In fact, exhaled aerosol is likely to increase, above background levels, the risk of disease to bystanders, especially in the case of some ENDS that produce toxicant levels in the range of that produced by some cigarettes." Some early studies have shown that e-cigarettes can be more effective than over-the-counter products like gum or nicotine patches. But the report recommends preventing manufacturers from marketing e-cigs as "smoking cessation aids" until they provide robust scientific evidence to back the claim. "Although anecdotal reports indicate that an undetermined proportion of ENDS users have quit smoking using these products, their efficacy has not been systematically evaluated yet,” the report added. "Only a few studies have examined whether the use of ENDS is an effective method for quitting tobacco smoking." The WHO also advised banning sales to under-18s and said vending machines should be removed "in almost all locations.” The report was welcomed by health officials. Professor John Ashton of the Faculty of Public Health said: “Most adult smokers start smoking before the age of 18. That's why many public health experts are concerned that the advertising of electronic cigarettes could make it seem normal again to think smoking is glamorous, when it is anything but. “We also don’t know enough yet about the harms and side effects of electronic cigarettes, and it will take years before we can be sure what they are.” However anti-smoking campaigners said that e-cigarettes were ‘considerably less-harmful’ than tobacco and warned against restricting their sale and use. Hazel Cheeseman, director of policy and research at Action on Smoking and Health, said there was "no evidence of any harm to bystanders from use of these devices" and said regulation needed to be proportionate. She said: "Smoking kills 100,000 people in the UK alone. Smokers who switch to using electronic cigarettes in whole or in part are likely to substantially reduce their health risks. "Although we cannot be sure that electronic cigarettes are completely safe, as the WHO acknowledges, they are considerably less harmful than smoking tobacco and research suggests that they are already helping smokers to quit.” The ingredients in e-cigarettes vary but they generally include nicotine and chemicals to vaporise the nicotine such as propylene glycol. Previous studies have shown that inhaling nicotine, even without tobacco smoke, may contribute to heart disease. Some e-cigarettes have also been found to give off formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, at higher levels than normal cigarettes. Silicate particles, a cause of lung disease, are also present in some e-cigarette vapour. A study published last year by the Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority found that vaping worsened indoor air quality by increasing the concentration of nicotine, particulates and aluminium. The Department of Health is not considering banning e-cigarettes indoors but said it was planning to prohibit the sale to under 18s. Electronic cigarettes are currently regulated as consumer products in the UK. But by 2016 they will be regulated by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. “More and more people are using e-cigarettes and we want to make sure they are properly regulated so we can be sure of their safety,” said a Department of Health spokesman. ||||| GENEVA/LONDON The World Health Organization (WHO) called for stiff regulation of electronic cigarettes as well as bans on indoor use, advertising and sales to minors, in the latest bid to control the booming new market. In a long-awaited report that will be debated by member states at a meeting in October in Moscow, the United Nations health agency on Tuesday also voiced concern about the concentration of the $3 billion market in the hands of big tobacco companies. "In a nutshell, the WHO report shows that e-cigarettes and similar devices pose threats to public health," Douglas Bettcher, director of the agency's department on non-communicable diseases, told a news briefing in Geneva. The uptake of e-cigarettes, which use battery-powered cartridges to produce a nicotine-laced vapour, has rocketed in the past two years, but there is fierce debate about the risks. Because they are so new, there is a lack of long-term scientific evidence to support their safety, and some fear they could lead to nicotine addiction and tobacco smoking. "We must emphasise that the onus of responsibility for showing safety, for answering many of these questions, must be on the companies and the industries owning them," Bettcher said. "The reports finds, at this point in time anyway, that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that e-cigarettes help users to quit smoking or not. The jury is still out," he said. The European Union has already agreed to requirements around advertising and packaging to ensure the safety and quality of e-cigarettes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has proposed banning sales to anyone under 18 but no curbs on advertising. Activists welcomed the WHO recommendations. "As Big Tobacco corners the e-cigarette market, it is using e-cigarettes as a global PR scheme to gloss over its tarnished image, positioning itself as a 'solution' to the problem it drives. In reality, the e-cigarette industry is taking advantage of the regulatory vacuum to employ the Big Tobacco playbook to hook a new generation on its products," said John Stewart of the U.S.-based group Corporate Accountability International. REGULATORY OPTIONS The WHO launched a public health campaign against tobacco a decade ago. The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which entered into force in 2005, has been ratified by 179 states, although not the United States. There are 466 brands of e-cigarettes, and the industry represents "an evolving frontier filled with promise and threat for tobacco control", the WHO said in the report. It urged a range of regulatory options including banning vending machines in most locations and preventing e-cigarette makers from making health claims, such as that they help people quit smoking, until there is hard evidence. Smokers should use a combination of already approved treatments for kicking the habit, it said. While e-cigarettes are likely to be less toxic than conventional ones, the WHO dismissed the idea that e-cigarettes merely produced "water vapour", arguing they exposed bystanders and non-smokers to nicotine and other toxic substances. Dr. Armando Peruga, of the WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative, said the contents of e-cigarettes vary but that the aerosol expelled by their users contains nicotine, which is known to alter brain development, and other toxins. "There are brands for example that contain formaldehyde, which is a cancer-causing element, at the same level as some cigarettes," Peruga told reporters. "Depending on the brand, some studies have found that they contain heavy metals, for example cadmium which is completely a cancer-causing agent," Peruga said. Others have been found to contain nickel or acrolein, a respiratory irritant, he said. Their use also posed a threat to adolescents and the foetuses of pregnant women, the WHO said. BACON TO BUBBLE GUM One concern is that e-cigarettes may tempt children, and the report called for a ban on flavours until there was proof they did not attract adolescents. E-cigarettes can be customised with flavours ranging from bacon to bubble gum. Scientists are divided on the risks and potential benefits of e-cigarettes. One group of researchers warned the WHO in May not to classify them as tobacco products, arguing that doing so would jeopardise an opportunity to slash disease and deaths caused by smoking. Opposing experts argued a month later that the WHO should hold firm to its plan for strict regulations. Major tobacco companies including Imperial Tobacco (IMT.L), Altria Group (MO.N), Philip Morris International (PM.N) and British American Tobacco (BATS.L) are increasingly launching their own e-cigarette brands as sales of conventional products stall in Western markets. Two major national producers, China Tobacco and Indian Tobacco Company, have recently become producers, Bettcher said. A Wells Fargo analyst report in July projected that U.S. sales of e-cigarettes would outpace conventional ones by 2020. A BAT spokesman said overly restrictive regulations could prevent smokers from being aware of a less risky alternative to smoking, and "this can only be bad thing for public health". (Additional reporting by Martinne Geller in London; Editing by Angus MacSwan, David Clarke and Jane Baird)

– More support for those who think it's too early to jump on the e-cigarette bandwagon: The vapor-producing devices may still pose a threat to users' and bystanders' health, says WHO, which suggests stronger regulations on the relatively new industry in a report released today, reports Reuters. The health organization also asks for a ban on puffing away on the battery-driven units indoors, as well as on advertising and flavored e-cigs that could lure underage users. Although e-cigs "are likely less toxic than conventional ones," writes Stephanie Nebehay at Reuters, WHO researchers say that nicotine and other chemicals emitted by e-cigs are still a health hazard, especially for teens and pregnant women. Those chemicals can include formaldehyde, aluminum, and silicate particles, reports the Telegraph. The WHO report is lobbying against e-cig vending machines and says manufacturers shouldn't be able to tout their products as "smoking cessation aids" until more research is completed to back that claim up. The main debate right now seems to be between those who think that e-cigs can help cut down on tobacco-related deaths and those who argue that using e-cigs could lead to the real thing for youngsters—especially with flavors such as bacon, bubble gum, and even Thin Mint. "Many public health experts are concerned that the advertising of electronic cigarettes could make it seem normal again to think smoking is glamorous," a health official tells the Telegraph. (The FDA proposes a ban on sales to minors, but hasn't moved against flavors.)

CBS News reported earlier this week that Iceland is leading the world in “eradicating Down syndrome births.” One might be forgiven for assuming that Iceland has developed an innovative treatment for the chromosomal disorder. It turns out Iceland’s solution is much simpler, and much more sinister: using prenatal testing and abortion to systematically exterminate children with Down syndrome. This isn’t progress; it’s eugenics. Prenatal testing is optional in Iceland, but the government mandates that doctors notify women of that option. About 85 percent of expectant mothers undergo the test, and close to 100 percent of those women choose to abort if their child is diagnosed with Down syndrome. Just two children with Down syndrome are born in Iceland each year, often as the result of faulty testing. The CBS article does little to accord this subject the moral gravity it deserves. “Other countries aren’t lagging too far behind in Down syndrome termination rates,” the authors note casually. CBS News’s tweet promoting the story read simply: “Iceland is on pace to virtually eliminate Down syndrome through abortion.” But Iceland isn’t “eliminating Down syndrome” at all. It’s eliminating people. The callous tone of the piece makes selective abortion sound like a technological innovation rather than what it really is: the intentional targeting of “unfit” persons for total elimination. What kind of culture does it require to foster such a mindset, to foster a society in which nearly every mother of a Down-syndrome child chooses to abort? Iceland is at the high end of the spectrum in this regard — and was one of the first countries to normalize widespread prenatal testing, in an effort to identify fetal abnormalities and eliminate them through abortion — but it is far from alone. Ninety percent of women in the United Kingdom who receive a positive Down-syndrome diagnosis choose to abort. In the U.S., that percentage falls somewhere between 67 and 90, according to a recent meta-study of Down-syndrome termination rates over the last few decades. In Europe as a whole, somewhere around 92 percent of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted. This targeting of individuals with Down syndrome is borne out not just in astronomical abortion rates, but in a cultural attitude that often regards them as less than human. In France, for example, the State Council banned from the airwaves a video featuring children with Down syndrome talking about their happy lives. The advertisement was meant to comfort mothers who received a prenatal diagnosis and assure them that their children would have beautiful, largely normal lives. The ad was forbidden by the French government because the smiles of the children would “disturb the conscience of women who had lawfully made different personal life choices” — in other words, because seeing them happy would upset women who had aborted their Down syndrome children. Meanwhile, prenatal testing is praised nearly universally for its ability to give women a full array of “options” for their pregnancies, but many women report feeling pressured by their doctors — whether to be tested in the first place or to choose abortion if the test reveals Down syndrome or other abnormalities. It is taken for granted in the medical community that no woman would carry a Down-syndrome pregnancy to term. This pressure reveals the pervasive belief that selective abortion is somehow an actual health-care solution. Instead of seeking real treatment for the ailments that plague people with Down syndrome, or even finding potential cures, we have settled for a false vision of progress that kills people with a disorder rather than treating them. A counselor at an Iceland hospital sees the issue even more starkly. “We don’t look at abortion as a murder,” she said. “We look at it as a thing that we ended. We ended a possible life that may have had a huge complication . . . preventing suffering for the child and for the family. And I think that is more right than seeing it as a murder — that’s so black and white. Life isn’t black and white. Life is grey.” Too many people today believe it is preferable, and indeed more humane, to murder children rather than allow them to suffer. It is in this supposed gray area that the desire to promote health and well-being morphs into the insidious view that people with Down syndrome are better off dead — and that we will be a more advanced society for having relieved them of the burden of a “limited” life. Too many people today believe it is preferable, and indeed more humane, to murder children rather than allow them to suffer. But what life doesn’t have suffering? Jerome Lejeune, the French geneticist who discovered the chromosomal basis for Down syndrome, once offered this perspective: “It cannot be denied that the price of these diseases is high — in suffering for the individual and in burdens for society. Not to mention what parents suffer! But we can assign a value to that price: It is precisely what a society must pay to remain fully human.” The title of the CBS piece asks, “What kind of society do you want to live in?” The article’s implicit response seems to be, “One dedicated to eliminating abnormality and suffering by any means necessary.” But no admirable society eradicates suffering by eradicating those who suffer. To achieve true moral progress, we must reject the killing of the vulnerable and condemn any backwards society that promotes such a regime as a solution. READ MORE: The Medical Pros Are Wrong on Down Syndrome Dear Future Mom and the Sensitivity Police France Prepares to Criminalize Pro-Life Advocacy — Alexandra DeSanctis is a William F. Buckley Jr. Fellow in Political Journalism at the National Review Institute. ||||| "CBSN: On Assignment" airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS and on our streaming network, CBSN. Explore more on this topic in our "Behind the Lens" report. With the rise of prenatal screening tests across Europe and the United States, the number of babies born with Down syndrome has significantly decreased, but few countries have come as close to eradicating Down syndrome births as Iceland. Since prenatal screening tests were introduced in Iceland in the early 2000s, the vast majority of women -- close to 100 percent -- who received a positive test for Down syndrome terminated their pregnancy. While the tests are optional, the government states that all expectant mothers must be informed about availability of screening tests, which reveal the likelihood of a child being born with Down syndrome. Around 80 to 85 percent of pregnant women choose to take the prenatal screening test, according to Landspitali University Hospital in Reykjavik. "CBSN: On Assignment" headed to Iceland with CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano to investigate what's factoring into the high termination rates. Using an ultrasound, blood test and the mother's age, the test, called the Combination Test, determines whether the fetus will have a chromosome abnormality, the most common of which results in Down syndrome. Children born with this genetic disorder have distinctive facial issues and a range of developmental issues. Many people born with Down syndrome can live full, healthy lives, with an average lifespan of around 60 years. Other countries aren't lagging too far behind in Down syndrome termination rates. According to the most recent data available, the United States has an estimated termination rate for Down syndrome of 67 percent (1995-2011); in France it's 77 percent (2015); and Denmark, 98 percent (2015). The law in Iceland permits abortion after 16 weeks if the fetus has a deformity -- and Down syndrome is included in this category. The laboratory at Landspitali University Hospital, the country's main medical center, where the majority of Icelandic women's prenatal blood tests are processed. CBS News With a population of around 330,000, Iceland has on average just one or two children born with Down syndrome per year, sometimes after their parents received inaccurate test results. (In the U.S., according to the National Down Syndrome Society, about 6,000 babies with Down syndrome are born each year.) "Babies with Down syndrome are still being born in Iceland," said Hulda Hjartardottir, head of the Prenatal Diagnosis Unit at Landspitali University Hospital, where around 70 percent of Icelandic children are born. "Some of them were low risk in our screening test, so we didn't find them in our screening." When Thordis Ingadottir was pregnant with her third child at the age of 40, she took the screening test. The results showed her chances of having a child with Down syndrome were very slim, odds of 1 in 1,600. However, the screening test is only 85 percent accurate. That year, 2009, three babies were born with Down syndrome in Iceland, including Ingadottir's daughter Agusta, who is now 7. Agusta, age 7. On average, Iceland has two people with Down syndrome born each year. CBS News According to Ingadottir, three babies born with Down syndrome is "quite more than usual. Normally there are two, in the last few years." Since the birth of her daughter, Ingadottir has become an activist for the rights of people with Down syndrome. As Agusta grows up, "I will hope that she will be fully integrated on her own terms in this society. That's my dream," Ingadottir said. "Isn't that the basic needs of life? What kind of society do you want to live in?" Geneticist Kari Stefansson is the founder of deCODE Genetics, a company that has studied nearly the entire Icelandic population's genomes. He has a unique perspective on the advancement of medical technology. "My understanding is that we have basically eradicated, almost, Down syndrome from our society -- that there is hardly ever a child with Down syndrome in Iceland anymore," he said. Quijano asked Stefansson, "What does the 100 percent termination rate, you think, reflect about Icelandic society?" "It reflects a relatively heavy-handed genetic counseling," he said. "And I don't think that heavy-handed genetic counseling is desirable. … You're having impact on decisions that are not medical, in a way." Stefansson noted, "I don't think there's anything wrong with aspiring to have healthy children, but how far we should go in seeking those goals is a fairly complicated decision." According to Hjartardottir, "We try to do as neutral counseling as possible, but some people would say that just offering the test is pointing you towards a certain direction." Indeed, more than 4 out of 5 pregnant women in Iceland opt for the prenatal screening test. Iceland's Down syndrome dilemma For expectant mother Bergthori Einarsdottir, who chose to have the test, knowing that most women did so helped steer her decision. "It was not pressure, but they told me that most women did it," she said. "It did affect me maybe a little bit." Over at Landspitali University Hospital, Helga Sol Olafsdottir counsels women who have a pregnancy with a chromosomal abnormality. They speak to her when deciding whether to continue or end their pregnancies. Olafsdottir tells women who are wrestling with the decision or feelings of guilt: "This is your life — you have the right to choose how your life will look like." She showed Quijano a prayer card inscribed with the date and tiny footprints of a fetus that was terminated. Quijano noted, "In America, I think some people would be confused about people calling this 'our child,' saying a prayer or saying goodbye or having a priest come in -- because to them abortion is murder." Olafsdottir responded, "We don't look at abortion as a murder. We look at it as a thing that we ended. We ended a possible life that may have had a huge complication... preventing suffering for the child and for the family. And I think that is more right than seeing it as a murder -- that's so black and white. Life isn't black and white. Life is grey." ||||| General Fact Check: No, Iceland is NOT systematically eradicating Down syndrome By Staff Mother and Child The gyneocoly and obstetrics department of the National University Hospital in Reykjavík. The sculpture, "Mother and Child" is by Danish sculptor Tove Ólafsson, who was married to one of Iceland's best known 20th century sculptors Sigurjón Ólafsson. Photo/Vilhelm. Recently the US news network CBS News ran a story which took viewers "Inside the country where Down syndrome is disappearing". This story prompted a swift backlash in the US, with political and religious leaders denouncing Iceland for practicing eugenics. Some commentators went so far as to suggest Iceland was pursuing Nazi policies. CBS News claimed in its story that the government pushes pre-natal screening on women, and that "close to 100 percent" of women who received a positive test for Down syndrome opted for abortion: "Since prenatal screening tests were introduced in Iceland in the early 2000s, the vast majority of women -- close to 100 percent -- who received a positive test for Down syndrome terminated their pregnancy." "Nazi policies" One of those who reacted to this story was the conservative firebrand Sarah Palin, who has a child with Down syndrome. On Fox News Palin blasted what she saw as as wrong and evil practice , arguing. "To try to snuff out a life, in the name of building a perfect race or a perfect country back to Nazi Germany" Others, including Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who reacted to the story on Twitter, described the alleged policy as "sad". The story, and the intense criticism it sparked in the US, has generated a debate in Iceland about the screening for Down syndrome and the termination of pregnancies following positive results. Not least because the story, and the follow-up in the US seems to have gotten a number of things about this wrong. Read more: Watch: American preacher denounces Iceland as a “feminist hell”, “a nation of bastards” So, what are the facts? Abortion in Iceland The first point, we must keep in mind, is that Icelanders have a different view of abortions than many on the political right in the US. In Iceland women's right over their own bodies is generally recognized by politicians, health care workers and the public alike. While Iceland does not have "abortion on demand", women who wish to terminate their pregnancy must have a conversation with a social worker at the hospital before having an abortion within the first trimester, there is no effort to pressure women to change their minds. The decision to carry a pregnancy to completion is viewed by the overwhelming majority of Icelanders as a decision that women must make on their own, or with their partners. In Iceland strangers, whether they are religious, political or community leaders, are not viewed as having any say in people's intensely personal and moral decisions like family planning. This also applies to questions of Down syndrome. Nowhere near 100% choose abortion Sometime between the 11th and 14th week of the pregnancy women are offered a pre-natal screening where the fetus is checked for abnormalities, and the findings are shared with the woman. This screening can, among other things, detect whether there is an increased likelihood of the fetus having Down syndrome. Women are not pressured to have this screening, but strongly urged to do so. Read more: Icelandic men's national football team in mismatched socks to honor of Down Syndrome Day Hulda Hjartardóttir, chief physician at the maternity ward of the National University Hospital told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið that it is plain wrong to claim, as CBS News does, that "close to 100%" of women who are told that the fetus has an increased likelihood of having Down syndrome. Women receive information and advice, are nut subjected to pressure Hulda explained to the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service that roughly 85% of women choose to have the optional pre-natal screening, while 15-20% choose not to have the screening. The screening reveals whether there is an increased likelihood of the fetus having Down syndrome. If the screening finds that there is an increased likelihood of the fetus having Down syndrome 15-20% of women or prospective parents choose not to undergo any further tests, and simply choose to carry the pregnancy to term. The other two thirds undergo further tests and follow up discussions with doctors and nurses where the findings of the tests are explained. If the tests conclude that the child will be born with down syndrome women are told they have two options: to end the pregnancy or carry it to term. Misleading presentation Hulda told the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service that the presentation of CBS News was "misleading": "Yes they are a bit misleading. It is possible to use statistics to say different things, and I think this news program did that. It distorted the reality." Hulda told Morgunblaðið that women and parents are then offered the opportunity to meet with doctors and nurses who work with people with Down syndrome. They are also offered the opportunity to meet parents who have children with Down syndrome. No effort is made to pressure the women to make a certain decision, she explains. Woman make the decision themselves In fact, Hulda stresses that every effort is made to ensure that the decision comes from the woman herself. She told Morgunblaðið that her experience is that no woman takes this decision lightly: "It is very difficult to force a woman to carry a pregnancy to term, whether or not it is for social or some other reasons. If we really support women's right to choose it is extremely difficult to say that one thing is ok, but not another. But this is an extremely difficult decision which no woman makes lightly."

