Gene Simmons is biting his tongue over recent controversial remarks he made about Prince’s death.

The KISS bassist backtracked Tuesday night on comments he made hours earlier, in which he called the legendary singer’s death “pathetic.”

The 66-year-old did an about-face because he “got such s--- from my family for my big mouth again,” he told WEMF Radio. “I apologize.”

The self-proclaimed Prince fan said he made the incendiary comments regarding the “Purple Rain” singer’s rumored overdose because of his experiences with drug users.

“I have a long history of getting very angry at what drugs do to the families/friends of the addicts. I get angry at drug users because of my experience being around them coming up in the rock scene,” he explained.

“In my experience they’ve made my life — and the lives of their loves ones — difficult,” he continued.

In the surprising mea culpa, Simmons said he was inclined to view drug addicts as “losers” because he grew up with that mentality.

"I was raised in a culture/crowd where drug addicts were written off as losers, and since that's the narrative I grew up with, it's been hard to change with the times," he said.

Earlier in the day, he told Newsweek that David Bowie’s death was more tragic than Prince’s because it involved “a real sickness” while Prince’s death was “pathetic” because “he killed himself.”

The cause of death for the music icon has still not officially been determined. Since his April 21 death, speculation has been rampant that he suffered a fatal painkiller overdose.

“Needless to say, I didn’t express myself properly here — I don’t shy away from controversy, and angry critics really don't bother me at all,” Simmons said.

“If I think I’m right, I’ll throw up a finger and dig my heels in and laugh. But this time, I was not. So, my apologies,” he added.

The loudmouth rocker has been the subject of frequent backlash for several dismissive comments.

He incited outrage in March by telling Rolling Stone he was “looking forward to the death of rap” — a remark which earned him a negative shout-out from Ice Cube at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month.

Summary: Gene Simmons is biting his tongue over recent controversial remarks about Prince’s death.


So-called “Spam King” Sanford Wallace has admitted to using around a half-million Facebook accounts to send more than 27 million unsolicited messages on the social network, Bloomberg reports.

Wallace pled guilty to charges of fraud and criminal contempt; he faces up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine for his activities.

The notorious spammer was found to have violated a court order banning him from Facebook by logging onto the site while onboard a Virgin Airlines flight in 2009. He violated the court order again in 2011 by maintaining a profile under the name “David Sinful-Saturdays Fredericks,” according to an FBI press release.

Wallace has been a pest for consumers for decades. Throughout the mid-90s, he spammed people through fax, then through e-mail, according to Ars Technica. He gained such notoriety that his critics named him “Spamford”–a domain he later registered, despite protests from SPAM foodstuff maker Hormel. He also dabbled in spyware and MySpace spamming, which resulted in a lawsuit in 2007.

Summary: He's been spamming since the fax machine days


06/21/2016 AT 08:00 PM EDT

Over 40 Broadway stars joined together for the first live performance of the

cover of "What the World Needs Now Is Love."

For Tuesday's episode of NBC's

, a star-studded ensemble gathered at Studio 6A in 30 Rockefeller Plaza to perform the Burt Bacharach-Hal David anthem they had recorded at Avatar Studios just three days after the June 12

The theater community banded together to raise their voices in support for the loved ones of the

. Over 50 people were also injured.

Among those in attendance for the

appearance were Chita Rivera, Sean Hayes,

, Kelli O'Hara, Jessie Mueller, Rosie Perez,

, Fran Drescher and Megan Hilty.

also joined the group that included: Roger Bart, Charles Busch, Ann Hampton Callaway, Paul Castree, Michael Cerveris, Kevin Chamberlin, Lilla Crawford, Victor Garber, Frankie Grande, Judy Kuhn, Jose Llana, Anika Larsen, Beth Malone, Andrea Martin, Janet Metz, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Rory O'Malle, Orfeh, Christine Pedi, Billy Porter, Alice Ripley, Keala Settle, Kate Shindle, Jennifer Simard, James Wesley, Juli Wesley, Lillias White, B.D. Wong and Tony Yazbeck.

On Monday, Broadway for Orlando released the music video for the benefit single. One-hundred percent of the proceeds will go to the LGBT Center of Central Florida.

The track is available to download on

Summary: Over 60 stars recorded the Burt Bacharach-Hal David anthem on June 15 just days following the Orlando massacre


"Scientists Confront Renewed Backlash on Global Warming" (Science Times, Sept. 14) well documents the absence of any scientific consensus on the existence of enhanced greenhouse warming, on the magnitude of any future temperature increase, and on whether any such climate change would be harmful or beneficial. It is important to emphasize this uncertainty in order to counteract unsupported claims that "all scientists agree."

Such claims are being used to justify economically harmful policies to limit energy use by imposing special taxes or other restrictions. In his 1992 best seller, "Earth in the Balance," then-Senator Al Gore wrote that 98 percent of all experts agreed with his cataclysmic view of future global warming. As your article shows, this is clearly not the case.

Your article requires some elaboration. Climatologists no longer believe carbon dioxide, the most important man-made greenhouse gas, stays in the atmosphere "for centuries"; better data have reduced this "lifetime" to about 40 years. This means policy steps can be safely delayed pending better evidence.

At last year's Earth Summit in Rio, politicians were led to believe that carbon dioxide concentrations would double by as early as 2025. You report a revised date of 2100, an estimate more in line with the shorter lifetime. In fact, carbon dioxide may never double, partly because of the limited availability of fossil fuels.

You also report that today's greenhouse gas concentration has already moved halfway toward a doubling over the pre-industrial value. According to the "best" computer models, one would expect global temperatures to be increasing at the rate of 0.5 degree Fahrenheit per decade, an easily detectable amount. The best available data, however, taken with globe-circling satellite instruments since 1979, show no increase at all.

As observations and theory diverge more strongly with each passing year, it becomes more certain there is something very wrong with the computer models that have been used to scare the world public and their governments into considering drastic, hasty actions. S. FRED SINGER Director, Science and Environmental Policy Project Arlington, Va., Sept. 17, 1993

Summary: To the Editor:   "Scientists Confront Renewed Backlash on Global Warming" (Science Times, Sept. 14) well documents the absence of any scientific consensus on the existence of enhanced greenhouse warming, on the magnitude of any future temperature increase, and on whether any such climate change would be harmful or beneficial. It is important to emphasize this uncertainty in order to counteract unsupported claims that "all scientists agree."


SAN FRANCISCO, July 14— Democratic Party leaders say new rules adopted for this year's convention have fulfilled their purpose and created a more stable and predictable nominating process that favors mainstream candidates and policies.

This judgment was reinforced by a New York Times poll of the convention delegates that found that the new rules produced a group of ''superdelegates'' who were older, more experienced, more moderate and more loyal to the party than the delegates chosen by primaries and caucuses.

The rules used this year for the first time set aside 568 places out of 3,944 delegate slots for party officers and elected officials, including 189 for members of Congress. That led to a quadrupling of the number of lawmakers as delegates compared with 1980. (A few of the 3,944 delegates will cast fractional votes so that the total number of votes is 3,933.)

The Times interviewed 523 of the super delegates and a random sampling of 1,038 of the remaining delegates.

The ''superdelegates'' are officially unpledged to any candidate, but they have overwhelmingly supported Walter F. Mondale and provided critical leverage for his Presidential nomination bid. According to the Times poll, almost two-thirds of the super delegates back Mr. Mondale, while slightly less than half the regular delegates support him.

''Without the super delegates,'' said one Democratic Congressional aide, ''Mondale might not be over the top right now.''

With the super delegates included, the convention as a whole shapes up this way: 51 percent for Mr. Mondale, 32 percent for Senator Gary Hart, 10 percent for the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the rest uncommitted. This breakdown mirrors almost exactly the preferences expressed by Democratic voters in the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll, taken nationally earlier this month. Rules' Role in Ferraro Choice

Many party officials also believe that the new rules contributed significantly to Mr. Mondale's selection of Representative Geraldine A. Ferraro of Queens as his running mate. The vastly increased role of members of Congress in the nominating process helped enhance Mrs. Ferraro's visibility and guarantee that her selection would be widely applauded by the convention.

As secretary of the Democratic Party caucus in the House, Mrs. Ferraro was a member of the commission that drafted the 1984 rules. One party aide recalled that she had ''carried the water'' for Congressional leaders on the panel by advocating creation of the superdelegate system.

While the superdelegates have provided a moderating influence on the convention, rules changes after 1968 that opened up the nominating process to minorities and women have had a lasting impact. In the Times poll, 50 percent of the delegates described themselves as liberals, 42 percent as moderates, and only 5 percent as conservatives.

This presents a striking contrast to the attitudes of average Democrats. In the latest Times/CBS News national poll, 27 percent of Democrats described themselves as liberal, 44 percent were moderates and 23 percent conservatives. This contrast is not unique: Activists elected as delegates to national conventions of both parties have usually been closer to the ideological edge than to the middle of their party base. Dramatic Changes Since '68

The changes since the watershed convention of 1968 are dramatic. Then, only 16 percent of the delegates were women; today half are. At Chicago, 5 percent of the delegates were black; in San Francisco 18 percent are black. Only 14 percent of the delegates here are lawyers, but they accounted for twice as many delegates in 1968.

Those patterns were unaffected by the 1984 rules changes, but in one key respect this convention does resemble those of earlier times. Twenty-nine percent of the delegates have been delegates before. Four years ago, only 13 percent were.

The liberal leanings of the delegates were reflected in their answers to a question on military spending. More than three-fourths of them favored a decrease in arms outlays, and 16 percent backed the current level. Only 2 percent supported the sort of increase advocated by President Reagan.

Similarly, more than 90 percent of the delegates supported increased efforts to reach agreement with the Soviet Union on nuclear weapons. On both of these issues, there was a clear consensus among Democrats and little difference between superdelegates and regular delegates. 40 Percent Oppose Runoffs

While Mr. Jackson commands the support of only one delegate in 10, four in 10 agree with his argument that runoff primaries should be eliminated in 10 Southern states. Under this system, a candidate must get more than 50 percent of the votes to be nominated, and if no one gets this in the first round of voting, the top two finishers compete in a runoff.

