The Breitbart editor who cast doubt on his former reporter's accusations of battery against Donald Trump's campaign manager has relented, admitting he was wrong.

Joel Pollak, an editor-at-large for Breitbart who had penned a long — and now much changed — article that attempted to cast doubts on the claim of Fields by analyzing video evidence, has admitted that new evidence backs the claims of Michelle Fields.

SEE MORE: Poll: Trump nearly at 50 percent support among Republicans nationally

Pollak had previously conceded that he had reached out to the Trump campaign for a job as a speechwriter.

In early March, Michelle Fields, then a Breitbart reporter, said that Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski grabbed her arm forcefully.

Breitbart editor admits he was wrong about Trump campaign manager leaving bruises on reporter

PALM BEACH, FL - MARCH 11: Corey Lewandowski campaign manager for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks with the media before former presidential candidate Ben Carson gives his endorsement to Mr. Trump at the Mar-A-Lago Club on March 11, 2016 in Palm Beach, Florida. Presidential candidates continue to campaign before Florida's March 15th primary day. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Donald Trump, president and chief executive of Trump Organization Inc. and 2016 Republican presidential candidate, center, pauses while speaking during a news conference with his son Eric Trump, right, and Corey Lewandowski, campaign manager for Trump, left, at the Mar-A-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., on Tuesday, March 15, 2016. Billionaire Trump fell short of his goal of winning the two key states he needed to clear most of the Republican presidential field, securing a huge victory in Florida to knock out Senator Marco Rubio while losing Ohio to Governor John Kasich. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

In this photo taken Aug. 25, 2015, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski watches as Trump speaks in Dubuque, Iowa. Florida police have charged Lewandowski with simple battery in connection with an incident earlier in the month involving a reporter. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

**HOLD FOR STORY**Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump walks with his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, left, after speaking at a news conference, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015, in Dubuque, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Corey Lewandowski, campaign manager for 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, speaks to members of the media before a news conference at the Mar-A-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., on Friday, March 11, 2016. Ben Carson, who recently ended his quest for Republican presidential nomination, endorsed his onetime rival Donald Trump Friday striking a blow to presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz, who had courted Carson because they appeal to many of the same religious-minded voters. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Corey Lewandowski, campaign manager for Donald Trump's 2016 Republican presidential campaign, speaks on the telephone while at his desk inside the Trump campaign headquarters located in Trump Tower in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015. The billionaire front-runner for the Republican nomination continues his momentum this fall by preparing media ads and holding public appearance throughout the country. Photographer: Ali Elkin/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski (C) is seen allegedly grabbing the arm of reporter Michelle Fields in this still frame from video taken March 8, 2016 and released by the Jupiter (Florida) Police Department March 29, 2016. Lewandowski, 42, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday and charged with battery, police records show. REUTERS/Jupiter Police Department/Handout via Reuters THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS

Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski (C) is seen allegedly grabbing the arm of reporter Michelle Fields in this still frame from video taken March 8, 2016 and released by the Jupiter (Florida) Police Department March 29, 2016. Lewandowski, 42, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday and charged with battery, police records show. REUTERS/Jupiter Police Department/Handout via Reuters FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS

Corey Lewandowski (R) campaign manager for Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump (C) reaches between Trump and a U.S. Secret Service agent (2nd R) towards Breitbart News reporter Michelle Fields (L) after a news conference held at Trump's National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida, March 8, 2016. Lewandowski, 42, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday and charged with battery for his interaction with Fields at the event, police records show. Picture taken March 8, 2016. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/Files TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

JUPITER, FLORIDA - MARCH 29: A police car sits outside the police department on March 29, 2016 in Jupiter, Florida. Donald Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski has been charged with simple battery after allegedly grabbing a reporter by the arm at a campaign event. (Photo by Mychal Watts/Getty Images)

The accusations set off an internal battle within Breitbart. Many of Fields' colleagues wanted to support her. Several staffers, including an editor and Breitbart's PR manager as well as Fields herself, quit their jobs in protest of Breitbart's refusal to believe Fields.

The publication and its editors had other plans, telling reporters to stay quiet and then publishing a screed that cast doubt on Fields.

On Tuesday, those journalists were vindicated. The Trump staffer, Corey Lewandowski, now faces assault charges related to the incident. Video released by the Jupiter, Florida, police department appears to back the claim of Fields.

SEE MORE: Bernie supporter Susan Sarandon said Trump might be what America needs

The revelation leaves Breitbart in a difficult position.

Pollak penned the article that attempted to cast doubt on Fields. The article ended up accomplishing little other than calling into question the loyalties of Breitbart and its relationship with the Trump campaign.

Pollak had also reportedly told staffers not to discuss the situation publicly.

Mashable requested comment from Breitbart editor-in-chief Alex Marlow, who has not yet responded.

Following the incident, Fields filed a criminal complaint against Lewandwoski following the incident. Some video had emerged from the event, but little that did much to either confirm or contradict the claim of Fields.

SEE MORE: New report shows millennial and minority voters face huge obstacles at the polls

Trump had previously said "nothing happened," according to his Secret Service agents, and said he thought Fields fabricated the story. He continued to deny Lewandowski did anything wrong in the face of video evidence.

Fields responded that Trump was lying.

That proved to be one of the few times Trump spoke about the situation, partially because in dozens of interviews with a variety of media outlets he was never asked about it.

Meanwhile, Breitbart staffers were fed up.

That Friday, Breitbart spokesperson Kurt Bardella resigned and called out the company for lying. He also said that its coverage had purposefully favored Trump.

The next Monday, Fields resigned.

SEE MORE: Former Trump strategist calls him 'presidential equivalent of Sanjaya' on 'American Idol'

"I do not believe Breitbart News has adequately stood by me during the events of the past week and because of that I believe it is now best for us to part ways," Fields told BuzzFeed News.

Ben Shapiro, and editor-at-large for Breitbart, also left. His move was followed by a post from Breitbart that mocked Shapiro and appeared under his father's penname. The post was quickly removed.

Breitbart editor admits he was wrong about Trump campaign manager leaving bruises on reporter

TOPSHOT - People rally as they take part in a protest against Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump in New York on March 19,2016. / AFP / KENA BETANCUR (Photo credit should read KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 19: People take part in a protest against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, on March 19, 2016 in New York City. People protest against Trump's policies which threaten the Immigration system and many of the Latino, Black, LGBT, Muslim, and other communities. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

TOPSHOT - A woman holds a sign during a protest rally against Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump in New York on March 19,2016. / AFP / KENA BETANCUR (Photo credit should read KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 19: People clash with protesters while they take part in a march against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, on March 19, 2016 in New York City. People protest against Trump's policies which threaten the Immigration system and many of the Latino, Black, LGBT, Muslim, and other communities. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally Saturday, March 19, 2016, in Fountain Hills, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Protesters stand in the crowd of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump supporters as Trump speaks during a campaign rally, Saturday, March 19, 2016, in Fountain Hills, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

PHOENIX, AZ - MARCH 19: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to guest gathered at Fountain Park during a campaign rally on March 19, 2016 in Fountain Hills, Arizona. Trump visits Arizona for the second time in three months as he looks to gain the GOP nomination for President. (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images)

FOUNTAIN HILLS, AZ - MARCH 19: Protesters filter into the crowd of Trump supporters during a campaign rally at Fountain Park on March 19, 2016 in Fountain Hills, Arizona. Trumps visit to Arizona is the second time in three months as he looks to gain the GOP nomination for President. (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images)

FOUNTAIN HILLS, AZ - MARCH 19: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to guest gathered at Fountain Park during a campaign rally on March 19, 2016 in Fountain Hills, Arizona. Trumps visit to Arizona is the second time in three months as he looks to gain the GOP nomination for President. (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images)

PHOENIX, AZ - MARCH 19: Protesters filter into the crowd of Trump supporters during a campaign rally at Fountain Park on March 19, 2016 in Fountain Hills, Arizona. Trumps visit to Arizona is the second time in three months as he looks to gain the GOP nomination for President. (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images)

FOUNTAIN HILLS, AZ - MARCH 19: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to guest gathered at Fountain Park during a campaign rally on March 19, 2016 in Fountain Hills, Arizona. Trump visits Arizona for the second time in three months as he looks to gain the GOP nomination for President. (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images)

A supporter for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., gives the thumbs down sign to a fellow Sanders' supporter wearing a Donald Trump mask during a campaign rally, Saturday, March 19, 2016 in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso)

A contingent of Black Lives Matter protesters try to shout down Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as he speaks during a campaign rally Saturday, March 19, 2016, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

A woman holds a sign during a protest rally against Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump in New York on March 19,2016. / AFP / KENA BETANCUR (Photo credit should read KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images)

People rally as they take part in a protest against Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump in New York on March 19,2016. / AFP / KENA BETANCUR (Photo credit should read KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 19: A NYPD officer tries to keep an eye on protesters while they take part in a protest against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, on March 19, 2016 in New York City. People protest against Trump's policies which threaten the Immigration system and many of the Latino, Black, LGBT, Muslim, and other communities. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 19: People march while they take part in a protest against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, on March 19, 2016 in New York City. People protest against Trump's policies which threaten the Immigration system and many of the Latino, Black, LGBT, Muslim, and other communities. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

A man is taken into custody during an anti Donald Trump protest, Saturday, March 19, 2016, in New York. Several hundred demonstrators gathered in New York City to protest Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

New York Police officers(NYPD) walk among a protest rally against Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump in New York on March 19, 2016. / AFP / KENA BETANCUR (Photo credit should read KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 19: People take part in a protest against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, on March 19, 2016 in New York City. People protest against Trump's policies which threaten the Immigration system and many of the Latino, Black, LGBT, Muslim, and other communities. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 19: A man falls down as NYPD officers try to arrest protesters while they take part in demonstrations against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, on March 19, 2016 in New York City. People protest against Trump's policies which threaten the Immigration system and many of the Latino, Black, LGBT, Muslim, and other communities. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 19: People march while they take part in a protest against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, on March 19, 2016 in New York City. People protest against Trump's policies which threaten the Immigration system and many of the Latino, Black, LGBT, Muslim, and other communities. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 19: NYPD officers arrest a protester while they take part in a demonstrations against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, on March 19, 2016 in New York City. People protest against Trump's policies which threaten the Immigration system and many of the Latino, Black, LGBT, Muslim, and other communities. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 19: People take part in a protest against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, on March 19, 2016 in New York City. People protest against Trump's policies which threaten the Immigration system and many of the Latino, Black, LGBT, Muslim, and other communities. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

That same day, two other staffers resigned — national security correspondent Jordan Schachtel and editor Jarret Stepman.