– A story by CBS News about the declining number of Down syndrome births in Iceland has caused an uproar, with conservative critics accusing the story of celebrating abortion and others lashing out at Iceland itself. There's so much to unpack that even the myth-busting site Snopes has weighed in to set some things straight. A look at the controversy: The story: It says that while prenatal screenings have led to a reduction in Down syndrome births in the US and Europe, "few countries have come as close to eradicating Down syndrome births as Iceland." A tweet promoting the story read, "Iceland is on pace to virtually eliminate Down syndrome through abortion." The screening: The story explains that doctors must inform pregnant women that such screening is available, but it makes clear that women can choose not to have the screening. Roughly 80% to 85% of women agree to it, however, and, of those, "close to 100%" choose to have an abortion if they get a positive test for Down syndrome, per the story. The outrage: Sarah Palin, whose son, Trig, has Down syndrome, likened Iceland to Nazi Germany in an interview with Fox News. "This intolerance for people who may not look like you is so wrong," she says. The sentiment is shared: It amounts to "eugenics," argues Alexandra DeSanctis at the National Review. This isn't "eliminating Down syndrome," she adds. "It's eliminating people." Ted Cruz tweeted: "Truly sad. News celebrating Iceland's '100% termination rate' for children w/ Downs Syndrome." Snopes: The website notes that some critics are distorting what the story actually said, calling out one headline in particular that read, "Iceland kills 100% of babies with Down syndrome in abortion: New report.” Snopes clarifies: "The Icelandic government does not mandate abortions for mothers whose unborn children test positive for Down syndrome, nor do they mandate that a mother is required to take the test in the first place." The stats: A piece at Iceland Magazine takes issue with the CBS assertion that nearly 100% of women who get a positive test have an abortion. It quotes one doctor who says the figure is nowhere near that, and the magazine suggests it's closer to 80% to 85%. And then there's the 20% or so of women who choose not to have the screening in the first place. (The CBS story says the percentage of US women who opt for abortion after a positive test is 67%, while the National Review piece cites stats putting it between 67% and 90%.) Abortion views: Another factor in all of this is opposing views of abortion, of course. A counselor of pregnant women at an Icelandic hospital acknowledges that some see it as murder but says that's not the prevailing view in Iceland. "We don't look at abortion as a murder," she tells CBS. "We look at it as a thing that we ended. We ended a possible life that may have had a huge complication ... preventing suffering for the child and for the family."

Facts & Summary of Findings · Arkansas produces 11% of the nation’s broiler chickens. · Northwest Arkansas, the locus of poultry production, has much larger populations of people who are foreign-born, Hispanic or Latino, and Asian or Pacific Islander than Arkansas as a whole (see Figure 4). These demographics are represented in disparity and discrimination that workers reported on their surveys. · NWAWJC surveyed 500 Arkansas poultry workers about their experiences working in the industry. Wages and Hours Workers in Arkansas poultry processing plants often do not earn enough to support their families. On top of low pay, workers report experiencing wage and hour violations including having wages “disappear.” · Arkansas poultry workers make, on average, approximately $13.84 per hour ($28,792 per year). Even in a household with 2 adults making this wage ($57,584 total), this is well below living wage for a family of 4 ($71,000 is considered a living wage in nonmetro South). · 62% of surveyed workers report experiencing some sort of wage and hour violation. Example: non-payment of wages; cost of protective gear deducted from pay. · 21% of foreign-born workers reported being paid with payroll cards. These cards can have advantages, as they can be used like debit cards, but there are disadvantages because fees and payments can be difficult to track. 38% of those who are paid via payroll card reported having money “disappear.” And in 74% of those cases, the money was never recovered. Benefits Poultry workers in Arkansas report having limited access to health benefits such as earned sick leave and affordable comprehensive health insurance. In addition, workers report being punished or even fired for being sick and injured on the job. · Most poultry workers report having health insurance but only 22% said they were “always” able to afford medical care they needed. 62% reported that they could only pay “sometimes” or “never.” · Only 9% of surveyed workers report that they have earned sick leave. Another 38% reported having unpaid sick leave, often on a points system that discourages workers from taking time off. A full 32% report that they have no sick leave at all. · 62% reported that they had gone to work while sick. When asked why, 77% responded that they needed the money and had no earned sick leave. 54% reported that they worked because they were afraid of disciplinary action if they missed work. 44% reported that they had been directly threatened with discipline if they missed work. · 22% of surveyed workers reported being fired because they missed work due to sickness. Discrimination and Harassment The worker survey reveals widespread experiences of discrimination and harassment. Workers reported discrimination based on race, ethnicity, and gender. · Women, in particular, cite gender discrimination in the way bathroom breaks are withheld by male supervisors. Some have urinated on themselves because they were not granted breaks when needed. · 51% of surveyed workers report being discriminated against at work. · 44% report being verbally or sexually harassed. · Of those who reported being harassed, Black and Latino workers reported high rates of being harassed by a supervisor or lead (Black-71%, Latino-63%). White and API workers were more likely to report harassment by a coworker or combination of the 2. Lack of Mobility Among surveyed workers, tenure, mobility, and access to raises vary widely based on race and nationality. Foreign-born workers report being stuck in lower wage positions for longer periods of time, with fewer advancement opportunities. · Only 22% of surveyed workers reported being offered a promotion to a more comfortable or higher-paid role. · Foreign-born workers reported working on average twice as long at their U.S. counterparts (foreign-born-64 months, U.S.born-31 months). · Foreign-born and Latino workers reported both the longest average tenure as poultry workers AND the lowest rates of being offered promotions (Latino workers: 94% not offered a promotion; foreign-born 92% not offered a promotion). Health and Safety Health and safety conditions in poultry processing plants can pose a threat to both workers and consumers. Unhygienic environments combined with fast line speeds can result in injury and illness for workers and contamination of meat. · 31% of workers reported seeing contamination in the meat. There was a strong correlation between workers who did not have sick leave and those who saw contamination. Workers who come to work sick because they cannot take time off can infect other workers, perpetuate illness, and contaminate meat. · Over half of surveyed workers reported that they had had a work-related sickness or illness. But for those with earned sick days, that number was only 49%, while for those with no sick days, it was 71%. · 32% reported that they or someone they knew was punished for reporting health and safety or other issues to a supervisor. · Workers reported that a lack of proper training was a major cause of work related injury. · Those who reported being injured on the job also reported the fastest line speeds, in some cases almost double the piece/pound per minute rate of those who had not been injured. Recommendations · Policymakers should increase enforcement of wage and hour laws, including increasing penalties for violations and increased enforcement resources. · Line speeds should be regulated and reduced, to reduce injury and contamination. · Paid sick leave should be guaranteed for all workers. · Policymakers and companies should work to reduce discrimination and harassment in the workplace, including enforcing anti-discrimination laws and creating strategies to ensure equitable mobility for workers of color and foreign-born workers. · Companies and policymakers should ensure equitable access to bathroom breaks to protect worker health and dignity. · Workers should be encouraged to organize collectively to work for better conditions. To read the full report Wages and Working Conditions in Arkansas Poultry Plants: Click Here ||||| Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters This article was reported in partnership with the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute. On the debone line, the birds come at you fast. That was Lisandro Vega’s first lesson. The former prison guard in Puerto Rico had moved to the town of Huntsville, Arkansas, in 2013, following relatives who found work at a Butterball turkey plant. There, he was given a knife and gloves and told to stand at a station, where 47 dead and defeathered turkeys rushed past each minute. He was responsible for every second bird. Sometimes he cut out the hip joints; other times the breasts and livers. The pace was relentless: 1,410 birds an hour, more than 11,000 a shift. Advertisement And sometimes they come at you faster. Beginning in October, Butterball requires plant employees to work approximately 50 days straight to meet the Thanksgiving rush. In Huntsville, people call this period “fresh”—in Spanish, la fresca—because that’s when birds are sold fresh, not frozen. During this time, the line speed increases; Vega recalls it reaching, according to his supervisor, 51 birds a minute. (Butterball declined to comment on its line speed.) A debone worker like Vega can slice up more than half a million turkeys before receiving a single day off. Gabriel Thompson “In training, they tell you that if you can’t get to the turkey, just let it go by, because you can injure yourself with the knife,” he says. “But once you are in debone, if you miss a turkey, you’re going to immediately hear: ‘What happened? You can’t let them go by!’ ” It is early evening, and we are standing in front of Lolo’s Mexican Grill in Huntsville, about a mile south of the plant. Vega, 46, is short and trim, with a shaved head that reflects the glow of a gorgeous October moon. It wasn’t that Vega harbored illusions about turkey plant work. His son-in-law had quit shortly before he arrived, after a supervisor refused to allow him to take a bathroom break—a frequent complaint among poultry workers. The man had peed himself right there on the line. “His pants were wet, yet he finished his shift. Then he walked out and didn’t come back,” Vega says. But the pain in Vega’s hands took some getting used to. He began submerging them in a container of hot bleached water, perched nearby to disinfect dropped knives. During brief moments between birds, he’d stretch out his fingers, which tended to harden, clawlike, around his knife. And though he knew that many of his co-workers went to the nurse’s station to ice their hands and others had surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome, he found his own ways to cope. In Puerto Rico, he had dealt with inmate uprisings. He was accustomed to soldiering through. “Once you are in debone, if you miss a turkey, you’re going to immediately hear: ‘What happened? You can’t let them go by!’ ” Advertisement During his third “fresh” in October 2015, the ache in Vega’s hands was superseded by shooting pains in his back. While moving a heavy container of turkey carcasses with a pallet jack, he slipped and fell, throwing out his back. He struggled to get up and hobbled over to the nurse’s station. For several days, he returned to the station during breaks, where his back was iced and rubbed down with Icy Hot by a nurse. (Butterball would not comment on whether its plant nurses are highly trained RNs or minimally trained LPNs; the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has no requirements as long as the nurses only operate within their scope of practice.) Within a week, the pain had become tolerable, though he still walked tentatively. Then, in February, while moving another carton of turkey, he slipped on ice in the plant’s freezer, landing hard on his tender back. He returned to the nurse’s station for more ice and pain-relieving cream. Soon he was a regular, visiting twice a day for treatments. Yet he wasn’t getting better. Vega asked about seeing a doctor but says that his supervisor told him that if he did, he would be suspended. One day, while signing in at the nurse’s station, he noticed a posting on the wall. It listed an impressive number of hours that workers had gone without suffering injuries causing them to miss shifts. According to Butterball, the plant was one of the safest worksites in the country; in 2013, the company announced that Huntsville employees had worked 8 million hours without what is called a lost-time injury. That’s a remarkable figure—the equivalent of a single person working full-time for 3,835 consecutive years. Vega looked around the nurse’s station. He saw three people whose swollen hands were being iced. Another man had his shoulder wrapped in ice. On the walk over from the debone line, sharp pains had shot through Vega’s back with each step. If none of us are hurt, he asked himself, then what are we all doing in the nurse’s station? Advertisement * * * The Butterball plant is set back on a quiet road that meanders through rolling hills, just inside the limits of Huntsville (population: 2,346), whose motto is “Crossroads of the Ozarks.” The sprawling white structure, whose doors opened in 1974, is surrounded by a barbed-wire fence and employs more than 650 people. Each year, leading up to Thanksgiving, it cranks out 45,000 turkeys a day. On a cloudy day, a few minutes after 5 o’clock, employees are emerging through a vertical metal turnstile to walk slowly to their cars. It is day 13 of “fresh.” I take a seat on a bench near the turnstile and talk to a Latina woman who looks to be in her 40s as she waits for her ride. She wears a purple sweater and is gingerly opening and closing her hands. “Of course they hurt,” she tells me. “But I can handle it.” She suggests, however, that I probably shouldn’t apply for a job inside, then declines to say more after I identify myself as a journalist. Gabriel Thompson Advertisement As in most poultry plants in Northwest Arkansas, the workforce is a mix of whites, blacks, Latino immigrants, and Marshallese—immigrants from the Marshall Islands, in the South Pacific, attracted to the region by poultry work. (The Marshallese have special permission to work in this country, a result of U.S. nuclear testing in the 1940s and ’50s that rendered many of their islands uninhabitable.) Turkey is big business in Arkansas. Last year, the state produced 561 million pounds of turkey meat, fifth in the nation behind North Carolina, Minnesota, Indiana, and Missouri. Butterball, the nation’s largest turkey company, has two other plants in the state. Thirty miles east of Huntsville is the city of Springdale, which the Arkansas state legislature recently declared the “poultry capital of the world.” It’s hard to argue with the title. The city is home to another hulking turkey plant, this one owned by Cargill, and is the corporate headquarters of Tyson Foods. On the short drive from my Springdale motel to the Cargill plant, I pass three chicken plants, two hatcheries, and a dead turkey on the side of the road.* In the middle of all these plants is a one-story brick complex that contains the offices of the Northwest Arkansas Workers’ Justice Center. With a staff of four, the group has launched a campaign to improve the working conditions and wages of the nearly 28,000 poultry processing workers in Arkansas. Earlier this year, they marched on the Tyson headquarters, holding signs that read “WE ARE NOT MACHINES, WE ARE HUMANS.” The group is underfunded, understaffed, and feisty. Gabriel Thompson I meet Nelson Escobar in the parking lot. Originally from El Salvador, he worked briefly at a poultry plant in Springdale but balked at what he felt were inhumane working conditions. “Out here, if you get hurt, they fire you,” he tells me. “If you complain, they fire you. I didn’t like any of that.” He started volunteering at the center several years ago and is now the group’s director of organizing. Advertisement Escobar ushers me into a room where a woman with brown hair is seated at a long table. Vilma Asencio began working at the Cargill turkey plant in 2001; her first job involved pushing around racks of turkeys, which she says can weigh up to 2,000 pounds. At one point, she was moved to the shackle line, where she spent her shifts lifting dead birds up onto hooks. “These were big turkeys,” she says. In 1960, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average turkey weighed less than 17 pounds. Today the average weight is more than 30 pounds, with some of the largest males reaching more than twice that. Such sizes make natural breeding impossible, which is why there is an occupation called an artificial turkey inseminator. Last year, Arkansas produced 561 million pounds of turkey meat. After a year on the shackle line, Asencio says her right hand began to feel like it was permanently asleep. “I had lost all my strength,” she says. “Even a water bottle was too hard to open.” She went to the company nurse, who offered her little more than ice. Asencio says she had a private insurance plan with Blue Cross Blue Shield, for which she paid $89 a week. “I knew that the company only wanted to put Band-Aids on everything. I didn’t trust them.” As the weakness in her hand worsened and the nurse continued to refuse to refer her for an outside exam, Asencio scheduled her own appointment with a doctor. He ordered a nerve conduction study, which confirmed carpal tunnel syndrome, and scheduled a surgery. Asencio took the report back to the plant nurse and filed a workers’ compensation claim. The company’s insurer denied the claim, she recalls, determining that the carpal tunnel was unrelated to the repetitive motions she made on the job. “I didn’t even try to fight it,” she says, lifting up her arm to reveal a scar on her wrist. “I just wanted the strength in my hand to return.” After the surgery, she was out of work for three months. Cargill spokesman Mike Martin said by email that although the company does not discuss individual cases, Cargill complies with all regulations related to workplace health and safety and considers the safety of its workers “paramount.” “It’s crazy,” says Evelyn Brooks, an attorney in Arkansas who specializes in workers’ compensation cases and estimates that half her caseload involves poultry companies. “A worker like Asencio did the same fast production line work since 2001. But then insurance companies will ask questions like, ‘Do you whittle in your spare time?’ They’ll try to blame the injury on anything else. It’s the insurance company that makes the decision, but a place like Cargill—which is like a workers’ comp machine—is heavily involved.” A company with a high number of workers’ compensation cases, she notes, will end up paying more for its premiums. Advertisement In 2014 Asencio had a second surgery to resolve what her doctor originally believed was tendinitis in her right shoulder, also caused by the repetitive lifting of turkeys. This time, the insurance company didn’t question that her pain was work-related. But three weeks before her surgery, Asencio was called into the plant’s office. Her mother had recently died, and a manager handed her a condolence card. Then she fired her. According to Asencio, she said she had been late too many times, a charge she disputes. (Martin declined to comment on the alleged firing but said Cargill “complies with all employment laws.”) When she had the surgery, doctors discovered that her tendon was not simply inflamed; it had actually snapped. Two years later, her shoulder still causes significant pain, but her doctor has not recommended further treatment. Brooks is now representing Asencio in a case in front of the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission; she has requested that Asencio be assigned a new doctor. “I just want some of the pain to go away,” says Asencio, who is studying counseling at the University of Phoenix. Her hope is to someday land a job where she doesn’t need to use her arms or hands. * * * This February, the Northwest Arkansas Workers’ Justice Center published a lengthy report about poultry workers in Arkansas, which included data drawn from surveys of 500 turkey and chicken plant workers. About 60 percent of these workers reported having suffered an injury or illness on the job. One of the chief complaints was the dizzying line speed. Several workers reported that the lines go so fast that they often don’t even realize they have cut themselves until later. Gabriel Thompson During my interviews with a dozen turkey plant workers in Arkansas, line speed was identified as the major concern. The speed is regulated not by the Department of Labor but by the Department of Agriculture, whose sole criterion in setting maximum speeds is food safety. In 2012, under a proposed new poultry inspection system, the agency sought to increase the maximum line speed of turkeys from 51 to 55 birds per minutes and from 140 to 175 birds for chickens. The speed-up was supported by the National Turkey Federation, whose members include Butterball and Cargill; in its formal comments on the proposed regulation, the NTF cited the poultry industry’s “constantly improving” injury rates. (The NTF also heralded the proposed system as a step forward for food safety. But Food and Water Watch, an advocacy group, obtained 2011 inspection reports for three turkey plants that, as part of a USDA pilot project, were already running their lines at the higher speed. The group found inspection error rates—the rate at which employees missed items like bits of beak, bile, or fecal matter on turkey carcasses—of between 87 and 100 percent.) After an outcry among worker safety advocates and unions, along with food safety groups, the USDA backed off the increase in chicken speeds but let the turkey increase go through as planned. Vega told me that he couldn’t imagine working on a line going any faster than 51 birds a minute—the top speed he’d faced during “fresh”—but now workers might have to. “I think because there are fewer turkey plants, they got less focus,” says Deborah Berkowitz of the National Employment Law Project. “But the hazards are the exact same. The only difference is that turkeys are bigger, so you’ll see more cumulative trauma disorders, because it takes more effort to cut through the meat.” Berkowitz, a former chief of staff for OSHA under the Obama administration, first stepped inside a Virginia turkey plant in 1982, when she was with the AFL-CIO. The shock has stayed with her. “I had never seen people work so hard in my life,” she recalls. “And they were getting something called carpal tunnel syndrome. That’s where we really saw it first, in the turkeys. We brought someone in who told the company they could change the knife that workers used, and they wouldn’t get hurt as much. The company said F-you. I’ve been at war with the industry ever since.” The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, an arm of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researches workplace injuries and ways to prevent them. The last time NIOSH looked at repetitive cutting motions in turkey plants was 1987, nearly 30 years ago. The agency visited a plant in Colorado, where it videotaped workers on the job and reviewed company paperwork. Its team, which included several doctors and an industrial engineer, discovered that employees performed up to 28,800 cuts in a single shift. The investigation also revealed what it called “considerable underreporting of injuries.” The company, it found, kept two books. The first tracked injuries for the plant’s medical log; the other listed injuries reported to OSHA. In one month, 160 injuries were noted in the medical log. Only six were reported to the government. Failing to record injuries is one strategy to create the illusion of a safe workplace. Another is to fail to refer workers to doctors for proper tests and diagnoses. Each time an injury causes an employee to miss a day of work or to receive medical treatment beyond first aid, the company is required to record it in an OSHA log book. This data is reported each year to the Department of Labor and is used to identify industries with high injury rates—whose facilities will then face increased inspections. An industry that reports low injury rates is less likely to receive scrutiny from OSHA’s overstretched investigators. In the summer of 2014, executives of the nation’s largest poultry companies—including Cargill and Butterball—gathered at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort, a 2,400-acre retreat on the Florida coast. They were in town for an industry-sponsored safety conference that focused on “ergonomics and reducing cumulative trauma disorders.” The conference concluded with an awards ceremony, honoring poultry plants with better-than-average injury rates for three consecutive years. Wayne Farms, a Georgia-based company, took home 13 awards, including an “Award of Honor” for its processing plant in the unincorporated community of Jack, Alabama. A low injury rate may simply mean that companies have found new ways of discouraging workers from receiving needed medical treatment or taking time off. Several weeks earlier, OSHA had concluded an inspection of the same Jack plant. Inspectors found that Wayne Farms had a “standard practice of returning injured workers to regular duty.” One employee was seen by the nurse 94 times before finally being referred to a physician. “Perhaps more than any other industry, the poultry industry has focused its energies on the prevention of workplace injuries,” read a joint press release put out earlier this year, on behalf of the National Turkey Federation, the National Chicken Council, and the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association. It is true that the official injury rate for poultry workers has decreased: From 2004 to 2013, it dropped by 42 percent, from 9.8 to 5.7 injuries per 100 full-time workers. Yet as the Wayne Farms plant demonstrates, a low injury rate may simply mean that companies have found new ways of discouraging workers from receiving needed medical treatment or taking time off. It’s difficult to know the true injury rates among poultry workers—though they certainly are much greater than official figures suggest. Part of the problem is that OSHA is a severely underfunded agency. OSHA inspectors, according to the Wall Street Journal, only have the capacity to visit each U.S. workplace once every 99 years. Inspectors haven’t set foot inside Huntsville’s Butterball plant since 1995, back when Bill Clinton was in his first term. Many workers, after being injured, simply quit. In the Northwest Arkansas Workers’ Justice Center study, more than 1 in 5 injured workers reported that they were subsequently fired. There have been two recent investigations by NIOSH of repetitive stress injuries at chicken plants that give a more reliable indication of injury rates. In March of 2014, NIOSH found that 42 percent of workers at a chicken plant in South Carolina showed evidence of carpal tunnel syndrome. A year later, it published another study, this time of a Maryland chicken plant; 34 percent of the workers exhibited evidence of carpal tunnel. In Maryland, NIOSH also reviewed the company’s OSHA injury logs. Over a period of four years, from 2010 to 2013, it found only four entries for workers who had suffered work-related carpal tunnel syndrome. * * * For Lisandro Vega, the former prison guard from Puerto Rico, the breaking point came in late April, two months after his second fall. He had been visiting the plant nurse to have his back iced and rubbed down with cream during each break throughout late February, the entire month of March, and into April. Twice a day, every workday, he shuffled back and forth from the debone line to the plant nurse. He started visiting a massage therapist once a week in Springdale, on his own dime, but didn’t tell the company, not wanting to get in trouble. The therapist told Vega that his lower column was deviated, he recalls, and that the massages would only temporarily alleviate his pain. Standing upright and slicing through thousands of turkeys a day wasn’t giving his back a chance to recover. Several times, he woke up and tried to get out of bed, only to have his back seize on him. “I would just lie there, unable to move, staring at the ceiling,” he says. On those days, he didn’t make it in to work. Up to the end, he continued to get twice-a-day treatment at the nurse’s station. It had started to become second nature to walk leaning to one side, which slightly relieved the pain in his lower back. Yet he worried that he might do permanent damage to his body, and even the grizzled prison guard knew that it wasn’t worth taking the risk. Not knowing what else to do, in mid-April, he quit. Butterball’s injury-free streak remained intact. The Grind is a yearlong series looking at the unsavory—and often hidden—working conditions behind some of our cherished annual traditions. It is a collaboration with the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute, a nonprofit journalism center.