Mr. Jackson complains that this system discriminates against blacks and other minorities, and his backers have drafted a minority report to the party platform advocating abolition of runoff primaries. The system is strongly supported by white Southern Democrats, however, and the debate over the platform plank could prove angry and disruptive. In the poll, 40 percent of the delegates say they want the platform to call for abolishing runoffs, 34 percent do not and 26 percent are undecided.

The Jackson campaign has also objected to party rules that do not allocate delegates strictly according to popular vote totals. In many states, the top finisher in a primary or caucus system gets an extra bonus of delegates. In the Times poll, 54 percent of the delegates agree with Mr. Jackson that the rules should be changed, and an additional 9 percent would like some modification of this year's procedures, but the issue cannot be brought before this convention because no minority report has been filed. Support for Super Delegates

About half the delegates like the concept of superdelegates and want to keep them in 1988, but 40 percent want to eliminate the system. Not surprisingly, more than 80 percent of the super delegates themselves favor the 1984 rules, while the regular delegates are evenly split.

The concept was spawned at a meeting of party leaders after the Republicans scored smashing victories in the 1980 elections. ''There was a strong feeling,'' said one aide who attended the meeting, ''that to compete with the Republicans we had to reinvigorate our political apparatus.''

Representative Tony Coelho of California, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said: ''Elected officials don't control the convention, but they have a tremendous influence. They provide a balance; they put oil between the wheels.''

One result of this process was that members of Congress were chosen to head the two most important committees at the convention: Representative Julian C. Dixon of California for the rules committee and Representative Ferraro for the platform committee. And in both cases, the lawmakers brought their legislative skills to bear in reconciling conflicts and minimizing resentments. 'Quick Fix Whip System'

Lynn Cutler, vice chairman of the party, said that since many lawmakers served on the platform committee, they produced a realistic document that had the support of the party's Congressional leaders. ''The system brought the Hill much closer to the party,'' she said.

The lawmakers provide ''an automatic quick fix whip system,'' Mr. Coelho said. ''They are an insurance policy in case of an emergency.''

The role of the superdelegates as a balance wheel for the convention was demonstrated by the Times survey. For instance, 60 percent of the party officials have been active in party affairs for 18 years or more, but only about a third of the other delegates have been active that long. More than half the superdelegates have been to a convention before but only one-fourth of the others have.

Moreover, 85 percent of the superdelegates said they supported the party every year, no matter which candidates were running, as against only two-thirds of the elected delegates.

The superdelegates also have a higher educational level, and a significantly higher income level, than the convention as whole. About half the party officials are older than 50, but less than a third of the other delegates are that old.


Singer Sarah Brightman announced Wednesday that she is postponing her trip to space.

Her $52 million, 10-day trip aboard the International Space Station will be pushed back due to personal family reasons, according to a statement posted to her Facebook page. She had stopped training on April 22, two people familiar with her training schedule tell TIME.

“Since 2012, Sarah has shared her story of a lifelong dream to fly to space. Her international fame as the world’s best-selling soprano has enabled her message to circle the globe, inspiring others to pursue their own dreams,” said Eric Anderson, Co-Founder and Chairman of Space Adventures, Ltd in the statement. “We’ve seen firsthand her dedication to every aspect of her spaceflight training and to date, has passed all of her training and medical tests. We applaud her determination and we’ll continue to support her as she pursues a future spaceflight opportunity.”

Whether what’s being described as a postponement is actually a cancellation is impossible to know right now. Brightman did not even begin her training until Jan. 19, according to Roscosmos, which would have given her less than eight months at best to get ready for a Sept. 1 launch. That’s significantly less time than professional astronauts need to become mission-ready—even without the loss of the last two weeks. It will be up to Roscosmos and Space Adventures to determine if, given all this, they will ever consider it prudent to allow Brightman to fly.

American astronaut Scott Kelly, who is currently in the midst of a yearlong mission aboard the space station, told TIME he was looking forward to Brightman coming aboard.

—With reporting by Jonathan D. Woods / Houston

Summary: After just a few months of training, Brightman has dropped out


Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray

By Lycia Naff and Serena Kappes

04/18/2005 AT 02:00 PM EDT

stars Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush in Santa Monica on Saturday.

Bush, 22, wore a Vera Wang gown and Murray, 23, donned a custom-made Ralph Lauren tuxedo. The couple celebrated their nuptials with a reception at the oceanfront Hotel Casa Del Mar.

"He and I are both in favor of elegance," Bush told PEOPLE in February about the festivities. "In addition to being elegant, we don't want to be stuffy. We're going to keep it small and intimate."

Murray and Bush got engaged in May, when the actor popped the question in Australia (where he was filming

which opens May 6) on a tennis court festooned with 20 bouquets of roses and 500 lit candles spelling out a special message. "It's a really, really important moment for a woman, so I wanted to do what I could do to make it special," Murray said at the time.

The couple met on the set of their WB show and began dating in 2003.

Summary: The One Tree Hill stars exchange vows in Santa Monica on Saturday


The "Battle of the Sexes," a 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and a former Grand Slam champion, was rigged by the mob, according to a new report.

The tennis match between King and the late Bobby Riggs, a former Wimbledon and U.S. Open champ, was a spectacle watched by millions around the world Sept. 20, 1973. More than 30,000 people packed the Houston Astrodome to see whether King, 29 at the time, could defeat a man.

King beat Riggs, who was 55 at the time of the match, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. The win gave women's tennis a huge boost in terms of respect and gender equality, but an ESPN "Outside the Lines" report says the whole match was fixed because Riggs owed mobsters more than $100,000 and threw the match to erase the debt.

Hal Shaw, who was an assistant golf pro at a Florida country club, says he overheard two infamous mobsters discussing Riggs months before the legendary match.

"They brought up the name of Bobby Riggs, and Riggs assured him that he would go in the tank, and he'll make it look and appear that he's trying his best but Billie Jean King was just overwhelming him," Shaw told "Outside the Lines."

ESPN's Don Van Natta interviewed Shaw for the piece, which aired Sunday.

"I looked in his eyes, I heard him tell the story multiple times, the details were always the same," Van Natta said. "I was not going to move forward with this story unless I believed him to be someone who was absolutely credible."

In an interview with ESPN, King disputes Shaw's account.

"I would bet my life that Bobby never had that discussion with them," she said. "Bobby doesn't get involved in mobsters."

King also released a statement calling the entire story "ridiculous."

"I was on the court with Bobby and I know he was not tanking the match. I could see in his eyes and body language he wanted to win," she said.

"It was 40 years ago and I won the match and I am 100 percent sure Bobby wanted to win as badly as I did. Those who bet against me lost money but the result is the same today as it was 40 years ago."

Riggs died in 1995 at the age of 77, but his son says his father knew people within the mob.

"Did he know mafia guys? Absolutely," Larry Riggs said. "Is it possible they talked to him about doing it? Possible."

Summary: Bobby Riggs allegedly threw the match to erase debt he owed the mob.


On Friday, the nearly 3-year-old prince joined his parents for the first time during one of their official royal engagements in the United Kingdom.

surprised visitors at the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF (Royal Air Force) Fairford by bringing along their

George, who wore noise-blocking ear protectors, pointed at planes in the sky, waved to visitors and seemed especially fascinated by the tail rotor of a helicopter.

"I imagine his father has told him about helicopters, so he knew what that was called and kept saying, 'tail rotor.' It was good to see his technical knowledge! Some training going on early!" Flight Lieutenant Jim Hobkirk tells PEOPLE.

He and his parents arrived shortly before midday. Getting out of the couple's Range Rover, the future king seemed apprehensive with all that was going on and looked at his mom – who rewore a Stella McCartney dress and Smythe blazer – to be picked up.

Momentarily craning over her shoulder, he pointed out the noisy jets circling the air field and waves over at the crowds at the fence about 50 yards away.

The royal parents took him along a line up of RAF cadets, who gave him a little blue "savings pig" – a souvenir of the organization's 75th anniversary.

"He said, 'Thank you.' He was very sweet. I said, 'I hope one day he will be an air cadet.' He was so cute. He seemed more interested in the airplanes," Cadet Sgt. Eleanor Horton tells PEOPLE.

Adds Air Commodore Dawn McCafferty, ""He was pointing out the aircraft in the sky. He's clearly interested. The Duchess said to thank the air cadets for the work they're doing here. She's a great patron."

Princess Kate and Prince George

After being greeted by Air Marshall Sir Kevin Leeson, Chairman of the RAF Charitable Trust, and Air Chief Marshall Andrew Pulford, Chief of the Air Staff, RAF, the family was taken to see one of the world famous demonstration planes, the RAF Aerobatic Team's Red Arrow Hawks.

Prince George (left) and Prince William

The family then had a close look into the cockpit of a Squirrel helicopter – the same aircraft

trained in when based at RAF Shawbury in 2009.

Prince George (third from left) and Prince William (fourth from left)

When they got into the aircraft, Kate sat with George in the back – and not at the controls – as George appeared nervous.

"He seemed overawed with the noise and being inside a helicopter. It was a lovely family moment," Hobkirk says. "We shut the doors so they could have a quiet moment to themselves. The Duke was telling him, 'I used to fly these.' George was very quiet."

"The Duke was trying to pointing out things," Hobkirk adds. "Everyone was just trying to keep him happy. There was a lot going on for him with the noise from all these airplanes. He seemed quite subdued in the end.

Prince George (third from left) and Princess Kate (fourth from left)

PA Images / Sipa USA

"They wanted to put him on the Duke's lap [at the controls], but he was having none of it. The Duchess suggested shutting the door to try to persuade him. But he was happy sitting with his mum."

Hobkirk says of the young family, "They seemed very relaxed. The Duke said he misses flying and he wishes he could fly more and said he was envious of me."

Princess Kate and Prince George

Kate was "concentrating on trying to make the young prince happy," he adds.

The Air Tattoo – about 100 miles west of London – is the world's largest military air show, last year featuring 247 aircraft from 19 nations.