Schachtel issued one of the strongest rebukes of Breitbart saying in a statement that site had veered away from journalism and toward "party-line Trump propaganda."

More from Mashable: #MuslimNeighborhood hashtag shows solidarity against Trump, Cruz police patrols Right-wing populists in U.S. and Europe begin exploiting Brussels attacks Ted Cruz to Donald Trump in Twitter feud: 'Real men don't attack women'

Summary: The video of the incident, released by the police department of Jupiter, Florida, has shed new light on the situation.


As I sat through new-employee orientation at my first bona fide, grown-up job, I was certain death by boredom was imminent. I stared at the basket of snacks in the middle of the conference room table, wondering whether anyone would notice if I nabbed another cookie –– or 10. But when I looked around, I saw my more responsible new colleagues putting pens to papers and signing things.

I looked down at my mini-mountain of documents. Did I want retirement benefits?

This brand new college grad wasn't about to sacrifice a single cent of her paycheck, especially not to some suspect "

" that locked the money away until 2050. When the lady from HR came to collect my papers, I blurted, "

," or something equally eloquent. "It's free," she replied, and so I reluctantly signed.

Then came the speech about our health insurance options. After straining for a few minutes to interpret foreign words like "premium" and "deductible," my brain shut down. I was covered under my husband's health insurance, so whatever the presenter had to say didn't matter to me. I stared at my seat-neighbor's laptop screensaver as my eyes began to droop.

The next thing I knew, the room was emptying, and I gave myself a mental pat on the back for surviving one of the dullest days of my life.

Fast-forward four years to a more responsible, more financially literate me. Those retirement benefits I scoffed at? Thankfully, my husband, Johnny, was wise enough to ask about all those financial information packets that were flooding our mailbox. Now 3 percent of my pretax income automatically goes into a 403(b) -- the equivalent of a 401(k) for people in public education and nonprofits -- a contribution which is matched by my employer. Add that to the additional 3 percent they contribute just for kicks, and we're talking thousands of dollars in free money!

didn't need? Well, I've reversed my initial feelings on those as well. Johnny and I are now on my employer's plan: Not only is the monthly premium less, but my deductible beats his, too. Once again, thousands saved. Cha-ching!

in full swing, I welcome the opportunity to ensure I'm making the most of my benefits. Should I

? Is it time to up my 403(b) contributions? How do I designate our new daughter as my secondary life insurance beneficiary instead of my little sister? (Sorry, Jill –– you can quit plotting our demise.)

So the next time you're tempted to yawn your way through a benefits meeting, down another cup of coffee and look alive. The last thing you want to do is leave a bunch of cash on the table next to your puddle of drool.

Summary: While starting a new job can be exciting, the new employee benefits meeting may feel like a yawn-fest. But pay attention! Sleepwalking through it can be a very costly mistake.


Self-made billionaires in the U.S. are giving the most to charity, donating on average $179.5 million per person over their lifetime, according to a new study. In contrast, the typical ultra high net worth (UHNW) philanthropist worldwide gives $28.7 million over his or her lifetime.

While ultra-rich men tend to give far more than their female counterparts in total dollars, American women seem to be the most generous of all the ultra high net worth donor groups, if one looks at the percentage of net worth donated. As a group, American female billionaires gave away more than 13% of their wealth, and for those who inherited their wealth close to 19 %.

“Philanthropy is a key component of what makes the ultra wealthy tick,” says David Friedman, the president of Wealth-X, the research firm that conducted the research for the report. “It’s very much about giving back, but it also provides a platform through which they communicate the values to the next generation, the values behind their success.”

This group of ultra high net worth people doesn’t represent the 1%, says Friedman. “They are the 0.004% of the world population. Wealth-X tracks more than 211,000 ultra high net worth individuals globally, with at least $30 million in net assets. The group cumulatively is worth more than $29.7 trillion.

The most generous billionaires work in tech

Based on lifetime average contributions, rich donors from the tech industry gave the most among business sectors, close to $119 million on average; the next highest sector was retail at almost $90 million. Based on percentage of net worth, the retail sector gave until it hurt, with the ultra rich from that sector donating 38% of their net worth.

The country leading in average lifetime donations was India, followed by the U.K. and Hong Kong. The finding was an interesting one because there isn’t the same history of giving in Asia that exists in the U.K. and the U.S., as Friedman points out.

“Philanthropy is still in a nascent stage in Asia, but it is growing very quickly,” Friedman says. Based on percentage of net worth, the U.K. gave the most, followed by the U.S.

Global financial advisor Arton Capital partnered with Wealth-X; the two have tracked philanthropy by the super-rich since 2004. The two also produce each year the Wealth-X and Arton Capital Major Giving Index.

This year’s study focused on the support ultra wealthy donors provided to the cause of relocating and caring for the Syrian refugee population. According to the report, in 2014, close to 7,500 super-rich philanthropists have provided a total of $2.7 billion to support refugees. To provide food, shelter, education and a stipend to 4.3 million Syrian refugees would cost more than $60 billion.

“Many of the ultra wealthy are global citizens, with multiple homes and even multiple passports,” Friedman says. “They are people with many countries now trying to help people who currently have no country. It is a global problem so rightly it should be one they understand and become involved with.”

Education still number one cause

Since 2004, education has always been a top popular cause for the ultra wealthy, followed closely by health. But Friedman says the new generation of super rich, particularly among the tech crowd, is identifying with newer charities these, ones that have upped the ante on how they communicate with donors.

“Here I am thinking of nonprofits such as Charity Water,” Friedman says. “This charity has really raised the bar on transparency on how they spend their money and marketing.”

Giving is at an all-time high

According to the 2014 index, uncertain global economy and a slowdown in growth in emerging markets put a damper on donations. While the giving hit an all-time peak of $112 billion, the total rose only 6.4 percent over the year, compared with a 36.6 percent growth in 2013. Since its inception 11 years ago, the index is up 25 percent.

Summary: A new study on the habits of billionaire philanthropists.


Keith Lew | Flickr Vision | Getty Images

September 15, 2008, the day the 150-year-old Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy.

One of the largest hedge fund firms in the world continues to make money quietly by focusing on beat up loans—despite the general perception that bonds have little to offer investors.

Davidson Kempner Capital Management, the $22 billion New York City-based shop run by Thomas Kempner Jr., gained 2.8 percent in the first quarter in its Institutional Partners fund largely on so-called distressed bets like Lehman Brothers bonds, Greek government debt, and U.S. and European commercial mortgage-backed securities.

Read MoreHedge fund vultures feast on Lehman corpse

"So far, the fall in equities prices has not spread into the credit markets. However, the current market conditions are likely to create some dislocations, allowing us to put our additional cash to work at good spreads," Kempner wrote in a private letter to investors Wednesday.

Other winners in the first quarter included Signet, Kabel Deutschland and MAN.

Summary: Davidson Kempner continues to make money by focusing on beat up loans—despite the general perception that bonds have little to offer investors.


Leonardo DiCaprio is rarely seen without a bevy of blond beauties at his side.

But the veteran actor, 38, isn't just a playboy, he tells the May issue of Esquire. It's just that working hard and maintaining a relationship isn't the easiest thing to balance.

"Six months of being on location or being off in Morocco or someplace like that is not the best thing for a relationship," DiCaprio said.

The “Wolf of Wall Street actor has dated a string of bombshells, including Bar Refaeli and Erin Heatherton. He was most recently romantically linked with former Miss Universe Kosovo Aferdita Dreshaj, and rumored to be hooking upwith "Wolf" co-star Margot Robbie.

Despite all his success on-screen, DiCaprio still thinks of himself as an outsider.

"I always thought of myself as the underdog, because I didn't have nice enough clothes or maybe my hair didn't look good," the 'Great Gatsby' star said. "And so you have to understand-getting your foot in the door is like winning the lottery. It's literally like winning the lottery if you get to have a career [In Hollywood]."

"I've always felt, okay, now I've gotten this shot, and I'm lucky to have gotten this shot, and if I don't do this to the best of my ability — if I don't work my ass off and make a life of it — I've squandered this incredibly golden opportunity," DiCaprio continued. "And that's always been what has propelled me."