– No one's more thankful for Thanksgiving than the workers who toil away in turkey plants in the days before, where it can be weeks before time off is earned, bathroom breaks are frowned upon, and employees' "deboning" quota can surpass 11,000 turkeys per shift, per an exposé on Slate, co-reported with the Nation Institute. The deep dive starts with the story of Lisandro Vega, an ex-worker in an Arkansas Butterball plant, and through him and others, tidbits are noted about the "relentless" pace and how workers in the state—Cargill and Tyson Foods also have an Arkansas presence—suffer constant injuries. Workers ice their hands, for example, or even resort to carpal tunnel surgery after their hands harden from "clawlike" grips on deboning knives or from pushing around heavy turkey racks. The beginning of the end for Vega: when he saw a notice at his Huntsville plant in which Butterball bragged about how workers in that facility had put in more than 8 million hours without a "lost-time injury." Not buying that: the Northwest Arkansas Workers’ Justice Center, an advocacy group pushing for better working conditions and pay for the 28,000 workers in Arkansas' poultry industry. The NAWJC estimates 60% of Arkansas poultry workers have suffered an illness or injury at work. "If you get hurt, they fire you. If you complain, they fire you," the group's organizing director says. Slate also explores how injuries at the plants are underreported to the feds and how insurance companies give workers a hard time on their claims. Meanwhile, a joint statement from the National Turkey Federation, the National Chicken Council, and the US Poultry and Egg Association earlier this year stated: "Perhaps more than any other industry, the poultry industry has focused its energies on the prevention of workplace injuries." As for Vega, he eventually quit because a back injury he'd suffered at work became too painful. Entire article here. (Denial of bathroom breaks is a serious industry issue.)

Wanted teen Ethan Couch and his mother may be traveling together in her pickup truck, Tarrant County authorities said Monday at a news conference on the nationwide manhunt. Investigators are sifting through “hundreds and hundreds” of leads — including flight, credit card and cell phone records — as they search for Couch, 18, and his mom, Tonya Couch, 48. The teen has been wanted since Dec. 11, after he missed his probation meeting, authorities said. Couch’s notorious “affluenza” defense in 2013 spared him jail time for killing four innocent bystanders in a drunk-driving crash. Another victim, a teenager, was left severely brain damaged and paralyzed. Former District Judge Jean Boyd sentenced Couch to probation — a “miscarriage of justice” that continues to enrage many in Tarrant County, said Sheriff Dee Anderson. “He continues to believe the law doesn’t apply to him, which is how he was raised,” said Anderson, who was visibly angry at a news conference Monday. “If he has enough money, he can get out of it.” Anderson said Couch showed no remorse or sympathy the night he killed the victims or afterward. Couch, then 16, who had been drinking at his parents’ second home in Burleson, got behind the wheel with seven people piled into his Ford pickup, authorities said. That night, Couch had a blood alcohol content of 0.24 — three times the legal limit for an adult — and was driving 70 mph in a 40-mph zone, authorities said. “I said then, we’re not through with Ethan Couch — he’s not the kind of person who rehabilitates, who learns his lesson,” Anderson said. Authorities asked for the public’s help in finding Tonya Couch’s Ford pickup truck. It’s a black 2011 Ford F150 Harley Davidson edition with 23 inch chrome wheels and Texas license plate BC50945. There’s damage to the pickup — a “crease” on the passenger side panel. Couch’s attorneys, Scott Brown and Reagan Wynn, released a short statement saying they learned that Couch’s probation officer hasn’t been able to reach him or his mother for “the last several days,” prompting the court to call for his detention. The attorneys declined further comment. Authorities said they’re not sure the teen and his mom are together, or that she is helping him elude law enforcement. But investigators have a “strong suspicion” that’s the case, Anderson said. Authorities pledged to file criminal charges against anyone proven to have helped Couch elude capture. Anderson said he believes Couch decided to go on the run after someone tweeted a video that appeared to show Couch at a beer pong game where there was alcohol. The Twitter user wrote that Couch was violating his probation. His probation terms prohibited him from drinking alcohol, so he wanted to run from the potential jail time he faced, Anderson said. ya boy ethan couch violating probation. i got more if u want @CityofBurleson @TarrantCountyDA pic.twitter.com/otiGprQ1uD — h (@BlondeSpectre) December 2, 2015 Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson said Couch wasn’t allowed to leave the county without asking permission from his probation officer, which he didn’t do. She declined to say whether his passport had been confiscated. Wilson said the victims’ families are being re-traumatized by Couch’s disappearance, and Christmastime makes it even harder. Couch killed 24-year-old Breanna Mitchell, whose SUV had broken down, and three people who had stopped to help: youth pastor Brian Jennings 41, and Hollie Boyles, 52, and her daughter, Shelby Boyles, 21. A surviving victim, Sergio Molina, 17, was left severely brain damaged and paralyzed. Another teenage survivor, Soliman Mohmand, suffered broken bones and internal injuries. “There isn’t anything more difficult in the world than these people being without their family members and us being focused on the man who killed them,” Wilson said. “It’s just heartbreaking.” Couch and his mother lived together by themselves, Anderson said. She was divorced from Couch’s father, Fred Couch, who cooperated with investigators right after Ethan and his mom’s disappearance, telling them he hadn’t heard from either of them in about two weeks. Tonya Couch’s mother reported the 48-year-old missing on Sunday. That allowed authorities to enter her name in a national database with a note saying that she is possibly with a fugitive. That way, if police look her up, they will see that information, Anderson said. Couch received 10 years’ probation last year in his intoxication manslaughter case after a psychologist testified he suffered from “affluenza” because his family’s wealth and a dysfunctional relationship with his parents left him without a sense of responsibility. Wilson has filed to move Couch’s case to adult court. If it remains in juvenile court, she said, the maximum he could serve would be four months in detention, until he turns 19 in April. But if the case is moved to adult court, he could face 10 years in prison. “Hopefully, we will be able to hold him accountable … and make him pay a price since he hasn’t had to do that so far,” Anderson said. In addition to local authorities and the U.S. marshals, the FBI is also assisting with the nationwide search. There is a $5,000 reward for information leading to Couch’s capture. Anyone with information about the case may call the U.S. Marshals Service at 800-336-0102. The Associated Press and staff writer Claire Cardona contributed reporting. ||||| TARRANT COUNTY, Texas -- Officials released photos Monday of a pickup truck belonging to Tonya Couch, the missing mother of a wanted teen made famous when his lawyer told a Texas court the boy suffered from "affluenza." Couch and her son, Ethan, have been missing for more than a week. Ethan Couch, who was 16 years old when he killed four pedestrians in a drunk driving crash, was sentenced in 2013 to 10 years of probation. He is required to check in with a probation officer regularly, but has allegedly been out of contact with authorities for about two weeks. Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said at a press conference Monday morning that authorities believe the mother and son are together, and potentially fled the county in her black 2011 Ford F-150 pick-up. Tarrant County Sheriff's Office "We're trying to account for everything that's possible," Anderson said. "And this pickup truck is one thing we can't account for." The truck is a Harley Davidson-themed special edition with 23 inch chrome wheels, and Texas License Plate BC-50945, according to officials. Anderson acknowledged during the press conference that investigators don't know for sure that Tonya and Ethan couch are together. "We can't even prove that they're together, we certainly believe that they're together," Anderson said. "If she helped him in any way, we're going to file criminal charges against her." U.S. Marshals Service Texas sheriff's deputies, U.S. Marshals and the FBI are all searching for the Ethan Couch, whose 2013 sentence cause controversy after his lawyer argued in court that he didn't understand consequences due to his parents' wealth -- a syndrome the lawyer called "affluenza." Authorities believe Ethan Couch fled after the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office began investigating a video that surfaced online allegedly showing the teen at a party with several people playing beer pong, a drinking game. Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson said that while her office was looking into the video, it's not why they're now searching for Ethan Couch and his mother. "The problem for him on the juvenile probation is that he's not here. Juveniles have to ask for permission to leave the county, and we believe he's not in the county," Wilson said. In November, Wilson's office asked a court to move the now 18-year-old's case to adult court, where the potential repercussions for failing to follow the rules of probation are greater. "He's looking at possible penitentiary time if he's transferred to adult court," Wilson said, of the potential punishment for Ethan Couch's disappearance. Anderson, who is running for reelection in 2016, has conducted a media blitz while searching for Ethan Couch, appearing on national and local television regularly to give updates on the search. On Monday, he said that at the scene of Couch's deadly June 2013 car crash, "those who dealt with him at the accident scene and in the post-accident scene saw no remorse." The 16-year-old's blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit for an adult and there were traces of Valium in his system when he lost control of his pickup truck and plowed into a group of people helping a woman whose car had stalled. When he was sentenced six months later to probation, there was widespread outrage in Tarrant County, and Anderson was among many public officials who decried it. "Obviously this case is very very important to my agency," Anderson said Monday. "Unfortunately for us, my deputies had to investigate the devastating crime scene ....which resulted from the irresponsible decision that Ethan Couch made."

– "Affluenza teen" Ethan Couch, the Texas 18-year-old who allegedly violated his probation after a drunk-driving crash that killed four bystanders, is still missing along with his mother. They may be traveling in her black 2011 Ford F150 pickup truck, authorities said at a press conference Monday. The Harley Davidson edition truck has 23-inch chrome wheels, a "crease" of damage on the passenger side panel, and Texas license plate BC50945. Per the Dallas News, a "visibly angry" Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said Couch "continues to believe the law doesn’t apply to him, which is how he was raised. If he has enough money, he can get out of it." He added that investigators have a "strong suspicion" the two are together and Couch's mother is helping him flee the law, though they don't know for sure. Tonya Couch, 48, has now officially been reported missing, CBS News reports. That means she's in a national database for missing persons, and authorities added a note saying she might be with a fugitive, which police will see if they look her up. Anderson said Couch did not appear to have any sympathy after killing the victims: "I said then, we’re not through with Ethan Couch—he’s not the kind of person who rehabilitates, who learns his lesson." Couch missed a probation meeting after a video surfaced that appeared to show him drinking alcohol, and authorities have been looking for him ever since. Anderson said Couch was prohibited from drinking as part of his probation, and likely wanted to escape the jail time he could have faced over the video. Couch's mother is divorced from his father, and authorities say Couch's father has been cooperating with investigators and told them he hadn't heard from his son or his ex, who lived together, in about two weeks. Investigators say they are looking into "hundreds and hundreds" of leads.

In just 10 years the number of children diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, rose dramatically, a large new study suggests. Overall, about 5 percent of nearly 843,000 kids ages 5 to 11 were diagnosed between 2001 and 2010 with the condition that can cause impulsive behavior and trouble concentrating. But during that time, rates of new ADHD diagnoses skyrocketed 24 percent – jumping from 2.5 percent in 2001 to 3.1 percent in 2010. That’s according to a comprehensive review of medical records for children who were covered by the Kaiser Permanente Southern California health plan. Rates rose most among minority kids during the study period, climbing nearly 70 percent overall in black children, and 60 percent among Hispanic youngsters, according the study published in JAMA Pediatrics. Among black girls, ADHD rates jumped 90 percent. Rates remained highest in white children, climbing from 4.7 percent to 5.6 percent during the study period. The biggest factor driving this increase may be the heightened awareness of ADHD among parents, teachers, and pediatricians, says the study’s lead author Dr. Darios Getahun, a scientist with Kaiser Permanente. For kids who need help, that’s a good thing, Getahun says. “The earlier a diagnosis is made, the earlier we can initiate treatment which leads to a better outcome for the child,” he says. Unlike previous studies in which researchers relied on reports from parents and teachers to say whether a child had ADHD, the new study tracked kids who were diagnosed according to ADHD medical codes entered by child and adolescent psychiatrists, developmental and behavioral pediatricians, child psychologists and neurologists. ADHD is one of the most commonly diagnosed childhood disorders. Experts estimate that anywhere from 4 percent to 12 percent of school-age children are affected, many of whom continue to suffer from the disorder into adulthood. Rates of diagnosis in the new study were greater in families with higher incomes, with nearly three-quarters of kids with ADHD coming from families that earned more than $50,000 a year. “Higher rates of ADHD observed in affluent, white families likely represent an effort by these highly educated parents to seek help for their children who may not be fulfilling their expectations for schoolwork,” Getahun and his co-workers write. Boys still outnumber girls 3 to 1 in ADHD diagnoses, but the gap appears to be closing among black girls. “The increasing rate of ADHD among girls is an interesting finding and could represent an effort by parents to get more help for their daughters,” the authors say. There was no change in the rate among Asian kids, but Getahun suspects this may have something to do with culture. Asians, as a rule, have been less likely to use mental health services and are more likely to discontinue therapy despite having equal access to care, Getahun says. A child development specialist unaffiliated with the new study says he suspects that increased awareness of ADHD may have contributed to the increasing rate of diagnosis. “Heightened professional awareness in general and improved efforts to detect ADHD exert an influence, but we cannot tell the magnitude of that,” says Alan Kazdin, the John M. Musser Professor of Psychology and Child Psychiatry at Yale University. With all the coverage of the condition in the media, parents and teachers now have a better sense of what signs to look for, Kazdin says. “Heightened awareness in the media, by parents and by teachers, too, may play a role. A child who in previous years just was said not to be able to control himself might now be more finely described.” Related stories: ||||| A study found that boys are three times more likely to be diagnosed than girls. More boys than girls are diagnosed with ADHD, according to a new study. (Photo: Kathleen O'Rourke, AP) Story Highlights Experts: Greater awareness contributed to rise in diagnoses Kids from higher-income families more likely to be diagnosed Psychologist says study has limitations A new study of health records from California suggests that rates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have jumped by 24% since 2001. "That is a very significant increase," says Darios Getahun, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Medical Group who conducted the study. The apparent rise in diagnoses is likely caused by growing awareness of the condition among parents and doctors, he and other specialists say. The study looked at health records of more than 840,000 children, ages 5-11, who met a strict definition for ADHD, as diagnosed by a trained expert. It found that 2.5% of children were diagnosed with ADHD at the start of the study in 2001, vs. 3.1% in 2010. The percentage diagnosed is lower than in many other studies because of the strict diagnostic criteria and because, unlike other research, the study relied only on health records, not parents' reports, Getahun says. The study, published in Monday's issue of JAMA Pediatrics, was also large enough to break down those diagnosed by gender, race, family income and age. It found that boys were three times more likely to be diagnosed than girls. That may suggest that boys are more vulnerable to ADHD, as they are to autism, Getahun says. It also may be because girls with the condition are often overlooked, says pediatrician Craig Garfield of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. "We know that girls are more likely to show signs of inattention as opposed to hyperactivity, and therefore, the disorder often goes unnoticed and untreated." The study also found that the gender gap is closing among black Americans, with a lot of the increase over the past decade explained by a rise in diagnoses among black girls. Children of higher-income families are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD, Getahun says, perhaps because their families are more concerned with their school performance and are more likely to seek a diagnosis. Several ADHD experts question the validity of the study and whether the apparent increase in ADHD should be cause for concern. "I don't agree with the language about 'epidemic' proportions and 'dramatic' increases," says Paul Hammerness, an ADHD expert at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. "It is my impression that absolute rates are fairly stable over time, from country to country as well." Instead of worrying about an increase, Hammerness says Americans should focus on the quality of care provided to children with ADHD. Benjamin Lahey, a psychologist at the University of Chicago, also questioned the study's methods and validity. "I'm concerned that this paper will raise concerns that are not justified," says Lahey, who was on a scientific panel in the 1990s that helped develop the current definition of ADHD. "It certainly should not lead to the conclusion that there's an increase in the prevalence of ADHD in the United States." The only thing the study shows is that diagnoses are rising among members of Kaiser Permanente health plans, he says. That may be because Kaiser Permanente under-diagnosed ADHD before or is over-diagnosing it now, he says — though he adds that he believes the former is more likely. The study's reliance on doctors' records is also a weakness, he says. Doctors are notoriously inconsistent in how they diagnose ADHD, Lahey says. The same doctor is likely to judge two children very differently and may even give a different diagnosis to the same child seen on different days. The only way to do a reliable study, he says, is to use a specialized rating scale and consistent interviews scaled independently. Such research is very expensive and unlikely to be done, he adds. Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/10iiJnG

– In just a decade, the percentage of children diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder jumped by a big percentage itself: 24%, per a new study. It reviewed the health records of some 840,000 kids in California, and found that 2.5% received an ADHD diagnosis in 2001; by 2010, that rate was 3.1%, reports USA Today. Among white children, in whom rates are the highest, rates rose from 4.7% to 5.6%. But the highest increase was seen in minority children: Rates rose almost 70% in black children (and 90% for black girls) and 60% in Hispanic kids. Overall, almost three-quarters of children diagnosed with ADHD live in families earning more than $50,000 a year, NBC News reports. "Higher rates of ADHD observed in affluent, white families likely represent an effort by these highly educated parents to seek help for their children who may not be fulfilling their expectations for schoolwork," notes the study. The lead author says the large jump could be due to parents, teachers, and doctors being more aware of ADHD, which is a positive for children who need treatment. Notably, this study relied on health records indicating ADHD, rather than parents' reports.