Prince George has a pair of ear defenders on now as he views one of the spectacular Red Arrow Hawk jets #RIAT16 pic.twitter.com/qsKyU4DFYE

The event is staged in support of the Royal Air Force Charitable Trust, which aims to support the RAF and encourage interest of the aviation industry among young people. The Air Tattoo's theme for 2016 is "The Next Generation: Inspiring Innovation."

The couple has strong links with the RAF. William served in the RAF as a

on Anglesey, Wales, for several years including the

And Kate took over her

of the Air Cadets from

in December and has been taking part in

Summary: The nearly 3-year-old royal made a surprise appearance on Friday


Theresa May (left) meets with Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace, where the Queen invited the former Home Secretary to become prime minister and form a new government

By Tierney McAfee and Erin Hill

updated 07/13/2016 AT 01:25 PM EDT

•originally published 07/13/2016 AT 11:40 AM EDT

officially became the United Kingdom's

on Wednesday, after her first meeting with

"The Queen received in audience the Right Honourable Theresa May MP this evening and requested her to form a new Administration," the Queen's press secretary said in a statement provided to PEOPLE. "The Right Honourable Theresa May accepted Her Majesty's offer and Kissed Hands upon her appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury."

Shortly after the ceremony, May spoke outside her new residence at 10 Downing Street in London, where she pledged to create "a union between all our citizens."

"The government I lead will be driven not by the interests of the privileged few," May said, adding that "together we will build a better Britain."

Theresa May (left) meets with Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace, where the Queen invited the former Home Secretary to become prime minister and form a new government

Dominic Lipinski / Pool / AP

Earlier on Wednesday, departing Prime Minister

joked that his schedule for the rest of the day was "remarkably light" as he took his final Prime Minister Questions and prepared to tender his resignation to the Queen and hand the reins over to May.

Addressing the House of Commons for the last time as prime minister, Cameron quipped, "Other than one meeting this afternoon with Her Majesty the Queen, the diary for the rest of my day is remarkably light."

Cameron added that he would miss "the roar of the crowd and the barbs from the opposition" but promised he would be "willing on" his fellow members of Parliament from the backbenches.

"Nothing is really impossible if you put your mind to it. After all – as I once said – I was the future once," Cameron said, referencing his memorable words to former Prime Minister Tony Blair during Cameron's first PMQs appearance in 2005.

British Prime Minister David Cameron (center) and Theresa May

Parliamentary Recording Unit / AP

The departing prime minister also paid tribute to his "amazing wife, Sam, and my lovely children" as they watched his last appearance from the public gallery.

After Conservative MPs sent Cameron off with a standing ovation, he and his family returned to Downing Street for their final hours in the residence before Cameron headed to Buckingham Palace to give his resignation to the Queen.

Prime Minister David Cameron (center) shakes hands with Queen Elizabeth II

Paul Hackett - WPA Pool / Getty

"The Right Honourable David Cameron MP had an Audience of the Queen this evening and tendered his resignation as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury, which Her Majesty was graciously pleased to accept," the Queen's press secretary said in a statement provided to PEOPLE.

As the head of state, the Queen has an important role to play in the transfer of powers from one prime minister to another.

Cameron arrived at Buckingham Palace in the Prime Ministerial car to formerly offer his resignation. He then drove away in a different one.

After Cameron's departure, May was summoned to the palace so the Queen could invite her to form a new government. May then became the 76th prime minister of the United Kingdom, and the nation's first female prime minister since Margaret Thatcher, who led the country from 1979 to 1990.

One of the monarch's main duties is meeting with the prime minister on a weekly basis. Queen Elizabeth has held these regular discussions with 12 prime ministers – dating back to Winston Churchhill – during her record-breaking reign. The conversations, which cover both political and personal topics, are confidential and there are no records kept of the private meetings.

Summary: Departing Prime Minister David Cameron says he will miss "the roar of the crowd"


A brawl erupted at 30,000 feet Wednesday when five female passengers on a Baltimore-to-Los Angeles flight got into it over loud music being blasted on a boom box, authorities said.

The action happened on Spirit Flight 141 when two drunk women were playing tunes loudly on their portable stereo, officials told the LA Times.

When other passengers asked them to lower the volume, the music lovers declined, with one allegedly threatening, “What are you going to do?”

“Then to provoke the other customer, they were holding up their boom box in the air, waving it around,” said Spirit Airlines spokesman Paul Berry.

Three other women approached the boom-box players and all hell broke loose, officials said.

LAX police officers met the plane when it landed and took the five offending women off the flight. No one was immediately arrested or charged.

Summary: Coffee, tea or mayhem? A brawl erupted at 30,000 feet Wednesday when five female passengers on a Baltimore-to-Los Angeles flight got into it over loud music being blasted on a boom box, authorities…


Dan Nathan of RiskReversal.com stuck with the technology theme, and said to buy Cisco, which has lagged other names in the space like Microsoft and Intel.

"I think Cisco, if you want a play for a laggard where you're not going to get killed on the downside, I think that's the one," he said.

For his "sell" pick, Nathan chose the entire utilities sector, which he said could lag if the market continues higher and if traders choose to sell their defensive positions.

Brian Kelly of Brian Kelly Capital picked Comcast as a stock to buy at current levels. Using the same logic as Nathan's trade, Kelly said he was looking at names that have lagged the most recent run. "If the economy is going to get better, which we're starting to see some of those signs, then names like this in the consumer discretionary space could get much more of a pop," he said.

On the opposite side of the coin, Kelly said to sell DuPont, calling it a "broken" stock. DuPont has dropped roughly 5 percent in the past month after lowering its second quarter and full-year earnings guidance.

Lastly, Guy Adami of StockMonster.Com said he would be a buyer of U.S. Steel.

"You buy it ahead of earnings, they priced in a disastrous steel pricing which is not as disastrous as people think," he said.

Adami chose IBM as a stock to sell, saying the company's last four quarters have been "disastrous."

(Disclosure: Comcast is the owner of NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC and CNBC.com.)

Summary: The "Fast Money" traders give their top stocks to buy and sell as markets hit record highs.


Lenny Tucker, in his heyday, headed the Boca Raton operation of F. D. Roberts & Company, a penny-stock brokerage that promoted a host of other dubious companies, including Goldcor, a phony enterprise that boasted of being able to extract gold from Costa Rican beach sand. Investors, hooked by hyperbole and high-pressure telephone sales tactics typical of boiler-room operations, lost at least $50 million when Goldcor collapsed in 1988. F. D. Roberts shut its doors in 1989, amid a Federal criminal fraud investigation that has produced guilty pleas from Mr. Tucker and nearly three dozen others, many of them Boca residents. Mr. Tucker, who also agreed to give the Government his stake in his mansion here and his Rolls Royce, is cooperating with the investigation.

"He was the driving force behind the firm's Boca office," said Alain Leibman, an assistant United States attorney in Newark, where the case is being handled. The firm's headquarters was in Paramus, N.J., but most of its brokers were in Boca Raton, Mr. Leibman said. "They were mostly waiters and waitresses, kids just out of college looking for jobs."

Mr. Tucker's lawyer in New York, Barry Slotnick, declined to permit his client to be interviewed. An Embarrassing Gift?

Other traces of Boca Raton's dark side appear around town. The school of business at Florida Atlantic University is the home of the Stuart-James Research Center -- named for, and partly financed by, the Stuart-James Company, a penny-stock brokerage that closed its doors in 1990 after paying $1.9 million to settle civil charges of price gouging.

The center, set up five years ago, is a worthy program that provides computer laboratories to students and Census data to local businesses. Has the Stuart-James name become an embarrassment? "I've never been asked that before," said Professor Paul Guglielmino, the center's director. "I don't think it is an issue at all. From my perspective, we accepted the gift in good faith and did very positive things with it."

A local legend in Boca is Joel S. Nadel, whose troubles with securities regulators date back more than 20 years. Mr. Nadel, who lives in a house the size of a small office building in the St. Andrews Country Club development, is best-known among regulators as the publisher of more than a dozen market newsletters, including one that claimed to be the product of a secret investing society in Liechtenstein. Investors who followed his newsletters' tips frequently found themselves holding worthless shares. Postal authorities know him as the former operator of direct-mail "sweepstakes" programs that allegedly promised far more than they delivered.

In April 1991, the Postal Service obtained an unusual magistrate's order freezing nearly $7 million of Mr. Nadel's assets, based on an affidavit by postal authorities charging that the sweepstakes violated Federal mail-fraud and money-laundering statutes. No charges have been filed, and lawyers for Mr. Nadel have filed motions to have the order lifted.

Ira L. Sorkin, the New York lawyer representing Mr. Nadel, confirmed that settlement talks have been held but said he could not predict when the matter would be resolved. He said neither he nor his client would comment further about any aspect of Mr. Nadel's business life. In June, without denying or admitting guilt, Mr. Nadel paid $100,000 to settle a two-year-old S.E.C. complaint. The agency had charged that he violated securities laws by failing to tell his newsletter subscribers that several penny-stock promoters, since convicted of fraud, had paid him to tout their dubious companies. One of the stocks that figured in the complaint was Goldcor, the gold-extraction company that collapsed. 'We Don't See Them'

"You have to understand," said Mr. Arts at the chamber, "that these people just don't surface here: We don't see them, we don't deal with them, they're not involved in the community, they don't contribute. We don't even know they're here. It just doesn't affect us."

But some members of the financial community here are growing quietly worried about the recent scandals. Local newspapers have run articles analyzing the impact of the cases on Boca Raton's image. "Everyone I know talks about it, and it's a real concern," said Mr. Del Raso, the court-appointed trustee for College Bound. Several other local financial executives said privately that they too were worried. One willing to say so publicly was Robert A. Anderson, first vice president of Southeast Research Partners, an institutional brokerage and research firm.