DiCaprio rocketed into the spotlight early in life, first at age 19 as Romeo in Baz Luhrman's "Romeo + Juliet," and then as heartthrob Jack Dawson in "Titanic."

"I really didn't understand what fame was and I didn't understand what being in a giant hit was and I didn't understand what a giant hit Titanic was compared to other giant hits," DiCaprio explained. "There was no rule book. There was nobody to navigate me through the experience of being watched all the time and nobody to tell me how to be normal when everybody is acting and looking at me different."

"Most recently, in the last few years, I feel way more comfortable than I've ever felt," he added.

It seems like DiCaprio has steered through the difficulties of celebrity well. And when the Esquire reporter asked what makes DiCaprio happy, he had a simple answer:

"I think I'm doing it!" he said.


In fact, the outfit was borrowed, along with the shotgun, from the farm's owner, and within hours Mr. Kerry was back in tailored suit and rose-colored tie for another photo-op, hugging the widow of the actor Christopher Reeve, who endorsed him because of his backing embryonic stem-cell research.

"My inclination would be frankly to remain private for a good long while," said Dana Reeve, whose husband, paralyzed in a riding accident, died Oct. 10. "But I came here today in support of John Kerry because this is so important. Although our family feels Chris's loss so keenly right now, today is the right moment to transform our grief into hope."

If the morning was aimed at white male gun owners, the afternoon speech about stem-cell research and other scientific initiatives was intended to woo women in swing states, particularly suburban independents and Republicans. It was the third speech Mr. Kerry had devoted to the topic, which provides one of his surest applause lines at rallies, and the emotional appeal to millions of disease-sufferers and their families was underlined by Ms. Reeve's introduction.

"Some people ask, How can we do it?" Mr. Kerry said after laying out his plan for supporting research. "My question is, How can we commit ourselves to anything less?"

Quoting John F. Kennedy and the former astronaut John Glenn, who is one of his most frequent campaign companions and sat behind him on the stage, Mr. Kerry painted Mr. Bush as a Luddite who favors ideology over science.

"He would have sided with the candle lobby against electricity, he would have been with the buggy-makers against the cars, and the typewriter companies against the computers," Mr. Kerry said to guffaws. "The administration's approach on scientific research is the same pattern that we see in Iraq and on the economy today: If their policy isn't supported by the facts, then they just change the facts to fit the policy that they want."

Thursday's was the fourth in a series of speeches, filled with four-point plans, that Mr. Kerry has given this week, a detour from the routine of quick rallies that normally fills a campaign's last chapter. His aides said the speeches -- on health care, fiscal discipline and Iraq, with one on women's rights and another on faith coming Friday and Sunday -- showed Mr. Kerry making a substantive case, selling a serious man for serious times.

But after these formal sessions in front of the teleprompter, Mr. Kerry has been doing what he can to seem more down to earth. He uses more contractions and drops G's, T's, and N's, making "does not" sound like "dudnt," and "government" come out, as it might have in the Old West, "guvmint." As his beloved Boston Red Sox made history this week by coming back from a three-game deficit to clinch the American League championship, Mr. Kerry made several rare appearances in the press cabin of his plane to chitchat about baseball.

"Historic, absolutely stunning," he said Thursday of the previous night's record-breaking win over the Yankees, clutching a timeworn blue Sox cap in one fist and pumping the other several times for emphasis. "Gutsy. Unbelievably gutsy team, with a whole lot of heart."

The "regular guy" theme was ratcheted up with the morning's outing, Mr. Kerry's second hunting photo opportunity of this campaign (he has also twice gone trap shooting). But despite his frequent invocations of his hunting experience, Mr. Kerry seems to be faring no better among gun owners than former Vice President Al Gore, whose high-profile support of gun control many Democrats blame for his 2000 defeat.

A Gallup poll conducted a week ago showed Mr. Bush leading among gun owners, 56 percent to Mr. Kerry's 35 percent; four years ago, exit polls showed that gun owners made up 48 percent of the electorate, and Mr. Bush won their votes, 61 percent to 36 percent. A separate survey by the Pew Research Center showed that 45 percent of swing voters say gun control is "very important" to their vote.

"We want people to have a better sense of John Kerry the guy," explained Mike McCurry, a senior campaign spokesman, saying the coming days would bring more outdoor activities that "show people the kinds of things he likes," like baseball and hockey.

Asked whether final-stretch photo opportunities might include windsurfing, the hobby that has helped tag Mr. Kerry with an elitist's image, Mr. McCurry said, "It's too cold this time of year."

Summary: Sen Kerry tries to shore up his macho bona fides among rural voters by going hunting for geese in Ohio, but National Rifle Assn continues its opposition to his candidacy; Vice Pres Cheney points to Kerry's poor rating from NRA; Kerry appears later with Dana Reeve, widow of Christopher Reeve, who endorsed him because of his support for embryonic stem-cell research; Kerry paints Bush as favoring ideology over science; photo (M)


Target tgt seems to have escaped the holiday season doldrums that pinched archival Walmart wmt .

The discount retailer reported on Wednesday that comparable sales rose 1.9% during the holiday quarter, easily outdoing Walmart’s 0.6% clip in the U.S. Perhaps more importantly, Target’s e-commerce growth picked up again, rising 34% last quarter after slowing down in the two preceding periods. Meanwhile at Walmart, growth slowed to 8%, raising questions about how well it is fighting back at Amazon amzn .

Target’s efforts to get more people to come to its stores—notably with services like in-store pick up of online orders—helped the number of shopper visits rise 1.3%.

Since CEO Brian Cornell took the reins in 2014, Target has focused on leading in a few key categories—baby, kids, wellness, and fashion—to stand out from the crowd. That strategy appears to be paying off. Target recently announced a new line of kids furniture and an overhaul to the presentation of one of its billion-dollar brands, Market Pantry, which are just two of the big changes coming next.

“With traffic growing for five consecutive quarters, and our signature categories of style, baby, kids and wellness, leading our growth, Target’s results demonstrate that we are focused on the right strategic priorities,” Cornell said in a written statement. Comparable sales in those categories rose nearly 6%, or three times faster.

Target expects an adjusted profit per share of $5.20 to $5.40 this year, above the $5.16 analysts projected. That would be above 2015 results, while Walmart forecast a drop in profit for 2016.

Summary: E-commerce took off again.


The National Park Service needs money, badly. Currently, it needs $12 billion so it can attend to its long backlog in much-needed maintenance, which includes $6 billion in paved road infrastructure.

Although Congress has given the NPS an extra $90 million for the 2016 fiscal year, it won’t be enough to keep the number from growing.

Desperate to do something to make the fixes it needs, the Service is turning to corporate sponsorship as a possible lifeline, and is examining partnering with Anheuser-Busch BUD , American Express AXP and Subaru to supplement its congressional allowance.

Studies Show Vacations, Parks Promote Health

It’s not the only uncomfortable solution to the lack of funding. Donations have been an increasingly large part of the budget. “What used to be a donation to provide the margin of excellence is now really the margin of survival for a lot of these parks,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a conference call with reporters on Thursday, Bloomberg reports. Jewell lamented the fact that her job had turned into a fundraising job. Between 2005 and 2014, congressional funding dropped 8% (adjusted for inflation) and donations have gone up 39%, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Yielding to allow corporate sponsorship hasn’t gone into full effect yet, but things are in the works. Last year it partnered with Anheuser-Busch for a $2.4 million deal (which doesn’t sound like much) and allowed corporate logos on vehicles—such as prominent Subaru branding on the side of their vehicles. That said, the National Park Service’s assistant director for partnerships and civic engagement’s statement from May still stands. Jeff Reinbold explained that “Donor recognition cannot state or imply naming rights to any park in the National Park system or any National Park Service facility, historic structure, or feature.” So don’t expect “Arches National Park, brought to you by Dr. Scholl’s” any time soon.

This article originally appeared on MONEY, with additional material by Fortune editors.

Summary: National Parks and corporations are an unlikely pairing, but may be the only thing to keep parks maintained.


As top American officials and a former Navy SEAL who was on the raid that killed Osama bin Laden grapple over whether the al Qaeda leader "resisted" before he was shot, the ex-SEAL said in a recent interview that in the heat of battle, the men on the ground weren't going to take any chances with their target.

In a firsthand account of the May 2011 raid, written under the pseudonym Mark Owen, the former Navy SEAL Team Six member who was right behind the "point man" who first shot Osama bin Laden said that before they took off for bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, the commandos were told that it was not a kill-only mission.

"A lawyer from either the Department of Defense or the White House made it clear that this wasn't an assassination," Owen writes in his book, "No Easy Day." "'If he is naked with his hands up, you're not going to engage him,' he told us. 'I am not going to tell you how to do your job. What we're saying is if he does not pose a threat, you will detain him.'"

But later in the book, Owen writes that bin Laden was shot the second he poked his head out of a door frame, apparently before he had a chance to resist or present a visible threat. At the time, Owen said he didn't know who his teammate's bullets had hit, if anyone.

"We were less than five steps from getting to the top [of the stairs] when I heard suppressed shots," Owen writes. "BOP. BOP. The point man had seen a man peeking out of the door on the right side of the hallway about ten feet in front of him. I couldn't tell from my position if the rounds hit the target or not. The man disappeared into the dark room."