Very few Americans know how close the country came to catastrophe this week. The final tally shows that the Senate voted by a wide margin Wednesday, 67 to 31, to break Sen. Ted Cruz’s filibuster of an increase in the debt limit, thus avoiding a default on the United States’ full faith and credit. But 15 minutes after the voting should have ended, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had apparently secured only two of the five Republican votes he needed to join all 55 members of the Democratic caucus to pass the measure. He raised three fingers in the air and worked his way among his members but was met with folded arms and shakes of the head. Looking queasy, he patted his thigh nervously and drummed his fingers. In the hubbub, Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) knocked a full glass of water and coaster from McConnell’s desk to the floor. Democrats, watching the spectacle, took the extraordinary step of ordering the Senate clerk not to read aloud the ongoing vote tally to avoid setting off a market panic; because the House had already left on a two-week recess, a failure of this vote would have left little chance of avoiding default on Feb. 27, when the Treasury was to run out of funds. Watching the chaos from the side of the chamber was the man who caused it: Cruz, his hands in his pants pockets and a satisfied grin on his face. The Texas Republican strolled to the clerk’s table to check on the vote count and was met with a look of disgust from Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.). And the feeling was widespread: Moments after Cruz walked into the Republican cloakroom, four senators emerged from it and changed their votes to “aye.” 1 of 11 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × 10 myths about Obama (that people actually believe) View Photos We’ve all heard them: Misinformation about President Obama has a penchant for spreading like wildfire. The Post’s Swati Sharma attempts to set a few matters straight. Caption We’ve all heard them: Misinformation about President Obama has a penchant for spreading like wildfire. The Post’s Swati Sharma attempts to set a few matters straight. We’ve all heard them: Misinformation about President Obama has a penchant for spreading like wildfire. Dana Milbank offers a few answers for the reasons, as he characterizes it , that the Kenyan born Muslim raised in a madrassa president somehow attracts lies and rumors that are far from the truth. As for the rumors themselves, we have compiled a list that aren't the most outrageous but have a surprising base of believers. Win McNamee/Getty Images Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. Cruz reemerged from the cloakroom, chewing gum, his hands again in his pockets. He smirked as his colleagues finally overcame his filibuster after a ­59-minute struggle. Cruz’s ego trip had come at a high cost. He had forced McConnell, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and other Republicans to cast votes that could cause them to lose primaries to weaker general-election candidates, and he had risked getting his party blamed for a default. The Wall Street Journal’s conservative editorial page dubbed Cruz “the Minority Maker” for making his GOP colleagues “walk the plank” on a “meaningless debt ceiling vote.” But Cruz doesn’t care about all that. Leaving the chamber, he told reporters McConnell’s fate would be “ultimately a decision . . . for the voters in Kentucky.” His actions suggest Cruz has put himself before his party and even the nation’s solvency. And in this sense his actions are typical of the 2016 GOP presidential field. Cruz, Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Rand Paul are mucking up the gears of government in ways that will earn them favorable attention in the primaries. Rubio, of Florida, is pushing legislation that would undo Obamacare in such a way that would cause chaos in the insurance market and likely leave tens of millions of people without health coverage and cost the government billions. Vying with Cruz to be the most reckless of the 2016 aspirants is Paul, of Kentucky, who in recent days has injected the 1990s Monica Lewinsky scandal into the national debate as a means of discrediting Hillary Clinton. He also claimed her failure to send “reinforcements” to diplomats in Benghazi before they were attacked “should limit Hillary Clinton from ever holding high office.” Multiple investigations have confirmed that secretaries of state do not make decisions about security at each diplomatic post. Now, Paul has politicized his court challenge to the NSA surveillance program. It would have been an important legal case, but Paul pushed aside the constitutional lawyer who had drafted the legislation and abandoned efforts to get a Democratic senator to be a co-plaintiff; instead, he added President Obama’s name to the list of defendants, brought in the tea party group FreedomWorks as a plaintiff and hired failed Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli, another tea party politician, to be his lead lawyer. To nobody’s surprise, Paul and Rubio sided with Cruz in Wednesday’s debt-ceiling filibuster. Had they prevailed, and had 12 of their GOP colleagues not been more responsible, the likely default would have added far more to the national debt than the legislation did. It also would have caused markets to crash, the economy to swoon and American standing to decline. But for Messrs. Paul, Rubio and Cruz, those aren’t the top considerations. Twitter: @Milbank Read more from Dana Milbank’s archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. ||||| Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 12, 2014. Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 12, 2014. Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 12, 2014. Close A growing group of Ted Cruz’s Republican Senate colleagues are infuriated with his tactics. So frustrated was Arizona Senator John McCain with the latest, forcing fellow Republicans to take a politically risky vote on lifting the debt ceiling, that yesterday he tweeted a Wall Street Journal editorial accusing the Texas lawmaker of instigating “needless drama that helps to explain why Republicans remain a minority.” Yet there’s not much McCain, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell or other Republicans can do to change Cruz’s behavior. “In this day and age, there are no tools available to a leader to punish a member like Senator Cruz, especially because Senator Cruz doesn’t care what either the leader or the rest of his caucus thinks,” said Jim Manley, a former top aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat. Related: Cruz’s insistence Feb. 12 on a 60-vote threshold to advance legislation lifting the nation’s borrowing cap foiled his party leadership’s plan to let the measure move forward with only Democratic votes. He led the October fight to defund the 2010 health care law, resulting in a partial government shutdown and the party’s cratering in public opinion polls. The Republican Party’s favorability was at a record low of 28 percent in a Gallup Poll conducted Oct. 3-6, during the shutdown. That was down 10 percentage points from the previous month and 15 points below Democrats. Old Tools In decades past, leaders could rein in such behavior by threatening to take away coveted committee assignments, withdrawing financial support, or shunning lawmakers. None of those tactics are effective in a political era in which campaign cash flows freely from outside the party machinery and cable outlets offer many ways to grab attention and influence. In addition, the potential 2016 presidential aspirant who is aligned with the small-government Tea Party movement has demonstrated scant interest in cultivating Senate allies or building legislative coalitions, making him even more impervious to pressure from his colleagues. The risk for Republicans is that Cruz will press similar votes and undermine the party’s ability to win the net six seats needed to gain control of the Senate. Republican infighting has twice, in 2010 and again in 2012, blown up its strategy for retaking the chamber. McConnell had to vote “yes” on advancing the debt bill to bring along enough fellow Republicans -- immediately providing fodder for his Republican opponent in the state’s May 20 primary, Louisville businessman Matt Bevin. Punishment Backfire House Speaker John Boehner in 2012 retaliated against four Republicans who went against him on budget and spending issues, by kicking them off the Budget and Financial Services committees. The move only liberated them to speak more boldly against the leadership. House Republican leaders this week removed Louisiana Representative Bill Cassidy from their whip team after he joined Democrats to press for a vote on legislation to prevent an increase in federal flood insurance premiums, said a Republican aide who sought anonymity. Cassidy is running against Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu. There’s no sign that McConnell will seek to punish Cruz, whose committee assignments include Armed Services, Judiciary and Commerce, Science and Transportation, by bumping him from those panels. Campaign Committee Nor are there discussions of stripping Cruz of his leadership role at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, where he’s serving as vice chairman for “grassroots outreach,” said NRSC spokeswoman Brook Hougesen. Cruz “has has been a powerful voice warning about the dangers of Obamacare and the lawlessness of the Obama administration,” Hougesen said. The Texan hasn’t endorsed any Republican candidates in contested primaries, including those that involve incumbents, and has said he has no plans to do so. Cruz has maintained close ties to the Senate Conservatives Fund, a political action committee founded by former South Carolina Republican Senator Jim DeMint that has helped elect Tea Party-backed senators since 2010 and is targeting McConnell. “We appreciate the support that he has given to our organization, and we look forward to working with him in the future,” said Matt Hoskins, executive director of the group, which helped Cruz upset Texas Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst in the 2012 Republican primary and win his Senate seat. ‘Conservative Principles’ Before last year’s shutdown, Hoskins’s group posted a video on Twitter Sept. 26 congratulating Cruz “for standing up for conservative principles.” The 90-second video is a montage of media coverage of Cruz’s bid to control the Senate floor for more than 21 hours to protest Obamacare. It opens with a narrator declaring: “Most Republicans promise to fight for conservative principles during the campaign, but then let us down after they’re elected. Ted Cruz is different. Ted Cruz delivers.” The group, which has already spent more than $1 million this cycle, has endorsed Bevin in the Kentucky race and this week aired a web ad criticizing McConnell’s past votes in favor of debt-limit increases. It’s also backing President Barack Obama’s second cousin, Milton Wolf, in his bid to oust fellow Kansas Republican Pat Roberts as well as Mississippi state senator Chris McDaniel, who is challenging Republican Senator Thad Cochran. Top Financiers SCF and another Washington-based small-government advocacy group, the Club for Growth, were Cruz’s top 2012 financiers, which makes him immune to any threats from party leaders to restrict the campaign money flow. Donors to those groups shipped Cruz $1.7 million of his total $14.5 million haul, according to the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics. The two groups provided another $7.1 million in outside advertising to help him win. Cruz, who often begins his answers to reporters’ questions by saying “outside of Washington,” has gone out of his way to portray himself as an outsider willing to challenge the White House and his party’s establishment. Asked this week whether McConnell should be replaced as Senate Republican leader, Cruz dodged a chance to buck up his leader and said that was a decision “for the voters of Kentucky to make.” Obama, speaking to House Democrats today in Cambridge, Maryland, credited unity among his party’s lawmakers with staving off spending cuts or other conditions some Republicans including Cruz wanted to attach to a debt-limit increase. ‘Stick Together’ “The fact that we were able to pass a clean debt limit is just one example of why when you guys are unified, you guys stick together, this country is better off,” Obama said. For their part, Senate Republicans are “getting used to Senator Cruz’s style of operating, which is to continue to put them in very difficult positions,” said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean, who was an aide to former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. “He is in it for a variety of reasons, but most likely in it for his future presidential ambitions.” To contact the reporter on this story: Kathleen Hunter in Washington at khunter9@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jodi Schneider at jschneider50@bloomberg.net ||||| The Senate passed the House debt-limit increase on Wednesday, but not before some needless drama that helps to explain why Republicans remain a minority. Democrats had enough votes to pass the increase with a simple majority, which means they would have owned the debt increase. But then Senator Ted Cruz—the same fellow who planned the GOP's shutdown fiasco in October—objected on the floor and insisted on a 60-vote majority. This is exactly what Democratic leader Harry Reid wanted because if the bill failed he would have...

– Ted Cruz has plenty of fervent supporters in the Tea Party movement, but he seems to be emerging as the ultimate villain on Capitol Hill, even among his own party. The latest wave of criticism stems from earlier this week, when Cruz forced a procedural vote on the debt-ceiling hike that required Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, and other Republicans to cast votes that could haunt them in the primaries. (Afterward, the Wall Street Journal's editorial page called out Cruz's stunt as “needless drama that helps to explain why Republicans remain a minority.”) In the Washington Post, Dana Milbank blasts Cruz for an "ego trip" that put his own interests ahead of his party and even the "nation's solvency." Cruz, though, seems to revel in it, writes Milbank, who describes the scene during the Senate vote: "Watching the chaos from the side of the chamber was the man who caused it: Cruz, his hands in his pants pockets and a satisfied grin on his face." His move drew support, of course, from Rand Paul and Marco Rubio, and all three members of this trio "are mucking up the gears of government in ways that will earn them favorable attention in the primaries," writes Milbank. But won't Cruz and company face payback from party leaders? Don't hold your breath, writes Kathleen Hunter at Bloomberg. The old rules and the old modes of punishment—lost committee posts, for example—don't apply anymore, not "in a political era in which campaign cash flows freely from outside the party machinery and cable outlets offer many ways to grab attention and influence."

Burke Ramsey Reveals Who He Thinks Killed Sister JonBenét Zuma Press Related Video: 5 Clues That Could Reveal What Really Happened To JonBenét Ramsey In the nearly 20 years since JonBenét Ramsey was killed, her brother, Burke , and their parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, have been on the receiving end of continued scrutiny – an "umbrella of suspicion," as it was once described.While theories abound about who strangled the 6-year-old girl in December 1996 and left her body in the family's Boulder, Colorado, home, Burke is adamant on one point: The Ramseys were not involved."It blows my mind. What more evidence do you need that we didn't do it?" Burke, now 29, said Monday of his family's innocence, during the final installment of his three-part Dr. Phil interview, his first public sit-down since the crime.Earlier in the special, Burke assured of a theoretical cover-up, "You won't find any evidence because that's not what happened."Patsy, John and Burke – who was 9 at the time of the killing – were never charged in JonBenét's death and have always maintained their innocence.The local prosecutor later declined to prosecute John and Patsy, following a grand jury proceeding against them, citing a lack of evidence.Now, John and Burke are the family's only surviving members: Patsy died in 2006 from ovarian cancer. Two years later, then-District Attorney Mary Lacy wrote a letter to John saying that DNA evidence cleared the trio. (A decisive announcement some in law enforcement criticized as premature.)Decades later there remains rampant speculation about the role of JonBenét's family in her death – which Dr. Phil McGraw brought up in his special.But the Ramsey men have their own theories about what happened all those years ago. Burke said on Dr. Phil that it was "probably some pedophile in the pageant audience."JonBenét performed in child beauty pageants in the time before her death, and Burke speculated in his interview that the culprit "saw her at one of the pageants."John, now 72, said he believes that it was an intruder who entered the home while the family was out on Christmas Day, 1996, possibly hiding in one of the upstairs bedrooms."They came in when we left and were there when we came home," John told McGraw.As PEOPLE reported in a recent cover story , investigator Lou Smit has said a broken basement window, an unidentified footprint near the body and trace male DNA evidence on the scene proved that an intruder was the perpetrator. Boulder police, however, considered those signs inconclusive, pointing to dust and an undisturbed spider web around the window as evidence that undermined the theory."People still can't get that in their head that we didn't do it," Burke told McGraw on Monday, adding that he thinks JonBenét and his mother are "together again," watching over him.In fact, Burke said that he has talked to JonBenét in the years since her death."Like, 'Hey, thanks for looking out for me ... Hope you're having fun up there, because I'm taking some test,' " he explained.He said said he "keeps the hope alive that [JonBenét's killing] will [be solved in my lifetime]. I don't know, but you gotta never give up."He said the focus should be on remembering his little sister, a girl who loved ice-skating and the outdoors.John, meanwhile, said his Dr. Phil interview will be his last with the media, assuring, "I have no intention to speak out ... in the future."He said, "The real story here is not that a child was murdered. The real story is what was done to us by [the system]." ||||| If CBS's docuseries The Case Of: JonBenét Ramsey only managed to dole out three bombshells during its first night, it saved all the rest of them—the evidence that very clearly pointed toward one single explanation for young JonBenét's death—for night two. In the final 20 minutes of the special, the investigators who took on the 20-year-old cold case put forth their theory as to who killed the young Colorado beauty queen—but it isn't as cut and dry as "this person did it." The team, which included retired FBI supervisory special agent and profiler Jim Clemente; world-renowned forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee; former chief investigator for the District Attorney in Boulder, Colo., James Kolar; leading forensic pathologist Dr. Werner Spitz; retired FBI supervisory special agent and forensic linguistic profiler James Fitzgerald; former New Scotland Yard criminal behavioral analyst Laura Richards and retired FBI supervisory special agent and statement analyst Stan Burke posited that one person is responsible for the death. That person is Burke Ramsey, JonBenét's older brother. But it wasn't an intentional incident at all—they think it was an accident, a retaliation for something that had happened earlier, that lead to the horrible outcome, and he didn't intend to kill her. ||||| By Christy Strawser DETROIT (CBS Detroit) Near the 20th anniversary of JonBenét Ramsey’s brutal death, famed expert Dr. Werner Spitz told CBS Detroit he has no doubt who killed her. Dr. Spitz, 89, a retired Wayne State University professor and world-renowned authority on causes of death, is serving as the pathology expert on a CBS series that re-visits one of the biggest unsolved crimes of the century. On Monday night’s premiere of the series “The Case Of: JonBenét Ramsey,” Spitz forwarded a theory that Ramsey was killed by a heavy flashlight that was seen in crime scene photographs on the family’s kitchen counter top the next day. He showed through demonstrations on the CBS special that the fatal injury to the 6-year-old’s skull matched the flashlight’s outer rim, though no DNA was ever discovered on the device. The show’s debut also revealed it didn’t take much force for a heavy flashlight to crack a little girl’ skull. In fact, a child could do it. And a child did, Spitz believes. In his opinion, JonBenét was killed by her brother during some sort of late night confrontation. Burke Ramsey, who was 9 years old when his sister died from a blow to the head followed by strangulation, has never been named by police or prosecutors as a suspect. In fact, the district attorney’s office publicly cleared all members of the family after mysterious male DNA was uncovered in the room where Ramsey’s body was found and on items of her clothing. “If you really, really use your free time to think about this case, you cannot come to a different conclusion,” he told CBS Detroit. “It’s the boy who did it, whether he was jealous, or mentally unfit or something … I don’t know the why, I’m not a psychiatrist, but what I am sure about is what I know about him, that is what happened here. And the parents changed the scene to make it look like something it wasn’t. “At the end of the day, it is the most sad story.” Burke, now a 29-year-old man who works on computers, spoke publicly for the first time about his sister’s death with Dr. Phil last week. He said he knows many believe Jon Benet was killed by a member of the family, but sharply denies that anyone in the house played a role. JonBenét Ramsey was found Dec. 26, 1996, in the family’s basement covered by a soft blanket with her hands tied loosely over her head and a garrote around her neck. She had died from a fractured skull, that Spitz believes happened before the rest of the scene was “staged.” She was probably killed somewhere other than the basement, he added. A bizarre, rambling ransom note that some experts believe was written by mother Patsy Ramsey was discovered on a staircase before the child’s body was found. For JonBenét’s return, it requested $118,000 in cash — which closely matched the Christmas bonus recently received by the wealthy father John Ramsey. A draft of the note was found in a trash can in the family’s Boulder, Colo., home. “They, I mean the police department over there, were quite aware of who the killer is likely to be, from inception almost,” Dr. Spitz said. “They came here to Detroit to talk to me, they had me come down there, we talked about the incident … It was probably the mother or the brother, now it turns out.” The parents gave several press conferences before Patsy Ramsey’s death from cancer in 2006, avidly disavowing any role in their daughter’s death. John Ramsey, who maintained a home in Charlevoix, Mich., ran unsuccessfully for the Michigan legislature and continues to speak out periodically against any allegation of wrongdoing lobbed at the family. Notably, by Colorado law, no one who was under the age of 10 at the time of a crime can be charged with homicide, Spitz said. Spitz adds that more details will emerge in the second part of the CBS special about Burke Ramsey, including allegations he had previously smeared a family bathroom and his beauty queen sister’s bedroom with feces. “The brother has a mental problem,” Dr. Spitz says, adding, “The brother is not exactly thinking straight, the behavior is … of somebody who’s got a problem. When I think of putting feces in the sister’s bed … He was doing that.” Cause of Death There have been questions about whether JonBenet was killed by the blow to the head or the cord around her neck. Some believe small marks above the cord on her neck are nail marks, signifying that Jon Benet was clawing at her own neck while it was being drawn tight. Dr. Spitz disagrees with that allegation, believing she was killed first by the fractured skull before the garrote was placed around her neck. “And the parents embellished it by changing the scene,” he told CBS Detroit. “I do not believe that they changed the scene in such a way that they put claw marks on the neck. There were some scratch marks on the neck, that is true, but the flashing light on the back of the head was a fatal blow. If it wasn’t immediately, it was fatal from the brain swelling that took a few seconds.” He added the marks on her neck could have come from the necklace she was wearing, or from someone else scratching at her neck. He also disagrees with allegations of sexual abuse. “I don’t think she was sexually abused in the past, but what I do know is there was a sliver of wood in her vagina and the sliver of wood comes, most likely, from the handle of a brush, the paint brush that the mother used for painting, that was broken off and used as a one-sided handle on the garrote,” he said. He added: “All those things, the blow on the head, other activities, were put in place to change an inquiry by professionals.” Note that these are Spitz’s opinions based on a review of the records and have not been proven — or even alleged — in a court of law. A grand jury indicted the parents on charges related to Jon Benet’s death, but the prosecutor decided not to take the case to court. ‘They wanted to protect the son’ For his part, Spitz has consulted and served as an expert on some of the biggest crime cases in American history. He conducted an official review of the Warren Commission decision on the death of John F. Kennedy, where he agreed with the lone gunman finding but said the autopsy was botched. He also testified in the O.J. Simpson civil trial, and in the case of Mary Jo Kopechne, who died in an accident in Ted Kennedy’s car. In this case, Boulder police called him immediately to help with the investigation. He was nearby on another case in Denver, Colo., but the Ramseys refused in the immediate aftermath of JonBenet’s death to let him sit in on the autopsy or visit the house as a crime scene, he said. “I said to them, on the way from Denver to Boulder, I said I’m really like to see personally what the distances (are from) the basement where the body was, the entrance lobby and so on. And so we go there. I knew the house from the newspapers, I knew what the house looked like. The officer says to me ‘I’m sorry to tell you the family doesn’t want you to go in there.'” He added that “no one of any standing” was allowed to view the autopsy. Key rooms in the family’s home was reconstructed for the CBS special, which had a finale at 9 p.m. Tuesday, airing locally on CBS 62. And that reconstruction only cemented his opinion of what happened that night in that home. The rest of the experts on the series, including a Scotland Yard detective, a DNA expert, and other specialists on behavior and profiling, all agreed Burke Ramsey was the most likely suspect. “They wanted to protect the son,” Dr. Spitz said, adding, “Yes, that’s my personal opinion, and it’s based on a lot of things I’m aware of that have not really come out (before) in so many words.”

– A team of investigators who pored over evidence in the JonBenet Ramsey murder 20 years after the fact presented its conclusion Monday night: Brother Burke Ramsay did it. The scenario laid out by the panel: Burke, who was just a shade under 10 at the time, hit his sister in a rage with a flashlight when she stole a piece of his pineapple from a bowl he was snacking on before bed. (A bowl on the kitchen table and the contents of JonBenet's stomach helped lead to that theory.) Panelists do not think he killed her intentionally, but they were unanimous in asserting that parents John and Patsy Ramsey then took over and concocted an elaborate fake kidnapping story as a cover-up, reports E! Online. The show includes an interview with a former neighbor who said Burke had a temper and once hit JonBenet in the face with a golf club. “If you really, really use your free time to think about this case, you cannot come to a different conclusion,” renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Werner Spitz, a member of the panel, tells CBS Local. “It's the boy who did it." Among other things, the panel is sure that Patsy Ramsey wrote the unusually long three-page ransom note found in the home. And the supposed stun gun marks on JonBenet? Investigators say they more likely came from a piece of track from Burke's railroad set, perhaps as he was poking his sister in an attempt to revive her. In part one of the show, the panel replayed the original 911 call, which keeps recording after Patsy thinks she has hung up. With enhanced audio, the panel makes the case that Burke can be heard speaking to his parents, though he was supposed to have been sleeping. (Burke, meanwhile, tells Dr. Phil that it was "probably some pedophile" from a beauty pageant who killed his sister, reports People. (He was seen as "socially awkward" in the first part of the interview.)

