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The U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday that 16 million children living in America received food stamps in 2014, or about one out of every five kids. Census said that number is up dramatically from 2007, before the Great Recession, when 9 million kids were receiving food stamps, or about one in eight. The data comes from Census’ 2014 survey on families. “The rate of children living with married parents who receive food stamps has doubled since 2007,” Census said. The findings are likely to bolster claims from some Republicans that the Obama administration seems to have a goal of putting more people under government aid programs. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in 2012 called President Barack Obama the “food stamp president,” which led some to say his comment was racist. The debate over food stamps has led to a sort of chicken-and-egg argument between Republicans and Democrats. The GOP has said the end of the recession should allow Congress to reduce spending on food stamps. While Democrats have tried to give President Barack Obama credit for a rebounding economy, they also note that millions of additional people are using food stamps, and that the program should not be cut yet. The total number of people using food stamps has almost doubled since the start of the Great Recession, to nearly 48 million in 2013. The number finally dipped from that peak in 2014, but just a little, to about 46 million people. Republicans have tried since 2013 to cut food stamp spending, as part of their overall plan to slow spending and get control of the budget deficit. In 2013, the House voted to cut $39 billion from food stamps over a decade, and almost a year ago, President Barack Obama signed a final deal that will cut just $8.7 billion from the program over ten years. That cut was estimated to reduce food stamp benefits by about $90 per month for the hundreds of thousands of homes that use them. ||||| WASHINGTON The number of children in the United States relying on food stamps for a meal spiked to 16 million last year, according federal data, signaling a lopsided economic recovery in which lower income families are still lagging behind. The roughly one in five children who received food stamps in 2014 surpassed pre-recession levels, when one in eight or 9 million children were on food stamps, according to the U.S. Census survey of American families released on Wednesday Republicans in Congress have sought to cut back on the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program or food stamp program as part of a larger plan to balance the budget. Early last year lawmakers proposed $40 billion in cuts from the program over 10 years. The final farm bill signed into law trimmed $8.6 billion from the program, eliminating benefits for about 850,000 people, according to estimates by anti-hunger advocates. Other findings of the survey show a rapidly changing America in which more children are being raised in single-parent homes and more young people are delaying marriage. Of the 73.7 million children under 18 in the United States, 27 percent were living in single parent homes last year, tripling the 9 percent in 1960. The number of marriages also dwindled last year with less than half of households in America made up of married couples, compared to three-quarters in 1940, the survey found. The median age for people first getting married in 2014 was 29 for men and 27 for women up from 24 and 21 respectively in 1947. (Reporting by Elvina Nawaguna; Editing by Sandra Maler) ||||| The number of children receiving food stamps remains higher than it was before the start of the Great Recession in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s annual Families and Living Arrangements table package released today. The rate of children living with married parents who receive food stamps has doubled since 2007. In 2014, an estimated 16 million children, or about one in five, received food stamp assistance compared with the roughly 9 million children, or one in eight, that received this form of assistance prior to the recession. These statistics come from the 2014 Current Population Survey’s Annual Social and Economic Supplement, which has collected statistics on families and living arrangements for more than 60 years. Today’s table package delves into the characteristics of households, including the marital status of the householders and their relationship to the children residing in the household. The historical data on America’s families and living arrangements can be found on census.gov.

– There are roughly 73.7 million kids running around America, and about 16 million, or nearly one in five, of them are doing so fueled by food stamps, according to US Census data out yesterday. That number is particularly alarming when compared to pre-recession levels: In 2007, some 9 million, or one in eight, kids were on food stamps. There are currently about 46 million Americans total on food stamps, down from the 2013 peak of 48 million. The jump signals what Reuters says is a "lop-sided" economic recovery that has left low-income people behind, but it also underscores a fundamental partisan divide over social welfare programs. As the Blaze notes, Republicans want to scale back the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program—arguing that the end of the recession should indicate less need—and trimmed $8.6 billion and 850,000 people from its rolls with last year's farm bill. Democrats, meanwhile, argue that it's too soon to scale back the program. Meanwhile, some other highlights from the Census numbers: 27% of children live in single-parent homes, three times the 9% who did in 1960 10% of kids live with a grandparent, 15% have a stay-at-home mom, 0.6% have a stay-at-home dad, and 38% have at least one foreign-born parent 48% of households are made up of married couples, down from 76% in 1940 Americans are continuing to marry later, at a median age of 29 for men and 27 for women; that's up from 24 and 21 in 1947

Image courtesy of Facebook On Feb. 4, 2004, in his Harvard dorm room, Mark Zuckerberg launched thefacebook.com, a website where college students could post information about themselves, trade messages, and become virtual “friends” with one another. It was entering an already-crowded field of social networks. Friendster was the world’s most popular at the time, but it was about to be overtaken by a one-year-old upstart called MySpace. Google had launched Orkut just weeks earlier. Will Oremus Will Oremus is Slate’s senior technology writer. Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Facebook was different because it was only for college students, featured a clean layout devoid of spam, and had no immediate plans to make money. It was an instant hit. “I assume I’ll eventually make something profitable,” Zuckerberg shrugged in a June 2004 interview with the Harvard student newspaper. (It took him a while, but Facebook turned its first profit in 2009, and last year it reported a profit of some $1.5 billion on nearly $8 billion in revenues.) By December the site had 1 million users, and it hadn’t even added its photo-upload feature yet. Here’s what thefacebook.com looked like in 2005, a year after it launched: Image courtesy of Facebook Image courtesy of Facebook Advertisement Over the years it piled on the features. Some, like News Feed and the like button, changed the Internet forever. Others, like Facebook Gifts, not so much. For its 10th birthday, Facebook has put together a timeline of significant events in its own history. It reflects a bit of a selective memory—you won’t find Gifts, Beacon, or the site’s short-lived experiment with democracy on this timeline. But then, that’s part of what made Facebook so appealing in the first place: the ability to edit your own image to your liking. Image courtesy of Facebook The timeline is one of several features that Facebook released Monday night, on the eve of its anniversary. On Tuedsay it will unveil a product called “A Look Back” that lets users make a personal movie or slideshow of their favorite moments in their lives since they joined Facebook. The company also launched a slick new iPhone app, Paper, in the App Store on Monday. Here’s Zuckerberg’s statement on the eve of his brainchild’s 10th birthday: It's been an incredible journey so far, and I'm so grateful to be a part of it. It's been amazing to see how people have used Facebook to build a real community and help each other in so many ways. In the next decade, we have the opportunity and responsibility to connect everyone and to keep serving the community as best we can. Advertisement ||||| When Mark E. Zuckerberg ’06 grew impatient with the creation of an official universal Harvard facebook, he decided to take matters into his own hands. After about a week of coding, Zuckerberg launched thefacebook.com last Wednesday afternoon. The website combines elements of a standard House face book with extensive profile features that allow students to search for others in their courses, social organizations and Houses. “Everyone’s been talking a lot about a universal face book within Harvard,” Zuckerberg said. “I think it’s kind of silly that it would take the University a couple of years to get around to it. I can do it better than they can, and I can do it in a week.” As of yesterday afternoon, Zuckerberg said over 650 students had registered use thefacebook.com. He said that he anticipated that 900 students would have joined the site by this morning. “I’m pretty happy with the amount of people that have been to it so far,” he said. “The nature of the site is that each user’s experience improves if they can get their friends to join it.” But Director of Residential Computing Kevin S. Davis ’98 said that the creation of a Harvard facebook was not as far off as Zuckerberg predicted. Advertisement “There is a project internally with computer services to create a facebook,” Davis said. “We’ve been in touch with the Undergraduate Council, and this is a very high priority for the College. We have every intention of completing the facebook by the end of the spring semester.” Davis said that the principle complication with the creation of an official facebook was figuring out how to design an interface so that directory information could not easily be compiled without authorization. Zuckerberg’s site allows people with Harvard e-mail addresses to upload their pictures and personal and academic information. Just as with the popular website Friendster, which Zuckerberg said was a model for his new website, members can search for people according to their interests and can create an online network of friends. Lisa H. Feigenbaum ’04 said that she joined thefacebook.com because it provided an open alternative to the password-protected House facebooks. “If there was a situation where you needed to identify someone for an organization or a meeting, it would be very helpful,” she said. Zuckerberg said that the most innovative feature of the site is that people can search for other students in their classes so that they can branch out to form friendships and study groups. “If you’re in a class where you don’t vknow anyone and want to ask somebody for help, this is a way to find out the names of people in that class,” said thefacebook.com user Roberto C. Acosta ’05. Zuckerberg said that the extensive search capabilities are restricted by a myriad of privacy options for members who do not want everyone to be able to look up their information. “There are pretty intensive privacy options,” he said. “You can limit who can see your information, if you only want current students to see your information, or people in your year, in your house, in your classes. You can limit a search so that only a friend or a friend of a friend can look you up. People have very good control over who can see their information.” Zuckerberg said that he hoped the privacy options would help to restore his reputation following student outrage over facemash.com, a website he created in the fall semester. ||||| As Mark Zuckerberg reflects upon Facebook's first 10 years today, he's encouraging the community he built to do the same. Starting this morning, hundreds of millions of Facebook users will receive a notification that a video summary of their life so far on Facebook is ready to watch. Each user's "Look Back" compilation contains 15 or so of their most-liked photos, statuses, and life events set to a catchy tune. The videos are a bit cheesy, but are potent reminders that for many of us, Facebook has become a very normal way to document our daily lives. A small team at Facebook spent the last few months crafting the videos and ensuring that the company had the necessary resources to render hundreds of millions of HD videos and send them out to users. Facebook has issued Year In Review compilations before, after all, but never in video form. Two groups within Facebook played a particularly important role: Everstore, the team in charge of media storage, and Moonshot, the team tasked with allocating idle server power to doing some heavy lifting whenever possible. The social network is still 'A Mark Zuckerberg Production' Facebook's engineering lead on the project, Nick Kwiatek, calls Look Back one of the company's largest video projects of all time. "One of the things that motivated us was that there's really only a handful of companies that could take on something like this — that could render videos for as many people as we can," he says. After spending several weeks optimizing the company's servers for the unusual task, his team effectively cut down the time required to render one video from 17 minutes to just one. The final result might look more like a Bar Mitzvah video than an epic montage of your life, but for most people, it will be worth watching. And if you look hard, you'll find Mark Zuckerberg's signature below each video. A lot has changed in 10 years, but perhaps one thing hasn't: the social network is still "A Mark Zuckerberg Production."

– In Internet terms, Facebook is already ancient. Today, the social network marks its 10th anniversary, and it's inviting hundreds of millions of users to share in the fun via "Look Back" videos. The project, overseen by multiple teams within the company, shows about 15 of your "most-liked" posts over music, the Verge reports. They began appearing this morning. "One of the things that motivated us was that there's really only a handful of companies that could take on something like this—that could render videos for as many people as we can," says the project's head. Mark Zuckerberg also offers a note to users: "It's rare to be able to touch so many people's lives, and I try to remind myself to make the most of every day and have the biggest impact I can," he writes. "It's been amazing to see how all of you have used our tools to build a real community." He also addresses the future: "Today, social networks are mostly about sharing moments. In the next decade, they'll also help you answer questions and solve complex problems." Feeling nostalgic? Here's the Harvard Crimson's 2004 report on the "hundreds" joining thefacebook.com, or Slate has its own "look back."

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A winter storm was bearing down on the Northeast, promising heavy snows, strong winds and bitter temperatures that will make commutes hazardous for the first work day of the new year. People enjoy a snow-covered Cloud Gate at Millennium Park in downtown Chicago, which became a great photo opportunity for visitors, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014. As much as 9 inches of snow has fallen in some... (Associated Press) Snow began falling overnight in parts of New England and New York but the real brunt of the storm wasn't expected to hit until later Thursday. As much as a foot of snow or more was forecast for some areas overnight Thursday into Friday, and temperatures were expected to plummet, with some areas seeing highs just above zero, the National Weather Service said. "There will be travel problems," said Hugh Johnson, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Albany, N.Y. "It will be very cold." Up to 14 inches of snow is forecast for the Boston area and the National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for Long Island — where 8 to 10 inches of snow could fall and winds could gust up to 45 mph — from Thursday evening into Friday afternoon. The storm dropped a half-foot or more of snow in Illinois on Wednesday, prompting hundreds of flight cancellations into and out of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, according to the aviation tracking website FlightAware.com. More than 900 U.S. flights were canceled for Thursday, with O'Hare and Newark Liberty International most affected. Authorities said the weather may have been a factor in a fatal crash Wednesday evening involving a pickup and a bus carrying casino patrons in Indiana. Police said the truck's driver was killed and 15 bus passengers were hurt in the collision on a snow-covered and slushy highway in Rolling Prairie. Sections of interior southern New England and New York could get up to a foot of snow by the time the storm moves out, with forecasts generally calling for 6 to 12 inches. New York City, likely to see 3 to 7 inches, issued a snow alert. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged the city's commuters to leave their cars at home in case major highways are closed for Thursday's evening rush hour. "We are looking at a serious storm situation," Cuomo said. Although lesser amounts of snow were forecast to the south, Philadelphia and parts of southern New Jersey were expected to see 3 to 7 inches of blowing, drifting snow. In Toms River, N.J., Jonas Caldwell said he was prepared for whatever the storm might bring. "Santa brought me a snow blower, and I've got rock salt for the ice, so now I'm just waiting for the storm," he said while grabbing a coffee at a convenience store. Caldwell, an investment adviser, said he could work from home if necessary, but he was hoping that wouldn't be the case. "There are too many distractions at home," he said. "But I won't be stupid ... If it gets as bad as they say it will be, or looks like it will, I'll be staying put." In Hartford, Hal Guy, of nearby Glastonbury, was shopping for snow shovels — three, to be exact. "We broke a couple in the last storm," he said. "We have four kids, so, three shovels, and we still have a little one back home." Guy said three of his kids, girls ages 8, 10 and 12, have been out of school for two weeks for the holidays and hope to get a couple more days off with the snow. Over in Maine, where some communities are still recovering from a recent ice storm that cut power to more than 100,000 customers, people seemed prepared for more winter weather. Kelly St. Denis, of Auburn, went skiing Wednesday at the Sunday River ski area with family and friends. She said it's been cold but the skiing has been good. "Hey, it's winter in Maine," she said. "We go with it." ___ Associated Press writers Wilson Ring in Montpelier, Vt., Holly Ramer in Concord, N.H., and David Sharp in Portland, Maine, and Bruce Shipkowski in Toms River, N.J., contributed to this report. ||||| Story highlights Midnight, Friday's midday high tides could produce coastal flooding in Massachusetts Website: Over 2,200 U.S. flights are canceled Thursday; about 1,000 so far Friday Parts of New York, Massachusetts and Maine are under blizzard warnings In addition to the snow and wind, frigid temperatures are a major concern An onslaught of fast-falling snow, whipping winds and bitter cold socked parts of the Northeast on Thursday, spurring a slew of travel woes, highway closures and worries that the headaches will only get worse as temperatures fall further. This kind of weather, this time of year, in this region is nothing new: Connecticut's governor, for instance, noted the snow totals won't come close to the 40 inches that buried parts of his state last February. At the same time, by Thursday night, it was already causing a mess -- whether you were waiting at an airport, had skidded off a road or were stuck at home hoping that your lights and perhaps your heat wouldn't suddenly stop working. "Mother Nature has come to wish us happy new year," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. The nor'easter, forming off the East Coast of the United States, prompted blizzard warnings from Thursday into Friday for New York's Long Island, Cape Cod, Massachusetts' South and North Shores, plus communities along Maine's coast. Boston, for example, was already getting buried by snow late Thursday afternoon. About one-third of the nation, approximately 100 million people in 22 states, was in the path of the storm, which was expected to be at its fiercest between 8 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. Friday, according to CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen. The complicated storm system "will raise havoc" this week, dumping a foot of snow and spreading subzero wind chills across parts of the region, the National Weather Service warned. "Falling and blowing snow with strong winds and poor visibilities are likely," the Weather Service said . "This will lead to whiteout conditions making travel extremely dangerous. Do not travel." Across the country, the nasty weather has snarled travel plans for many. More than 2,200 U.S. flights had been canceled as of 10:45 p.m. Thursday, reported FlightAware.com , which tracks cancellations due to weather and mechanical problems. It's not like things will suddenly clear up: the same website reports that some 1,000 flights already have been canceled in advance for Friday. Thursday's most affected airport was Chicago's O'Hare, with more than 650 cancellations in and out and about the same number of delays. Newark's Liberty International Airport, New York's LaGuardia and Cleveland's Hopkins also were affected. American, US Airways, United, Many airlines are allowing passengers to make fee-free itinerary changes for destinations expected to be affected by winter storms. Delta Southwest/AirTran and JetBlue have all posted weather advisories on their websites. Inside some airports, would-have-been travelers scrambled to rearrange flights or find a place to stay knowing that some things were out of their control. "The warning has been coming for a couple of days, so we expected it," a man from South Carolina said from Boston's Logan Airport, as he headed with his family to a hotel and, hopefully, a Boston Bruins game knowing they couldn't fly, reported CNN affiliate WCVB . "We are stuck, we'll make the best of it." Brenda Kopytko is luckily home in South Windsor, Connecticut, having ventured out into the snow earlier. A New England winter veteran, she's taking it in stride -- "This is nothing" -- if not the possibility of strong winds and power outages, particularly after being in the dark for nine days after last winter's storm. "Once the winds start going and the branches start snapping, then I get a little nervous," Kopytko said. Here's a breakdown of what to expect where: New York and Long Island As of Thursday night, New York City was under a winter storm warning, as were many other densely populated areas in seven other states. The city of 8 million people could get 9 inches of snow, subzero wind chills and turbulent winds, forecasters said. New York City is expecting to see 6 to 12 inches of snow overnight, with more possible on Long Island, where Nassau and Suffolk counties will be under a blizzard warning until 1 p.m. Friday, with predictions of 8 to 10 inches of snow, wind chills as low as 10 below zero and sustained winds of at least 35 mph. Bitter cold will follow, with temperatures in the single digits by Saturday morning. Upstate, the capital city of Albany could get buried under 14 inches of snow, with wind chills of 15 to 25 below zero, the National Weather Service said. Cuomo declared a state of emergency for all of New York shortly after 3:45 p.m. Thursday, one of several steps taken to try to minimize the wild wintry weather's toll. Among them is shutting down parts of Interstate 84, an east-west highway that goes from Connecticut to Pennsylvania, to commercial vehicles late Thursday afternoon, with nearby I-87 south of Albany closing at midnight. That's the same time the Long Island Expressway -- in a different part of the state -- will close to traffic at the border between Nassau County and the Queens borough of New York. The hope is to reopen all these roads around 5 a.m., though that timing is very much subject to change. "We'll make sure no one is in a state of danger on those roads," said Cuomo. Massachusetts By Friday night, Boston is expected to be covered by 10 to 18 inches of snow, about twice the amount forecast just one day ago, and shivering in temperatures as low as 6 degrees below zero. Citing likely "near blizzard" conditions Thursday night into late Friday morning, the state's emergency management agency warned that some areas could be hit hard -- including up to two feet of snow on parts of the North Shore and South Shore, as well as Cape Cod. The forecast was so bad for Boston that the city canceled school for Friday two days in advance, with scores of other school districts quickly following suit. "I guess Mother Nature wanted to give me one more gift," Mayor Thomas Menino told reporters Thursday in one of his last days in the job he has held since 1993. "Take precautions and take public transportation and take care of one another," he urged. But, he added, the city was doing its part, with 700 pieces of equipment on city streets. "Our team is ready," he said. The combination of extreme cold, snow and strong winds had officials at homeless shelters preparing. "Our main emphasis is getting people inside, where it is safer and warmer," said Jennifer Harris, a spokeswoman for the Pine Street Inn shelter system in Boston, where a snow emergency has been declared. "Pine Street Inn is making sure to have extra staff and food and water. We are geared up to provide to a greater number of people." Blizzard warnings haven't been issued for Boston itself, but are in effect for parts of nearby Essex and Plymouth counties -- including the communities of Gloucester, Brockton and Plymouth -- as well as the Cape. Because of the storm, the state Emergency Management Agency warned that the midnight and Friday midday high tides could produce "significant flooding" along the coast. To this point, the towns of Scituate and Duxbury requested voluntary evacuations for residents of certain low-lying areas. Connecticut Wind chills in parts of Connecticut are expected to range from -5 to -20 degrees Thursday night and Friday; the National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for most of the state through Friday morning. Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy urged residents to take it slow and give themselves extra time for their commutes Thursday and Friday. He said he expects there will be delays, but not cancellations, in public transit. Addressing reporters, Malloy said the worst time for the state would be overnight -- between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., when there could be blizzard conditions. Still, the storm's impact could linger well beyond that if roads are blocked or the electricity goes out. He acknowledged that this kind of weather is hardly unprecedented in Connecticut this time of year. Still, the governor added, what sets this system apart is the frigid temperatures forecast for the coming days. That's a big concern throughout the region, especially for the homeless and people stranded -- whether along a road or inside without adequate heat or power -- by the bad weather. "(This) is not a big New England storm, but it is a particularly cold New England storm," Malloy said. Chicago and points beyond Seven to 11 inches of snow were possible Thursday in Chicago, according to the National Weather Service. Windy City residents will feel frigid temps -- wind chills during the day Friday will creep down to minus 12 -- and emergency director Gary Schenkel said more snow is possible later in the week. Though snow in Chicago in the winter is a common event, it "can still wreak havoc on daily routines," he noted. Next week could be no better for some U.S. residents. A new shot of colder air will start to move into the northern Midwest by Saturday and will dive south Monday and Tuesday, carrying zero-degree cold as far south as Nashville. "That's the coldest air we've seen that far south in several years," said Hennen, the CNN meteorologist. The cold air will kick off a new storm Sunday into Monday that could affect a number of high-profile NFL playoff games this weekend. In Wisconsin, the Green Bay Packers will give a cold welcome to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, when temperatures could bottom out at -17. But it will be relatively balmy Sunday in Cincinnati, where snow and rain are possible when the city's Bengals host the San Diego Chargers in another NFL playoff matchup. Of course, while the players might not have a choice, fans don't have to brave the cold for either game. The big worries are for those who travel in the coming days. Authorities in New York, for example, said they may shut the Long Island Expressway if whiteout conditions make driving along the east-west highway too perilous. Kevin Willims isn't taking any chances, nor is he predicting a world-ending storm. The New Yorker said he plans to sit tight and let Mother Nature do her thing. "There's not much you can do," Willims said. "When it's snowing and these streets lock up, there's really nowhere you can go, so it's best to just stay in." That sentiment was echoed by James Montford, who told CNN Boston affiliate WHDH that he is looking forward to creating some art in the comforts of home. "This a great day to kind of hunker down," Montford said. ||||| Alexus Laster walks through snow in Buffalo on the way to church on Dec. 26, 2013. More snow is forecast over the next few days. (Photo11: Sharon Cantillon, AP) Story Highlights Chicago will pick up 6-8 inches over the next couple of days Blowing and drifting snow expected in New York City on Thursday After the snow, some of the coldest air in years will spread over the Northeast A major winter storm could complicate the first post-New Year's Day back to work and school for millions in New England and beyond. The storm, predicted to affect the USA from the upper Midwest to the East Coast from Wednesday through Friday, is expected to bring the heaviest snow across southern New England on Thursday and early Friday. "Over a foot of snow will fall in localized areas of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut and the cities of Hartford, Conn., Providence, R.I., and Boston," predicted AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski. Lesser amounts, in the 6- to 12-inch range, are likely in northeastern Pennsylvania, in New Jersey and in southeastern New York state. This includes all of New York City, where the National Weather Service is warning that the storm's strong winds will cause blowing and drifting snow later Thursday. In anticipation of the storm, the weather service placed the entire New York City area under a winter storm watch for Thursday and Friday. A winter storm watch means there is potential for significant snow accumulations that may affect travel. The weather service on Wednesday warned that several inches are possible through early Friday along the Interstate 90 corridor from Chicago to Boston. Calling all weather photos: Sunsets, snowfall - We want to see your photos Dot Joyce, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino's press secretary, said city officials were monitoring the storm, but that it was too early to say whether students' first day back to school, slated for Friday, would be canceled. "We are New Englanders — we get snow and we get cold weather and we're hardy," she said. Boston teachers are due back Thursday, and Joyce expects "a regular city work day," since the storm is not expected to bring snow "in earnest" until after 4 p.m., she said. Snow will also fall on Wednesday across portions of the Midwest and the Great Lakes. The heaviest snow will fall mainly in northern Illinois, northern Indiana, southern Michigan and southern Ohio. Chicago could see as much as 6-8 inches of snow from late Tuesday through late Thursday, which WGN meteorologist Tom Skilling says will arrive "in waves rather than a single stretch." The Weather Channel has named the storm "Hercules" as part of its winter storm naming system. Meanwhile, the weather service said, rain — at times heavy — will push through the Southeast. The Winter Classic outdoor NHL hockey game in Ann Arbor, Mich., between the Maple Leafs and Red Wings, was played in snowy conditions Wednesday. Arctic chill will also still be a concern on Wednesday, as the "bitter cold will continue over the Northern Plains and upper Midwest, with temperatures running as much as 20 to 30 degrees below normal," the weather service predicted. So far this month, International Falls, Minn., has endured eight days when the temperature has dropped below minus-30 degrees, which is a record, according to meteorologist Cory Mottice of AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions. Some of the coldest air in years will roar into the Northeast after the snowstorm departs Friday, according to AccuWeather meteorologist Bernie Rayno. "This is likely to be the coldest weather for much of the Northeast since January 2009," Rayno said. Lows in cities such as Philadelphia, New York and Baltimore will drop into the single digits Friday night. Contributing: Greg Toppo

– Mother Nature isn't making it an easy transition back to work in the new year, throwing a whole lot of snow, whipping winds, and freezing temperatures at commuters in the Northeast this week. As much as a foot of snow is expected in New England and New York today into tomorrow; more is expected in Boston, which will see "near blizzard" conditions, CNN reports, and Philadelphia and southern New Jersey could see 3 to 7 inches. "The wind is going to whip around the snow and reduce the visibility, creating near-blizzard conditions" through much of the Northeast, one meteorologist tells NBC News. Some 900 US flights are already cancelled today alone, as temperatures fall to highs just above zero in some areas, the National Weather Service said, per the AP. "There will be travel problems," a meteorologist said. "It will be very cold." Adds another, the snowstorm, dubbed "Hercules" by the Weather Channel, could stretch into parts of the Midwest, USA Today reports. "Falling and blowing snow with strong winds and poor visibilities are likely," particularly in NY and Long Island, the Weather Service said, per CNN. "This will lead to whiteout conditions making travel extremely dangerous. Do not travel."

Catherine Zeta-Jones Checks Into Mental Health Facility Email This With husband "After dealing with the stress of the past year, Catherine made the decision to check in to a mental health facility for a brief stay to treat her Bipolar II Disorder," her rep confirms. In addition to her duties as an actress and mother, Zeta-Jones has dealt with more than enough stress in the past few years to merit some much-needed time off and TLC. With husband Michael Douglas on the mend after completing treatment for throat cancer, Catherine Zeta-Jones has found herself in need of some expert care. Gossip Cop reports that the actress has checked herself into a mental health facility."After dealing with the stress of the past year, Catherine made the decision to check in to a mental health facility for a brief stay to treat her Bipolar II Disorder," her rep confirms.In addition to her duties as an actress and mother, Zeta-Jones has dealt with more than enough stress in the past few years to merit some much-needed time off and TLC. In 2010, Zeta-Jones' stepson, Cameron Douglas, was sentenced to five years in prison for drug-related charges, and only four months later, her actor husband was diagnosed with cancer. In between the devastating events, Michael Douglas was also sued by his ex-wife, Diandra, who claimed she was entitled to 50 percent of the profits from his film 'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.'Sources report , "Catherine had a lot of trouble coping [with Douglas' cancer]. She was chain smoking and drinking," although her rep has not confirmed that her stay was related to substance abuse.It does seem the actress is on the mend, however. Her rep says, "She's feeling great and looking forward to starting work this week on her two upcoming films." ||||| For months, Catherine Zeta-Jones played the part of the devoted wife as her husband, actor Michael Douglas, sought treatment for throat cancer. Now, it seems all wasn't well in her world. Today, Zeta-Jones' publicist revealed that the actress recently sought treatment for bipolar disorder. "After dealing with the stress of the past year, Catherine made the decision to check in to a mental health facility for a brief stay to treat her Bipolar II Disorder," her publicist said in a statement. "She's feeling great and looking forward to starting work this week this week on her two upcoming films." Bipolar disorder is also called manic-depressive illness. The disorder is most known for the unusual shifts in mood and energy that those with it experience. Sufferers can go through what is known as a manic episode -- an overly excited or joyful state -- or a depressive episode -- a state of unusual sadness or hopelessness. Bipolar II disorder is not as severe as bipolar I. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, while those with bipolar I typically experience mania and intense mood episodes that can last at least seven days and may require hospitalization, bipolar II usually results in less intense depressive episodes. While bipolar disorder often develops in a person's late teens or early adult years, it has been known to develop later on in life as well. Zeta-Jones, 41, was outspoken about her anger after Douglas, 66, was diagnosed with throat cancer in August 2010. "It makes me furious they didn't detect it earlier," Zeta-Jones told People magazine. "He sought every option and nothing was found." Douglas' cancer wasn't the only stress in the couple's life. Last year, Douglas' ex-wife took him to court seeking a some of his profits from his "Wall Street" sequel, which was released in 2010 but was based on the iconic film that he made while they were married, which she said entitled her to a share. Zeta-Jones reportedly turned down roles to be by Douglas' side through his legal and physical battles. In January, Douglas noted that his cancer fight drew him and Zeta-Jones closer. "One thing that all cancer survivors talk about is a new depth of feeling that you have for loved ones," he said while receiving an award at the Palm Springs Film Festival. Zeta-Jones was at the festival with him. "It's made us even closer," he added, "and certainly there's a depth of emotion and an appreciation of your daily life that you didn't have before." Zeta-Jones and Douglas married in 2000. They have two children together, Dylan Michael Douglas and Carys Zeta Douglas. ABC News' Dan Childs contributed reporting.

– Catherine Zeta-Jones has revealed she has undergone treatment in a mental health clinic for her bipolar illness. "After dealing with the stress of the past year, Catherine made the decision to check in to a mental health facility for a brief stay to treat her Bipolar II disorder," said her publicist. The disorder, also known as manic depression, is marked by dramatic shifts in moods. Bipolar II is not as severe as Bipolar I. Zeta-Jones has been under particular stress this year because of husband Michael Douglas' battle with throat cancer, and a tough court struggle with his ex-wife over profits from his film Wall Street 2, notes ABC News. Click for more on Zeta-Jones.

The Ford logo is pictured on the rooftop of Austria's Ford head branch in Vienna March 19, 2013. SYDNEY | SYDNEY (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) said on Thursday it is closing its two Australian auto plants and will cease production in the country in October 2016. Ford Australia Chief Executive Bob Graziano said the company will close its engine plant in Geelong and its assembly plant in Broadmeadows, both in the state of Victoria. The car manufacturer has struggled with sliding sales, high costs and a strong Australian dollar. (Reporting By Jane Wardell; Editing by Michael Perry) ||||| Article Excerpt GEELONG, Australia—Ford Motor Co. said it would stop producing cars in Australia in three years, foreshadowing hefty job losses in a setback for a government that has invested heavily in propping up the country's automobile industry. The U.S.-based auto maker said it would end more than 90 years of car production in Australia in October 2016, resulting in 1,200 job losses. It cited unsustainably high business costs, with wages singled out as a particular concern. "The business case simply didn't stack up," Ford Australia's Chief Executive Bob Graziano said. "Our costs are double that of Europe and nearly four times ...

– Starting in October 2016, Ford will no longer produce vehicles in Australia, the company says. "Our costs are double that of Europe and nearly four times Ford in Asia," says Ford Australia CEO Bob Graziano. Facing struggling sales and citing high wages, the firm will close its two plants in Victoria state, Reuters reports. The move will cut 1,200 jobs, the Wall Street Journal adds, noting that the company has made cars in the country since 1925. Last month, a strong Australian dollar pushed General Motors' Aussie operation to announce it would slash 500 jobs.

Don Miller, owner of Creative Impressions in Virginia, is worried about paying higher unemployment taxes when his business is down. UNEMPLOYMENT TAXES UNEMPLOYMENT TAXES Thirty-six states have increased the annual tax businesses pay to finance unemployment benefits. State Average tax per worker Change Ala. $267 124% Alaska $447 19% Ariz. No change Ark. $300 16% Calif. No change Colo. $236 45% Conn. No change Del. No change D.C. No change Fla. $312 200% Ga. $213 48% Hawaii $1,070 1089% Idaho $816 134% Ill. $323 7% Ind. $385 79% Iowa $468 23% Kan. $350 116% Ky. No change La. $111 14% Maine $328 74% Md. $422 159% Mass. Varies Widely Varies Widely Mich. $21 surcharge per employee Minn. $450 14% Miss. No change Mo. No change Mont. $482 72% Neb. $300 165% Nev. No change N.H. $332 71% N.J. $896 57% N.M. No change N.Y. $349 9% N.C. No change N.D. $333 36% Ohio $270 2% Okla. No change Ore. $646 49% Pa. $432 13% R.I. $675 7% S.C. No change S.D. $227 191% Tenn. $293 49% Texas $165 85% Utah No change Vt. $329 38% Va. $171 78% Wash. No change W.Va. $348 61% Wis. $384 23% Wyo. $581 69% Sources: U.S. Labor Department and state workforce agencies MORE FROM PROPUBLICA MORE FROM PROPUBLICA See an interactive chart on the health of your state's unemployment insurance trust fund and how it affects you at propublica.org/unemployment. Payroll taxes increase for many employers across USA NORFOLK, Va. — Last year was the worst Don Miller had seen in more than 20 years of running a graphic printing business here. Business slumped 15%, and he had to lay off two of the three workers who helped him print stickers and signs for Navy ships. Miller hopes to bring them back, but hiring will be more expensive for all Virginia business owners this year. The recession has emptied Virginia's unemployment insurance trust fund, and the state is making up for it by raising taxes on employers and cutting jobless benefits for seniors. In 2009, the average business owner paid $95 per employee. This year, the tax will be $171, according to estimates by the state workforce agency. "It's another added expense to hiring somebody," Miller says. "Everything's going up, and business is going down." Similar tax increases are hitting employers nationwide this year as states struggle to pay the 5.5 million Americans currently collecting state jobless benefits. So far, high unemployment and, in many cases, poor planning have prompted 25 states to borrow more than $25 billion from the federal government to keep benefit checks in the mail. In other states, unemployment compensation funds are still in the black, but reserves are rapidly dwindling. Nine more states likely will be borrowing by mid-year, according to a ProPublica analysis of state revenue and benefits. Tax on businesses Business owners in 36 states face tax increases ranging from a few dollars to nearly $1,000 per worker. Six states are scaling back or freezing benefits for the unemployed: • Jobless Pennsylvania workers will get 2.3% less in benefits starting this month, while the average tax this year for businesses will increase to $432 from $384 per worker. • Hawaii's employers face an average increase to $1,070 from $90 per worker. The state also proposes decreasing the maximum benefit by as much as a third — about $190 per week. • Texas, where the trust fund is $1.4 billion in the red, has increased the average tax on employers to about $165 from $89 per worker. Instead of fulfilling the unemployment insurance system's purpose of stimulating the economy, these measures may contribute to joblessness, says Gary Burtless, an economist who studies labor policy at the Brookings Institution, a think tank. "We don't want to pick this moment of all moments to boost taxes on employers," Burtless says. "We want to encourage employers as much as possible to add to their payrolls." Workers are being hurt in another way — through benefit cuts. In Roanoke, Va., James Hay, 70, received a letter from the state informing him that his monthly unemploymentbenefits are being cut to $100 from about $800 because state law limits payments to Social Security recipients when the state's fund runs low. "I was devastated when I read it," Hay says. "I thought, 'Lord, what am I going to buy heating oil with this winter?' " Like many other seniors, Hay was working full time to supplement his $1,400 monthly Social Security check, which he says was not enough to support him, his granddaughter and her two young children. Then the asphalt factory laid him off. Unemployment insurance made up for some of the lost income, but now Hay is not sure how his family will get by. "We'll just have to do whatever we can do," he says. "I hope and pray we'll be all right." States borrow heavily The state hopes to save about $11 million through the cuts to seniors but anticipates borrowing $1.3 billion to replenish its unemployment fund before the recession ends. "The middle of a recession is when people need help most," says Maurice Emsellem, policy co-director of the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group for low-wage workers. Cutting unemployment benefits, he says, "undermines the fundamental goals of the program — boosting the economy and keeping people out of poverty in an economic downturn." Many states such as Virginia are already at or near the highest payroll tax rates allowed by law, and others have pushed politically difficult tax increases through their legislatures, making further benefit cuts likely if high unemployment persists, says Rich Hobbie, executive director of the National Association of State Workforce Agencies. Some of the pain might have been avoidable. Long before the recession began, Virginia and many other states that have imposed tax increases or benefit cuts let their trust funds dwindle well below the 18 months of reserves the U.S. Labor Department recommends. Virginia had to slow down federal borrowing despite the impact on businesses and seniors, says Republican state Sen. John Watkins, chairman of the Virginia Commission for the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. "I have angst for people who are unemployed," he says. "But our trust fund is busted — it's gone." Pierce reports for ProPublica, an independent, non-profit newsroom based in New York. USA TODAY editors worked with her in preparing this story for publication. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more ||||| The unemployment insurance system is in crisis due to a combination skyrocketing unemployment and – in some cases – poor planning. A record 20 million Americans collected unemployment benefits last year, and thirty states have run out of funds and been forced to borrow from the federal government, raise taxes, or cut benefits. In many other states the situation is deteriorating fast. Using near real-time data on state revenues and the benefits they pay out, we estimate how long state trust funds will hold up. Click on a state to find the latest, plus historical data, and details on tax increases and benefit cuts. Related Story. (Last update February 03, 2011) This news application is no longer being updated as of February 3, 2011. The historical data is still accurate.

– Massive unemployment is putting a strain on state benefit funds, and states in turn are trying to recoup the money by raising taxes on employers. In all, 36 states have raised payroll taxes, a strategy that critics say will backfire by putting a crimp on hiring. “Everything’s going up, and business is going down,” one Virginia employer tells USA Today. In that state, taxes have gone up from $95 per employee in 2009 to $171 in 2010. The increases range from a few dollars in some states to nearly $1,000 per worker in Hawaii. "We don't want to pick this moment of all moments to boost taxes on employers," says an economist at the Brookings Institution. "We want to encourage employers as much as possible to add to their payrolls." Times are tough, however: Twenty-five states have borrowed a total of $25 billion from the federal government to keep up with jobless benefits, and another nine will be in the red by mid-year, reports ProPublica.

In the days since two deadly bombs and the separate shootings that followed brought Boston to a standstill, the region's Muslim community has loudly condemned the violence and distanced itself from the suspects. The reasons behind the explosions at the Boston Marathon Monday and the shootings in Cambridge and Watertown, Mass., Friday, which resulted in four deaths and more than 170 injuries, are still unknown. Investigators are working to uncover whether the suspects, Chechen-American Muslim brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, were lone assailants or trained by a terrorist organization. It also is unclear whether their possible motives were related to politics, religion or, as some reports have suggested, struggles assimilating after immigrating to the United States nearly a decade ago. But after 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's capture late Friday night, less than a day after his 26-year-old brother died in Friday's shootout, Muslim communities now face a vexing question: Do they accept the men as Muslims despite the allegations against them? If so, will they give Tamerlan Tsarnaev an Islamic burial? Fearing retaliation, dozens of mosques and Islamic groups have distanced themselves from the brothers after friends and family described them as Muslims, and social media accounts registered in their names indicated they were interested in Islamic Chechen insurgency groups. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of the two, has been described as more attuned to radical Islamic movements in recent years. Federal authorities are investigating a six-month trip he took in 2012 to Chechnya and Dagestan, Muslim-majority regions in Russia's north Caucasus with militant separatist movements. "I would not be willing to do a funeral for him," said Imam Talal Eid of the Islamic Institute of Boston, a community services organization that frequently arranges funeral prayers and burials in the region. "This is a person who deliberately killed people. There is no room for him as a Muslim. He already left the fold of Islam by doing that. In the Quran it says those who will kill innocent people, they will dwell in the hellfire." Imam Suhaib Webb of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, the city's largest mosque, said he had not been contacted about a burial. A smaller mosque in Cambridge with the same owners, but a separate administration, the Islamic Society of Boston, confirmed in a statement Saturday that the suspects occasionally attended prayers there. But a representative from the Cambridge mosque said in an email it has had "no contacts or discussion" about a funeral. "He should be buried according to the religious tradition he adheres to. His case is with God. We can judge him as best we can according to the savage and insane actions he has done, but in the end, his soul is going to be brought before God," said Webb. "I don't think I could ethically lead a prayer for him, but I would not stop people from praying upon him." Islamic tradition dictates that the body of the deceased is tended to as soon as possible after death, preferably before sunset, with a ritual washing. The washing is often done by family members of the same-sex or a spouse, and is followed by shrouding in a white cloth, funeral prayer gathering and burial. Boston has at least two washing facilities for Islamic rites -- one at a general funeral home Watertown where Eid helps facilitate Islamic funeral services, and one at Al-Marhama, an organization that shares space with Webb's mosque. "We have not discussed it," a representative from Al-Marhama said regarding a funeral for Tsarnaev. In the U.S., few Islamic cemeteries exist, but Muslims often buy sections of cemeteries to reserve for Islamic burials. There are at least four such sections in Boston-area cemeteries, said Eid. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died at a hospital after he was critically injured early Friday morning in Watertown, Mass., the city west of Boston where his younger brother was arrested while hiding in a backyard later that night. His body was turned over to the law enforcement for forensic experts, medical examiners and investigators seeking more details about his death and his actions. It's unclear where the body is currently. A message left with the Massachusett's Medical Examiner's office was not returned, but experts in forensics and high-profile investigations say its release should be imminent if it hasn't happened already. "If it's not ready for release now, it is probably going to be released as early as tomorrow," said Joseph Scott Morgan, a professor of criminal justice and forensics at North Georgia College and State University. "Evidence on bodies is very fragile, and people tend to go through the examination very quickly ... [looking for] trace evidence, blast evidence, relevant residue left behind from explosives or anything relative to trauma." "In Boston, they deal with a large Muslim community, it's not something they have no experience with. Most medical examiner's offices in diverse communities will have clergy on call if they need to take special considerations when doing their work," said Morgan. "But the interests of the state trump everything else in this case." The next-of-kin to take custody of Tamerlan Tsarnaev's body would be his wife, Katherine Russell, who grew up in North Kingstown, R.I. Russell is the mother of Tsarnaev's 3-year-old daughter, Zahara, and reportedly converted after meeting Tsarnaev while at Suffolk University in Boston. Her parents released a statement this week saying they were "sickened by the knowledge of the horror (Tamerlan) has inflicted." The Russells did not respond to a voicemail asking about a funeral. "Nobody has asked me, nobody has called me," said a man who answered the phone at Masjid Al-Hoda in Kingston, a Muslim community center about a 20-minute drive southwest of the Russell home. Abdula Hameed, the imam of Masjid Al-Kareem in Providence, said he wasn't sure if the mosque would be open to a funeral. "I'd have to talk to our board members," he said. Imam Ikram ul Haq, of Masjid Al-Islam North Smithfield, is listed as a contact for funeral prayer requests on the Rhode Island Council for Muslim Advancement website. He said he has not received a funeral request and questioned if the suspects would be seen as truly Muslim considering the accusations against them. "We have to confirm if (Tamerlan) was a Muslim. If that was confirmed through reliable sources, that he lived a Muslim and died as one, then we (would be allowed) to do a funeral for that person," said ul Haq, emphasizing that he did not support the killings in Boston. Anzor Tsarnaev, the father of the suspects who has said they were framed, told CNN on Saturday that he would travel to the U.S. from his home in Makhachkala, Dagestan, but did not say if his plans included a funeral. Even if a mosque steps forward to conduct a funeral for Tsarnaev, Webb said that Islamic law still could place restrictions on the service. "In fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), for somebody who has committed a major atrocity, it is recommended that the imam does not pray over him, but that someone else does. It's meant to somehow symbolize that there is some grieving with the victims of the person's actions," he said. "In Islam, if someone is alive and has committed a crime, their opportunity to repent is open until they die," said Webb, referring to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is being treated at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. "We hope this man would be guided first of all to help the investigation and seek the forgiveness of family members and all people he has harmed." ||||| Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is telling authorities he and his brother, Tamerlan, learned how to make bombs from Al Qaeda's online magazine, which recommends using fireworks. Officials say Tamerlan bought fireworks in New Hampshire before the bombing. NBC's Jeff Rossen reports. The brothers suspected in the Boston Marathon bombings may have been headed for New York to party after the attack, the New York police commissioner said Wednesday. “There was some information that they may have been intent on coming to New York, but not to continue doing what they’re doing,” Kelly told reporters at police headquarters. “The information that we received said something about a party, or having a party.” A man authorities say was carjacked by the brothers has told investigators he believes one of the brothers said “Manhattan” before he escaped, but investigators have cautioned that it may have been a language mixup because the brothers were speaking with Russian dialects. The surviving brother has told investigators that the pair acted alone, were inspired by an al Qaeda propaganda magazine, and plotted the bombing to defend Islam after the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, federal law enforcement officials told NBC News. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed early Friday after a shootout with police in the Boston suburbs. His younger brother and alleged accomplice, Dzhokhar, is in fair condition at a Boston hospital. The brothers killed a campus patrol officer and carjacked an SUV before the shootout, authorities have said. Homemade explosives and one semi-automatic handgun believed to belong to the brothers were recovered by investigators, officials said. The gun’s serial number was obliterated, but Massachusetts state police were working to reveal the number. Cambridge police, meanwhile, released a booking photo of Tamerlan Tsarnaev from a 2009 domestic violence arrest during which he was accused of assaulting his girlfriend. In a closed-door session on Wednesday, members of the House Intelligence Committee were briefed by the FBI and other federal agencies on the ongoing investigation. Among the issues discussed is what federal authorities knew about Tamerlan Tsarnaev's trip to Russia as well as a timeline on his radicalization. Also, according to an interview with Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Mich., the ranking member on the committee, it was learned that the device used to trigger the explosives was a remote control for a toy, not a cellphone as thought earlier. Nine days after the twin blasts near the marathon finish line, authorities early Wednesday reopened the section of Boylston Street in central Boston where the first bomb went off. The site of the explosion has been paved with fresh cement and is surrounded by orange construction cones but opened to foot traffic. People stopped to pay respects and take photos. “The people of Boston are strong like cement. Strong people. They get together when it’s needed,” said Robert Bibias, a city masonry worker who early Wednesday cemented over what had been a blood-stained crime scene. Thousands of people, including police from all over the country, gathered at the baseball stadium of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a memorial service for Sean Collier, the campus patrol officer who authorities said was shot to death by the Tsarnaev brothers before the carjacking and shootout. With police snipers holding positions atop nearby buildings, Vice President Joe Biden called the perpetrators of the marathon bombing “twisted, perverted, cowardly, knockoff jihadis.” “The irony is, we read about these events, we experience them, but the truth is, on every frontier, terrorism as a weapon is losing,” he said. “It is not gaining adherents.” Tamerlan Tsarnaev is seen in a booking photo from a 2009 arrest in Cambridge, Mass. The vice president went on: “We will not hunker down. We will not be intimidated.” His wife, Dr. Jill Biden, visited Boylston Street on Wednesday. Private funerals were held Tuesday for Collier and for Martin Richard, the 8-year-old boy killed near the finish line. Two other people were killed at the marathon, and more than 200 were injured, including 39 who were still hospitalized Wednesday. In Russia, the brothers’ aunt said that a Boston-area mosque has refused to hold a funeral for Tamerlan Tsarnaev. American authorities have told the family that they can have Tsarnaev’s body, and an uncle approached the mosque to request a burial and funeral but was declined, said the aunt, Patimat Suleimanova. She said that she did not know the name of the mosque but that it was one the family attended. A mosque in Cambridge, Mass., has said that Tsarnaev attended and occasionally caused disruptions and that mosque leaders threatened to kick him out. A spokesman for the Cambridge mosque, Yusufi Vali, said the mosque had not heard from the family. “There were some reports out there that we had rejected his burial, and — or the family had reached out to us, rather. And to our knowledge, you know, the family has not reached out to us,” he said on the MSNBC program “Andrea Mitchell Reports.” The mosque, run by the Islamic Society of Boston, has also said that congregants have been questioned by the FBI. The mosque did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday from NBC News. Earlier this week, Imam Talal Eid of the Islamic Institute of Boston, a separate institution, told The Huffington Post: “I would not be willing to do a funeral for him. This is a person who deliberately killed people. There is no room for him as a Muslim.” NBC News' Adrienne Mong, Alastair Jamieson, Bill Dedman and Matthew DeLuca contributed to this report. Related: This story was originally published on

– Authorities are ready to release Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s body to his family, but family members—so far—have nowhere to hold the funeral. The Boston-area mosque the family attends declined a request to hold the suspected Boston bomber's burial and funeral there, Tsarnaev's aunt tells NBC News. And over the weekend, the leader of an organization that arranges Islamic burials and funerals in the Boston area told the Huffington Post, "I would not be willing to do a funeral for him." "This is a person who deliberately killed people," says the aforementioned leader. "There is no room for him as a Muslim. He already left the fold of Islam by doing that. In the Quran it says those who will kill innocent people, they will dwell in the hellfire." Dozens of other Islamic organizations and mosques have distanced themselves from the Tsarnaev brothers, but an imam from Boston's biggest mosque says that while he wouldn't feel ethically comfortable leading a prayer for Tamerlan, "I would not stop people from praying upon him."