It wasn't until other members of the team entered the room and saw a man twitching on the ground that they realized he had been hit in the head. Then, after shooting the man in the chest a few more times until he stopped moving, they realized it was bin Laden, the book says. America's most wanted man was unarmed and though there was a rifle and a handgun in a room nearby, neither had a bullet loaded in the chamber.

"He hadn't even prepared a defense. He had no intention of fighting," Owen writes.

In a recent interview with CBS News' "60 Minutes," Owen explained why the shot was taken apparently before the man presented a direct, visible threat. He said the team had already been in a short firefight in another part of the compound, an AK-47 assault rifle had been found right next to one of bin Laden's sons who had just been killed and, due to a delay in getting the team inside the compound, bin Laden had already had plenty of time to arm himself or strap on a suicide vest.

"All those boxes had been checked [so] that if a guy sticks his head around the corner, he could very easily have a gun," Owen said. "You don't wait [for him to] get that AK or get that grenade thrown down the hall or that suicide vest. So in that split second, that's when [the point man] engaged."

As for why Owen and another SEAL opened fire on bin Laden as he lay on the ground, Owen said they could not see bin Laden's hands and were concerned he could still be hiding a grenade.

Owen's book has sparked controversy both for the discrepancies between his story and the "official" version as told by the White House in which bin Laden "resisted," as well as his decision to write and publish the book without first allowing government officials to vet it for classified information.

Owen and his publisher, Dutton, maintain that the book was vetted by a former special operations attorney and discloses no sensitive information, but last week the Pentagon said it disagreed and was considering legal action against Owen. Owen left the service in April.

Late Friday, CNN reported Adm. William McRaven, the head of U.S. special operations, had gone back to the other Navy SEALs involved in the operation -- including the "point man" -- to check Owen's story and found that the author was not accurate in his retelling. According to CNN, Pentagon officials said that bin Laden was standing in his room and, as CNN put it, "showed no signs of surrendering" when he was shot.

A Pentagon spokesperson told ABC News the Department of Defense is not confirming or denying Owen's account, saying "his account is his own."

Owen's book, which went on sale last week, was originally intended to hit bookshelves Tuesday on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks for which bin Laden was responsible. The sale date was moved up after the book's existence leaked, causing a tidal wave of controversy and demand for the first-ever inside look at the historic raid.

Owen said he plans to give a majority of the proceeds from the book to charities that support the families of fallen SEALs, but at least one major SEAL charity, The Navy SEAL Foundation, already announced it would not be accepting donations from the book sales, citing Owen's possible legal troubles.

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Summary: As top American officials and a former Navy SEAL who was on the raid that killed Osama bin Laden grapple over whether the al Qaeda leader "resisted" before he was shot, the ex-SEAL said in a recent interview that in the heat of battle, the men on the ground weren't going to take any chances with...


FORTUNE — Tony Fadell has defied skeptics before. Ten years ago, when a slick gadget he conceived and helped to build hit the market, most analysts shrugged, saying the new tech toy would be irrelevant to most people. The prediction ranks among to top bloopers in the history of tech punditry. Fadell’s gadget, the iPod, sold more than 300 million units and, in the process, revolutionized the music industry.

Now Fadell, who has been called the “father of the iPod,” is hoping to prove skeptics wrong one more time. After leading the team that built the iPod and playing a key role in the development of the iPhone, Fadell left his executive role at Apple AAPL in 2008. For the past two years, he has been hard at work quietly building a new electronic gadget. Like the iPod, it is controlled through a simple dial. And like the iPod, it’s likely to be greeted with skepticism. It is, after all, a thermostat.

But if the iPod was no ordinary music player, the thermostat built by Nest Labs, Fadell’s startup, is nothing like the drab plastic devices that control heating and air conditioning in millions of American homes. For starters, the device, which is being introduced on Tuesday and will be available in mid-November, has the kind of elegant, minimalist design that Fadell learned while working for his former boss, Steve Jobs. More important, just like the iPhone made cellphones smart, Nest wants to bring intelligence to thermostats: the device programs itself based on your daily routines and the temperatures you set. It constantly refines itself, senses your comings and goings to adjust accordingly, and automatically turns itself off when you are away.

Fadell says Nest was built on ideas that he learned at Apple, where the iPhone was conceived not as a cell phone with smarts, but rather as a computer that could make phone calls. “This is not a thermostat with a bunch of communications features,” Fadell said during a recent interview in the company’s unmarked offices in Palo Alto. “It is a computer and communications platforms with a little bit of thermostat.” And it is designed to help people cut their energy bills, he said.

The idea for Nest came out of frustration. Fadell was building an energy-efficient home near Lake Tahoe. When his contractor showed him his thermostat choices, Fadell balked. “There has to be something better,” he said. While thermostats manage roughly 50% of a home’s energy use, they haven’t changed much in years. Millions of homes are stillequipped with manual thermostats. The more advanced programmable thermostats are difficult to use and require constant adjustments. “If you want to do any kind of energy savings, you are programming them all the time,” Fadell says.

With a team of veterans from Apple, General Magic, Sling Media and Web TV, and with financing from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Google Ventures GOOG and others, Fadell set out to design and build the Nest thermostat. The device, which will be sold directly to consumers at electronic stores like Best Buy BBY for $249, comes in an elegant box and is easy to install. In the first week, it relies on manual adjustments. But after that, algorithms designed by machine learning experts, set the temperature automatically. Those algorithms refine themselves every time you manually adjust the temperature. Sensors constantly monitor temperature and humidity, as well as ambient light and activity near the device or farther away in the house. “We can see if there is anyone in your home,” says Fadell. “We learn your schedule and your temperature preferences over a week. And we adapt continuously over time.”

Adjusting the Nest thermostat is easy: you simply rotate the outer ring up or down. Pushing on the display opens a set of intuitive menus. It also can connect to your home’s Wi-Fi network, allowing you to control it remotely from a phone or tablet. PC and mobile apps allow you to monitor your energy use and savings. Fadell says that energy savings will help buyers recoup the cost of device in about a year.

While the Nest thermostat is clearly aimed at early adopters in the iPhone generation, Fadell says the potential market is large. There are some 150 million thermostats in American homes and another 100 million in small offices and businesses. Every year, some 10 million new units are sold. “That’s as many as bicycles are sold in the United States,” he says.

That may be true. But bicycle are toys that people love to play with and many fans will pay good money for bicycles they can show off. Thermostats? Not so much, which makes it all the more difficult to handicap’s Nest future.

Regardless, Fadell plans to push his company beyond thermostats. As the name Nest suggests, the company will continue to be focused on products for the home. “It’s our first product,” he says. “We have ambitions for more. There is a lack of innovation in the home and we can apply our design talents to things other than thermostats.”

Summary: He helped build the massively popular iPod and iPhone. Now, he's turned to something very different: thermostats.


LOS ANGELES, Dec. 19— A majority of Americans favor the quarantine of AIDS patients, and some would embrace measures as drastic as using tattoos to mark those with the deadly disorder, according to a poll published today.

The Los Angeles Times Poll found that 51 percent of the respondents supported a quarantine of acquired immune deficiency syndrome patients, 48 percent would approve of identity cards for those who have taken tests indicating the presence of AIDS antibodies and 15 percent supported tattooing those with AIDS.

The poll of 2,308 people was conducted by telephone Dec. 5 to 12. The margin of sampling error in the survey was three percentage points in either direction.

Seventy-seven percent of those responding said they would support a law making it a crime for homosexuals or others in groups at high risk for AIDS to donate blood, while 51 percent said they would support a law making it a crime for an AIDS patient to have sex with another person.

Although 51 percent of those polled said they favored laws to protect homosexuals against employment discrimination, AIDS notwithstanding, 45 percent said they would support testing job applicants for AIDS antibodies.

But 55 percent said they would not refuse to send their children to a classroom where another pupil had AIDS.


Can you believe that Julian Edelman considered taking a job as a fireman after college?

The Patriots wide receiver recently reminisced about that time and gave a shout-out on Facebook to Steve Miller, chief of the Ross Township Fire Department in Ohio, who welcomed him into the firehouse nine years ago.

“Going down memory lane here in Cincinnati,” Edelman wrote on Facebook. “I stopped by the Ross Township Fire Department to see chief Steve Miller. It was 9 years ago and I was looking to possibly work with Steve and his staff. He’s a good man that was going to give me a shot. I eventually decided to try and live out my dream of playing football. The fact that Steve welcomed me . . . and was willing to work with me will always mean the world. Appreciate ya Steve!”

Summary: We’re glad he decided to work for the New England Patriots instead.


A menu from the last first-class lunch served aboard the RMS Titanic sold for $88,000 at a Sept. 30th online auction. The menu exceeded the auction house’s expectations by selling for $18,000 more than the maximum price of $70,000.

The artifact was rescued from the ship by Abraham Lincoln Salomon, a New York businessman, according to the Associated Press.

Salomon was among a small number of first-class passengers who climbed aboard a lifeboat that was later nicknamed the “Money Boat” or “Millionaire’s Boat” by press due to baseless rumors that one of the passengers bribed crew members to row away from the sinking ship rather than stay to rescue others.

The menu lists an abundance of dishes—like grilled mutton chops and custard pudding—that were available for passengers to eat on April 14, 1912, and is signed on the back in pencil by another first-class passenger, Isaac Gerald Frauenthal.

The New York auction house listed the item for sale from an unidentified person who it said was a descendent of one of the survivors of the boat. The menu sold to a private collector.