1 big thing: Trump kneecaps Bannon Allies of Steve Bannon fear the White House chief strategist is about to be pushed out, following the posting last night of an ominous interview with Trump by Michael Goodwin, a New York Post columnist and someone the president has been comfortable with over many years. The brutal headline: "Trump won't definitively say he still backs Bannon." "Trump won't definitively say he still backs Bannon." What Trump said: "I like Steve, but you have to remember he was not involved in my campaign until very late ... I had already beaten all the senators and all the governors, and I didn't know Steve. I'm my own strategist and it wasn't like I was going to change strategies because I was facing crooked Hillary. ... Steve is a good guy, but I told them to straighten it out or I will." "I like Steve, but you have to remember he was not involved in my campaign until very late ... I had already beaten all the senators and all the governors, and I didn't know Steve. I'm my own strategist and it wasn't like I was going to change strategies because I was facing crooked Hillary. ... Steve is a good guy, but I told them to straighten it out or I will." The instant fallout: Axios' Jonathan Swan hears Bannon allies inside and outside the White House were taken by surprise when Goodwin's column posted, and are distraught. Bannon allies are bitter about the role they believe economic adviser Gary Cohn has played in undercutting their guy to POTUS. In private conversations, they call him "Globalist Gary." In text messages, the shorthand is CTC (Carbon Tax Cohn) or one simple emoji: 🌎. Axios' Jonathan Swan hears Bannon allies inside and outside the White House were taken by surprise when Goodwin's column posted, and are distraught. Bannon allies are bitter about the role they believe economic adviser Gary Cohn has played in undercutting their guy to POTUS. In private conversations, they call him "Globalist Gary." In text messages, the shorthand is CTC (Carbon Tax Cohn) or one simple emoji: 🌎. What got Bannon in trouble: Axios AM is told that President Trump didn't like the stories about Bannon as the Svengali, or leaks against Jared and Ivanka, or planted stories that he blamed Bannon for. It was less than 10 weeks ago that Bannon appeared on the cover of TIME as "THE GREAT MANIPULATOR," with the inside story asking if he was "the Second Most Powerful Man in the World." Axios AM is told that President Trump didn't like the stories about Bannon as the Svengali, or leaks against Jared and Ivanka, or planted stories that he blamed Bannon for. It was less than 10 weeks ago that Bannon appeared on the cover of TIME as "THE GREAT MANIPULATOR," with the inside story asking if he was "the Second Most Powerful Man in the World." Bannon's mistake: He did little to build alliances and a personal retinue within the White House, while his rivals did the opposite. So he wound up isolated in "West Wing Survivor.' He did little to build alliances and a personal retinue within the White House, while his rivals did the opposite. So he wound up isolated in "West Wing Survivor.' The huge risk for Trump: The base (including Breitbart) remains very attached to Bannon, and would go crazy if he were axed. And does the president lose his psychic connection to the issue palette that helped put him in power? The base (including Breitbart) remains very attached to Bannon, and would go crazy if he were axed. And does the president lose his psychic connection to the issue palette that helped put him in power? What it means: Swan points out that if Bannon goes, there's no one of similar status in the White House to push the nationalist agenda to Trump – and more centrist figures are already ascendant (Jivanka, Gary Cohn). Without Bannon's voice, this becomes a much more conventional White House. It would be an acute normalizing of the staff, although no one can normalize Trump. 2. Tweet du jour Maggie later added: "Trump loves the shiny new object, whether it's a thing or a person. Right now that shiny new object is Cohn." 3. A chance for Putin, Tillerson diplomacy in Moscow Rebecca Zisser / Axios Steve LeVine, a former foreign correspondent who joined Axios from Quartz this week, writes: "Putin knows that he has a problem in Syria — he wants to retain Russia's military presence there, but is not wedded to President Bashar al-Assad. Therefore, he will be looking for a face-saving way out of the current crisis." Get smart: Both presidents have extremely sober-minded senior aides who understand that the harsh exchange of rhetoric between the countries could escalate out of control. Same lead story in all Big 3 papers ... N.Y. Times: "White House Says Russia Is Engaged in Covering Up Syrians' Chemical Attack" ... WSJ: "U.S. Accuses Russia of Cover-Up" ... WashPost: "U.S. disputes Russia's claims." 4. Trump's talk big, act small White House Rebecca Zisser / Axios Visitors to Steve Bannon's West Wing office are often taken by his whiteboard, covered with promises from the campaign trail. Trump's chief strategist checks off tasks when they're accomplished, but there are some pledges on Bannon's whiteboard that nobody believes will be met — not in the first 100 days, and in some conspicuous cases, not ever. Read Axios' Jonathan Swan on "Trump's rhetoric vs reality": "The reality looks much smaller, and, as much as Trump would hate to admit it — conventional. Cowen's Chris Krueger raises possibility tax reform delayed to next year: "Base case remains tax relief in late Q4, though potential delay to Q1 18. Will need FY18 Budget to move taxes. So back to Square One on process, policy, and politics. Q1 17 a policy zero." Department of Close Calls ... Kansas City Star: "Republican Ron Estes will be the next congressman from the state of Kansas, but his victory Tuesday night did not come as easily as many expected in the deep-red state. GOP strategists warned in recent days that Democrat James Thompson, a civil rights attorney, was in striking distance ... in the special election to replace Mike Pompeo." 5. How Spicer's afternoon unraveled Sean Spicer at yesterday's briefing: "You had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn't even sink to using chemical weapons. So you have to, if you're Russia, ask yourself is this a country that you and a regime that you want to align yourself with? " Later question: "Sean, thanks. I just want to give you an opportunity to clarify something you said that seems to be gaining some traction right now. 'Hitler didn't even sink to the level of using chemical weapons.' What did you mean by that?" "Sean, thanks. I just want to give you an opportunity to clarify something you said that seems to be gaining some traction right now. 'Hitler didn't even sink to the level of using chemical weapons.' What did you mean by that?" Spicer: "I think when you come to sarin gas, there was no — he was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing, I mean, there was clearly — I understand your point, thank you. "I think when you come to sarin gas, there was no — he was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing, I mean, there was clearly — I understand your point, thank you. Q: "I'm just getting — " "I'm just getting — " Spicer: "Thank you, I appreciate that. There was not — he brought them into the Holocaust center, I understand that. But I'm saying in the way that Assad used them, where he went into towns, dropped them down to innocent — into the middle of towns. It was brought —so the use of it — I appreciate the clarification there. That was not the intent." "Thank you, I appreciate that. There was not — he brought them into the Holocaust center, I understand that. But I'm saying in the way that Assad used them, where he went into towns, dropped them down to innocent — into the middle of towns. It was brought —so the use of it — I appreciate the clarification there. That was not the intent." Emailed statement to the pool, 40 minutes later, "Clarification on statement from Press Briefing": "In no way was I trying to lessen the horrendous nature of the Holocaust. I was trying to draw a distinction of the tactic of using airplanes to drop chemical weapons on population centers. Any attack on innocent people is reprehensible and inexcusable." 40 minutes later, "Clarification on statement from Press Briefing": "In no way was I trying to lessen the horrendous nature of the Holocaust. I was trying to draw a distinction of the tactic of using airplanes to drop chemical weapons on population centers. Any attack on innocent people is reprehensible and inexcusable." Spicer, a few hours later, to CNN's Wolf Blitzer: "I was obviously trying to make a point about the heinous acts that Assad had made against his own people last week, using chemical weapons and gas. Frankly, I mistakenly made an inappropriate and insensitive reference to the Holocaust, for which, frankly, there is no comparison. And for that, I apologize. It was a mistake to do that." Spicer's job security! @NancyPelosi tweets: "@realDonaldTrump, it's time to fire @PressSec Sean Spicer." 6. The long view on Trump Rick Perlstein — who has written books on Goldwater, Nixon and Reagan — in N.Y. Times Magazine, "I Thought I Understood the American Right. Trump Proved Me Wrong. A historian of conservatism looks back at how he and his peers failed to anticipate the rise of the president": The 1960s and '70s New York in which Donald Trump came of age, as much as Klan-ridden Indiana in the 1920s or Barry Goldwater's Arizona in the 1950s, was at conservatism's cutting edge, setting the emotional tone for a politics of rage. ... The often-cynical negotiation between populist electioneering and plutocratic governance on the right has long been not so much a matter of policy as it has been a matter of show business. ... [T]he producers of "The Apprentice" carefully crafted a Trump character who was the quintessence of steely resolve and all-knowing mastery. 7. Drip, drip ... AP break at 5 a.m. ... "Records match some Ukraine ledger payments to ex-Trump aide," by Jack Gillum, Chad Day and Jeff Horowitz: "Last August, a handwritten ledger surfaced in Ukraine with dollar amounts and dates next to the name of Paul Manafort, who was then Donald Trump's campaign chairman. Ukrainian investigators called it evidence of off-the-books payments from a pro-Russian political party." "Now, financial records ... confirm that at least $1.2 million in payments listed in the ledger next to Manafort's name were actually received by his consulting firm in the United States. They include payments in 2007 and 2009, providing the first evidence that Manafort's firm received at least some money listed in the so-called Black Ledger." Why it matters: "Manafort and his spokesman, Jason Maloni, have maintained the ledger was fabricated and said no public evidence existed that Manafort or others received payments recorded in it." 8. Re-accommodating United's image, stock price "United faces more questions as dragged passenger hires high-powered attorney" — Chicago Tribune: "David Dao, the passenger at the center of the growing imbroglio, retained a high-powered Chicago personal injury lawyer, Thomas Demetrio. Dao was in a Chicago hospital undergoing treatment for his injuries ... [F]our [U.S.] senators sent several questions about the 'very disturbing' incident." Why it matters ... N.Y. Times front-pager, "Dragging of Passenger Sets Off a Crisis at United": "[T]he videos had already cast an unwelcome light not just on United, but on the airline industry's efforts to maximize profits. As companies push to make money from baggage fees, seat reservations and other services that were once included with a basic plane ticket, the videos added the potential for an even harsher indignity: sitting in a seat with a ticket and getting physically ejected from the airplane." 9. Will he be back? Amid an advertiser backlash prompted by accusations of harassment, Bill O'Reilly announced on last night's show that he's taking a vacation. A Fox News spokesperson confirmed to Axios AM that "O'Reilly is on a pre-planned vacation and he will return on April 24th." CNN's Dylan Byers says that per "O'Reilly spokesperson Mark Fabiani," the vacation is a family trip that was planned in October, including airline and hotel reservations. Dana Perino is scheduled to fill in for O'Reilly tonight, we're told. Gabe Sherman in New York mag: "Two highly-placed Fox News sources say 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch would like O'Reilly to be permanently taken off the air, while his father Rupert and older brother Lachlan are more inclined to keep him." This news from Monday's Times looks worrisome for Reilly: "21st Century Fox has enlisted the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to investigate at least one accusation of sexual harassment against the Fox News host Bill O'Reilly. ... Wendy Walsh, a former guest on Mr. O'Reilly's show, ... called 21st Century Fox's anonymous hotline last week, prompting the investigation." Why it matters: "Paul Weiss is the same law firm that conducted an internal investigation into Roger Ailes." ||||| White House advisers Jared Kushner and Stephen K. Bannon are in the midst of a feud — one that's being waged in the media. The Fix's Callum Borchers explains how it's typical of the inner turmoil that's plagued the Trump administration from the start. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post) We don't yet know what Stephen K. Bannon's fate in the Trump White House is. But judging by President Trump's own words, it doesn't sound particularly good. In a brief exchange with the New York Post's Michael Goodwin on Tuesday, Trump seemed to deliberately place Bannon at arm's length, suggesting that his role as an adviser has been oversold and even appearing to threaten Bannon's job. Goodwin says he asked Trump if he still has confidence in Bannon, who is reportedly feuding with Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner. And Trump didn't exactly disabuse Goodwin of the idea that Bannon is embattled. In fact, he did quite the opposite. “I like Steve, but you have to remember he was not involved in my campaign until very late,” Trump said. “I had already beaten all the senators and all the governors, and I didn't know Steve. I’m my own strategist, and it wasn't like I was going to change strategies because I was facing crooked Hillary.” Ouch. Bannon joined the campaign in August for the lion's share of the general election, taking on the role of campaign CEO. He and Kellyanne Conway, the campaign manager, were the titular heads of the campaign. Trump then kept Bannon on as his chief political adviser in the White House, serving alongside chief of staff Reince Priebus. Here's what you need to know about the man who went from Breitbart News chairman to Donald Trump's campaign CEO before his appointment as chief White House strategist and senior counselor. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) In his comments to Goodwin, Trump also nodded to the tensions that exist in the White House and appeared to place the onus on Bannon to make things right — or else. “Steve is a good guy, but I told them to straighten it out or I will,” Trump said. Trump is certainly an unorthodox and unpredictable politician, but these comments from basically any other politician would signify the beginning of the end for Bannon. Perhaps it's frustration speaking and we shouldn't read too much into them. But the Trump White House also has a demonstrated history of distancing itself from and downplaying the roles of aides who turn out to be liabilities. And that sure seems to be the tree Trump was barking up here. Shortly before national security adviser Michael Flynn was asked to resign over having misled the White House about his contact with the Russian ambassador, top Trump adviser Stephen Miller also declined to give him a vote of confidence. “That’s the question that I think you should ask the president, the question you should ask Reince, the chief of staff,” Miller said Feb. 12 on “Meet the Press.” Flynn resigned the next day. Since then, the White House has downplayed Flynn as a “volunteer of the campaign” and has suggested the contributions of former campaign head Paul Manafort and informal adviser Roger Stone were also minimal. Bannon has been a lightning rod from his first days at Trump's side, owing to his nationalist policies and his previous leadership of the news outlet Breitbart. Bannon once described Breitbart as a platform for the alt-right, a small, far-right movement that seeks a whites-only state. And at the very least, the unsolicited marginalization of Bannon's contribution to Trump's campaign really has to sting Bannon personally.

– President Trump's comments were brief—just four sentences quoted by New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin, who asked Trump about his confidence level in Steve Bannon. But they're being read as a distancing from the chief strategist amidst a reported feud with senior adviser Jared Kushner that Trump seems to confirm in the last line. The comments: "I like Steve, but you have to remember he was not involved in my campaign until very late. I had already beaten all the senators and all the governors, and I didn't know Steve. I'm my own strategist and it wasn't like I was going to change strategies because I was facing crooked Hillary. Steve is a good guy, but I told them to straighten it out or I will." At the Washington Post, Aaron Blake notes it's possible the ever-unpredictable Trump was just letting off steam. But Blake also looks at the way the Trump administration has downplayed the impact of "aides who turn out to be liabilities," among them Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, and Roger Stone. "That sure seems to be the tree Trump was barking up here." At Axios, Mike Allen is blunt: "Trump kneecaps Bannon," reads his headline. Axios' sources describe Bannon's supporters as beside themselves over the Goodwin interview. One target of their ire: economic adviser Gary Cohn, who is said to be aligned with Kushner and believed by them to be diminishing Trump's view of Bannon. Dump Bannon, and you'd have a much more centrist and traditional White House, writes Allen—but "the base ... would go crazy if he were axed."

TO A COMMERCIAL BREAK? LIVE, FROM THE LOCAL STATION, THE TEN NEWS STARTS NOW. ACCORDING TO THESE DOCUMENTS AN ORANGE PARK MAN PLOTTED FROM THIS HOME HOPING TO WREAK HAVOC ON A 9/11 MEMORIAL IN KANSAS CITY. HIS FATHER SPEAKS TO NEWS FOUR JAX. DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS? NOT UNTIL TODAY. THE 20-YEAR-OLD SUSPECT IS IN FEDERAL CUSTODY TONIGHT PLOTTING WITH AN INFORMER HE BELIEVED WAS A TERRORIST TO MAKE A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION, ACCORDING TO THE F.B.I. THE YOUNG MAN TOLD THE AGENTS THAT HE WAS THE PERSON BEHIND THE PLOT IN A CARTOON CONVENTION IN TEXAS. WE HAVE A COUPLE OF CREWS COVERING THIS ARREST AND, WE BEGIN IN ORANGE PARK WHO SPOKE WITH THE FATHER AND THE NEIGHBORS, SCOTT? MARY, THIS IS AN EXTREMELY QUIET NEIGHBORHOOD, NOT EVEN ACCUSTOMED TO A BREAK IN, LET ALONE, THE F.B.I. COMING TO THE HOUSE BEHIND ME EARLY THIS MORNING AND SWARMING THIS NEIGHBORHOOD AND, HOPEFULLY, SPOILING WHAT THEY CHARACTERIZED AS A TERROR PLOT. 20-YEAR-OLD, JOSHUA GOLD BERG WAS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY BY THE F.B.I. ACCUSED IN A PLOT TO DEVELOP WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION, LIKE A BOILER BOMB USED IN THE BOSTON BOMBING, THE REPORT ALSO SHOWS THAT HE WAS THE MASTER MIND IN THE PLOT IN TEXAS WHERE A CARTOON CONTENTION WAS TARGETED BECAUSE OF THE DEPICTIONS OF THE PROPHET, MOHAMMED. I STOPPED BY THE ADDRESS AND I HEARD NUMEROUS CHILDREN INSIDE OF THE RESIDENCE AND SPOKE WITH THE MAN WHO SAYS THAT HE IS GOLD BERG'S FATHER. RIGHT NOW. AS WELL AS, ANY MORE INFORMATION, AT THIS POINT. DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS? NOT UNTIL TODAY. I APPRECIATE YOU, I MEAN, AND -- TALK TO YOU, BUT IT HAS NOT BEEN INITIAL HEARING YET, WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON. DID YOU KNOW THAT HE WAS INVOLVED IN THIS. WE HAD NO IDEA. THE REPORT FROM THE U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE SAYS THAT HE USED THE TWITTER HANDLE OFF WITNESS, LOOK AT THIS EXCHANGE WITH A CONFIDENTIAL SOURCE. HAVE YOU DECIDED WHAT KIND OF A ATTACK ON 9/11, I WAS THINKING A BOMBING. WE COULD MAKE PIPE BOMBS AND DETONATE THEM AT A LARGE PUBLIC EVENT. THE PLAN WAS FOR AN EVENT IN KANSAS CITY MISSOURI AND HOW TO MAKE A PRESSURE COOKER AND DON'T BUY THEM ALL AT ONCE, OR THEY WILL KNOW THAT YOU ARE UP TO SOMETHING BUY THEM AT DIFFERENT STORES, THE NEIGHBORS CAN'T THINK OF A TIME THAT THEY HAVE SEEN THE POLICE AND ARE SIMPLY STUNED. RIGHT HERE OF ALL PLACES. THIS IS NOT THE PLACE THAT YOU WOULD EXPECT TO SEE THAT. NOT THE PLACE. ARE YOU KIDDING? F.B.I. WAS HERE THIS MORNING AND RAIDED THE HOUSE. SO YOU NEVER KNOW WHERE IT IS SAFE, DO YOU? ARE YOU SURPRISED TO HEAR THAT? YES, I AM, VERY MUCH SO, IT IS A VERY QUIET AND A VERY NICE NEIGHBORHOOD. AND THE U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE SENT US MORE THAN 30 PAGES. AND WE PUT THEM ON THE NEWS FOUR JAX.COM IF YOU WANT TO READ THE DETAILS OF THE INVESTIGATION, THERE IS A LOT MORE THERE AND SO CHECK THAT OUT. AND AS FAR AS WHAT NEIGHBORS ARE SAYING, THEY SAY THAT THEY NEVER SAW HIM COME OUT OF THE HOUSE. MANY DID NOT EVEN KNOW THAT HE LIVED HERE. THAT IS WHAT FASCINATING THE F.B.I., STAKING OUT HERE STARTING AUGUST 20TH. IT WAS DAYS AND DAYS, WEEKS AND WEEKS, BEFORE THEY EVEN SAW HIM COME OUT OF THE HOUSE. JUST A SHADOW INSIDE THAT WHOLE TIME. ORANGE PARK, Fla. - A 20-year-old Clay County man was arrested Thursday, accused by the U.S. Attorney's Office of instructing someone how to make a pressure-cooker bomb, fill it with nails, metal and other items dipped in rat poison to disrupt a Sept. 11 memorial event in Kansas City. After an undercover investigation, the FBI arrested Joshua Goldberg on charges of distributing information related to explosives and weapons of mass destruction. He faced a judge at the federal courthouse in Jacksonville on Thursday. According to U.S. Attorney Lee Bentley III, Goldberg instructed a confidential source how to make a bomb similar to two used in the Boston Marathon bombings two years ago that killed that killed three people and injured an estimated 264 others. CRIMINAL COMPLAINT: Arrest of Joshua Goldberg In online conversations with the undercover informant, Goldberg is accused of expressing hope that "there will be some jihad on the anniversary of 9/11." When the informant expressed a desire to assist in an attack, Goldberg -- who was living at home with his parents at the time -- is accused of providing detailed and credible information on how to go about constructing the bomb. According to court documents, the FBI traced Internet communications to Goldberg, who claims he was the person who motivated two men to attack the cartoon convention in Garland, Texas, in June because they were going to depict the Muslim Prophet Mohammad. Two people died in that attack. The arrest came after an investigation that included the FBI, the Clay County Sheriff's Office, NCIS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Jacksonville and St. Johns County sheriff's offices. News4Jax spoke with Goldberg’s family, who said they had no idea anything was going on. Neighbors also told News4Jax the FBI swarmed their very quiet neighborhood early Thursday morning. And apparently no one had any idea anything was wrong inside the home. News4Jax went to Goldberg’s address and heard numerous children inside the residence, then spoke with Frank Goldberg, who said he is Joshua Goldberg’s father. "I’m with Channel 4," News4Jax reporter Scott Johnson said to Frank Goldberg. "We really don’t want to talk about anything right now," Frank Goldberg said. "We don’t have any more information at this point." "Did you know anything about this?" News4Jax asked. "Not until today," Frank Goldberg said. "I appreciate you -- another time we would like to talk to you, but there hasn’t even been an initial hearing yet, so we have no idea what was going on. We had no idea." The report from the U.S. Attorney’s Office shows Goldberg used the Twitter handle AusWitness. An exchange between AusWitness and a confidential source was made public. “Have you decided what kind of attack to carry out on 9/11, akhi?" AusWitness tweeted. "I was thinking a bombing,” the confidential source replied. “We could make pipe bombs and detonate them at a large public event,” read the tweet AusWitness posted that officials believe was the plan for an event in Kansas City, Missouri. They then talk about how to make a pressure cooker bomb. “Don’t buy all the materials at once or the kuffar will know you’re up to something. Buy them at different stores," AusWitness tweeted. Neighbors in the Clay County neighborhood where Goldberg lives said they are simply stunned. “Are you kidding?" Ed Saple said. "Boy, you never know where it’s safe, do you? This is a very quiet and safe neighborhood." News4Jax spoke with Ronald, who didn’t want to give his last name, who said his grandson would play with children at the house. “What do you think I think of it? It’s crazy. Obviously the guy’s not right in the head. He stayed upstairs in the back bedroom, he never knew the guy lived there,” Ronald said. Ronald said one of his family members noticed something was wrong when the FBI swarmed the house early Thursday morning. “When she came up they had the SWAT team and everyone in their riot gear and all that,” said Ronald. One interesting thing that neighbors said is that they never knew Joshua Goldberg lived there and said he stayed in a back room and never came out. In fact, the FBI put the house under surveillance on Aug. 20, and it took a long time before they even saw him come outside. ||||| Investigators box up an assault weapon while collecting evidence outside the Curtis Culwell Center, in Garland, Texas, where a controversial Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest was held. Brandon Wade / AP ID: 6843869 A 20-year-old Florida man has been arrested on suspicion of encouraging someone to carry out a bombing at an upcoming 9/11 memorial ceremony in Missouri, the FBI announced Thursday. Joshua Goldberg is also suspected of inspiring the May shooting outside a contest to draw the Prophet Muhammad in Texas, and repeatedly citing the failed incident in calling for another attack. In the criminal complaint, Goldberg faces one charge of distributing information relating to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction. If convicted, he faces 20 years in prison. Regarding the Missouri allegations, Goldberg is accused of sending a confidential FBI informant links to online sites that provide instructions on how to make explosives. According to a criminal complaint, Goldberg’s ultimate goal was to get someone to place a bomb at the Kansas City Stair Climb, a 9/11 memorial event planned for Sunday in Kansas City. Goldberg allegedly told the informant to put a backpack with a bomb near the crowd. He also instructed the informant to dip the shrapnel in rat poison, making those struck more likely to die. “There’s going to be chaos when it goes off,” Goldberg is accused of writing. “Shrapnel, blood and panicking.” Using the alias Australi Witness, Goldberg allegedly said he inspired the attacks in Garland, Texas, where Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi were shot dead by police after opening fire on the drawing contest. Simpson, according to the affidavit, retweeted one of Goldberg’s tweets, “I’M BACK KUFFAR! DIE IN YOUR RAGE!” on the morning of the attack, according to the complaint. “When I encouraged the attacks in Texas, my biggest inspiration was the Australian Muslim human rights activist…[M.V.]…who worked tirelessly and diligently to outlaw blasphemy against Islam in Australia,” Goldberg allegedly posted as Australi Witness. While the complaint only lists initials, prominent Afghan Australian Muslim activist Mariam Veiszadeh told BuzzFeed News in an email that Goldberg’s use of her name in online correspondence and social media was a blatant attempt to discredit her efforts of combating prejudice and bigotry. “This character was trying to discredit and cause me reputational damage,” Veiszadeh said. Goldberg initially denied the allegations, but later told authorities that he did post messages calling for an attack on the Texas drawing contest, the FBI said. He also said he gave someone information on how to make bombs to be placed at the 9/11 memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, according to the criminal complaint. Goldberg, the FBI said, told investigators that he intended for the informant to kill himself creating the bomb. If not, he planned on alerting law enforcement just before the bomb was detonated in order to receive credit for stopping the attack.