Timeline of shooting at Butler High School One student was shot and killed at Butler high school early Monday morning after an argument in the hallway. ||||| A North Carolina high school student shot and killed a fellow student during a fight in a crowded school hallway Monday, officials said, prompting a lockdown and generating an atmosphere of chaos and fear as dozens of parents rushed to the school to make sure their children were safe. The student accused of firing the fatal shot was arrested quickly as investigators secured the campus at Butler High School in Matthews, about 12 miles (19 kms) southeast of Charlotte, said Matthews Police Department Capt. Stason Tyrrell. Students remained inside with the school on lockdown for about two hours after the shooting. The male student who was shot died at a hospital, Tyrrell said. He said the suspect, also male, was quickly taken into custody by a school resource officer as others rushed to the scene as backup. Investigators have the weapon used, but have not said what it is. Neither the suspect nor the victim's names or ages were immediately released. "We were able to review the surveillance video of the shooting, which was a fight between the two students," Tyrrell said, describing it as an "isolated incident." Tyrrell said the shooting happened in a hallway as crowds of students arrived for the day. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox said that many students witnessed the shooting, and counselors and psychologists were available. "There were many kids in the hallway when this happened," he said. "We're incredibly saddened by the fact that we had a loss of life on one of our campuses today. What makes it doubly difficult is that it was one of our students who was the shooter," he said. While police have not confirmed what kind of gun was used, Wilcox said: "I don't know how a young person gets a handgun in the state of North Carolina." He said the system was reviewing its security procedures. By late morning, school officials said that the lockdown was lifted and families could pick up students at the main entrance. Classes were proceeding for students who remained on campus. The diverse student body of about 2,000 at the school in North Carolina's most populous county is about one-third white, one-third African-American and one-quarter Hispanic. Before the lockdown was lifted, dozens of parents gathered outside of the school to await word on the students. Multiple parents told local television channels that they felt confused and unsure about where to meet with their children. Television footage showed students streaming out, with many crying and hugging parents. ___ Follow Drew at www.twitter.com/JonathanLDrew

– A fight in a high school hallway led to an all too familiar outcome Monday morning: a shooting that left a student dead. But Butler High School in Matthews, NC, also is drawing attention for its decision to resume classes less than two hours after the altercation. Police say two male students fought in a crowded hallway as students were arriving for the day, reports the AP. One student shot the other, who died at the hospital, and the alleged shooter is in custody, reports WRAL. A junior at the school tells the Charlotte Observer that students were ordered into the nearest classroom for about 90 minutes, then allowed to proceed to their scheduled class once the lockdown was lifted. “They’re changing classes during an active crime scene,” says one parent critical of the decision to resume a normal school day. It appears to have been optional, however. After police gave the all-clear, the school district informed parents they could pick up their children at the high school, adding that "classes will proceed on campus today for students remaining on campus." Police are still investigating how the shooter was able to bring the gun into the school itself. (Authorities say this would-be school shooter appears to have been foiled by his own gun.)

EDS NOTE GRAPHIC CONTENT - A man in military fatigues lies dead next a truck on a road after a gunbattle between rival drug gangs near the town of Ruiz, in the Pacific coast state of Nayarit, Mexico,... (Associated Press) A gunbattle between rival drug gangs in western Mexico left 29 bodies in fake military uniforms heaped across a roadway and inside bullet-riddled vehicles in the Pacific coast state of Nayarit, the army said Thursday. The bodies, all male, were found Wednesday scattered around 14 shot-up pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, two of which had bulletproofing. Television images of the scene near the town of Ruiz showed what appeared to have been a convoy of cartel vehicles that was ambushed or engaged by another column of gunmen on a stretch of rural highway. Military-style boots, bulletproof vests, hand grenades and thousands of rounds of ammunition were found at the scene. Federal and state officials gave conflicting reports on the incident. Nayarit state police said officers responding to reports of a kidnapping found four wounded men at the scene of the shootout. One injured person died later, and three remain at the hospital, Nayarit officials said. The army said two suspects wounded in the battle were found at the scene. It was unclear if the two reported by the army were included in, or additional to, the state figure. The army said in a statement that around the same time Wednesday, soldiers engaged in a shootout with armed suspects in a town about 35 miles (60 kilometers) north of Ruiz. Two suspects _ a man and a woman _ were killed in that confrontation. The military statement did not say whether the two shootouts were related. Nayarit's attorney general Oscar Herrera told a radio station that preliminary reports indicated the two gangs involved in the fierce highway battle were the Sinaloa and the Zetas drug cartels. He said one of the two cartels kidnapped a man of the rival gang, which resulted in a car chase and subsequent gunfight. Nayarit and the nearby states of Michoacan and Zacatecas have become battlegrounds for drug cartels fighting for control of the area. The Sinaloa cartel, Mexico's most powerful, has long been active in Nayarit, which borders its home base in Sinaloa state, but the gang has recently been challenged by the Zetas and by remnants of the Beltran Leyva cartel. In nearby Michoacan state, officials said 500 marines and soldiers have been deployed to an area where at least 1,200 villagers fled their homes during three days of clashes between rival drug traffickers, which appeared to be unrelated to the Nayarit conflict. The government gave the families refuge at five shelters in two nearby towns. The arrival of security forces Wednesday appeared to have soothed fears and hundreds of villagers decided to go back home by Thursday. Officials said only 300 people remained at the five shelters Thursday evening. It is at least the second time a large number of rural residents have been displaced by drug violence in Mexico. In November, about 400 people in the northern border town of Ciudad Mier took refuge in the neighboring city of Ciudad Aleman following cartel gunbattles. That shelter has since been closed and most have returned to their homes. Michoacan state Civil Defense Director Carlos Mandujano said the villagers were put up at a church, recreation center, event hall and schools in the towns of Buenavista Tomatlan and Apatzingan. Mandujano said state authorities provided sleeping mats, blankets and food for those in the shelter. Residents had reported after fleeing that gunbattles between rival drug cartel factions had made it too dangerous for them to stay in outlying hamlets. The latest reports said arsonists were burning avocado farms in the nearby town of Acahuato. "We woke up with fear (on Monday), but things appeared to have quieted down. It wasn't until later that morning that we saw SUVs with armed men driving by very fast and shooting at each other," said a woman who did not want to be named for security reasons. Several displaced people said they would stay at the shelters all week before considering going back to their villages. "I am not scared, but my children are," said a mother, who asked not to be quoted by name because of fear of retaliation. The fighting in Michoacan is believed to involve rival factions of the Michoacan-based La Familia drug cartel, some of whose members now call themselves "The Knights Templar." Mexico still has fewer people displaced by violence than countries like Colombia, according to the Norway-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, which tracks such figures. It estimates about 230,000 people in Mexico have been driven from their homes, often to stay with relatives or in the United States. An estimated 3.6 million to 5.2 million people have been displaced by decades of drug- and guerrilla-war violence in Colombia. Buenavista police chief Othoniel Montes Herrera said he has neither the manpower nor the armament to patrol rural areas frequented by drug gangs. Sending ill-armed officers out there "would be certain death, and we're not thinking of putting our personnel at that risk." Drug violence has been on the rise in Nayarit, a Pacific Coast state known for its surfing and beach towns. In October, gunmen killed 15 people at a car wash in the capital of Tepic, an attack that police said bore the characteristics of organized crime. The bodies of 12 murder victims, eight of them partially burned, were found on a Nayarit dirt road a year ago. Officials have not identified the gangs fighting there. And in Durango state, which borders Nayarit to the north, authorities have been excavating dozens of corpses from mass burial grounds used by drug cartel killers. On Thursday, state police reported that two more bodies had been found in the latest excavation, bringing the total of bodies found at a seven lots in the state capital to 223. ___ Associated Press writer Adriana Gomez Licon in Mexico City contributed to this report. ||||| MEXICO CITY—Three days of raging gun battles this week between rival drug gangs in Michoacán state killed an unknown number of people, forced hundreds to flee their homes and raised fresh fears that another major Mexican state has become all but ungovernable. Fighting broke out Monday and lasted for three days. But news of the conflict was slow to get out because local media in states like Michoacán have largely stopped covering the carnage on orders from drug gangs. View Full Image European Pressphoto Agency A handout photograph made available by Quadratin shows several vehicles after been set on fire during fighting between Mexican armed groups in Tierra Caliente, Michoacán. Hundreds have fled their homes looking for a safer place. On Tuesday, a helicopter belonging to the Federal Police was forced to make a hard landing after being shot at by gunmen from a drug cartel, the Federal Investigative Agency, an arm of the Attorney General's Office, said Tuesday. Three federal police were injured. The police didn't immediately have a number of casualties in the fighting between the gangs. But the lawlessness echoed the scene in Tamaulipas state, where mass graves have recently been found. In another western Mexican state, Nayarit, a gunbattle this week left 28 dead. "Organized crime groups are fighting for control of the area," said Genaro Guizar, the mayor of Apatzingán, the fourth-largest city in Michoacán. "There was panic throughout the place." Mr. Guizar said that a total of about 800 people had taken refuge in shelters in the nearby town of Buenavista and in Apazingan, but that the refugees had started to return to their homes Wednesday after fighting eased. Michoacán, a large agricultural state known also for its tourist attractions like the colonial state capital of Morelia, is the home turf of the powerful La Familia drug cartel, which specializes in making and trafficking methamphetamines, using the port of Lázaro Cárdenas to smuggle in precursor chemicals. The cartel has infiltrated local police forces and city halls throughout the state, experts say, and largely displaced local governments in many areas. The situation is so bad that Mexico's three main political parties on Wednesday signed a joint statement saying they were exploring the possibility of fielding a single, unity candidate in November's gubernatorial race in an attempt to set aside partisan bickering and save the state. "It's indicative of how badly the wheels are falling off," said James McDonald, an anthropology professor at Southern Utah University who lived for many years in Michoacán and is an expert on it. "I think Michoacán is lost, like Tamaulipas. And it could be the realization that they need to get together on this and deal with it, or else." The uptick in violence in Michoacán this week could be related to December's killing of La Familia chief Nazario Moreno, the messianic leader of the cartel who was known as "El Mas Loco," or "The Craziest One." But in March, dozens of banners pinned up across the state announced the creation of a new local cartel, dubbed "The Knights Templar." More Mexican Drug War Spills to Neighbor The Templars are thought to be remnants of La Familia that have regrouped. Mexican police officials believe the Templars are led by a former teacher, Servando Gomez, nicknamed "La Tuta." They believe another surviving La Familia leader, José de Jesus Mendez, known as "El Chango", or the monkey, may be fighting with Mr. Gomez for control of the organization. A Mexican police report said that La Familia had retreated to the countryside after the arrest of 13 mayors and other officials on drug corruption charges in 2009, but had regained much of their former positions in the state's towns and cities after prosecutors failed to win prosecution against the detained officials, who were released. Drug-related corruption in Michoacán is rampant, analysts say. The current governor's half-brother and former federal congressman Julio Cesar Godoy was accused of being on the La Familia payroll by Mexican federal officials last year. The congressman was impeached and went on the run. He remains a fugitive. Raul Benitez, a security analyst at the Autonomous University of Mexico said the federal government is determined not to lose control of Michoacán in part because of its strategic location between Mexico and Guadalajara, the country's two largest cities. "Michoacán is a big problem," said Mr. Benitez, who fears the violence that plagues the state could contaminate the capital and Guadalajara. Unlike Mexico's other cartels, La Familia and the Templars have a messianic creed and strive to gain popular support among the local population. This worries Mexican officials who see the drug traffickers taking on some of the characteristics of guerrilla fighters, said Mr. Benitez. Indeed, Michoacán is a prime example of why some military analysts and government officials in the U.S. worry Mexico's drugs war could take on the characteristics of an insurgency, where drug gangs try to displace Mexico's government. Last year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the violence in Mexico was starting to resemble a "narco-insurgency," but her comments were batted down by President Barack Obama days later. Some academics think the comparison is not a stretch—at least in places like Michoacán, a state of 4.3 million. "La Familia is the de facto go-to governance system in communities that are largely abandoned by the state. If you need anything, from medicine to loans, they are the ones people turn to," said Mr. McDonald. Write to David Luhnow at [email protected]

– Yet another bloody battle in Mexico's drug war has left at least 29 bodies in fake military uniforms lying dead among more than a dozen bullet-riddled vehicles in the Pacific coast state of Nayarit. Investigators believe the highway battle between members of the Zetas and Sinaloa cartels began when gunmen ambushed a convoy of gang vehicles, AP reports. In the nearby state of Michoacan, up to 2,000 people were forced to flee their homes this week by days of fierce fighting between cartel factions, the BBC reports. Officials say the refugees have begun to return their homes after spending several nights in shelters. The conflict between rival factions of the La Familia cartel began Monday but news of the fighting was slow to leak out because local media, on the orders of drug cartels, have largely ceased to cover drug violence, the Wall Street Journal notes.

An attorney for the Texas teen who cited "affluenza" as a defense in a deadly drunken-driving wreck told FoxNews.com Friday he needed to ensure his client was not "mistreated according to the Mexican constitution." Fernando Benitez, who has represented 18-year-old Ethan Couch in Mexico, spoke to FoxNews.com over the phone, and called the teen's current legal fight "an international law case only." He said that as a judge is currently considering Couch's detention and possible deportation, "we are not here to delve into the past." Benitez denied reports that Couch had a gun at the time of his detention. Couch won a delay in his deportation based on a constitutional appeal in Mexico that could lead to a trial process lasting weeks or even months. Any flaw in the process of his detention by Mexican immigration authorities can be considered a violation of due process and of his human rights, legal analysts say. Benitez said Mexican authorities pushed for a "fast-track" deportation, which he argued would expose Couch to "a criminal procedure in the United States which may not be up to Mexican constitutional standards." He said Couch's Texas-based defense team asked him to intervene after the teen was caught in Mexico. Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson has said he believes Couch and his mother, Tonya, fled to Mexico in late November after a video surfaced that appears to show Couch at a party where people were drinking, which would be a violation of his probation. The mother and son were arrested Monday after using a phone to order pizza delivery that was traced to a condominium complex in the Mexican resort city of Puerto Vallarta. Couch, who was 16 at the time of the crash and was tried in juvenile court, received 10 years' probation for driving drunk and crashing into a disabled SUV parked on the side of the road in 2013. The collision killed four people and injured several others, including passengers in his truck. He pleaded guilty to four counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury. During the sentencing phase of his trial, a defense expert argued that Couch's wealthy parents had coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility -- a condition the expert termed "affluenza." The condition is not recognized as a medical diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association, and its invocation drew ridicule. Judge Jean Boyd sentenced Couch to probation over the objections of prosecutors who asked for 20 years' detention. Couch's attorneys argued probation would be more effective than detention because Couch could have been eligible for release in as few as two years. Unless he files for asylum, he will not be able to stay in Mexico indefinitely, said Aldo Salazar, a Texas attorney also licensed to practice in Mexico. "Asylum is granted to those who can prove a well-founded fear of persecution. I'm not sure `affluenza' would qualify," said immigration attorney Nicolas Chavez. Tonya Couch, 48, was returned to the United States early Thursday after her deportation from Mexico. She has been charged in Tarrant County with hindering an apprehension, a felony charge that carries a two- to 10-year prison sentence, and is being held on a $1 million bond. Ethan Couch was transferred Thursday to a Mexico City immigration detention center in one of the capital's poorest areas. A Mexican immigration official said the affluent young man will have no special privileges at the Agujas immigration detention center, where detainees sleep in common areas and use concrete basins to hand-wash clothes. "Is there a chance that Ethan Couch could be successful in staying in Mexico? Yes, but I think it is delaying the inevitable," said Dallas attorney Peter Schulte, who specializes in juvenile law. Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson has said she plans to ask a judge to transfer Couch's case to adult court, where he could get up to 120 days in an adult jail, followed by 10 years of probation. If he violates probation again, he could face up to 10 years in prison per death, Wilson said. A probation violation hearing is set for Jan. 19. Fox News' Will Carr, Dan Gallo and The Associated Press contributed to this report. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| Ethan Couch after his arrest in Mexico (Photo: Jalisco state prosecutor's office) DALLAS -- The Mexican attorney representing "affluenza" teen Ethan Couch in his unfolding immigration fight says a decision on the 18-year-old's deportation could be "months away," with even further appeals after that. Fernando Benitez, a high-profile attorney based primarily out of Tijuana, confirmed on Friday that he's handling Couch's detention by Mexican immigration authorities. "He hasn't committed a crime in Mexico," Benitez said in a phone interview. "Why would Mexico go along with this idea of locating someone and summarily kicking them out of the country so the marshals can grab him across the border? I don't think that's okay." MORE: Reports on Ethan Couch Benitez says he's filing a petition essentially saying that Couch's constitutional and civil rights may have been violated. He says the teen's crimes here in the United States should have no bearing on Mexican officials, or Mexican courts. "There is no formal extradition request by the U.S. State Department filed," he said. "They want to get him for not having the proper migratory papers, and have this executive decision." Ethan Couch's attorney in Mexico speaks Couch and his mother Tonya were detained by Mexican officials on Monday night in Puerto Vallarta at a run-down apartment building. They had been on the run from U.S. officials after Couch missed a probation meeting in early December. He's serving 10 years probation for killing four people in a drunk driving accident in 2013. Although his mother, Tonya, was deported Wednesday evening, her son was granted a temporary injunction by a Mexican judge, thanks to Benitez's last-minute legal maneuvers. The attorney says an evidence hearing in the case likely won't happen until the end of the month, while both sides file additional court documents during the interim. "From the hearing, a judge has up to 90 days to issue a ruling," he said. "After that, we could appeal a decision. We're going to take this to the full extent of our capacity and have whoever needs to review it." Before being detained, Couch and his mother were believed to have stayed at a different Mexican resort, where workers told ABC News that Couch had a handgun. Benitez says the hotel employee's story is suspect, and insists his client didn't have a gun when he was detained. "The likelihood of that story being true, for me, is zero percent," he said. He hopes to meet with Couch on Tuesday of next week in Mexico City, where the teen is being held at an immigration facility. It is not a prison, and is mostly filled with people who have run adrift of Mexico's immigration policies. Representatives from Benitez's office already met with the teen and said he hadn't experienced any harm or mistreatment while in custody. Tonya Couch is in a Los Angeles jail cell pending a hearing and eventual transfer back to Texas. She's facing a charge of Hindering Apprehension of a Felon, and has a bail at $1 million. Benitez's previous big cases include a successful bid to free Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi from a Mexican jail. He was imprisoned in 2014 for more than 200 days after he said he accidentally drove into the country with three guns. Read or Share this story: http://on.wfaa.com/1R2JsDP

– The US teen diagnosed with "affluenza" will now be represented by a lawyer described as a "rock star." CBS DFW reports Mexican attorney Fernando Benitez will be representing Ethan Couch as he attempts to avoid deportation back to the US. Benitez is looking into whether Couch's human rights or due process were violated when he was detained in Mexico last week, according to Fox News. He says it could be months before Couch's return to the US is even a possibility. "He hasn't committed a crime in Mexico," Benitez tells WFAA. "Why would Mexico go along with this idea of locating someone and summarily kicking them out of the country so the marshals can grab him across the border? I don't think that's okay." Benitez says Couch's past—in which his family's wealth allowed him to avoid jail after killing four people while driving drunk—is irrelevant, and that this is "an international law case only," Fox reports. The lawyer says the legal treatment Couch gets in the US "may not be up to Mexican constitutional standards." According to CBS, Benitez denies earlier reports Couch was in possession of a gun while in Mexico. Couch is currently being held in an immigration facility in Mexico City, WFAA reports. His mother was deported last Thursday. Benitez is well known for a previous case in which he got a former US Marine out of jail after the Marine "accidentally" entered Mexico with three guns.

Media caption Tokyo had a spectacular view of the eclipse An "annular eclipse" has been viewed across a swathe of the Earth stretching across the Pacific from Asia to the western US. The eclipse occurs when the Moon is at its farthest from the Earth and does not block out the Sun completely. Millions of people witnessed the resulting "ring of fire" phenomenon. The eclipse passed almost directly over Tokyo before sweeping just below Alaska's Aleutian islands and making landfall in the western US. In Japan "eclipse tours" were held at schools and parks, on pleasure boats and even private airplanes. Similar events were also held in China and Taiwan. TV in Tokyo broadcast the event live. Light rain fell on Tokyo as the eclipse began, but the clouds thinned as it reached its peak, providing near perfect conditions. Image caption Schoolchildren in Tokyo enjoyed the phenomenon "It was a very mysterious sight - I've never seen anything like it," said Kaori Sasaki, who joined a crowd in central Tokyo. Japanese electronics giant Panasonic sent an expedition to the top of Mount Fuji to film the eclipse using solar-powered equipment. "Our goal is to broadcast the world's most beautiful annular eclipse from the highest mountain in Japan," the company said. However, in Hong Kong skywatchers were not so lucky. Hundreds had gathered along the Kowloon waterfront where the Space Museum had set up solar-filtered telescopes, but heavy clouds obstructed the view. In the US, viewing parties were reported in Reno, Nevada; Oakland, California, and elsewhere. Hundreds also travelled to the Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which was hailed as one of the best vantage points. "That's got to be the prettiest thing I've ever seen," said Brent Veltri of Salida, Colorado. The eclipse was fully visible across a 240 to 300km-wide swathe but partial views could be seen across much of east Asia and North America. The Slooh series of space telescopes has been covering the event on its website. ||||| Story highlights Northern California gets a clear view of the ring of fire Tokyo residents enjoy spectacular scenes, but clouds mar Hong Kong viewings More than 80% of the sun was blocked during the eclipse The shadow of the moon swept across the globe from Hong Kong to the Texas Panhandle as a rare annular solar eclipse began Monday morning in Asia and traversed the Pacific. The sun appeared as a thin ring behind the moon to people in a narrow path along the center of the track, which began in southern China. Heavy clouds obscured the view in Hong Kong, but residents of Tokyo and other cities were able to get a spectacular view for about four minutes around 7:32 a.m. Monday (6:32 p.m. ET Sunday). Events were held at schools and museums in Japan, while many more people took in the unusual astronomical event at home or on street corners. After whizzing across the Pacific, the shadow emerged over northern California and southern Oregon, where thousands of people attended parties to watch the event, the first to appear in the United States since 1994. Experts warned that hopeful viewers should not peer up at the sky without special viewing equipment, since looking at the sun with the naked eye can cause blindness. Just Watched Solar eclipse 'looks like a cookie' replay More Videos ... Solar eclipse 'looks like a cookie' 01:32 PLAY VIDEO Derek Ralston, a professional photographer, said he used a welding filter to capture a direct view of eclipse in the foothills above Oroville, California. He shared the photo on CNN iReport. Noting "the rather slim swath of the globe who could see the impact of the eclipse," Ralston said he wanted to enable "the rest of the world to see how clear it looked to those of us who were fortunate enough to see it." The sliver of sunshine then traveled southeast across central Nevada, southern Utah and northern Arizona, and then New Mexico. It passed over Albuquerque, New Mexico, about 7:34 p.m. (9:34 p.m. ET) before petering out east of Lubbock, Texas, according to NASA. An annular eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and sun at the farthest point of its orbit, meaning it will block less than the entire sun. That leaves a large, bright ring around it as it passes. Patrick Wiggins, a NASA ambassador in Salt Lake City, said he always looked forward to seeing people's reactions to such events. "You get everything from stoic, staring into the sky ... to people breaking down and crying, they're just so moved," he said. Aaron Lin, an 8th-grade student from Moraga, California, said a tree in his family's yard had served as unexpected natural viewing device on Sunday. The leaves of the tree, whose shadow falls on the side of the family's house, broke up the light from the eclipse into scores of tiny crescents on the wall, he said. "I was so shocked by these shadows because it looked like a painting or computer art," said Aaron, 13. Did you view the eclipse? Share your photos with CNN iReport and they could be featured on CNN. The next solar eclipse will be on November 13, and is expected to be visible over northern Australia, according to NASA.

– The rare "ring of fire" annular solar eclipse did not disappoint. Millions of watchers from Tokyo to San Francisco and Albuquerque stood transfixed before homemade pinhole boxes, telescope projections, live action on computers—or peered at the sky with special cardboard glasses as the moon moved into position to turn the sun into a crescent, and, finally, left a slender, fiery ring around the mega star. Heavy clouds obscured the sun in Hong Kong, but the sky was clear for minutes in Tokyo to the delight of earthlings. After sweeping across the Pacific, the eclipse was spotted in Oregon and northern California, then Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, notes CNN. "Is it the nerd in me that's beyond excited to see this solar eclipse?" asked a tweeter. "It was a very mysterious sight. I've never seen anything like it," Tokyo watcher Kaori Sasaki told the BBC. Panasonic sent an expedition to the top of Mount Fuji to film the eclipse using solar-powered equipment. "This can get people to look up from their little anthill lives, and maybe get a sense of the bigger cosmic cycles that are going on all the time over our heads," said a senior editor at Sky & Telescope magazine.The event was last witnessed in the US in 1994, and won't be seen again until 2023.

Police officers of the Mossos d'Esquadra, Catalan police, check the I.D. of a person at a school listed to be a polling station by the Catalan government at the Gracia neighborhood in Barcelona, Spain,... (Associated Press) BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spanish riot police smashed their way into polling stations to try to halt a disputed independence referendum in Catalonia on Sunday and fired rubber bullets at protesters outside a Barcelona polling station. Several people were injured. The officers fired the rubber bullets while trying to clear protesters who were trying to prevent National Police cars from leaving after police confiscated ballot boxes from the voting center. The Spanish government has ordered police to stop the voting process, saying it's illegal. Catalan officials said 38 people were treated for mostly minor injuries. An AP photographer saw several people who had been injured during the scuffles outside Barcelona's Rius i Taule school, where some voters had cast ballots before police arrived Catalan President Carles Puigdemont condemned the crackdown. "Police brutality will shame forever the Spanish state," he said as crowds cheered. Tension has been on the rise since the vote was called in early September, crystalizing years of defiance by separatists in the affluent region, which contributes mightily to Spain's economy. As one of Spain's 17 autonomous regions, Catalonia enjoys ample rights but key areas such as infrastructure and taxes are in the hands of Madrid. Separatist Catalans have long complained of contributing too much to the state while not getting enough in return. Enric Millo, the Spanish government's representative in the region, said police and National Guard forces acted "professionally" to enforce court orders. He said any attempt to claim the referendum as valid is doomed. "Today's events in Catalonia can never be portrayed as a referendum or anything similar," he said. Manuel Condeminas, a 48-year-old IT manager who tried to block police from driving away with the ballot boxes, said agents had kicked them before using their batons and firing the projectiles, which were ball-shaped. Elsewhere, Civil Guard officers, wearing helmets and carrying shields, used a hammer to break the glass of the front door and a lock cutter to break into the Sant Julia de Ramis sports center near the city of Girona. At least one woman was injured outside the building and wheeled away on a stretcher by paramedics. Clashes broke out less than an hour after polls opened, and not long before Catalonia regional president Carles Puigdemont was expected to turn up to vote at the sports center. Polling station workers inside the building reacted peacefully and broke out into songs and chants challenging the officers' presence. Puigdemont was forced to vote in Cornella de Terri, near the northern city of Girona, his spokesman Joan Maria Pique told The Associated Press. The Spanish government and its security forces are trying to prevent voting in the independence referendum, which is backed by Catalan regional authorities. Spanish officials had said force wouldn't be used, but that voting wouldn't be allowed. Spain's Constitutional Court has suspended the vote. Regional separatist leaders pledged to hold it anyway, promising to declare independence if the "yes" side wins, and have called on 5.3 million eligible voters to cast ballots. Police had sealed off many voting centers in the hours before the vote to prevent their use. Others were filled with activists determined to hold their ground. Spanish riot police forcefully removed a few hundred would-be voters from a polling station at a school in Barcelona. Daniel Riano was inside when the police pushed aside a large group gathered outside busted in the Estela school's front door. The 54-year-old Riano said that "we were waiting inside to vote when the National Police used force to enter, they used a mace to break in the glass door and they took everything." He said that "one policeman put me in a headlock to drag me out, while I was holding my wife's hand. It was incredible. They didn't give any warning." National Police and Civil Guard officers also showed up in other polling centers where Catalan officials were expected. Catalans braved rain and defied police orders to abandon designated voting stations. Joaquim Bosch, a 73-year-old retiree at Princep de Viana high school, where a crowd of 20 people was growing Sunday morning, said he was uneasy about a possible police response to the crowds. "I have come to vote to defend the rights of my country, which is Catalonia," Bosch said. "I vote because of the mistreatment of Catalonia by Spain for many years." Reporters with The Associated Press saw ballot boxes wrapped in plastic bags being carried into some of the polling stations in Barcelona occupied by parents, children and activists before some polling stations could open at 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) as scheduled. The plastic ballot boxes, bearing the seal of the Catalan regional government, were placed on tables, prompting the cheering of hopeful voters who had gathered in schools before dawn. In an effort to overcome myriad obstacles, Catalan officials announced that voters would be allowed to cast ballots in any location and could use ballots printed at home, rather than in designated polling stations as previously announced. Regional government spokesman Jordi Turull also said that a group of "academics and professionals" would serve as election observers. The official electoral board appointed by the regional parliament was disbanded last week to avoid hefty fines by Spain's Constitutional Court. "We are under conditions to be able to celebrate a self-determination referendum with guarantees," Turull said in a press conference. "Our goal is that all Catalans can vote." Courts and police have been cracking down for days to halt the vote, confiscating 10 million paper ballots and arresting key officials involved in the preparations. On Saturday, Civil Guard agents dismantled the technology to connect voting stations, count the votes and vote online, leading the Spanish government to announce that holding the referendum would be "impossible." ___ Associated Press writer Alex Oller contributed to this report from Barcelona, and Gregory Katz and Frank Griffiths contributed from London. ___ Follow complete AP coverage of the Catalonia referendum here . ___ This story has been corrected to show that the spelling of the IT manager's surname is Condeminas, not Conedeminas.

– Spain erupted into chaos on Sunday as Catalonia held a referendum on independence, with police firing rubber bullets at protesters and smashing into polling stations in an effort to halt the vote, reports the AP. The officers fired the rubber bullets while trying to clear protesters who were trying to prevent National Police cars from leaving after police confiscated ballot boxes. The Spanish government has ordered police to stop the voting process, saying it's illegal. Catalan officials said more than 300 people were injured, some seriously. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont condemned the crackdown. "Police brutality will shame forever the Spanish state," he said as crowds cheered. Tension has been on the rise since the vote was called in early September, crystalizing years of defiance by separatists in the affluent region, which contributes mightily to Spain's economy. Enric Millo, the Spanish government's rep in the region, said police and National Guard forces acted "professionally" to enforce court orders to suspend the vote. He dismissed the vote's validity, saying, "today's events in Catalonia can never be portrayed as a referendum or anything similar." Clashes broke out less than an hour after polls opened. Polling station workers reacted peacefully and broke out into songs and chants challenging the officers' presence. Spanish officials had said force wouldn't be used, but that voting wouldn't be allowed. Regional separatist leaders pledged to hold it anyway, promising to declare independence if the "yes" side wins, and called on 5.3 million eligible voters to cast ballots.

A 72-year-old Indiana woman is hoping that a Christmas miracle will help her find the long-lost son she gave up for adoption in 1963. When she was 19, Geraldine “Jerri” Kramer gave birth to a healthy, curly-haired boy on June 10, 1963, in Indianapolis, but was forced by her parents and her priest to give him up, she told ABC News today. “They said [he] was not welcome in their home,” Kramer said. Courtesy of Marie Henson But Kramer said she always wondered and prayed about her first born, whom she named Jack after her father. She said there has been a “hole” her family since she last saw him. “I went along with it,” Kramer said, adding that she bonded with the infant when the nurses let her hold him. “But, now I’m sorry [I did].” Her younger sister was the only other family member who knew about her first pregnancy, Kramer said. She would visit her at the St. Elizabeth Girls Home in Indianapolis, where young girls would stay to receive maternity care. But in 1988, when her eldest daughter contemplated giving up her third child for adoption, Kramer showed up to the hospital and revealed her secret, telling her she would regret it. “It was the single most important thing to ever happen to me,” Marie Henson said. Courtesy of Marie Henson Not even her husband, Joseph, whom she married in 1966, knew about the baby boy she gave up three years before they wed, Henson said. “He’s always been supportive and compassionate,” 49-year-old Henson said of her father when he found out about the baby. “It’s just as important to him to find him, for her sake.” Kramer’s declining health inspired her to ask her children to help find their older brother, who would now be 52 years old. Courtesy of Marie Henson A meme created with a photo of her five children created reads, “If you were born 6-10-63 you’re our older brother; we’re looking for you.” The post been shared more than 41,000 times as of today. The picture was taken on Thanksgiving day. Since Indiana is a “mutual consent state,” agencies need consent from both parties in order to unseal the adoption records. If Kramer’s first born has not registered for mutual consent, they will not release his information unless he has died. Henson said she “will not stop” until she finds her brother. “I hope he’s had a wonderful life with great adoptive parents,” she said. “But I think there’s room in the heart for more people who love you.” Kramer’s 43-year-old son, Marc, told ABC News he thinks his oldest brother would “click instantly” with the family. “It would fill a void,” he said. “We would love to be able to give this to her.” In addition to her five children, Kramer has eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She said she’s “anxious” to find out if she has more. All of Kramer’s immediate family lives in the central Indiana area, Marc said, calling his family "tight-knit." "Maybe I know him," he said of of his oldest brother. "Maybe he lives near me." Kramer said she already knows what she would say if she saw her first-born again. "I would tell him that I’ve loved him for years and years and years,” she said. ||||| Geraldine "Jerri" Kramer was 19 in the summer of 1963 when she was forced by her parents to give up her newborn son for adoption. Now, more than 50 years later, the ailing 72-year-old mom wants to meet the son she never knew – and her family has taken to social media to find him. Catholic Social Services, which took custody of Kramer's newborn, never told her where the infant she called "Jack" would be going. "The nurses misunderstood that I was giving him up for adoption and so they put him in my arms right after birth before taking him away," Kramer told FoxNews.com. "I want him to know that I have always loved him." "I want him to know that I have always loved him." - Geraldine "Jerri" Kramer Kramer, whose maiden name is Hummel, was 19 and unmarried when she learned she was pregnant -- a secret kept from her own siblings. At the urging of her parents and a local priest, she spent a month at St. Elizabeth Girls Home in Indianapolis, where young women once stayed to receive maternity care and hide their pregnancies. On the night of June 10, 1963, Kramer gave birth to a healthy, curly-haired boy at nearby Marion County General Hospital. Kramer, all alone, was lying in a bed for several minutes holding her infant son before he was taken by nurses. "I named him after my father. His name was Jack," Kramer said. Related Image Expand / Contract Kramer is pictured here at age 18 in 1962. (FoxNews.com) Years would pass, but the memory of her first-born child -- and what might have become of him -- would never leave Kramer, who lives in Fortville, Ind., and whose health is failing. "I pray for him every night," said Kramer, who suffers from diabetes and a serious heart condition, among other ailments. Kramer married her husband, Joseph, on May 7, 1966, and together the couple have five children, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Related Image Expand / Contract Kramer with her husband, Joseph, on their wedding day in 1966. (FoxNews.com) On Thanksgiving, Kramer's children decided they would use social media to find their brother. On Nov. 27, the following day, the family posted a photo and message on Facebook that has now been shared by nearly 42,000 people. "We have joined and searched adoption registries," the siblings wrote. "We're praying this may work, as it has for others. It has been Mom's decades-long wish to find you, and we would love to meet our big brother." Marie Henson, Kramer's oldest child, told FoxNews.com that her mother "asked us to renew our search in earnest" after she had open heart surgery last year. "My mom feels the need to see him," said 49-year-old Henson. "She's been marking his age this entire time and wonders about him every day." Related Image Expand / Contract Kramer, 72, is pictured at her home in Fortville, Ind. (FoxNews.com) The Kramer family is not alone in its quest. Thousands of people are turning to Facebook to help find a biological child or parent due to the legal difficulty of obtaining confidential adoption records. Kelley Baumgartner, also from Indiana, used the social media site to locate her birth mother who gave her to Catholic Social Services in South Bend in 1987. In February, Baumgartner posted her plight to Facebook -- which was shared by 340,000 people and seen by her biological mother, who contacted her two weeks later, according to local reports. The process of locating a biological relative is a challenge, logistically and psychologically. "I usually get about 40 requests like this a month," said Katrina Carlisle of St. Elizabeth Coleman Pregnancy & Adoption Services, a non-profit adoption agency that is part of Catholic Charities Indianapolis. Carlisle, who cannot comment on individual cases, explained that Indiana is a "mutual consent state," meaning all adoption records are sealed unless both parties consent to have the records unsealed. Those seeking to locate a biological parent or child must file paperwork to join the adoption history registry with the Indiana State Department of Health, according to Carlisle. The state then looks to see if the other party has registered, in which case there is a match. If there is no match, families often ask Carlisle to do a search for a fee of $350. "It takes a long time to track people down," said Carlisle. "But all my difficulties are in the emotional realm. The worst thing that happens to me is when I find a birth mother who wants no contact with her child." "There is nothing I can do about that," said Carlisle, who has been conducting such searches for 24 years. "If they say no, it ends right there. And that is very painful for them." The Kramer family, meanwhile, said they are praying their brother -- who would now be 52 years old -- is alive and able to contact them. "I have this feeling it could happen before the holidays," Henson said. "We are praying for a Christmas miracle." Cristina Corbin is a New York-based reporter for FoxNews.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaCorbin.

– Five siblings may have found their long-lost older brother thanks to a Facebook post. Their mother, 72-year-old Geraldine "Jerri" Kramer, gave birth to a baby in 1963, when she was 19 and unwed, but the Indiana woman's parents and priest made her give the boy up for adoption. Still, she bonded with the infant as soon as she held him, and never stopped thinking about him, she tells ABC News. Kramer, whose maiden name was Hummel, called the baby Jack, Fox News reports. He remained a secret from much of her family, even the husband she married in 1966. But in 1988, when her oldest daughter was considering giving up a child for adoption, Kramer told her the story and warned her daughter she'd regret parting with the baby. Then, as her health started to decline, Kramer asked her kids to help her find her own lost child. The five of them took a group photo on Thanksgiving and added the words, "You were born 6-10-63. You're our older brother, we're looking for you." They posted it on Facebook, where it's been shared nearly 45,000 times. "You were born June 10, 1963 in the wee AM hours, at Marion County General Hospital, in Indianapolis, Indiana. You were placed for adoption through Catholic Social Services," reads the post. "It has been Mom's decades-long wish to find you, and we would love to meet our big brother." In an update Monday, Marie Henson added, "I THINK WE FOUND HIM!! He saw the article, and DNA tests are our next step!" No further updates have been posted yet, but should Kramer—who also has eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren—find her long-lost biological son, she says she'll tell him "that I’ve loved him for years and years and years." (When these two long-lost siblings met, they realized they'd known each other for years.)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — To get you to come into McDonald's and buy new versions of its Big Mac, the chain is giving away 10,000 bottles of its trademark special sauce for people to use at home. The move is to celebrate the introduction of the Mac Jr. and the Grand Mac, two different-sized variations of the classic sandwich. The giveaway is a first in the United States. McDonald's introduced the Big Mac in 1968. In 1975, the special sauce got its own callout in the signature Big Mac commercial, touting the burger's components_"Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun." The bottles will be available Thursday at participating locations nationwide. Additional details on how and where customers can get their hands on a bottle are expected to be released later Wednesday. ||||| Relaxnews McDonald's has bottled their iconic 'Special Sauce' in preparation for a giveaway that will hand out 10,000 free bottles of the stuff to promote the launch of their new Big Macs. "A new-Mac-Sandwich-sizes party needs epic party favors-like 10k bottles of Special Sauce. Tomorrow find out when/where you might get one!" McDonald's tweeted Tuesday. The bottles are expected to be distributed at participating restaurants across the U.S. Thursday. After announcing plans to both shrink and inflate their original iconic double-decker sandwich last year, the new Mac Jr. and Grand Mac launch Thursday. For those with smaller appetites, the Mac Jr. is a Big Mac, minus the middle layer and second beef patty. For bigger Mac attacks, the Grand Mac features bigger beef patties, at a weight of one-third of a pound. The launch comes following a dip in sales over the last quarter. In the U.S., sales dipped by 1.3 percent compared to the same period in 2015. The drop is attributed to the strong results seen from their All-Day Breakfast program which launched in 2015. The fast food giant is also hoping to resurrect its most iconic sandwich, particularly among Millennial consumers. According to an internal memo obtained by the Wall Street Journal last year, it's estimated that only one in five Millennials have ever tried the company's flagship product. Meanwhile, in response to McDonald's tweet announcing the special sauce giveaway, one cheeky follower posted a photo of Kraft's Thousand Island dressing, with the message, "Sweet got mine!!"

– To get you to come into McDonald's and buy new versions of its Big Mac, the chain is giving away 10,000 bottles of its trademark special sauce for people to use at home, the AP reports. The move is to celebrate the introduction of the Mac Jr. and the Grand Mac, two different-sized variations of the classic sandwich. The giveaway is a first in the United States. The bottles will be available Thursday at participating locations nationwide, and the company tweeted details of the giveaway Wednesday. CTV reports that the launch of the bigger and smaller Macs is an effort to attract millennial consumers. A company memo leaked last year estimated that only around a fifth of millennials had ever tried a Big Mac.

Make Sure Your College Tuition Pays You Back Look Beyond College Costs, Check Your Return on Investment Paying for college is more of a luxury than ever. Where can you get the most payback on your tuition dollars? PayScale reviewed nearly 700 colleges and universities to calculate your tuition return on investment (ROI) - what you get back for what you spend. Highest College ROI California Institute of Technology (Caltech) $1,713,000 Lowest College ROI Shaw University $15,480 - 100K ||||| With the ever-rising cost of a college degree and the dearth of jobs for graduates, many have begun questioning the worth of higher education. Compensation data site PayScale has taken some uncertainty out of the equation by completing an in-depth tabulation of more than 850 colleges' ROI, or return on investment, scores. ROI takes the price of a school's degree and compares it to how much that school's graduates earn on average, producing perhaps the truest measure of a school's value. Using 1.4 million reports, they calculated which colleges give the most bang for their buck. We've highlighted the 13 schools with the top ROI scores below. See Payscale's complete list here, including a breakdown of the public and private schools with the highest ROIs. And over at BusinessWeek, there's a state-by-state breakdown of PayScale's data, with a slideshow featuring the best-value school in each state. Is this list surprising to you? Has your college degree given you a worthy ROI? Let us know in the comments section.

– Which colleges pay off? PayScale crunched the numbers to compute the best returns on investment—by comparing the cost of a degree against what its students earn upon graduation—and Huffington Post rounds up the best of the bunch: Massachusetts Institute of Technology: annual ROI: 12.6%; 30-year ROI: $1.69 million California Institute of Technology: 12.6%; $1.64 million Harvard: 12.5%; $1.63 million Harvey Mudd College: 12.5%; $1.63 million Dartmouth: 12.4%; $1.59 million Stanford: 12.3%; $1.57 million Princeton: 12.3%; $1.52 million Yale: 11.9%; $1.39 million Notre Dame: 12.2%; $1.38 million University of Pennsylvania: 11.8%; $1.36 million See the Huffington Post slideshow here and PayScale's complete rankings here.