Summary: It was rescued by a first-class passenger


WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Thursday declined to order the National Security Agency to end one month early its bulk collection of records about Americans’ domestic phone calls.

The three-judge panel on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit had ruled in May that the once-secret bulk phone records program was illegal. But by allowing the program to continue until Nov. 29, when it will expire under a bill passed by Congress, the court avoided making a definitive assessment of whether such bulk collection violates Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

The ruling also sidestepped a potential conflict between the appeals court and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which permitted the program to continue during a transition period.

The bulk phone records program, which the government uses to hunt for hidden associates of terrorism suspects, dates back to the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It came to light in June 2013 after the leaks by Edward J. Snowden, setting off a public debate.

The appeals court said in its decision in May that the law that the Justice Department and the surveillance court had interpreted to authorize the program, Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, could not be legitimately construed to permit bulk collection.

In early June of this year, Congress enacted the USA Freedom Act, which laid the groundwork for an alternative phone records program and said that Section 215 could not be used for bulk collection after a 180-day transition period. The Freedom Act was silent about whether the statute could be used for bulk collection during the transition.

Later in June, the government obtained permission from the surveillance court to resume the program while it built and tested a replacement system, in which the records will remain in the hands of phone companies but will be available for swift searches by the N.S.A.

In July, the American Civil Liberties Union, which had filed the case that led to the Court of Appeals’ ruling against the program, asked that the court issue an injunction against the program before the six-month transition was over. It argued that the program was still not legitimately authorized by Section 215, and that it violated the Fourth Amendment.

But the panel on Thursday declined to intervene. It said that Congress knew that it was authorizing the program to continue during a six-month transition when it enacted the Freedom Act. That stands in contrast to its earlier ruling that lawmakers never intended for Section 215 to be used for bulk collection when they enacted the Patriot Act.

And because there is only a month left, the panel said, it would be imprudent to address the weighty Fourth Amendment issues raised by the case. At issue is the question of whether modern technology has changed the meaning of privacy rights since the Supreme Court decided in 1979 that the Constitution did not protect phone metadata — logs showing who contacted whom, but not what was said.

“We agree with the government that we ought not meddle with Congress’s considered decision regarding the transition away from bulk telephone metadata collection, and also find that addressing these issues at this time would not be a prudent use of judicial authority,” Judge Gerard E. Lynch wrote. “We need not, and should not, decide such momentous constitutional issues based on a request for such narrow and temporary relief.”

Alexander Abdo of the A.C.L.U. expressed disappointment with the ruling but lauded the imminent end of the program.

“While we disagree with the appeals court’s decision, its earlier ruling and the passage of the USA Freedom Act mean that bulk collection of Americans’ call records will end in just a few weeks,” he said. “All Americans should celebrate that fact.”


“This small diversion makes things kind of bearable,” said Mr. Ramos, who also publishes an independent poetry magazine.

Catering to more than 32,000 followers, Mr. Ramos updates the feed, called Poet Temer, with his own poems as often as three times a day. He riffs on everything from Mr. Temer’s stilted, formal writing style to the graft scandals plaguing the interim president’s two-month-old administration.

As Poet Temer becomes a cult sensation among Brazilian writers and political commentators, Mr. Ramos delves occasionally into composing in English, producing rhymes reminiscent of Epic Rap Battles of History, a video series on YouTube.

i went for it all, watch out:i’m the presidentrhyming my way upthrough a bay of innocentsi rap, i laugh, recap,i ignite the roomcoup? hahahai’m the sweetest face of DOOM

Some scholars want to know why Mr. Temer decided to make a late-in-life foray into poetry.

There is a precedent of Brazilian political leaders who aspired to polish their résumés with some literary production. For instance, the Brazilian Academy of Letters, a literary society in Rio de Janeiro inspired by the Académie Française, counts numerous Brazilian political figures among its long list of so-called immortal inductees.

They include José Sarney, 86, the former president remembered for his disastrous management of Brazil’s economy in the late 1980s. A foundation in Mr. Sarney’s home state of Maranhão in northeastern Brazil still celebrates his prowess as a novelist-statesman.

Then there is Getúlio Vargas, who joined the academy in 1943 without even boasting much of a literary reputation. He did have one important factor in his favor, though: presiding over a nationalist dictatorship from 1937 to 1945.

Supporters of Mr. Temer, who has also written books on constitutional law, nevertheless sing the praises of his poetry.

“I had the privilege of reading this work when it was still a collection of scribbles,” said Gaudêncio Torquato, a political scientist who is a friend of Mr. Temer’s and an adviser. He described the interim president’s poetry as “authentic, concise and full of acute observations.”

At the launch of his poetry collection, Mr. Temer revealed that he was inspired largely by Brazilian Romantic writers of the 19th century. He cited Álvares de Azevedo, a poet whose popularity has recently grown among Brazil’s goth subculture.

In “Anonymous Intimacy,” Mr. Temer’s choice to occasionally err on the side of concision led Sensacionalista, a website that satirizes Brazil’s political class, to question whether the author of some of the verses might actually be his 7-year-old son, Michelzinho.

Their case in point: a poem titled “Radicalism.” It comprises just one line:

In a statement, Mr. Temer’s office said he was open to such reviews. “In a democratic country, such criticism is received naturally,” it said.

But on previous occasions, Mr. Temer showed himself to be sensitive to such scrutiny.

After the anthropologist and political commentator Roberto DaMatta questioned Mr. Temer’s forays into verse in a newspaper column, Mr. Temer responded by sending Mr. DaMatta a copy of his book and a letter taking issue with the criticism.

“I doubt that you’re one of those people who discourage the tenderfoots from daring to experience sentimental writing,” Mr. Temer wrote.

The exchange moved Mr. DaMatta to consider whether Brazil needed more politicians like Mr. Temer writing verse, with the hope that such writing might enlighten a political establishment soaked in scandal.

“I beg now that his poetry can illuminate, with the agony and uncertainty of every poem, this Brazil of ours, where the political stage produces such vulgar dramas without any embarrassment,” Mr. DaMatta wrote in a subsequent column.

Of course, Mr. Temer faces an array of other challenges that have little to do with how his poetry is pilloried. His government has already faced one scandal after another, prompting the resignations of top aides including his planning minister, his anticorruption minister and his tourism minister.

Mr. Temer’s own credibility also remains in question.

He was recently found guilty of violating campaign finance limits in a case that could make him ineligible to run for office for eight years. A construction executive has also testified that Mr. Temer was the beneficiary of a $300,000 bribe, a claim he denies.

More political instability may also be on the horizon. Ms. Rousseff, the suspended president, is preparing for her impeachment trial in the Senate over claims of budgetary manipulation. If Ms. Rousseff succeeds in changing the votes of fewer than 10 senators, she could reclaim the presidency.

All the drama is pushing Mr. Temer — and his poetry — further out of the shadows.

When Veja magazine recently profiled his 33-year-old wife, Marcela, a former beauty pageant contestant who wed Mr. Temer when she was just 20 (he was 62), it quoted from “Red,” the libidinous poem in which Mr. Temer describes his carnal impulses.

“It’s all just too ridiculous: the poetry, the way he became president, the much younger wife,” said Gabriel Gianordoli, 34, an information design consultant.

Mr. Gianordoli reacted by writing computer code that randomly regurgitates “Red” into new poems that are sublimely sarcastic. With his wife and two friends, he fashioned this creation into a website, “Temer the Poet.”

“If Temer can proclaim he’s a poet,” Mr. Gianordoli said, “then he can deal with the reactions his work has spawned.”

Follow Simon Romero on Twitter @viaSimonRomero.

A version of this article appears in print on July 19, 2016, on page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: Leader’s Poems Grip Brazilians, but Not in a ‘Fiery Flames’ Way. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

Summary: Amid political turmoil, the poetry of Michel Temer has become a welcome source of amusement — and offers insight into the man now at the country’s helm.


One of his most exciting and nerve-racking wartime adventures is detailed in a fascinating exhibit – the Duke’s handwritten Midshipman’s log book from HMS Valiant, which took part in the Battle of Matapan against the Italian navy off the coast of Greece in March 1941.

As his ship prepared for and engaged in battle, the Duke, then just 19, wrote: ‘The fleet’s steaming east again and the future is still in the dark.

‘Remembering the torpedo-howling attack which we witnessed on Crete, anti-aircraft action stations were closed up just before sunset …reconnaissance aircraft had found three Italian cruisers steaming eastwards in the neighbourhood of Crete… the enemy’s shooting… was getting rather too accurate…’ As the sailor in charge of the ship’s searchlight control, the Duke was later mentioned in Despatches for operating the searchlight during the Night Action.

‘I think the King’s death so early in his marriage was one of the Duke’s biggest disappointments,’ the royal biographer Hugo Vickers tells me. ‘He is a modest man and doesn’t harp on about his naval career, but there is no doubt he would have gone to the top of the Navy on merit.’

Instead, since becoming consort to the Queen, the Duke has supported the careers of others in a variety of fields. One of these is design. The Prince Philip Designers Prize, which was established in 1959, has honoured some of the grandees of British design, including James Dyson, Terence Conran and Norman Foster. ‘But what many people don’t know is that he is a very good designer himself,’ says Lady Roberts.