"Our own credibility is harder to defend every day because of this," Mr. Anderson said. "We're about at the point where you'd feel better with another address." He turned to a colleague. "What do you say -- West Palm Beach?" INVESTIGATIONS AND THE BOTTOM LINE

His investment newsletters attracted complaints from the Securities and Exchange Commission. His direct-mail "sweepstakes" was investigated by the Postal Service. What's next for Joel S. Nadel, a well-known entrepreneur in Boca Raton?

Summary: Joseph Del Raso leads the way through a gleaming marble lobby into the spanking new suite that housed College Bound, a chain of scholastic-test coaching centers that was a stock market favorite before collapsing this year.   Now the suite is deserted, half the furniture gone to satisfy debts, with dollies and packing crates ready to carry out the rest. Peach-colored afternoon sunlight slants through the dust as Mr. Del Raso walks to a pile of company documents.


THE FREEMASONS are said to be one of the most secretive societies in the world. They have many mysterious rituals, special symbols and words and at least 12 different handshakes (some of which can be seen on YouTube). Some wine societies are almost as secretive, although their members are less likely to employ a special handshake than they are to break into song.

Two of the most exclusive wine societies, La Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin and the Commanderie de Bordeaux, have special songs that accompany an evening...

Summary: Hard to join and expensive to remain in, high-end wine clubs offer discerning oenophiles a chance to sample great vintages—and break into song. Lettie Teague goes behind the closed doors.


In a lightly trod corner of the oil market, Glencore PLC is leaving a big footprint.

During two of the past five quarters, the commodities trader has bought up large volumes of fuel oil at Asia’s main trading hub in Singapore at a time of day when it has an outsize effect on an Asia-wide price benchmark.

Trades made during the daily...

Summary: During two of the past five quarters, commodities trader Glencore has bought up large volumes of fuel oil at Asia’s main trading hub in Singapore at a time of day when it has an outsize effect on an Asia-wide price benchmark.


The teenage gunman who killed nine people in Munich on Friday had been planning his attack for a year, German authorities say.

David Ali Sonboly, 18, who killed himself after the attack, had a Glock pistol that police believes he may have bought on the so-called dark net.

Meanwhile police in Munich have announced the arrest of a 16-year-old Aghan friend of the attacker.

They say he is under investigation for not reporting Sonboly's plans.

A statement on Munich police's Facebook page says: "There is a suspicion that the 16-year-old is a possible tacit accomplice to the attack."

The statement goes on to say that the youth reported to police immediately after the shooting on Friday, and was interviewed as somebody with a connection to the attacker.

But in the course of the interviews, they discovered discrepancies in his statements.

They say they are now investigating him on suspicion of failing to report a planned crime.

The investigations will have to show to what extent he was responsible for a Facebook post inviting people to meet at a cinema complex near the main railway station in Munich.

The attacker himself had put up a Facebook post before his attack, inviting people to come to the fast food restaurant where the shooting began.

Seven of the dead in Friday's shooting at the Olympia shopping centre were were teenagers - two Turks, two Germans, a Hungarian, a Greek and a Kosovan.

A further 35 people were injured, but only four of them have bullet wounds - many were hurt while fleeing the scene.

The state government officials told a news conference that the victims of the attack had not been specifically targeted and were not classmates of the gunman.

Also they did not include three youths allegedly involved in bullying Sonboly when he was at school.

Robert Heimberger, head of Bavaria's criminal police, said the gunman had been planning the attack since he paid a visit last year to the town of Winnenden - the scene of a previous school shooting in 2009 - and took photographs.

He said it was likely the Glock pistol - which had been reactivated - was bought on the "dark net" market, an area accessible only with the use of special software. It had been a theatre prop.

Sonboly was said to be a keen player of "first-person shooter" video games.

Mr Heimberger added that the parents of the gunman remained in shock and were not able to be interviewed.

He also said police had not found the manifesto of Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik when they searched the gunman's room at his parents' flat.

A day earlier, officials had raised the possibility of a link to Breivik, whose own attack was carried out five years earlier to the day.

As to Sonboly's state of mind, a spokesman for the Munich prosecutors' office told the news conference that the gunman had spent two months as an inpatient at a mental care facility in 2015 and was afterwards treated as an outpatient.

"The suspect had fears of contact with others" and also depression, Thomas Steinkraus-Koch said.

However, there was no evidence of any political motivation.

Senior German politicians have called for tighter controls on the sale of guns in the wake of the shooting at the Olympia shopping centre.

Munich's police chief has urged the media to respect the privacy of those affected by the attack on Monday, when schools reopen.

Summary: The gunman who killed nine people in Munich had planned his attack for a year and appeared to have bought his gun on the "dark net", German officials say.


The Scottish National party would be prepared to push ahead with a second independence referendum without David Cameron’s permission if the prime minister refuses any future demand to hold one, a senior party source in Westminster has indicated.

The party would be prepared to try to bypass the prime minister and hold an indicative ballot of the Scottish people if it believes it has a political mandate for a referendum but Westminster refuses to allow one.

When talking about whether Cameron would be able to refuse another demand for an independence vote, the senior SNP source claimed that the prime minister would not be able to, adding that “precedent is all”.

Before the general election, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon repeatedly stressed that another referendum is off the agenda unless there is a “material” change in circumstances. However, there is no clear definition of what this means and the SNP has several options that might pave the way for it to argue it has a mandate for another.

Possible reasons include if Cameron resists the SNP’s demands for greater devolution of powers, if the UK votes to leave the European Union or withdraw from the European convention on human rights, or if the SNP wins a decisive victory at the Holyrood elections in 2016 having expressed a desire for another referendum in its manifesto.

Related: Scotland bill 'falls short of previous cross-party recommendations'

On Wednesday, Sturgeon separately indicated that the Scottish people could demand another independence referendum if Cameron does not agree to her call for more powers for the Scottish parliament. She also said the prime minister cannot “rule out a referendum against the will of the people”.

The subject is likely to be the matter of discussion at a meeting between Sturgeon and Cameron on Friday, at which the first minister will present the prime minister with a shopping list of demands including control over the minimum wage, national insurance contributions, welfare, business taxes and equality policy.

The SNP source said that the party believes a second referendum will happen and that it would be won decisively if it took place tomorrow, despite last year’s vote being billed as a way of settling the issue for a generation. It “only has to be won once” and the last referendum was lost only because of the Labour former prime minister Gordon Brown’s intervention, the source added.

A spokesman for Sturgeon said: “These claims are totally wrong – there are no such plans. The position is crystal clear – the general election was not a mandate for another referendum. And there will only be another referendum if and when the people of Scotland back such a proposal at a Scottish parliament election.

“It is not for David Cameron or any other single politician to try and dictate what Scotland’s future should be; it will always be in the hands of the people.”

The issue of whether there will be another referendum has taken centre stage since the SNP won a landslide victory in Scotland at the general election. Cameron has definitively ruled out allowing another poll since the election, but the SNP appears to have been emboldened by the fact it won 56 out of 59 Scottish constituencies.

The Conservatives have promised to devolve more powers to Scotland, but Cameron is maintaining he is willing to go no further than the proposals published by the Smith commission, offering partial responsibility for tax raising. Sturgeon is pushing for full fiscal responsibility, while acknowledging that will take a number of years. She said earlier this week that Cameron “has to” discuss the matter.

Cameron will tell Sturgeon that they have to work together as he promises to deliver a Scotland bill in his first Queen’s speech that hands over responsibility for 60% of Scottish spending to Holyrood. “Scotland has two governments, and it is the duty of the first minister and myself to respect each other’s roles and responsibilities and to work together for the benefit of all the people of Scotland.”

Alex Salmond, the former first minister and previous SNP leader, said last week that the tidal wave of support for his party left Cameron with “no legitimacy whatsoever” in Scotland.

In a move that will do nothing to help relations between the SNP and Conservatives, the prime minister on Thursday gave a peerage and ministerial job in the Scotland Office to Andrew Dunlop, a former adviser to Margaret Thatcher at the time of the poll tax. Responding to that appointment, SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson said it was an “appalling and anti-democratic” scandal.

However, SNP insiders believe antagonistic moves like this will actually boost the campaign for independence. Likewise, it is understood that the SNP is hoping that Jim Murphy will stay in his position as Scottish Labour leader, given the fact he oversaw the collapse of his party at the polls last week.

The senior SNP source said the party would have considered fielding candidates in the north of England had the leadership debates happened sooner, as they made clear Sturgeon’s potential for popularity south of the border. Sturgeon has said there are no plans to do this, despite a favourable impression of her among many English voters and a social media campaign in the north of England called #TakeUsWithYouScotland.

It is understood that not even Sturgeon herself believed the predictions that the SNP would almost sweep the board in Scotland with 56 out of 59 seats, having a “wobble” on Thursday night about how well the party would fare against Labour.

Related: SNP MPs flout Commons etiquette with first-day tweets

The fact that the SNP is talking about opportunities for another referendum is likely to make for a combative parliament. Many of the party’s new MPs have been celebrating in the House of Commons this week, taking over a bar in parliament called the Sports and Social Club that has usually been populated by Labour researchers.

The party is already in talks to get all the obligations and privileges of the Liberal Democrats as the new third party in Westminster. An SNP MP said the party has secured use of the old Lib Dem corridor and suggested renaming it “Freedom Alley”. Robertson will move into Nick Clegg’s old office and the party’s whips will get an office allowing them to open unofficial communications with the Labour and Tory whips, known as the “usual channels”.

The party is also expecting to be handed at least two chairmanships of select committees and two questions at prime minister’s questions, as well as opposition debate time.

Robertson was confirmed as SNP’s Westminster leader on Tuesday, despite speculation that Salmond could make a return to the top job in London. Sturgeon has made clear she will be her party’s chief negotiator and spokesman on major issues.

Speaking following the SNP’s landslide election, Robertson said his party was “better placed to hold the UK government to account” than ever before.

Summary: Party would attempt to push ahead with vote without prime minister’s consent if he refused any future demand to hold one, senior SNP source indicates


FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Just hours after the Jets opened training camp on Wednesday without the unsigned quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, the two sides agreed on a one-year deal worth $12 million and an additional $3 million in incentives, according to multiple reports.