Unfortunately, Laura Linney doesn't come across as a dying woman struggling to save her own life so much as a really dorky PTA mom dressed up as a clown in order to bring a little cheer to the children's cancer ward. Having just been diagnosed with Stage IV melanoma, Cathy (Linney) is haunted by the specter of approaching death, yes, but she's also super-determined to do a goofy little dance and spray a little water out of her flower lapel into some poor leukemia patient's eye. She's going to smile quizzically and shrug and give you an "Aw shucks, what can I say, folks? I'm here for 18 more months!" (Da dum dum -- ch!) and what are you going to do? Laugh? Now that we've established my relative worthlessness in the big scheme of things, I will tell you one thing I know beyond a shadow of a doubt: A comedy about cancer needs to be really, really funny. Otherwise, it will be awful. With " The Big C " (premieres 10:30 p.m., Aug. 16, on Showtime), all of the vital signs looked good from the start. You've got Laura Linney, an actress who has been easy to love ever since she charmed the world as Mark Ruffalo's weary older sister in "You Can Count On Me." You've got Oliver Platt, known for his ability to pump vim and vigor into other oddball premium cable shows like "Bored to Death" and "Huff." Cancer. I don't like typing that word. My sister goes to work every day and cuts cancer out of people's bodies, and I can't even type the word "cancer" without cringing. My sister looks people right in the eyes and tells them whether they'll live for another year or die in a few weeks -- and I watch shows about rich housewives for a living. No. You're going to cringe and beg to be put out of your misery. Now I'm going to make a wild, inappropriate guess here. I'm going to guess that either show creator Darlene Hunt or Laura Linney or both of them were given the following note at some point: "Lighten it up!" Maybe some test audience thought the story was too gloomy, too depressing, too focused on death. "Death? Yuck!" they said. "We don't want death. We want zany pot-dealer moms who shrug and slurp on frappuccinos! We want zany multiple-personality-disorder moms who shrug and toss back canned beer! We want zany nurse moms who shrug and pop prescription drugs and have affairs with their pharmacist buddies! But zany control-freak moms who shrug and get naked in the back yard, because they're about to die? No thank you! Cheer this mother up, give her a jaunty smile, a kick in her step! Make her flirt openly with her much-younger doctor! Make her scare the bejeezus out of her snarky teenage son! When she's sad about stuff, make it clear that she's also just feeling so lucky to be alive for another day! You know what this dying mom needs? She needs to smile more often! Haven't you read 'Crazy Sexy Cancer'?" So here's Linney, smiling through every scene, cracking really funny jokes about only having a few months to live, jokes about as fun and lighthearted as an unexpected spray of water in your chemo-bloodshot eyes. Here's Cathy feeling pleased that she goaded her doctor into admitting that she has a killer rack. Here's Cathy eating only desserts and doing cartwheels in the hallway of the school where she teaches and getting a pool installed in her backyard and riding a bicycle built for two with a flower basket and streamers coming out of the handlebars. Kooky, unsexy cancer! Cathy doesn't want chemo for her melanoma. She doesn't want any treatment that will only make her bald. She doesn't want to tell anyone she has cancer. She just wants to play practical jokes and set stuff on fire! She just wants to kick her husband, Paul (Platt), out of the house, because he's an overgrown kid, gosh darn it! She just wants to hang out with her crazy homeless-by-choice brother, the one who spends his life in various parking lots, yelling at people about how their SUVs are destroying the earth. Cathy's plucky, to-hell-with-it approach should be moving, but instead it comes off with all of the grace and ease of a grizzly bear in a ballerina skirt. Cathy titters. She sighs and squints. She giggles nervously and smiles in a pinched way. But let's not blame this show's flaws on cancer. Cathy is a mom who suggests to her son that they "chillax" together. When he calls her gay, she yells anemically after him, "Don't use 'gay' like that!" "You're sooo not allowed to say I'm embarrassing," she warns her brother, Sean (John Benjamin Hickey), who spends every episode saying things like, "Enjoy your swirly chemicals!" and "Wake up and smell your $10 latte!" Oliver Platt, on the other hand, succeeds at milking every oddly melancholic moment as Linney's husband. Paul rages at Cathy's inscrutability, he confesses his deepest secrets to a therapist, he misunderstands and becomes lustful and retreats and somehow Platt makes it all believable. We buy this guy as a real person, in all of his selfish, needy, self-pitying glory. Maybe the overgrown boy role is just easier to pull off, or maybe Platt is particularly great at walking that line between comic and tragic. I really want to love Linney in this role, because she's a great actress and she does pull off about half of her scenes in "The Big C." But there's just something leaden and unnatural about the way her role is written and performed, as if someone is standing on the sidelines yelling "Smiles, everyone! Smiles!" the whole time. Because if you take the Linney we've seen before -- a little gloomy, a little shrill – and insert her into this picture, it works so much better. Instead, Cathy seems self-conscious in everything she does. She spends most of each episode grinning from ear to ear like the reluctant host of a sorority rush party, counting the seconds until she's free to get drunk on cosmopolitans. On the page, "The Big C" is occasionally clever. But the mood of the actual show is all wrong. The timing is off. The heavy scenes are almost as badly timed and directed as the funny scenes, and those scenes that alternate between funny and sad only induce whiplash. None of the emotions in play feel remotely organic or nuanced or sweet. And by the end of the third episode, we understand exactly what we're going to see, over and over again, throughout the course of the first season: Beleaguered, denial-plagued smiley mom, man-child husband, insolent son, angry shut-in neighbor, angry overweight girl (played by Gabourey Sidibe from "Precious") trying to diet, angry radical brother. Simply putting one nutty character in a room with another nutty character does not a comedy make, yet that's what each scene of this show boils down to. And that's a shame. Because "The Big C" could be a great show; it should be a great show. There are so many possibilities. Death brings out the best and the worst in everyone and everything, and it can be very funny -- just ask anyone who's dealt with the death of someone close to them. Instead, "The Big C" offers us the same stuff we've seen before from every cancer subplot on every TV show ever made: cute younger doctors, annoying cancer support groups, impulsive decisions and an interminable wait for the moment when our patient finally tells her family she's sick. "I'm here all year, performing at stage IV!" Cathy yells to an imaginary audience at the end of the first episode. "Come on, you've gotta give it up for me a little bit! It's kinda funny -- death comedy?" In this case, unfortunately, it's not. ||||| Those who die on crime series like “The Sopranos” and “The Wire” do so to help — or hurt — the ones left standing. Even “Dexter,” a Showtime series about a serial killer who preys, vigilante-style, on serial killers, examines an engaging psychopath’s fixation on crime and punishment, not extinction. The high school teacher hero of AMC’s “Breaking Bad” has cancer, but even there, the action is less about his struggle with his disease than about his decision to start a rollicking life of crime as a meth dealer. Photo On “The Big C” Ms. Linney’s Cathy is almost refreshingly ordinary — a Minneapolis schoolteacher with a husband and child and a dull but comfortable life. Except, of course, that she too has a secret: melanoma. The story begins after Cathy has been told she has a year to live. It is a tribute to Ms. Linney’s talent — and her body of work in movies like “Love Actually” and “The Savages” — that viewers don’t have to see for themselves that Cathy was a reserved, apologetic person before the diagnosis, the kind of dutiful worker bee who is easily silenced by stronger personalities. Ms. Linney makes it understood before uttering a word. “The Big C” is framed as a comedy: Cathy’s imminent death sentence unleashes another, freer side of her. Suddenly, she is speaking up, except when she decides not to. She doesn’t tell anyone about her cancer, not even her husband, Paul (Oliver Platt), or her son, Adam (Gabriel Basso), or her brother, Sean (John Benjamin Hickey), a homeless ecology nut who lives out of Dumpsters. Instead, Cathy tells people off — including a rude and hostile student, Andrea (Gabourey Sidibe from “Precious”), who is dangerously overweight; and a reclusive and sour neighbor, Marlene (Phyllis Somerville), who is unpleasant. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Casting off a lifetime of inhibitions, Cathy flirts with her doctor, smokes a cigarette, digs a swimming pool in her yard and, in restaurants, orders only drinks and dessert. “The Big C” isn’t just about facing death, of course; it’s also about a woman who tries to live each day as if it were the last. The paradox of dealing playfully with a subject that is so taboo is that it’s easy to slide into safe comic clichés. In “Last Holiday,” Queen Latifah played a meek department store clerk who, when told she has a year to live, moves to a luxury hotel in Europe and savors life, delicious food and telling people exactly what she thinks. Photo That film was a romantic comedy with a happy ending: Queen Latifah’s character was misdiagnosed. “The Big C” is unlikely to let Cathy magically off the hook. Accordingly, the series is at its best when sardonic and subdued. Some of the black humor is the kind that cancer patients are prone to share among themselves. Impolitic truth telling is more broadly amusing, and plenty of movies have toyed with the comedy of characters who can’t stop telling the truth, notably “Liar, Liar” and “The Invention of Lying.” Cathy is funniest when she speaks her mind. “The Big C” works because most of the writing is strong and believable, and so is Ms. Linney, who rarely sounds a false note and here has perfect pitch. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. But perhaps because the subject is so challenging, the creators took some easy shortcuts in casting other characters. Mr. Platt as Paul is childish and egotistical and very much like the childish and egotistical husband he played in Nicole Holofcener’s recent film, “Please Give.” Before playing crusty, solitary Marlene, Ms. Somerville played crusty, solitary May in the movie “Little Children.” Ms. Linney has the harder task of portraying the kind of reserved, reticent woman she has played in the past, but one who suddenly gets, as her brother puts it, “her weird back.” It’s a credit to the actress, and the writers, that the weirder Cathy gets, the more likable she becomes. THE BIG C Showtime, Monday nights at 10:30, Eastern and Pacific times; 9:30, Central time. Created by Darlene Hunt; Ms. Hunt, Jenny Bicks, Neal H. Moritz, Vivian Cannon and Laura Linney, executive producers; Mark Kunerth, Michael Engler and Merrill H. Karpf, co-executive producers. Produced by Sony Pictures Television Inc. WITH: Laura Linney (Cathy), Oliver Platt (Paul), John Benjamin Hickey (Sean), Phyllis Somerville (Marlene), Gabriel Basso (Adam), Gabourey Sidibe (Andrea), Idris Elba (Lenny) and Reid Scott (Dr. Todd). ||||| Traditionally, the term "the Big C" refers to cancer , and as the main character of Showtime 's new series by the same name has recently been diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma , it seems a fitting title. In this case, "The Big C" could also refer to several other things — the big concept, for instance. Showtime has developed an alarming penchant for putting women in extreme situations and playing it for comedy, albeit of the darker variety. But cancer is still dicey, hitting closer to home for many viewers than, say, split personalities ( "United States of Tara" ) or even drug addiction ("Nurse Jackie.")"The Big C" could also mean "big cast." Much has been made of critics' darling Laura Linney and her decision to enter the world of serialized television (though no doubt her Emmy win for HBO 's " John Adams " made it a tiny bit easier). Here she is joined by fellow stage actor John Benjamin Hickey ("Love! Valour! Compassion!"), the wonderfully elastic and prolific Oliver Platt , "Precious" Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe and veteran performer Phyllis Somerville (" NYPD Blue," "Little Children"), who inevitably steals every scene she's in.The pilot is also directed by Bill Condon , but that seems to be pushing the whole "things that begin with C" conceit. Still, even on paper, "The Big C" has a lot going on. Then the action starts and things get, well, Crazy. And not necessarily in a good way.Linney's Cathy is a high school teacher who has just learned that the large and unmistakably problematic splotch on her back is Stage 4 melanoma. She is not interested in pursuing experimental treatments or sharing this information with any of the people closest to her. Instead, she begins to survey her life through the lens of its newly measured length, and much of what she sees is not to her liking.She has a husband (Platt) so unapologetically childish that he says things like "stinky poo poo" and still gets drunk enough to pee on the front lawn; a son (Gabriel Basso) who is insolent and selfish even by early-teen standards; a wild-haired neighbor ( Somerville ) who seems to have wandered out of a Flannery O'Connor short story; a hateful, mouthy summer school student (Sidibe) and a homeless eco-activist brother (Hickey) given to wearing plastic bags around his neck.All of whom are introduced in the pilot, by the way, and this is a half-hour show.Clearly, creator and executive producer Darlene Hunt is not sending Cathy gentle into that good night or anywhere else for that matter. No, Cathy will be dropping f-bombs , digging nonpermitted pools and splattering school buses with paintballs. Although "The Big C" does pose the eternal question — How would you live your life if you knew its actual dimensions? — it tries very hard not to take the expected path.Too hard, unfortunately. So determined are Hunt, executive producer/showrunner Jenny Bicks and Linney that "The Big C" be unsentimental that they jam early episodes with so many over-blown characters and wacky antics that it's impossible to attach meaning to any of them. Platt especially is almost criminally misused; as middle-aged wild child to Cathy's more orderly (read: controlling) adult, he wanders in and out of scenes like some infantile forest creature, defined only by wifely resentment, unrecognizable as an adult male (much less one who has, apparently, a job big enough to pay for the very nice house in suburban Connecticut).Linney, who has made a career exploring the fear and rage that is so often disguised as devotion, summons her not-inconsiderable charms to create a woman teetering between breakdown and breakthrough. That Cathy has no friends outside her eccentric brother is less than believable, but it's a fair enough narrative decision. Much of the early story revolves around Cathy forming relationships with Sidibe's Andrea, whom she has decided to save from her weight problem, and Somerville's Marlene, who has hard-won wisdom to offer.But while many of the scenes of "The Big C" are compelling in themselves, taken together they create a manic and manipulative half-hour. In attempting to capture the freefall of discovering that life will be a matter of months instead of years, Hunt and her writers have surrounded Cathy with so much attention-grabbing insanity — She must have a pool! A smackdown with Andrea, another with Marlene! Her brother is a nut! But maybe he's right! No way is her son going to summer camp! And how can she live with a man who never closes the cupboard doors! — that it's hard to keep your eyes on the woman herself.Cathy's decision to keep the news of her cancer to herself is the closest thing we get to a through-line, and fortunately, it's a very good one. We all carry the certainty of our own end with us — as poet laureate W.S. Merwin reminds us: "Every year without knowing it I have passed the day / When the last fires will wave to me" — though for the most part we do it without discussion or even acknowledgment. How then should knowing the particulars change us, and what part of that knowledge do we owe friends and family? Watching Cathy flail wildly at her husband and child, one can't help but think she is treating them unfairly by not explaining what is really going on. But whatreally going on? Every day is another step toward the last, even for a teenager, and who's to say that Cathy is closer to her end than any of those around her?There are enough graceful moments in "The Big C" and certainly enough fine actors to hope that in subsequent episodes, things will slow down, that the grim determination to be "different" will give way to something, if not less outraged or outrageous, then less visibly straining to be so.

– Critics are split on The Big C, Showtime's Laura Linney-starring comedy about a woman with cancer living out the last year of her life, which debuts tonight: The cast is perhaps a bit large for a half-hour show, writes Mary McNamara in the Los Angeles Times, and the whole thing is so determined to be unsentimental that it is instead jammed "with so many over-blown characters and wacky antics that it's impossible to attach meaning to any of them." Heather Havrilesky agrees, noting that the show's attempts to "lighten up" the subject matter turn the whole thing into a "kooky, unsexy" ride that will make you "cringe and beg to be put out of your misery," she writes on Salon. But Alessandra Stanley likes it—especially Linney, "who rarely sounds a false note and here has perfect pitch," she writes in the New York Times. "The series is at its best when sardonic and subdued. Some of the black humor is the kind that cancer patients are prone to share among themselves." For more on the widely admired Linney, click here.

Published on Feb 17, 2015 "While you were chairman of the Commerce Committee, that committee set a record for unauthorized appropriations." - Steve Carell Footage from Comedy Central's Indecision 2000 coverage by The Daily Show (with Jon Stewart) ||||| Jon Stewart (The Daily Show host, 1999-2015): My wildest dream for The Daily Show when I started was “This will be fun. Hopefully we’ll do it well.” Success for me would’ve been feeling like I figured it out. That I got to express the things I wanted to. It was never “I want this to be a cultural touchstone . . . but only for a very small portion of America.” And I was hoping to stay on TV longer than nine months this time. The Daily Show premiered on Comedy Central on July 22, 1996, at 11:30 P.M. The format loosely tracked that of a conventional newscast: five or so opening minutes called “Headlines,” read by former ESPN anchor Craig Kilborn, followed by “Other News,” then usually a pre-taped “field piece” with a correspondent, and finishing up with Kilborn interviewing an actor or a musician. Some segments played off the hard news of the day, like the presidential contest between Bob Dole and Bill Clinton. “There was more of a pop-culture-and-lifestyle component only because what we were satirizing—particularly local news—was doing a lot of that stuff,” co-creator Lizz Winstead says. “We would make fun of the conventions of news. Like when TV reporters talk, how do you create drama in a story that doesn’t exist?” The day-to-day creative process of the first few years of The Daily Show centered on Winstead, fellow co-creator Madeleine Smithberg, and the writing staff. “My first day on the job,” Winstead says, “I have to pull the writers into my office and say, ‘Guys, you can’t have your mushroom dealer come up to the office.’ ” Kilborn came up with the signature “Five Questions” conceit for guest interviews, but otherwise largely read from the script. In November 1996, Comedy Central’s executives moved The Daily Show to 11 P.M., to replace Bill Maher’s Politically Incorrect, which had jumped to ABC, but also to counter-program the late local news. Kilborn’s Daily Show would peak at a nightly average of 357,000, yet Kilborn’s audience was growing, and the show was generating critical buzz. Perhaps more important than the chatter was the fact that it was indeed reaching the younger male viewers Comedy Central president Doug Herzog had targeted in the first place. The combination caught the attention of CBS, and in 1998 it offered Kilborn the slot following Late Night with David Letterman, at 12:30 A.M. “He starts to get a little heat, we’re starting to get a little attention with The Daily Show,” Herzog says, “and then the next thing you know Kilborn goes and signs with CBS without even telling us.” Panic, followed by auditions: David Alan Grier, Michael McKean, Greg Proops, Bill Weir, and Mike Rowe came to the studio and sat in the host’s chair. Daily Show correspondents Beth Littleford and Stephen Colbert got tryouts, too. But Herzog and other Comedy Central executives wondered about a black-leather-jacket-wearing stand-up comic, a guy who had hosted a short-lived MTV talk show produced by Smithberg. He had lost out to Conan O’Brien as Letterman’s NBC replacement; he had written a book of satirical essays; he had played Eve Harrington to Garry Shandling’s Margo Channing on The Larry Sanders Show; and lately he’d had some supporting roles in Hollywood rom-coms. Herzog didn’t think the highly regarded, slightly adrift comedian would be interested in the job. But, hey, what did he have to lose in buying lunch for Jon Stewart? From The Neal Peters Collection. JAMES DIXON (manager for Jon Stewart, 1987-): After The Jon Stewart Show was canceled, he was . . . not burnt on being on TV, but he wanted to kind of wet his feet with film. We had this nice deal with Harvey Weinstein. JON STEWART: At the time, I was obviously making my mark in such films as Wishful Thinking and Dancing with Architecture, or Dancing About . . . Oh, no. They ended up calling it something else. Playing by Heart, I think it was. Getting fired from the talk show was the real turning point for me. Because I thought that, after appearing on Letterman, now I’m a made man. I thought losing The Jon Stewart Show meant I was an unmade man. I realized you still have to make your act better. The goal is to produce, the goal is to make things. So I spent some time writing and performing on The Larry Sanders Show, and I learned a lot from Garry Shandling. JUDD APATOW (stand-up comic, writer, director): Garry had the foresight to write about the talk-show wars and this very subtle aspect of it, which is you support a young comedian, and slowly the network likes him more than it likes you, and then that younger guy, in ways that he understands and might not understand, slowly pushes you out of your job. Similar to what really happened with Leno and Conan and Fallon. So there was a moment when Garry was considering continuing The Larry Sanders Show and changing the name of it to The John Stewart Show, with an h so it wouldn’t really be Jon. Everyone was excited about it for a while, but it went away. JON STEWART: The Daily Show wasn’t necessarily on the radar. I think they called and said, “Hey, man, would you be interested in talking about this?”—something along those lines, something as romantic as that. JAMES DIXON: I definitely advocated for him to do it. I just said to him, “You can put this through your prism. You can make it smarter and different than what it’s been.” Now, I definitely didn’t see the show becoming the political lightning rod that it evolved into. DOUG HERZOG (executive, MTV, 1984-95; president, Comedy Central, 1995-98; executive, Viacom, 2004-): In the summer of ‘98, when we announced that Jon was going to take over The Daily Show, we had a little press conference in the lobby of the old Comedy Central offices. And Stephen Colbert showed up, as a member of the press representing The Daily Show, wanting to know why he didn’t get the job. STEPHEN COLBERT (correspondent, 1997-2005): “You told me he wasn’t funny.” That’s what Jon said to Doug Herzog. MATT LABOV (publicist for Jon Stewart, 1994-2008): The stakes for Jon were fairly high at that point, because he’s not a super-young guy anymore, and he’s had shots, and people easily disappear and go into the woodwork. He didn’t get the Conan job on NBC; he didn’t get the 12:30 job after Letterman. If this doesn’t work on fucking cable, then where would Jon have ended up? JON STEWART: A couple of months before I officially started as host there was a meeting with the writers and producers. Let’s call that “Jonny’s surprise party.” I knew that the people working on the Kilborn show were rightfully proud of it. It had done well. It was not the sensibility that I thought was right for me, and so when they approached me for the show, I was pretty clear about the direction I thought I wanted to take it. Seemed like everybody was on board with that, and so this was my first chance to meet with all the people who, I had been told, were so excited about that. So excited. They’re so happy you’re here. And I walked in, and it was a room full of people who, as it turned out, were annoyed that I had an idea about where I wanted to go, who thought that I was going to MTV it up. I was told, “This isn’t about bands. We do a real show here.” I just sat there like “Oh, fuck.” It felt a little bit like “Wow, none of this was in the brochure. The brochure said that this was oceanfront property.” JAMES DIXON: I had to talk Jon down. Not from a tree—from a skyscraper. Because they basically said to him, “Welcome aboard. This is how we do shit here. Grab a chair.” It was bullshit. PAUL RUDD (actor): Technically I was Jon’s first Daily Show guest interview. I went to the University of Kansas, and my roommate, Stewart Bailey, became a segment producer who was with the show from the very beginning. I’d been on Kilborn’s Daily Show. When Jon replaced Craig, they wanted to do a test show so Jon could get used to the format. Stewart made his debut on Monday, January 11, 1999. His first joke was that Kilborn was “on assignment in Kuala Lumpur.” His first headline, “The Final Blow,” was about the Senate impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. His first guest was Michael J. Fox, then starring on ABC’s Spin City. But Stewart looked, for the first months, very much the guest himself. Other than a new couch and desktop—and blue script pages for Stewart to scribble on portentously, replacing Kilborn’s white paper—the set design was largely unchanged. The theme song, Bob Mould’s “Dog on Fire,” was the same. And Stewart’s suits were so ill-fitting that they looked like they were inherited from his much taller predecessor. By Mike Blake/Reuters. JUSTIN MELKMANN (post-production supervisor; segment producer; later supervising producer, video department; 1997-): During the Kilborn era, it was about “How can we seem like we’ve gone too far?” With Jon, we went from creating the news—creating funny spoof headlines—to making fun of the news. That was a big change. MO ROCCA (correspondent, 1998-2003): Shortly after Jon arrived, we had done a bit about Dana Plato dying, and Jon felt bad about delivering a joke when the end of her life had been so pathetic. We had a meeting where he said he had resolved that the show needed to have a point of view and couldn’t just be the kid at the back of the classroom throwing spitballs in all directions. I remember people trading the kind of glances that said, “Oh shit, this is going to be a disaster.” JON STEWART: To be fair to the writers who stayed from Kilborn’s show, they had a successful thing going. They thought of it as a continuation of their show. I thought it was a new show. To me it wasn’t edgy or provocative to just take napalm to a bush for no reason. You wanted it to be pointed, purposeful, intentional, surgical. I felt like I walked in there with a very open “O.K., so this will be great,” and it was “Hey, motherfucker, you came here to kill a baby.” KENT JONES (writer, 1996-2001): Well, I would not agree with that. I don’t remember any of this being as hostile as it has been portrayed. I just don’t. MADELEINE SMITHBERG (co-creator; executive producer, 1996-2002): Because of the point of view that had been created by Craig Kilborn sitting in the chair, the writers’ role had inflated. Yeah, they were spoiled rotten, because almost every show in late night is talent driven. They got too big for their britches. JON STEWART: Six or eight weeks in, the writers called me into their office. They’re like, “You can’t change our jokes anymore.” I didn’t know what to say. So after a weekend of pacing and smoking and having tremendous Lincoln-Douglas debates on the couch by myself, I went back in, and it was horrible. I basically told them all to fuck off. “You work for me. And if you don’t like the direction, O.K. I get that. Don’t work here.” “THERE WERE POINTS WHERE I THOUGHT . . . I’VE GOT TO LEAVE,” SAYS STEWART OF THE EARLY TURMOIL. There were points where I thought, I made the wrong decision. I’ve got to leave. But I don’t give up very easily. It was open hostility, which is so enjoyable. It became that sense of “O.K., let’s arm-wrestle.” This will give you a hint of my personality of grudges. I didn’t really have a game plan. I knew what I didn’t want. But then turning it into what you did want was the next scenario, and that was going to take time, and effort, and accomplices. What I needed most were accomplices. BEN KARLIN (head writer, later executive producer, 1999-2006): I was living in Los Angeles, working with a bunch of guys from The Onion, selling pilots and doing punch-up on movies. We did a pilot for Fox called Deadline Now, at about the same time The Daily Show was launching. We kind of did the exact opposite. We didn’t want to be winking at the audience. We wanted to play it straight and not really acknowledge we were a comedy show. We hired actors and went about trying to produce a news show that was very much in the spirit of the Onion newspaper. And, frankly, we were quite scornful of the Kilborn Daily Show. Our template host, when we’d come up with show ideas, was always Jon Stewart. We loved Jon Stewart. So when it was announced that Jon was taking over The Daily Show, our little comedy-snob nerd group thought it was a bad move. For him. Comedy Central was still pretty second-tier, and that might even be nice. And Jon was the Letterman heir apparent. I got a call from my agent saying, “Listen, Jon is looking for a new head writer, loves The Onion, has heard that you’re kind of the de facto leader of the Onion guys’ group out in L.A. Would you be willing to come out to New York and meet with them?” JON STEWART: I really liked his sensibility. Ben seemed to be concerned with hypocrisy and the silly façades of politics. He seemed to know where the absurdity was, and that was an important change in focus for what we wanted to do. There’s also a certain steeped-in-neurosis bathos that probably was a rhythm that we both clicked on. That similar Jewie Jewerman from Jewville. The big thing was to find somebody who had thoughts, who cared, who had an opinion. Part of what The Onion is, and part of what Ben was steeped in, was the idea of deconstruction as your first step of re-creation. So Ben was a natural fit, although he had not had the TV experience. From Comedy Central. BEN KARLIN: I was friendly with Bob Odenkirk and David Cross. They were kind of like the grand Pooh-Bahs of the alternative-comedy scene in L.A.—Sarah Silverman, Janeane Garofalo, Patton Oswalt. It was that whole wave of comics. Bob and David said The Daily Show sounded like a great opportunity. So I sublet my apartment, sold my Harley, found someone to take my dog for a while, and came to New York with three duffel bags. JON STEWART: Ben walked into a buzz saw. BEN KARLIN: I’m not going to talk shit about anybody. But the staff had its allegiances, and the things that they liked to do, and the way they liked to do it. Now you’ve got this guy, Jon, who is a writer, who has a strong point of view. LIZZ WINSTEAD (co-creator; head writer, correspondent, 1996-1998): As much as I loved the original writers, I created some little monsters. Once Jon realized he needed to take charge, you can’t afford to have people who are not in the Jon Stewart business. And so there’s a bit of Kool-Aid drinking that has to take place. Karlin arrived as head writer in April 1999 and quickly formed a complementary duo with Stewart. Karlin pushed for a higher quotient of righteous anger in The Daily Show’s jokes; Stewart had an innate sense of what would get big laughs. BEN KARLIN: We were very kindred spirits, with very similar points of view, and my critique of the show was very much in line with his problems with the show: Why are we going after these helpless targets? Maybe we should focus the power of this kind of big news show on things that are actually newsworthy, rather than just look through the paper for what seems funny. Clashes, pitting Stewart and Karlin against some of the holdover Kilborn writers, would flare for the next year, with one confrontation—which became known inside the show as “the fuck-you meeting”—being leaked to the New York Post’s “Page Six.” JON STEWART: I think that was the meeting where I said, “You’re not a group. You’re not a unit. You’re not ‘the writers.’ You’re individual writers that have been hired, and you will be judged within that.” It was just an attempt to reclaim some semblance of order. It was an absolute flat-out power struggle, but one that I felt blindsided by. BEN KARLIN: At one point during the battle for the heart and soul of the show, one of the writers snuck into Madeleine’s office and replaced some of the items on the board that tracks the stories we’re doing with personal insults. Some of them were about me; some were about other people. It was the most juvenile thing in the world. Jon and I used to have this thing: crazy out, sane in. We wanted to try to build a show of smart, funny, reasonable people with a similar vision who were hard workers. An enormous step in that direction was Karlin’s first addition to the writing staff: a dizzyingly fast-thinking, cheerfully caustic 27-year-old who would become a major figure in the creative life of The Daily Show. DAVID JAVERBAUM (writer, later executive producer, 1999-2010): I’d gone to Harvard and written for the Lampoon and Hasty Pudding, then I went to graduate school for musical-theater composition, at N.Y.U. It’s arguably the most useless master’s degree even by master’s-degree standards. I had a lot of creative things I was interested in, but I had no idea what I wanted to do. I was temping for three years at law firms and Merrill Lynch. I knew Ben Karlin from a teen tour that we were on together, the thing where Jewish middle-class kids go around the country and pretend to rough it for six weeks. Ben, after college at Wisconsin, wound up working at The Onion, and he said, “Do you want to contribute?” So I began writing a lot of Onion headlines and some articles, and I had the idea for the book Our Dumb Century. Then I spent a year at Letterman as a writer, and I hated that. Not the people, per se, but it all comes from the top down, and Letterman, even at that point, which was ‘98 to ‘99, was just a detached, aloof figure who would stay there for, like, 13 hours a day for no reason. And I quit. I was making six figures. I’d never made the upper half of five before, but it just was not worth it. It was crushing my soul. Ben was hired as the head writer for The Daily Show, and once again he called me and said, “Are you interested in writing?” So I owe Ben for both of those opportunities. I think I was Ben’s first writing hire, in July 1999. BEN KARLIN: D.J. has genius-like qualities, almost to the point where—it’s not Asperger-y, because he’s a funny, normal guy. But the way he can hold information, the speed with which his mind works, it’s almost like he’s got a broken brain that works really well in this way. I’ve known him since he was 16 years old. He always was like this. Usually in a writers’ room you know that this guy is my joke guy, that one is my story guy, that’s my structure person. And D.J. has the ability to pitch individual jokes that are funny; he can come up with overarching structures that are funny; he can take over someone’s script and make it better. In Karlin, and now Javerbaum, Stewart had hired invaluable off-camera allies. But he quickly recognized that he had inherited an indispensable on-camera co-conspirator. Stephen Colbert had a subversive streak that was greatly abetted by the fact that he looked like a trustworthy middle-American insurance salesman. By Al Levine/Comedy Central. STEPHEN COLBERT: It was a complete happy accident that I ended up at The Daily Show. I had been working for ABC at The Dana Carvey Show in 1996. That show got canceled, my wife wasn’t working, and we had a baby. I desperately needed a job. Someone from the entertainment division recommended to the news division that if they were looking for somebody who was funny but looked really straight, for a correspondent for Good Morning America, that they should consider me. They hired me. I did exactly two reports. Only one of which ever made it to air. After those two reports, I pitched 20 stories in a row that got shot down. At the same time, my agent, James Dixon, who also represented Madeleine Smithberg, said, “You should meet with Madeleine. She’s doing this other show, and I bet that they would do those stories.” They had me on for a trial basis, and for the next nine months I worked at The Daily Show occasionally, during Craig Kilborn’s second year. But it was totally a day job. I never expected to stay, because I did sketch comedy and I wrote, and I really didn’t think that The Daily Show was going to go anyplace. JON STEWART: The first bit Stephen did on the show after I arrived, I think it was something about baby-back ribs. You could just feel: “This guy knows how to perform in a scene, is present, has an ease with language.” The key then was “What do we do with that?” STEPHEN COLBERT: I don’t really know why Jon and I worked together so well. It’s hard to quantify, but it happened very early. When Jon first got there, he had a rough ride with some of the people who had worked with Craig. But I immediately knew he was a guy I should listen to. I saw how thoughtful he wanted to be about political comedy and how he invited us to have our own thoughts, invest the jokes with our own beliefs. And maybe he thought he could trust me. Changing the lineup of correspondents and contributors, the on-air faces of the show, was crucial, if less contentious. A. Whitney Brown and Brian Unger left when Kilborn did; Colbert, Rocca, Beth Littleford, Frank DeCaro, and Stacey Grenrock Woods stayed on. Stewart’s first correspondent addition was Vance DeGeneres. Then Colbert helped recruit another major talent. STEVE CARELL (correspondent, 1999-2003): I got a call from Stephen Colbert. He and I were on The Dana Carvey Show together in the spring of 1996, and one of the sketches that we did was called “Waiters Who Are Nauseated by Food.” And Madeleine Smithberg, who had hired Stephen onto The Daily Show, saw that and asked who I was—asked Stephen—and then Stephen called me and said, “Would you be interested maybe in doing a field piece?” And then Madeleine called and followed up and asked if I’d do a field piece out here in Los Angeles. Nancy [Walls Carell] and I were living out here at the time, and I had a holding deal with ABC. So we were just watching a lot of the Game Show Network. “I REALLY DIDN’T THINK The Daily Show WAS GOING TO GO ANYPLACE,” SAYS COLBERT. We decided to stage the field piece right underneath the HOLLYWOOD sign, up in the Hills, and that I was going to do the walk-and-talk as I was essentially walking up the side of a mountain, and obviously play up the fact that I was really out of shape, that it was a very bad correspondent to have chosen for a walk-and-talk. Apparently Madeleine really liked that moment within the piece and thought that that was a good choice. They asked if I’d move out to New York and be a regular on The Daily Show. No one was really familiar with this show. My agent didn’t see it as a positive step in my career. Let’s put it that way. They just saw it as a little nothing cable show. A job, but nothing that was going to amount to much. Jon had just become the host about six months before. JON STEWART: Carell, I knew very little about him. These guys didn’t come from stand-up. I knew stand-ups. I knew Dave Attell, I knew Lewis Black. I did not know Vance, Mo, Steve, Stephen. BEN KARLIN: So much of the writing of The Daily Show actually comes down to brainstorming and coming up with the big-picture ideas. Once we started realizing what an incredible tool Carell and Colbert were, we said we’ve got to bring more of that into the studio. Let’s not just see them once a week or once every two weeks in a field piece. Let’s get both those guys on the show several times a week in one form or another. They’re too talented. What Stewart and his colleagues could not have known was that they had arrived at the perfect moment, with the media and political worlds on the cusp of upheaval. When Stewart first sat behind the fake anchor desk, the anchors of the real news were still a trio of white male eminences: Tom Brokaw at NBC, Peter Jennings at ABC, and Dan Rather at CBS. But the network news hegemony had been rattled by the arrival of CNN, and especially by its coverage of the 1990 Gulf War. Now Fox News and MSNBC—both launched, coincidentally, within months of The Daily Show’s 1996 debut—were rapidly expanding their footprints on cable systems. Soon the Internet would flatten the traditional TV news industry. And a wised-up, postmodern generation of viewers was hungry for what The Daily Show would soon deliver. The turn of the century was also a boom time for network newsmagazines. NBC was airing Dateline five nights a week. ABC had 20/20 and Primetime; CBS had 48 Hours. Syndicated shows including Inside Edition added an even cheesier, tabloid flair to the genre. The TV-newsmagazine formula—leaning heavily on sensationalized crime stories, breathless celebrity profiles, and consumer-product scares—was ripe for parody. As were the self-serious anchor-reporter stars of TV newsmagazines: the style of The Daily Show’s correspondents drew special inspiration from the overinflated gravitas of Dateline’s Stone Phillips. MADELEINE SMITHBERG: I always say that Stone Phillips deserves a “created by” credit for The Daily Show, because I was obsessed with the guy, and we studied him. RORY ALBANESE (production assistant, later executive producer, 1999-2013): Colbert will tell you his character for years was just Stone Phillips. In the Kilborn era, field-department pieces frequently featured obscure eccentrics—say, a man who pulled his own teeth and replaced them with driveway gravel. Those kinds of bits didn’t go away immediately under Stewart. KAHANE CORN COOPERMAN (field producer, later co-executive producer, 1996-2015): I produced a field piece, with Stacey Grenrock Woods as the correspondent, about a guy, Alexander P., who had been a rock star in Ukraine and came here and was now a waiter in a hotel restaurant in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This piece may well have been in the works before Jon arrived. But it airs, and after the show you have a postmortem. And Jon was not happy. He said, “Your targets are just wrong. They shouldn’t be people on the fringe. Our targets need to be the people who have a voice, and that’s politicians, and that’s the media.” STACEY GRENROCK WOODS (correspondent, 1998-2003): I heard Jon was very unhappy with that piece, and I don’t blame him at all. I didn’t like it, either, but it was given to me. I think it ended up being a policy-changing piece. STEVE CARELL: The correspondents had their own little thing going on with the field pieces. Jon left it up to us in terms of what sort of characters we were developing. I saw my character as a former local-news anchor who had been demoted to reporting on a nondescript cable news show and was a little bitter about it. Everyone to a certain degree had different variations on blowhard or idiot reporter. But I mean, let’s face it—we didn’t know what we were doing. NANCY WALLS CARELL (correspondent, 1999-2002): No. STEVE CARELL: None of us are correspondents. None of us have backgrounds in journalism. NANCY WALLS CARELL: Mo was pretty knowledgeable, actually. STEPHEN COLBERT: There was a very specific way we were supposed to present ourselves when we set up field pieces: “I’m from The Daily Show.” “What’s The Daily Show?” “Well, it’s an alternative news-and-entertainment program.” “What channel is it on?” “Well, I don’t know what channel it is where you live. Where we live it’s Channel 29.” Anything other than saying the words “Comedy Central.” We were never allowed to lie, but let’s not advertise we were on Comedy Central, because not being a famous show was really useful to us in the early days. I was the first correspondent to be sued. After a piece ran, a guy claimed I claimed I was from CNN. I never said that. But if you make a man comedically look like Hitler and it turns out that he is a retired lawyer with a lot of time on his hands, you’re going to get sued. That’s the lesson for today, children. STEVE CARELL: The field pieces with eccentrics and oddballs, those were uncomfortable. For all of us. I almost didn’t . . . I won’t say I almost didn’t do the show, but I had some major reservations about doing it for exactly that reason, because I didn’t like the idea of making fun of people only because they were eccentric or different, and . . . NANCY WALLS CARELL: Duping them. STEVE CARELL: Yeah. Shooting fish in a barrel is easy. When you go after someone who is intolerant or racist or has any sort of hateful nature, that’s a different story. I think that’s fair game. So part of what I tried to do with my character is put the impetus on myself, the comedic impetus, that I was the bigger idiot. During his first year as host Stewart devoted far more energy to retooling the staff and the process inside the building. But it was the field department, in a series of excursions to New Hampshire to “cover” the presidential primaries, that really began pointing The Daily Show’s tone and point of view in a new direction. Initially intimidated by the straight political media pack, correspondents Rocca, Walls Carell, DeGeneres, and Carell played jester. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz. STEVE CARELL: When we went up to the first Republican debate we had our jackets with “The Daily Show” embroidered on them, and we’re walking around with microphones. It was terrifying because people didn’t know that we were fake. So we could get away with a lot of stuff. Bush looked at us like we were insane. CINDY McCAIN (wife of Senator John McCain): All of a sudden there were these guys in these crazy jackets, popping up at campaign events, and nobody knew who they were. But they were funny. STEW BAILEY (field producer, later co-executive producer, 1996-2005): There was a Republican debate in New Hampshire, so we were going to do a piece from the spin room. And the spin room even then was acknowledged as the least newsworthy event of all time. Our premise was that it’s essentially a parlor game, and if that’s the case, let’s really turn it into a parlor game. I had each of the correspondents asking questions from Trivial Pursuit to the candidates. MO ROCCA: All of us were nervous as hell, and so I just went for it: “Senator McCain, who became the hottest pop star to come out of Iceland in the mid-1990s?” STEW BAILEY: Immediately our other correspondents start yelling, “Don’t skirt the question, Senator! You have to answer!” MO ROCCA: And McCain showed why he almost upended George W. Bush in that race, because he played along, making this silly face. I remember the CNN people looking at us like, “O.K., that was funny. But who are you guys?” JON STEWART: When we went up to New Hampshire we were under the mistaken assumption that we had to integrate ourselves with the political media’s process and become them to parody them. Turns out we didn’t have to do that. We had thought, Oh, you’re a political reporter on television, which must mean something. Turns out it doesn’t mean anything. All it means is that somebody pointed a camera at you and lit it. So that was a revelation, and not a positive one. Then, in December 1999, came a breakthrough—a five-minute segment that pushed past the silly and into the satirical. Carell climbed onto McCain’s bus and changed the entire trajectory of The Daily Show. STEW BAILEY: Remember, McCain that year was a huge deal. He won the New Hampshire primary. That was really his moment. And his big gimmick was his bus, the Straight Talk Express. I was supervising in the field department. Our idea was that we were trying to get on the Straight Talk Express, but we couldn’t. There was a secondary press bus. If you’re in the rollover bus you just don’t feel like you matter. So the premise was going to be: if Steve Carell finally does get on the Straight Talk Express, that means we were at the table with all the big important players. To get on McCain’s bus was a coup for us; it meant that somebody was going to allow us to bring our reindeer games into a legitimate political moment. CINDY McCAIN: The actual press bus, which was completely different from ours, was really awful, in fact. Steve Carell was talking about, did we feed the press, or did we just lock them in the bus? They were pleading with me—is there any way I can get them on the main bus? They were a hoot to be around, so John invited them on the Straight Talk Express. STEW BAILEY: We needed to then have Carell basically ask one question that is going to get us kicked off. The idea was going to be we had a brief moment of glory, we asked a question, and then we lost our privileges. STEVE CARELL:) [On board the Straight Talk Express, reading from a legal pad as McCain grins.] Let’s do a lightning round: your favorite book? SENATOR JOHN McCAIN: For Whom the Bell Tolls. STEVE CARELL: Favorite movie? McCAIN: Viva Zapata! CARELL: Charlton Heston? McCAIN: Marlon Brando. CARELL: Close enough. If I were a tree, I would be a . . . McCAIN: If I were a tree, I would be a root. [Pause.] What does that mean? CARELL: Senator, how do you reconcile the fact that you were one of the most vocal critics of pork-barrel politics and yet while you were chairman of the Commerce Committee that committee set a record for unauthorized appropriations? [Four seconds of silence that feel like four hours.] I was just kidding! I don’t even know what that means! [McCain looks at ceiling, shrugs in relief, awkwardly slaps hand to his own face. Carell shuffles sheepishly down the bus stairs and out the door, then stands on a highway median.] Oh, they all laughed at my little question. But two things were abundantly clear. It was the wrong question to ask, and I was going to be walking. STEW BAILEY: Carell and Nick McKinney, the producer, had pulled the question out of Time on the way there, driving to the shoot. Just the fact that Steve Carell can get those words out of his mouth and that it sounded like something a smart person would say really threw McCain off. There was such a delay. STEVE CARELL: It was really funny because all of McCain’s handlers . . . you could feel the whole bus tense up. I thought McCain might just laugh it off, or probably give me some sort of joke response. BEN KARLIN: I remember seeing it in the editing room. I remember Jon called me down, and seeing it and thinking, Yeah, this is what we should be doing. This is the goal. It was one of Carell’s most incredible moments. He asks McCain a question in a way that no journalists were talking to the candidates. And it was like, Oh shit, we are able, in this weird, unintentional way, to add a level of insight to the process that doesn’t exist. That was really, really exciting. It meets the standard of being funny; it meets the standard of being relevant. JOHN McCAIN (U.S. senator, Arizona, 1987-; Republican presidential nominee, 2008): That was great. I still remember Steve Carell on the bus. I was certainly aware of Jon and the show early on, and knew they would try to have some fun with us. I wanted to be funny. I wanted these young people to know that I’m a guy with a sense of humor. I’m not some dull, dry, old senator. BEN KARLIN: That moment, it was the beauty and the weakness of The Daily Show. You had this incredibly pregnant moment where you forced a politician to go off-book, and it was uncomfortable, and it was honest. Then, because of our role as a comedy show, you have to take the air out of it, and it let McCain off the hook. STEVE CARELL: Yeah, to press it—we really hadn’t set ourselves up in that context to start going after him. It was making fun of a gotcha moment. And I think that a lot of what we do on The Daily Show is making fun of journalistic tropes, and I think that was one of them. MO ROCCA: That was the first time we were in The New York Times—in a news-analysis piece, not the TV column. JON STEWART: The real revelation for the show, covering the 2000 campaign, was that before everything that happens publicly in politics there’s a meeting—so what’s that meeting? That’s what’s interesting. It always struck me as “We’re always covering the wrong thing. We’re always covering the appearance, but we’re never covering that meeting.” When you watch that pack of cameras follow a presidential candidate, you go, “That’s not interesting. What’s interesting is to stand behind them and watch that,” because then you learn a little bit about the process. That’s when the idea of deconstructing the process came to the fore of how we were going to make the show. Before, it was just . . . we were making jokes. Some of them were insightful; some of them were not. The show came to exist in the space between what they’re telling you in public and the meeting that they had where they decided to do it that way. Seeing that was the aha of “That’s the show.” CINDY McCAIN: I still have those jackets, by the way. I talked them out of their big New Hampshire jackets. They were around John so much, and I finally said, “Look, these jackets are too good. I’ve got to get one from you, please.” They gave them to me. It’s a great souvenir. Adapted from The Daily Show (The Book): An Oral History as Told by Jon Stewart, the Correspondents, Staff and Guests, by Chris Smith, with a foreword by Jon Stewart, to be published this month by Grand Central Publishing; © 2016 by Busboy Productions.

– Jon Stewart took over as host of the Daily Show in January 1999, but when did the program truly start becoming the Daily Show that legions of fans would come to love? Try December of that year, when Steve Carell boarded John McCain's campaign bus "and changed the entire trajectory" of the show, writes Chris Smith at Vanity Fair. The article is a fascinating oral history of the show's beginning that includes interviews with Stewart, Carell, Stephen Colbert, and pretty much everyone involved. The first year was rough for Stewart as he fought with the holdover writing staff from previous host Craig Kilborn and sought to put his stamp on the show. Things came together in that Carell interview, in which he peppers McCain with softball questions, then springs a policy zinger. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Carell says, "I was just kidding! I don’t even know what that means!" And the tense moment subsides. (See the clip.) Carell: "It was making fun of a gotcha moment. And I think that a lot of what we do on The Daily Show is making fun of journalistic tropes, and I think that was one of them." Head writer Ben Karlin: "I remember seeing it in the editing room. I remember Jon called me down, and seeing it and thinking, Yeah, this is what we should be doing. This is the goal. It was one of Carell’s most incredible moments. He asks McCain a question in a way that no journalists were talking to the candidates. And it was like, Oh s---, we are able, in this weird, unintentional way, to add a level of insight to the process that doesn’t exist. That was really, really exciting." Click for the full piece, in which Stewart talks about how that 2000 campaign provided his "aha moment" of how to present the show—by "deconstructing the process."

U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) chat during at the Chralottenburg Castle in Berlin June 19, 2013. A man wears a mask of U.S. President Barack Obama during a protest in support of former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden in front of Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, July 4, 2013. BERLIN/WASHINGTON German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after a phone call with Barack Obama on Wednesday night that she believed the U.S. president took Germany's concern over reported U.S. spying very seriously, and she hoped coming talks would bring answers. Obama sought to allay the anger in Germany and other European allies in his call with Merkel, during which the chancellor said she made clear to him spying was not what she expected from countries considered friends. They agreed to high level bilateral talks, in addition to planned talks between the European Union and the United States, to investigate reports that Washington spied on European allies. German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich will travel to the United States at the end of next week, a spokesman said. The reports came to light amid the imbroglio over former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked details of surveillance activities by Washington. He is currently in limbo in a transit area of Moscow's airport as the United States pressures Moscow to expel him home. "I want to see the facts established," Merkel said on Thursday during a press conference in Berlin. "I hope to gain information and draw important conclusions." She added: "I made clear spying on institutions within the European Union is not how we would expect those we consider friends to treat us. We are no longer in the Cold War." Her comments come at the same time as a poll, published by ARD-DeutschlandTrend, showing only 49 percent of Germans consider the Americans trustworthy partners in the wake of the row - a low not seen since the presidency of George W. Bush - and down from a previous level of 65 percent. In a statement, the White House said Obama assured Merkel the United States took the concerns seriously and officials would discuss intelligence and privacy issues as early as July 8. WITNESS PROTECTION? Sigmar Gabriel, leader of the SPD, said German authorities should quickly contact Snowden and consider giving him witness protection, German news magazine Spiegel said on Thursday. Two days earlier, Germany's Foreign and Interior Ministries released a statement saying they had rejected Snowden's request for asylum, faxed to the German embassy in Moscow. "The first step must be that the federal prosecutors office travels to Moscow to examine him as a witness," Gabriel was quoted as saying, adding if he was reliable Germany should consider whether to put him into a witness protection program. The White House said Obama and Merkel reiterated their strong support for the launch of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations, welcoming the soon-to-begin first round of discussions. Obama promised on Monday to supply all the information requested by European allies on the allegations, which he said Washington was still evaluating. "Every intelligence service, not just ours, but every European intelligence service, every Asian intelligence service, wherever there's an intelligence service, here's one thing they're going to be doing: they're going to be trying to understand the world better and what's going on in world capitals around the world from sources that aren't available through the New York Times or NBC News," Obama said. (Additional reporting by Steve Holland in Washington, Michelle Martin in Berlin; Writing by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Michael Roddy) ||||| Story highlights European lawmakers approve in-depth inquiry into U.S. surveillance programs European Union ambassadors meet to discuss allegations of U.S. spying The meeting comes ahead of talks on a huge American-EU trade deal next week Ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked details of alleged U.S. spying on allies Allegations that the United States is spying on its European allies topped the agenda for European Union ambassadors who met Thursday in Brussels, Belgium, as the fallout from claims made by U.S. leaker Edward Snowden widened. The meeting of the ambassadors to the European Union came ahead of talks due to begin Monday on a huge American-EU free trade deal. They were expected to discuss the spying allegations as well as revelations about PRISM, the mass U.S. surveillance program, and a proposal to establish an EU-American working group to improve cooperation, EU spokesman Michael Mann said ahead of the meeting. Allegations that the United States has been conducting surveillance on its European allies have prompted wide concern among European nations. The issue dominated a conversation Wednesday between President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. JUST WATCHED Official: NSA spying on EU 'out of control' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Official: NSA spying on EU 'out of control' 02:07 JUST WATCHED Snowden documents: U.S. spied on EU Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Snowden documents: U.S. spied on EU 01:41 "The president assured the chancellor that the United States takes seriously the concerns of our European allies and partners," a White House statement on the phone call said. Joint EU-American discussions are to be held on the collection and oversight of intelligence, and questions of privacy and data protection, starting as soon as Monday, it said. Condemnation, concerns The European Parliament voted Thursday in favor of launching an in-depth inquiry into the U.S. surveillance programs, including the alleged bugging of EU premises. In the resolution, approved 483-98 with 65 abstentions, European lawmakers expressed concern over PRISM and other surveillance programs, strongly condemned spying on EU representations and called on U.S. authorities to provide full information on the allegations without further delay, according to a statement from the European Parliament. The inquiry by the body's Civil Liberties Committee will gather evidence from U.S. and EU sources and present its results by the end of this year, it said. The lawmakers also urged European authorities to "consider recourse to all levers at their disposal in negotiations" with the United States, including suspending the current deals on air passenger and bank data. EU data protection standards should not be undermined as a result of the EU-American trade deal, the resolution warned. Lawmakers also voiced "grave concern" over allegations that similar surveillance programs are run by several of the 28 EU member states, such as the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland, the statement said. France calls for delay French government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said Wednesday that France believes it would be wise to delay American-EU trade talks for two weeks in light of the allegations. She was echoing remarks made by French President Francois Hollande this week after the allegations first appeared in German and British media. But the European Commission, which will lead the negotiations for the EU, said the talks would go ahead as planned despite worries about potential snooping. "Whilst the beginning of EU-U.S. trade negotiation should not be affected, the EU side will make it clear that for such a comprehensive and ambitious negotiation to succeed, there needs to be confidence, transparency and clarity among the negotiating partners," it said in a statement. German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler said the reports of spying would influence the planned talks, according to his spokesman, Adrian Toschev. But the spokesman declined to back the French call for a delay to the negotiations. Sweep for listening devices German news magazine Der Spiegel reported Sunday that classified leaks from Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor, detailed how the agency bugged EU offices in Washington and New York as well as conducting an "electronic eavesdropping operation" that tapped into an EU building in Brussels. Obama said Tuesday he needed more information on the specific programs cited in the report but made clear such spying was commonplace. "I guarantee you that in European capitals, there are people who are interested in, if not what I had for breakfast, at least what my talking points might be should I end up meeting with their leaders," Obama said. "That is how intelligence services operate." The European Commission will sweep its offices for electronic listening devices and other security breaches, a spokeswoman said Monday. A comprehensive EU-American trade deal would be the biggest of its kind and could add $160 billion to annual European income, $125 billion to U.S. income and $133 billion to other economies. Together, the United States and EU account for about half of global economic output and trade some $1 trillion in goods and services each year, supporting about 13 million jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.