Opening a blue leather jewellery box, she shows me one of the most beautiful pieces that will go on display – a gold and gem-studded bracelet designed by the Duke for the Queen to mark their fifth wedding anniversary in 1952, which the Queen has loaned for the exhibition. It is the most personal of the exhibits, shown alongside photographs taken on their honeymoon in 1947 and on their diamond wedding anniversary in 2007, which illustrate an enduring 65-year love affair. Made by the jeweller Boucheron, the bracelet is decorated with the letters E and P entwined, an anchor, York roses, and red, white and blue crosses.

The exhibition will also feature two sets of cufflinks designed by the Duke that were given to members of the support team who accompanied him on two royal tours. One pair feature an anchor, palm trees and what appears to be the Taj Mahal, from the Duke’s 1959 world tour of scientific institutions, which took in India, Singapore, Hong Kong and Borneo.

Another set feature a crown and images of Australia and Antarctica, designed for his world tour in 1956 and 1957, during which he became the first member of the Royal family to cross the Antarctic Circle.

The Duke travelled to Melbourne in Royal Yacht Britannia to open the Olympics in November 1956, where he was joined on board by his friend the artist Edward Seago. To commemorate their Antarctic adventure, and honorary membership of the Order of the Red Nose, for sailors who have crossed the Antarctic Circle, Seago and the Duke designed an linocut print certificate featuring an amusing image of what may be the Duke himself with a red nose, wrapped up against the elements, with a seal and penguin looking on.

The certificate will be accompanied in the exhibition by a photograph of the Duke rolling out the ink over the linocut. Seago wrote in his diary at the time: ‘Prince Philip has really done the design for it although the wardroom asked me, but I must admit his idea is better than what I had in mind! I am amazed at his keenness and energy.’

Seago acted as the Duke’s painting mentor until his death in 1974 and his artistic influence can be seen in another exhibit, an oil painting by the Duke of Duart Castle on the Isle of Mull. The picture, which is thought to date from the Eighties [the Duke never dates his paintings] usually hangs at Balmoral, the Queen’s estate in Aberdeenshire. ‘He still paints, mostly landscapes, I think it delights him and he finds it very relaxing,’ Lady Roberts says.

The exhibition will also feature examples of the Duke’s keen interest in wildlife photography [he is president emeritus of the World Wildlife Fund], including photographs of two marine iguanas resting on a rock and a Booby mid-flight, both taken during a tour to the Galapagos in 1964.

The Duke’s passion for design came to the fore after the fire at Windsor Castle in 1992, when a blaze devastated much of the castle’s state apartments, burning the private chapel to the ground. He played a key role in the five-year restoration project and the Duke’s design for a stained-glass window for the new private chapel, where members of the Royal family worship, is another exhibit.

Sketched on a piece of graph paper, it is full of carefully thought-out symbolism – there is a phoenix rising from the ashes representing the saving of Windsor Castle and the restoration project, and good triumphing over evil in an image of St George slaying a dragon. But the true hero of the stained-glass window is a fireman, depicted by the Duke bravely wielding a hose and grappling with flames.

‘That was a traumatic event and there were several hours when it looked as if the whole castle would go,’ says Lady Roberts, who assessed the damage alongside the Duke. ‘He was there watching them, he witnessed what the firemen did to save the castle, and he wanted to pay tribute to them.’ It is an unexpected and touching gesture from a man who endlessly makes the headlines for his rather blunt turn-of-phrase.

The Duke’s great love of the outdoors is also well documented, most notably in a section dedicated to the Duke of Edinburgh Award, which he founded in 1956 to encourage young people to participate in physical pursuits. A photograph of the first expedition in February 1957 shows a group of boys, rucksacks on their backs, gathered outside a house in Buckinghamshire, beaming with the excitement of the adventure ahead.

Since then, more than six million youngsters around the world have taken part in the award, among them David Hempleman-Adams, one of Britain’s greatest adventurers. In a video clip that will go on display, Hempleman-Adams describes finding his taste for adventure as a boy of 13 heading out for his Duke of Edinburgh Award expedition. He talks of how he owes everything to that experience and of how the Duke has subsequently acted as patron of several of his expeditions.

‘He doesn’t just give his name to things, he sets them up and sees them through,’ says Lady Roberts, who also shows me a photograph of the Duke and the Princess Royal, cooking on the barbecue at Balmoral, taken by Lord Lichfield, the favourite royal photographer, in 1972. ‘When they are up at Balmoral, they act as normal people – to a point,’ she says. ‘Lunch is always outdoors and they are outside every day going on expeditions.’

There are also photographs of the Duke’s former sporting prowess as a keen polo player and a skilled carriage driver, competing in and winning many prizes at the sport’s highest level. Though he no longer competes, he still keeps a team of horses at Windsor. ‘I hope visitors to the exhibition will be impressed by the Duke’s real, personal involvement in the work with which his name is associated, and by his real achievements as a sportsman, patron and supporter of the Queen,’ Lady Roberts says.

While Buckingham Palace may have announced that the Duke will scale back some of his official duties later this year for the 800 organisations of which he is patron, the images of him on Christmas Day striding to church at Sandringham, sprightly as ever, revealed a man still full of energy and purpose.

‘I don’t imagine he’ll be shutting himself away and twiddling his thumbs,’ Lady Roberts says. ‘Just as I doubt the Queen will be winding down any time soon. Together, they make an extraordinary partnership.’

Summary: A new exhibition features a remarkable collection of war diaries, paintings,   even jewellery - all created by the same man. In his 90th year, is it   finally time to meet the real Prince Philip?


'Quack squad' hunts snails in chemical-free South African vineyard

Morning sun shines on vineyards at the Vergenoegd wine estate near Cape Town, South Africa, May 20, 2016. Each day, a quack squad of killer ducks are released for the first of two sorties at South Africa's Vergenoegd wine farm in Stellenbosch. Their mission - seek and destroy thousands of pests out to ruin the season's harvest. Fanning out across the vineyards, some 1,000 Indian Runner ducks hone in on their hidden targets with uncanny precision, locating the tiny white dune snails feasting on budding vines. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings SEARCH "DUCK HUTCHINGS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

Indian Runner ducks walk through a vineyard at the Vergenoegd wine estate near Cape Town, South Africa, May 16, 2016. Each day, a quack squad of killer ducks are released for the first of two sorties at South Africa's Vergenoegd wine farm in Stellenbosch. Their mission - seek and destroy thousands of pests out to ruin the season's harvest. Fanning out across the vineyards, some 1,000 Indian Runner ducks hone in on their hidden targets with uncanny precision, locating the tiny white dune snails feasting on budding vines. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings SEARCH "DUCK HUTCHINGS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

A group of Indian Runner ducks march past farm buildings at the Vergenoegd wine estate near Cape Town, South Africa, May 11, 2016. Each day, a quack squad of killer ducks are released for the first of two sorties at South Africa's Vergenoegd wine farm in Stellenbosch. Their mission - seek and destroy thousands of pests out to ruin the season's harvest. Fanning out across the vineyards, some 1,000 Indian Runner ducks hone in on their hidden targets with uncanny precision, locating the tiny white dune snails feasting on budding vines. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings SEARCH "DUCK HUTCHINGS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

An Indian Runner duck is seen through leaves at a vineyard at the Vergenoegd wine estate near Cape Town, South Africa, May 16, 2016. Each day, a quack squad of killer ducks are released for the first of two sorties at South Africa's Vergenoegd wine farm in Stellenbosch. Their mission - seek and destroy thousands of pests out to ruin the season's harvest. Fanning out across the vineyards, some 1,000 Indian Runner ducks hone in on their hidden targets with uncanny precision, locating the tiny white dune snails feasting on budding vines. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings SEARCH "DUCK HUTCHINGS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

A pair of Indian Runner ducks are seen at a vineyard at the Vergenoegd wine estate near Cape Town, South Africa, May 11, 2016. Each day, a quack squad of killer ducks are released for the first of two sorties at South Africa's Vergenoegd wine farm in Stellenbosch. Their mission - seek and destroy thousands of pests out to ruin the season's harvest. Fanning out across the vineyards, some 1,000 Indian Runner ducks hone in on their hidden targets with uncanny precision, locating the tiny white dune snails feasting on budding vines. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings SEARCH "DUCK HUTCHINGS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

Indian Runner ducks walk through a vineyard at the Vergenoegd wine estate near Cape Town, South Africa, May 16, 2016. Each day, a quack squad of killer ducks are released for the first of two sorties at South Africa's Vergenoegd wine farm in Stellenbosch. Their mission - seek and destroy thousands of pests out to ruin the season's harvest. Fanning out across the vineyards, some 1,000 Indian Runner ducks hone in on their hidden targets with uncanny precision, locating the tiny white dune snails feasting on budding vines. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings SEARCH "DUCK HUTCHINGS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

Indian Runner ducks are seen at a vineyard at the Vergenoegd wine estate near Cape Town, South Africa, May 16, 2016. Each day, a quack squad of killer ducks are released for the first of two sorties at South Africa's Vergenoegd wine farm in Stellenbosch. Their mission - seek and destroy thousands of pests out to ruin the season's harvest. Fanning out across the vineyards, some 1,000 Indian Runner ducks hone in on their hidden targets with uncanny precision, locating the tiny white dune snails feasting on budding vines. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings SEARCH "DUCK HUTCHINGS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

An Indian Runner duck dries off after a swim at a vineyard at the Vergenoegd wine estate near Cape Town, South Africa, May 18, 2016. Each day, a quack squad of killer ducks are released for the first of two sorties at South Africa's Vergenoegd wine farm in Stellenbosch. Their mission - seek and destroy thousands of pests out to ruin the season's harvest. Fanning out across the vineyards, some 1,000 Indian Runner ducks hone in on their hidden targets with uncanny precision, locating the tiny white dune snails feasting on budding vines. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings SEARCH "DUCK HUTCHINGS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