The 33-year-old Fitzpatrick passed for a career-best 3,905 yards and a franchise-record 31 touchdowns in 2015 while leading the Jets to a 10-6 record in their first season under Coach Todd Bowles.

Fitzpatrick was acquired from the Houston Texans in March 2015 to essentially serve as a backup to Geno Smith, the Jets’ former second-round draft pick. When Smith’s jaw was broken in a preseason locker-room altercation, Fitzpatrick took the job and kept it.

After playing for five other teams in his 10-year N.F.L. career, Fitzpatrick earned $3.25 million last year, a second-stringer’s salary. But his performance led him to believe that he had earned the salary of a starter.

Fitzpatrick wanted to stay with the Jets, and they wanted to keep him, but he balked at their three-year, $24 million contract offer, and the contract negotiations appeared to be at a standstill, with no other team interested in Fitzpatrick. He had sought a deal comparable to those signed by Brock Osweiler with Houston (an average of $18 million per year) and Sam Bradford in Philadelphia ($17.5 million).

Fitzpatrick benefited from playing under Chan Gailey, the Jets’ first-year offensive coordinator, who was also his coach in Buffalo. He was savvy and gritty, and Bowles’s first season could have been a disaster without him.

The Jets might have had other options besides Smith, or even Fitzpatrick. Earlier Wednesday, the Los Angeles Rams released the veteran Nick Foles, who had been seeking a trade after the team used its No. 1 overall pick in the N.F.L. draft to select Jared Goff of California.

Fitzpatrick is a favorite among teammates, particularly receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker and center Nick Mangold. At least his teammates will no longer have to answer questions about Fitzpatrick — which a few attempted to do at lunchtime Wednesday by basically dodging the topic.

On his first day of training camp with the Jets, running back Matt Forte, who was signed during the off-season, took a spot under a tree and was asked how it felt that Fitzpatrick was not around — not that Forte would know the difference.

“All questions about Ryan are for Coach Bowles,” Forte said. “They told me to tell all of you that.”

Asked who “they” were, Forte smiled, nodded toward the Jets’ offices at their training compound and said: “They. Everybody knows who `they’ are.”

“We’re not going to talk about that,” linebacker David Harris said. “I’ll let Coach talk about that. All we can do is continue to go out there and do our job, as players on defense, and worry about the things that we can handle.”

Harris was then asked how he thought Smith handled the fact that the Jets clearly wanted Fitzpatrick to return.

“You’ll have to ask him,” Harris said. “He’s not going around throwing pity parties for himself.”

The apparent gag order smudged what is usually a day of unabashedly bright hopes.

At one point, Mangold disclosed that he had talked on the phone with Fitzpatrick on Tuesday, but the conversation revolved basically around children and golf games.

“What’s it going to matter?” Mangold said. “Listen. Curiosity is going to get you over to that plant in the Bronx and smell that terrible smell.”

So that is how, while still discussing Fitzpatrick, Mangold found himself talking about the corpse flower soon to bloom at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. And when the tall flower, Amorphophallus titanum, does bloom, it will give off the smell of rotting flesh.

Mangold had said he would worry about issues in front of him, like how to block a defensive tackle. He had prepared meticulously for the conditioning drills that kicked off camp Wednesday, even trimming his often out-of-control beard to improve “aerodynamics,” he said.

“This is the shortest this beard gets from this point going forward,” he said.

The Jets are scheduled to hold their first practice Thursday. ... The Jets signed first-round draft choice Darron Lee, a linebacker from Ohio State, to a four-year, $10.2 million contract. ... The team also replaced running back Zac Stacy, who was injured in the eighth game of last season, with Bernard Pierce, a former Temple running back who had most recently played with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

A version of this article appears in print on July 28, 2016, on page B10 of the New York edition with the headline: Fitzpatrick and Jets Finally Make Deal. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

Summary: Fitzpatrick, 33, started at quarterback for the Jets last year and threw 31 touchdowns, a franchise record. He returns on a one-year, $12 million contract.


Warning: This post contains spoilers for the sixth season of Game of Thrones.

Sunday night’s Game of Thrones season six finale gave us one major moment of insight: it confirmed the fan theory that Jon Snow is, in fact, Lyanna Stark’s son — not Ned’s illegitimate bastard. The reveal came courtesy of the greenseeing powers of Bran Stark, played by Isaac Hempstead-Wright.

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor addresses his character’s role as the new Three-Eyed Raven, and why his now-deceased mentor wanted him to see Jon Snow’s origin.

“I think he can probably work it out,” Hempstead Wright said. “You can see that crushed look on Ned’s face. We don’t hear a lot about what Lyanna says. Something along the lines of, ‘If Robert finds out, he’ll kill him’… When Bran sees his father’s reaction and understands that this is a surrogate child his father has brought up, he thinks to himself, ‘Well, wait, what surrogate children has my father brought up? Oh! Jon Snow! So Jon Snow isn’t my half-brother.'”

He also ruminates on a crucial missing aspect of the Tower of Joy flashback: namely, whether Bran knows the true identity of Jon’s father. The long-running fan theory R+L=J puts forth Rhaegar Targaryen, but Hempstead-Wright thinks “we still are pretty clueless” on that front. That pivotal piece of the puzzle has the power to upend the whole ruling order in Westeros and set back Daenerys’s claim to the throne, so it’s a race to the finish to see who finds out first.

As for Bran himself, after dealing with unending hardship and tragedy, Hempstead-Wright thinks his character is living in a kind of “zen” state, like “one of those untouchable British monks where nothing upsets them.” Next up: continue his journey south, where hopefully a family reunion awaits.

Summary: The Three-Eyed Raven shares his thoughts on the secrets Bran still must uncover


Setting up a business is always going to be a challenge, but few entrepreneurs or managing directors realise just how much the everyday tasks can bog them down

Where they were once dreaming up a strategy and finalising a plan of attack, they may well now find themselves managing holiday requests and chasing invoices. It’s not very glamorous.

It’s also not very productive. In a survey of more than 1,000 SMEs, conducted by easyJet and the Telegraph, 38 per cent of respondents said that the biggest impact on being able to run a business was being held back by the pressure of day-to-day management. Being unable to think beyond today was the number-one barrier to growth, edging out cash flow worries and recruitment issues.

The classic axiom for entrepreneurs is that they need to work “on” their business rather than “in” it. James Layfield, CEO of Central Working, believes this is the issue facing nearly all business owners.

Central Working combines office space with mentoring and networking, and Mr Layfield has worked hard to ensure that appointed (and trusted) managers run the operation of the company, allowing him to take a step back.

Like everyone else, I wasn’t giving it any time. I was caught up in doing what my business did rather than strategising how it could move forwards

“It’s taken me five businesses to realise that I’m the worst in the world at getting too involved in the day-to-day running of my companies,” he says.

“Now if anyone comes to me with any work query, I send them straight to their manager.

“I’m not there to get involved with the day to day. If you do [that], what you find is the very familiar situation where the founder loves to say ‘yes’ and so gets sounded out for something which undermines what the rest of the company is doing.”

The need to get away from the day-to-day is so important that Nigel Botterill, founder of Entrepreneur's Circle, believes the only way to maximise growth is to lock your door for 90 minutes each day and focus on a single task that will push the business forward.

It is the main principle he passes on to members of his small business network, and he claims it works wonders.

“It was something taught to me several years ago by a friend who used to give me businesses advice,” he says.

“He asked what the most important thing was to growing my business. When I gave my answer, he asked how long each day I spent making it happen.

Like everyone else, I wasn’t giving it any time. I was caught up in doing what my business did rather than strategising how it could move forwards.”

Each day, Mr Botterill now puts aside 90 minutes with no phones or email before 9am. “I can then open the door and spend the rest of the day running the business, and putting into practice what I’ve just been working on,” he says.

David Sheepshanks is very well-known in football circles, but many people may not realise he was also a successful entrepreneur in the food industry.

The former Ipswich chairman was also the founding chairman of England’s national football centre, St George’s Park, and has more recently become a Vistage Group chair.

Being open to coaching allows business owners to get you away from the office and improve themselves

The group is for decision makers who want to be in a circle of fellow business leaders to learn from one another and offer advice through monthly meetings and one-to-one coaching sessions.

“Nobody knows everything and so it pays to get away from your business and seek advice and learn from your peers,” he says.

“I’m also a firm believer in long-term planning, and you'll rarely find all the answers sitting inside your office. I was one of the first to publish a five-year plan for a football club, Ipswich Town, which people laughed at in the beginning, but then took more seriously when we were promoted in the fifth year, as I’d laid out.

“The crucial thing, though, is that you’re always going to be able to plan better and to be able to run a business better if you leave it for a day every month and seek to learn from others’ experiences and to get their advice.”

These outside influences can take any form, says Mr Sheepshanks – from a chat in an office to advice from an industry club or the local Chambers of Commerce. Being open to coaching allows business owners to get you away from the office and improve themselves.

The striking fact is that to kick-start new growth in your business, putting the out-of-office sign on might be the smartest move you can make.

• For information on business travel, visit easyjet.com »

Summary: Businesses are held back because owners and managers spend too much time running companies rather than stepping back and growing them


The Massachusetts state pension fund on Tuesday reported a 2.3 percent investment gain for the fiscal year that ended in June, beating the median return for large funds nationally, in a tumultuous year for the markets. The median gain for all US public pension funds was 1.1 percent, according to the Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service. The $60.6 billion retirement fund for the state’s public workers and teachers outpaced the nation’s largest public pension fund, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, which had a net return of 0.6 percent. The actual return for the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management fund will be slightly lower after expenses, which typically run about 0.5 percent.