– President Obama and Angela Merkel have discussed US spying allegations by phone, the White House says, and they're organizing a meeting between US and German security officials on the issue. "The president assured the chancellor that the United States takes seriously the concerns of our European allies and partners," the White House notes, per Reuters. Germany plans to send envoys to Washington; a meeting could come within days. EU and US officials are also set to meet as soon as July 8. Merkel and Obama both continue to support a new transatlantic trade deal, the White House adds; talks on the matter are set to begin next week. Though France has suggested delaying the talks until after spying claims are addressed, the European Commission says the discussions will go forward on schedule. Meanwhile, European Union ambassadors are reviewing the surveillance issue amongst themselves at a meeting today in Brussels, CNN reports. They'll also talk about PRISM and the possibility of creating a US-EU working group.

PARIS (AP) — The latest on the deadly attacks in Paris. (All times local): A forensic expert walks from the scene in Saint-Denis, near Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. A woman wearing an explosive suicide vest blew herself up Wednesday as heavily armed police tried to storm... (Associated Press) Paris is seen as French Police officers stand on guard near the church of Sacre Coeur, on top of the Montmartre hill, in Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. A woman wearing an explosive suicide vest blew... (Associated Press) A French soldier patrols at the Sacre Coeur basilica in Paris, France, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. A woman wearing an explosive suicide vest blew herself up Wednesday as heavily armed police tried to storm... (Associated Press) Hooded police officers detain a man in Saint-Denis, near Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. A woman wearing an explosive suicide vest blew herself up Wednesday as heavily armed police tried to storm a... (Associated Press) Hooded police officers detain a man in Saint-Denis, near Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. A woman wearing an explosive suicide vest blew herself up Wednesday as heavily armed police tried to storm a... (Associated Press) Soldiers operate in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. Police say two suspects in last week's Paris attacks, a man and a woman, have been killed in a police operation north... (Associated Press) This undated file photo provided by French Police shows 26-year old Salah Abdeslam, who is wanted by police in connection with recent terror attacks in Paris, as police investigations continue Friday,... (Associated Press) French soldiers patrol at the Sacre Coeur basilica in Paris, France, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. A woman wearing an explosive suicide vest blew herself up Wednesday as heavily armed police tried to storm... (Associated Press) French soldiers patrol at the Sacre Coeur basilica in Paris, France, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. A woman wearing an explosive suicide vest blew herself up Wednesday as heavily armed police tried to storm... (Associated Press) A man rides his bicycle in front of a makeshift memorial next to the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, France, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. A woman wearing an explosive suicide vest blew herself up Wednesday... (Associated Press) An woman pays her respects at a makeshift memorial next to the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, France, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. A woman wearing an explosive suicide vest blew herself up Wednesday as... (Associated Press) An elderly woman lights up a candle a makeshift memorial next to the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, France, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. A woman wearing an explosive suicide vest blew herself up Wednesday... (Associated Press) Policemen read messages which left at a makeshift memorial next to the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, France, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. A woman wearing an explosive suicide vest blew herself up Wednesday... (Associated Press) Forensic experts examine the scene in Saint-Denis, near Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. A woman wearing an explosive suicide vest blew herself up Wednesday as heavily armed police tried to storm a suburban... (Associated Press) A sign in a shop window reads Molenbeek with a peace sign, on the main shopping street of Molenbeek, Belgium on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. After a Wednesday morning raid in the Paris suburb of Saint Denis,... (Associated Press) Two people walk past the clothing shop owned by Omar Abaaoud, the father of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, in the town square of Molenbeek, Belgium on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. After a Wednesday morning raid in... (Associated Press) A sniper takes position on a church in Saint-Denis, near Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. A woman wearing an explosive suicide vest blew herself up Wednesday as heavily armed police tried to storm a suburban... (Associated Press) French President Francois Hollande leaves the Elysee Palace after the weekly cabinet, in Paris.,Wednesday, Nov.18, 2015. Hollande earlier held an emergency meeting at the Elysee Palace to monitor the... (Associated Press) Police forces and soldiers patrol in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. Police say two suspects in last week's Paris attacks, a man and a woman, have been killed in a police... (Associated Press) Police forces arrest a man in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. Police say two suspects in last week's Paris attacks, a man and a woman, have been killed in a police operation... (Associated Press) Police forces arrest a man in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. Police say two suspects in last week's Paris attacks, a man and a woman, have been killed in a police operation... (Associated Press) Soldiers patrol in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. Police say two suspects in last week's Paris attacks, a man and a woman, have been killed in a police operation north... (Associated Press) Soldiers and police forces patrol in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. Police say two suspects in last week's Paris attacks, a man and a woman, have been killed in a police... (Associated Press) A soldier walks through Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. Police say two suspects in last week's Paris attacks, a man and a woman, have been killed in a police operation... (Associated Press) French President Francois Hollande leaves the Elysee Palace after the weekly cabinet, in Paris,Wednesday, Nov.18, 2015. Hollande earlier held an emergency meeting at the Elysee Palace to monitor the raid... (Associated Press) Hooded police officers detain a man in Saint-Denis, near Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. A woman wearing an explosive suicide vest blew herself up Wednesday as heavily armed police tried to storm a... (Associated Press) Police forces prepare in St. Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. Authorities in the Paris suburb of St. Denis are telling residents to stay inside during a large police operation... (Associated Press) Toys, photographs, flowers, candles and messages are left at a makeshift memorial next to the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, France, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. A woman wearing an explosive suicide vest... (Associated Press) Police forces operate in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. Police say two suspects in last week's Paris attacks, a man and a woman, have been killed in a police operation... (Associated Press) French police officers storm a church after a raid in Paris suburb Saint-Denis, Wednesday, Nov.18, 2015. A woman wearing an explosive suicide vest blew herself up Wednesday as heavily armed police tried... (Associated Press) Forensic experts examine the scene in Saint-Denis, near Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. A woman wearing an explosive suicide vest blew herself up Wednesday as heavily armed police tried to storm a suburban... (Associated Press) 7:25 p.m. Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins says police fired some 5,000 rounds during an hour-long exchange of fire at a hideout where a terrorist cell had holed up north of the capital. Molins says heavily armed police squads initially were thwarted by a reinforced door to the apartment in Saint-Denis north of Paris where the terror cell had holed up, and faced nearly incessant fire as they worked to enter. ___ 7:20 p.m. Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins says a terror cell neutralized in a massive police raid was ready to act. Molins told reporters the police assault in Saint-Denis north of Paris on Wednesday was connected with the terror attacks Friday in the capital against a concert hall, nightspots and the national soccer stadium. Two people were killed in the siege, including a woman who blew herself up, and seven others were arrested. ___ 6:55 p.m. The head of Sweden's intelligence service SAPO says police are searching for a man who is wanted in connection with a terror probe. Anders Thornberg said Wednesday that police have launched "a preliminary investigation regarding preparation for a terrorist offense." He said the Swedish case was not linked to the Paris attacks. He said the suspect had entered Sweden this week, but declined to give any further details about the person. The agency said earlier Wednesday it has raised the Scandinavian country's terror alert to the second-highest level after it received "concrete information." ___ 6:20 p.m. Moldovan border police say they have detained two Moldovan citizens trying to illegally enter Romania and travel onto France. Police said they carried a book that "propagated Islamic ideology." Police fired three warning shots Wednesday near the southwestern town of Cahul after the men, aged 19 and 26, tried to flee. Police said the men were carrying Islamic objects and a Russian-language version of the book "the Fortress of the Muslim." Police did not identify the men but said one had been convicted of murder and had converted to Islam in prison. ___ 6:05 p.m. France's health minister says 195 people remain hospitalized after last Friday's terror attacks in Paris. Minister Marisol Touraine told Parliament on Wednesday that three of them are still in critical condition and 41 are in intensive care. France's justice minister updated the overall number of injured in the Paris attacks to 368 people, up from 352. Islamic State militants have claimed responsibility for the attacks, which left 129 people dead. ___ 5:55 p.m. Across Europe, the divide is deepening between those who see the massive migrant flow as a potential security threat that should be shut down and those who note that many refugees are the victims of Islamic extremism. In Poland, the town of Szamocin, which had defied an anti-migrant mood across the country to welcome Syrian refugees, has now retracted the invitation. Mayor Eugeniusz Kucner said on his town's website that "despite our sympathy for Syrian refugees, we cannot exclude that among them there will be terrorists." A new anti-migrant government in Poland, which took office this week, is also deeply unhappy about the previous government's decision to accept 7,000 refugees as part of a European plan. New government officials vow that asylum applications will be scrutinized carefully. ___ 5:45 p.m. Italian Premier Matteo Renzi views Russia's push for a "grand coalition" to defeat the Islamic State group as a "a very right proposal." Renzi said he shares Russian President Vladimir Putin's urging that what's needed to combat IS is a grand coalition of countries, like one that came together in World War II to defeat Hitler. In an interview Wednesday on Italy's Sky TG24 TV, Renzi said bringing Russia into such an international coalition "would be very positive." Putin on Tuesday ordered a Russian missile cruiser in the Mediterranean to start cooperating with the French military on operations in Syria against IS. ___ 5:35 p.m. Members of the band Eagles of Death Metal say they're home safe after the Paris attacks and "are horrified and still trying to come to terms with what happened." The U.S. band was to perform at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris last Friday when the deadly attacks occurred. Eighty-nine people were killed at the hall. They say Wednesday their "thoughts and hearts are first and foremost with our brother Nick Alexander, our record company comrades Thomas Ayad, Marie Mosser, and Manu Perez, and all the friends and fans whose lives were taken in Paris." The band, which released a new album last month, were on a European tour when the attacks occurred. They said all shows are on hold for now. The band also thanked "the French police, the FBI, the U.S. and French State Departments." ___ 5:15 p.m. UEFA says all 40 matches in the Champions League and Europa League next week are scheduled to go ahead. UEFA confirmed its plans after the terror attacks in Paris and international friendly matches in Belgium and Germany were cancelled due to security alerts. No clubs have contacted UEFA about potential changes to matches for next Tuesday through Thursday. Still, UEFA is "working closely with the home clubs and local authorities to ensure all necessary measures are implemented to guarantee safety." Paris Saint-Germain plays next Wednesday at Swedish champion Malmo. The Monaco and Anderlecht teams have banned the Brussels club's fans from traveling for a Europa League match on Nov. 26. ___ 5 p.m. French lawmakers are paying tribute to police and security forces involved in the raid of a suburban Paris apartment where the suspected mastermind of last week's deadly attacks in Paris was believed to be hiding. Claude Bartolone, president of France's lower house of the Parliament, on Wednesday praised them for their "determination, efficiency and speed" while put to a severe test. Before a standing ovation, Bartolone then expressed France's gratitude and admiration for "their courage." The siege ended Wednesday with two deaths and seven arrests but no clear information on the fugitive's fate. ___ 4:55 p.m. Italy's president says terrorism is attacking "our Europe" and calls the recent attacks on the continent "an attempt at global war by unprecedented methods." President Sergio Mattarella, Italy's head of state, also called on Europeans to "be united, determined and together in affirming the principles of our humanism." He was speaking Wednesday at a ceremony in Florence, the cradle of Italy's artistic and architectural Renaissance. Mattarella, a constitutional law expert, said security for Europe's citizens must be guaranteed "without renouncing freedoms gained." He says "we cannot eradicate hate by making it enter into our lives and our civilization." ___ 4:45 p.m. The Islamic State group again has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Paris, vowing in its online English-language magazine to continue its attacks. The magazine, released Wednesday, included the threat: "The Islamic State will continue to stand firm in the face of their transgressions and retaliate with fire and bloodshed in revenge for the honor of the Prophet (Muhammad) and the multitudes killed and injured in crusader airstrikes." The magazine also included a claim that the group killed a Chinese and a Norwegian hostage and photographs of the bomb that it said brought down a Russian airliner over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Oct. 31. Friday's night of terror in Paris killed 129 people and wounded over 350 others. ___ 4:15 p.m. A man who says he lives in the apartment raided by French SWAT teams says he let some people stay there as a favor and "didn't know they're terrorists." Jawad Bendaoud, who was detained during Wednesday's raid on suspects linked to last week's Paris attacks, spoke to BFMTV as he was being led away by police. Speaking outside the building in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, he says "I learned it was at my place, and the individuals barricaded themselves in my place ...I didn't know they're terrorists." He said someone had "asked me to put some people up for two, three days, and I provided this service." He says "I don't know where they come from ... If I would have known, I wouldn't have let them stay." Bendaoud's lawyer confirmed the man in the footage was his client, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for killing his best friend in a 2006 fight. ___ 4:05 p.m. France's secretary of sport says soccer matches around the country are going ahead this weekend despite the deadly terror attacks in Paris because "life must go on." Thierry Braillard said in an interview Wednesday with the sports daily L'Equipe that suspending games would be "exactly what these barbarians want." He said French league President Frederic Thiriez is "totally" in agreement with the decision. Friday's night of terror in Paris killed 129 people and injured 350 others, leading to the cancellation of sporting events around Paris and other cities last weekend. The French first division resumes Friday evening when Lyon travels to Nice. ___ 4 p.m. Sweden's security service says it has raised the Scandinavian country's terror alert to the second-highest level. SAPO said Wednesday it had received "concrete information" and has decided to act "with the framework of our contra-terror work." The agency said it had raised the alert to level four of five possible graduations. It did not elaborate but a news conference was planned for later Wednesday. ___ 3:55 p.m. Britain says one of the Royal Navy's most advanced warships will support a French aircraft carrier as it deploys to the Gulf to fight the Islamic State group. Defense Secretary Michael Fallon says the HMS Defender will provide air defense cover for France's Charles de Gaulle carrier, which has left Toulon to help French operations in Syria against IS. The Defender, with 230 crew, is on a nine-month deployment to the Middle East. The Royal Navy says can defend a group of ships against attack from the air, either by aircraft or missiles. ___ 3:50 p.m. There has been a visible increase in security around the Vatican following the Paris attacks and ahead of Pope Francis' big Jubilee Year, which opens Dec. 8. Francis' personal security detail was nearly doubled during his Wednesday general audience, and the carabinieri were out in force in St. Peter's Square. Italy is already planning to close the airspace over Rome during special Jubilee celebrations. Rome's prefect, Franco Gabrielli, said Wednesday authorities were prepared to shoot down drones and ultralight aircraft if they violate the air space ban. Millions of pilgrims are expected to descend on Rome for various celebrations over the course of the Jubilee year. Already, the government has added 700 extra soldiers for the capital. ___ 3:40 p.m. The Slovak government is planning to tighten anti-terrorist legislation following the attacks in Paris. Prime Minister Robert Fico says Wednesday that changes to anti-terror laws should be discussed by his government next week, and should include limiting rights of terror suspects. Fico says: "It is our duty to preventively have as soon as possible clear and strict anti-terror legislation." Fico also says the intelligence services and police force should be given more powers and the country will increase the number of police in special forces as well policemen. __ 3:20 p.m. Overnight raids by French police across France have resulted in 25 arrests and the seizure of 34 weapons. The new tally was announced Wednesday by the Interior Ministry. The arrests are the latest in a nationwide police dragnet that has seen nightly raids by security forces under powers granted by the state of emergency declared after last week's attacks in Paris. In all, French police have carried out 414 raids and made 60 arrests while seizing 75 weapons since Friday. The captured armory includes 11 military-style firearms, 33 rifles and 31 handguns. In addition to dozens of arrests, 118 more people have been placed under house arrest in another of the new powers permitted under France's state of emergency. Parliament is expected to extend the state of emergency for three months later this week. ___ 2:40 p.m. A Spanish security official says French authorities have sent out a bulletin to police across Europe asking them to watch out for a Citroen Xsara car that could be carrying Salah Abdeslam, the fugitive wanted in the Paris attacks The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of department rules preventing the official from being named. Spain's El Espanol digital publication first reported the bulletin Wednesday, publishing a document with the car's description and naming Abdeslam. It was sent by Spanish authorities to border control police in the northeastern Catalonia region next to France. The security official said the bulletin was sent to authorities across Europe, not only to Spain. — By Ciaran Giles in Madrid. ___ 2:20 p.m. Danish police have called off a bomb scare at Copenhagen's international airport that prompted an hour-long evacuation of hundreds of passengers. Police rushed Wednesday to Terminal 3, the main arrival and departure terminal for the Nordic region's hub, after "a suspicious bag" had been spotted. However, it was "an overheard conversation about a bomb" that sparked the evacuation, police said on Twitter. Bomb experts, fire trucks, police and ambulances were seen parked outside. Commuter train and subway lines to the airport also were briefly halted. The airport said Terminal 3 was reopened but check-ins had been moved to Terminal 2 and delays were to be expected. ___ 2:15 p.m. French President Francois Hollande says any places where people are "glorifying terrorism" will be shut down. A bill to extend France's state of emergency for three months includes a measure that enables authorities to close "any association or gathering" — which notably includes mosques and community groups— that would encourage people to carry out terrorist acts. The bill is to be debated by both houses of Parliament on Thursday and Friday and expected to be voted on by the end of the week. ___ 2:05 p.m. British Prime Minister David Cameron has confirmed that three Britons wounded in the Paris attacks have been released from the hospital and returned to the U.K. Cameron told lawmakers Wednesday that another 15 are being treated for trauma by the Foreign Office and the Red Cross. He did not provide any further details. One Briton, 36-year-old Nick Alexander, was earlier confirmed killed in the Bataclan concert hall attack in Paris. In all, 129 people died in the Paris attacks last week that Islamic State militants claimed to have orchestrated. __ 2 p.m. Turkey's military says a suspected Islamic State militant has been killed while trying to illegally cross into Turkey from Syria. A brief military statement on Wednesday said the incident occurred a day earlier, in Kilis province, which borders Syria. It said 21 other people were also detained during the incident, nine of them children. Turkey has reinforced its 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Syria and has tightened controls in a bid to stem infiltrations by extremists. ___ 1:55 p.m. President Francois Hollande says France will not "cede to fear" and is urging his compatriots to go back out to cafes and museums and live life to its fullest. He says "what would our country be without its cafes, concerts, sport events, museums?" Hollande was speaking to mayors from around the country Wednesday, after the country's deadliest violence in decades last week. The French leader says "life must resume in full," and is promising extra security to ensure that museums can reopen and "our tourists can be welcomed." Islamic suicide bombers killed at least 129 people in attacks Friday night on a concert hall, cafes and France's national stadium. ___ 1:45 p.m. Jordan's monarch is optimistic the world will come together to fight terror in the wake of the Paris attacks, noting they were only the latest in a series of attacks that represent a global threat. Abdullah II says the Paris killings are another example of the need to fight "a global war against terror." He says 100,000 Muslims have been killed by IS in Syria and Iraq over the past year, adding the world needs a "holistic approach" on dealing with the terrorist scourge. The king spoke to reporters Wednesday while on a visit to Austria. ___ 1:35 p.m. Authorities say the main terminal at Copenhagen's international airport, the Nordic region's main hub, has been evacuated because of "a suspicious bag." Police had no more details about Wednesday's evacuation of Terminal 3, the main arrival and departure terminal. Television footage shows bomb experts, fire trucks and police outside the airport building. The commuter train and subway lines to and from the airport were also halted. As of late October, more than 22.6 million people have so far this year traveled through the Copenhagen airport. ___ 1:25 p.m. French President Francois Hollande says France is 'at war' against terrorism by the Islamic State group. Hollande says he wants "large coalition" working together against IS militants to destroy a group that threatens the whole world and "commits massacres" in the Mideast. Hollande says "we are at war." He was speaking in a televised address Wednesday after a seven-hour police siege on an apartment north of Paris where police suspected the mastermind of the deadly Paris attacks might have been. He says the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle just left to help French military operations in Syria against IS. ___ 1:05 p.m. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says security agencies made the right decision to cancel the soccer match between Germany and the Netherlands due to attack fears. The Tuesday night friendly match in Hannover was called off 90 minutes before the kickoff after German authorities received mounting information about a possible attack on the stadium. Merkel and several members of her Cabinet had been due to attend the match to demonstrate that Germany wouldn't bow to terror following the deadly attacks in Paris. Merkel said Wednesday "I was just as sad as millions of fans that this cancellation had to happen, but the security agencies took a responsible decision." She said "these are difficult decisions, possibly the most difficult decisions between freedom and security. But yesterday it was taken in favor of security, and that's right." ___ 12:50 p.m. A father's heartwarming explanation to his son about the Paris terror attacks is electrifying social media, with more than 27 million views on Facebook alone. The video shows an interview conducted by a reporter for France's Le Petit Journal in a Paris square where people are laying flowers and lighting candles to honor the 129 victims killed in the attacks. The child tells the reporter the attacks were conducted by "bad guys" who were "not very nice." He then expresses fear that his family will be forced to move, although his father reassures him they won't because there are "bad guys everywhere." With his arm around his son, the father refers to the crowd at the square, and says, "It's OK. They might have guns, but we have flowers." ___ 12:45 p.m. The French government says all 129 people killed in attacks Friday on a Paris stadium, a concert hall and cafes have been identified. A statement released after Wednesday's Cabinet meeting says about 100 families have come to see the bodies. At least 350 people were also wounded in the Paris attacks, with scores of people still critically injured. The death toll may still rise if some of the wounded do not recover. ___ 12:30 p.m. Paris prosecutor Francois Molins says authorities are working to determine the fate of the suspected mastermind of last week's Paris attacks after a seven-hour police raid on an apartment where he was believed to be hiding. Francois Molins says the police began the raid Wednesday after gathering information that suspect Abdelhamid Abaaoud could be in a safe house apartment in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. Molins said the information was collected from tapped telephone conversations, surveillance and witness accounts. He told reporters in Saint-Denis after the operation was over that authorities are still working to determine who was inside. Seven people were arrested and two suspects were killed. ___ 12:05 p.m. A White House official says President Barack Obama has been briefed on the law enforcement operation in a suburb of Paris. This is a French law enforcement operation, but the president asked to be updated, the official said. Obama is in Manila for an economic summit. The official was not authorized to discuss the briefing further. A French government spokesman says a seven-hour police operation north of Paris targeting the mastermind of the deadly Paris attacks and his accomplices, has ended. He says two people were killed in the operation and seven arrested. — Kathleen Hennessey in Manila. ___ noon Turkey's state-run news agency says authorities have detained eight people at Istanbul's main airport who they suspect could be Islamic State militants planning to make their way to Germany, posing as refugees. The Anadolu Agency said Wednesday the eight arrived in Istanbul from Casablanca, Morocco, and were interviewed by criminal profiling teams at Ataturk Airport. Citing police sources, the agency said one of the suspects had a hand-drawn picture of a planned route from Turkey to Germany, via Greece, Serbia and Hungary. Anadolu said the eight claimed to be tourists visiting Istanbul but a hotel refuted claims they had reservations there. ___ 11:50 a.m. French government spokesman Stephane Le Foll says a seven-hour police operation north of Paris targeting the mastermind of the Paris attacks and his accomplices, has ended. Le Foll spoke to reporters in the presidential palace after a Cabinet meeting, saying "the operation is over." Police say two people were killed in the operation Wednesday including a female suicide bomber. Several police were injured and seven people were arrested. The fate of the suspected mastermind, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, is unclear. ___ 11:40 a.m. Police say a police dog was killed in the siege of an apartment where some of the Paris attackers are thought to be holed up. The National Police said in a tweet that a 7-year-old Belgian Malinois named Diesel, a SWAT team assault dog, was "killed by terrorists" during the raid in Saint-Denis, north of Paris. Police say two suspects have died in the ongoing assault, one of them a female suicide bomber. Seven people have been arrested in the apartment building. Several police officers were slightly injured. The raid is targeting perpetrators of Friday's deadly gun-and-bomb attacks in Paris that killed 129 people. ___ 11:30 a.m. Police have escorted out children and others from the scene of a big police standoff with suspects in last week's Paris attacks. A woman in a purple headscarf wept while carrying a child. A man next to her carried another child wearing pink, and an older boy walked near them. It is unclear whether they had been in the building where two people have been killed, several police slightly injured and seven people arrested since the standoff began seven hours ago. ___ 11:20 a.m. Armed security officers have fanned out around the historic Paris suburb of Saint-Denis during an hours-long standoff with police. Journalists, cameramen, police and curious residents waited nervously in the central Place Victor Hugo, as sirens echoed around the neighborhood. It contrasted with the serenity of the Saint-Denis Basilica — one of the world's most majestic gothic churches — that towers over the area. Its famed stone tower was lit up beautifully in the unusually sunny November morning. ___ 11:15 a.m. Officials say seven people have been arrested in a raid on an apartment building where suspects in last week's Paris attacks were holed up. A senior police official and the Paris prosecutor's office say that the seven were arrested Wednesday in the building in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. They did not identify those detained. Authorities believe there may still be someone still hiding in an apartment. A loud bang rang out in the streets adjacent to the building around the time of the latest arrests. ___ 11 a.m. The governor of Lower Saxony is reassuring Germans after the cancellation of a soccer game over terrorism concerns that "the security situation is stable" in the northern state. Stephan Weil said Wednesday he knew people were worried, but asked "all to trust in the security authorities." State Interior Minister Boris Pistorius said Tuesday night's Germany vs Netherlands match in Hannover was nixed at short notice after "vague" information that solidified late in the day. He wouldn't give details, saying the "more concrete information we give the more likely it is to reveal the source." He says it's possible no arrests were made and no explosives were found because the plot was called off after the game was canceled. Pistorius says "we won't know what would have happened if we didn't cancel it." ___ 10:40 a.m. A bill to extend France's state of emergency for three months is being presented to a Cabinet meeting. French president Francois Hollande declared a state of emergency for 12 days following Friday night's attacks. Parliament must approve extending it. The bill is to be debated in the Cabinet on Wednesday, the lower house on Thursday and at the Senate on Friday. The state of emergency extends some police powers of search and arrest and limits public gatherings, among other changes. ___ 10:25 a.m. Austria's interior ministry says a Belgian suspect sought in the Paris attacks was on an EU-wide police list when he was stopped in Austria in September, and his presence in the country was reported back to Belgian authorities. Ministry official Karl-Heinz Gruendboeck says Belgium had registered Salah Abdeslam in the Schengen Information System on suspicion of unidentified criminal activity. He said Wednesday Austrian police reported his presence to Belgian police. Officials earlier said Abdeslam entered Austria from Germany Sept. 9 with two unidentified companions and they were stopped for a routine traffic check. They said they were planning a vacation in Vienna, Abdeslam, 26, is the suspected driver of a group of gunmen in the Paris attacks. His brother, Brahim, was among the suicide bombers and killed one civilian after blowing himself up outside a restaurant. ___ 10:10 a.m. French President Francois Hollande is holding an emergency meeting at the Elysee Palace to monitor the raid on a suburban Paris apartment. Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Justice Minister Christiane Taubira are meeting with the president. A Cabinet meeting is to be held on Wednesday morning as previously scheduled, according to the French presidency. ___ 9:30 a.m. A police official says that one person is still holed up in an apartment north of Paris after an hours-long standoff with police in which two have been killed and five arrested. The official, not authorized to be publicly named according to police rules, said the standoff is still going on after some five hours. The person's identity has not been released. Authorities say the operation is targeting the mastermind of last week's Paris attacks that killed at least 129 people. — By Philippe Sotto ___ 9:20 a.m. Denmark's National Police say it has raised its internal alert level, adding the Scandinavian country's intelligence agency's overall terror threat assessment has not been changed and remains "serious." Police says the reason for stepping up the alertness to "significant elevated preparedness" is "a result of the current uncertain situation in several European countries." In Wednesday's statement, the police said the change is only internal, and citizens will not notice any changes. In February, a lone gunman attacked a free speech event and a synagogue that left two people dead and wounded five in Copenhagen. The shooter Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein was killed in a shootout with a SWAT team. ___ 9 a.m. The Paris prosecutor's office says that SWAT teams have arrested three people in an apartment where police are in a standoff with suspects in last week's Paris attacks. In a statement, the prosecutor's office says that the three haven't been identified yet. Another man and woman were detained near the apartment, the statement says. It says the standoff is ongoing. Two people have been killed in the standoff, including a woman suicide bomber who blew herself up, the prosecutor said. ___ 8:40 a.m. A French police official says a woman wearing an explosive suicide vest has blown herself up in a standoff between police and suspects in last week's Paris attacks. The official said she is among two people killed in the ongoing standoff in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. The official, not authorized to be publicly named because of police rules, said four police officers have been injured. No hostages are being held. Police have said the operation Wednesday is targeting the suspected orchestrator of last week's attacks, holed up in an apartment in Saint-Denis with other armed people. —By Jamey Keaten ___ 8:20 a.m. Police say two suspects in last week's Paris attacks — a man and a woman — have been killed in a police operation north of the capital. An official with the Paris police department who was not authorized to be publicly named said two people have been detained, and two police officers injured in the standoff Wednesday in Saint-Denis. Police have said the operation is targeting the suspected mastermind of last week's attacks, believed to be holed up in an apartment in Saint-Denis with several other heavily armed suspects. — By Jamey Keaten ___ 7:55 a.m. A senior French police official says a large police operation north of Paris is targeting the suspected mastermind of last week's attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud. The official says authorities believe Abaaoud is holed up in an apartment in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, along with up to five other heavily armed people. The official, who was not authorized to be publicly named according to police rules but is informed routinely about the operation, says that scores of police who stormed the building early Wednesday were met with unexpectedly violent resistance. Reinforcements were summoned and several people were injured. ___ 7:45 a.m. Authorities in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis have evacuated about 20 residents from a building where suspects linked to the Paris attacks are holed up in a standoff with police. A city official not authorized to be publicly named told The Associated Press the residents were brought to city hall for protection. City hall is about 200 meters (yards) from the apartment building where the standoff is taking place on rue du Cornillon, in the heart of the historic, multicultural town just north of Paris. The site is less than 2 kilometers (about a mile) from the Stade de France national stadium. Three suicide bombers blew themselves up Friday near the stadium during an international soccer match with French President Francois Hollande in attendance. Saint-Denis is one of France's most historic places. French kings were crowned and buried through the centuries in its famed basilica. Today it is home to a vibrant and very ethnically diverse population and sees sporadic tension between police and violent youths. ___ 7:35 a.m. At least seven explosions have been heard at the scene of a police standoff with suspects in last week's deadly Paris attacks. Associated Press reporters at the scene could hear what sounded like grenade blasts from the direction of the standoff in the heart of the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. The source of the blasts is unclear. Police say several people are holed up in an apartment and several police have been injured in an operation that has lasted at least three hours on Wednesday morning. ___ 7:20 a.m. A resident of the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis describes intense gunfire and explosions during a police operation near the site of one of last week's deadly attacks. Baptiste Marie, a 26-year-old independent journalist who lives near the scene of the standoff, tells The Associated Press: "It started with an explosion. Then there was second big explosion. Then two more explosions. There was an hour of gunfire." Resident Amine Guizani, 21, says: "There were grenades. It was going, stopping. Kalashnikovs. Starting again." Riot police were clearing the streets early Wednesday, pointing guns at curious residents to move them off the roads. Marie said the officers seemed nervous. "You could see it in their eyes, " Marie said. ___ 6:55 a.m. Police say anti-terrorist officers are raiding an apartment in a north Paris suburb where several men are holed up. The Paris police department says officers have exchanged gunfire with the suspects and several police have been injured. The extent of their injuries is unknown. It's unclear whether there are injuries among the suspects. Police reinforcements are arriving at the scene in Saint-Denis. ___ 6:27 a.m. Police vans and fire trucks are rushing to the scene of a SWAT team operation in the Paris suburb of Saint Denis that is linked to the deadly Paris attacks. A helicopter is flying overhead at dawn Wednesday. French television BFM and i-Tele say that the suspects are inside an apartment building. Police have cordoned off the area nearby, including a pedestrian zone lined with shops and 19th-century apartment buildings. Neighborhood resident Fabien Crombe said on BFM television that gunshots have repeatedly broken out since the police operation began, punctuated by silence and the sound of sirens. Saint-Denis Mayor Didier Paillard said transport has been stopped and schools in the center of town will not open Wednesday. ___ 6:15 a.m. Authorities in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis are telling residents to stay inside during a large police operation near France's national stadium that two officials say is linked to last week's deadly attacks. Deputy Mayor Stephane Peu told i-Tele television that there have been many gun shots and detonations in the operation that began at 4:25 a.m. (0325 GMT) Wednesday on rue de la Republique in the center of Saint-Denis. The site is less than two kilometers (1.2 miles) from the Stade de France, targeted by three suicide bombers during Friday's attacks. He urged residents to stay home, saying "it is not a new attack but a police intervention." Two officials say police operation now underway is connected to the investigation into Friday's attacks that killed 129 people. ||||| Gunfire broke out in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis early Wednesday as police pursued suspects from the terror attacks of Nov. 13. Witnesses documented the flood of police into the historic suburb as the raid grew. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) The suspected ringleader of the Paris attacks was killed Wednesday in a massive pre-dawn raid by French police commandos, two senior European officials said, after investigators followed leads that the fugitive Islamic State militant was holed up north of the French capital and could be plotting another wave of violence. More than 100 police officers and soldiers stormed an apartment building in Saint-Denis, a bustling suburb home to many immigrants, during a seven-hour siege that left at least two people dead, officials said. The dead ­included the suspected overseer of the Paris bloodshed, Abdel­hamid Abaaoud, according to the two senior European officials. Abaaoud, a Belgian extremist, had once boasted that he could slip easily between Europe and strongholds of the Islamic State militant group in Syria. [LIVE updates from Paris and elsewhere] Paris prosecutor François Molins, speaking to reporters hours after the siege, said he could not provide the identities of the people killed at the scene. A French security official declined to confirm or deny that Abaaoud had died. U.S. officials said they were awaiting confirmation of the identities of those slain. The two European officials from different countries, who have followed the case closely, said they had received the information about Abaaoud’s death from French authorities. The two officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters. It was not immediately clear how Abaaoud died — whether in police gunfire, by his own hand or in a suicide blast triggered by a woman in the apartment. [How officials may have missed their chance to stop Paris terror suspects ] After the raid, forensics experts combed through blown-out windows and floors collapsed by explosions, presumably seeking DNA and other evidence. Molins said a discarded cellphone helped identify safe houses used by attackers to plan Friday’s coordinated assaults, which killed 129 people and wounded more than 350 in a series of attacks at a stadium, a concert hall and restaurants across Paris. Molins said police launched the raid after receiving a witness tip suggesting that Abaaoud was ­“entrenched” on the third floor of the Saint-Denis building. He said that neither Abaaoud nor another wanted suspect, Salah Abdeslam, was among eight people who were arrested at the apartment and surrounding locations on Wednesday. Three people were arrested in the raid itself, one of whom suffered a gunshot wound in the arm, he said. Molins said the sophisticated militant cell used three safe houses around Paris — including the Saint-Denis apartment — and three rental cars to launch the attack. It was “a huge logistics plan, meticulously carried out,” he said. Abaaoud was the target of a major dragnet in the international search — which stretches from Belgium to Syria — for suspects in Friday’s carnage. Supporters of the Islamic State, the extremist group whose vast domain straddles Syria and Iraq, have vowed to inflict repeated attacks on the West, including in Europe. The raid was in part a response to what French officials thought was a plan to stage a follow-up terrorist attack in La Defense, a financial district northwest of Paris, two police officials and an investigator close to the investigation said. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief members of the media. Seven men and one woman were arrested Wednesday in Saint-Denis, Molins said. Five days after the worst violence on French soil since World War II, European nations remained on edge, enhancing vigilance against possible attacks by Islamist militants who have promised to bring the brutal tactics employed in Iraq and Syria to the West. [Why French airstrikes on ISIS’s ‘capital’ probably haven’t done much ] President François Hollande, seeking to reassure French citizens unnerved by the bloodshed on the streets of Paris, said the attacks would not alter the French way of life. “We are at war against terrorism, terrorism which declared war on us,” Hollande said at a meeting of French mayors. “It is the [Islamic State] jihadist organization. It has an army. It has financial resources. It has oil. It has a territory. “It has allies in Europe, including in our country,” he continued, “with young, radicalized Islamist people. It committed atrocities there and wants to kill here. It has killed here.” He renewed his case to extend a state of emergency decreed after the attacks and to make changes to the constitution that he said would make France safer. Jean-Michel Fauvergue, chief of the elite police unit that carried out Wednesday’s raid, said the operation began at 4:16 a.m. with an attempt to blast open the third-floor apartment door with explosives. But the reinforced door would not open properly, and the element of surprise was lost, he said. The terrorists inside then blocked the door with a heavy object. French media identified the suicide bomber as Hasna Aitboulahcen, a cousin of Abaaoud’s. The 26-year-old French citizen is a former manager of Beko Construction, a company in Epinay-sur-Seine, a town north of Saint-Denis. The company closed down in 2014. Fauvergue said hundreds of shots were exchanged and each side threw projectiles. As the raid progressed, heavily armed police clad in military gear — some with their faces covered by balaclavas — moved quickly through the dark streets, while sharpshooters were posted on nearby buildings. Helicopters scanned from the skies, and police used a drone and two robots to conduct surveillance. For hours, traffic and public transportation were halted, and schools were shuttered. Authorities say as many as 20 people may have been involved in the plot to attack Paris. Here's what we know about them so far. (Gillian Brockell/The Washington Post) Uthayaseelan Sanmugan, a 38-year-old cook who lives near the targeted apartment, said he woke up at 4:30 a.m. to the sound of gunfire, went to his window and saw the lights from weapons outside. “When I got to the street, I saw a lot of blood on the sidewalk. The blood of the terrorists.” Residents were evacuated or instructed to stay inside their homes. “I heard gunshots and, sometime around 7 a.m., a huge blast, an explosion,” said Kelly Ovo, a 45-year-old day laborer who lives close to the apartment that was under siege. French police reported that a 7-year-old police dog named Diesel was “killed by the terrorists” in the raid. Abaaoud, an ardent Islamic State supporter linked to several other terrorist attempts, was believed to be in Syria earlier this year. But some officials speculated earlier this week that he could have returned to Europe, perhaps passing undetected among the flood of asylum seekers pouring into Greek islands from Turkey. The siege appeared to have been aided by another potential breakthrough in the probe: the discovery of a mobile phone in a garbage can near the Bataclan concert hall, the site of one of Friday’s assaults. The phone’s data contained a map of the music venue, which was the target of the most deadly attack last week. French media reported that the phone contained a chilling text message sent shortly after the first gunman entered: “Let’s go, we’re starting.” [The mystery surrounding the Paris bomber with a fake Syrian passport ] The information on the phone opened fresh leads, including to an apartment southeast of Paris in Alfortville, according to Mediapart, a French news outlet. French officials have cast a wide net in the hunt for suspects in Friday’s attacks. Across France, 118 additional raids were conducted overnight on Tuesday, yielding at least 25 arrests. That brought to 414 the number of raids launched throughout France since Friday, the Interior Ministry said. The attacks deepened questions about European intelligence agencies’ ability to prevent militant violence. According to Eric Van Der Sypt, spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor, Belgian federal police interrogated Brahim Abdeslam, one of the Paris attackers, in February after he returned from Turkey. Belgian federal police also questioned Brahim’s brother Salah, who they knew had been radicalized, Van Der Sypt said. But Belgian officials said there was no indication that the brothers were going to get involved with terrorism, so they were released. Across Europe, officials remained on high alert Wednesday. In Copenhagen, a terminal at the Danish capital’s international airport was briefly evacuated after “an overheard conversation about a bomb,” police said in a Twitter post. The terminal later reopened. Countries, including Sweden and Italy, raised terror alerts. At the Vatican, extra security was posted in St. Peter’s Square, where Pope Francis addressed pilgrims. On Tuesday, authorities in Hanover, Germany, abruptly called off a friendly soccer match between Germany and the Netherlands that Chancellor Angela Merkel had planned to attend, officials said. Turmoil continued elsewhere in France on Wednesday when a history teacher at a Jewish school in Marseille was stabbed by three men. Brice Robin, the Marseille prosecutor, said one of the attackers had an Islamic State T-shirt. The teacher received medical aid and appeared to be in stable condition. Also in Marseille, a young veiled Muslim woman was attacked by a man who punched her and wielded a box cutter. She was taken to an emergency room. Since last week’s attacks, Hollande has vowed a withering French response. On Tuesday, France invoked a European Union mutual aid pact that calls for members of the bloc to assist other member states if they are attacked, a historic if largely symbolic move. [The bombs exploded, and France’s president called it ‘war’. It was 1986. ] Daniela Deane in London, Virgile Demoustier, Emily Badger and Karla Adam in Paris, and Loveday Morris in Baghdad contributed to this report. 1 of 32 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × See photos of deadly police raid in France View Photos Two terrorism suspects are dead after the pre-dawn raid in Saint-Denis. Caption Two terrorism suspects are dead after the pre-dawn raid in Saint-Denis. Nov. 19, 2015 French crime scene investigators are seen outside the rue du Corbillon building in Saint-Denis, a northern Paris suburb. Christophe Petit Tesson/European Pressphoto Agency Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. Read more: How officials may have missed their chance to stop Paris terror suspects The Paris attacks could mark the end of Europe’s open borders, if the far right has its way 5 stories you should read to really understand the Islamic State The politics and hypocrisy of word-policing ‘radical Islam’ The long war against Islamist extremism has become more complicated than ever ||||| Paris (AFP) - The fate of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks, remained unknown Wednesday after a massive police assault on his alleged hideout, the city's prosecutor said. Paris prosecutor Francois Molins outlined a seven-hour raid of an "extreme difficulty" which saw police fire nearly 5,000 rounds of ammunition in a battle with a group holed up in two apartments. A gargantuan probe undertaken since the Friday attacks saw police pore over video footage, telephone surveillance and witness reports which led them to the apartment in the poor multi-ethnic suburb of Saint-Denis. Molins said a witness report received Monday led investigators to believe that Abaaoud, a known Belgian jihadist believed to be in Syria, was in fact on French territory. "This is an individual suspected of being the instigator of a large number of attacks in Europe," said Molins. Wary about the report, investigators ran "numerous telephonic and bank verifications," he added. View gallery Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins holds a press conference in Paris on November 18, 2015 (AFP Photo/A … The police assault was launched at 4:20am (0320 GMT), putting Saint-Denis on lockdown as helicopters buzzed in the sky and snipers took up position on rooftops. However police immediately ran into difficulty. "The reinforced door of the apartment at first resisted explosives laid by RAID (anti-terror police) which allowed the terrorists to prepare their riposte," said Molins. "Very sustained gunfire continued for nearly an hour," he said, adding that "the complex nature of the operation required the use of assault rifles, snipers and explosives." The operation was further complicated by an explosion -- later determined to be a woman who "detonated an explosives vest"-- and damage done to the building which led to the collapse of part of the floor. View gallery Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the Belgian suspected of orchestrating the Paris attacks, pictured in a February … Another body "riddled with bullets" was found in the debris, but the state of the corpse did not allow for it to be identified. Therefore, Molins said: "I am not able to give you a precise number and identity of those killed. There are at least two dead and verifications will likely take longer than expected" due to the state of the apartment building. "A new team of terrorists was neutralised and all indications are that given their arms, their organisational structure and their determination, the commando could have struck," he said. Three suspects were arrested inside the building, while outside police took into custody a man who lent the apartment to the jihadists and a woman accompanying him. Two men were arrested after being found in the rubble. An eighth man, who was injured and found outside, was also taken into custody believed to have been involved in providing the apartment. The vast probe also led police to discover a cellphone belonging to one of the attackers in a dustbin outside the Bataclan music venue, scene of the worst violence, where 89 people were gunned down. A total of 129 people were killed and 350 injured in the attacks. The phone showed one of the gunmen had sent a message saying "we're ready, let's go." The message was sent at 9:42 pm, before the attack on the Bataclan, Molins said, adding that police were investigating who the message was sent to. "We can say that a massive logistical operation was meticulously put in place by these terrorists," said Molins.

– Paris prosecutor Francois Molins gave new details on the police raid on an alleged ISIS terror cell just north of Paris in a press conference Wednesday. Some highlights : Molins said about 5,000 rounds were fired by police during an hourlong gunfight between heavily armed police and those inside the Saint-Denis hideout, the AP reports. Investigators found "a total war arsenal" of Kalashnikovs, ammo, and explosives, per the Guardian. Law enforcement was bombarded with gunfire as they tried to fight their way in through a reinforced door, the AP notes. There's confusion whether alleged mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud was among those killed in the raid. Molins said during the press conference that two suspects were dead and eight arrested, though he said he can't yet ID them, per the Guardian. He added that neither Abaaoud nor Salah Abdeslam were among those arrested. But two anonymous senior EU intelligence officials tell the Washington Post that Abaaoud was indeed killed during the siege and that forensic experts had gathered evidence at the scene after the chaos had ended. The suspected terror cell was caught just in time, per authorities. "A new team of terrorists was neutralized and all indications are that given their arms, their organizational structure, and their determination, the commando could have struck," Molins said, per AFP.