Indian Runner ducks walk through a vineyard at the Vergenoegd wine estate near Cape Town, South Africa, May 16, 2016. Each day, a quack squad of killer ducks are released for the first of two sorties at South Africa's Vergenoegd wine farm in Stellenbosch. Their mission - seek and destroy thousands of pests out to ruin the season's harvest. Fanning out across the vineyards, some 1,000 Indian Runner ducks hone in on their hidden targets with uncanny precision, locating the tiny white dune snails feasting on budding vines. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings SEARCH "DUCK HUTCHINGS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

Indian Runner ducks walk through a vineyard at the Vergenoegd wine estate near Cape Town, South Africa, May 16, 2016. Each day, a quack squad of killer ducks are released for the first of two sorties at South Africa's Vergenoegd wine farm in Stellenbosch. Their mission - seek and destroy thousands of pests out to ruin the season's harvest. Fanning out across the vineyards, some 1,000 Indian Runner ducks hone in on their hidden targets with uncanny precision, locating the tiny white dune snails feasting on budding vines. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings SEARCH "DUCK HUTCHINGS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

A group of Indian Runner ducks march towards a farm dam at a vineyard at the Vergenoegd wine estate near Cape Town, South Africa, May 12, 2016. Each day, a quack squad of killer ducks are released for the first of two sorties at South Africa's Vergenoegd wine farm in Stellenbosch. Their mission - seek and destroy thousands of pests out to ruin the season's harvest. Fanning out across the vineyards, some 1,000 Indian Runner ducks hone in on their hidden targets with uncanny precision, locating the tiny white dune snails feasting on budding vines. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings SEARCH "DUCK HUTCHINGS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

Indian Runner ducks march past farm buildings at the Vergenoegd wine estate near Cape Town, South Africa, May 16, 2016. Each day, a quack squad of killer ducks are released for the first of two sorties at South Africa's Vergenoegd wine farm in Stellenbosch. Their mission - seek and destroy thousands of pests out to ruin the season's harvest. Fanning out across the vineyards, some 1,000 Indian Runner ducks hone in on their hidden targets with uncanny precision, locating the tiny white dune snails feasting on budding vines. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings SEARCH "DUCK HUTCHINGS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Indian Runner ducks march past farm buildings at the Vergenoegd wine estate near Cape Town, South Africa, May 19, 2016. Each day, a quack squad of killer ducks are released for the first of two sorties at South Africa's Vergenoegd wine farm in Stellenbosch. Their mission - seek and destroy thousands of pests out to ruin the season's harvest. Fanning out across the vineyards, some 1,000 Indian Runner ducks hone in on their hidden targets with uncanny precision, locating the tiny white dune snails feasting on budding vines. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings SEARCH "DUCK HUTCHINGS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

A line of Indian Runner Ducks walk past farm buildings at the Vergenoegd wine estate near Cape Town, South Africa, May 18, 2016. Each day, a quack squad of killer ducks are released for the first of two sorties at South Africa's Vergenoegd wine farm in Stellenbosch. Their mission - seek and destroy thousands of pests out to ruin the season's harvest. Fanning out across the vineyards, some 1,000 Indian Runner ducks hone in on their hidden targets with uncanny precision, locating the tiny white dune snails feasting on budding vines. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings SEARCH "DUCK HUTCHINGS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Indian Runner ducks head to the vineyards at the Vergenoegd wine estate near Cape Town, South Africa, May 16, 2016. Each day, a quack squad of killer ducks are released for the first of two sorties at South Africa's Vergenoegd wine farm in Stellenbosch. Their mission - seek and destroy thousands of pests out to ruin the season's harvest. Fanning out across the vineyards, some 1,000 Indian Runner ducks hone in on their hidden targets with uncanny precision, locating the tiny white dune snails feasting on budding vines. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings SEARCH "DUCK HUTCHINGS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

A group of Indian Runner ducks march past farm buildings at the Vergenoegd wine estate near Cape Town, South Africa, May 11, 2016. Each day, a quack squad of killer ducks are released for the first of two sorties at South Africa's Vergenoegd wine farm in Stellenbosch. Their mission - seek and destroy thousands of pests out to ruin the season's harvest. Fanning out across the vineyards, some 1,000 Indian Runner ducks hone in on their hidden targets with uncanny precision, locating the tiny white dune snails feasting on budding vines. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings SEARCH "DUCK HUTCHINGS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

A farmworker stacks boxes of wine for sale at the Vergenoegd wine estate near Cape Town, South Africa, May 20, 2016. Each day, a quack squad of killer ducks are released for the first of two sorties at South Africa's Vergenoegd wine farm in Stellenbosch. Their mission - seek and destroy thousands of pests out to ruin the season's harvest. Fanning out across the vineyards, some 1,000 Indian Runner ducks hone in on their hidden targets with uncanny precision, locating the tiny white dune snails feasting on budding vines. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings SEARCH "DUCK HUTCHINGS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

A farmworker carries a box of Runner Duck wine past barrels at the Vergenoegd wine estate near Cape Town, South Africa, May 20, 2016. Each day, a quack squad of killer ducks are released for the first of two sorties at South Africa's Vergenoegd wine farm in Stellenbosch. Their mission - seek and destroy thousands of pests out to ruin the season's harvest. Fanning out across the vineyards, some 1,000 Indian Runner ducks hone in on their hidden targets with uncanny precision, locating the tiny white dune snails feasting on budding vines. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings SEARCH "DUCK HUTCHINGS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

STELLENBOSCH, South Africa, May 25 (Reuters) - At 9.45 a.m. each day, more than 1,000 Indian Runner ducks are released for the first of two sorties at South Africa's Vergenoegd vineyard in Stellenbosch.

Their mission: seek and eat thousands of tiny white dune snails feasting on budding vines.

"Before we had the ducks we had to put down snail bait, a pesticide. But, for the past nine years I have been here we've used very little snail bait, almost nothing, because the ducks eat all the snails and other insects," vintner and horticulturalist, Marlize Jacobs, told Reuters.

Used for centuries in Asia to control pests, the ducks stand upright like penguins and are slim enough to fit between rows of vines. And they do not waddle, they run.

The flock, which started with six ducks in 1983, gives Vergenoegd extra points in the wine industry's sustainability certification process as the 57-hectare vineyard now uses so little chemicals it does not need to declare them, Jacobs said.

Parading on the farm each day, the soldier-like birds are guided by a herder and can clear between half a hectare and a whole hectare a day, of the snails that are, besides fungal diseases, considered as the main threat to vines at the farm.

"All over the industry and all over the world, dangerous harmful pesticides are being fazed out, so I believe one day you will be forced to use alternative methods because pesticides kill all insects, even the friendly insects," Jacobs said.

However, the high costs of keeping the birds are a downside.

On a similar sized farm, growers could spend about 50,000 rand ($3,200) a season for pesticides, compared with 30,000 for just a month on ducks, which are kept in protective pens and are fed grain to augment their snail diet, said Jacobs.

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Summary: Each day, more than 1,000 ducks are released into the vineyard to take care of pests in place of pesticide.


India continued to mourn one of its most beloved Presidents and iconic leaders on Tuesday, as tributes and condolences poured in for A.P.J. Abdul Kalam following his sudden passing Monday evening.

The Indian government declared a seven-day state mourning until Aug. 2 during which national flags across the country will be flown at half-mast, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

Kalam, 83, collapsed from an apparent cardiac arrest while delivering a lecture to a group of students in India’s northeastern city of Shillong and was declared dead at the hospital about two hours later. His body was flown to the country’s capital, New Delhi, on Tuesday afternoon, where it was received by the chiefs of all three military branches as well as several politicians including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and current President Pranab Mukherjee. It will then be taken to his residence in the city in order for people to pay their respects before being flown to his hometown Rameshwaram, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, for the last rites, Indian broadcaster NDTV reported.

Modi earlier mourned Kalam’s loss on Twitter, calling him “a great scientist, a wonderful President and above all an inspiring individual.”

Dr. Kalam…my mind is filled with so many memories, so many interactions with him. Always marvelled at his intellect, learnt so much from him

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 27, 2015

Mukherjee, who took office after Kalam’s successor Pratibha Patil, also tweeted a heartfelt tribute before announcing that he would make an unscheduled return to New Delhi from his tour of the country’s south.

The passing away of former President of India, Bharat Ratna Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam is a deep personal loss for me #PresidentMukherjee

— President of India (@RashtrapatiBhvn) July 27, 2015

International leaders like former Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also added their condolences via social media.

Our deepest condolences on the passing of the 11th President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. May God place him in His decent place. *SBY*

— S. B. Yudhoyono (@SBYudhoyono) July 28, 2015

Condolences to the friends and family of India's former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. His passing is a loss to the scientific community.

— Mohd Najib Tun Razak (@NajibRazak) July 28, 2015

Saddened to learn of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s passing. My condolences to his family and the people of India. – LHL http://t.co/4582TrJFK6

— Lee Hsien Loong (@leehsienloong) July 28, 2015

Although the office of the President in India is a largely ceremonial one, with the Prime Minister as the de facto head of state, Kalam used his tenure to reach out to the masses — India’s youth in particular — which earned him the moniker the People’s President.