The state fund’s target return dropped to 7.5 percent from 7.75 percent in January, part of a broader trend of large investment funds grappling with modest investment results. A spokesman for PRIM, Eric Convey, said over the past 20 years, the state fund has averaged a return of 7.55 percent, after fees. The state contributes about $2 billion a year to the pension fund, and the figure is rising each year. International stocks dragged down performance for the Massachusetts fund, falling by double digits. Large US stocks gained 4 percent, while US fixed-income securities jumped nearly 30 percent. — BETH HEALY

You’ll be able to unlock Samsung’s new phone by just looking at it. The Galaxy Note 7 will come with an iris scanner, which matches patterns in your eyes with what was detected by your phone during setup. It offers an alternative to fingerprint ID, which doesn’t work well when fingers are wet. Of course, the four-digit passcode will still work. Beyond the iris scanner, the updates in the Note 7 are mostly enhancements, such as a stronger glass screen and more storage — 64 gigabytes, with a slot to add more. Even the iris technology isn’t new, as Microsoft’s Lumia 950 phones had it. The Note 7 comes with a better camera — but it’s the same one that the smaller Galaxy S7 phones got in March, save for interface enhancements to access settings and switch between the front and rear cameras more easily. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

Avon Products Inc. soared the most in more than five months after second-quarter profit topped analysts’ estimates, helped by cost cuts and improving sales. The cosmetics giant is showing signs of recovery after a sales slump prompted it to split off its North American business in March. That’s let the New York-based company focus purely on overseas markets, where its model of door-to-door sales representatives may have more promise. Avon also embarked on a cost-cutting plan that includes eliminating about 2,500 jobs and moving its head office to the United Kingdom. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

Aetna Inc. and Humana Inc. said they have a provisional agreement to sell some of their assets to rival Molina Healthcare Inc. in an effort to get US antitrust regulators to approve their $37 billion merger. The transactions are subject to the successful completion of Aetna’s acquisition of Humana, as well as other regulatory approvals. Molina would pay $117 million in cash in the two deals, gaining private Medicare plans that cover about 290,000 people in 21 states, Aetna and Humana said Tuesday in a statement. The Justice Department, which sued last month to block Aetna from buying Humana along with Anthem Inc.’s purchase of Cigna Corp., has been skeptical that divestitures can maintain competition in the health insurance market. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported net income of $993 million for the second quarter, down sharply from the same period of 2015. The company said Tuesday its income from fees received from lenders for guaranteeing mortgages increased in the April-through-June period, but it sustained losses on investments because of the decline in interest rates. McLean, Va.-based Freddie will pay a dividend of $933 million to the US Treasury next month. Freddie will have paid $99.1 billion in dividends, exceeding its government bailout of $71 billion. The government rescued Freddie and larger sibling Fannie Mae at the height of the financial crisis in September 2008, after they suffered huge losses from risky mortgages in the housing market bust. Together the companies received taxpayer aid totaling about $187 billion. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

A New Jersey man is going to federal court to keep ‘‘Pokemon Go’’ players off his lawn. Jeffrey Marder of West Orange says strangers began lingering outside of his home after the popular game was released last month. At least five people knocked on his door and asked to get into his backyard to catch a Pokemon placed there virtually by the game, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court in California. The suit against game makers Niantic Inc., Nintendo Co., and The Pokemon Co. seeks class action status for others who have had Pokemon stops and gyms placed on their property. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

CVS Health beat second-quarter earnings expectations and nudged its 2016 forecast higher after the drugstore chain and pharmacy benefits manager reaped gains from a couple of deals and its sales of pricey specialty drugs rose. The Woonsocket, R.I., company said Tuesday that acquisitions of Omnicare Corp. and a separate purchase of the pharmacy and clinic business of retail giant Target Corp. helped revenue for its retail/long-term care business. Meanwhile, new business and specialty drug claims pushed sales up 21 percent to $29.5 billion in the company’s pharmacy benefits management segment. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

GameStop Corp. acquired 507 AT&T wireless stores as part of a drive to diversify and reduce its dependence on sales of video games. The stores are located in 26 states, with the biggest share in Texas, Missouri, and Oklahoma, Tony Bartel, GameStop’s chief operating officer, said in an interview. He declined to reveal the purchase price but said it amounted to the bulk of the $475 million the Grapevine, Texas-based company raised in a debt offering this year. GameStop, the largest independent retailer of video games, has been trying to add new businesses as more purchases of video games take place online. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

US auto sales wilted in July, as hot weather and softening demand kept many buyers at home. Sales rose less than 1 percent over last July, to just over 1.5 million new cars and trucks, according to Autodata Corp. Sales were strong at the beginning of the month thanks to Independence Day promotions, but weakened after that, Kelley Blue Book senior analyst Alec Gutierrez said. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

Correction: Due to inaccurate information provided to the Globe, an earlier version of this story misstated when the state pension fund would lower its target return rate from 7.75 percent to 7.5 percent. It was in January.


Two top legal and compliance staffers at CIT Group Inc. are leaving the bank at a time when new regulatory issues have cropped up for the lender.

General Counsel Robert Ingato is expected to leave the bank at the end of the year, while ethics and compliance head Fred Springer also recently departed the firm, people familiar with the matter...

Summary: Two top legal and compliance staffers at CIT Group are leaving the bank at a time when new regulatory issues have cropped up for the lender.


A Broadway actor admitted on Thursday that in 2001 he seduced a 15-year-old girl who visited him backstage, and agreed as part of a plea bargain to reveal that admission to anybody he works for in film, television or theater for up to the next three years.

The actor, James Barbour, was accused of having criminal sexual contact with a high school student who was an aspiring actress when she attended a performance of “Jane Eyre” in June 2001.

The student’s drama teacher arranged for her to visit the Brooks Atkinson Theater with her parents. Mr. Barbour told Justice Micki A. Scherer of State Supreme Court in Manhattan that the girl visited him in his dressing room before the final curtain call and that he fondled her, knowing that she was only 15 years old.

He also told the judge that he had oral sex with the girl in his apartment the next month. She did not come forward with her account for several years.

Under the negotiated deal, Mr. Barbour, 41, pleaded guilty to two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, both misdemeanors, in exchange for a promise that he would be sentenced to 60 days in jail and three years’ probation.

Mr. Barbour’s lawyer, Ronald Fischetti, said his client accepted the deal because if a jury had convicted him of the original felony sex charges against him he would have been forced to register as a sex offender, “which basically would have ended his career.”

His lawyer said that the prosecutor’s agreement to a misdemeanor plea showed the weaknesses of its case. But Mr. Barbour had to agree to a lengthy series of conditions of probation that are very similar to those that apply to convicted sex offenders.

While he is on probation, he must inform the manager, producer or assistant director of any theatrical, film or television project he works in that he has been convicted of endangering the welfare of a child, “having engaged in oral sexual conduct and sexual contact with a 15-year-old child.”

And he has to get permission from the court or his probation officer to participate in shows employing child actors or to give backstage tours to children.

He must also attend sex-offender treatment and cannot visit playgrounds, arcades, amusement parks, school grounds or Internet chat rooms frequented by children without permission from his probation officer.

In a signed statement to the police in April 2006, Mr. Barbour said that he was just acting as a mentor to the girl, that he had done no more than touch her knees and kiss her and that he thought that she was 16.

But in court on Thursday when asked by Justice Scherer, “Were you aware of her exact age?” Mr. Barbour replied, “Yes.”

“What was that age?” Justice Scherer pressed.

At least one Broadway veteran said on Thursday that Mr. Barbour, who played the Beast in “Beauty and the Beast” for about one year, might find himself less marketable for family-friendly shows for awhile.

“I think if he did a show with adults, he might be entitled to a second chance,” said Emanuel Azenberg, a Broadway producer. “‘Sweeney Todd,’ O.K. But even then I certainly wouldn’t put it in the bio.”

Saying on Thursday that those conditions could turn out to be “a big price to pay,” Mr. Azenberg said producers might be concerned about the moral and legal liability involved in casting an actor convicted of endangering a child.

Producers could be wary of financial and artistic repercussions, he said, because casting directors would feel obliged to reveal Mr. Barbour’s conviction to the parents of any children who might audition for a show, “and then your casting choices would be compromised.”

But Jay Binder, a casting director who said he had begun Mr. Barbour’s career by casting him in “Beauty and the Beast,” said he would make decisions based on talent.

“James Barbour is a first-rate Broadway leading man,” Mr. Binder said. “If he were the actor that the entire creative staff agreed upon, there would be no professional reason not to hire James Barbour.”

Mr. Fischetti said he expected his client, who will be sentenced next month, to be out of jail in time to perform in “A Tale of Two Cities” if it comes to New York. Mr. Barbour played Sidney Carton during a pre-Broadway tryout in Florida last year. The producers of the show declined to comment on Thursday.

He said Mr. Barbour was recently married in a civil ceremony — his wife accompanied him to court on Thursday — and was planning a formal wedding in Hawaii. Mr. Fischetti said the woman Mr. Barbour was convicted of endangering is now an actress.

An article on Friday about a guilty plea by James Barbour, a Broadway actor, to endangering the welfare of a child for seducing a 15-year-old girl who visited him backstage misstated the length of time he played the Beast in “Beauty and the Beast.” It was about one year, not “about eight.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on page B4 of the New York edition with the headline: Broadway Actor Pleads Guilty to Backstage Sex Act With Girl, 15, in 2001. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

Summary: Part of James Barbour’s plea bargain is to reveal the admission to anybody he works for in film, television or theater for up to the next three years.


The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd), and The Who are all, unsurprisingly, in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. More surprising, though, is that they are all still performing—and in fact all will be performing at the same festival this October. For fans of a certain age, it will be like a condensed, power-packed Woodstock, without a random weak link performance (what was Sha Na Na doing at Woodstock back in 1969?).

The festival, officially known as Desert Trip, is scheduled for October 7, 8, and 9 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif. It’s the same desert location that hosts the annual Coachella Festival. Because of Desert Trip’s locale and the lineup of past-their-prime music legends—who would have thought half of these people would outlive Michael Jackson, David Bowie, and Prince?—the event has naturally been nicknamed “Oldchella.”

The three-day festival is obviously geared toward baby boomers, and organizers seemed to be well aware that this is an audience that’s come a long way financially since they were hippie teenagers. Desert Trip passes officially go on sale starting Monday, May 9, with general admission prices set at $199 for a single day and $399 for all three days. A three-day pass with admission to the standing pit in front of the stage, meanwhile, costs a whopping $1,599. In all cases, ticket fees and surcharges are extra—for instance there’s a $26 “convenience fee” for the base one-day ticket, so the total cost is really $225.