CHARLOTTE -- The second day of the Democratic convention features one president -- Bill Clinton -- promoting another -- Barack Obama. USA TODAY is providing full coverage of the Democratic National Convention online and in print. Check local TV listings for when you can catch the action from the Time Warner Cable Arena. Here are five things to watch for Wednesday, Sept. 5: 1) Bubba is back: Observers will be looking to see how much Bill Clinton talks about Obama, and how much he talks about his own record from the 1990s. Also in the back of every Democrat's mind: Will Hillary Rodham Clinton run for president in 2016? The former president speaks last, probably starting after 10:30 p.m. ET 2) Elizabeth Warren is ready for her close-up: Warren, a Harvard law professor and long-time consumer advocate, is the Democratic nominee for Senate in Massachusetts. It's one of the nation's hottest Senate races, and could determine which party controls the chamber. She is challenging Republican incumbent Scott Brown, who won the seat after the death of Edward Kennedy. 3) Locking down the women's vote: Warren is one a series of female speakers at the convention, as Obama seeks to exploit his advantage over Republican challenger Mitt Romney among female voters, using such issues as contraceptives and abortion rights. Among the speakers tonight: Sandra Fluke, who was called a "slut" and "prostitute" by radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh after she testified on behalf of contraception services in health care plans. 4) The "great state" roll call: Officially, the convention is about nominating Obama and Vice President Biden to a second term and to do that, the roll call is required. Obama had no major party opposition in the primary season, so guess who's the favorite? But it's unclear how much TV viewers will see: The roll call is supposed to begin after Clinton speaks. 5) The arrival: President Obama arrives in Charlotte this afternoon. Will he make a "surprise" appearance at the convention? Perhaps on stage with Bill Clinton? We don't know. We do know Obama will address the convention on Thursday night. ||||| President Obama's campaign manager Jim Messina and deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter downplayed questions about Bill Clinton's speech not being vetted by the campaign at a Bloomberg News breakfast this morning, calling it a "mountain out of a molehill." "We have had lots of conversations with President Clinton," said Messina. "This is a mountain out of a molehill. He's going to give a great speech tomorrow." Has he seen the speech? No, Messina acknowledged at the start. Cutter added, "Someone in our organization is likely to see the speech before [Clinton] gives it just because that's the normal course of business." She added that everyone believes Clinton will give a strong endorsement of Obama's policies, which Messina said Clinton will describe as similar to his own. . "We are not one bit worried about what President Clinton is going to say" in his speech, she added. Still, there was no illusion about controlling the former president — asked at the outset who is editing Clinton's speech, Cutter replied, "Bill Clinton." ||||| BOSTON -- Ask any Republican or Democrat to name the most important Senate races in the fight for control of the Democratic-led chamber, and they will undoubtedly include one state in particular: Massachusetts. The state's Republican Sen. Scott Brown will go up against Democrat and Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren in what polling indicates is likely to be a close race. Such a contest, so far the most expensive U.S. Senate race, was not unexpected in this traditionally Democratic state. Brown, 52, shocked the political establishment in 2010 with his victory in the special election to fill the late Ted Kennedy's seat. This is the year that Kennedy would have been up for re-election, so Brown is up again a mere two years after his first win. Those familiar with Massachusetts politics, including Brown himself, always expected Democrats to mount an attempt to take back the seat this time around. WHAT TO KNOW A closer look at what's going on in the most closely watched Senate race in the country "They want the Kennedy seat back very badly," Brown told ABC News. "They've made that clear. But bottom line is, it's not the Kennedy seat, it's not the Democrats seat, it's still the people's seat." What was unknown was who would jump in to challenge the freshmen senator. That candidate turned out to be Warren, a professor at Harvard Law School and creator of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a newly formed, federal department that came about under the Obama administration. With a good level of name recognition established as a result of her work with the agency, as well as her oversight of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (more commonly known as TARP) and a lengthy resume, Warren was the Democrats' answer to the much-considered question of who could challenge the popular senator. Warren, 63, announced her candidacy in September 2011, and the race has been fierce ever since. The candidates share the same wedding anniversary date, and each one has proven to be a strong fundraiser. But the similarities end there. Brown, who was recently promoted to colonel in the Army National Guard, plays up his regular-guy image (he famously drove his pickup truck around the state when campaigning in 2010) and his bipartisan record. His campaign has run a series of ads featuring a slew of prominent Massachusetts' Democrats, such as former Boston Mayor Ray Flynn, endorsing the Republican candidate. His history of reaching across the aisle is something Brown highlights himself. "Bottom line is, I'm the second-most bipartisan senator in the U.S. Senate," Brown said. "I've done exactly what I said I was going to do, which is to read the bills, understand them, see how they affect Massachusetts, our country, our debt, our deficit and vote." Warren's campaign has also talked a lot about her humble beginnings: Her father worked as a janitor in Oklahoma, she received a scholarship from George Washington University at age 16. But the campaign has also emphasized her history of protecting the consumer, and of fighting for the middle class. "I didn't get into this race based on some strategic vision of I could check off six boxes and somehow win the Senate seat," she said. For me, it truly is around the urgency of the movement. I guess you could say the fight came to me." The conversation in the Senate race has mirrored the presidential race, with Brown attacking Warren for comments she made in 2011 when she said "there is nobody in this country who got rich on his own." The comments mirror Obama's "you didn't build that" remarks last month on which Republicans have pounced. Brown last week launched a "Thank You for Building This" tour, as part of his campaign's efforts to highlight the senator's support for free enterprise. Brown kicked off the tour Friday by bringing coffee and donuts to a construction crew in Framingham, Mass. "I've visited over 500 businesses, this is an extension of what I've been doing since I was elected," Brown said. "I'm going to go out there and thank those job creators, people who have put their hard earned sweat equity, their livelihood on the line, and my word to them is, 'Thank you.'" Warren isn't backing down from her comments, however. Indeed, the first-time candidate has made infrastructure a big part of her proposed policy agenda, recently launching her "Rebuild Now" tour that calls for an investment in the country's infrastructure. "American businesses can compete with anyone so long as they're competing on a level playing field," Warren said. "But when the Chinese are making big investments in infrastructure, that means that their businesses will get their goods to market on state-of-the-art roads and bridges, they'll have state-of-the-art communications and power ... that gives their businesses a real competitive advantage over the next 25 years." Warren's unapologetic support for such government investment has helped to make her a rising star within the Democratic base. Her status was highlighted by the recent announcement that she would have a prominent speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., next month. Warren will be introducing Bill Clinton. "I'm going to talk about what I've talked about for years now," Warren said when asked about her speech. "America's middle class is getting hammered and Washington is rigged to work for the big guy. That's what got me into this race, and that's what I will talk about." Whether it will win over the hearts of a majority of Massachusetts voters is the bigger question, though. The race is everywhere in the state: turn on the radio, glance a newspaper, even just walk down the streets of Boston and you will hear an ad, see an article, or pass by a bumper sticker for one of the two candidates. And that presence is only going to increase in the coming weeks and months. The race is the most expensive Senate race in the country so far in terms of money raised. A combined total of $46 million has been raised already, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, and so Massachusetts residents can expect to be blanketed with a lot more TV, radio and Internet advertising as November draws closer. Voters will also get a chance to see Brown and Warren go head-to-head soon. In the fall, the candidates will face off in a series of four televised debates. What voters might not see, however, are ads from outside groups. Brown and Warren in January signed an agreement called "the People's Pledge," which vowed to keep advertisements from third-party spending groups out of the race. Eight months later, the pledge is still in place. Warren says she believes the plan has allowed the candidates to focus more on the issues. "It has at least opened the space to be able to talk about issues," Warren said. For months now, polling has shown the two candidates in a statistical tie, and barring any big surprises, it's expected to stay that way. Unsurprisingly, each candidate holds a different opinion on what the race is ultimately about. "This is really about jobs and the economy and how we are going to get our country moving again," Brown said. "You're going to have somebody down there who has been doing his job, me, working on the issues that matter, jobs and the economy, versus somebody who's a rock- thrower and doesn't want to compromise." Warren said, "I think it's about the kind of people we are, and the kind of people we're trying to be. "To me, it's about this vision, what kind of people are we and what kind of country are we trying to be?" ||||| For Barack Obama, the risk of Bill Clinton is worth the reward. Their sometimes awkward relationship will be showcased tonight when the former president takes the stage to place the current president’s name in nomination at the Democratic National Convention. “There’s the possibility of Clinton outshining Obama,” said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University in Houston. “But that’s a minor fear if you’re Obama, to having Clinton embrace you in prime time.” Read More: Bloomberg Insider - Convention 2012 Bloomberg Insider - Convention 2012 Download:Bloomberg Insider 9/5 The relationship between the two men has long been a complicated one. Clinton, 66, often referred to as the Big Dog by fans and foes alike because of his stature in the party, was outraged by Obama’s treatment of his wife, Hillary Clinton, during the 2008 primary campaign and miffed he didn’t often seek his advice until after the Democrats’ losses in the 2010 midterm elections. Brinkley said tension between past and present presidents isn’t unusual. Hillary Clinton’s role as secretary of state in the Obama administration has added a level of complexity to the relationship. “It sort of forces camaraderie between Obama and Clinton,” he said. “They are not intimate or close or personal friends, but they are sort of forced to tolerate each other.” Boom Times The threat of losing the White House has united the two leaders, the most popular figures in their party in recent history. Still, Clinton’s prominent role in Obama’s re-election convention could remind voters of the booming economic times during the former president’s tenure in the 1990s. Matthew Dowd, a Bloomberg analyst and political consultant, told those gathered yesterday at a Bloomberg-sponsored panel discussion near the convention site in Charlotte, North Carolina, that Obama’s campaign needs to be careful about contrasting Clinton and Obama too much. There’s a chance undecided voters could say to themselves, “Barack Obama is not like that kind of president. He’s never going to be like that kind of president and maybe I’m going to try a new guy,” said Dowd, a former strategist for President George W. Bush. “They have to be really careful with Bill Clinton,” he said. “I think they can overdo this.” An Obama campaign spokeswoman yesterday played down the risk that voters would compare Obama to the more prosperous days of the Clinton administration, when the national unemployment rate dropped from above 7 percent to below 4 percent. ‘Deeply Involved’ “He is somebody who can speak directly from experience, not only from his time as president in the ’90s, but also as somebody who’s been deeply involved in the last decade post- presidency about what we need to do to move this country forward,” re-election spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters traveling with Obama in Virginia. Counter to typical protocol of vetting speeches well in advance of their convention delivery, Obama’s campaign hadn’t yet seen the text of Clinton’s speech as of early yesterday. “But we have had lots of conversations with President Clinton and his team,” Jim Messina, Obama’s campaign manager said at a separate Bloomberg News breakfast in Charlotte. “He’s going to give a great speech tomorrow night.” Stephanie Cutter, the deputy campaign manager, said at the same event that “someone in our organization is likely to see the speech before the president gives it, just because that’s normal course of business.” Courting Independents Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has himself tried to draw Bill Clinton into the campaign. The former Massachusetts governor has spoken favorably about the former president’s White House tenure in an effort to appeal to independent voters and show he doesn’t disparage all Democrats. “President Obama tucked away the Clinton doctrine in his large drawer of discarded ideas, along with transparency and bipartisanship,” Romney said in Des Moines on May 15. “It’s enough to make you wonder if maybe it was a personal beef with the Clintons, but probably it runs much deeper than that.” As is the case with many presidents, Clinton’s popularity has grown since he left office. Two-thirds of Americans have a favorable opinion of him, according to a Gallup poll in July. Clinton could help Obama, 51, win over “white middle-class voters” in battleground states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, Brinkley said. Credibility on Economy “There is only one person in the world who knows how to put an economy back on its feet after a president named Bush and that’s Bill Clinton,” said Mary Anne Marsh, a Boston-based Democratic strategist, referring to the administration of President George H. W. Bush. “Given his credibility on the economy and with voters, it’s hard to imagine a better endorsement Barack Obama could get.” Clinton’s speech is just part of a multi-faceted campaign effort on Obama’s behalf. He’s been drafted to serve as a prime surrogate for campaign events, pitched Obama’s economic policy, raised money, endorsed the president’s rescue of the U.S. auto industry and highlighted his killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Like virtually any high-profile personality, Clinton can go off-message, too. During a May 31 CNN interview, he undercut the narrative Obama’s campaign has tried to build around Romney being interested only in profits when he was a private-equity executive, saying that a “man who has been governor and had a sterling business career crosses the qualification threshold.” ‘More Relevant’ In a subsequent interview with PBS, Clinton said it’s “much more relevant” to look at what Romney did as governor and what he says he’d do as president. In one of Obama’s campaign ads, Clinton frames the election as a “clear choice” between a Republican plan to cut taxes for upper-income earners and the president’s proposals to strengthen the middle class by spending more on education and job training. “We need to keep going with his plan,” Clinton says in the ad, which ran 2,299 times from Aug. 24 to Aug. 27, according to New York-based Kantar Media’s CMAG, which tracks advertising. Another Obama campaign ad cites Clinton in its response to a Romney spot that says Obama wants to remove work requirements from welfare. People knowledgeable about the relationship say that while the two are in a good place, it isn’t one described as overly warm. Obama and Clinton are respectful and friendly, without being effusive. To contact the reporter on this story: John McCormick in Charlotte, North Carolina at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jeanne Cummings at [email protected] ||||| There’s only one president who actually came from Hope. Former President Bill Clinton — a native of Hope, Ark. — is expected to offer a rousing endorsement of President Barack Obama in his speech Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention. But four years ago, while his wife Hillary competed for the Democratic nomination, Clinton wasn’t always so supportive of Obama’s “hope and change” message. Text Size - + reset (Also on POLITICO: Clinton's big speech a mystery) Here are Bill Clinton’s most controversial quotes about Obama: 1. “The idea that one of these campaigns is positive and the other is negative when I know the reverse is true and I have seen it and I have been blistered by it for months is a little tough to take. Just because of the sanitizing coverage that’s in the media doesn’t mean the facts aren’t out there.” — Jan. 7, 2008; New Hampshire campaign stop 2. “I think that they played the race card on me. We now know, from memos from the campaign, that they planned to do it all along.” — April 21, 2008, WHYY News Radio 3. “In theory, we could find someone who is a gifted television commentator and let them run. They’d have only one year less experience in national politics.” — Dec. 15, 2007, PBS’s “Charlie Rose” 4. “Give me a break. This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I’ve ever seen.” — Jan. 7, 2008, addressing Obama’s record on Iraq during a New Hampshire stop 5. “Hillary’s opponent, in his entire campaign, every two or three weeks has said for months and months and months, beginning in Nevada, that really there wasn’t much difference in how America did when I was president and how America’s done under President Bush. Now, if you believe that, you should probably vote for him, but you get a very bad grade in history.” — April 17, 2008, Lock Haven, Pa., campaign speech 6. “Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in ’84 and ’88. Jackson ran a good campaign. And Obama ran a good campaign here.” — Jan. 26, 2008, to reporters in Columbia, S.C. 7. “I mean, when’s the last time we elected a president based on one year of service in the Senate before he started running? I mean, he will have been a senator longer by the time he’s inaugurated, but essentially once you start running for president full time you don’t have time to do much else.” — Dec. 15, 2007, PBS’s “Charlie Rose” 8. “Oh, I think yes.” – Dec. 20, 2011, Fox News, when asked if the media favored Barack Obama during the 2008 election. (PHOTOS: Bill Clinton’s career) ||||| Some things to watch for at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday: Delegates cheer as First Lady Michelle Obama addresses the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., on Monday, Sept. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) (Associated Press) 1. THE CLINTON SHOW: The former president, no stranger to talking at length at Democratic conventions, takes the podium. How much of it will be about Barack Obama _ and how much about Bill Clinton? 2. ELIZABETH WARREN: It's a personal mission for the Democratic Party to get the late Sen. Edward Kennedy's seat back from the Republicans. Candidate Warren's opponent, Republican Scott Brown, didn't speak at his convention last week. But Warren is a star at the Democrats' and the featured challenger in arguably the most competitive Senate race this year. 3. THE WEATHER: As Obama's outdoor stadium speech approaches, will the sun begin to peek through? 4. OBAMA _ GOOD FOR BUSINESS: That's what some CEOs on tap to speak are undoubtedly going to trumpet. But what will they have to say about Mitt Romney? 5. CHARLOTTE IS HOPPING: It's a totally different feel from last week in Tampa. Streets are packed, in part because there are more delegates, in part because of a smaller security perimeter and the convention hall's proximity to the city and restaurants.

– The Man From Hope, Bill Clinton, returns to the spotlight of the Democratic National Convention on its second night—and that worries some people. "There's the possibility of Clinton outshining Obama," one presidential historian tells Bloomberg. "But that's a minor fear." Clinton and Obama have famously crossed swords, but the campaign sees him as a powerful voice who can liken Obama's experience to his own. Here's what else you need to know tonight: Rumors have been swirling that the Obama team demanded to vet Clinton's speech, rumors it played down yesterday. "We have had lots of conversations with President Clinton," Jim Messina said, according to Politico. "This is a mountain out of a molehill." But Obama aides say someone is likely to see it. Clinton will be introduced by Elizabeth Warren, who's locked in possibly the nation's most competitive Senate race against Scott Brown. "I'm going to talk about what I've talked about for years now," Warren told ABC last month. "America's middle class is getting hammered and Washington is rigged to work for the big guy." It's worth noting that Brown didn't speak at the RNC. Warren won't be the only woman, either; Democrats intend to showcase many, USA Today reports, including Sandra Fluke, whom you might remember from her run-in with Rush Limbaugh. A number of CEOs are also on the docket, ready to affirm that an Obama presidency would indeed be good for business, the AP reports. Tonight will also mark Obama's official nomination. Since he ran essentially unopposed in the primary, this will simply be a roll-call of all the states, scheduled for after Clinton's speech. Obama himself is set to arrive in Charlotte today, meaning he could make a "surprise" appearance on stage with Bill Clinton, USA Today speculates.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Police have appealed for any witnesses to come forward Concern is growing over the fate of a nine-year-old girl who vanished while attending a wedding in eastern France. The girl, Maëlys De Araujo, was last seen in a children's room at about 03:00 on Sunday (01:00 GMT). Extensive searches of the area around the wedding hall using a helicopter and police dogs have thus far failed to find a trace of the girl. A kidnapping investigation has opened and police have issued an appeal for witnesses. Police have already interviewed most of the 180 attendees at the wedding, which took place in a hall in Pont-de-Beauvoisin, Isère. But the local prosecutor says they are also trying to speak to an additional 70 people who were attending two other social events at a community hall and bar nearby. Maëlys was at the wedding along with her mother - cousin of the bride - father, and older sister. They are said to live in the nearby department of Jura. A guest, Grégoire, told Le Parisien news site what had happened when guests realised the girl was missing. Image copyright AFP Image caption The Guiers river, a short distance from the wedding venue, was searched by police divers for a second time on Tuesday Image copyright AFP Image caption There are so far few clues as to why and how Maëlys disappeared from the hall where the wedding was held "The DJ for the evening announced on the microphone that a child had disappeared. Suddenly, everyone started searching, in the main hall and outside. "It was anguish. To see the disappearance of a nine-year-old, that's not nothing. We initially thought she must be asleep in a corner after a game of hide-and-seek. After an hour, as we'd found nothing, the police were alerted." Grégoire said he believed that a kidnapping had taken place. Reports also say police dogs failed to find any scent of the girl beyond the car park of the wedding hall, suggesting the girl did not run away. Police, firefighters and volunteer firefighters have searched dense vegetation around the wedding hall, the nearby river Guiers and even sewers. The search continued on Tuesday and divers could be seen once again searching the river, about 500m (one-third of a mile) away. The local prosecutor, Dietlind Baudoin, said she did not want to make hasty assumptions about what had happened, but a criminal explanation could not be ruled out. Police have appealed for witnesses to come forward to help find Maëlys, who they say is 130cm tall (4'3"), weighs 28kg (4st 6lb), has dark skin, brown eyes and hair, and was wearing a white sleeveless dress. ||||| A kidnapping investigation has been opened into the disappearance of the girl, Maëlys De Araujo, who has not been seen since the early hours of Sunday morning. Police have carried out searches of the area using a helicopter, divers, cavers, and police dogs, and have also interviewed all 180 of the wedding guests. The dogs reportedly lost the girl's scent in the car park, leading police to the hypothesis of abduction, though prosecutors said they had not excluded any possible explanations for the girl's disappearance, "accidental or criminal". "Obviously, we are exploring all leads," local prosecutor Dietlind Baudoin told a news conference more than 48 hours after de Araujo disappeared. The wedding took place at a hall in Le Pont-de-Beauvoisin, Isère in southeastern France, which the child attended with her parents, older sister, and relatives. Police have searched the hall's caretaker's house and car, according to a report in France Bleu, but neither that man nor anyone else has yet been placed in custody. The hall used for the wedding. Photo: AFP Now, police are checking the criminal records of the girl's relatives and other attendees at the wedding, as well as reviewing photos and videos taken at the party. Divers were also searching the nearby Guiers river on Tuesday. "Given the time that has elapsed since the disappearance of the young Maelys and given the resources that have sadly been deployed in vain to find her, the criminal possibility can no longer be ruled out," Baudoin said.\ A source close to the investigation said "each passing hour" makes kidnapping more likely than the possibility that Maelys was involved in an accident or ran away. "It's likely she got into a car," the source told AFP. They have also appealed for any witnesses to get in touch, and have issued the following description of Maëlys: "She is nine years old; she measures 1.3 metres and weighs 28 kilos; she has tanned skin, dark eyes, and chestnut hair." ||||| This article is over 1 year old Maëlys de Araujo not seen since about 3am on Sunday when she was at party with parents in town of Pont-de-Beauvoisin in the Alps Divers, police dogs and a helicopter have taken part in a massive search for a missing nine-year-old girl in the French Alps after she vanished during a family wedding at the weekend. “Obviously we are exploring all leads,” the local prosecutor, Dietlind Baudoin, told a news conference more than 48 hours after the disappearance of the girl, Maëlys de Araujo. The girl has not been seen since about 3am local time on Sunday when she was at the wedding with her parents and other family members in the town of Pont-de-Beauvoisin in the French Alps near the town of Chambéry. The party ended with guests searching for Maëlys after the DJ announced that she had disappeared, local reports said. The regional police chief, Yves Marzin, said three sniffer dogs had all lost the scent from Maëlys’s cuddly toy at “the same spot” in the car park outside the venue. “One of the possible theories is that little Maëlys left in a car, one way or another,” Marzin said. A source close to the investigation said “each passing hour” made kidnapping more likely than the possibility that Maëlys was involved in an accident or ran away. Facebook Twitter Pinterest French gendarmes stand over the Guiers river as they search for evidence following the disappearance of Maëlys. Photograph: Philippe Desmazes/AFP/Getty Images Posters of the brown-haired girl with brown eyes have gone up throughout the town and surrounding area, and an investigation has been opened into a possible kidnapping. Around 100 police, including divers, cavers and dog handlers, have joined in the search. Divers could be seen searching for her in the nearby Guiers river on Tuesday. The surrounding area is heavily wooded with “very dense vegetation”, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. “Given the time that has elapsed since the disappearance of the young Maëlys and given the resources that have been sadly deployed in vain to find her, the criminal possibility can no longer be ruled out,” Baudoin said at the courthouse in nearby Bourgoin-Jallieu. But she warned against “making hasty conclusions”. Wedding guests searched for the girl for about an hour before alerting the police, Baudoin said. Police are questioning the 180 people who attended the wedding as well as people at two other parties held in the town on Saturday night. So far, 140 people out of a total of 250 have been questioned, according to Didier Plunian, who heads the region’s search and rescue unit. The other parties took place in a parish hall and a bar, both near the wedding venue, Baudoin said. The child’s mother and other relatives were receiving psychological counselling, the RTL broadcaster reported.

– Police have opened a kidnapping investigation as searches continue for a 9-year-old girl who vanished from a family wedding in the French Alps Sunday. The Local reports that authorities have scoured the area, using helicopters, police dogs, divers, and cavers around France’s southeastern Isère region to track down any trace of Maelys De Araujo. After canines lost the girl’s scent in the venue’s parking lot, police believe kidnapping is a possibility, though they are not ruling out other explanations, “accidental or criminal,” for her disappearance. "Given the time that has elapsed since the disappearance of the young Maelys and given the resources that have sadly been deployed in vain to find her, the criminal possibility can no longer be ruled out," local prosecutor Dietlind Baudoin said during a news conference. Maelys, who attended the wedding with her parents, older sister, and other relatives, was last seen in what the BBC describes as "a children’s room" around 3am local time Sunday morning. "The DJ for the evening announced on the microphone that a child had disappeared,” a wedding guest told Le Parisien. “Suddenly, everyone started searching, in the main hall and outside.” He added, “We initially thought she must be asleep in a corner after a game of hide-and-seek.” Police were contacted an hour later when the search yielded no results, the Guardian reports. All of the 180 wedding guests were interviewed by police, who are now reviewing photos and videos from the celebration and conducting 70 additional interviews of people who attended outside social events at a local bar and community hall around the same time.

Thousands of years ago, hobbits roamed a lush, green land. They gathered food, took shelter in cozy holes in the earth, and even battled dragons. This is no fantasy epic—it’s the likely lifestyle of an ancient human relative that thrived on the island of Flores in Indonesia. Discovered in 2003 in Liang Bua cave, Homo floresiensis stood about three and a half feet (1.1 meters) tall and weighed around 75 pounds (35 kilograms). Nicknamed for the diminutive heroes in J.R.R. Tolkien's famous novels, the real-life hobbits made stone tools and might have survived predatory attacks from komodo dragons. Even more exciting to anthropologists, the discovery team originally estimated that these “halflings” lived as recently as 12,000 years ago, which would mean that they outlived Neanderthals and might well have crossed paths with modern humans. However, a fresh look at the site where the fossils were found puts a twist on the tale: The latest evidence suggests that hobbits vanished from the island far earlier than thought, casting the chances of a cross-species encounter in a new light. “Since 2007, a lot more of the cave has been excavated,” says study co-author Matthew Tocheri of Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Researchers initially used chemical clues in the soil around the fossils to figure out when layers of sediment were laid down and thus how old the bones and tools found inside them must be. In the latest work, the team found that the layers of sediment in the cave were not all evenly deposited and so varied widely in age even at similar depths. The new analysis, published today in Nature, asserts that the skeletal remains of H. floresiensis are more likely between 100,000 and 60,000 years old, and their stone tools date from as far back as 190,000 years to around 50,000 years ago. That suggests these evolutionary cousins did not exist for long after modern humans arrived in the region some 50,000 years ago. “At the time of the initial discovery, not enough of the older deposits had been exposed, and this led to an error in the interpretation of how the dates obtained at that time applied to the sediments that contained the hobbit remains,” says Tocheri, who received funding from the National Geographic Society's Waitt Grants Program for this work. Layered Story While earlier investigations focused on the cave’s center and eastern wall, the current study, conducted by many of the same researchers, expanded excavations between these areas and toward the rear of the cave. Older deposits in certain sections of the cave had eroded away, creating a steep slope near the entrance that became filled in with younger sediments, which caused the original misinterpretation. To ensure that the new age estimates are accurate, the team used five independent dating methods, ranging from the uranium decay rate in bone to luminescence in soil, which measures the amount of time since sand was last exposed to sunlight. The erosion may also explain why excavators were unable to find all the bones from the upper body of the first known hobbit specimen. According to Tocheri, “if the erosion had continued for just a little longer, then the entire skeleton would more than likely have been lost forever.” View Images Archaeologists excavate in Liang Bua cave, the site where the "hobbit" humans were discovered in 2003. Photograph by Liang Bua Team But age is just one of many bones of contention regarding H. floresiensis. Since the initial discovery, at least six additional hobbits have been exhumed in the cave, and biological anthropologists have been wrestling with issues ranging from how they first migrated to Indonesia, to the reasons for their diminutive size, to whether they even qualify as a unique human species. “Every finding just makes it more mysterious,” says Ian Tattersall, a paleoanthropologist and emeritus curator at the American Museum of Natural History who was not involved in the study. “Nobody could ever have imagined a hominid that looked like the one from Flores. It’s the kind of thing only nature could come up with.” Some experts contended that the hobbit’s stature and small brain—about one-third the size of an adult human’s—mean that the fossils belong to diseased modern humans with dwarfism, Down syndrome, or microcephaly, a developmental condition that produces a small head. Though many of these theories still circulate, a 2007 analysis conducted by Tocheri revealed that the wrist bones of H. floresiensis had very little structural similarity to modern humans and were more comparable to early hominins and chimpanzees, providing strong evidence for a separate species. RELATED: Ancient Little People Found? Watch as a scientist uncovers tiny human bones in a tropical island cave, in what could be a major discovery. The prevailing theory is that H. floresiensis is either a descendent of a hominin that arrived on Indonesia in hobbit form, or a descendent of Homo erectus that evolved into its smaller stature once on the island. This evolutionary process, called island dwarfism, occurs when a species becomes progressively smaller to reduce its food requirements on a resource-deficient island. The excavation site at Liang Bua was littered with remnants of pygmy elephants, which adds credence to this theory. Not a Fellowship? Though no direct evidence from Liang Bua shows any interaction with modern humans, Tattersall still believes it is possible that these ancestral cousins could have crossed paths, perhaps with disastrous consequences. “There is this pattern where ancient kinds of Homo that have been doing perfectly well for a very long time disappear as soon as Homo sapiens shows up. For one reason or another, Homo sapiens is an insuperable competitor,” says Tattersall. And the new estimates for hobbit extinction coincide suspiciously with the arrival of modern humans in that area. View Images The "hobbit" (left) had a much smaller head than modern humans, as seen in this comparison image. Photograph by Ira Block, Nat Geo Image Collection “The thing that I find most intriguing about the new work is its implications on how H. floresiensis went extinct,” says Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program and curator of anthropology at the National Museum of Natural History. “Island populations are always under threat due to fluctuations in food supply, and it could be that H. floresiensis went extinct on its own. But it also happens to coincide with the moment in time when Homo sapiens was in the neighborhood.” Further excavations of Liang Bua and other sites on Flores could offer more clues and answer essential questions about the development, lifestyle, and extinction of this mysterious species. ||||| Homo sapiens skull (left) next to Homo floresiensis skull (right). Did our species kill off the Hobbits? Or did we interbreed and incorporate Hobbit human DNA in their genes? Scientists are still looking for the answers. Earlier confusion about when the Hobbits and associated animals died out at Flores had to do with the depth and complexity of the cave site's geological layers. Archaeological excavations at Liang Bua can reach depths of more than 8 meters (26 feet), as shown in this photo. Big climate shifts and volcano eruptions could have also doomed the hobbits. Here is a view of Liang Bua cave, as seen from the road out front. 'Hobbit Humans' Actually Might Not Have Been Human While our species is suspect, there are other possible explanations for the demise of Hobbit humans. One is the tiny elephant relative, pygmy Stegodon , might have been hunted to death, leading to a devastating chain reaction. Hobbit Human Teeth Reveal Surprising History The latest excavations at Liang Bua limestone cave on the Indonesian island of Flores show that the Hobbits, as well as many other animals, disappeared 38,000 years earlier than thought. Their disappearance coincides with the time that our species first arrived in the region. Photos: Faces of Our Ancestors Adult so-called Hobbits (Homo floresiensis) only stood about 3.5 feet tall. New research determined that these diminutive humans vanished from a cave on the island of Flores, Indonesia, around 50,000 years ago. What (or who) killed them off? Suspicious: Hobbits Vanish When Modern Humans Appear In this depiction, so-called hobbit humans inhabit the lush world of the Indonesian island of Flores. Hobbit humans, giant storks, pygmy elephants and Komodo dragons all suddenly disappeared from a cave on the island of Flores, Indonesia, around 50,000 years ago, new research finds. Did our species do them in? The new analysis dramatically pushes back the time of disappearance of the Hobbits and associated unique animals from the site. Photos: Excavation of a Hobbit Cave Play Video What Did Ancient Humans Really Eat? Recent dietary fads, such as going paleo, suggest we should get back to eating the way we did before agriculture came along. But, as in much else in life, there are no easy or perfect answers when it comes to the foods we choose. Before now, it was thought that these little archaic humans (Homo floresiensis) died out around 12,000 years ago, but new excavations at Liang Bua cave show that the Hobbits, as well as many other animals, disappeared 38,000 years earlier -- at about the exact same time our species first arrived in the wider region. The timing, say scientists, is suspicious. Bert Roberts of the University of Wollongong and co-author of the study, which appeared in Nature, told Discovery News: "The earliest known evidence of modern humans on Flores is from about 11,000 years ago and after, but we do know that modern humans were on other islands in the region around this time and had reached Australia by 50,000 years ago. So it is certainly a possibility to be considered, but solid evidence is needed in order to demonstrate it." Climate shifts and volcanoes might have also led to the sudden demise of species in and around Liang Bua, co-lead author Matt Tocheri of Lakehead University and the Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program added. Photos: Faces of Our Ancestors Another possibility is that the tiny elephant relative, pygmy Stegodon, might have been hunted to death, leading to a devastating chain reaction. "Pygmy Stegodon is the only large-bodied herbivore known on Flores during the Late Pleistocene, and it was clearly a primary food source for these other species," Tocheri explained. "If something happened to cause the pygmy Stegodon to crash, then it more than likely would have had an adverse effect on these other species." The confusion about when the Hobbits and associated animals died out at Flores had to do with the depth and complexity of the cave site's geological layers. The scientists discovered that an eroded surface sloped steeply toward the cave entrance. Much younger sediments covered it during the past 20,000 years. These newer sediments were at first attributed to the Hobbit remains, but the recent and more extensive analysis disproved that idea. Hobbit Human Teeth Reveal Surprising History The latest excavation, instead, found that the Hobbits' skeletal remains date from 100,000 to 60,000 years ago, but stone tools consisting of hammered flakes and cores that were made by the Hobbits continue until about 50,000 years ago. The earliest evidence of humans on Flores comes from an area called the Soa Basin, lead author Thomas Sutikna of the University of Wollongong and the National Research Center for Archaeology said. One million-year-old stone tools were found at Soa Basin and could have been made by the Hobbits or their ancestors. The Hobbit's origins are murky, but it is suspected that they either evolved from Homo erectus, or descended from another, unknown, species of human that might have left Africa 1 to 2 million years ago. Their skeletons, first reported in 2004, reveal that they had extremely small, chimpanzee-sized brains and that adults only stood about 3.5 feet tall. They resembled fossil human species that lived in Africa and Asia 1 to 3 million years ago.

– New research suggests it's possible ancient humans are responsible for killing off Indonesia's hobbits (an urge no doubt felt by modern humans who sat through the extended edition of The Hobbit). Starting in 2003 when their remains were first discovered on the island of Flores, scientists believed Homo floresiensis—who averaged 3.5 feet tall and 75 pounds—lived until as recently as 12,000 years ago, National Geographic reports. But a new study published this week in Nature found they actually died off sometime between 60,000 and 50,000 years ago—right around the time humans showed up in the area. "The exact cause of the demise of the hominids … is not yet understood, but in my view, may be related to the appearance in the area of the most aggressive of all hominin species, Homo sapiens, modern humans," one expert tells Discovery. Discovery calls the timing of the hobbits' disappearance "suspicious," but the study found no proof they were wiped out by humans, and further excavations on Flores are needed. Other possible causes for the extinction of Homo floresiensis include volcanoes, overhunting of pygmy elephants, and climate change. But it's not just their death that is mysterious. Scientists still don't know why these real-life hobbits were so small, how they got to Flores, or if they're even a different species. Some experts have posited they are actually humans suffering from dwarfism or Down syndrome. (Meanwhile, ancient humans having sex with Neanderthals may be why we have allergies.)

For a full quarter century, the extraordinary art within Houston's Menil collection has been protected from harm - until now. The museum is confirming an act of vandalism against a painting produced in 1929 by the Spanish master Pablo Picasso. In a video posted on YouTube, a man can be seen approaching the portrait known as "Woman in Red Arm Chair" and blasting the canvas with spray paint. The stenciled message "Conquista" and the image of a bull defacing the original. The vandal escaped as did the photographer who may or may not be a conspirator. According to Menil spokesman Vance Muse, the Picasso was rushed to the collection's chief conservator Brad Etley who performed immediate damage repair. Speaking from Berlin, Germany Vance told FOX 26, "The most important thing is to get the painting to full health, which is happening. All the spray paint has been removed. It is in the right hospital. The painting now needs to rest." Meantime, Houston Police confirm the case is under very active investigation as "criminal mischief," a crime carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail. No arrests have been made in connection with the incident. In addition to the YouTube video, detectives also have the Menil's own surveillance tape to help capture those responsible. A representative for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston says "appropriate" security measures have been taken at that institution. "Woman in Red Arm Chair" has been a part of the Menil collection since 1956. On the web: http://www.menil.org/ ||||| Vandal defaces Menil Collection Picasso Repairs are under way, museum says ***WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE*** Officials at the Menil Collection don't know why a man spray-painted Pablo Picasso's "Woman in a Red Armchair" at the museum, but the act wasn't caught just on surveillance cameras. It also was captured by a bystander with a smartphone camera and subsequently posted on YouTube with a caption naming the alleged perpetrator as a young artist. Menil communications director Vance Muse, reached Monday in Germany, said museum security discovered the vandalism almost immediately Wednesday afternoon. The damaged artwork, with the spray paint barely dry, was rushed down the hall to the museum's conservation lab, where chief conservator Brad Epley quickly began its repair. The 1929 painting, one of nine by Picasso owned by the Menil, has "an excellent prognosis," Muse said. The vandal, who has not been identified officially, stenciled a small image of a bullfighter killing a bull and the word "Conquista" on the painting. He fled and wasn't caught. Houston Police spokesman Victor Senties said the vandalism was being investigated as a criminal mischief case. Anyone who witnessed the attack or has information is asked to call 713-308-0900. KPRC (Channel 2) interviewed a man who said he captured the vandalism on his phone camera. The witness told Channel 2 the man identified himself as an up-and-coming Mexican-American artist looking to honor Picasso's work. John and Dominique de Menil acquired "Woman in a Red Armchair" in 1956. It has been displayed often since the Menil Collection opened in 1987 and has been loaned to other museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The Menil also owns 14 drawings, a terra-cotta sculpture and more than 100 prints by Picasso. Muse said the incident brought to mind an act in 1974, when artist Tony Shafrazi, who later became a gallery owner, defaced Picasso's masterpiece "Guernica" at the Museum of Modern Art. [email protected]

– Police in Houston are searching for a vandal who spray-painted a Picasso painting. The man was captured on camera using a stencil to paint an image of a bull and the word "Conquista" on the Spanish master's 1929 "Woman in a Red Armchair," reports the Houston Chronicle. A bystander who videoed the man in action says the vandal identified himself as an up-and-coming Mexican-American artist who wanted to "honor" Picasso's work. The painting, one of nine Picassos in Houston's Menil collection, was rushed to the museum's on-site conservation lab and experts say the prognosis is good. "The most important thing is to get the painting to full health, which is happening," a museum spokesman tells Fox. "All the spray paint has been removed. It is in the right hospital. The painting now needs to rest." If the vandal is caught, he will face a charge of criminal mischief with a maximum penalty of two years in prison.

Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) The only thing missing was a red carpet outside — and the witty woman with a microphone at the end making wisecracks about what all the celebrities were wearing. Fabulous comedienne Joan Rivers got the star-studded Upper East Side send-off she wanted Sunday, complete with a Howard Stern eulogy, standing ovations and bagpipers playing “New York, New York.” “I hope Joan is somewhere right now chasing Johnny Carson with a baseball bat,’’ Stern quipped, referring to Carson’s infamous years-long snub of Rivers after she started a rival late-night talk show. “She was my hero” — and the “crazy aunt at a bar mitzvah,’’ the shock jock said of Rivers, who died Thursday at age 81. Rivers’ daughter, Melissa, on hand with her son, Cooper, 13, read a light-hearted letter she wrote to her mother. In the crowd were stars including David Letterman, Kathy Griffin, Matthew Broderick and wife Sarah Jessica Parker, Diane Sawyer, Geraldo Rivera, Donald Trump, Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters, Rosie O’Donnell, Charlie Rose and Kelly Osbourne. “I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for Cooper and me,” Melissa Rivers said of her mother. Film and Broadway star Hugh Jackman — who rode his bicycle to the service in a gray shirt and black pants with tie — sang a tune from “The Boy from Oz.’’ “Joan, this is for you,” Jackman said before performing at Temple Emanu-El on Fifth Avenue, just a few blocks from Rivers’ condo at 1 E. 62nd St. “But since you asked for it, you already know that.” In Rivers’ book, “I Hate Everyone . . . Starting with me,’’ she talked about her hopes for a funeral that’s “a huge showbiz affair with lights, cameras, action” and “Hollywood all the way.” In a hilarious excerpt included in the funeral program, Rivers said she didn’t want a rabbi chatting away nonstop but instead wished for “Meryl Streep crying, in five different accents” and “a wind machine so that even in the casket my hair is blowing just like Beyoncé’s.” The simple paper booklet listed three classic Rivers’ lines on the back: “Can we talk?”, “Who are you wearing?” and “Because I’m a funny person.” During the service, there were jokes about Joan Rivers’ plastic surgery. There were jokes about her sex life. There were jokes about her jokes. “There were a lot of tears mixed with laughter,” movie producer Howard Rosenman said. “It was packed. It was beautiful. ” Some fans in the crowd lining the block outside wore designer duds to honor the late “Fashion Police” host. “For me to get dressed up is very unusual, especially on a Sunday morning. but I did it for Joan,” said Jane Colton, 62, from the Upper East Side. “I thought, ‘It’s Joan, you have to.’ She would want us to. She’s one of us.” TV host Deborah Norville recalled for the crowd how Rivers, during a recent Ice Bucket Challenge, dumped water over her head twice, just for laughs. “I think the thing that set Joan apart was the fact that when you were with Joan, she made you better,” Norville told reporters later. “You upped your game.” Sunday night, an emotional Melissa Rivers, still in her black funeral dress, came out of her mother’s home to address the 50 or so fans gathered outside, and had cupcakes sent out for them, too. “I wanted to thank you all for showing support for me and my son and my mother,” Melissa said, fighting back tears. “It has been heard by both me and Cooper, and it has truly gotten us through this.” Megan Hodges, 22, of Midtown, who was among the fans, said afterward, “I was so surprised when Melissa came out and addressed all of us. She was so beautiful and warm.” Joan Rivers died after undergoing a throat procedure at an Upper East Side clinic on Aug. 28. Additional reporting by Frank Rosario and David K. Li ||||| NEW YORK (AP) — Even in death, Joan Rivers got what she wanted: A star-studded funeral, with the worlds of Hollywood, fashion, media and money all among the mourners. FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2012 file photo, Joan Rivers tours backstage with her camera crew for E!'s "Fashion Police," before the Badgley Mischka show during Fashion Week in New York. In the intense, high-stakes... (Associated Press) On Sunday morning, a legion of notables turned out at New York's Temple Emanu-El to remember Rivers, who died Thursday at 81: Kathy Griffin, whose edgy, biting comedy career was largely made possible by Rivers; colleague and friend Kelly Osbourne; Sarah Jessica Parker and Whoopi Goldberg; Howard Stern. Theater stars Bernadette Peters, Alan Cumming and Tommy Tune were there. Record producer Clive Davis arrived, too. Fashion designers Carolina Herrera and Michael Kors were there. Stars from TV such as Barbara Walters, Geraldo Rivera, Diane Sawyer, Kathie Lee, Hoda Kotb and Andy Cohen. And moguls Barry Diller, Donald Trump and Steve Forbes. Mourners lined up outside the Fifth Avenue synagogue and waited for their names to be checked against a list before entering. Barricades lined several blocks of Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, and a crowd of fans and media stood watch across the street. The comedian detailed in her 2012 book "I Hate Everyone ... Starting With Me" that she hoped for "a huge showbiz affair with lights, cameras, action" and "Hollywood all the way." Instead of a rabbi talking, Rivers asked for "Meryl Streep crying, in five different accents" and "a wind machine so that even in the casket my hair is blowing just like Beyonce's." Rivers was a trailblazer for all comics, but especially for women. The raspy-voiced blonde with the brash New York accent was a TV talk show host, actress, fashion critic, and she sold a line of jewelry. The cause of death is being investigated. Rivers was hospitalized on Aug. 28 after she went into cardiac arrest during a routine procedure at a doctor's office. The New York state health department is investigating the circumstances, and the New York City medical examiner said tests to determine the cause of death were inconclusive. In her book, Rivers joked that dying of natural causes was boring. "It's the grand finale, act three, the eleven o'clock number — make it count. If you're going to die, die interesting! Is there anything worse than a boring death? I think not." Her publicist said that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to God's Love, We Deliver; Guide Dogs for the Blind; or Our House. ____ Associated Press writer Alicia Rancilio contributed to this report.

– No word on whether Meryl Streep is crying in five different accents, but Joan Rivers' funeral is under way at Temple Emanu-El in New York, and the private event is basically one rather large name-drop. Luminaries including Howard Stern, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Griffin, Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters, Kelly Osbourne, Diane Sawyer began lining up this morning, reports the AP. Stern paid tribute to Rivers, notes People, calling her "the best friend in the world … a big sister ... a crazy aunt at Bar Mitzvah." Fans also turned out, with one telling Page Six, "I used to see her walking around Manhattan. She was so real. What you saw was who she was." The back of the program read thusly, as per People: "Can we talk?" "Who are you wearing?" " ... Because I'm a funny person ... " – JOAN RIVERS

A 20-month-old boy died Saturday morning, six days after his mother allegedly threw him into the Lehigh River from the Hamilton Street Bridge in Allentown. Zymeir Perry of Allentown died at 11:51 a.m. at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim said in a news release Saturday night. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday morning to determine the cause of death, says Allentown Police Capt. Tony Alsleben. Authorities say the toddler's 19-year-old mother, Johnesha Perry, kissed her baby before pushing him over the rail and into the water, then jumped from the 52-foot-high bridge herself. Witnesses said Perry managed to walk to shore before collapsing, while Allentown police Officer Joseph Ianetta pulled Zymeir from the river about 700 yards downstream and performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Witnesses told police that Perry said it was her time before she plunged into the water. Allentown police had charged Perry with attempted homicide before the baby's death. District Attorney Jim Martin said Saturday evening that Perry has been released from Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest and moved to the Lehigh County Jail. Online documents show Perry's charges have not yet changed, but Martin said he will have more information Monday. Mother who threw baby in river charged with attempted murder Johnesha Monae Perry, who posted this photo of herself with her son as her profile picture on Facebook last October, is charged with attempted murder after police say she pushed her son from the railing of the Hamilton Street Bridge on Sunday. Johnesha Monae Perry, who posted this photo of herself with her son as her profile picture on Facebook last October, is charged with attempted murder after police say she pushed her son from the railing of the Hamilton Street Bridge on Sunday. See more videos Martin declined to comment on whether Perry has spoken with investigators about what lead to the events on the bridge. Perry also had previously been charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of endangering the welfare of a child. She was being held under $100,000 bail. Reporter Jennifer Sheehan contributed to this report. ||||| We have breaking developments in the case of a Lehigh Valley mother accused of throwing her baby off a bridge last week. The 20-month old child died over the weekend. NBC10's Keith Jones has more. (Published Monday, May 11, 2015) A mom accused of throwing her baby boy off an Allentown bridge 52 feet above the banks of the Lehigh River is charged with homicide. Police made the announcement during a press conference Monday afternoon. Zymeir Perry, 1, of Allentown, was pronounced dead at 11:51 a.m. Saturday at the Lehigh Valley Hospital, Cedar Crest. Witnesses told police Zymeir's 19-year-old mother, identified as Johnesha Perry, was pushing the baby across the Hamilton Street Bridge in a stroller around 1:45 p.m. on May 3 when she stopped mid-span, took the child from the carriage, placed him on the railing, kissed him and then pushed him into the water, investigators said. Baby Dies After Mom Allegedly Throws Him Into River A 1-year-old baby boy died from his injuries nearly a week after he was allegedly thrown into the Lehigh River by his own mother. (Published Sunday, May 10, 2015) She then climbed over the railing and jumped in after him, officials said. Neighbors said Perry often made the trip across the river but she never did anything like that before. Police arrived moments later. They found Perry conscious on the river bank, according to reports. In 911 calls obtained by NBC10, dispatchers can be heard giving locations on the mother and child. Mother Charged With Attempted Murder for Throwing Baby Off Bridge NBC10 has obtained the 911 calls as a Lehigh Valley mother allegedly threw her baby off of a bridge and then jumped in herself. NCB10's Doug Shimell is in Allentown where he spoke to neighbors and witnesses. (Published Monday, May 4, 2015) "Be advised... they have recovered the child. Two officers — identified as Joseph Iannetta and John Leonard — spotted the baby about 700 yards downstream, pulled him from the river and performed CPR. The boy was rushed to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest. He remained in critical condition for several days until he was declared medically brain dead on Saturday and all life support was stopped. An autopsy revealed he died from blunt force trauma and drowning. Perry was also rushed to the same hospital with minor injuries. She was guarded by Lehigh County Sheriffs, police confirmed. She was later released from the hospital and taken into custody. While being interviewed by investigators, Perry allegedly admitted that she intended to kill her son. Mother Charged With Throwing Baby in Allentown River Police say 19-year-old Johnesha Perry threw her one-year-old son into a river before jumping in herself. She's facing multiple charges, including attempted homicide. (Published Monday, May 4, 2015) Perry was initially charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. On Monday police announced she was charged with criminal homicide and endangering the welfare of a child in light of her son's death. She remains in jail and will be arraigned through central booking Tuesday morning.

– The 20-month-old boy whose mother allegedly tossed him over the side of a Pennsylvania bridge into the Lehigh River, then followed him in, has died after six days, reports NBC Philadelphia. Police had previously charged 19-year-old Johnesha Perry with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, and endangering the welfare of a child; the Morning Call reports that while those charges haven't been upgraded in light of the death of Zymeir Perry yesterday morning, the Allentown DA says he plans an update tomorrow. An autopsy on Zymeir is also set for tomorrow. Perry, who sustained minor injuries in the jump, has since been released from the hospital and is in the Lehigh County Jail under $100,000 bail.