– Posing as an ISIS supporter online could get Florida man Joshua Ryne Goldberg up to 20 years in prison. The FBI says the 20-year-old encouraged an informant to plant a pressure-cooker bomb at a 9/11 memorial event in Kansas City, Mo., this weekend, instructing them to coat nails in rat poison to cause maximum damage, USA Today reports. According to court documents, Goldberg, who lives with his parents, claimed to have a "vast network of mujahideen around the world" and to have inspired the May attack on a Muhammad cartoon contest in Garland, Texas, in which two suspects were shot dead. The FBI informant started communicating with him the month after the Texas attack. Goldberg, who allegedly used the online alias Australi Witness and claimed to be in Australia, fooled journalists and intelligence analysts, one of whom described him as holding a "prestige" position among jihadists online, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. He has been charged with distributing information relating to explosives and weapons of mass destruction, although he has told investigators his plan was for the informant to kill himself while trying to make the bomb, BuzzFeed reports. In the Jacksonville suburb of Orange Park, neighbors tell News4Jax they're stunned by the allegations against Goldberg, who rarely left his parents' home. "It's crazy. Obviously the guy's not right in the head," says a neighbor whose grandson plays with children at the home.

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. ||||| KEYES (CBS13) – A well-known member of the Stanislaus County community was brutally beaten while placing campaign signs, and police are investigating it as a hate crime. It was Tuesday night in Keyes and 50-year-old Surjit Malhi had just placed his last sign at the corner of Foote and Keyes when he came upon two men waiting for him as returned to his truck. “As soon as I saw them they threw sand in my eyes,” Malhi said. RELATED: Hate Crimes On The Rise In California, Report Says And that was just the beginning of the attack. The two men proceeded to beat Malhi in the head, shoulders and neck. “And I cleared my eyes and I saw them,” Malhi said. Blue eyes peeking through black hoodies is what he saw. And as the beating continued his attackers shouted, “Go back to your country!” The same message, along with hate symbols such as the white supremacist version of the Celtic Cross, were spray painted on his truck. The version painted on the side of his truck has the cross mostly wrapped in a circle. It’s featured in the logo for Stormfront, a prominent white supremacist site. Malhi feared for his life. “It’s very scary you know. They were going to shoot me,” Malhi said thought. Ironically, Malhi says, it was his turban that softened the blows – the very symbol that may have sparked the hate. “My turban saved me,” Malhi said. RELATED: New Ad Campaign Turns Spotlight On Sikhs Malhi has been active in the Turlock community for years, raising thousands for homeless and fire victims, using trucks from his trucking company to deliver supplies. He’s a strong supporter of the Republican Party. The campaign signs he placed that night were for Congressman Jeff Denham and other members of the Stanislaus County GOP. “I’m American 100 percent, no doubt, so they say, go back to my country? This is my country,” Malhi said. “If you are a real American and you love America, you should not do that. That is not the American way.” Malhi still has headaches and dizzy spells, but says he’s received an outpouring of support from political leaders and members of the community during his recovery. He says he won’t let the beating get him down and he will continue to place campaign signs and support the GOP. Police are still looking for the two suspects.

– After an assault on a 71-year-old Sikh man at a park in Manteca, California, the police chief of a nearby community helped track down a main suspect. The unusual part? The suspect is his own son. "Words can barely describe how embarrassed, dejected, and hurt my wife, daughters, and I feel right now," wrote Union City Police Chief Darryl McAllister on Facebook after his estranged 18-year-old son, Tyrone, was arrested. As the Modesto Bee reports, surveillance video shows that Sahib Singh Natt was confronted by two young men as he walked at a local park about 6am Monday. Natt doesn't speak English and couldn't understand them, notes the Washington Post, and he attempts to walk around the youths into the street. They follow him, however, and one kicks him to the ground, twice, and spits on him. After the youths walk away, one returns and repeatedly kicks Natt, still on the ground. Chief McAllister writes that he helped authorities track down his son, who was arrested with a 16-year-old. Both face charges of attempted robbery, elder abuse, and assault with a deadly weapon, and police are investigating whether hate-crime charges will be added. Natt, meanwhile, was treated and released at a hospital. The attack comes less than a week after another high-profile assault on a Sikh man in California's Stanislaus County, reports CBS Sacramento. Chief McAllister writes that his son began getting into trouble years ago as a juvenile and had "divorced" his family. "Violence and hatred is not what we have taught our children," he writes, contrasting his son with his two successful grown daughters. "My stomach has been churning from the moment I learned this news."

The search for Amelia Earhart will resume this summer in the waters off Nikumaroro, an uninhabited island in the southwestern Pacific republic of Kiribati where the legendary pilot might have died as a castaway. With support from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the US State Department and Discovery Channel which will be documenting the expedition for a television special later this year, the expedition will be carried out by the The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), which has long been investigating the last, fateful flight taken by Earhart 75 years ago. The new expedition will use high tech underwater equipment to search for pieces of Earhart's plane. The tall, slender, blond pilot mysteriously vanished while flying over the Pacific Ocean on July 2, 1937 during a record attempt to fly around the world at the equator. Secretary Clinton met today with historians and scientists from TIGHAR and spoke about why the search for Earhart is still pertinent to Americans. She pointed out that when Earhart went missing, the nation was in the grips of the Great Depression." "Now Amelia Earhart may have been an unlikely heroine for a nation down on its luck, but she embodied the spirit of an America coming of age and increasingly confident, ready to lead in a quite uncertain and dangerous world," Clinton said. The general consensus has been that Earhart's twin-engined Lockheed "Electra" had run out of fuel and crashed in the Pacific Ocean, somewhere near Howland Island. But according to Ric Gillespie, TIGHAR's executive director, there is an alternative scenario. PHOTOS: Amelia Earhart "The navigation line Amelia described in her final in-flight radio transmission passed through not only Howland Island, her intended destination, but also Gardner Island, now called Nikumaroro," Gillespie said. The possibility that Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan might have made an emergency landing on Nikumaroro's flat coral reef, some 300 miles southeast of their target destination, is not a new theory. "This was the oldest Earhart theory," Gillespie said. "This was the theory the Navy came up with in the first days following the flight's disappearance. And they did search the atoll, but only from the air," Gillespie said. In nine archaeological expeditions to Nikumaroro, Gillespie and his team uncovered a number of artifacts which, combined with archival research, provide strong circumstantial evidence for a castaway presence. PHOTOS: Clues Point to Amelia Earhart as Castaway "We found archival records describing the discovering in Nikumaroro in 1940 of the partial skeleton and campsite of what appears to have been a female castaway," he said. "We identified the place on a remote corner of the atoll that fits the description of where the bones and campsite were found. Archaeological digs there have produced artifacts that speak of an American woman of the 1930s," Gillespie said. He added that evidence on the island would also suggest that Earhart survived as a castaway "for a matter of weeks, possibly more." In the forthcoming expedition, Gillespie and his team will be concentrating on Earhart's plane. The underwater search will be carried by Phoenix International, the U.S. Navy's primary deep ocean search and recovery contractor. On July 2, the 75th anniversary of Earhart's disappearance, the TIGHAR team will sail from Honolulu aboard the University of Hawaii oceanographic research ship R/V Ka Imikai-O-Kanaloa. "When we get there, in about eight days, we'll survey the general area with multi-beam sonar to create an accurate map of the undersea topography and prioritize the search area," Gillespie told Discovery News. "Targets will be identified using high resolution, side scan sonar mounted on an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). Finally, we will investigate suspicious looking targets using a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) with dual manipulators and color video camera system and lights," Gillespie said. NEWS: Signs of Amelia Earhart's Final Days? The search relies on what Gillespie called "the most exciting breakthrough" -- a photograph of the island's western shoreline taken three months after Amelia's disappearance. "It shows an unexplained object protruding from the water on the fringing reef," Gillespie said. Forensic imaging analyses of the photo suggest that the shape and dimension of the object are consistent with the landing gear of a Lockheed Electra. Gillespie said they have reason to believe that Earhart's airplane went over the reef edge near the spot where the object appears in the photo. "Amelia Earhart's legacy still lives today, reminding young people to keep their eyes on the stars," Clinton told reporters. Gillespie said they hope to solve the long-standing mystery about just what happened to one of the nation's most inspiring heroes. "We'll do our best to find Amelia. During the painful recovery from the Great Depression, Amelia Earhart inspired America with her courage and determination. America needs Amelia again," Gillespie said. ||||| Getty Images Amelia Earhart in 1928 with her biplane 'Friendship.' She disappeared in another plane in 1937. What became of Amelia Earhart's plane when it disappeared over the Pacific 75 years ago has long intrigued aviation fans. On Tuesday, U.S. government officials and a private historical group announced a new effort to locate the famed aviator's twin-engine Lockheed. The effort, projected to kick off in July, will be financed with roughly half a million dollars in private funds, according to people familiar with the details. It will focus on a remote Pacific atoll called Nikumaroro, halfway between Hawaii and Australia, near where the plane carrying Ms. Earhart and a companion may have gone down during an attempted around-the-world flight. A search team will concentrate on the deep waters near Nikumaroro, which was the site of a 2010 search that focused on coral reefs and nearby shallow waters, these people said. WSJ's Andy Pasztor reports on new efforts to locate Amelia Earhart's airplane, which disappeared in the South Pacific in 1937. AP Photo. The impetus for the latest expedition is a recently discovered photo, apparently taken near Nikumaroro just months after Ms. Earhart's disappearance. Some experts believe it may show a portion of the plane's landing gear. State Department officials held a hastily arranged briefing Monday night to describe the photo. After "very intense photo analysis" by government and outside experts, according to one senior official, "the judgment is that it's worth exploring." The official added that "a very healthy dose of skepticism has to be in play." The search will be spearheaded again by the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, which has championed the theory that the renowned female aviator and Fred Noonan, the other crew member on the July 1937 flight, ended up on or near the west coast of the island, formerly called Gardner Island. Enlarge Image Close TIGHAR/Associated Press Researchers for the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery found bone fragments on Nikumaroro Island during a 2010 mission. Aviation experts aren't unanimous in believing that scenario. Some longtime Earhart theorists are convinced that bad weather caused the plane to run out of fuel and forced a ditching in the ocean. Officials from the private recovery team declined to comment about specifically where they intend to look and who is financing the expedition. At a event Tuesday in Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joined scientist to unveil details of the new expedition, which will include small robotic submarines. Ric Gillespie, head of the search group, said "there are some very smart people who think we're wrong about this," but other experts who believe the new search may hit pay dirt. Since the island is now part of the Republic of Kiribati, State Department officials have helped pave the way for an underwater search. Officials at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum also have been briefed. A museum official on Monday declined to provide details, except to say "we have no formal partnership" with the search but "support any general effort" to unravel the mystery. Continuing fascination with the crash has spawned numerous Web sites, far-out explanations and various conspiracy theories. Ms. Earhart's plane was on one leg a record-setting global trip but disappeared before reaching Howland Island, which the U.S. Navy had outfitted with a landing strip, fuel supplies, a radio transmitter and support personnel. Her final frantic radio transmissions to the crew of a Coast Guard cutter, possibly advising them she and Mr. Noonan were lost, added to the mystery. Ms. Earhart became world-famous in the early 1930s, when she set numerous aviation records in a bright red Lockheed Vega she called her "little red bus." She became a sensation as the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, as well as nonstop across the U.S. Searching for Amelia's Plane View Slideshow Associated Press A crowd cheered for Amelia Earhart as she boarded her plane in Northern Ireland in 1932. When her plane disappeared over the Pacific, the U.S. government spent some $4 million searching an area roughly the size of Texas but found nothing. The abiding interest in the crash has been fueled partly intriguing but inconclusive results from previous searches. The head of the historic airplane group gained some credibility after searches around Nikumaroro turned up an aluminum panel and a piece of curved glass that might have come from Ms. Earhart's plane. Teams also came upon a heel from a woman's shoe, which some believe resembled Ms. Earhart's footwear. In 1940, three years after her disappearance, the historic aircraft group's website states, a British official "found a partial skeleton of a castaway on a remote part of the island," along with evidence of a "campfire, animal bones, a box that had once contained a sextant" and remnants of a man's and a woman's shoes. U.S. authorities never were notified so they could test the remains, according to the group. But some scholars and aviation experts challenge the historic group's assertion that the crew managed to land on Nikumaroro and survive on theuninhabited atoll for some time. On Monday, State Department officials didn't endorse a particular theory. "It's a hotly contested area," a department official said at the briefing. "We're not making any bets." Nonetheless, participation by Secretary Clinton and other dignitaries suggests the photo has changed the debate. Along with representatives of the search team, renowned undersea explorer Robert Ballard is expected to express his support for the new effort. Mr. Ballard has spent decades recovering relics and finding wrecks, including the passenger liner Titanic, the German battleship Bismarck and President John F. Kennedy's PT-109 patrol boat. The State Department said it is "working closely" with Mr. Ballard in what will be a sophisticated sonar search. Write to Andy Pasztor at andy.pasztor@wsj.com

– Some 75 years after Amelia Earhart and her navigator disappeared over the South Pacific in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe, the State Department is backing another search for her and her plane. The new search, to be launched this summer, will focus on deep waters around the remote atoll of Nikumaroro. A newly discovered photo taken just months after her disappearance in 1937 shows what some believe is part of her plane's landing gear, the Wall Street Journal reports. Hillary Clinton will discuss the search today, and praise Earhart, the first woman to cross the Atlantic solo, as a pioneer for women and a model of American courage, according to State Department officials. The remains of a castaway were found on the island a few years after Earhart disappeared, but DNA testing last year proved inconclusive. The new search is being funded with $500,000 of private money. The search team plans to set off from Hawaii on July 2, exactly 75 years after Earhart's last transmission. "We'll do our best to find Amelia," the search team's leader tells Discovery. "During the painful recovery from the Great Depression, Amelia Earhart inspired America with her courage and determination. America needs Amelia again."

A Wise County couple has been awarded $3 million by a Dallas jury in their suit against a Plano gas drilling company. Bob and Lisa Parr sued Aruba Petroleum of Plano in 2011, claiming spills and emissions from the company’s hydraulic fracturing operations had contaminated their 40-acre ranch in Decatur. They argued the pollution made them sick, as well as their pets and livestock. At times they were forced to evacuate the property, they said. “They’re vindicated,” said David Matthews, a Houston attorney representing the family. “It takes guts to say, ‘I'm going to stand here and protect my family from an invasion of our right to enjoy our property.’” The Wise County drilling site was within the Barnett Shale, which became one of the country’s most prolific natural gas plays after the advent of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling techniques. Attorneys for Aruba argued during the trial in Dallas County Court that there are more than 100 natural gas wells within a 2-mile radius of the Parrs’ property. “It was arbitrary,” said Ben Barron, one of the attorneys representing Aruba in the case. “How do you determine which well caused what, if any, damages? Barron said Aruba had not yet made a decision on whether to appeal the ruling. Also named in the 2011 suit was Encana Oil & Gas of Calgary. The Parrs previously settled with that company for an undisclosed sum. Matthews claims on his website the jury decision Tuesday represented the first “fracking verdict” in Texas. The Parrs appeared in the documentary “Gasland Part II,” which made the case hydraulic fracturing operations were contaminating the country’s air and water. In the lawsuit, the couple presents a long list of maladies they and their daughter suffered since moving onto the ranch in 2008. Included are asthma, nausea, nose bleeds, ear ringing and depression. They note one of their calves was born “dwarfed.” “These are all classic symptoms tied to hydrocarbon exposure,” said Brad Gilde, a Houston attorney who represented the Parrs in the trial. “The boom hit the Barnett in 2008 and it just so happened that’s when the Parrs moved onto the ranch. Almost immediately their health effects started to manifest.” Aruba argued in court its operations around the Parrs’ ranch did not produce emissions beyond those allowed under Texas air pollution standards. But the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality fined Aruba both in 2011 and 2012 for air quality violations in Wise County, totaling close to $40,000. The verdict drew cheers from environmentalists, who have been engaged in a long-running battle with the gas drilling industry over what they call the dangers of fracking. “Six regular people who knew nothing about fracking were presented with the facts and awarded the victims $3 million. It’s going to be hard to spin that,” Sharon Wilson of Earthworks, an advocacy group with offices in Texas, wrote in a blog post Tuesday. Oil and gas companies have been defending lawsuits from the landowners surrounding their drilling sites since the early days of the industry, said Larry Nettles, an attorney with Vinson & Elkins in Houston. He said Friday’s verdict would likely give some companies pause, but most worked hard to try and keep their neighbors appeased. “I don’t think this is going to be damaging to the industry. But it is a warning to operators they need to exercise caution when running operations near homesteads,” Nettles said. Follow James Osborne on Twitter at @osborneja. ||||| A Texas jury has awarded nearly $3 million to a family for illnesses they suffered from exposure to contaminated groundwater, solid toxic waste and airborne chemicals generated by natural gas fracking operations surrounding their 40-acre ranch, attorneys on the case said. The verdict, delivered Tuesday, is seen as a landmark decision for opponents of fracking, or hydraulic fracturing — a process in which high-pressure fluid is injected into the ground to fracture shale rock and release natural gas. “We hope this verdict will prompt companies that engage in fracking operations to take responsibility for the health problems and property damage caused by their activities,” said David Matthews of Matthews & Associates, one of the law firms that represented the family, in an email statement to Al Jazeera. Up to 600 chemicals are used in fracking fluid, and they include known human carcinogens, according to a press release from Matthews & Associates. Studies indicate that only 30 to 50 percent of those fluids are recovered, with the rest of the nonbiodegradable chemicals left in the ground. Plaintiffs Bob and Lisa Parr sued Texas-based Aruba Petroleum in 2011 over its fracking activities that they said polluted their 40-acre ranch, lowered their property’s value and sickened their family, pets and livestock. The decision found that Aruba Petroleum, which has been drilling in the area for several years, intentionally created a private nuisance, according to Law360, a LexisNexis news source that covers high-stakes litigation. Almost as soon as Aruba began drilling near their home, the family, pets and livestock started to become ill. “Robert and Lisa Parr, along with their young daughter, began experiencing health problems in 2009, after Aruba began drilling the first of 20 wells which the company operates less than two miles from the Parrs’ ranch near Decatur, Texas — about 45 miles northwest of Fort Worth,” Matthews & Associates said in a press release. Fred Stern, a spokesman for Aruba Petroleum, told Al Jazeera in an emailed statement that "the facts of the case and the law as applied to those facts do not support the verdict. Natural gas development has long been prevalent in Wise County with hundreds of wells drilled and currently operated by dozens of companies. Aruba is just one of those operators." He added: "We contended the plaintiffs were neither harmed by the presence of our drilling operations nor was the value of their property diminished because of our natural gas development." Air quality tests conducted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality found hazardous air that could lead to respiratory and neurological risks within a quarter mile of the Parrs’ home, according to Matthews & Associates. The Parr family reported symptoms such as migraines, rashes, dizziness, nausea and chronic nosebleeds. One night, their daughter woke up in the middle of the night covered in blood, attorneys said, presumably from a bad nosebleed. Living near fracking sites may increase the risk of some birth defects by as much as 30 percent, a January study by the Colorado School of Public Health said. The study was based on evidence gathered from heavily drilled rural Colorado, which has some of the highest densities of oil and gas wells in the United States. Another study, by the University of Missouri School of Medicine, showed that fracking fluids contain chemicals that can disrupt the functioning of human hormones and lead to a greater chance of infertility, cancer and other health problems. Fracking activity has accelerated under the administration of President Barack Obama, with supporters saying it could provide a means to greater energy independence, create jobs and boost the U.S. economy. The Barnett Shale region surrounding the Dallas-Fort Worth area is currently home to at least 12,000 gas wells, according to the environmentalist nonprofit organization EarthJustice. Industry experts have said drilling in the region has created thousands of jobs and generated tens of billions of dollars in investment. Many Texas residents have complained about fracking activities being too close to home. Heavily drilled Denton, Texas — about 30 miles east of the Parr family — has passed fracking moratoriums, and residents have pushed for a complete ban. They said they spent years trying to make fracking compatible with a healthy city, but found it impossible. “These companies make millions of dollars at the expense of people’s health and property without any financial benefit to the actual buys of natural gas. In fact, natural gas prices are on the rise,” Matthews said.