There are a wide variety of other optional charges as well, including $25 for a shuttle pass around the venue, $225 for a fancy four-course dinner, $150 for VIP parking, and $50 per night for parking a car in your camping spot. Speaking of which, the rates before extra fees for car or tent camping are $99, an RV camping site runs a hefty $950, and a teepee tent that comes with cots, sleeping bags, and pillows for two people can be had for a mere $1,600.

The price of a Desert Trip poster—featuring the six Hall of Fame acts together for the first time ever—costs $82 with fees included.

Read Next: Grateful Dead Tickets Once Priced in the Thousands Now Sell for $19

For the sake of comparison, the cost of attending Coachella for three days probably runs at least $1,000, even if you’re camping and dining on homemade PB&J, and could run over $5,000 if you splurge with VIP passes and partake of the event’s pricey food and drink options.

Coachella is the world’s highest-grossing music festival, taking in $84.3 million in 2015. We’ll have to see if the title is taken by Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, and the rest of the pack at Desert Trip. Tickets go on sale on May 9.

Summary: Basically a classic radio station, live on stage.


I’ve had cancer now for four years. I was diagnosed with stage-three lung cancer in 2012. It was a surprise to my family and to myself. I don’t smoke. I exercised regularly. I was 58. I didn’t expect to still be here. But my mantra is: no coincidences. God has a plan for what I do and where I should be.

I watched the hearings about California’s End of Life Option Act, knowing that it could affect me personally. The act, which as of June 9 became law, allows citizens with six months or fewer to live to legally seek from their doctors a lethal dose of medicine—most of the time a fast-acting barbiturate like Seconal. After an approval process involving, among other checks, two verbal requests and a written affirmation signed, dated and witnessed two days beforehand, they can take the drug to end their lives. Their death certificates will not name the cause of death as suicide.

As a lifelong Christian, I had questions. These laws exist in Oregon, Washington, Montana and Vermont, and are currently being considered by legislatures in Michigan, New Jersey, Utah and Washington, D.C.; a referendum will likely be on Colorado ballots in November. Some of the primary adversaries of these laws have been Christians who view the practice as suicide. They don’t call it “medical aid in dying” or “death with dignity,” like I do. They call it “assisted suicide.” They believe the acts are against Christian doctrine, which sees suffering as part of God’s plan and the demolition of one’s body as the destruction of a temple of the Holy Spirit.

But the more I learned about the safeguards and autonomy in the law, and the more I prayed about it, having seen people suffer so much at the very end of their lives, I came to believe in that it fit into my faith. I found comfort in this law.

The day before the vote, I went to meet with some California legislators who might have voted against the law, particularly strong Christians. By the end of hearing my story, they expressed compassion, even tears—from the toughest people. I think when you look at a personal experience, governing doctrines from a church don’t seem to matter nearly as much.

After the removal of the right upper-lobe in my lung in 2012, I had several rounds of chemotherapy. At that time, doctors said the cancer was incurable. In March 2015, we discovered the lung cancer had metastasized to my brain, neck and chest. I had Gamma Knife radiosurgery for the tumors in my brain, then chemo and six weeks of general radiation. In January 2016, the cancer recurred in my brain. I had a second Gamma Knife surgery, but the cancer has not halted.

Recently, I’ve had some headaches. I feel like my breathing has become a little more labored. My family and friends notice it. What keeps me going is a combination of the love of family and friends, maintaining a positive attitude and my deep faith.

I’ve always been a devout Christian, starting with my early family life. My mother’s a Christian, and while my father didn’t go to church, he lived a Christian life. Growing up in San Francisco, my sister and I worked with the youth at a Presbyterian church. Every day I read Jesus Calling, a devotional by Sarah Young. I keep my Bible close and have Bible studies with my sister and my daughter.

Right now, my faith is probably stronger than it’s ever been, because I’ve felt God’s presence through this experience. One California Assembly representative who is an evangelical Christian asked me if I prayed, asked me if I went to church, asked me about the law: “Isn’t this suicide?”

What opponents to medical aid in dying don’t understand is that suicide by people who wish to die is very different. The terminally ill wish to live.

Oregon’s 2015 annual report on the state’s Death With Dignity Act found that since 1998, when the law took effect, of the 1,545 patients who received the prescription, only 991 ingested it. We’re not all just getting this drug as soon as we can get it. We’re holding on to every last breath.

If I wanted to end my life, I could have declined surgery in 2012. Or refused the chemo and radiation treatments in 2015.

The chemo almost killed me. It was an awful thing, to lie in bed. There was a point where I hardly had a heartbeat. And when you’re in that much pain, and you’ve just had lung surgery, and the chemo won’t let the surgery heal, you feel like you want to die. But I still have my mom, sister, kids, family and dear friends whose lives are deeply connected to mine.

Like many, I have the strong will to live. I love the time that I spend with my friends and family. Dinners, lunches, shopping. I still have my own consulting business. I love my backyard. I have really great hydrangeas, a waterfall. My mom, who is 92, and I sit in the back and just enjoy our time together. My kids, who are 26 and 29, want to take me to Italy. It’s just so devastating to think about leaving them. This is too early.

I won’t know what I’ll do until the time comes. I have faith I’ll know when that is—with my father, we knew. But if I’m looking at weeks, I want it in my cabinet.

Beyond my own suffering, I don’t want my family to have to see me suffer in my final days.

I have been by the side of family members and friends who passed away on palliative sedation in hospice, where we already prescribe drugs to terminally ill patients in intractable distress, to put them into a continuous deep sleep. Since they’re no longer able to eat or drink, they die from their disease or dehydration. Their bodies just shut down. One died peacefully: my father. Others have gone slowly and painfully.

A friend of mine—a lovely, intelligent woman who also had stage-four lung cancer—suffered for more than a week. I watched her come in and out of consciousness, in severe distress and pain, gasping for breath. Profusely sweating, shivering, screaming. Yet unable to communicate. Drowning in her own fluids.

If God grants us the intelligence to enable doctors to offer treatments that prolong life—that have prolonged my life—wouldn’t that same logic apply to those of us nearing the end of our life? When science can’t offer life-sustaining treatments anymore, then the role of medicine should be to relieve suffering.

I’ve talked to Dan Diaz, the widower of Brittany Maynard, an advocate for death with dignity who passed away in 2014. Within five minutes of taking the drugs, Brittany was asleep. And within a half-hour, she was gone—absolutely peacefully.

Will taking this drug affect my entry into Heaven? No. My Heaven is about believing in Jesus as my savior. And I’ve walked that journey.

And it feels a little weird to say I’ve been touched by God, but I have. I’ve prayed about this. And I have felt His presence. I think what God was showing me, This is the alternative. This is the peaceful way that I’m granting you to go.

I have seen myself taking the drug. I’m in my room, lying comfortably in my bed surrounded by my family, feeling peace and tranquility, embraced by God and those I love.

Summary: A devout Christian explains her decision in the context of her faith


On his last day as Prime Minister of the U.K., David Cameron has taken some gentle ribbing for leaving Larry the Cat behind at 10 Downing Street, with papers like the Telegraph calling him “a dog person” who “didn’t like Larry” and “doesn’t like cats.”

Of course, Larry the Cat, a.k.a. the Chief Mouser, never actually belonged to Cameron. As a government official told the BBC, “It’s a civil servant’s cat and does not belong to the Camerons—he will be staying.”

Still, Cameron tried to prove that he does indeed feel affectionately toward Larry on Wednesday, tweeting out a photo of himself with his feline friend on his lap, captioning the image “Proof.”

New Prime Minister Theresa May will now take over the post—along with the care of little Larry.

Summary: The "chief mouser" is sticking around for Theresa May


Hollywood loves cut-and-dried stories like the bitter battle between James Hunt and Niki Lauda for the memorable 1976 Formula One world championship: two men, with diametrically opposed temperaments, each literally defying death to gain supremacy over his rival.

It says much for Rush that it’s more complex and satisfying than that bare-bones plot suggests. With motorsport films, the bar is set rather low; they can seem like vanity projects. Stars such as Steve McQueen and Paul Newman once indulged their private love for very fast cars by portraying racing drivers, without fretting too much about decent scripts. Asif Kapadia’s Senna managed to be both thoughtful and visceral, but that was a documentary.

Rush breaks the mould; its racing scenes are thrilling, and the personal dynamics in the pits and away from the track genuinely intriguing. Here’s a Formula One story that’s not just for petrolheads. Of course, it’s not really a Hollywood picture at all, but a generously budgeted independent film. Rush combines studios’ production values and their penchant for action with British-flavoured storytelling. No coincidence that Working Title’s Eric Fellner, a producer on Senna, has a similar function here.

Australian actor Chris Hemsworth (Thor) takes the apparent star role as the blond, glamorous English playboy Hunt, driving for McLaren, widely regarded as a casual risk-taker on the track: a man routinely pictured with a glass of champagne and two or three biddable young women clinging to his limbs. In an early scene, he staggers bloodied from a racetrack into a hospital and announces himself, 007 style, as “Hunt. James Hunt.” Within minutes he’s having sex (behind screens) with the nurse treating him.

The dour Austrian Lauda, driving for the Ferrari team, is played with remarkable conviction by German actor Daniel Brűhl (Inglourious Basterds). Lauda was methodical, industrious, a cerebral assessor of risk, and generally not much fun. “You’re just a party boy,” he sneers at Hunt. What perfect rivals.

Both actors acquit themselves well: Hemsworth, with his lustrous blond locks, is even better-looking than Hunt, if slightly lacking the animal aspects of his sexual magnetism; but he carries off an essentially British brand of insouciance to good effect. Brűhl’s Lauda grows in stature as Rush progresses, and from the film’s turning point – his appalling accident in a Grand Prix at Nűrburgring, where he sustained terrible burns to his head and face and damage to his lungs – he becomes the emotional centre of the story.