Uber Technologies Inc. filed paperwork confidentially this week for its initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter, as it races with smaller rival Lyft Inc. to be the first to market. The S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission puts Uber neck-and-neck with Lyft. Both planned IPOs are shaping up to be among the biggest in a spate of offerings aimed for 2019. Lyft said Thursday it had filed its S-1, and people familiar with the matter have said it is aiming to debut in March or April. ...

– Ride-hailing giant Uber has filed confidential preliminary paperwork for selling stock to the public, the AP reports. That's according to a report late Friday in the Wall Street Journal. Citing people familiar with the matter whom it did not identify, the Journal says San Francisco-based Uber Technologies Inc. filed the paperwork earlier this week. That would indicate it could go public within the first three months of next year. Uber declined to comment on the Journal report. Uber's advisers have suggested the company could get a valuation of $120 billion; its latest valuation was $76 billion when it sold about a $500 million stake to Toyota in August. The filing would come on the heels of a similar move by Uber's smaller rival Lyft. The two initial public offerings could raise billions for the two companies to fuel their expansions, while giving investors their first chance to buy stakes in the ride-hailing phenomenon. (One report says 30% of Uber and Lyft drivers actually lose money driving.)

The surface area of a catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill quickly tripled in size amid growing fears among experts that the slick could become vastly more devastating than it seemed just two days ago. A least tern checks her two eggs on the beach in Gulfport, Miss., Saturday, May 1, 2010. Environmentalists are concerned that the approaching oil slick will destroy this generation of the bird that nests... (Associated Press) Leonard Lawton of Pass Christian, Miss., fishes next to an oil retaining boom in Bay St. Louis, Miss., Saturday, May 1, 2010. Environmentalists are concerned about the potential disaster the approaching... (Associated Press) John Phillips waits to find out if he will be able to place oil booms along the Louisiana coast in Venice, La., Saturday, May 1, 2010. Choppy seas are frustrating efforts to prepare for a growing oil... (Associated Press) This image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows a containment boom staged at the Breton National Wildlife Refuge, Thursday, April 29, 2010. The spill _ a slick more than 130 miles long and 70 miles... (Associated Press) Eric Duvernay, of Pass Christian, Miss., fishes next to an oil retaining boom in Bay St. Louis, Miss., Saturday, May 1, 2010. Environmentalists are concerned about the potential disaster the approaching... (Associated Press) Emmit Brooks waits to find out if he will be able to place oil booms along the Louisiana coast in Venice, La., Saturday, May 1, 2010. Choppy seas are frustrating efforts to prepare for a growing oil spill... (Associated Press) A fishing boat passes the oil skimming ship Mississippi Responder, which is anchored on the Mississippi River near Venice, La., Saturday, May 1, 2010. The ship has been assisting in the containment of... (Associated Press) UPDATES map with latest information; map locates the progression of the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico since April (Associated Press) Frustrated fishermen eager to help contain the spill from a ruptured underwater well had to keep their boats idle Saturday as another day of rough seas kept crews away from the slick. President Barack Obama planned a Sunday trip to the Gulf Coast to see the damage himself. Documents also emerged showing BP downplayed the possibility of a catastrophic accident at the offshore rig that exploded. How far the spill will reach is unknown, but the sheen already has reached into precious shoreline habitat and remains unstopped, raising fears that the ruptured well could be pouring more oil into the gulf than estimated. The Coast Guard has estimated that about 200,000 gallons (757,060 liters) of oil are spewing out each day _ which would mean 1.6 million gallons (6.06 million liters) of oil have spilled since the April 20 explosion that killed 11 workers. The environmental mess could eclipse the Exxon Valdez disaster, when an oil tanker spilled 11 million gallons (42 million liters) off Alaska's shores in 1989. The slick nearly tripled in just a day or so, growing from a spill the size of Rhode Island to something closer to the size of Puerto Rico, according to images collected from mostly European satellites and analyzed by the University of Miami. On Thursday, the size of the slick was about 1,150 square miles (nearly 3,000 square kilometers), but by Friday's end it was in the range of 3,850 square miles (9,900 square kilometers), said Hans Graber, executive director of the university's Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing. That suggests the oil has started spilling from the well more quickly, Graber said. "The spill and the spreading is getting so much faster and expanding much quicker than they estimated," Graber told The Associated Press on Saturday. Louisiana State University professor Ed Overton, who heads a federal chemical hazard assessment team for oil spills, cautioned that the satellite imagery could be deceiving. He said satellites can't measure the thickness of the sheen and makes it difficult to judge how much oil is on the water. Another issue is that the oil slicks are not one giant uniform spill the size of an island. Instead, they are "little globs of oil in an area of big water," Overton said. One expert also cautioned that if the spill continues growing unchecked, sea currents could suck the sheen down past the Florida Keys and then up the Eastern Seaboard. The Florida Keys are home to the only living coral barrier reef in North America, and the third largest coral barrier reef in the world. About 84 percent of the nation's coral reefs are located in Florida, where hundreds of marine species live, breed and spawn. "If it gets into the Keys, that would be devastating," said Duke University biologist Larry Crowder. Ian R. MacDonald, an oceanography professor at Florida State University, said his examination of Coast Guard charts and satellite images indicated that up to 9 million gallons (34 million liters) had already spilled by April 28. However, officials with the Coast Guard brushed off such fears and said the estimates were imprecise. BP suggested in a 2009 exploration plan and environmental impact analysis for the well that an accident leading to a giant crude oil spill _ and serious damage to beaches, fish and mammals _ was unlikely, or virtually impossible. The plan for the Deepwater Horizon well, filed with the federal Minerals Management Service, said repeatedly that it was "unlikely that an accidental surface or subsurface oil spill would occur from the proposed activities." The company conceded a spill would impact beaches, wildlife refuges and wilderness areas, but argued that "due to the distance to shore (48 miles, or 77 kilometers) and the response capabilities that would be implemented, no significant adverse impacts are expected." The spill threatens hundreds of species of wildlife, including birds, dolphins, and the fish, shrimp, oysters and crabs that make the Gulf Coast one of the nation's most abundant sources of seafood. Although the cause of the explosion was under investigation, many of the more than two dozen lawsuits filed in the wake of the explosion claim it was caused when workers for oil services contractor Halliburton Inc. improperly capped the well _ a process known as cementing. Halliburton denied it. The Coast Guard said Saturday it had shut down two offshore platforms and evacuated one of them near the spill as a safety precaution. BP has tried applying chemicals underwater to break up the oil before it reaches the surface. That has never before been attempted at such depths. BP and federal authorities said the dispersant was released overnight at the site of the leak, nearly 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) underwater, and they were evaluating the effort Saturday. ___ Associated Press writers Seth Borenstein, Melissa Nelson, Michael Kunzelman, Chris Kahn, Allen G. Breed, Vicki Smith, Janet McConnaughey, Alan Sayre, Tamara Lush and Brian Skoloff contributed to this report. ||||| The chemicals BP is now relying on to break up the steady flow of leaking oil from deep below the Gulf of Mexico could create a new set of environmental problems. Even if the materials, called dispersants, are effective, BP has already bought up more than a third of the world’s supply. If the leak from 5,000 feet beneath the surface continues for weeks, or months, that stockpile could run out. On Thursday BP began using the chemical compounds to dissolve the crude oil, both on the surface and deep below, deploying an estimated 100,000 gallons. Dispersing the oil is considered one of the best ways to protect birds and keep the slick from making landfall. But the dispersants contain harmful toxins of their own and can concentrate leftover oil toxins in the water, where they can kill fish and migrate great distances. The exact makeup of the dispersants is kept secret under competitive trade laws, but a worker safety sheet for one product, called Corexit, says it includes 2-butoxyethanol, a compound associated with headaches, vomiting and reproductive problems at high doses. “There is a chemical toxicity to the dispersant compound that in many ways is worse than oil,” said Richard Charter, a foremost expert on marine biology and oil spills who is a senior policy advisor for Marine Programs for Defenders of Wildlife and is chairman of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council. “It’s a trade-off – you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t -- of trying to minimize the damage coming to shore, but in so doing you may be more seriously damaging the ecosystem offshore.” BP did not respond to requests for comment for this article. Dispersants are mixtures of solvents, surfactants and other additives that break up the surface tension of an oil slick and make oil more soluble in water, according to a paper published by the National Academy of Sciences. They are spread over or in the water in very low concentration – a single gallon may cover several acres. Once they are dispersed, the tiny droplets of oil are more likely to sink or remain suspended in deep water rather than floating to the surface and collecting in a continuous slick. Dispersed oil can spread quickly in three directions instead of two and is more easily dissipated by waves and turbulence that break it up further and help many of its most toxic hydrocarbons evaporate. But the dispersed oil can also collect on the seabed, where it becomes food for microscopic organisms at the bottom of the food chain and eventually winds up in shellfish and other organisms. The evaporation process can also concentrate the toxic compounds left behind, particularly oil-derived compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. According to a 2005 National Academy of Sciences report, the dispersants and the oil they leave behind can kill fish eggs. A study of oil dispersal in Coos Bay, Ore. found that PAH accumulated in mussels, the Academy’s paper noted. Another study examining fish health after the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in 1989 found that PAHs affected the developing hearts of Pacific herring and pink salmon embryos. The research suggests the dispersal of the oil that’s leaking in the Gulf could affect the seafood industry there. “One of the most difficult decisions that oil spill responders and natural resource managers face during a spill is evaluating the trade-offs associated with dispersant use,” said the Academy report, titled Oil Spill Dispersants, Efficacy and Effects. “There is insufficient understanding of the fate of dispersed oil in aquatic ecosystems.” A version of Corexit was widely used after the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill and, according to a literature review performed by the group the Alaska Community Action on Toxics, was later linked with health impacts in people including respiratory, nervous system, liver, kidney and blood disorders. But the Academy report makes clear that the dispersants used today are less toxic than those used a decade ago. “There is a certain amount of toxicity,” said Robin Rorick, director of marine and security operations at the American Petroleum Institute. “We view dispersant use as a tool in a toolbox. It’s a function of conducting a net environmental benefit analysis and determining the best bang for your buck.” Charter, the marine expert, cautioned the dispersants should be carefully considered for the right reasons. “Right now there is a headlong rush to get this oil out of sight out of mind,” Charter said. “You can throw every resource we have at this spill. You can call out the Marine Corps and the National Guard. This is so big that it is unlikely that any amount of response is going to make much of a dent in the impacts. It’s going to be mostly watching it happen.” Ryan Knutson contributed to this report

– BP has begun using huge amounts of chemical dispersants to contain the oil slick that has tripled in only a day and is now the size of Puerto Rico. (AP has more on the growing size here.) And while those chemicals—being used above and below the surface—will help reduce the amount of oil that makes landfall, they create a whole new set of environmental concerns in the water, reports ProPublica. The makeup of the dispersants is secret under trade laws, but their toxins can kill fish and collect on the seabed to reenter the food chain. "There is a chemical toxicity to the dispersant compound that in many ways is worse than oil,” says an expert on marine biology. “It’s a trade off—you’re damned if you do damned if you don’t—of trying to minimize the damage coming to shore, but in so doing you may be more seriously damaging the ecosystem offshore."

The lawyer told the Louisiana jury that the state would prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Robert McCoy had committed a gruesome triple homicide in 2008, murdering the son, mother and stepfather of his estranged wife. "There is no way reasonably possible that you can listen to the evidence in this case and not come to any other conclusion than Robert McCoy was the cause of these individuals' deaths," said lawyer Larry English. But here's the twist: English was not the prosecutor in the case. He was McCoy's defense attorney. And McCoy vehemently proclaimed his innocence. [Supreme Court embarks on what could be ‘momentous’ term] The Supreme Court last week said that it would review McCoy's conviction — he was subsequently sentenced to death — to answer what sounds more like a typo than a contested question of law: Does it violate the Constitution for a defense counsel to concede a client's guilt over the accused's express objection? "It happens more often than you think it would," said Lawrence J. Fox, a visiting lecturer at Yale Law School who filed a brief on McCoy's behalf for the Ethics Bureau at Yale. It occurs mostly in capital cases, Fox said, when lawyers think that it would be impossible to convince a jury that a client is not guilty. The theory is that by creating some trust with jurors, it might be possible to get a conviction on a lesser murder charge that does not carry a death sentence. "They think the most important thing is to save the client's life," Fox said. But that misunderstands the lawyer's role, he said. "The decision over whether to concede guilt at trial is ultimately the defendant's to make," Fox's brief to the court states. "It goes to the very heart of the right to put on a defense — a right that personally belongs to the accused." McCoy's attorneys at the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center said that English's actions — allowed by the trial judge and unanimously upheld by the Louisiana Supreme Court — did not fulfill the Sixth Amendment's promise that the accused have "assistance of counsel for his defense." "It is inconceivable that the Framers intended that the assistance of counsel should come at the price of defense counsel being authorized to tell the jury that the accused is guilty, even over the accused's protestations of his own innocence," the center's Richard Bourke wrote in McCoy's petition to the Supreme Court. There's little doubt that the state had a pretty compelling case against McCoy, who was looking for his wife, who had gone into protective seclusion after McCoy had allegedly threatened to kill her and himself. In a 911 call, McCoy's mother-in-law, Christine Colston Young, could be heard screaming: "She ain't here, Robert. I don't know where she is. The detectives have her." A gunshot was then heard on the 911 tape, and the call was disconnected. A car later found to be McCoy's was seen leaving the area, and police officers discovered in the abandoned vehicle the phone that Young had used. Eventually, McCoy was arrested in Idaho, after hitchhiking rides from truckers. The gun used in the killings was found with him. In custody, McCoy tried to hang himself. But he maintained his innocence, alleging a conspiracy among local police officers to commit the murders and frame him. His first public defender attorney was let go because of differences between the two, and then his parents paid English $5,000 to represent their son. But English, who was not certified in capital cases, was of the mind that there was no way to convince a jury that McCoy was telling the truth. English declined to be interviewed. But when lawyers were attempting to get a new trial for McCoy, he testified, "I'm a seasoned criminal trial lawyer, had been doing this for a number of years, and I had never had a case where the evidence was so overwhelming against a client." After English informed McCoy that he was going to tell the jury that McCoy was guilty, and McCoy objected, they told Judge Jeff Cox of their disagreement. But Cox said he was not going to again delay the trial and would not allow McCoy to replace English or represent himself. When English made his opening statement to the jury, McCoy again objected. "Judge Cox, Mr. English is simply selling me out, Judge Cox," McCoy said from the defense table. English's strategy did not work, in part because Louisiana does not allow the kind of limited-mental-capacity defense that the lawyer pursued. McCoy was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. The Louisiana Supreme Court unanimously upheld English's strategy and the trial judge's decisions. "Admitting guilt in an attempt to avoid the imposition of the death penalty appears to constitute reasonable trial strategy," the court concluded. But McCoy's petition said the Louisiana decision is an outlier. State supreme courts across the country have considered the issue, McCoy's petition says, and all came out the opposite way. The Louisiana justices based their decision on a 2004 Supreme Court case, Florida v. Nixon, that said it was not necessarily ineffective counsel for a lawyer to concede guilt when a client is informed of the strategy and "neither consents or objects." But McCoy's petition says the case is quite different here: McCoy objected at every step of the process. And it said the Louisiana court misinterpreted another Supreme Court precedent, one requiring defense attorneys to challenge the state's evidence against a client. English instead agreed with it, the petition said. "This is not the counsel guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment but a far more sinister character unimagined in our constitution," the petition states. McCoy v. Louisiana is to be heard at the Supreme Court sometime in 2018. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. / Updated By Jon Schuppe On trial for his life, Robert McCoy claimed he was the innocent victim of a police conspiracy ─ despite a mountain of evidence that he had killed three members of his estranged wife's family in northwestern Louisiana. But his lawyer, Larry English, saw the case as unwinnable, and decided to focus on sparing McCoy from execution. English outlined his strategy: admit guilt from the start, then ask the jury for mercy. McCoy refused. English insisted. They argued, behind closed doors, before the judge and in front of the jury. McCoy tried to fire English, but the judge said it was too late. In August 2011, the jury convicted McCoy of first-degree murder, and sentenced him to die. Robert McCoy, who is on death row for a triple murder. Bossier Parish Sheriff's Office More than six years later, McCoy sits on Louisiana's death row and is still fighting. He wants a new trial, arguing that his constitutional rights as a criminal defendant ─ specifically, the ability to mount his own defense ─ were violated. On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on the case, which explores the boundaries of two tenets of the American justice system: the adversarial relationship between the government and the accused, and a defendant's ability to make decisions about his fate. The plan English embraced is not uncommon in today's courtrooms. Defense lawyers often choose to concede that their client is guilty to avoid a worse outcome. It happens often in death penalty cases, when the defendant appears likely to be convicted, and the same jury charged with deciding guilt also chooses punishment. In those cases, the lawyer may decide that it would appear insincere to argue in the first phase that the defendant didn't commit the crime, then turn around and ask for leniency. Related: How America’s justice system runs on the exchange of money for freedom "The stakes get really high when what you're facing is a likely guilty verdict with a likely death penalty, especially when you say 'I didn't do it,'" said Ernie Lewis, executive director of the National Association for Public Defense. Typically the client goes along with the plan. McCoy, accused of fatally shooting his estranged wife's mother, stepfather and teen-age son in May 2008, wanted nothing to do with it. "Your Honor, this is unconstitutional for you to keep an attorney on my case when this attorney is completely selling me out." English, who had been hired by McCoy's parents and was not certified to try capital cases, told the Bossier Parish jury in his opening statement that "Mr. McCoy committed these crimes." English called his client "crazy" and argued for a lighter verdict of second-degree murder. McCoy interrupted. "Your Honor, this is unconstitutional for you to keep an attorney on my case when this attorney is completely selling me out," he told the judge. The trial continued. McCoy defied English and took the stand in his own defense, testifying that he was out of state at the time of the murders and blaming a police-led drug ring for committing them. Then English gave his closing arguments, saying that McCoy was guilty, but only of second-degree murder, because of mental deficiencies. Larry English, who was Robert McCoy's lawyer. Dash Media PR Later, after McCoy was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to die, English reflected on his decisions in an affidavit. He said he'd become "convinced that the evidence against Robert McCoy was overwhelming" and that his client was paranoid and delusional. "I felt that as long as I was his attorney of record it was my ethical duty to do what I thought was best to save his life even though what he wanted me to do was to get him acquitted in the guilt phase," English said. McCoy set about appealing his conviction, claiming he was denied his constitutional rights to the assistance of counsel and due process. The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled against him. "Given the circumstances of this crime and the overwhelming evidence incriminating the defendant, admitting guilt in an attempt to avoid the imposition of the death penalty appears to constitute reasonable trial strategy," the Louisiana justices ruled. Related: Louisiana is shedding its reputation as U.S.’s biggest jailer The Louisiana court relied in part on a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a Florida case that permitted a concession of guilt when a defendant was unresponsive to his lawyer's questions. But it did not address the situation in which a defendant explicitly disagrees ─ a test of the limits of a defendant's autonomy as outlined in the Constitution. "A lawyer uses whatever strategies are available to them that are ethical and what the law permits him to do." "It is inconceivable that the framers intended that the assistance of counsel should come at the price of defense counsel being authorized to tell the jury that the accused is guilty, even over the accused’s protestations of his own innocence," Richard Bourke, director of the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center, wrote in McCoy's petition to the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court agreed in October to hear the case. McCoy’s new lawyers say the concept of attorneys going against their client’s wishes by admitting guilt is rare, but less so in Louisiana, where courts have accepted it. English said after the trial that he'd relied on a 2002 state court ruling on a similar case, from adjacent Caddo Parish, that supported the practice. “This is really a Louisiana rule that grew out of Caddo Parish,” Bourke said. The Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (LACDL) complained in a brief supporting McCoy that the local courts had turned the right to assistance of counsel "into the state's cudgel." The LACDL said that "an uncomfortable number of death sentences in Louisiana are the result of defendants representing themselves or defendants expressly objecting to their lawyers' concessions of guilt." Related: Cash Bail, a Centerpiece of the Justice System, Is Facing Its Undoing McCoy's ex-wife, Yolanda Colston, did not respond to requests for comment. English, who left his full-time law practice to work in New York real estate development, declined in a recent interview to talk about specifics of the case. But he said he generally did not regret the way he represented clients, saying he did his best to advocate their best interests. "A lawyer uses whatever strategies are available to them that are ethical and what the law permits him to do," English said. Eleven states filed a joint brief in support of Louisiana, saying the case "presents a textbook example of a reasonable strategic concession." But many lawyers say English served McCoy poorly. Among the groups who have filed briefs in support of McCoy are the the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the American Bar Association, several prominent law professors and Yale Law School's Ethics Bureau. "Mr. English acted in clear violation of his ethical obligations as a lawyer as well as Mr. McCoy's constitutional rights," the professors and Ethics Bureau said in a joint brief. Peter Joy, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, agreed. "If the strategy doesn't work, it's the client who is held responsible," Joy told NBC News. "The lawyer goes home. The client goes to prison or death row."

– The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear arguments in a death row case, but this one has an unusual element. The case involves Robert McCoy, who is currently on Louisiana's death row after being convicted of a triple homicide back in 2011. McCoy has always maintained his innocence, but his attorney, Robert English, defied McCoy's wishes during the trial and told the jury that McCoy was guilty—figuring it was the only hope of avoiding a death sentence, explains NBC News. The gambit didn't work, however. McCoy was convicted and sentenced to death, and now McCoy is arguing that his constitutional right to mount a defense was violated. More background and developments: The crime: McCoy is accused of killing his estranged wife's teenage son, mother, and stepfather, while searching for his wife, and the Washington Post reports that prosecutors had compelling evidence. On a 911 call, McCoy's mother-in-law could be heard saying, "She ain’t here, Robert. I don’t know where she is," before a gunshot rings out and the call is disconnected. Witnesses saw McCoy's car leaving the area, and cops later found the phone his mother-in-law used to call 911 in the vehicle.

KOLKATA, India, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Two lunch boxes hidden in the toilets of a Jet Airways plane triggered first a bomb scare and then a smuggling probe as the tins were found to contain 12 gold bars each, a senior customs official said on Wednesday. Smuggling is on the rise into India, one of the world’s biggest buyers of gold, after the government raised import duty to a record 10 percent and slapped restrictions which have shrivelled supplies into the domestic market. The Jet Airways plane had arrived at Kolkata’s international airport from Patna on a domestic flight, but normally operates between the gold trading hub of Dubai and Mumbai, home to India’s largest gold market. It was undergoing routine cleaning when maintenance staff discovered the two small tins. “There was a bomb scare immediately when the bags were spotted in two separate toilets at round 1 a.m., but later we found they contained 12 pieces of gold bars in each,” Additional Commissioner of Customs at the airport, Rameshwar Meena, told Reuters. “The gold bars are from Dubai for sure. The flight had come from Patna to Kolkata last, but its basic route is Dubai-Mumbai.” The bars weigh 1 kg (2.2 pounds) and are about the same size as a portable smart phone. Meena said the haul was worth 73.68 million rupees ($1.18 million). Customs officials said there had been five cases over two months involving a total 100 kg. “We feel that what we catch is less than 10 percent or so and there are so many groups operating, it is impossible for us to keep a check,” said an official at the revenue intelligence department, who asked not to be identified as he is not authorised to speak to the media. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said this month the measures had prompted a slight rise in smuggling, but his officers had said no one could bring in more than 5 kg. “You cannot carry more than 5 kg of gold and still go undetected,” he told CNBC TV18. At Kolkata, Meena said investigators were questioning airline and airport staff. Profiles of passengers on the flight from Dubai were being checked. The revenue intelligence officer said a man had been arrested in an earlier case on suspicion of concealing 5 kg of gold in the toilet of an Air India plane in Dubai. He left the plane in Mumbai and another passenger removed the gold after it had flown on to Goa. Crews are now on alert for passengers lingering in the loo. “We are educating (our staff) about aircraft maps of how toilets are in an Airbus or a Boeing. We are also asking the aircraft crew to tip us off about people who spend slightly more time in toilets,” the revenue intelligence officer said. ($1 = 62.2925 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Sujoy Dhar; Additional reporting by Siddesh Mayenkar in MUMBAI; Editing by Ron Popeski)

– Jet Airways workers in India made a million-dollar discovery in the most of unusual of places—two dozen gold bars stuffed into a plane's toilets, reports AFP. Smugglers apparently hid the bars in two boxes and jammed them in there, but the cleaning crew in Kolkata got to them first. India is a major buyer of gold, and a steep hike in taxes has led to a rise in smuggling, explains Reuters. Its story includes this quote from an investigator: "We are also asking the aircraft crew to tip us off about people who spend slightly more time in toilets."

Donald Trump is set to be sworn in next month as the 45th president of the United States, despite garnering almost 3 million fewer votes than his challenger. With the presidential election results now certified in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., Hillary Clinton won a total of 65,844,610 votes ― 48.2 percent ― compared with Trump’s 62,979,636 votes ― 46.1 percent ― according to David Wasserman of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Other candidates took 7,804,213 ballots, or about 5.7 percent of the popular vote. All 50 states + DC now certified: Clinton: 65,844,610 (48.2%) Trump: 62,979,636 (46.1%) Others: 7,804,213 (5.7%)https://t.co/j58GaxfPmH — Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) December 20, 2016 Clinton’s margin of victory in the popular vote is the largest in raw numbers for any candidate who has gone on to lose in the Electoral College. Her margin of victory is almost six times larger than that of Democrat Al Gore, whose popular vote win in 2000 is now the second-largest in this category. Gore received about 500,000 more votes than Republican George W. Bush, but came up short in the Electoral College after a hotly contested race in Florida. Trump’s substantial deficit in the popular vote makes his margin by percentage of votes the third-worst among winning candidates since 1824 (when the popular vote was first officially recorded), according to an analysis by The New York Times published earlier this week. Thanks to the Electoral College, none of this matters. Trump won 306 electoral votes to Clinton’s 232 on Election Day, securing him a comfortable victory last month. Although many of Trump’s opponents had spent the past few weeks trying to figure out how they could deny the real estate mogul a path to the White House, the Electoral College on Monday further secured his win. A total of 304 electors cast their votes in favor of the GOP nominee, meaning just two Republican electors defected. Some 227 cast their presidential ballots for Clinton, with five Democratic electors switching their vote. Those seven defecting electors voted for other candidates. ||||| Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonBullying rates in Trump-supporting Virginia districts rose after 2016 election: study The challenge for Dems? Winning attention vs. Trump Group hoping to draft Beto plans ambitious 2020 push MORE won the popular vote by just under 3 million votes, final state vote totals aggregated by the Cook Report revealed on Tuesday. The political news outlet, which has been tracking the votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, found Clinton with 65.8 million votes and 48.2 percent, compared to 62.9 million and 46.6 percent for Republican Donald Trump Donald John TrumpGovernment workers protest outside White House on shutdown day 20 Fed chief Powell: Prolonged shutdown will harm US economy Senators say questions remain on Trump strategy in Syria after briefing MORE. It tweeted out that all of the states plus D.C. had certified their results. All 50 states + DC now certified: Clinton: 65,844,610 (48.2%) Trump: 62,979,636 (46.1%) Others: 7,804,213 (5.7%)https://t.co/j58GaxfPmH — Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) December 20, 2016 Other candidates — including Green Party Candidate Jill Stein, Libertarian Candidate Gary Johnson Gary Earl JohnsonHillicon Valley: Social media struggles with new forms of misinformation | US, Russia decline to join pledge on fighting cybercrimes | Trump hits Comcast after antitrust complaint | Zuckerberg pressed to testify before global panel Ex-Facebook exec ousted from company sparked controversy with pro-Trump views: report Heinrich wins reelection to Senate in New Mexico MORE and write-ins — took 5.7 percent of the popular vote, Cook Report’s data showed. ADVERTISEMENT The results come a day after the Electoral College voted to secure Trump's presidency. On Monday, Trump won 304 Electoral College votes — just two below those he won on election night. Two Republican electors cast their ballots for alternatives. Clinton got 227 votes after five Democratic electors voted for alternatives. Anti-Trump groups had urged Republican electors to defect but those efforts fell flat. Clinton received more defections than Trump in the final tally. Many Democrats across the country have called for an end to the Electoral College since the election. On Monday, The New York Times’s editorial board pushed for ending the Electoral College, calling it an “antiquated mechanism” that eliminates “basic fairness” from the presidential race. Clinton is the second Democrat to lose the presidential election but win the popular vote in the last five races. Republican George W. Bush defeated Democrat Al Gore Albert (Al) Arnold GoreDem introduces bills to eliminate Electoral College, stop presidents from pardoning themselves Al Gore’s right about carbon capture and sequestration Democrats view 2020 as a referendum on democracy MORE in the 2000 election after Gore won the popular vote by more than 500,000 votes -- a sizably smaller lead than Clinton. This story was updated at 3:04 p.m. ||||| Tweet with a location You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more

– Forty-three days after the election, all the votes have finally been tallied and certified. History will show Hillary Clinton beating Donald Trump by a final count of nearly 3 million votes, the Hill reports. According to a tweet Tuesday from the nonpartisan Cook Report, Clinton received 65,844,610 votes (48.2%) to Trump's 62,979,636 (46.1%). However with the Electoral College officially making Trump the 45th US president on Monday, history will also show Clinton as the second Democrat in the past five elections to win the popular vote but lose the presidency. Meanwhile, the Huffington Post reports Trump had the third worst popular-vote performance by a winning candidate on record.

Evergreen money tree presidential candidate Mitt Romney is only trying to double the size of his beachfront squatter’s den instead of quadrupling it as reported. Hm, let us get out our calculators here…divide by square root of total living space, minus number of cars parked in the garage, add 2012… oh whatever, net effect zero, Mitt Romney still appears as out-of-touch with the vast majority of hobo Americans as ever before. Even Mitt Romney knows this, who did not bother to go to the press with this clarification. Instead it comes from the publisher of the New Hampshire Union Leader, whose big fact-correction scoop directly from the mouth of Mittens will surely lead Everyone to Think Harder about correctly reporting the details of King Romney’s enormous fortune from now on. When will the lamestream media learn? The difference is some kind of technical argument over square-footage measurements of “non-living space” like a basement and a garage. Here is Union Leader publisher Joe McQuaid with his big Tsk Tsk: Still, I asked [Romney,] why give the media and political foes raw meat right now by filing for permits to tear down a La Jolla, Calif., beach house and quadruple its size? That was the wire story we had run the day before, and it was all over the Internet. It’s not accurate, Romney said, simply. The application he made, two years ago, was to double the living space by turning one story into two. The “quadrupling’’ was a measurement of added nonliving space, including a basement and garage. That sounds more reasonable, I said. Had he issued a statement to that effect? He shrugged his shoulders with a “why bother?’’ look. I think it’s worth the bother. Accuracy in media is more than the name of a group. It ought to be what we in the profession strive for, rather than to have the story fit a preconceived notion. What have we learned from this important update? Mitt Romney does not count basements or garages as “living space.” Where does Mitt Romney think college graduates are living these days? [Union Leader] ||||| Joe McQuaid's Publisher's Notes: Making the Red Arrow’s wall of fame proves elusive, but I can do right by Mitt By JOSEPH W. McQUAID Publisher The waitresses at the Red Arrow Diner in Manchester weren't happy with the Mitt Romney picture they have on their wall of fame. It's out of focus, they told him the other morning.As he was about to leave, one of them grabbed him by the arm. 'I need you, too,'' she said to me.Well, I thought, that's using her head. She can get a new photo of Romney and get me for the same price. Finally, I would be up there with Adam Sandler and other important people.My dream lasted until the waitress handed me her camera. I don't remember the last time I was asked to photograph a presidential candidate. It might have been Ronald Reagan.I watched Romney interact with the morning diners, some of whom came over to wish him luck, others whom he approached with a smile. He was animated and not afraid to disagree - politely - with one woman on Social Security issues.It is tough to deal with stereotypes. One about Romney is that he is stiff with people. A new one is that he is being 'rude'' with some voters. An old one is that he is the rich guy in the race.He may be making progress on the stiffness. And the times I have seen him deal with hecklers, he has been pleasant, but persistent. He makes no bones about making a lot of money in the private sector.Still, I asked him, why give the media and political foes raw meat right now by filing for permits to tear down a La Jolla, Calif., beach house and quadruple its size? That was the wire story we had run the day before, and it was all over the Internet.It's not accurate, Romney said, simply. The application he made, two years ago, was to double the living space by turning one story into two. The 'quadrupling'' was a measurement of added nonliving space, including a basement and garage.That sounds more reasonable, I said. Had he issued a statement to that effect?He shrugged his shoulders with a 'why bother?'' look.I think it's worth the bother. Accuracy in media is more than the name of a group. It ought to be what we in the profession strive for, rather than to have the story fit a preconceived notion.We sure cannot afford to pick any more of our Presidents based on assumptions. Publisher's Notebook

– Joe McQuaid, publisher of New Hampshire’s Union Leader, was at the Red Arrow Diner in Manchester during a recent visit from Mitt Romney, and he got a bit of much-needed clarification on an issue that’s been bothering some people: Why in the world is Romney giving his foes fodder for complaint by quadrupling the size of his California beach house? Easy answer: The story isn’t accurate, Romney explained. In truth, his application was to simply double the living space by adding a second story. Of course, if you include the additional nonliving space—including a basement and a garage—then you get to the “quadrupling.” Even so, McQuaid thinks Romney should make an official statement to clear the issue up. “Accuracy in media is more than the name of a group. It ought to be what we in the profession strive for, rather than to have the story fit a preconceived notion,” McQuaid writes. “We sure cannot afford to pick any more of our presidents based on assumptions.” (But in a snarky post on Wonkette, Kirsten Boyd Johnson notes, "Mitt Romney still appears as out-of-touch with the vast majority of hobo Americans as ever before.")

Wisconsin voters will head to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to recall Gov. Scott Walker (R) and install Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) in his place. The recall election has drawn massive amounts of national attention and money — $63.5 million and counting, to be exact. Walker enters Election Day as a slight favorite, with even Democrats acknowledging privately that a Barrett win at this point would be an upset. Of course, upsets happen. With the national spotlight so firmly fixed on Tuesday’s election — the Fix believes Tuesday’s vote is the second most important and influential race of 2012 aside from the presidential — the stakes for a number of players on both sides are absolutely massive. Below is a breakdown of who will be made — or broken — by what happens Tuesday in the Badger State. ●Scott Walker. No one has more to gain or lose than Walker. A defeat at the ballot box would, obviously, be a major setback for a politician widely viewed as a rising star when he was elected in 2010. Coming back from such a high-profile defeat — particularly one that came about 18 months after his initial statewide victory — would be decidedly difficult. If Walker wins, however, he will immediately become a national conservative hero (even more than he already is). He would be cast as the guy who stood on principle, stared down the best that Democrats could throw at him and emerged victorious. Don’t be surprised to hear some Walker 2016 or Walker 2020 presidential chatter if the governor can pull off a victory. ●Organized labor. If Walker has the highest stakes in the recall vote, the labor movement is a close second. Walker’s bill stripping public-sector unions of their collective-bargaining rights last year triggered a national outcry from labor, which viewed the Wisconsin law as the first step down a slippery slope of workers’ rights being forfeited. While there’s no doubt that the effort to recall Walker wouldn’t have happened without the energy and organization of the labor movement, unions also largely backed Barrett’s primary opponent — a move that some Democrats believe cost them precious time and money to make the case against the incumbent. If Walker survives on the heels of labor’s defeat in the 2011 recall effort to take over the Wisconsin Senate (it came up a seat short) and a failed attempt to unseat then-Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) in a 2010 primary, there will be lots — and lots — of questions asked about whether unions retain the political power they once did. ●President Obama. The Democratic National Committee and the White House have gone out of their way to make clear just how much financial and organizational support they have lent to Barrett’s effort. (DNC officials say more than $1.4­ million has been directed to Wisconsin in the 2012 cycle so far.) They touted the fact that DNC Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz traveled to the state last month to aid Barrett and that former president Bill Clinton stumped with the Democratic nominee last week. But some in Wisconsin — and Washington — are unhappy that the president himself decided not to campaign in the Badger State. (One party strategist noted that Obama had time to endorse in a House primary in New Jersey late last week but not to come to Wisconsin.) If Walker wins, not only will Obama get blamed for not doing more — which is always a difficult debate to referee — but there also will be plenty written about how the recall results bode poorly for Obama’s chances in Wisconsin in the fall. ●Tom Barrett. Barrett is the forgotten man in all of this, but he’s got a lot on the line, too. A former member of Congress, Barrett is now in his third run for governor (he lost in the Democratic primary in 2002 and then to Walker in 2010). A trifecta of gubernatorial defeats would amount to the end (or darn close) of Barrett’s statewide ambitions. ●Bill Clinton. The recall election is nothing but upside for the former president. If Barrett wins, the after-action analysis will almost certainly focus on Bubba’s last-minute campaigning for the party’s nominee. If Barrett loses, no one will blame Clinton — concluding that he did the best he could but not even his popularity could drag the Democrat across the line. Wisconsin is just another reminder that in politics, it’s much easier to be a former president than a current one. ||||| DE PERE, Wis. — President Obama holds multiple paths to re-election, with a handful of battleground states being able to slip away without leading to his defeat. But each possible outcome on his campaign map has always shared a common trait: winning Wisconsin. A Republican resurgence here, which has burst into full view as the party determinedly defends its sitting governor in a rare recall election, is spilling into the presidential race. The result is poised to shape the general election fight between Mr. Obama and Mitt Romney, who intends to add Wisconsin to his list of targeted states. The president is bracing for a difficult set of challenges, which began last week when an uptick in the unemployment rate provided a fresh reminder of the beleaguered domestic economy and the deepening financial uncertainties abroad. A Republican victory here could set off a wave of adjustments in the lineup of swing states. Even before the outcome of Tuesday’s vote is known, Democrats are warning that Wisconsin is far from a surefire win in November. “We are tremendously polarized,” Mike Tate, the Wisconsin Democratic chairman, said in an interview on Sunday. “We’re going to remain a very competitive state heading into the fall.” While the presidential campaign is well under way across the country, the contest has been overshadowed here by the effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican. The election, a culmination of more than a year of bitter unrest, has created a combustible political climate that defies easy characterization in the five months leading up to the general election. But Mr. Romney is within striking distance of Mr. Obama in Wisconsin, according to several public and private polls and interviews with strategists in both parties, and he intends to start building a campaign operation off the robust get-out-the-vote machinery assembled for Mr. Walker. The decision by the Romney campaign to try to contest Wisconsin is the first sign that Republicans are eager to expand their targets of opportunity and compete on terrain that not long ago seemed squarely on Mr. Obama’s side. “If we win on Tuesday, this is going to be a shot in the arm and adrenaline that we didn’t expect to have,” said former Gov. Tommy G. Thompson, a Republican who is seeking the party’s nomination to run for Senate. “It is going to spark fervor in the presidential race.” Mr. Obama has purposefully tried to keep his distance from the recall fight, which has unfolded with all the intensity and acrimony of a presidential campaign within the borders of Wisconsin. The mayor of Milwaukee, Tom Barrett, is the Democratic candidate trying to replace Mr. Walker, who ignited a furor by cutting collective bargaining rights for most of the state’s public workers. It is a rematch of the 2010 governor’s race, which Mr. Barrett lost to Mr. Walker. The White House has showed tepid support for the recall. Democratic advisers thought the effort would take time and money away from the presidential campaign and poison the pool of independent voters who were a key part of Mr. Obama’s success here four years ago, when he carried the state by 14 points and swept 59 of 72 counties. The president, who campaigned for Mr. Barrett two years ago, has been conspicuously absent this time. His aides argued that he had a full plate and did not have time to come. But Republicans were quick to point out that Mr. Obama was only a helicopter ride on Marine One away from the state on Friday when he visited Minneapolis, and again on Saturday after spending the morning in his old neighborhood in Chicago. “He couldn’t drive 15 miles and show his face here?” said Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, who spent the weekend in his native Wisconsin to stir the pot and campaign for Mr. Walker. “There are going to be a lot of Democrats in Wisconsin who are going to be pretty disappointed with their president who did not come in and help out.” While there was more talk of Mr. Obama’s absence among Republicans than Democrats here, several Democratic officials said the president was wise to stay away. “He’s got a very big job as president,” said former Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat and one of Mr. Obama’s earliest supporters four years ago. “As important as the recall is, in the big picture, it’s much more important to get Barack Obama re-elected.” The recall election has created bruised feelings and deepened the partisan divide in the state, which was on full display Sunday at the Zirbel Dairy Farms near De Pere, in northeast Wisconsin, where both candidates in the recall race crossed paths as they courted voters. At the Brown County Dairy Breakfast, a celebration that drew hundreds of people here on a sun-splashed morning, Laurie Gilson groaned aloud from her spot in line when she looked up and saw that Mr. Walker was dishing out scrambled eggs and conversation. She snapped to her sister: “I just can’t look at him. He’d better not say hi to me.”

– Tomorrow, Wisconsinites will decide whether to keep Gov. Scott Walker or boot him in favor of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, in what Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post is calling "the second most important and influential race of 2012 aside from the presidential," with "absolutely massive" stakes. Here's what you need to know as the clock ticks down: Two polls released yesterday show the race virtually tied—Walker leads in each, but by thin margins. He's up 50-47 in one, 53-47 in the other, but both are within the margin of error, Reuters reports. It's all about turnout now: "If Democrats turn out in the numbers they did in 2008, Tom Barrett will win a surprise victory. If they don't, Walker will survive," the head of Public Policy Polling says. The agency managing the election is predicting turnout somewhere between 60% and 65%—above 2010's 49.7%, but below 2008's 69.2% "If there's any state that epitomizes what the permanent campaign feels like, it's this one," observes David Catanese of Politico. This will be the seventh time Wisconsin has gone to the polls in the last 14 months, thanks to various recalls. All those campaigns are expensive: Through May 21, $110 million had been spent on political ads. President Obama will be closely watching the results, because he's counting on Wisconsin in November, the New York Times points out. "A Republican victory here could set off a wave of adjustments in the lineup of swing states." If Scott Walker wins, Cillizza expects to hear presidential rumblings surrounding him. A lot is on the line for Barrett, too; this would be his third gubernatorial defeat, likely ending his statewide ambitions. Organized labor has a lot to lose, too. A Walker win would be both an affirmation of his anti-union policies, and a signal that unions have lost their political juice; they opposed Barrett in the primary, and lost there, too.

As graphic images (like the one above) of the suspected Mandalay Bay massacre gunman Stephen Paddock circulate across the internet, the question of who is leaking those crime scene photographs has become a point of concern for Las Vegas investigators. In a press conference last night, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Undersheriff Kevin McMahill noted: “There was a question about the validity of the crime scene photos that somebody had leaked. I can confirm those are, in fact, photos from inside of the room; they are in fact photos of our suspect, and as the sheriff mentioned previously, we have all opened up an internal investigation to determine the source of the leaks of those photos to the public.” As leaks from major investigations have become a fact of life for municipal police departments, LawNewz wondered what penalties those leakers might find themselves subject to. While a cursory foray into the niceties of the Nevada Revised Statutes turned up no particular state laws on point here, previous high-profile leaks made by those within or close to police departments may offer a bit of insight. In 2009, photographs of pop star Rihanna were leaked by (now former) Los Angeles Police Department (“LAPD”) officer Rebecca Reyes. Rihanna had recently been attacked during a domestic violence incident with then-boyfriend Chris Brown and the investigation was still underway as the photos made their way to the press, starting with TMZ. LAPD higher-ups then made it their business to find out who had taken and leaked the photos. After an administrative hearing and appeal, Reyes lost her job–while escaping criminal prosecution. In 2016, following the terrorist attack at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, crime scene photographs made their way to the front page of the New York Times. British investigators were furious and pinned the blame on U.S. law enforcement. President Donald Trump echoed that fury, calling for an official investigation. It’s unclear what that investigation determined–or if one even occurred. However, the fallout from those leaks was so great that British intelligence began withholding information from their U.S. partners for at least a brief period of time. And anyone on the receiving end of a U.S. government investigation into leaks would probably fare none too well. Just ask Chelsea Manning (or Reality Winner—or the 12 other people prosecuted by Barack Obama for leaking) about that. All this is to say that the leaker of the Paddock photographs–even if they’re not found guilty of an actual crime–likely won’t receive anything approaching leniency if and when their identity is discovered. And that could be sooner than later. Las Vegas Metro Police Department also has an internal affairs department which investigates situations like this, and an internal process for doling out any potential discipline including suspension and/or termination. At last night’s press conference, McMahill also pleaded with the press for “patience,” noting that no one wanted a speedier resolution than police and the victims’ families. He said, “We’re days away from the completion of the processing of the room [at Mandalay Bay].” For an FAQ promoted by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, see here. [image via screengrab] Follow Colin Kalmbacher on Twitter: @colinkalmbacher ||||| Images from inside Stephen Paddock’s Las Vegas hotel room reveal a jumble of high-powered weapons, dozens of scattered shell casings, a possible note, along with his corpse. The leaked photographs, some of them too graphic to publish, suggest Paddock killed himself with a shot to the head shortly before a police SWAT team stormed his room. Some believe the images may contain a possible note or letter, The leaked images, which were first published by MailOnline, provide a striking insight into the sheer number of weapons the 64-year-old had amassed in the days before he opened fire. EXCLUSIVE: these are 2 of 23 guns found in #LasVegas shooter’s hotel room at #MandalayBay - hammer, bipod, optics, ammo. 59 lives. Chilling. pic.twitter.com/gManlUIeZI — Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) October 3, 2017 Police have said they recovered 23 guns from inside the hotel and believe Paddock used 10 suitcases to take them up to his room. They were taken inside room 32135 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel located on the Las Vegas Strip and leaked to the media. In addition to a number of high-powered weapons, they show shell casings and guns mounted on tripods. The images also show Paddock’s body, his legs dressed in dark trousers and slip-on shoes. Las Vegas sheriff says Paddock may have been 'radicalised' On a table close to his feet, there appears to be a roll of electrical tape, along with what may be a sheet of paper and a pen. At this stage, police have not mentioned recovering any sort of note. Indeed, they have admitted they are scrambling to identify a motive for his decision to open fire on a country music concert, attended by 22,000 people. Police said Paddock took his own life before a SWAT team stormed his room (CNN ) They have said they hope that his girlfriend, Marilou Danley, who returned to the US on Wednesday from a visit to Asia, may be able to provide some insights. Officials met her when she arrived as Los Angles and whisked her out of a side door in a wheelchair. Images show her wearing a baseball cap. On Tuesday, Las Vegas Sheriff Joe Lombardo told reporters he hoped and expected she would provide information about Paddock that would be of of help to them. Las Vegas shooting – in pictures 15 show all Las Vegas shooting – in pictures 1/15 People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty 2/15 People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty 3/15 People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty 4/15 A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson 5/15 People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty 6/15 A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty 7/15 People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck 8/15 FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus 9/15 Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty 10/15 An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty 11/15 Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus 12/15 A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher 13/15 A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty 14/15 Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus 15/15 Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA “We anticipate some information from her shortly,” he said. Other photographs that were leaked to the media show Paddock’s 32nd floor room room from the outside, with its door broken and covered with police tape. In one of those external shots, that look into the room, a rifle can be seen on the floor of the hotel suite, with a crime scene tag next to it. The image also show that Paddock had mounted a camera inside the room, perhaps to film his actions or monitor police located at the venue. There was another camera in the the peep hole of the hotel door. “I anticipate he was looking for anyone coming to arrest him,” said Mr Lombardo.

– Las Vegas police have confirmed the legitimacy of photos circulating the internet showing guns, ammunition, and the corpse of Stephen Paddock inside a Mandalay Bay hotel room, LawNewz reports. The next step is finding—and punishing—whoever leaked the gruesome crime scene photos. The New York Times has stitched together some of the non-graphic leaked photos to give a complete view of the inside of Paddock's hotel room and its contents, which included more than 20 guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition carried up to the room inside 10 suitcases. According to the Independent, some people online believe one of the photos shows a note left behind by Paddock, but that appears to not have been the case. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department undersheriff says the department has "opened up an internal investigation to determine the source of the leaks." While whoever leaked the crime scene photos would face consequences, it's unclear what those consequences would be. LawNewz notes a Los Angeles Police Department officer who leaked photos of Rihanna following a domestic violence incident in 2009 was fired from her job but didn't face criminal charges. Crime scene photos leaked from the terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert last year in England resulted in British intelligence cutting US intelligence off from certain information.