He is also commonly referred to as the Missile Man of India, a reference to his role in shaping India’s missile program during his tenures at India’s space and defense-research agencies respectively from the 1960s to the 1990s. He was also a key player in India’s emergence as a nuclear power, playing an integral part in the country’s infamous nuclear tests of 1998.

Few Indian leaders in the 21st century enjoyed the kind of popular support experienced by Kalam, evidenced by the near-unanimous backing of his election as India’s 11th President in 2002 among all the parties across India’s fractious political spectrum, as well as the overwhelming outpouring of grief at his death.

Born in a small town in Tamil Nadu in 1931 to a boatman father, Kalam always encouraged young people to follow their dreams and genuinely believed India could be the next superpower. He advocated as much through his best-selling books like India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium and Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India, as well as his iconic autobiography Wings of Fire.

“My message, especially to young people, is to have courage to think differently, courage to invent, to travel the unexplored path, courage to discover the impossible and to conquer the problems and succeed,” he once said. “These are the great qualities that they must work towards.”

Summary: He died on Monday aged 83.


If you’re thinking about selling your house, you might want to slap a coat of paint on your walls.

According to a new analysis from Zillow, homes with yellow kitchens command an average of $1,360 more than homes with white kitchens.

Some other colors, like sage green, dove gray, and what Zillow called “warm, earthy tones” also turn up in houses that fetch higher than average prices.

But not all colors enhance a home’s value: Grays and browns, for example, don’t help. Houses with dark- or slate-gray dining rooms sell for about $1,100 less than the average, and orange-brown terra-cotta in a living room knocks about $800 off a home’s value. Keep brown out of the bedroom and bathroom, too, Zillow suggests.

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The best bet, it seems, are neutral paint colors. The yellow recommended by Zillow for kitchens isn’t a brilliant sunny yellow or lemon yellow. Instead, think more along the lines of a creamy or wheat-colored yellow.

Surprisingly, purple is a white-hot hue for dining rooms: Zillow found that dining rooms painted “mauve, eggplant or lavender” are found in homes that are worth around $1,100 more.

But in general, stick with subtle color schemes, says Zillow chief economist Svenja Gudell.

As always, it’s hard to distinguish correlation from causation—in other words, the data isn’t entirely clear on whether certain colors actually increase the value of a home or if homes that buyers value highly just tend to be decorated this way.

Either way, a fresh coat of paint is a cost effective way to freshen up a home before showing it to potential buyers, and it makes sense to stick with the tried and true. “Warm neutrals like yellow or light gray are stylish and clean,” Zillow chief economist Svenja Gudell said, because they subtly imply “an eye for design that may translate to other areas within the house.”

Summary: White walls are not the answer.


For homeowners who plan to stay put, adjustable-rate mortgages may not be the best way to go. But with interest rates so low, even fixed-rate mortgages are appealingly low at the moment — well under 4 percent. While they have risen a little since the post-Brexit low, as of July 26, the average for a 30-year fixed-rate refinance was 3.45 percent, and 2.74 percent for a 15-year fixed-rate refinance, according to Bankrate.com.

Astrid Hanenkamp, 45, was pleasantly surprised to find that she could do significantly better than the 4 percent fixed-rate mortgage she carried on her two-bedroom co-op in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of West Harlem. After making a casual inquiry with Jordan Roth, a vice president of Guardhill Financial Corporation in Manhattan, who helped with her purchase loan in 2012, Ms. Hanenkamp, a fashion designer, is planning to close on a refinancing next month with another 30-year mortgage, at a rate of 3.375 percent. Even after taking out a little cash from her equity for a bathroom remodel, she expects her monthly payment to drop from about $1,100 to around $980.

Ms. Hanenkamp said she felt more comfortable sticking with a longer-term loan with a lower monthly payment because she has no plans to move — she married last year and is perfectly happy where she is — and wants the peace of mind of knowing she can cover her mortgage. And in any case, she added, “if I have extra money, I can always apply it to the principal” as an extra payment.

Refinancing a co-op is less expensive than refinancing other kinds of residential property, Mr. Roth pointed out: Because co-ops are not classified as real property, some closing costs like title insurance do not apply. Still, borrowers may be limited in what they can do. “Some co-ops may only allow fixed-rate products, or they may have very tight guidelines when it comes to cash-out and maximum LTVs,” he said, referring to the loan-to-value, or the percentage of the property that is mortgaged.

Another condition specific to New Yorkers: Homeowners may seek an exemption from the state’s hefty mortgage recording tax when refinancing an existing mortgage, since they already paid it once. (Co-op owners do not have to pay the tax at all.) But if they are switching lenders, they must request that the existing lender assign, or transfer, the mortgage to the new lender through what is called a Consolidation, Extension and Modification Agreement (CEMA).

The vast majority of lenders are willing to do that, but some refuse or make it difficult, said John C. Prom, a branch manager for HomeBridge Financial Services, in Manhattan. Because lenders are under no obligation, borrowers occasionally end up paying the tax anyway. And the CEMA process itself entails certain fees, which can vary from lender to lender — from around $500 to about $2,000 — so borrowers should inquire about that up front.

Another thing to consider: Borrowers who are well into a 30-year mortgage should try to shorten the term of the new mortgage when they refinance, if they can afford to do so and plan to stay put, said David Edwards, the president of Heron Wealth, an independent wealth advisory firm in New York. “If you have 20 years left on your 30-year mortgage, and you roll into another 30-year, you’re going to hit retirement still paying,” he said. “Go into a 15-year mortgage and cough up the higher payments now.”

Sanjay Tillu, 52, thought along those lines when refinancing a house he owns as a rental investment in Secaucus, N.J., where he lives in another home with his wife, Manisha Batra, and their 7- and 11-year-old sons. He bought the house in 2004, financing it with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 5.25 percent, then refinancing into a 30-year mortgage at 4.5 percent about five years later. (If it had been his primary residence, he might have gotten a better rate, but lenders typically charge slightly higher rates on investment properties.)

Now, working with Mr. Prom of HomeBridge Financial Services, Mr. Tillu, the chief financial officer for an importer and manufacturer of home goods, is refinancing into a 15-year loan at the far better rate of 3.37 percent. “I may pay $150 to $200 more a month, but because the property is fetching me good revenue, I don’t mind,” said Mr. Tillu, who is hoping to close on the loan in the next week or so. “With John’s help, I’m saving a lot in interest and cutting down the number of years.”

He estimates that it will take him five or six years to cover his closing costs, but that’s fine, he said, because he has no intention of selling.

Homeowners who have been dragging their feet about refinancing still have time to act. Ms. Lantz, of Zillow, predicts that rates will likely stay below 4 percent for the remainder of the year. And according to the most recent consumer credit access survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the rejection rate on refinance applications has dropped in the last year, indicating that credit is easier to get. However, that trend may be reversing: As of June, 17.3 percent of consumers surveyed said they had been rejected for refinancing at some point in the last year, compared with 9.7 percent in February.

One way or the other, borrowers should be prepared for a rigorous review process. Given the tighter mortgage regulations since the recession and lenders’ fairly conservative underwriting standards, “everything’s much more difficult” than it once was, Mr. Prom said. “The amount of data you need to get people closed is crazy in terms of what’s required.”

Mr. Shnayder, of Citizens Bank, also said that the documentation requirements can go “overboard.” But borrowers can avoid running into problems by seeking out an experienced mortgage professional who will foresee potential pitfalls and work around them, he said.

Mr. Tillu said his lender did require extensive documentation, though he was able to supply it easily in digital format. As for the inconvenience, he regards it as similar to putting up with security checks at the airport. If tighter rules mean a more secure and stable financial system, he said, he’s not going to complain.

Summary: Following the drop in rates after the Brexit vote in June, refinancing applications rose to the highest level since January 2015.


When President Obama announced last year that the United States would normalize relations with Cuba, he said doing so would “cut loose the shackles of the past.” No longer would the U.S. be bound by the vestiges of a strategic era long past. In moving beyond a “rigid policy” that was “rooted in events that took place before most of us were born,” Washington and Havana would be writing a “new chapter” in bilateral relations not only between the two countries but also for the region as a whole.

Whatever the merits of Mr....

Summary: The U.S. ‘cut loose the shackles of the past’ with Cuba, but keeps its Taiwan policy rigid as ever, says Gary Schmitt in The Wall Street Journal.


Blackstone, whose primary business includes buying and selling companies and real estate assets, as well as lending to them and buying their debt, faced restrictions on the use of its advisory arm.

"As the largest alternative asset manager in the world, and with our investing areas considerably broader and larger than even a few years ago, we have not been free to aggressively grow our advisory businesses further out of concern for potential conflicts," Blackstone Chief Executive Stephen Schwarzman said in a statement.

Following a tax-free spin-off that is expected in 2015, Blackstone's current shareholders will own 65 percent of the new publicly listed company. Taubman, his firm's partners and Blackstone's advisory employees will own the rest.

Blackstone's advisory businesses being spun out account for a tiny fraction of the New York firm's earnings, generating about $185 million of revenue for the six months to the end of June. Blackstone had total revenue of $3.7 billion in the same period.

Blackstone shares rose in early trading in New York following the announcement. (Get the latest quote here.)

—Reuters contributed to this report.

Summary: Blackstone announced plans to spin off its financial advisory business, its restructuring services, and its Park Hill fund businesses into one entity.