– A Texas family suing a gas-drilling firm over alleged contamination of their ranch has won $3 million in what their lawyer calls Texas' first fracking verdict. Bob and Lisa Parr said their family, pets, and livestock developed ailments tied to fracking operations, driving them to evacuate their land on some occasions, the Dallas Morning News reports. After moving to the Wise County ranch in 2008, the Parrs and their daughter grappled with asthma, nausea, and depression; their daughter reportedly awakened with a nosebleed covering her in blood, al Jazeera America reports. "These are all classic symptoms tied to hydrocarbon exposure," says another member of their legal team. The Parrs sued Aruba Petroleum of Plano in 2011 and were featured in the documentary Gasland Part II. The company's lawyers called the ruling "arbitrary," noting that the two miles around the ranch contain more than 100 natural gas wells. "How do you determine which well caused what, if any, damages?" But environmentalists called the case a victory: The jury of "six regular people who knew nothing about fracking were presented with the facts and awarded the victims $3 million. It’s going to be hard to spin that." Aruba hasn't decided whether to appeal. ($3 million? Better than a pizza.)

But Brad Goldberg, president of Peak6 and Spark’s new board director as of August, said that through modernizing the company’s technology and focusing on how to effectively market its two best known sites — JDate and ChristianMingle — the company will adapt and “take advantage of the changing industry landscape.” JDate was created in 1997 in a West Los Angeles condominium; ChristianMingle was added in 2001. Spark Networks (which trades under the ticker symbol LOV) eventually grew to about 30 dating sites, but the crown jewel has always been JDate. Mr. Goldberg estimates that 70 percent of the Jews of dating age in the United States have had some contact with JDate or JSwipe, with about one million registered users. “We’re unambiguously touching a greater percentage of the Jewish population than ever before,” he said. That may be the case, but according to Spark Networks’ 2015 filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the number of paid subscribers to its Jewish networks declined to around 65,000 last year from a little over 85,000 in 2012. Its total for all networks dropped by more than 55,000 people, to under 204,000. This comes at a time when an increasing number of Americans are trying to find partners online. According to the Pew Research Center, 15 percent of Americans have used online dating sites or mobile apps, compared with 11 percent in 2013. Spark Network’s revenues fell nearly 22 percent from 2014 to 2015. Some of the decline could reflect Spark’s management turnover, but it is also indicative of the challenges facing the online dating industry. Advertisement Continue reading the main story There are about 4,500 online dating companies, according to a report by the market research company IBISWorld, but the majority are tiny. The largest player in the field is the Match Group, with 51 dating sites; over the last few years alone it acquired such high-profile companies as Tinder and Plenty of Fish. “It’s never been cheaper to start a dating site and never been more expensive to grow one,” said Mark Brooks, a consultant for the internet dating industry who also runs Online Personals Watch. Part of the problem, he said, is that 70 percent of internet dating in the United States is now on mobile. Photo Dating apps usually start by offering their services completely free to bring in new users. There are then two ways for the services to make money: advertising and turning free users into paying ones. “It used to be 10 percent of those who registered converted to paid,” Mr. Brooks said. “Now it’s more like 2 to 3 percent.” Advertising can be tough to get, said Tom Homer, editor of the website Dating Sites Reviews, and on a mobile device it does not pay much because there is less real estate available than on regular websites. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. Other tensions are pulling at the online dating industry. Do consumers want to find a special someone or just anyone? Internet dating used to mean filling out questionnaires to match interests and culture. With sites like Tinder, Bumble and Hinge, it is all about who is nearby and available. Some of the difference, of course, is generational. Younger people are more likely to be interested in casual dating and more likely to use mobile devices for dating, the IBISWorld report states. But, as Mr. Goldberg, the Peak6 president, sees it, now “there is growing frustration as people tire of swipe-based apps.” He added, “Consumers want companionship and deeper interactions, and the industry will have to adapt.” Some also see a move toward ever more niche sites like MouseMingle.com (Disney lovers) and GlutenFreeSingles.com (the name says it all). But, when you slice the pie ever thinner, “you’re also slicing your membership base,” Mr. Homer said. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Amarnath Thombre, chief strategy officer of the Match Group, disagrees. He does not see one approach growing at the expense of the other. Rather, he said, online dating will expand to encompass more and more categories of people. The wave of the future for online and mobile dating, he predicts, is the growing use of artificial intelligence and better data science. Artificial intelligence, by pulling from a variety of places — say, a user’s Goodreads list or Instagram or list of charity donations — could more effectively match people than relying simply on a person’s own profile or questionnaire, he said. Spark Networks, of course, already offers niche products, but Lisa McLafferty, Spark’s new chief revenue officer and chief marketing officer at Peak6, says its aim is now to “refresh the brand.” “Over the last few rounds of management, the brand got a little lost,” she said. With JDate, “we’re seeing an evolution away from a marriage focus and religiosity and more to connecting on a cultural-values plane.” With ChristianMingle, the plan is to move in the other direction. The site, consumers say, has become too broad-based, with a variety of Christian date seekers, and the goal is to pivot back to its evangelical roots, Ms. McLafferty said. Despite these efforts, Mr. Young, the former Spark executive, said he would not be surprised if Match Group acquired Spark in the near future “so they have the No. 1 players — JDate and ChristianMingle — in each of these categories.” Mr. Thombre, of the Match Group, said he would not speak publicly about his company’s acquisition strategy. Whether JDate and ChristianMingle end up refreshed by Spark or in a new marriage remains to be seen. Mr. Goldberg did not want to address that issue, but he said he was certain of one thing: “I don’t know what it will look like, but I bet the world of online dating in 18 months to two years will look completely different than it does today. That’s just the way we’re moving.” ||||| Usage by 18- to 24-year-olds has increased nearly threefold since 2013, while usage by 55- to 64-year-olds has doubled Throughout human history, people have sought assistance from others in meeting romantic partners – and Americans today are increasingly looking for love online by enlisting the services of online dating sites and a new generation of mobile dating apps. A national survey by Pew Research Center, conducted June 10-July 12, 2015, among 2,001 adults, finds that: 12% of American adults have ever used an online dating site, up slightly from 9% in early 2013. 9% of American adults have ever used a dating app on their cellphone. The share of Americans who use dating apps has increased threefold since early 2013 – at that point just 3% of Americans had used these apps. Taken together, a total of 15% of American adults now report that they have used online dating sites and/or mobile dating apps, up from the 11% who reported doing so in early 2013. This growth has been especially pronounced for two groups who have historically not used online dating at particularly high levels – the youngest adults, as well as those in their late 50s and early 60s. The share of 18- to 24-year-olds who report having used online dating has nearly tripled in the last two years. Today 27% of these young adults report that they have done so, up from just 10% in early 2013. Meanwhile, the share of 55- to 64-year-olds who use online dating has doubled over the same time period (from 6% in 2013 to 12% in 2015). For young adults in particular, this overall increase in online dating usage has been accompanied by a dramatic increase in the use of mobile dating apps. Fully 22% of 18- to 24-year-olds now report using mobile dating apps, a more than fourfold increase from the 5% who reported using dating apps in 2013. These young adults are now more likely than any other age group to use mobile dating apps. 41% of Americans know someone who uses online dating; 29% know someone who has met a spouse or long-term partner via online dating Although 15% of Americans have used online dating themselves, a larger share report that they are familiar with online dating from the experiences of people they know. Some 41% of American adults say they know someone who uses online dating, while 29% indicate they know someone who has married or entered into a long-term partnership with someone they met via online dating. As was the case in previous Pew Research Center surveys of online dating, college graduates and the relatively affluent are especially likely to know people who use online dating or to know people who have entered into a relationship that began online. Nearly six-in-ten college graduates (58%) know someone who uses online dating, and nearly half (46%) know someone who has entered into a marriage or long-term partnership with someone they met via online dating. By comparison, just 25% of those with a high school diploma or less know someone who uses online dating – and just 18% know someone who has entered into a long-term relationship with someone they met this way. Those who have tried online dating offer mixed opinions about the experience – most have a positive outlook, even as they recognize certain downsides Users of online dating are generally positive – but far from universally so – about the pros and cons of dating digitally. On one hand, a majority of online dating users agree that dating digitally has distinct advantages over other ways of meeting romantic partners: 80% of Americans who have used online dating agree that online dating is a good way to meet people. 62% agree that online dating allows people to find a better match, because they can get to know a lot more people. 61% agree that online dating is easier and more efficient than other ways of meeting people. On the other hand, a substantial minority of these users agree that meeting people online can have potential negative consequences: 45% of online dating users agree that online dating is more dangerous than other ways of meeting people. 31% agree that online dating keeps people from settling down, because they always have options for people to date. 16% agree with the statement “people who use online dating sites are desperate.” But despite these reservations, those who have personally used online dating themselves – or know someone who does – tend to have much more positive attitudes compared to those with little direct exposure to online dating or online daters. For instance, just 55% of non-users agree that online dating is a good way to meet people, while six-in-ten agree that online dating is more dangerous than other ways of meeting people. Overall, men and women who have used online dating tend to have similar views of the pros and cons – with one major exception relating to personal safety. Some 53% of women who have used online dating agree that it is more dangerous than other ways of meeting people, substantially higher than the 38% of male online daters who agree with this statement. ||||| 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. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| The seed for Wide00014 was: - Slash pages from every domain on the web: -- a ranking of all URLs that have more than one incoming inter-domain link (rank was determined by number of incoming links using Wide00012 inter domain links) -- up to a maximum of 100 most highly ranked URLs per domain - Top ranked pages (up to a max of 100) from every linked-to domain using the Wide00012 inter-domain navigational link graph

– More Americans than ever—some 48 million—go online in their quest for love, signing up on dating sites increasingly tailored to them. There are sites grouped by religion, such as ChristianMingle and the Jewish-oriented JDate, or time-pressed casual users can swipe to find a match on apps like Tinder. (Even Disney fans have MouseMingle.com.) But as the New York Times reports, the business model behind these sites is rarely a happy marriage. With the exception of companies like Match Group, which has 51 sites, most of the 4,500 online dating outfits are tiny. While it is cheap to start a dating site, it has "never been more expensive to grow one," says consultant Mark Brooks. Most traffic is now going to mobile apps that suffer from low advertising revenue, and subscribers who time balk at paying for the service. Take the case of Spark Networks, owner of 30 sites including JDate. With revenue down 22% and 55,000 fewer subscribers than in 2012, the company last summer closed its Israel office, scaled down, and sold off 16% of its stock to an investment firm. All the while, the company estimates that 70% of American Jews (1 million registered users) have some contact with JDate or its spinoff, JSwipe. "Every Jew knows someone who knows someone who met on JDate," says one former exec. Online dating execs are split over the industry's future. While Spark's Brad Goldberg thinks users, tired of swiping apps, will want "deeper interactions," a chief strategist at Match Group foresees tapping users' accounts on Instagram and the like to find their perfect mate. Then again, if Match acquires Spark, as some predict, the distinction could be moot. "I bet the world of online dating in 18 months to two years will look completely different than it does today," says Goldberg. (These are the 10 best and worst cities for singles.)

Lee Hall got the gift of life -- and it was still beating when it arrived. The 26-year-old Cornwall, U.K. resident was diagnosed with heart failure at age 14. At age 20, he had a mechanical pump installed to keep the blood flowing around his body. But Hall got some bad news in May. Doctors said his heart pump cables were infected, and he'd need a new heart within two days or he would die, according to South West News Service. But Hall got a lucky break when he learned he had a heart donor. The dead patient's heart was revived for Hall, using a method called a "heart in a box" that keeps the organ beating outside of the donor's body. First, doctors provided a passage of warm blood through the donated heart. The blood was heated to reduce tissue damage and oxygenated using a gas exchanger right up until the moment it was transplanted into Hall's body. The method can keep a heart alive for up to eight hours. Hall underwent the procedure earlier this summer. He's back home with wife, Danyelle, and their one-year-old son, Hayden. ||||| One of the big issues with heart transplants is simply the number that how many people need a new heart versus the number of available, viable hearts. A box that keeps hearts beating and filled with blood could help. More specifically, the OCS Heart by TransMedics could help increase the volume of transplants by potentially opening up the number of possible donors beyond those that are normally accepted. The stereotypical heart transplant begins with a brain-dead donor, whose heart is harvested from a healthy body and cooled for transport. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below The OCS Heart aims to include folks from outside this pool that have experienced what the MIT Technology Review calls "circulatory death," where the heart stops rather than just being brain dead. It does this by providing a sterile box that feeds blood, oxygen, and nutrients to donor hearts, potentially increasing the amount of time the organ can survive after the donor dies using warm perfusion techniques. Reportedly, it's been used to great effect "in at least 15 cases[.]" Without such help, surgeons consider hearts from dead donors too damaged to use. "The device is vital. The heart gets an absolutely essential infusion of blood to restore its energy," says Stephen Large, a surgeon at Papworth Hospital in the United Kingdom, which has used the system as part of eight heart transplants. Most Popular For now, the device is commercially available in Europe and Australia, but not the United States. According to TransMedics, it's under clinical investigation, which could mean it'll eventually hit the market. The company also has similar devices for transplanting lungs and livers, which could similarly increase the number of potential donors. Welcome to the future. It's filled with organs in boxes. Source: MIT Technology Review

– The number of hearts available to thousands of Americans requiring a transplant every year could increase by up to 30% if a new piece of medical technology developed in Massachusetts is approved for use in the US, the MIT Technology Review reports. TransMedics' Organ Care System—known as "heart in a box"—is a sterile chamber with oxygen, blood, and nutrient supplies that keeps a heart pumping outside the body until it's ready for transplant. Donor hearts typically come from patients who are brain dead but whose circulatory systems are still functioning, explains the Review. The problem has always been the shortage of brain-dead patients. The OCS changes that, allowing surgeons to remove hearts from the recently deceased and "reanimate" them for transplant—thus opening up a much larger pool of potential donors, notes Popular Mechanics. In fact, doctors say this could increase the number of donated hearts by 15% to 30%. "Cold is the old thing, and warm is the new thing," says a transplant surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital, referring to the standard practice of cooling a heart once it's taken from a brain-dead donor. The OCS has already been used for 15 successful transplants in Australia and the UK, including this 26-year-old's in Britain, as highlighted in the Huffington Post. The device remains under "critical investigation" in the US, says the company. A post at Smithsonian points to two drawbacks: The devices are expensive for now at $250,000 apiece, and they'll likely raise ethical questions about when patients should be declared dead. A medical ethicist tell the Review it's all the more important for patients and families to have their plans spelled out in advance. (Next up: Head transplants?)

Trump questions why 'no talent' host hasn't been fired; Samantha Bee, TBS apologize CLOSE Comedian Samantha Bee is facing backlash after what she called Ivanka Trump..and now some people are saying she should no longer have a show on TBS, the Hill reports. Veuer's Sam Berman has the full story. Buzz60 President Trump is speaking up about Samantha Bee's Full Frontal segment on immigration, which took aim at Ivanka Trump in Wednesday's episode. "Why aren’t they firing no talent Samantha Bee for the horrible language used on her low ratings show?" he tweeted Friday morning, adding that the difference in outcomes for Bee and the fired Roseanne Barr, whose hit show was cancelled by ABC Tuesday over a racist tweet sent by the actress. Trump continued that the difference in outcomes reflected a "total double standard" by the media. (Ivanka Trump has remained silent.) Bee apologized Thursday for crossing a line in the segment. "Do something," the TBS host urged in the clip, calling the president's daughter and aide a female slur. The offending word was bleeped. "I would like to sincerely apologize to Ivanka Trump and to my viewers for using an expletive on my show to describe her last night," Bee said in her apology tweet, published after the clip had been removed from YouTube. "It was inappropriate and inexcusable. I crossed a line, and I deeply regret it." In a separate statement, TBS said, "Samantha Bee has taken the right action in apologizing for the vile and inappropriate language she used about Ivanka Trump last night. Those words should not have been aired. It was our mistake too, and we regret it.” That evening, Bee addressed her controversial commentary while accepting a Television Academy Honors award, according to IndieWire. “The thing is, our show is steeped in passion,” Bee reportedly said. “Every week, I strive to show the world as I see it, unfiltered. Sometimes, I should probably have a filter. I accept that. I take it seriously when I get it right, and I do take responsibility when I get it wrong.” But Bee also didn't want one word to detract from the focus of her segment: Trump's immigration policy. “We spent the day wrestling with the repercussions of one bad word, when we all should have spent the day incensed that as a nation we are wrenching children from their parents and treating people legally seeking asylum as criminals,” she said, according to the outlet. “If we are OK with that, then really, who are we?” The talk show host continued, reportedly adding: “I can tell you, as long as we have breath in our bodies and 21 minutes of airtime once a week, repeats on Saturdays, that we as a show will never stop shouting (about) the inhumanities of this world from the rooftops and striving to make it a better place. But in a comedy way.” Samantha Bee vs. Roseanne Barr: Double standard? Twitter reacts Trump's comment on the matter echoed earlier statements from Stephanie Grisham, the spokeswoman for first lady Melania Trump, and his own press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Grisham accused the media of bias in quickly canceling Roseanne over its star's racist tweet, directed at former President Obama's aide Valerie Jarrett, but merely apologizing for language directed at President Trump's daughter. "The double standard is truly astounding," Grisham said. "Time and again the Trump family and members of this administration are subjected to false reporting, hateful rhetoric and outrageous lies, all in the name of freedom of speech or comedy, yet the mainstream media stays silent." Sanders added, “The language used by Samantha Bee last night is vile and vicious. The collective silence by the left and its media allies is appalling,” she said in a statement. "Her disgusting comments and show are not fit for broadcast, and executives at Time Warner and TBS must demonstrate that such explicit profanity about female members of this administration will not be condoned on its network.” Used-car marketplace AutoTrader.com also announced Thursday that it was pulling its ads from Full Frontal amid the mounting backlash. "Thank you to those who reached out regarding our sponsorship of Full Frontal," they announced on Twitter. "The comments expressed by Samantha Bee were offensive and unacceptable and do not reflect the views of our company. As a result, we have suspended our sponsorship of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee." Insurance company State Farm soon followed, saying they have suspended advertising on the show and are reviewing any future placements. How it began The TBS host had a short but striking message for the first daughter, whom she urged to "do something" about her father's immigration policy rather than post "the second most oblivious tweet we've seen this week." "You know, Ivanka, that's a beautiful photo of you and your child but let me just say, one mother to another: Do something about your dad's immigration practices you feckless (expletive)," she said. "He listens to you." Bee suggested, "Put on something tight and low cut and tell your father to (expletive) stop it," she said. "Tell him it was an Obama thing and see how it goes." The Trump administration has been stepping up criminal prosecutions of people crossing the border illegally this month, in line with President Trump campaign promises. Earlier this week, debate sparked around the administration's policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the border. Bee also suggested a way to get the president to listen."Put on something tight and low cut and tell your father to (expletive) stop it," she said. "Tell him it was an Obama thing and see how it goes." The reaction Bee's comment, especially the use of the c-word, didn't go without notice, as many tweeted their disapproval and compared her to Roseanne Barr, whose show ABC canceled following her racist tweets. Conservative blogger Erick Erickson pointed out inequalities he sees between what liberals and conservatives can get away with saying. "So ABC just fired Roseanne for her tweet. Will TBS fire Samatha Bee for her actual on-air monologue?," he questioned. "Seems to me that calling Ivanka Trump a 'feckless (expletive)' is just as bad as suggesting Valerie Jarrett is an ape." All the progressives in my timeline telling me the Roseanne situation and Samantha Bee situation are not comparable will, I’m sure, be fine when Trump supporters start calling Clinton, Warren, Pelosi, etc. the same as what Samantha Bee called Ivanka Trump. — Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) May 31, 2018 He continued, "All the progressives in my timeline telling me the Roseanne situation and Samantha Bee situation are not comparable will, I’m sure, be fine when Trump supporters start calling Clinton, Warren, Pelosi, etc. the same as what Samantha Bee called Ivanka Trump." NBC's Megyn Kelly also tweeted about Bee's comments. This is disgusting. How is this acceptable? And how are we expected to take any of these publications seriously if they gleefully repost something like this at the same time they (rightfully) condemn @therealroseanne? You know the saying Love is Love? Well Hate is Hate. https://t.co/YTjmZQ4zMV — Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) May 31, 2018 "This is disgusting. How is this acceptable? And how are we expected to take any of these publications seriously if they gleefully repost something like this at the same time they (rightfully) condemn @therealroseanne? You know the saying Love is Love? Well Hate is Hate," she tweeted, sharing a story about Bee's comments. Former presidential candidate Herman Cain also commented about canceling Bee's show. Hey @TBSNetwork, shall I assume the Samantha Bee cancellation news will come later today? No? You don't care that this poor man's Jon Stewart is completely horrible? Ok, then... https://t.co/XPYlq0nzFw — Herman Cain (@THEHermanCain) May 31, 2018 "Hey @TBSNetwork, shall I assume the Samantha Bee cancellation news will come later today? No?" he tweeted. "You don't care that this poor man's Jon Stewart is completely horrible? Ok, then..." For her part, Barr didn't want her supporters comparing her to Bee. On Thursday, she tweeted, "please don't compare me2 other people who have said horrible things. I only care about apologizing 4 the hurt I have unwittingly & stupidly caused. I humbly confess contrition & remorse. I failed2 correctly express myself, & caused pain2 ppl." please don't compare me2 other people who have said horrible things. I only care about apologizing 4 the hurt I have unwittingly & stupidly caused. I humbly confess contrition & remorse. I failed2 correctly express myself, & caused pain2 ppl. — Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 31, 2018 Others agreed with Bee's comments. "Ivanka Trump is a feckless (expletive). Thank you for your honesty, Samantha Bee," one user tweeted. "(Samantha Bee) is great at triggering conservative snowflakes." If you think Samantha Bee's vulgarity is equivalent to racism then you're either ignorant, maliciously dishonest, or a racist yourself. #GTFOH — The_Warrior's_Home (@mots_d_Akin) May 31, 2018 "If you think Samantha Bee's vulgarity is equivalent to racism then you're either ignorant, maliciously dishonest, or a racist yourself," another said, defending Bee. "Stop comparing it to what @TheRealRoseanne said. Roseanne used a racist term. Samantha did not," another said. Bee also took aim at Roseanne Barr's tweet that suggested sleep drug Ambien caused her to make racist comments earlier this week. Barr wrote in a since-deleted tweet Tuesday that "muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj." The "vj" stood for Valerie Jarrett, an Obama White House aide. This led to the cancellation of her hit ABC show Roseanne. Sanofi, who makes Ambien, tweeted a response to Barr, who claimed she was "Ambien tweeting": "While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication." Full Frontal decided to see what it would be like if racism was a side effect, however, by imagining a commercial for the drug that reassured "a great night sleep and a convenient excuse are just one little pill away." The fake ad also warned that in addition to helping you fall asleep, the drug may make you "more racist." "I mean, you were already racist, but maybe Ambien made it worse?" the narrator says. "Until you know how Ambien will effect you, you shouldn't drive in urban areas, operate heavy machinery or visit a Starbucks." The narrator also read off a list of "extremely not rare side effects" that all had racial undertones including, "clutching your purse as a person of color walks by," "deciding to move 'up state'" and more. Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2LNFrUE