A $6.3 million grant to the Iowa Department of Health will be used to help save the lives of people suffering cardiac arrest across Iowa. The grant comes from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. Leona Helmsley was a well-known New York City businesswoman who earned the nickname the "Queen of Mean." Iowa health officials said the grant will help purchase LUCAS 2 Chest Compression System devices in ambulances and hospitals across the state, and to provide training to use them. The device provides automated chest compression allowing for long and more consistent CPR delivery. Each device costs $10,000. Studies show the devices help improve CPR outcomes anywhere from 5-50 percent. ||||| NEW YORK—Nine years after Leona Helmsley died, a battle over her estate erupted Thursday in a New York court. The state attorney general said a $100 million fee sought by the estate’s executors, including two of Mrs. Helmsley’s grandchildren, is “astronomical” and should be cut, potentially by about 90%. Mrs. Helmsley, a onetime owner of a sprawling property portfolio that included the Empire State Building, left most of her $4.78...

– How much should you get paid for handling the estate of a dead billionaire? Apparently $100 million—or more than $6,400 per hour—If that estate belongs to Leona Helmsley, the Wall Street Journal reports. “By any definition, this hourly rate is exorbitant, unreasonable, and improper,” states a filing from the New York Attorney General's Office. The executors of Helmsley's will—two grandchildren, a lawyer, and a business advisor—defended their request for the "astronomical" fee stating they "faced enormous risks" while increasing the estate's value. Helmsley—a famous New York City property owner who KCCI points out was known as the "Queen of Mean"—was worth $4.78 billion when she died in 2007, the Journal reports. Helmsley left most of her wealth to charity, the Journal reports. And the Attorney General's Office has the power to make sure charities aren't getting fleeced by "excessive and unreasonable expenses," such as the fees being demanded by her estate's executors. The state is hoping to cut the requested fee by up to 90%. This isn't the first controversy surrounding Helmsley's estate. Her will left $12 million to her dog—more than two of her grandchildren got. And two other grandchildren who were left out of her will entirely are challenging it. While Helmsley's executors fight for $100 million, Iowa announced this week that $6.3 million from her estate will be going to pay for automated chest compression systems to give cardiac arrest victims around the state a better shot at survival, according to KCCI.

Scientists are shedding new light on a massive solar storm that narrowly missed impacting Earth two years ago. "If it had hit, we would still be picking up the pieces," Daniel Baker of the University of Colorado said in a statement released by NASA this week. The solar storm, which happened on July 23, 2012, was the strongest one ever recorded -- more than twice as powerful as any solar storm recorded in the last 15o years. Scientists say it was actually two storms that combined their energy into one superstorm and followed the track of another storm days earlier. It was a close call for Earth -- the solar storm tore through Earth orbit only a week after our planet had passed by that segment of space. If we had been in its path, NASA says it would have had a "catastrophic effect," blowing out electrical systems, GPS, radio systems and other technology worldwide, plunging billions of people into a blackout that could take years to repair. A study by the National Academy of Sciences estimates that the total economic impact of such a disaster could exceed $2 trillion. Baker told NASA, "I have come away from our recent studies more convinced than ever that Earth and its inhabitants were incredibly fortunate that the 2012 eruption happened when it did ... If the eruption had occurred only one week earlier, Earth would have been in the line of fire." Solar storms do not pose a physical threat to people or animals or plants, just to our way of life. The real danger is a disruption of our electrical grid, satellite systems and use of modern electronics devices. Baker and his colleagues published a study of the event in the December 2013 issue of the journal Space Weather. The storm cloud was recorded by NASA's sun-orbiting STEREO-A spacecraft. In the February 2014 edition of Space Weather, physicist Pete Riley of Predictive Science Inc. warned that the odds of a serious geomagnetic storm hitting Earth in the next ten years was 12 percent. Riley told NASA, "Initially, I was quite surprised that the odds were so high, but the statistics appear to be correct. It is a sobering figure." Space weather Scientists have been tracking space weather, including solar breezes and storms, for at least 150 years. Sunspots and solar flares lead a few hours later to a bright display of the Northern Lights. A solar wind bathes Earth all the time with a gentle, steady stream of particles. But solar storms, like analogous Earth storms, are more violent. The sun is on an 11 year solar storm cycle, with a peak for this cycle reached in 2013. Storms have two components: large areas of violent activity called coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that are somewhat analogous to hurricanes; and powerful, focused high-speed solar flares you might think of as the solar equivalent of a tornado. Both send large numbers of high energy particles shooting away from the sun. The Earth is surrounded by its own large magnetic field, the same field that makes a compass needle point north. Earth 's magnetic field deflects solar particles to a certain extent, but the strength of the Earth's magnetic field is decreasing, affording us less protection decade by decade. Scientists calculate the force of a solar storm on the Earth in units called nanoTeslas (nT), with small, harmless storms hitting values near -50 nT. Prior to the July 2012 event, the most powerful known solar storm, in 1859, was estimated at -800 nT to -1750 nT, although modern measurement techniques were not available then. It knocked out telegraph machines across America. The worst geomagnetic storm since then knocked out power across Quebec in March 1989 and registered at -600 nT. The July 2012 event would have delivered a whopping -1200 nT. Geomagnetic storms of that magnitude could cause widespread electrical blackouts. Transformers would be destroyed if they absorbed large, sustained blasts of solar radiation that pushed them to temperatures for which they were not designed. Older transformers and those in urban areas worry experts the most since they are most sensitive to electromagnetic overloads and are hardest to replace. Any satellite in the path of a strong solar flare could be damaged. A less serious storm harmed a pair of Canadian communications satellites in 1994; it took 6 months to repair the damage. How do we prepare? The U.S. National Academy of Sciences convened a workshop in 2008 to address the question: "Are our institutions prepared to cope with the effects of a 'space weather Katrina,' a rare, but according to the historical record, not inconceivable eventuality?" By that point, many industries were already thinking about the impact of adverse space weather on their assets and operations. Since then, more technologies and procedures have been implemented. For example, the FAA can route flights away from the poles during a solar storm, and electrical grid managers can ratchet down power flow through vulnerable equipment. The NASA spacecraft STEREO-A was able to withstand a full blast of solar radiation near the sun without harm. But not all satellites currently in use would survive. And STEREO will need to take a planned breather from its daily detailed forecasts as it moves into an unfavorable alignment with the sun this year. NASA notes there are other instruments to track solar activity, and flares should be at their low point in the solar cycle. Nonetheless, this year space weather will not be tracked in as much detail as it had been since 2006 when the pair of sun observing satellites STEREO-A and STEREO-B were launched. But at least for the next few days, we don't have to worry. The space weather prediction is quiet, with a slight chance of a few small flares. ||||| While you didn’t see it, feel it, or even read about it in the newspapers, Earth was almost knocked back to the Stone Age on July 23, 2012. It wasn’t some crazed dictator with his finger on the thermonuclear button or a giant asteroid that came close to wiping out civilization as we know it, though — no, what nearly ended us was a massive solar storm. Almost two years ago to the day, our most bounteous and fantastical celestial body — the Sun — kicked out one of the largest solar flares and coronal mass ejections ever recorded. And it missed Earth by a whisker. “If it had hit, we would still be picking up the pieces,” says Daniel Baker, who led the research into the massive solar storm. A solar storm is a generic term for increased activity in the Sun. In this case, the solar storm of July 2012 consisted of a massive solar flare, followed by a colossal coronal mass ejection (CME). A solar flare is initiated by the sudden release of energy stored in the Sun’s corona, causing the Sun’s plasma to heat up to tens of millions of degrees, accelerating and kicking out all sorts of radiation, and often creating a solar prominence or filament (eruption). In a large solar storm, the same energy from the corona can also cause a coronal mass ejection — a much slower-moving billion-ton cloud of plasma (electrons and protons). Suffice it to say, but it’s bad news if the energy and plasma from a big solar flare or CME hits the Earth. Much like a man-made electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapon, the solar energetic particles strike the Earth with such force that it ionizes the atmosphere, creating a vast cloud of energetic electrons that bounce around inside the atmosphere destroying electronics and fusing conductive wires everywhere. It would probably take out a few satellites in Earth orbit, too. Prior to the July 2012 storm, the largest recorded storm was the Carrington Event of 1859. A massive solar flare and CME struck Earth, destroying much of the Victorian telegraph network in Europe and North America. Other solar storms have hit Earth since then, but fortunately we’ve only been hit by one large storm during modern times, which caused the 1989 Quebec blackout. The July 2012 storm was roughly twice as large as the event that caused the Quebec blackout — but fortunately, thanks to the sheer expanse of space and the Earth’s relatively large orbital distance, we dodged the bullet. “In my view the July 2012 storm was in all respects at least as strong as the 1859 Carrington event,” says Daniel Baker of the University of Colorado. “The only difference is, it missed.” [Read: Finally confirmed: An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs.] Rather luckily for science, though, the July 2012 solar flare and CME did hit NASA’s STEREO A satellite square on the nose. STEREO A and B are solar observation satellites that have been orbiting the Sun since 2006, providing us with all sorts of delicious imagery and science. The video above uses footage captured by the two STEREO satellites. The image at the top of the story, of a solar flare with the Earth photoshopped in for scale, was captured by NASA’s newer Solar Dynamics Observatory. Using data from these satellites, and from historical solar storms, If the solar storm had hit Earth back in 2012, the total economic impact is estimated to be around $2 trillion, or 20 times the cost of Hurricane Katrina. It’s not just about money, though: As I covered in our feature story The Machine Stops, it would take time to fix up the world’s power grid. You can’t just magically replace dozens of giant transformers and substations. There are only so many diesel generators to fill the gap. If a giant solar storm hit the Earth, large parts of society could be without power for months or years. Pete Riley, a physicist who looked at extreme space weather events for the last 50 years, says there’s a 12% chance that a Carrington-level storm will hit Earth in the next 10 years. It isn’t all bad though: When we inevitably get hit by a large solar event, the resultant geomagnetic storm that wipes out most of Earth’s electronic systems will also generate some beautiful Aurorae. The Carrington Event was so powerful that the Northern Lights (aurora borealis) were seen as far south as Cuba, and the Southern Lights (aurora australis) were seen in Queensland, Australia. At least the anarchic post-apocalyptic Earth will have a nice backdrop, then… ||||| July 23, 2014: If an asteroid big enough to knock modern civilization back to the 18th century appeared out of deep space and buzzed the Earth-Moon system, the near-miss would be instant worldwide headline news. Two years ago, Earth experienced a close shave just as perilous, but most newspapers didn't mention it. The "impactor" was an extreme solar storm, the most powerful in as much as 150+ years. "If it had hit, we would still be picking up the pieces," says Daniel Baker of the University of Colorado. A ScienceCast video recounts the near-miss of a solar superstorm in July 2012. Play it Baker, along with colleagues from NASA and other universities, published a seminal study of the storm in the December 2013 issue of the journal Space Weather. Their paper, entitled "A major solar eruptive event in July 2012," describes how a powerful coronal mass ejection (CME) tore through Earth orbit on July 23, 2012. Fortunately Earth wasn't there. Instead, the storm cloud hit the STEREO-A spacecraft. "I have come away from our recent studies more convinced than ever that Earth and its inhabitants were incredibly fortunate that the 2012 eruption happened when it did," says Baker. "If the eruption had occurred only one week earlier, Earth would have been in the line of fire. Extreme solar storms pose a threat to all forms of high-technology. They begin with an explosion--a "solar flare"—in the magnetic canopy of a sunspot. X-rays and extreme UV radiation reach Earth at light speed, ionizing the upper layers of our atmosphere; side-effects of this "solar EMP" include radio blackouts and GPS navigation errors. Minutes to hours later, the energetic particles arrive. Moving only slightly slower than light itself, electrons and protons accelerated by the blast can electrify satellites and damage their electronics. Then come the CMEs, billion-ton clouds of magnetized plasma that take a day or more to cross the Sun-Earth divide. Analysts believe that a direct hit by an extreme CME such as the one that missed Earth in July 2012 could cause widespread power blackouts, disabling everything that plugs into a wall socket. Most people wouldn't even be able to flush their toilet because urban water supplies largely rely on electric pumps. Before July 2012, when researchers talked about extreme solar storms their touchstone was the iconic Carrington Event of Sept. 1859, named after English astronomer Richard Carrington who actually saw the instigating flare with his own eyes. In the days that followed his observation, a series of powerful CMEs hit Earth head-on with a potency not felt before or since. Intense geomagnetic storms ignited Northern Lights as far south as Cuba and caused global telegraph lines to spark, setting fire to some telegraph offices and thus disabling the 'Victorian Internet." A report by the National Academy of Sciences details the consequences of extreme solar storms. More A similar storm today could have a catastrophic effect. According to a study by the National Academy of Sciences, the total economic impact could exceed $2 trillion or 20 times greater than the costs of a Hurricane Katrina. Multi-ton transformers damaged by such a storm might take years to repair. "In my view the July 2012 storm was in all respects at least as strong as the 1859 Carrington event," says Baker. "The only difference is, it missed." In February 2014, physicist Pete Riley of Predictive Science Inc. published a paper in Space Weather entitled "On the probability of occurrence of extreme space weather events." In it, he analyzed records of solar storms going back 50+ years. By extrapolating the frequency of ordinary storms to the extreme, he calculated the odds that a Carrington-class storm would hit Earth in the next ten years. The answer: 12%. "Initially, I was quite surprised that the odds were so high, but the statistics appear to be correct," says Riley. "It is a sobering figure." In his study, Riley looked carefully at a parameter called Dst, short for "disturbance – storm time." This is a number calculated from magnetometer readings around the equator. Essentially, it measures how hard Earth's magnetic field shakes when a CME hits. The more negative Dst becomes, the worse the storm. Ordinary geomagnetic storms, which produce Northern Lights around the Arctic Circle, but otherwise do no harm, register Dst=-50 nT (nanoTesla). The worst geomagnetic storm of the Space Age, which knocked out power across Quebec in March 1989, registered Dst=-600 nT. Modern estimates of Dst for the Carrington Event itself range from -800 nT to a staggering -1750 nT. In their Dec. 2013 paper, Baker et al. estimated Dst for the July 2012 storm. "If that CME had hit Earth, the resulting geomagnetic storm would have registered a Dst of -1200, comparable to the Carrington Event and twice as bad as the March 1989 Quebec blackout." The reason researchers know so much about the July 2012 storm is because, out of all the spacecraft in the solar system it could have hit, it did hit a solar observatory. STEREO-A is almost ideally equipped to measure the parameters of such an event. "The rich data set obtained by STEREO far exceeded the relatively meagre observations that Carrington was able to make in the 19th century," notes Riley. "Thanks to STEREO-A we know a lot of about the magnetic structure of the CME, the kind of shock waves and energetic particles it produced, and perhaps most importantly of all, the number of CMEs that preceded it." It turns out that the active region responsible for producing the July 2012 storm didn't launch just one CME into space, but many. Some of those CMEs "plowed the road" for the superstorm. A paperin the March 2014 edition of Nature Communications by UC Berkeley space physicist Janet G. Luhmann and former postdoc Ying D. Liu describes the process: The July 23rd CME was actually two CMEs separated by only 10 to 15 minutes. This double-CME traveled through a region of space that had been cleared out by yet another CME four days earlier. As a result, the storm clouds were not decelerated as much as usual by their transit through the interplanetary medium. "It's likely that the Carrington event was also associated with multiple eruptions, and this may turn out to be a key requirement for extreme events," notes Riley. "In fact, it seems that extreme events may require an ideal combination of a number of key features to produce the 'perfect solar storm.'" "Pre-conditioning by multiple CMEs appears to be very important," agrees Baker. A common question about this event is, how did the STEREO-A probe survive? After all, Carrington-class storms are supposed to be mortally dangerous to spacecraft and satellites. Yet STEREO-A not only rode out the storm, but also continued taking high-quality data throughout. "Spacecraft such as the STEREO twins and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (a joint ESA/NASA mission) were designed to operate in the environment outside the Earth's magnetosphere, and that includes even quite intense, CME-related shocks," says Joe Gurman, the STEREO project scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center. "To my knowledge, nothing serious happened to the spacecraft." The story might have been different, he says, if STEREO-A were orbiting Earth instead of traveling through interplanetary space. "Inside Earth's magnetosphere, strong electric currents can be generated by a CME strike," he explains. "Out in interplanetary space, however, the ambient magnetic field is much weaker and so those dangerous currents are missing." In short, STEREO-A was in a good place to ride out the storm. "Without the kind of coverage afforded by the STEREO mission, we as a society might have been blissfully ignorant of this remarkable solar storm," notes Baker. "How many others of this scale have just happened to miss Earth and our space detection systems? This is a pressing question that needs answers." If Riley's work holds true, there is a 12% chance we will learn a lot more about extreme solar storms in the next 10 years—when one actually strikes Earth. Says Baker, "we need to be prepared." Credits: Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Production editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

– Imagine life without electricity or running water, and you'll understand what nearly befell our planet two years ago. Scientists say that on July 23, 2012, the sun belched its biggest solar flare in more than 150 years and barely missed us, CBS News reports. A week earlier and the storm would have struck Earth on its orbit with "catastrophic" effects, NASA says, blacking out radios, damaging satellite communications and GPS, and "disabling everything that plugs into a wall socket." Such a flare wouldn't hurt human life directly, and the Southern and Northern Lights would be gorgeous, but the blast's mix of X-rays, extreme UV radiation, energetic particles, and massive clouds of magnetized plasma would cause an estimated $2 trillion in damage. It would also leave "large parts of society" crippled for months or years while workers replaced major transformers and substations, ExtremeTech reports. The sun, on an 11-year solar-storm cycle, has nearly done this before: A massive storm called the "Carrington Event" struck Earth in 1859 but couldn't inflict much electrical damage in the age of steam engines (telegraph lines did spark and set fire), and a pretty powerful storm caused blackouts across Quebec in 1989. One physicist says there's a 12% chance of a big solar blast hitting us over the next decade, which he calls a "sobering figure." Another is quoted in the Guardian saying how lucky we are that the blast wasn't in sync with our orbit: "Earth and its inhabitants were incredibly fortunate that the 2012 eruption happened when it did," he says. "We'd still be picking up the pieces." (Read about the sun's newly discovered "long-lost brother.")

The Washington State man accused of killing three people at a party on Friday night with an AR-15 read the rifle's instruction manual just moments before opening fire, court records show. Allen Ivanov, 19, told detectives he bought the semi-automatic rifle a week ago for target practice and had even scheduled a safety class for August, according to a probable cause form released Monday. But Ivanov instead brought the gun with him to a party that his ex-girlfriend was attending in Mukilteo, a Seattle suburb, investigators say. Mukilteo shooting suspect Allen Ivanov made a brief first court appearance August 1, in Snohomish County. A judge ordered Ivanov be held without bail and that he have no contact with the victims' families. KING 5 In an interview with detectives, the document reads, Ivanov said he hoped to get back together with the girl, identified as A.B. But after seeing her with another man at the party, he returned to his car, fetched the rifle, read the instructions and loaded its magazine. He then brought it with him to the party, the document says. As Ivanov crept around the outside of the house, a male party goer discovered him, it states. "The male said, 'No, no, no,'" the document says. "Ivanov stated that he was 'scared,' he flipped the [gun's] selector switch to fire and shot the male." The document adds: "He stated that at that point it was too late to turn back, and once had pulled the trigger his adrenaline kicked in." Play Facebook Twitter Google Plus Embed Three Fatally Shot at House Party in Seattle Suburb 1:55 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog He found A.B. and shot her twice, killing her, then gunned down another man running toward the party, the document says. From the master bedroom balcony, he fired at two more people in the driveway, then climbed to the roof and discovered that he'd emptied his rifle. "Ivanov stated that once the magazine was empty, he returned to his car and drove away," the document says. Ivanov, who is being held without bail at the Snohomish County Jail, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree aggravated murder. It wasn't immediately clear if he had a lawyer. ||||| Allen Christopher Ivanov told detectives he viewed the AR-15 “as a symbol of power,” according to an affidavit of probable cause. EVERETT — After spotting his ex-girlfriend with another guy through the window of a Mukilteo house where a party was under way, Allen Christopher Ivanov returned to his car Friday night to study the owner’s manual for his new AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, police wrote in court documents. Two hours apparently passed before Ivanov walked back to the home around 12:07 a.m., Saturday, opened fire and killed three young people, including his ex, and wounded a fourth, according to the affidavit of probable cause outlining the police case against the 19-year-old. Like Ivanov, all of the victims were recent graduates of Kamiak High School. On Monday, Snohomish County District Court Judge Anthony Howard affirmed a finding of probable cause to hold Ivanov on investigation of one count of aggravated first-degree-murder domestic violence, two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder. On Sunday, a court commissioner had also found probable cause to hold Ivanov on the same allegations. Howard ordered Ivanov — who appeared via video feed from the Snohomish County Jail — to be held without bail. Prosecutors are expected to formally charge Ivanov on Tuesday or Wednesday, Deputy Prosecutor Adam Cornell said. Killed were Ivanov’s ex-girlfriend, Anna Bui, Jake Long and Jordan Ebner, all 19. Will Kramer, 18, was wounded and was in serious condition Monday in the intensive-care unit at Harborview Medical Center, a hospital spokesman said. Also Monday, a vigil was held for Bui at the University of Washington’s Bothell campus, where she and Ivanov were students. Recently returned from a monthlong trip to Europe, Bui was remembered as a “bright light” who was considering a career in medicine. The mass shooting has rocked a tight-knit group of friends who attended Mukilteo’s Kamiak High School. Sultan Akbar, 18, had classes with Ivanov and the victims. He wasn’t at the party where the shootings happened, but showed up at court with three friends Monday to express support for the victims’ families. “I just feel shook up,” Akbar said. “I’m shocked … those guys aren’t here anymore.” He was friends with Ivanov, who he said seemed to have an explosive temper, once threatening to get Akbar kicked out of school after Akbar reported to a teacher that Ivanov had copied his work. “He was always wanting to be in control of the situation” and at times displayed “illogical anger,” Akbar said. Seattle defense attorneys Tim Leary and Zach Wagnild were retained by Ivanov’s parents over the weekend and said the couple are devastated for the victims’ families as well as their own. Ivanov’s mother told them Bui “was essentially like a daughter to them,” Wagnild said. Leary said he was troubled that Ivanov was able to buy an assault-style rifle but was too young to buy a six-pack of beer. He underscored the police contention that Ivanov read the weapon’s instruction manual just before the shooting. “I think it speaks volumes to his youth and inexperience and highlights the lethality of the weapon involved,” Leary said. Mukilteo police say Ivanov told detectives he broke up with Bui two months ago but then decided he wanted her back, according to the affidavit. He told police he began spending time with Bui last week. After his arrest, “Ivanov stated that everything that went on tonight was about a girl,” police wrote in the affidavit. Ivanov became jealous after he said he saw photos of Bui on Snapchat with other young men — evidence “she was getting on with her life without him,” the document says. He told police he realized she was his “dream girl,” “and wanted to get back together,” the affidavit says. Ivanov said he became angry when he heard from others that Bui “was seeing other guys while the two of them were talking and that made him angry,” police wrote. The affidavit says Ivanov claimed he purchased the Ruger AR-15 rifle about a week ago, intent on using it for target practice. He signed up for a firearms-safety class, which was to begin early this month. He told police he viewed “the rifle as a symbol of power,” the affidavit said. On Friday night, Ivanov left work early because he “wasn’t feeling well,” then went to the Cabela’s store in Marysville to buy a second magazine for the rifle because he had been told he would need it for the firearms class, the affidavit says. Ivanov told police he arrived at the party in the 10000 block of 64th Place West at 10 p.m. Friday but parked across the street and watched the house, the affidavit says. He crept up toward the house, looked inside and saw Bui “with another male and got angry,” it says. Ivanov then returned to his car, where he read the owner’s manual for the rifle, loaded the magazine and inserted it into the AR-15, the affidavit says. Around midnight, he crept to the back of the house, hiding “along the west wall near the living room windows,” it says. He was discovered by a male partygoer, who said, “No, no, no,” before Ivanov opened fire, shooting the male, according to the affidavit. Ivanov told police “it was too late to turn back, and once he had pulled the trigger, his adrenaline kicked in.” He entered the house through a side door, found Bui and shot her twice, it says. He continued through the house, then shot another male “running toward the house,” police wrote. Ivanov went upstairs and onto the balcony off the master bedroom and fired at two more males in the driveway, police wrote. “He then went up on the roof and realized his magazine was empty,” so returned to his car and drove away. He was arrested about 90 minutes later on Interstate 5 near Chehalis. As part of the investigation into the killings, a detective spoke by phone with a person described as a “witness from Kentucky,” who said that two or three days earlier, Ivanov had sent him text messages “regarding committing a mass shooting,” the affidavit says. Detectives say Ivanov’s recent social-media posts suggest he “was considering the murders … he later committed.” Vicki Bratvold, whose teenage son hosted the house party where the shootings occurred, texted a Seattle Times reporter Monday, writing “there are no words to express our sorrow.” “We have always tried to make our house a loving, safe, happy place that the kids could always come. Our hearts are broken for the parents of Jake, Anna, and Jordan. We are praying for Will’s recovery,” she wrote. ||||| EVERETT, Wash. -- Allen Ivanov, the 19-year-old accused in the mass shooting in Mukilteo, said that it was about his "dream girl," court documents say. The documents, written by Mukilteo police Detective John Ernst, say Ivanov crept outside the home in the Chennault Beach neighborhood with an AR-15 rifle he had bought a week earlier. The rifle was so new that he had to read its instruction manual to operate it as he sat in his car outside the home where a party was going on. As he was hiding outside the home, a male who was at the party discovered him, Ivanov told police. "No, no," the party goer said. He told police he was scared and opened fire. "He stated at that point that it was too late to turn back, and once he had pulled the trigger his adrenaline kicked in," Ernst wrote. Ivanov went into the house and found his former girlfriend, Anna Bui, and shot her twice, court documents say. He saw a male running toward the house and shot him. He went to a balcony off the master bedroom and shot two more males, court documents say. Ivanov went to the roof, but realized that he was out of ammunition. Ivanov returned to his car. He had another magazine in his car. He had bought it hours earlier after he left his job at the Apple Store at Alderwood Mall. He said he was sick. Ivanov said he was loading the magazine in the call and intended to go back into the party and use the AR-15 rifle more. Instead, he drove away. In addition to Bui, Jordan Ebner, and Jake Long were also killed. All were 19. A fourth shooting victim, identified by friends as Will Kramer, is at Harborview Medical Center. His lawyers expected charges to be Tuesday and say it could be a capital case in which the death penalty could be a punishment option. At a brief court hearing Monday afternoon, he was ordered to be held without bail and to have no contact with the families of the victims. The documents portray a distraught Ivanov who was jealous that Bui had moved on with her life and had begun dating other men. Ivanov, questioned by police after he had been arrested in Chehalis on Saturday morning, told investigators that he had broken up with Bui two months earlier, but realized it had been a mistake. He wanted to resume his relationship with her. She was the first girl he had kissed, he told police. He told police that he bought the rifle the week before for target practice and intended to take gun-safety classes. He told police that he saw the gun "as a symbol of power." "He was a nice guy when I knew him. Nice guy, funny guy. Hyper guy. He got excited, like happy," said Sultan Akbar, a high school friend who last spoke to Ivanov on graduation day in 2015. "On some situations, he did get extremely, profusely angry." "It’s just shocking, shocking that he did it and they’re not here anymore," Akbar added. Police report that someone from Kentucky told officers that Ivanov had sent him text messages about committing a mass shooting. Ivanov's attorneys told KOMO News' Jennifer Sullivan on Monday that Ivanov's family is grief-stricken. He is their only child, and they considered Bui a daughter. Ivanov is "very quiet .. he's having some trouble right now," said one of the lawyers, Zachary Wagnild. “They obviously didn’t see this coming and are grieving along with many others in this community over what happened,” said Tim Leary, who is also representing Ivanov. Ivanov, who is being held for investigation of three counts of first degree murder, including one count of aggravated first degree murder, and a fourth count of attempted murder made his first court appearance by video link Monday from the Snohomish County Jail. Prosecutors asked Ivanov be held without bail, and the judge agreed. Ivanov is also barred from having contact with any victims or their families. On Monday KOMO News obtained a note that Ivanov's former attorney says was written by the suspect and given to him by Ivanov's mother. It contains messages to family and friends, including several that mention "the next life." Prosecutors have until Wednesday to file formal charges and Ivanov's formal arraignment has not yet been scheduled.

– The teenager accused of killing three people at a house party near Seattle bought his AR-15-style rifle so recently he had to study the instruction manual before the rampage, police say. According to court documents, 19-year-old Allen Ivanov has told police that he bought the Ruger firearm just a week ago and carried out the shooting because he was angry that the "dream girl" he split up with two months ago didn't want to get back together with him, NBC News reports. Investigators say Ivanov has told them that on Friday night, he bought another magazine for the gun after leaving his job at an Apple Store early. He drove to the party in the suburb of Mukilteo around 10pm and looked through a window. After spotting his ex with another man, he returned to the car to study the rifle's instructions. Around midnight, he allegedly returned to the party and opened fire. Cops say Ivanov killed his ex-girlfriend, Anna Bui, as well as partygoers Jake Long and Jordan Ebner, all 19 years old. An 18-year-old victim was seriously injured. Ivanov, who fled after the shooting and was arrested more than 100 miles away, is being held without bail on charges including first-degree murder, KOMO reports. Investigators say the teen's recent posts on social media suggest the murders were planned. Tim Leary, a lawyer hired by his parents, tells the Seattle Times it worries him that Ivanov could buy the AR-15 when he is too young to buy beer. The fact that he had to read the manual "speaks volumes to his youth and inexperience and highlights the lethality of the weapon involved," he says. (The family of the AR-15's inventor says he'd be "sickened" by his gun's use.)

Move over Emma Stone, Tinseltown has a new highest-paid actress. Scarlett Johansson leads this year's ranking with $40.5 million in pretax earnings between June 1, 2017 and June 1, 2018, making her acting's top-earning female lead. Playing Black Widow in Marvel's Avengers movies has become a lucrative role for Johansson, who quadruples her 2017 earnings to bump Stone from No. 1. She'll return onscreen for the fourth installment of the superhero conglomerate series in 2019. "The percent of budget cost have certainly skewed heavy, particularly on the Avengers movies, to cast now, whereas maybe in the early ones it was more visual effects or below the line," said Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios President and producer last year. "But that's okay because [the actors] are the best effects." Johansson edges Angelina Jolie (No. 2; $28 million) who returns to the ranking thanks largely to her upfront pay for Maleficent 2. Jennifer Aniston (No. 3; $19.5 million) still earns big bucks 14 years after the conclusion of Friends, making most of her money by endorsing the likes of Emirates airlines, Smartwater and Aveeno. Expect her paycheck to skyrocket next year when production begins on her forthcoming Apple series with Reese Witherspoon (No. 5; $16.5 million), for which the pair will receive an estimated $1.25 million an episode. Just ahead of Witherspoon, who rejoins the list with movie earnings and Big Little Lies paychecks, is Jennifer Lawrence. The Hunger Games actress' two most recent movies, Mother! and Red Sparrow, underperformed at the box office. But she still commands big bucks for her turns in the X-Men series and a high-paying Dior contract. Together, the world's 10 highest-paid actresses tallied a combined $186 million between June 1, 2017, and June 1, 2018, before fees and taxes. Earnings estimates are based on data from Nielsen, ComScore, Box Office Mojo and IMDB, as well as interviews with industry insiders. All figures are pretax; fees for agents, managers and lawyers are not deducted. Overall, the cumulative total is up 16% from $172.5 million in 2017. The list examined actresses the world over, including Australian Cate Blanchett (No. 8; $12.5 million) and Israeli Gal Gadot (No. 10; $10 million). Gadot, whose turn as Wonder Woman catapulted her to fame, is the only newcomer on the ranking. The Patty Jenkins-directed blockbuster tallied $821.8 million at the box office and scored a sequel, which accounts for the majority of Gadot's payday this year. Though she only made an estimated six figures for the first installment, her increased quote, coupled with a Revlon endorsement, launched her among the highest-paid. "There was such an obsession in the industry that teenage boys were the primary target box office," said Jenkins, who helmed the smash hit and will be directing and writing its sequel for an estimated $7 million. "The industry has had a hard time shifting to acknowledging that they need to hit a more diverse audience." Currently, female characters fill only 28.7% of all speaking roles in film, according to a 2016 study. That lack of roles means that there are fewer opportunities for female stars to earn big bucks. This year, only two women broached the $20 million mark, down from three in 2017 and four in 2016. Notably absent: Amy Adams, Emma Watson, Charlize Theron and last year's top-ranked Emma Stone, who all failed to earn above the $10 million cut off for this year's list and dropped off the ranking. Roles for women who are no longer young ingenues are few and far between. Yet the highest-paid actresses buck that trend: 60% of this year's list members are over the age of 40. Some have forged their own roles to build opportunities for themselves: Witherspoon cofounded her Pacific Standard production company and Hello Sunshine media house to option rights for female-led parts. Others, like Aniston, supplement acting income with hefty endorsement deals. ||||| Move over Emma Stone, Tinseltown has a new highest-paid actress. Scarlett Johansson leads this year's ranking with $40.5 million in pretax earnings between June 1, 2017 and June 1, 2018, making her acting's top-earning female lead. Playing Black Widow in Marvel's Avengers movies has become a lucrative role for Johansson, who quadruples her 2017 earnings to bump Stone from No. 1. She'll return onscreen for the fourth installment of the superhero conglomerate series in 2019. "The percent of budget cost have certainly skewed heavy, particularly on the Avengers movies, to cast now, whereas maybe in the early ones it was more visual effects or below the line," said Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios President and producer last year. "But that's okay because [the actors] are the best effects." Johansson edges Angelina Jolie (No. 2; $28 million) who returns to the ranking thanks largely to her upfront pay for Maleficent 2. Jennifer Aniston (No. 3; $19.5 million) still earns big bucks 14 years after the conclusion of Friends, making most of her money by endorsing the likes of Emirates airlines, Smartwater and Aveeno. Expect her paycheck to skyrocket next year when production begins on her forthcoming Apple series with Reese Witherspoon (No. 5; $16.5 million), for which the pair will receive an estimated $1.25 million an episode. Just ahead of Witherspoon, who rejoins the list with movie earnings and Big Little Lies paychecks, is Jennifer Lawrence. The Hunger Games actress' two most recent movies, Mother! and Red Sparrow, underperformed at the box office. But she still commands big bucks for her turns in the X-Men series and a high-paying Dior contract. Together, the world's 10 highest-paid actresses tallied a combined $186 million between June 1, 2017, and June 1, 2018, before fees and taxes. Earnings estimates are based on data from Nielsen, ComScore, Box Office Mojo and IMDB, as well as interviews with industry insiders. All figures are pretax; fees for agents, managers and lawyers are not deducted. Overall, the cumulative total is up 16% from $172.5 million in 2017. The list examined actresses the world over, including Australian Cate Blanchett (No. 8; $12.5 million) and Israeli Gal Gadot (No. 10; $10 million). Gadot, whose turn as Wonder Woman catapulted her to fame, is the only newcomer on the ranking. The Patty Jenkins-directed blockbuster tallied $821.8 million at the box office and scored a sequel, which accounts for the majority of Gadot's payday this year. Though she only made an estimated six figures for the first installment, her increased quote, coupled with a Revlon endorsement, launched her among the highest-paid. "There was such an obsession in the industry that teenage boys were the primary target box office," said Jenkins, who helmed the smash hit and will be directing and writing its sequel for an estimated $7 million. "The industry has had a hard time shifting to acknowledging that they need to hit a more diverse audience." Currently, female characters fill only 28.7% of all speaking roles in film, according to a 2016 study. That lack of roles means that there are fewer opportunities for female stars to earn big bucks. This year, only two women broached the $20 million mark, down from three in 2017 and four in 2016. Notably absent: Amy Adams, Emma Watson, Charlize Theron and last year's top-ranked Emma Stone, who all failed to earn above the $10 million cut off for this year's list and dropped off the ranking. Roles for women who are no longer young ingenues are few and far between. Yet the highest-paid actresses buck that trend: 60% of this year's list members are over the age of 40. Some have forged their own roles to build opportunities for themselves: Witherspoon cofounded her Pacific Standard production company and Hello Sunshine media house to option rights for female-led parts. Others, like Aniston, supplement acting income with hefty endorsement deals.

– Emma Stone ruled the roost last year, but this time around she's lost the No. 1 spot on the highest-paid actress list to the Black Widow. That would be Scarlett Johansson, whose annual paycheck is leaps and bounds ahead of the runner-up by more than $12 million, per Forbes: The Avengers star brought in $40.5 million pretax between June 1, 2017, and June 1 of this year. Forbes notes that the combined pay of the 10 top-paid actresses grossed $186 million, as well as another interesting tidbit on these high-paid Hollywooders: A full 60% of the women on this list are over the age of 40, turning the tables on the "young ingenue" routine that often relegates older women in Tinseltown to less-palatable roles. Rounding out the top five after Johansson: Scarlett Johansson, $40.5M Angelina Jolie, $28M Jennifer Aniston, $19.5M Jennifer Lawrence, $18M Reese Witherspoon, $16.5M See who else made the list here. (There are zero women on this highest-paid athletes list.)

A narrow stairwell at Florida Memorial University leads to rooms filled with collages and paintings from around the country. While the artwork varies in style, there’s one common theme: almost all of the pieces depict a young man in a hooded sweatshirt. This is the headquarters of the Trayvon Martin Foundation, established by Martin’s parents after the Miami Gardens teen was killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was acquitted last year after a racially charged, contentious trial. The historically black university hosted a ceremony Thursday that started and ended with prayer and was filled with spiritual references. The second floor of the school’s library quickly became crowded as people filed in. The short program included remarks from the university president, Martin’s parents and comments from the director of the foundation. Afterward, Martin’s family used scissors to cut a large blue and orange ribbon. About 100 people attended the ceremony, including local politicians, state representatives, foundation members and Miami residents. Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, stood in front of a group of solemn young men from the university’s Black Male College Explorers Program, a college prep program for at-risk black males. “As I look at the young men behind me, they remind me of Trayvon,” she said. Some attendees shook their heads as she spoke about her son. “I am overwhelmed,” she said. “I am grateful to God that I’m able to stand before you and let you know that God is in the midst of it all.” The school offered the foundation financial support because of the kind of work it is doing in South Florida. The foundation focuses on helping families affected by violent crime. “It’s a learning laboratory for us,” said Roslyn Artis, president of Florida Memorial University. “We really wanted it to be a quiet place where they can reflect and remember.” Martin’s father Tracy referenced the College Explorers as he thanked people for attending the ceremony. Students in the program take math, science and literature classes along with sessions focused solely on leadership and respect. “Our mission is to help these young men,” he said. “That’s what we’re here for.” His son’s death “galvanized the nation,” he said. “It’s just proof that positive things come out of tragedy. Even though he’s not here, we know he’s looking down on us.” After the ceremony concluded, people lined up to take pictures with Martin and Fulton and tour the facility. One group peered at pictures of Trayvon as a slide show of the Martin family played on a computer screen. Foundation members handed out “I am Trayvon Martin” wristbands and explained the significance of each room. Florida Memorial sophomore Michael Williams, 19, said he thinks the organization having a meeting place is a great step forward. The office is open to the public, and Artis said she hopes the space will motivate students to brainstorm about ways to affect legislation and help reduce crime. “What the foundation really stands for is getting people to understand that violence is not the answer,” Williams said. While discussion about Martin’s death and Zimmerman’s trial often is racially charged, Fulton said that the foundation works on behalf of everyone. “It’s not just an African American issue,” she said. “It’s universal.” In May, she met with parents from all over the country who have lost children to gun violence, including the families of Sandy Hook shooting victims and the mother of rapper Tupac Shakur, who was shot and killed in 1996. “When they say, ‘I know how you feel,’ they actually know how you feel,” she said. “It was just good to be with other people in the same position we’re in.” ​ ||||| George Zimmerman divorce records: I've got no home, no job and spend $100 a month on vacations Zimmerman, 30, is the former Neighborhood Watch volunteer acquitted last year of murdering Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old. SANFORD - George Zimmerman has no job, no home, no income but spends $100 a month on vacations and $200 a month on psychological counseling, according to a financial affidavit he recently filed in his divorce case. Immediately after the shooting - Feb. 26, 2012 – he quit his job and went into hiding with his wife, Shellie, but two months after his acquittal, she filed for divorce, saying he had taken to the road and would not tell her where he was and what he was doing. As part of the divorce case, Zimmerman filed a financial affidavit last week, spelling out his income, assets and debts. According to it, he spends $3,304 a month, despite having no income. He listed his total assets at $14,000 – most of that is his 2008 Honda pickup. His debts total $2.5 million, most of that is money he owes criminal defense attorneys Mark O'Mara and Don West. According to his paperwork, Zimmerman has no job, pays nothing for rent or a mortgage and has no health insurance. He spends $350 a month for medical care plus $200 a month for psychological, psychiatric or mental health counseling. He also spends $100 a month on vacations, he wrote. Zimmerman's legal defense fund, which raised more than $400,000, now has a balance of $300, according to the affidavit. It is not clear what happened to any money he earned from the sale of a painting on eBay in December. The winning bid was $100,000. There is no mention of it in his affidavit. His banking account has $650, he reported. In an interview last month, Zimmerman's brother, Robert Zimmerman Jr., said the former Neighborhood Watch volunteer is homeless and moves from place to place, sleeping in the homes of friends and supporters. Zimmerman's divorce attorney, Howard Iken, would not comment. [email protected] or 407-650-6394

– Almost a year after his acquittal in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman doesn't seem to have much in the way of a life, according to paperwork filed this month as part of his divorce case. The 30-year-old says he has no home, no job, no income, and nearly no assets apart from his 2008 Honda pickup, the Orlando Sentinel finds. But according to his financial affidavit, he still spends $3,304 a month, including $200 for psychological counseling—and $100 on vacations. He currently pays no rent. Zimmerman, who owes his lawyers $2.5 million, has just $650 in the bank, according to the court filing, which makes no mention of the $100,000 he made by selling a painting on eBay earlier this year. Meanwhile, at Florida Memorial University, Trayvon's parents were at a ceremony late last week to welcome the Trayvon Martin Foundation they founded to its new home, reports the Miami Herald. The foundation focuses on helping families affected by violent crimes. The teenager's death "galvanized the nation," his father said at the ceremony. "It’s just proof that positive things come out of tragedy. Even though he’s not here, we know he’s looking down on us," he said.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. and MENLO PARK, Calif., Dec. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME), one of the world's leading talent, entertainment and media companies, and Silver Lake, a global leader in technology investing, today announced an agreement to acquire IMG Worldwide (IMG). The company is a market leader in college and professional sports, event management, client representation, fashion and multi-media rights management. "IMG has incredible strategic value to WME. The brand's global reach, outstanding management team and leadership across sports, fashion and media are a strong complement to our business," said WME Co-CEOs Patrick Whitesell and Ariel Emanuel. "We are honored to build on the legacy of founder Mark McCormack and recent owner Ted Forstmann. Supported by Silver Lake's continued partnership, WME and IMG together will deliver a broad range of opportunities and resources to the companies and talent we collectively represent." The combination of WME and IMG creates a unique global sports and entertainment platform, operating across North America, Europe, Asia, South America and Africa. WME and IMG together will have an unparalleled client roster; a broad relationship base with sponsors, brands and broadcasters; and marquee assets in sports, events, film and television, and fashion. Patrick Whitesell and Ariel Emanuel will serve as Co-CEOs of the combined company. "IMG is well positioned in large and expanding end markets, with significant and untapped potential for growth. We look forward to building on IMG's illustrious heritage by accelerating its existing growth plans and expanding the company's digital platform," said Egon Durban, Managing Partner of Silver Lake. "This investment extends our successful partnership with Ari, Patrick and the WME team as the company continues its transformation into an integrated player across the new media landscape." The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Mubadala Development Company will be a minority investor in the transaction. Silver Lake and WME were advised and financed by J.P. Morgan, Barclays, RBC Capital Markets and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and advised by The Raine Group, Dean Bradley Osborne, Lazard and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Evercore and Morgan Stanley served as the financial advisors to Forstmann Little. About William Morris Endeavor Entertainment WME is a leading entertainment and media company with an unparalleled client list of artists and content creators across film, television, music, literature, theatre and digital media. Led by an experienced and innovative management team, WME was formed by the 2009 merger of the William Morris Agency and Endeavor. The company has over 1,000 employees and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, with offices in New York, Nashville, London and Miami. Through its partner companies, including award-winning global creative agency Droga5, WME also provides clients with unique advertising, brand integration and marketing opportunities across traditional, social media, mobile and gaming platforms. About Silver Lake Silver Lake is a global leader in private investments in technology and technology-enabled industries. Silver Lake invests with the strategic and operational insights of an experienced industry participant. The firm has approximately 110 investment and value creation professionals located in New York, Menlo Park, San Mateo, London, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo and manages approximately $20 billion in combined assets under management. The Silver Lake Partners portfolio includes or has included technology and technology-enabled industry leaders such as Alibaba, Allyes, Ameritrade, Avago, Business Objects, Dell, Flextronics, Gartner, Gerson Lehrman Group, Global Blue, Go Daddy, Instinet, Intelsat, Interactive Data Corporation, MCI, Mercury Payment Systems, MultiPlan, the NASDAQ OMX Group, NetScout, NXP, Sabre, Seagate Technology, Skype, Spreadtrum, SunGard Data Systems, UGS, Vantage Data Centers, Virtu and William Morris Endeavor. For more information about Silver Lake and its entire portfolio, please visit www.silverlake.com. Media Contacts: WME Christian Muirhead (310) 859-4184 [email protected] Silver Lake Gemma Hart, Brunswick Group (212) 333-3810 [email protected] SOURCE Silver Lake ||||| One of the oldest names in the Hollywood talent business reached a deal that will combine it with one of the premier companies representing sports stars and fashion models, the latest consequence of a rapid shift in the economics of Hollywood. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment LLC said Wednesday it agreed to buy rival talent and marketing agency IMG Worldwide Inc. Financial details weren't disclosed, but the deal value was...

– What do Oprah Winfrey and Maria Sharapova have in common? Soon, they could both be represented by the same company. Hollywood talent titan William Morris Endeavor Entertainment has reached a deal to buy the massive sports agency IMG Worldwide, the companies announced today. "IMG has incredible strategic value," WME's co-CEOs said in a statement. IMG's "leadership across sports, fashion, and media are a strong complement to our business." WME, and its private equity partner Silver Lake, will pay about $2.4 billion, sources tell the Wall Street Journal, beating out a bid from another private equity firm, CVC Capital Partners, for about $2 billion. The deal is in part a sign that movie stars aren't what they used to be, the Journal explains; Hollywood agencies are diversifying in part because contracts for A-list stars have fallen off significantly. The fall of sitcoms and rise of original cable shows have also cut into once massive syndication revenues.