There’s more going on here, then, than initially meets the eye. The film's texture is due to screenwriter Peter Morgan (The Queen) who does his usual trick of writing modern "history plays", accurately rendering known public facts while imagining vivid conversations behind closed doors. The real surprise is that Rush’s director is Ron Howard, whose work is usually marked by competent blandness. Not here, though. Rush induces the adrenalin suggested by its title in its racing scenes: howlingly, teeth-rattlingly loud and cut lightning-fast, in what look to be perilous close-ups. It’s far more of a thrill ride than watching Formula One on TV.

This brings us to the unsung star of Rush, the great cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, who has photographed several Danny Boyle films (including 127 Hours and Slumdog Millionaire) and who invariably enhances any project he undertakes. He apparently deployed some three dozen cameras for the race scenes, many of them mounted on cars, even some inside drivers’ helmets. And it pays off: there’s a jolting immediacy about these ultra high-speed scenes that shooting them from a safe distance simply cannot replicate.

Rush has sex, glamour, a fair degree of wit and a breathless, pedal-to-the-metal spirit. But its greatest achievement may be to underline that there are real men, all vulnerable flesh and blood, inside those infernal machines.

Rush is on Channel 4 at 9pm on Saturday 20 June.

Summary: Finally, with this story of the rivalry between Niki Lauda and James Hunt, we have a Formula One story that is not just for petrol heads


China's world champion acrobats wow the crowds in Rio, with an amazing 'human skipping rope' during the post-Olympic gala event.

Acrobatic gymnastics is not an Olympic event but competitors from the discipline are invited to take part in the gala.

Follow all the Olympic events here.

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Summary: World champion acrobats wow the crowd with their amazing human skipping rope act at the Olympic gymnastics venue in Rio.


One of the first people to pop the question at the Games was stadium manager Marjorie Enya, who proposed to her girlfriend Isadora Cerullo, a Brazilian women’s rugby sevens player.

US Olympian Will Claye also got down on one knee after taking triple jump silver, climbing into the stands to propose to his hurdler girlfriend Queen Harrison.

Jamaican sprinting legend Usain Bolt ensured the world's eyes were on him again when he pulled a cheeky grin for the camera mid-way through competing in the men's 100m semi-final.

What other heartwarming moments have happened during Rio 2016? Watch the video above to find out.

Summary: The Olympic Games are often remembered for world record-breaking feats and dazzling opening ceremonies, but sometimes it's the small moments that remain etched into memory.


09/29/2016 AT 04:00 PM EDT

and more A-list celebs are ready to "Beat It" on a new season of

In a new trailer released Thursday, Spike revealed that Nyong'o, Hyland and Cox are just a few of the famous faces that will be participating on the upcoming season 3.

For the hilarious Spike teaser video, co-hosts

dress up in 1980s attire, complete with crimped hair, chokers and lots of leather, for a reenactment of

So which other familiar faces joined in for the fun and will compete on the upcoming third season of

have committed to the challenge while

are the men that will battle.

returns Oct. 12 at 9 p.m. ET on Spike.

Summary: Season 3 of Lip Sync Battle returns Oct. 12 at 9 p.m. ET on Spike


Adams departs the Supreme Court New South Wales in Sydney. (AAP)

A convicted rapist accused of murdering a Sydney nurse 33 years ago had a tendency to choke women to force them into having sex, a judge has been told.

Robert James Adams threatened to throw one woman in a river, saying "I will f*** you either dead or alive", prosecutor Mark Hobart SC said on Tuesday.

He was giving the crown's final address in the NSW Supreme Court trial of Adams, 64, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mary Louise Wallace.

The 33-year-old, whose body has never been found, was drinking with friends in September 1983 at a North Shore wine bar when she met Adams, who offered her a lift home.

He told police they had sexual contact in his car before he fell asleep and woke to find she had disappeared.

Adams showed "consciousness of guilt" by cleaning his car boot the day after Ms Wallace's disappearance, Mr Hobart said.

Describing the evidence as compelling, he said Adams had never previously been seen to wash his boot and told a flatmate he had killed some ducks in a national park.

"The crown says that once the accused killed the deceased, he placed her body in the boot of his vehicle," he said.

"The reason he was washing the boot was to remove any incriminating evidence left by the deceased."

Hairs found in the boot of his car were tested in 2013 and were identical to hairs obtained from a brush used by Ms Wallace, Mr Hobart said.

Adams had developed a modus operandi of meeting women at bars, isolating them in his car, and attempting to choke them to force them to have sex, Mr Hobart said.

The crown called evidence involving three women who said they were raped in 1975, 1976 and 1978 respectively, after their attacker tried to strangle them.

Adams served time after pleading guilty to the 1976 rape, which involved him putting his hands around the victim's throat and trying to choke her.

He told police: "I need psychiatric help. I must be mad to do these things", Mr Hobart said.

The other two women each gave evidence of fearing for their lives when their throats were squeezed in separate rape attacks.

Adams was charged with raping one of the women but she told the court she left NSW before his trial because "I was so frightened of him".

His barrister, Peter Lange, will make the defence final submissions on Wednesday.

Summary: A convicted rapist accused of the 1983 murder of a Sydney nurse told a flatmate he cleaned his car boot becasue he had killed ducks, a judge has been told.


Australian woman Sara Connor's legal team are preparing to fight her charges next week, adding the indictment presented by the prosecution to a "large extent" supports her claim of innocence.

Connor, who had her 46th year in Bali's Kerobokan prison on Thursday, is set to return to court next week where her legal team say they will challenge the charges levelled against her.

She and her British boyfriend David Taylor are facing charges of murder, fatal assault in company and assault causing death over the alleged killing of Bali police officer Wayan Sudarsa, whose body was found on Kuta Beach in the early hours on August 17.

Instead, they will submit, she should face a charge of eliminating evidence after burning the clothes from the night of Mr Sudarsa's death and destroying some of his personal items.

"The indictment as presented to the court will not change," her Australian barrister Peter Strain said in a statement.

"Sara does not agree with all the facts but many of them are true."

Mr Strain said the assault on Mr Sudarsa is set out in two stages in the indictment.

The first, in which Connor tried to separate Taylor and Mr Sudarsa while they were fighting, and the second, when she was "nowhere near the scene looking for her bag".

Mr Strain said it was during the second stage that "Taylor found a bottle and hit the police officer to the back of the head acting in self defence".

"She has claimed from the very beginning that all she tried to do was to break up the fight," he said.

"To a large extent the indictment supports her claim."

Prosecutors told Denpasar Court this week that Taylor had confronted Mr Sudarsa after Connor lost her purse in Kuta Beach.

He frisked the police officer, sparking the fight.

They say Taylor struck Mr Sudarsa three times with a beer bottle and after his body went limp, the pair left him there on the beach.

The matter is set to return to court on Wednesday.

Taylor's lawyers will not be formally challenging the indictment but will fight allegations through the course of the trial.

Summary: The legal team for Australian woman Sara Connor say much of the prosecution case presented at court this week supports her claim of innocence.


NEW YORK — The Monday after Thanksgiving is still a time when millions of Americans pause to check out online deals and check items off their gift list — but a one-day Cyber Monday frenzy appears to be going the way of the dial-up modem.

Shoppers who have high-speed connections at home and on their phones are pouncing on deals that stores are spreading out over several days, leaving the so-called Cyber Monday online shopping bonanza in danger of losing its title as the top online sales day.

Cyber Monday is “just another sales day that I can plan for,’’ said Gartner analyst Gene Alvarez.

Instead of doorbuster markdowns on select products, retailers are shifting to a stream of discounts and alerts during the entire week via email and social media. Cartwheel, Target’s digital app, started offering holiday deals on Nov. 1, including 50 percent off one toy per day. Amazon started offering 35 days of Black Friday deals on Nov. 16. And Walmart kicked off its Cyber Monday deals on Friday for the first time as it aimed to grab customers ahead of its competitors.

‘‘It’s really this weeklong flow of deals,’’ said Shawn DuBravac, economist at the Consumer Technology Association.

Summary: The Monday after Thanksgiving is still a time when millions of Americans pause to check out online deals and check off items from their gift list — but a one-day Cyber Monday frenzy appears to be going the way of the dial-up modem.


A drop in temperature may not just chill you to the bone this winter – for some people, it can actually trigger pain

More than a quarter of Americans lie about it, and 36 percent say they would rather do an unpleasant activity like cleaning the toilet or working on their taxes.

If you share a bathroom with a roommate or a partner, there’s a good chance your toothbrush contains that person’s fecal matter, a new study suggests.

TMJ is actually the abbreviation for the joint that connects the mandible (lower jaw) to the temporal bone (skull). You can feel the joints move when you place your fingers in fron...

Summary: TMJ, Temporomandibular joint and muscle disorders, news articles and videos from FoxNews.com's Health section.


The drop is the latest in a series of increasingly frequent flash crashes in stocks, bonds and currencies that have worried regulators because they call into question the liquidity of what should be the deepest financial markets.

“Sterling fell sharply following a news event just after midnight UK time, when the GBP [Great British Pound] spot foreign exchange market was extremely illiquid,” a spokesman for Citi said.

“Citi managed the situation appropriately and our systems and controls functioned throughout the period."

The “news event” referred to by Citi was reports that François Hollande, France’s president, wanted European leaders to take a "firm" negotiating stance with the UK over Brexit. However, the Bank of England’s Financial Stability Report, which was published last week and examined the flash crash, concluded that “while the story may have acted to reinforce the negative pressure on sterling, it was not the initial trigger”.

The Bank continued: “A number of other potential triggers have been suggested by market participants.

“These include: a large trade executed erroneously - a so-called ‘fat finger’ error, the use of a poorly calibrated execution algorithm, unsophisticated retail trading, or a deliberate attempt to move the price lower.”

Citi’s role in the flash crash was first reported by the Financial Times.

Summary: Citigroup has been forced to defend its trading business after it emerged the world’s largest foreign exchange bank may have contributed to the recent flash crash that sent the pound to a 31-year low.