– Samantha Bee had a request for Ivanka Trump Wednesday on her show, and the way she worded that request is not going over well with conservatives. The Full Frontal host flashed a photo Ivanka tweeted Sunday showing the First Daughter holding her young son, calling it "oblivious" due to the outcry this week over immigrant parents and children reportedly being separated at the US border. "You know, Ivanka, that's a beautiful photo of you and your child, but let me just say, one mother to another: Do something about your dad's immigration practices, you feckless c---," Bee said. "He listens to you. Put on something tight and low-cut and tell your father to f---ing stop it. Tell him it was an Obama thing and see how it goes, OK?" Outrage soon followed from the right, USA Today reports, followed by a quick apology from Bee. Read on for more:

NEW YORK (AP) — An NFL investigation released Wednesday said that New England Patriots employees likely deflated footballs used in the AFC Championship and that quarterback Tom Brady was probably "at least generally aware" of the rules violations. The NFL began investigating after the Patriots defeated the Colts 45-7 on January 18. The Colts complained that several footballs were under inflated and the NFL confirmed that 11 of the 12 footballs were under the limit. The investigation started as the Patriots were preparing for the Super Bowl — which they won two weeks later. Footballs with less pressure can be easier to grip and catch. Some quarterbacks prefer footballs that have less air. The NFL requires balls to be inflated between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds per square inch, and each team is responsible for the balls it uses on offense. Brady said he prefers footballs inflated to 12.5 pounds per square inch. On many occasions, Brady said he never asked for balls to be deflated outside of the rules. The NFL report said "it was more than probable" that Jim McNally, the officials locker room attendant, and John Jastremski, an equipment assistant for the Patriots, were involved in "a deliberate effort to release air" from the footballs after they were examined by the referee. The report includes text messages between McNally and Jastremski that imply Brady was requesting footballs deflated below 12.5 pounds per square inch. The 243-page report said league investigators found no evidence that coach Bill Belichick and team management knew of the practice. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. Investigators hired by the NFL concluded Wednesday that it was “more probable than not” that New England Patriots personnel intentionally deflated footballs and that star quarterback Tom Brady was “at least generally aware.” The investigators’ report on what came to be called Deflate-Gate faulted Jim McNally, a Patriots locker room attendant, and John Jastremski, an equipment assistant, for an apparent effort to let air out of game balls for the AFC championship game in January. The report found less evidence linking Brady to tampering but found it was probable “that Brady was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities of McNally and Jastremski.” It quoted text messages between the two, months before the AFC title game, suggesting that Brady was asking for underinflated game balls, and that the quarterback expressed his displeasure when they were not to his liking. It also quoted requests from McNally for shoes and signed footballs from Brady in exchange for deflating game balls. Read the most revealing texts from the report ProFootballTalk: NFL may discipline Brady Full coverage from ProFootballTalk Before the AFC championship game, McNally took two large bags of game balls, meant for both teams, out of the officials’ locker room and disappeared into a bathroom for a minute and 40 seconds, the report found. Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league would “consider what steps to take in light of the report, both with respect to possible disciplinary action and to any changes in protocols that are necessary to avoid future incidents of this type.” The Patriots beat the Indianapolis Colts 45-7 for the AFC championship, and the Colts complained after the game that some balls were underinflated. Underinflated footballs are easier to catch and throw, particularly in difficult weather, and it was raining during the game. Two weeks later, the Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. After a furor over the game balls, the commissioner asked Ted Wells, a prominent lawyer, to compile the report. It took more than four months and ran to more than 240 pages. The Patriots’ owner, Robert Kraft, said he was still convinced that the team had done nothing wrong. “To say we are disappointed in its findings, which do not include any incontrovertible or hard evidence of deliberate deflation of footballs at the AFC Championship game, would be a gross understatement,” he said in a statement. In an interview with the investigators, Brady denied wrongdoing and said that he didn’t even know McNally’s name before the AFC title game. “We found these claims not plausible and contradicted by other evidence,” the report concluded. It also found that Brady and Jastremski did not communicate by phone or text for six months — then communicated six times over the three days after suspicions were first raised about ball-tampering. In May 2014, long before the season, McNally referred to himself as “the deflator,” according to texts reviewed by the investigators: McNally: You workingJastremski: YupMcNally: Nice dude....jimmy needs some kicks....lets make a deal.....come on help the deflatorMcNally: Chill buddy im just (expletive) with you ....im not going to espn........yet The report includes further salty text-message exchanges between McNally and Jastremski during the 2014 regular season, as they deal with Brady’s preferences for game balls. After Brady complained about the inflation of footballs in a game in October, McNally wrote to Jastremski: “Tom sucks ... im going make that next ball a (expletive) balloon.” Another exchange that same month went like this: Jastremski: Can’t wait to give you your needle this week :)McNally: (Expletive) tom....make sure the pump is attached to the needle.....(expletive) watermelons comingJastremski: So angryMcNally: The only thing deflating sun..is his passing rating In addition, the Colts alerted the league on the day before the AFC title game to concerns about air pressure in Patriots footballs, the report found. General Manager Ryan Grigson wrote: “All the Indianapolis Colts want is a completely level playing field.” An attached message from the Colts’ equipment manager, said: As far as the gameballs are concerned it is well known around the league that after the Patriots gameballs are checked by the officials and brought out for game usage the ballboys for the patriots will let out some air with a ball needle because their quarterback likes a smaller football so he can grip it better, it would be great if someone would be able to check the air in the game balls as the game goes on so that they don‟t get an illegal advantage. An NFL official promised that one of his colleagues would speak to game officials about it. At a press conference in January, Brady denied wrongdoing and said that he had never knowingly played with a football that did not meet league regulations. “I would never do anything to break the rules,” he said. The report cleared Bill Belichick, the head coach, and the Patriots front office in Deflate-Gate. It did fault the Patriots for refusing to make McNally available for a follow-up interview with investigators. The investigators said it was inconsistent with the team’s pledge of full cooperation. ||||| In a major blow to Tom Brady’s golden reputation, a National Football League investigator concluded Wednesday that the Patriots quarterback most likely participated, at least tacitly, in violating the sport’s integrity by using improperly deflated footballs as he guided the team toward a Super Bowl championship. A 243-page report on the NFL’s inquiry identified two low-level Patriots employees as the alleged chief conspirators in the scandal and cited “substantial and credible evidence’’ that Brady was “at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities,’’ — despite his insistence to the contrary. Continue reading below “We found [Brady’s] claims not plausible and contradicted by other evidence,” the NFL’s report said. One of the two Patriots workers, a part-time attendant named Jim McNally, described himself in a text recovered by investigators as “the deflator,’’ the report found. Brady and the two men appear to have been caught in a web of evidence that ranged from security video footage of McNally suspiciously ducking into a bathroom with a bag full of footballs moments before delivering them to the field, to Brady and the other worker engaging in apparent damage-control calls and texts as soon as reports broke of the purported cheating. Continue reading it below No other member of the Patriots organization, including owner Robert Kraft and coach Bill Belichick, was implicated as a result of the 15-week inquiry. But the findings cast a cloud over the franchise’s fourth Super Bowl title of the century in February, just as the 2007 Spygate affair tainted previous triumphs. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, a close friend of Kraft’s, directed Troy Vincent, the league executive in charge of football operations, to consider disciplinary action, which could include a fine or suspension for Brady. Kraft, who earlier professed the franchise’s innocence, lambasted the findings, though he said he will not appeal them and will accept any penalties. The inquiry centered on allegations that the Patriots used underinflated footballs in January while defeating the Indianapolis Colts, 45-7, in the American Football Conference championship game to advance to the Super Bowl. Brady has said he prefers balls with lower inflation levels because they are easier to grip and throw. “To say we are disappointed in the findings, which do not include any incontrovertible or hard evidence of deliberate deflation of footballs at the AFC Championship Game, would be a gross understatement,’’ Kraft said in a statement. “While I respect the independent process of the investigation, the time, effort and resources expended to reach this conclusion are incomprehensible to me.’’ The NFL’s findings are based almost entirely on circumstantial evidence, and while investigators appeared to build a persuasive case that inappropriate activity occurred, Kraft suggested there was no smoking gun linking Brady to cheating. Brady — who refused to provide his e-mails, text messages, and phone records to league investigators — has not publicly addressed the controversy, which has come to be known as “Deflategate,” since an uncomfortable news conference in January when he was asked directly, “Are you a cheater?’’ “I don’t believe so,’’ he replied. “I mean, I feel I always played within the rules.” He also rejected the notion that others had acted on his behalf. “I am very comfortable saying nobody did it, as far as I know,” Brady said then. Video: Tom Brady says he did not alter the footballs in Colts game But his denials in an interview with the NFL investigators ultimately seemed to fall flat. “We found [Brady’s] claims not plausible and contradicted by other evidence,” the report said. Brady was not available Wednesday. But his father, Tom Brady Sr., was quoted by USA Today as portraying him as a victim of “Framegate.’’ “I don’t have any doubt about my son’s integrity — not one bit,” the elder Brady said. “In this country, you’re innocent until proven guilty. It just seems Tommy is now guilty until proven innocent.’’ Brady’s next scheduled public appearance is a speaking engagement Thursday at Salem State College. The report alleges that McNally, who served as the locker room attendant at Gillette Stadium for NFL officials, and John Jastremski, a Patriots equipment assistant, probably engaged in “a deliberate effort to release air’’ from the footballs after a referee examined them before the game. Attempts to reach Jastremski were not successful. When a Boston Globe reporter seeking a comment knocked at McNally’s home in Amherst, N.H., a man standing behind a curtain said, “Get off my land right now.’’ The evidence against Brady included text messages between McNally and Jastremski in the three months before the AFC title game. Some texts allegedly implied Brady requested his footballs be deflated below the league’s minimum standard of 12.5 pounds of pressure per square inch. Investigators alleged the texts showed Brady was not pleased with the quality of some game balls the attendants had prepared. In one text, McNally complained to Jastremski, “Tom sucks . . . im going [to] make that next ball a [expletive] balloon.’’ Jastremski’s alleged reply: “Talked to him last night. He actually brought you up and said you must have a lot of stress trying to get them done.’’ The report includes numerous text references to McNally allegedly wanting Brady to sign memorabilia in exchange for deflating balls. “Remember to put a couple sweet pig skins ready for tom to sign,” McNally allegedly texted Jastremski. The report states, “Taking the text messages as a whole, Brady is a constant reference point in the discussions between McNally and Jastremski about inflation, deflation, needles, and 18 items to be received by McNally.’’ Citing videotape evidence and witness interviews, the report alleges that McNally inappropriately removed the Patriots game balls from the officials locker room before the AFC title game and carried them into a restroom near the entrance to the field. He allegedly locked the door and remained there for about 1 minute and 40 seconds before he delivered the balls to the field. A scientific consultant hired by the NFL investigators simulated the time it would take to reduce the pressure in 13 footballs by using a needle, and the time was “well under one minute and forty seconds,’’ according to the findings. The report states that Colts general manager Ryan Grigson alerted the NFL before the game to be aware of the Patriots possibly deflating footballs. And after one of Brady’s passes was intercepted in the first half, the Colts tested the ball and told officials it was underinflated. That prompted the officials to test 11 of the Patriots footballs at halftime, and each one was found to be inflated below the league minimum, the report states. Four Colts balls were tested and deemed legal. Soon after the first news stories about the Patriots’ alleged wrongdoing broke on Jan. 19, Brady and Jastremski engaged in a number of telephone and text communications investigators cite as additional evidence that Brady was aware of the inappropriate activity. Brady and Jastremski had not communicated by phone or text for more than six months before then. But at 7:26 a.m. on Jan. 19, the morning after the AFC title game, they spoke by phone for the first of six times over the next three days, their conversations lasting a total of more than 55 minutes. The report alleges Brady also invited Jastremski to his office at Gillette Stadium, and investigators said Brady sent Jastremski text messages apparently aimed at calming him. “You good Jonny boy?’’ one text from Brady allegedly read. “Still nervous; so far so good though,’’ Jastremski wrote back, according to the report. Brady and Jastremski then allegedly contradicted each other in interviews with investigators. Brady, while denying any knowledge or involvement in wrongdoing, told the investigators he did not know McNally’s name or his game-day duties. However, Jastremski told investigators Brady did know McNally’s name and his game-day responsibilities, the report states. In addition, McNally was said to have told NFL security officials that Brady personally told him which inflation level he preferred for his footballs. Investigators complained the Patriots refused to make McNally available for a final interview on “important topics,’’ a complaint that Kraft said “offended’’ him. “What the report fails to mention is that he had already been interviewed four times and we felt the fifth request was excessive for a part-time game-day employee who has a full-time job with another employer,’’ Kraft said. Regarding the number of times McNally was interviewed, the report states only that the team counsel refused to make McNally available for “a follow-up interview” regarding what investigators deemed “important topics.” The investigation, led by Theodore V. Wells Jr., a private attorney commissioned by the NFL, included analysis by scientific consultants who concluded that no other factor such as weather caused the Patriots’ balls to deflate. Kraft took exception to the finding that weather played no role. “Based on the explanations I have heard and the studies that have been done, I don’t know how the science of atmospheric conditions can be refuted or how conclusions to the contrary can be drawn without some definitive evidence,’’ he said. Investigators interviewed more than 65 witnesses, including Belichick. ||||| It seems like so long ago, we were talking about ethics in deflated balls. Ted Wells released his investigation into the Patriots’ tampering of the footballs today. The 243-page document can be found here. The report’s conclusions believe it’s “more probable than not” that Patriots personnel tried to break the rules, and that Tom Brady was likely aware of the practice of deflating balls. An excerpt: For the reasons described in this Report, and after a comprehensive investigation, we have concluded that, in connection with the AFC Championship Game, it is more probable than not that New England Patriots personnel participated in violations of the Playing Rules and were involved in a deliberate effort to circumvent the rules. In particular, we have concluded that it is more probable than not that Jim McNally (the Officials Locker Room attendant for the Patriots) and John Jastremski (an equipment assistant for the Patriots) participated in a deliberate effort to release air from Patriots game balls after the balls were examined by the referee. Based on the evidence, it also is our view that it is more probable than not that Tom Brady (the quarterback for the Patriots) was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities of McNally and Jastremski involving the release of air from Patriots game balls. [...] We do not believe that the evidence establishes that any other Patriots personnel participated in or had knowledge of the violation of the Playing Rules or the deliberate effort to circumvent the rules described in this Report. In particular, we do not believe there was any wrongdoing or knowledge of wrongdoing by Patriots ownership, Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick or any other Patriots coach in the matters investigated. We also do not believe there was any wrongdoing or knowledge of wrongdoing by Patriots Head Equipment Manager Dave Schoenfeld. As for the kicking ball introduced during the second half, the report finds that the Patriots didn’t intentionally try to switch balls. Based on the evidence, the investigation has further concluded that that there was no deliberate attempt by the Patriots to introduce to the playing field a non-approved kicking ball during the AFC Championship Game. Although Patriots personnel provided a kicking ball to game officials that did not have the distinctive inspection mark of the referee, we find that the Patriots personnel involved believed the ball to be authentic and appropriate. We do not believe that there was any attempt by Patriots personnel, including Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski, to deliberately circumvent the rules by offering the kicking ball for play. We’ll be updating this post as we go through the report. If you find anything interesting, put it in the comments. Update (1:33 p.m.): There are some quality texts between Patriots locker room attendant Jim McNally and Patriots equipment assistant John Jastremski: Update (1:45 p.m.): In a statement on the Patriots’ site, owner Bob Kraft said he was “disappointed” in the report’s findings. Advertisement Update (1:50 p.m.): Page 18 of the report presents evidence that Brady was aware of the deflated balls, and talked to Jastremski over the phone multiple times after the scandal broke: Additional evidence of Brady‟s awareness includes a material increase in the frequency of telephone and text communications between Brady and Jastremski shortly after suspicions of ball tampering became public on January 19. After not communicating by telephone or text message for more than six months (based on data retrieved from Jastremski‟s cell phone), Brady and Jastremski spoke by telephone at least twice on January 19 (calls lasting a total of 25 minutes and 2 seconds), twice on January 20 (calls lasting a total of 9 minutes and 55 seconds) and twice on January 21 (calls lasting a total of 20 minutes and 52 seconds) before Jastremski surrendered his cell phone to the Patriots later that day for forensic imaging. These calls included conversations relatively early during the mornings of January 19 (7:26 a.m. for 13 minutes and 4 seconds), January 20 (8:22 a.m. for 6 minutes and 21 seconds) and January 21 (7:38 a.m. for 13 minutes and 47 seconds). Brady also took the unprecedented step of inviting Jastremski to the QB room (essentially Brady‟s office) in Gillette Stadium on January 19 for the first and only time that Jastremski can recall during his twenty-year career with the Patriots, and Brady sent Jastremski text messages seemingly designed to calm Jastremski (“You good Jonny boy?”; “You doing good?”). For his part, Jastremski sent Brady text messages confirming that he was okay (“Still nervous; so far so good though”) and cautioning Brady about questioning (“FYI...Dave will be picking your brain later about it. He‟s not accusing me, or anyone...trying to get to bottom of it. He knows it‟s unrealistic you did it yourself...”). Update (2:14 p.m.): Pages 29-30 of the report explain that the league acquired text messages from “Patriots-provided mobile phones,” which means Jastremski and McNally were just talking about the stuff they did on work phones: The NFL retained Renaissance Associates, an investigative firm with extensive forensic expertise, to retrieve data (including text messages, contact information and telephone call logs) from the Patriots-provided mobile phones of certain Patriots personnel. These mobile phones were provided directly to Renaissance Associates by the Patriots. The Patriots also provided copies of select text messages and a call log retrieved from Jim McNally‟s personal mobile phone, which had not been provided to Renaissance Associates. Update (3:23 p.m.): Colts GM Ryan Grigson and equipment manager Sean Sullivan were aware of the Patriots’ tendency to mess with balls, and warned the NFL a day before the AFC title game. Photo: Matt Slocum/AP Contact the author at samer@deadspin.com.

– The NFL has produced a 243-page report on whether the Patriots cheated with under-inflated footballs, and it concludes with a definite maybe. As in, "it is more probable than not" that team personnel tinkered with footballs before the AFC title game and that Tom Brady was probably "at least generally aware" of said tinkering, report the Boston Globe and AP. The report singles out two Patriots employees, locker room attendant Jim McNally and equipment assistant John Jastremski, as the maybe-probable culprits, but the NFL hasn't decided whether they or Brady or the team will face penalties. Team owner Robert Kraft: "To say we are disappointed in its findings, which do not include any incontrovertible or hard evidence of deliberate deflation of footballs at the AFC Championship game, would be a gross understatement," he says in a statement picked up at NBC. Maybe the best part is the report's inclusion of texts between the two team employees in which they sound a little miffed about Brady's complaints about footballs. A sampling as cited by Deadspin: McNally: "Tom sucks," he wrote after Brady complained about how balls were inflated in an October game. "im going make that next ball a f----- balloon." McNally: "F--- tom....make sure the pump is attached to the needle.....f------ watermelons coming" Jastremski: "So angry" McNally: "The only thing deflating sun..is his passing rating"