1 of 14 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Athletes to watch for the 2014 Winter Olympics View Photos As the Sochi Games get underway, the U.S. team will feature fresh faces and seasoned veterans. Here are 14 worth keeping an eye on during the ’14 Olympics. Caption As the Sochi Games get underway, the U.S. team will feature fresh faces and seasoned veterans. Here are 14 worth keeping an eye on during the ’14 Olympics. Mikaela Shiffrin, Alpine Skiing Mikaela Shiffrin, 18, looks to be the heir apparent to Lindsey Vonn, who is will this Olympics with knee injuries. Last year, at her first world championships, she beat much more seasoned skiers to take the slalom gold. Doug Pensinger/Getty Images Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. No athlete is more closely associated with extreme sports than Shaun White, who has parlayed his snowboarding daring and artistry into two Olympic gold medals, 13 Winter X Games titles and a multimillion dollar franchise. So when White abruptly withdrew from the inaugural Olympic slopestyle competition at the Sochi Games on Wednesday — citing the risk of injury and his preference, on balance, to focus on winning a third gold in the halfpipe — it had seismic effects. White’s decision to bow out of the slopestyle event on the eve of qualifying not only robbed Sochi of yet another big name in a much ballyhooed event. It also added to the mounting evidence that Olympic organizers, in their zeal to jazz up the Winter Games in order to connect with a younger audience, may be carrying the “no-limits” ethos of extreme sports one step too far. At issue is the safety of Sochi’s slopestyle course, which earlier this week ended the pursuit of gold medal favorite Torstein Horgmo of Norway. The first snowboarder to land a triple cork (three off-axis flips and four full rotations), Horgmo crashed while attempting a difficult trick on the rails near the top of the course in Monday’s opening training session and broke his collarbone. From figure skating teams to female ski jumpers - a dozen new events will debut at the Winter Olympics in Sochi. (Associated Press) On Tuesday, Finland’s Merike Enne injured her left ankle in a crash, and White, 27, jammed his left wrist in an accident. A slopestyle course is akin to an ice-covered, downhill obstacle course littered with jumps, rails and boxes. Riders are free to negotiate them any way they choose, rewarded for the daring and creativity of the jumps, flips and spins they pull off on their descent. Last weekend’s rain scuttled the customary pre-event tests of the Olympic slopestyle course at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park. So the first time riders tried it was Monday. The height of the jumps came as a jolt to many riders who boast of knowing no boundaries. “Yikes!” U.S. hopeful Keri Herman said, asked her initial impression. “But that’s the same as X Games every year. You show up; it’s scary. You hit it a couple of times and you are like, ‘All right, I can deal with this.’ ” White called it “intimidating.” And Sebastien Toutant of Canada told the Olympic News Service, “It’s like jumping out of a building.” After several snowboarders appealed for changes Monday night, the course was modified, with the tops and bottoms of some of the jumps smoothed out. Switzerland’s Jan Scherrer told reporters Tuesday the modifications had helped. “It makes it more safe, but you can still go as big as before,” Scherrer said. “The rails are much better so that you can see more tricks, rather than just trying to survive.” After market research in the mid-1990s showed that the Winter Games were losing younger audiences, the International Olympic Committee turned to extreme sports to stem the decline, adding two snowboarding events (halfpipe and giant slalom) for the 1998 Nagano Games. In Sochi, a record 10 snowboarding events will be contested. Combined with a record 10 freestyle events, that means extreme sports will account for 20 of Sochi’s 98 events. As the first medal event contested, slopestyle snowboarding, in which riders flip down the course like high-flying pinballs in a pinball machine, is expected to set an eye-popping tone for the Games. Venue map of 2014 Olympic games in Sochi Russia Although both snowboarders and freestyle skiers wear helmets, the risk of injury remains high. White gave no indication of his plans to withdraw during a news conference Wednesday afternoon, fielding questions from reporters in Sochi about the challenge of juggling both the Olympic halfpipe and slopestyle competitions and saying that his wrist injury had been “blown out of proportion.” But within an hour, he told NBC he was pulling out, saying that “the potential risk of injury is a bit too much for me to gamble my other Olympic goals on.” Moments later, he issued the following statement through the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association: “After much deliberation with my team, I have made the decision to focus solely on trying to bring home the third straight gold medal in halfpipe for Team USA. The difficult decision to forego slopestyle is not one I take lightly as I know how much effort everyone has put into holding the slopestyle event for the first time in Olympic history, a history I had planned on being part of.” Roberto Moresi, assistant snowboard race director for the International Ski Federation, defended the course, telling the Olympic News Service: “It’s only him that’s pulled out, but people had already started to get into the course and like it a lot.” Freestyle skiing’s slopestylers will compete on the same course in Sochi. Charlottesville’s Sara Greenfield, a former freestyle instructor and competitor who started the National Ski and Board Safety Association after her son’s best friend was killed at a local resort, applauded White’s decision to withdraw. “Injury prevention is easier to provide when athletes stand up for their beliefs,” Greenfield wrote in an e-mail exchange. “I have seen many a jump redesigned to make it safer. Death and serious injury is simply put unacceptable, and it is occurring at alarming rates in these two sports. If there is a call for rail or jump safety, the builders of these obstacles should make them safer, or shut them down, take them out.” ||||| Ashley Wagner, of the United States, skates at the figure stating practice rink ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev) (Associated Press) SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Competition at the Sochi Olympics has begun, 32 hours before the opening ceremony. Early starts are needed because of 12 men's and women's medal events added since the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Men's snowboard slopestyle qualifying runs — without American star Shaun White, who withdrew Wednesday — got underway Thursday 10 a.m. (0600 GMT) at X-Treme Park in the mountains above Sochi. Women's qualifying runs were following in the afternoon, and women's moguls qualifying was scheduled to start freestyle skiing events at 6 p.m. (1400 GMT). Men's slopestyle and women's moguls are among the first medals to be awarded Saturday. Down in Sochi, the new team figure skating competition begins 7.30 p.m. (1530 GMT) at the Iceberg Skating Palace. The men's short program is to be followed by the pairs. ||||| CLOSE The Olympics is off and running, but we've been hearing more about the hotel issues than the sporting events so far. (USA TODAY, USA NOW) An armed Russian security guard stands at the ski resort Rosa Khutor, where the snow and sliding sports venues for the 2014 Winter Olympics are located, on Tuesday. (Photo: Dita Alangkara, AP) Story Highlights Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Kozak said safety concerns in Sochi had been exaggerated Kozak said "the level of threat in Sochi is no worse than in New York, Washington or Boston" Kozak said there was no reason to believe there were new threats in Sochi SOCHI, Russia – Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Kozak said Thursday the concern over a terrorist attack on the Winter Olympics has been overblown in media reports and characterized Russia's ability to secure the games equal to any country hosting a major international event. "The level of fear should be lower," Kozak said through an interpreter. "The level of threat in Sochi is no worse than in New York, Washington or Boston. Based on information we received from our intelligence services, there's no reason to believe Sochi is under more threat than any city on the planet." Kozak's comments came during a previously scheduled news conference several hours after reports that the Department of Homeland Security had issued a bulletin warning airlines that explosives might be concealed in tubes of toothpaste – perhaps to be smuggled into Sochi – on flights from the U.S. to Russia. BRENNAN: Housing drama detracts from Sochi issues OLYMPICS: What's new in 2014? Kozak would not comment specifically on the report but said there was no reason to believe there were new threats. After the press conference, Scott Blackmun, CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee, was asked how information about the threat was relayed to him: "I don't want talk about specific responses to specific threats because I think it actually impairs our security plan to do that. But I will say that we were made aware of it, and I can't really say anything beyond that." "The safety and security of our athletes and whole delegation is always the primary concern. As we always do we work closely with our state department and our state department is in very close contact with the local authorities. We react to situations as they arise but we also have a lot of planning exercises in advance and these games are no different than any other Games in that respect." That advisory is the latest in a series of security concerns leading up to Friday's opening ceremonies. Islamic extremist groups based in the nearby Caucasus mountains have vowed to disrupt the Olympics and claimed responsibility for twin December suicide bombing in Volvograd – roughly 500 miles away – that left more than 30 dead. Though Russia has promised a "ring of steel" around the Olympic area, with more than 40,000 security forces in the region, some members of the intelligence community have questioned whether the concentration of manpower will leave other outlying areas vulnerable to an attack. Kozak said the intensity of talk about the terrorism threat has been "a little too much." "In any place, in any sporting event on the planet, it has the same nature," he said. Kozak was also asked for his reaction to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who blasted any "arrests, imprisonments and discriminatory restrictions" carried out against homosexuals during a speech to the IOC on Thursday morning. The comments were pointed toward Russia's so-called "gay propaganda" law, which has inspired various forms of protest and political blowback leading up to the Games. Kozak essentially repeated Russian president Vladimir Putin, who said the law only bans propaganda aimed at minors and that gay athletes and visitors won't be arrested in Sochi. "We don't differentiate between people depending on nationality, religion or sexual relations," Kozak said. "We are all grown-ups and any adult has the right to understand their sexual acts. Please don't touch the kids, that's the only thing." PHOTOS: The scene in Sochi ||||| New Zealand's Rebecca Torr takes a jump during the women's snowboard slopestyle qualifying at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana,... (Associated Press) New Zealand's Rebecca Torr takes a jump during the women's snowboard slopestyle qualifying at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana,... (Associated Press) SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Fast five, Thursday edition: Things you'll want to know about the 2014 Winter Olympics. ___ SECURITY: It's foremost on many minds as Olympic competition begins and thousands stream into the Black Sea resort city. The Russian government says it's doing all it can to ensure safety, and on Thursday a deputy prime minister went even further. "We can guarantee the safety of the people as well as any other government hosting a mass event," said Dmitry Kozak. ___ TOOTHPASTE: It's the latest item to fall under scrutiny after the U.S. Homeland Security Department warned airlines flying to Russia that terrorists might try to smuggle explosives on board hidden in toothpaste tubes. The threat was passed onto airlines that have direct flights to Russia, including some that originate in the United States, a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press. ___ SNOWBOARDING: It begins, but without marquee name Shaun White, the world's most famous snowboarder. He pulled out of slopestyle, a new Olympic event, to concentrate on the halfpipe, where he'll have a chance to win his third straight title next week. After practice slopestyle runs, White said: "The potential risk of injury is a bit too much for me to gamble my other Olympics goals on." ___ WORLD LEADERS: It's a record, says the Sochi Olympics' chief organizer: Sixty-five heads of state and government and international organizations will be attending Russia's first Winter Games. Dmitry Chernyshenko says that's more than any other Winter Olympics and three times the number of leaders who attended the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Here's who you won't see, though: President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron and German President Joachim Gauck. ___ OPENING APPROACHES: Friday night's opening ceremony will showcase Russia to the world on its own terms — a storyline intended to impress the many nations in attendance and allow President Vladimir Putin to put forth the message he's been trumpeting for months now: that his country has successfully combined its storied history with modern innovation and is ready for anything. The intended audience is as much Russians as it is the rest of the world. ___ Follow AP journalists covering the Olympics on Twitter: http://apne.ws/1c3WMiu

– Sochi's opening ceremony kicks off at 11am ET tomorrow, and if you just can't wait for the Olympic news to begin, well, here you go. Competition has already started: Some 32 hours before the opening ceremony, to be exact. The AP reports that early starts are required because Sochi's slate holds a dozen men's and women's medal events added since the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Everything happening in advance of tomorrow are just qualifying rounds, though. Among them: men's snowboard slopestyle and women's moguls. Security: Everyone is worried about it, and Russia says everyone should chill. USA Today reports that Russian deputy PM Dmitry Kozak today said, "The level of threat in Sochi is no worse than in New York, Washington, or Boston. Based on information we received from our intelligence services, there's no reason to believe Sochi is under more threat than any city on the planet." He would not, however, comment specifically on... ...Toothpaste bombs: Homeland Security officials yesterday said airlines flying to Russia ahead of the Olympics ought to pay special attention to passengers' toothpaste tubes because they could contain explosives to make a bomb. DHS officials aren't aware of any specific plot in the works, though. Dangerous course? Shaun White made waves when he pulled out of aforementioned new Olympic event slopestyle yesterday, saying that "the potential risk of injury is a bit too much for me to gamble my other Olympics goals on." The Washington Post reports that it's only added to the questions of the extreme nature of the course, which killed the gold medal dreams of Norway's Torstein Horgmo on Monday when he broke his collarbone in a training session. After a number of athletes clamored for changes, the tops and bottoms of a few of the jumps were "smoothed out." A record: These Winter Olympics will see more heads of state and government and international organizations than any prior Winter Games, and three times the number of leaders who showed up in Vancouver, reports the AP. Of course, big names like Barack Obama, Francois Hollande, and David Cameron won't be there. And then there's the gripes about the accommodations and the food...

CLOSE Scientists say they've found archaeological evidence to support rumors they previously were skeptical of: that starving colonists at Jamestown, Virginia, turned to cannibalism to survive. (May 1) AP Marks of butchery evident on teen's remains discovered at the site. This August 2012 photo shows four shallow chops to an incomplete skull excavated in Jamestown, Va., by William Kelso of the Jamestown Rediscovery Project. (Photo: Don Hurlbert, Smithsonian) Story Highlights During the 'starving time,' only 60 of 300 colonists survived Researchers: Skull shows signs of cannibalization Final blow split the cranium open WASHINGTON -- Jamestown's colonists resorted to cannibalism during the "starving time" winter of 1609-10, archaeologists confirmed Wednesday. In a briefing at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, archaeologist Doug Owsley presented the reconstructed skull of a 14-year-old English girl, named "Jane" by the researchers, discovered at the site of the fort and bearing the marks of butchery. "The skull was split in half, most likely with a lightweight ax or quite possibly, a cleaver," Owsley said at the briefing. Cut marks crisscrossing the skull and jaw of the girl indicate her flesh, tongue and brains were removed from the skull, Owsley said. Those were traditional cuts for animal butchery of the time, "all parts of the cuisine of the 17th century," he said. Jamestown was founded in 1607 by English colonists. The starving time was a period two years later in which 80% of the colonists died. Besieged by Powhatan Indians in their wooden fort, the settlers had been joined by new colonists late that summer, among them women and children, whose main supply ship had disappeared in a storm, leaving them without food. Only 60 of 300 people survived the winter. "They were so emaciated when they were rescued that they were described as resembling skeletons," says historian James Horn of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, who spoke at the briefing. Records kept by the colony's governor, George Percy, make clear references to cannibalism during the winter, Horn says. "The English would have only resorted to cannibalism under the most severe circumstances," he added. VIDEO: Cannibalism at Jamestown confirmed Owsley reported on the forensic analysis of 17th century human remains and a reconstruction of her appearance made by forensic scientists. The remains had been excavated by Jamestown archaeologists led by William Kelso of the Jamestown Recovery Project in 2012 as part of a 20-year excavation of the James Fort site. "We don't believe Jane was a lone case," Kelso said. This April 2013 photo shows a forensic facial reconstruction produced by StudioEIS of Brooklyn, N.Y., in consultation with William Kelso of the Jamestown Rediscovery Project. (Photo: Don Hurlbert, Smithsonian) "This is amazingly interesting, but it also confirms stories of cannibalism from the settlers themselves," says Charles Mann, author of 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created. "Things were indeed terrible during those early years," Mann says, by email. While not all colonial-era historians agreed that cannibalism took place at Jamestown, most modern ones generally credited the accounts (one man was executed for eating his wife) as reliable. Horn and Owsley argued the butchery marks on Jane provide stronger evidence for the practice. "No one can say with authoritative certainty exactly why this young lady was cut up, but given the context, it looks like butcher's marks," Owsley said. In the briefing, he identified a number of features on the skull and a shin bone that indicated that Jane was cannibalized. Four shallow chops to the forehead were attempted in a first, failed attempt to open the skull. The back of the head was then split open. The final blow split the cranium open. "The person doing this was not a very good, or experienced butcher," Owsley said. Chop marks on the shin bone resemble more conventional butchers' marks seen on animal bones from the time, indicating that more than one person may have been involved in cannibalizing the girl. She was doubtless one of the newly arrived settlers, though still not definitively identified. An exhibition devoted to the discovery will open this Friday at the Historic Jamestowne site, and her reconstructed face will be displayed at the Smithsonian museum. Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/18cNUHU ||||| Douglas Owsley, a physical anthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution, left, and Jamestown archaeologist William Kelso unveil the reconstruction from the remains of "Jane," a 17th-century teenager from Jamestown who researchers believe may have been the victim of cannibalism at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington. May 1, 2013 Douglas Owsley, a physical anthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution, left, and Jamestown archaeologist William Kelso unveil the reconstruction from the remains of "Jane," a 17th-century teenager from Jamestown who researchers believe may have been the victim of cannibalism at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington. Linda Davidson/The Washington Post Researchers create a reconstruction from remains of a 14-year-old girl of the Jamestown colony who may have been a victim of cannibalism. Researchers create a reconstruction from remains of a 14-year-old girl of the Jamestown colony that may have been a victim of cannibalism. Researchers create a reconstruction from remains of a 14-year-old girl of the Jamestown colony that may have been a victim of cannibalism. The first chops, to the forehead, did not go through the bone and are perhaps evidence of hesitancy about the task. The next set, after the body was rolled over, was more effective. One cut split the skull all the way to the base. “The person is truly figuring it out as they go,” said Douglas Owsley, a physical anthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution. In the meantime, someone — perhaps with more experience — was working on a leg. The tibia bone is broken with a single blow, as one might do in butchering a cow. That’s one possible version of an event that took place sometime during the winter of 1609-1610 in Jamestown. What’s certain is that some members of that desperate colony resorted to cannibalism to survive. That cannibalism occurred during the colony’s “starving time” was never in much doubt. At least a half-dozen accounts, by people who lived through the period or spoke to colonists who did, describe occasional acts of cannibalism that winter. They include reports of corpses being exhumed and eaten, a husband killing his wife and salting her flesh (for which he was executed), and the mysterious disappearance of foraging colonists. This 14-year old girl was eaten. She has been reconstructed after archaeologists found her bones in Jamestown, Virginia. Her remains show that she died during the “starving time” period and bare the telltale signs of cannibalism. (The Fold/The Washington Post) The proof comes in the form of fragments of a skeleton of a girl, about age 14, found in a cellar full of debris in the fort on the James River that sheltered the starving colonists. The skull, lower jaw and leg bone — all that remain — have the telltale marks of an ax or cleaver and a knife. “Historians have to decide whether this type of thing happened,” said Owsley, who has examined thousands of skeletal remains, both archaeological and forensic. “I think that it did. We didn’t see anybody eat this flesh. But it’s very strong evidence.” James Horn, head of research at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and a historian on the colony, said the discovery “adds a significant confirmation to what was reported to have occurred at Jamestown.” Further, it’s the only physical evidence of cannibalism of Europeans in any New World colony, although, as with Jamestown, there are written accounts of the practice in others. “I tend to be sparing in the use of words like ‘unique.’ But I think this is one of those finds that literally is,” Horn said. About 300 people inhabited the fort in November 1609. By spring, there were only 60. The girl, most likely a maidservant but possibly the daughter of a colonist, was one of the casualties. Her bones were unearthed last August as part of the Jamestown Rediscovery archaeological project begun in 1994. About 18 inches of fill remain in the cellar, so it’s possible more of her skeleton will be found. Enough of her skull exists, however, to imagine what she might have looked like, using CT scanning, computer graphics, sculpture materials and demographic data. The bones, the reconstruction of her head and the story were presented Wednesday at an event at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The remains will be displayed at the Archaearium, the museum at the Jamestown fort archaeological site, starting this weekend. A warning sign at the room’s entrance notes that human remains are on view. There are no depictions of bodies being butchered, cooked or consumed. The starving time nearly ended the colony, which was riven by internal dissent, under attack by Powhatan Indians and short of food almost from its founding in 1607. A resupply fleet of nine vessels had left Plymouth, England, on June 2, 1609. Aboard, including crew, were 500 people, of which perhaps three dozen were women and girls. The fleet was struck by a hurricane on July 23, 1609. One ship sank. The flagship, Sea Venture, wrecked on Bermuda. Most of the passengers and crew escaped to the island, an event that became the kernel of William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” Among the survivors was the colony’s incoming lieutenant governor, Thomas Gates. (The marooned fashioned two boats from the wreck’s remains and miraculously sailed into Jamestown the next May.) The seven other ships, scattered and damaged, sailed on. Six arrived in mid-August, with the girl, whom the researchers have named “Jane,” almost certainly on one of them. The seventh ship arrived in October. The new arrivals — about 300 people — proved to be as much a drain on the colony as a relief. The ships’ crews hoarded provisions. The summer corn crop was enough to feed only about 50 people for a year. The colony’s military leader, Capt. John Smith, sent two groups of colonists upstream and downstream to fend for themselves. He was badly wounded in what was probably an assassination attempt and in October sailed home with the ships. By then, people were already going hungry. The girl’s bones were found mixed with those of a horse, dogs and squirrels — testament to the extreme food sources the colonists turned to that winter. They were part of the trash collected in a fort-wide cleanup and dumped in the cellar before the arrival of the colony’s governor, Lord De La Warr, the following June. The cause of her death isn’t known. The tentative cuts to the front of the skull and the deeper ones to the back are close together — evidence that she was dead, not squirming, when they were made. The temporal bone was pried off to reach the brain. There are dozens of cuts to the jaw, suggesting that muscle was stripped from it. Could the marks have been left by animals? “Not a chance,” Owsley said. “I deal with this all the time. Not a chance.” In fact, he says with confidence that the dissector or dissectors were right-handed. Chemical analysis of the bone reveals an enriched “nitrogen profile,” evidence of lots of protein in the girl’s diet. That, in turn, suggests she was a member of a high-born family or at least lived in such a household for much of her life. She wouldn’t have gone to Jamestown alone. Whoever accompanied her was probably dead by the time she became food for the starving. “If she’d had a family to protect her — after death as well as before — this probably wouldn’t have happened,” Horn said. Learning who she was will be difficult. Complete passenger lists for the voyages don’t exist. Research into the Virginia Company’s sponsors in Plymouth might reveal a family with a girl born in 1595 or 1596 who went to America. There may be extractable DNA in the bone fragments, but at this point, there are no descendants to compare it with. Even the appearance that Owsley and his collaborator, Kari Bruwelheide, gave the girl is to some extent guesswork. They used the thickness of facial tissue seen among girls in contemporary southern England to gauge Jane’s. They gave her consensus hair — light brown — not the red or blond of other latitudes and regions. They also chose not to depict her as she undoubtedly was before death — gaunt and emaciated. “But I didn’t make her look like a healthy, plump teenager either,” Owsley said. “I’m putting her in her circumstances.” Those include dirt on her face and a thousand-yard stare, but not, alas, her name.

– Scientists say they have the first physical evidence of a grisly truth from Jamestown: Colonists in the brutal winter of 1609 resorted to cannibalism, reports USA Today. Anthropologists studying the partial remains of a teenage girl—including her skull, jaw, and leg bone—say they bear the unmistakable marks of a cleaver and knife, reports the Washington Post. She had been, for lack of a better word, butchered. “Historians have to decide whether this type of thing happened,” says one of the Smithsonian scientists who worked on the project. “I think that it did. We didn’t see anybody eat this flesh, but it’s very strong evidence.” It's not clear whether the girl was a servant or perhaps the daughter of a colonist, or whether she was killed to be eaten or eaten after she died. Forensic scientists have re-created her face, though she will likely remain forever unidentified.

Photo by James Nielsen/AFP/Getty Images Ten years ago this morning, National Weather Service meteorologist Robert Ricks faced a dilemma. As the forecast coordinator that day for the Slidell, Louisiana, office—which has responsibility for New Orleans—he needed to find a way to convey the urgency and seriousness of the situation his region would face the next day as Hurricane Katrina made landfall. This is what he came up with: National Weather Service Advertisement These bold words, considered by many to be the most dire—and effective—weather forecast ever issued by the National Weather Service, are now in the Smithsonian Museum of American History, along with a rosary from Ricks’ grandmother he held as he and his fellow forecasters rode out the storm. At a conference of broadcast meteorologists earlier this year, Ricks said, “On that particular fateful day, when I issued that product … I was awestruck.” Another, less widely circulated official forecast he issued that day, the Area Forecast Discussion, was more to the point: “Godspeed to all those in the path of this storm.” Bold statements like Ricks’ have been occasionally used—and officially encouraged—in recent years by the National Weather Service, as part of an effort to increase the effectiveness of sometimes bland government bulletins during true weather emergencies. Most notably, meteorologist Gary Szatkowski’s “personal plea” during Hurricane Sandy’s New York City-area landfall in 2012—which included gut-wrenching statements like “if you are still reluctant (to evacuate), think about your loved ones”—earned him hero status. ||||| NEW ORLEANS — On Aug. 28, the storm was still a day away. Evacuations were under way and people were just starting to arrive at the Superdome. At his desk at the National Weather Service office in Slidell, outside New Orleans, meteorologist Robert Ricks knew he had a job to do. He knew he probably had one remaining chance. And so, using computers, history and his fellow forecasters, he sat down to write. "I happened to be on the shift," Ricks says. "I happened to pull the trigger. It just happened to be me that day. Over the newswires — at NBC News headquarters in New York and across the country — came a document, titled: "URGENT... SPECIAL MESSAGE." It was an extraordinary bulletin. It warned of a most powerful hurricane with unprecedented strength. It predicted: "MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS. PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL-CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL. THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. OTHERS WILL BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED." Perhaps most remarkably, Ricks' document predicted: "WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS." That was the day before the storm. The images of devastation make it clear what happened. Brian Williams: Did a part of you want to be wrong? Robert Ricks: I would much rather have been wrong in this one. I would much rather be talking to you and taking the heat and crying wolf. But our local expertise said otherwise. You know, "Hey, let's gear up for the big one, this is going to be the big one." Williams: How much of you is in that statement? What of you is in that wording? Ricks: I also had to validate each one of those statements and I was, in my mind, I was saying, "I'm not going to take this out, it sounds valid. I'm not going to take this part out, it sounds valid. Williams: So you went through point by point? Ricks: Yeah, I read each one. I was trying to find things to actually take out. And I said, "I cannot find it in myself to take these out, because they seem very valid for the situation." And I came from the experience of going through Betsy and Camille myself in the Lower Ninth Ward. But his document was right. And now this lifelong resident of New Orleans, who grew up in the hard-hit Lower Ninth Ward section of the city, is back at work alongside co-workers who have no homes and are wearing the clothes they wore that day. Williams: If you knew the damage was going to be like this, you did everything in your power to tell people a monster was coming, did the response break your heart? Ricks: Yes, it did. Because we always prepare for the big one; we just didn't think it was going to come this soon.

– It's one of the most famous weather forecasts of the modern era, and it came out exactly 13 years ago to the day. That would be Aug. 28, 2005, one day before Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. National Weather Service meteorologist Robert Ricks issued a forecast so dire that some news agencies thought it was a hoax, writes meteorologist James Spann in a tweet commemorating the Ricks forecast. As it turns out, Ricks was spot on. "Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks…perhaps longer," he wrote. "At least one half of well constructed homes will have roof and wall failure. All gabled roofs will fail…leaving those homes severely damaged or destroyed." And this: "Water shortages will make human suffering incredible by modern standards." (Spann's tweet includes the full text.) The forecast has been credited with saving lives, and it is now in the Smithsonian Museum of American History, as noted by Slate on the 10-year anniversary. Ricks told Brian Williams of NBC News on Sept. 15, 2005, that he went through the warning line by line to verify each doomsday-sounding statement before making it public. He ended up removing nothing. "I would much rather have been wrong in this one," he told Williams. "I would much rather be talking to you and taking the heat and crying wolf. But our local expertise said otherwise. You know, 'Hey, let's gear up for the big one, this is going to be the big one.'" (Read about what JJ Watt's crowdsourced fundraiser accomplished in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.)

Trouble at the Top More deaths on Everest underscore its problems with overcrowding and unstable weather and geography, writes Nick Heil. By now, everyone has seen the startling photos and video of the conga line of climbers ascending Everest earlier this month. If you’ve ever wondered what a human traffic jam looks like at the roof of the world, there it is, in all its goose-down glory. The images, from just a few days ago, show as many as 300 mountaineers moving between Camp 3, on the Lhotse Face, to Camp 4, on the South Col. This isn’t summit day, when those climbers converged again even higher up, but it’s nearly as bad. Many of them successfully reached the top, but at least four didn’t make it back to the bottom. A couple of weeks earlier, an equally surprising, if less sensational, story emerged from the mountain, this time from Base Camp. I’m referring to the unprecedented May 7 decision by Russell Brice, owner and expedition leader of Himalayan Experience (Himex), one of the largest and most successful operators on Everest, to cancel his climb, pull up stakes, and go home. Himex has run commercial trips on Everest since 1994, and this year had more than 60 team members on the hill, not to mention a village worth of tents, food, fuel, ropes, radios, and other gear and supplies. Clients had coughed up a nonrefundable $60,000 for the climb, and they’d barely ventured above base camp. After the fateful meeting that morning, Greg Paul, one of the Himex team members who was blogging about his Everest climb, wrote, “Jaws dropped and shock spread throughout the room. Long held dreams, years of training, big time and financial commitments all down the drain in one pronouncement.” A few days later, Himex elaborated on the specific reasons the team decided to abort. These included dramatic warmer-than-usual temperatures; dire warnings from experienced sherpas passing through the Khumbu Icefall about its instability; a massive serac (a hanging ice-cliff) directly threatening climbers from above the trail; abundant rockfall on the Lhotse Face (a steep section of the route); and at least two near misses from avalanches earlier in the season. If overcrowding was also part of their calculus, there was no mention of it on the site. The growing number of climbers on Everest—most of them amateurs—and the increasing instability of the high-alpine environment, sum up the mountain’s enduring dilemma: How to manage its burgeoning popularity as the terrain becomes ever more dangerous. With Himex gone, a mere 700 or so climbers remain on the south side this season (additional teams are also climbing on the north side of the mountain, in Tibet). By May 23, the total body count was up to 11 on the season (the 11th person was reported dead, but has since been found and rescued), barely shy of Everest’s deadlist year, 1996, when 15 people perished, including eight in one day. Currently, a second wave of 200 or so climbers are poised to make a summit bid on May 24-25. Not surprisingly, many observers and media outlets are already fluttering with morbid prognostications of additional carnage. The public isn’t infatuated with this place because it expects everything to turn out OK. For those who are unfamiliar with how the Everest dance works, here’s a primer: Climbing teams spend weeks on the mountain acclimatizing before making their summit push, typically between early May and the first week of June, a brief weather window that provides favorable chances of reaching the summit—and returning alive. Everyone ascends via the same route, clipping into ropes stitched up the mountainside—six miles of it—all the way to the top. On summit day, you race the clock, trying to get up and down before your oxygen runs out and your body gives in to the hypoxic environment. There is no cap on the total number of climbing permits issued each year (Nepal is happy to collect the permit fees). Nor are there any regulations determining who goes, or when. If the forecast looks good, it’s up to the loose confederacy of international expeditions to determine whether they jump or stay put. Commercial climbing on Everest is in trouble. Despite the best efforts of the established players to improve communication and cooperation; despite a full-time independent medical clinic now operating at base camp; despite, even, the arrival of powerful, high-altitude rescue helicopters servicing some of Everest’s high terrain, the mountain’s two biggest problems—the sheer number of climbers and the deteriorating conditions—have expanded beyond anyone’s control. The latter, a growing body of research suggests, may well be linked to climate change. The conditions on Everest this year could be a seasonal aberration, but some hard evidence indicates the unstable trend is here to stay. Nepal’s glaciers have shrunk more than 20 percent in the last 30 years, and the rate has accelerated during the last decade, according to research from the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development. Temperatures throughout the Himalayas are, on average, rising, and the mountains are falling apart in the warming atmosphere. As the Himex climber Greg Paul noted in his post, “Russell [Brice] expects an accident of catastrophic proportions to possible [sic] hit the icefall.” Corbis (4) Mountaineers descend from the summit of Everest May 19, 2009 For every outfit like Himex that makes a prudent, conservative decision to leave, however, a dozen other expeditions stand ready to fill in the vacated boot track. That’s because, since so much is already in motion, it’s nearly impossible to reverse course, a pressure that only intensifies the closer teams get to the top. It’s one of the reasons Himex’s decision is so astonishing. For all the ballyhoo directed at successful Everesters, bailing out midclimb requires an act of will beyond the capacity of most commercial mountaineers. It’s far easier to ignore the risks than to heed them. Something else may be happening, too. The proliferation of communication technology now commonplace on remote expeditions has taken Everest voyeurism to new heights. Photos, video, podcasts, lengthy written dispatches, 3D graphics, and GPS tracking tools flood websites each spring, beaming reports from the mountain, practically in real time. Far from serving as cautionary tales, warning wannabes from the dangerous slopes, these extreme reality shows only bolster the peak’s mystique, prestige, and appeal. Climbing Everest has long been a spectacle; now it’s a spectator sport, with no shortage of willing participants. ||||| In "Disposable Man" (August 2013), Grayson Schaffer's story about the risks Sherpas face helping paying clients up Everest, we wanted to know the fatality rate of ethnic Sherpas working on Everest. And we also wanted to answer another question: How did this rate compare to traditionally dangerous industries such as commercial fishing, wilderness aviation (a.k.a. bush pilots), and even military combat. Annual Fatality Rates by Profession Number of Sherpas Killed on Everest by Year To do that, we used the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics' formula for fatality rates per 100,000 full-time equivalents. Determining fatalities was easy: the Himalayan Database keeps excellent records. But figuring out how many hours Sherpas work each season took some legwork—Sherpas don't punch in and out like miners do, and employers aren't paying them by the hour. But we consulted with guides, outfitters, and climbers to arrive at numbers we felt gave a fair picture of just how dangerous the job was (the results: far more dangerous than being a soldier in Iraq from 2003 to 2007). There was only one hitch: to be consistent with the Bureau of Labor Statistic's numbers, we only calculated the number for fatalities from 2000 to 2010. And fatalities have been rising since then. If we calculate the fatality rate for the past decade, the numbers become much more distressing. Annual Fatality Rates by Profession (Deaths per 100,000 full-time equivalents) Miners (2000-2010): 25 Commercial Fisherman (2000-2010): 124 Alaskan Bush Pilots (1990-2009): 287 U.S. military in Iraq (2003-2007): 335 Everest Sherpas (2000-2010): 1,332 Everest Sherpas (2004-2014): 4,053 The reason for the discrepancy is simple. From 2000 to 2010, only seven ethnic Sherpas died on the mountain. Since then, 21 Sherpas have perished, including the 16 who died in the avalanche yesterday. Number of Sherpas Killed on Everest By Year 2014: 17 2013: 4 2012: 3 2011: 0 2010: 0 2009: 1 2008: 0 2007: 1 2006: 4 2005: 0 2004: 0 2003: 0 2002: 0 2001: 1 2000: 0 This year is not just the mountain's worst tragedy. It caps the worst three-year period in Everest history. ||||| For many years, the most lucrative commercial guiding operation on Mt. Everest has been a company called Himalayan Experience, or Himex, which is owned by a New Zealand mountaineer named Russell Brice. In the spring of 2012, more than a month into the climbing season, he became increasingly worried about a bulge of glacial ice three hundred yards wide that was frozen tenuously to Everest’s West Shoulder, hanging like a massive sword of Damocles directly over the main route up the Nepal side of the mountain. Brice’s clients (“members,” in the parlance of Himalayan mountaineering), Western guides, and Sherpas repeatedly had to climb beneath the threatening ice bulge as they moved up and down the mountain to acclimatize and establish a series of higher camps necessary for their summit assault. One day, Brice timed how long it took his head guide, Adrian Ballinger (“who is incredibly fast,” he wrote in the blog post excerpted below), to climb through the most hazardous terrain: Adding to Brice’s concern, some of his most experienced Sherpas, ordinarily exceedingly stoical men, approached him to say that the conditions on the mountain made them fear for their lives. One of them actually broke down in tears as he confessed this. So on May 7, 2012, Brice made an announcement that shocked most of the thousand people camped at the base of Everest: he was pulling all his guides, members, and Sherpas off the mountain, packing up their tents and equipment, and heading home. He was widely criticized for this decision in 2012, and not just by clients who were forced to abandon their dreams of climbing the world’s highest mountain without receiving a refund for the forty-three thousand euros they had paid him in advance. Many of the other expedition leaders also thought Brice was wildly overreacting. The reputation of Himex took a major hit. After what happened last Friday, though, it’s hard to argue with Brice’s call. On April 18th, shortly before 7 A.M. local time, an overhanging wedge of ice the size of a Beverly Hills mansion broke loose from the same ice bulge that had frightened Brice into leaving Everest in 2012. As it crashed onto the slope below, the ice shattered into truck-size chunks and hurtled toward some fifty climbers laboring slowly upward through the Khumbu Icefall, a jumbled maze of unstable ice towers that looms above the 17,600-foot base camp. The climbers in the line of fire were at approximately nineteen thousand feet when the avalanche struck. Of the twenty-five men hit by the falling ice, sixteen were killed, all of them Nepalis working for guided climbing teams. Three of the bodies were buried beneath the frozen debris and may never be found. Although many news reports indicated that all the victims were Sherpas, the legendary mountain people who comprise just half of one per cent of the Nepali population, three of the sixteen were members of other, much larger ethnic groups: one was Gurung, one was Tamang, and one was a member of the Hindu Chhetri caste. All, however, were employed as high-altitude climbing Sherpas—an élite profession that deservedly commands respect and admiration from mountaineers around the world. It was the worst climbing accident in the history of Everest, twice as deadly as the infamous storm in May, 1996, that killed eight people, the subject of my book “Into Thin Air” (four of my teammates accounted for half of that grim tally). But dying on Everest has been an occupational hazard for Sherpas ever since a team led by George Leigh Mallory to attempt the Tibetan side of the peak, in 1922, became the first mountaineers to ascend higher than the lower flanks of the mountain. In the final days of that expedition, seven Sherpas from Darjeeling, India, were swept to their deaths in an avalanche. Sad to say, the job hasn’t gotten any safer for Sherpas with the passage of time. According to a piece by Jonah Ogles posted on outsideonline.com, the death rate for climbing Sherpas on Everest from 2004 until now was twelve times higher than the death rate for U.S. military personnel deployed in Iraq from 2003-07. There is no denying that climbing Everest is a preposterously dangerous undertaking for the members who provide the Sherpas’ income. But running counter to the disturbing trend among Sherpas, climbing Everest has actually grown significantly safer for Western guides and members in recent years, according to the available data. This can be attributed to a number of factors. Western climbers now use bottled oxygen much more liberally than they did in the past; many Western climbers now prophylactically dose themselves with dexamethasone, a powerful steroid, when they ascend above twenty-two thousand feet, which has proven to be an effective strategy for minimizing the risk of contracting high-altitude cerebral edema ( HACE ) and high-altitude pulmonary edema ( HAPE ), potentially fatal ailments that are common on Everest; and weather forecasts are much more accurate than they were eighteen or twenty years ago. During the seventy-six years from the first attempt on Everest, in 1921, through 1996, when I was guided up Everest, a hundred and forty-four people died and the summit was reached six hundred and thirty times, a ratio of one death for every four successful ascents. Notably, over the eighteen years that have passed since 1996, a hundred and four people have died and the summit has been reached six thousand two hundred and forty-one times—one death for every sixty ascents. Furthermore, non-Sherpas accounted for only seventy-one of these deaths, which equates to just one death for every eighty-eight ascents. The reason the risk remains so much greater for Sherpas can be traced to several things. Sherpas aren’t provided with nearly as much bottled oxygen, because it is so expensive to buy and to stock on the upper mountain, and they tend to be much better acclimatized than Westerners. Sherpas are almost never given dexamethasone prophylactically, because they don’t have personal physicians in their villages who will prescribe the drug on request. And perhaps most significant, Sherpas do all the heavy lifting on Everest, literally and figuratively. The mostly foreign-owned guiding companies assign the most dangerous and physically demanding jobs to their Sherpa staff, thereby mitigating the risk to their Western guides and members, whose backpacks seldom hold much more than a water bottle, a camera, an extra jacket, and lunch. The work Sherpas are paid to do—carrying loads, installing the aluminum ladders, stringing and anchoring thousands of feet of rope—requires them to spend vastly more time on the most dangerous parts of the mountain, particularly in the Khumbu Icefall—the shattered, creaking, ever-shifting expanse of glacier that extends from just above base camp, at seventeen thousand six hundred feet, to the nineteen-thousand-five-hundred-foot elevation. The fact that members and Western guides now suck down a lot more bottled oxygen is wonderful for them, but it means the Sherpas have to carry those additional oxygen bottles through the Icefall for the Westerners to use. Historically, more Everest climbers have perished from severe weather, HACE , HAPE , exhaustion, falling from steep terrain, or some combination of these hazards than from being crushed or buried in the Khumbu Icefall. This seems to be changing, however. Accurate weather forecasting has reduced the risk of being surprised by a killer storm like the one that struck in 1996. But the pronounced warming of the Himalayan climate in recent years has made the Icefall more unstable than ever, and there is still no way to predict when a serac is going to topple over. And Sherpas spend much, much more time in the Icefall than their Western employers. In 1996, for example, I made four round trips through the Khumbu Icefall: three circuits as I progressively acclimatized to twenty-four thousand feet during the month of April, and a final round trip on my journey to the 29,035-foot summit and back. I was terrified each of the eight times I moved through the frozen chaos, which usually took more than three hours to ascend, even with my nearly empty backpack, and slightly less than an hour to descend. In contrast, each of the Sherpas supporting my team’s ascent was required to make something like thirty trips through the Icefall, often while carrying eighty-pound loads of food, propane, and bottled oxygen. These days, moreover, members are apt to spend even less time in the Icefall than I did when I was on Everest, eighteen years ago. It’s becoming increasingly common for Western guides and members to acclimatize in hypobaric chambers before they arrive in Nepal, or on other, less hazardous Himalayan peaks in advance of their summit assaults, greatly reducing the number of times they must expose themselves to the perils of the Icefall. Some members now make only a single round trip through it, while each of the Sherpas supporting them must still pass through that hazardous terrain between two and three dozen times. Most Western climbers feel more than a little guilty about this, but I know of none who have ever offered to take an extra lap through the Icefall with a heavy load in order to reduce a Sherpa’s exposure. The statistics suggesting that Everest has become safe for members may, in fact, be giving Westerners a false sense of security, however. The astounding number of climbers who now attempt to reach the summit on the limited number of days when the weather is favorable presents a new kind of hazard. A notorious photo shot by Ralf Dujmovits in May, 2012, showed more than a hundred and fifty people attached to a series of fixed ropes as they ascended the Lhotse Face toward the South Col of Everest, jammed together so tightly that they had to move in lockstep. The static weight of all these people and their gear was well over thirty thousand pounds. If some mishap had occurred that caused more than a handful of the climbers to put their full weight on one of the ropes simultaneously, the shock to the anchors securing the ropes to the ice could easily have caused them to fail, resulting in the climbers falling two thousand or more feet to the base of the Lhotse Face. If such an accident should come to pass in the future (which isn’t far-fetched), the death count for both members and Sherpas would be horrific. In any event, no Western members or guides were killed or injured in last week’s avalanche. At the moment, in the immediate aftermath, almost everyone climbing on the Nepal side of Everest has retreated to base camp to try to come to grips with the catastrophe. Most of them, Sherpas and foreign climbers alike, are reeling from the unprecedented loss of life. At least one expedition has already announced that it will abandon the mountain. For the foreign climbers, to go home now will mean forfeiting most or all of the fifty to ninety thousand dollars they have spent to be guided up Everest. For the Sherpas who make the guided ascents possible, however, to quit now, after only a few weeks’ wages, will be an even greater economic sacrifice, relatively speaking. Depending on their talent, experience, foreign-language skills, how many loads they carry up and down the mountain, and how generously they’re tipped by their clients, climbing Sherpas generally take home between two and eight thousand dollars at the conclusion of an Everest expedition, which commences for them in late March and typically ends around the first of June. If a climbing Sherpa dies on the job, his family receives a million rupees (approximately ten thousand five hundred dollars) from the insurance his employer is required to provide. By any reasonable measure, neither these wages nor insurance payouts are fair compensation for the risk involved. But in Nepal, where the median annual income is less than six hundred dollars, most of the Sherpas’ countrymen would eagerly take similar risks for the opportunity to receive that kind of pay. Nevertheless, on April 20th, after holding several emotional, contentious meetings at Everest base camp, the climbing Sherpas announced that they would go on strike unless the Nepali government agreed to meet thirteen demands within a week. The threat of a work stoppage was provoked by the Sherpas’ outrage over the Nepali government’s offer to provide just forty thousand rupees—slightly more than four hundred dollars—to the families of the Sherpas killed in the avalanche, to defray their funeral expenses. Among the Sherpas’ demands are that the government increase this compensation to approximately a thousand dollars per family; provide ten thousand dollars to climbing Sherpas who have been seriously disabled; establish a permanent relief fund for injured Sherpas with a portion of the ten-thousand-dollar permit fee every Western Everest climber is charged by the Nepali government; double the current insurance benefit provided by the guiding companies to twenty-one thousand dollars; require the guiding companies to pay Sherpas their salaries, even if they call off the remainder of the 2014 Everest climbing season; and establish a monument in Kathmandu to memorialize the deceased Sherpas. The collective anger and resentment expressed by the Sherpas over the past few days is unprecedented. On April 20th, Tim and Becky Rippel, the owners of a guiding company called Peak Freaks, which lost a Sherpa named Mingma Tenzing to a fatal case of HAPE earlier in the month, stated, in a blog post: As we suggested in a previous post the Sherpa guides are heating up, emotions are running wild and demands are being made to share the wealth with the Sherpa people on the table. Now that there are more Sherpa operators today on Everest, they’ve come to learn how much the government of Nepal makes in revenues from Everest expeditions and they are asking for a share. This is their time and under very unfortunate circumstances. In any case things are getting very complicated and there is a lot of tension here and it’s growing. Peak Freaks is in support of the Sherpa people any which way it goes. They are our family, our brothers and sisters and the muscle on Everest. We follow their lead, we are guests here. Should the government and the Sherpas manage to reach an agreement concerning the terms of the new demands, it will come as no great surprise if most of the Sherpas now grieving intensely for their absent companions resume their dangerous work within the next week or two. Many people believe that this is the most likely outcome. Jon Krakauer’s most recent books are “Three Cups of Deceit,” “Where Men Win Glory,” and “Under the Banner of Heaven.” Photograph by Niranjan Shrestha/AP.

– Jon Krakauer takes to the pages of the New Yorker to weigh in on the latest tragedy on Everest (the author was, of course, part of the 1996 disaster that saw eight climbers killed). His piece makes plain the imbalance between the dangers faced by Sherpas and the climbers they shepherd to the mountain's peak, but before arriving at that point, he shares a fascinating backstory: That of Himex, a New Zealand-based company that Krakauer calls the most "lucrative commercial guiding operation" on Everest—one that on May 7, 2012, packed up shop after 18 years on the mountain and headed home, taking its guides, members (aka paying climbers, who didn't see their $60,000 refunded), and Sherpas with them. The much-assailed decision was one made by owner Russell Brice, who had grown fearful of a 900-foot-wide overhang of glacial ice set directly above the main route on the mountain's Nepal side, an overhang that his members were directly under for as long as an hour while traversing the route. As Krakauer writes, the "wedge of ice the size of a Beverly Hills mansion" that broke free and caused last week's avalanche came from "that same ice bulge" and killed 16 Sherpas. As for the outsize dangers Sherpas face, some standout points: Between 1921 and 1996, the mountain's death ratio was a treacherous one death for every four completed ascents. Between 1997 and present, the death ratio was one for every 60. Among the reasons it's gotten safer: Climbers tend to pack and use more bottled oxygen, and some take the robust steroid dexamethasone once they hit 22,000 feet, which pares down the risk of developing the often fatal high-altitude cerebral edema and high-altitude pulmonary edema. Sherpas typically have less of the former and none of the latter (and are, of course, the ones lugging those extra oxygen bottles up the mountain). Krakauer points to an Outside piece that shares the professions with a lower calculated fatality rate than that of Sherpas: US soldiers stationed in Iraq between 2003 and 2007, miners, and commercial fishermen.

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Saturday channeled 1970s action star Charles Bronson in defending Second Amendment rights in the aftermath of the shooting at an Oregon community college that left nine dead. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs autographs after speaking to campaign supporters, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, in Franklin, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski) (Associated Press) Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waves to supporters as he leaves an event, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, in Franklin, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski) (Associated Press) Trump said in a rally in suburban Nashville that he has a handgun carry permit in New York. He added that any attacker will be "shocked" if he tries to assault him, and that he would emulate Bronson in the vigilante film "Death Wish." "Can you imagine with Trump, somebody says, 'Ohhh, all these big monsters aren't around, he's easy pickins, and then ... pu-ching!" Trump said to laughter and applause. "So this is about self-defense, plain and simple." Trump criticized "gun-free zones," saying that the Oregon shootings could have been limited if instructors or students had been armed. He said better mental health care would help curb future shootings. "Many states and many cities are closing their mental health facilities and closing them down, and they're closing them because they don't have the funding," he said. "And we have to start looking much stronger into mental health." While Trump warned that "no matter what you do, you will always have problems," he argued that it doesn't make sense to limit access to firearms. "It's not the guns," Trump said during his hourlong speech. "It's the people, it's these sick people." He also criticized President Barack Obama's comments in response to the shootings as "divisive." Trump's positions on gun control have evolved significantly over the years. While he now touts the National Rifle Association line, he once backed the ban on assault weapons and longer waiting periods for gun purchases. "I'm a very, very big Second Amendment person," Trump said on Saturday. Trump reminisced about Bronson's "Death Wish" and got people in the crowd to shout out the title of the 1974 film in unison. In the movie, an affluent, liberal architect embarks on a vigilante mission after his life is shattered by thugs who kill his wife and rape his daughter. "Today you can't make that movie because it's not politically correct," Trump said. Saturday marked the second time Trump had spoken in the Nashville area in five weeks. Tennessee is among the states holding their primaries on March 1, also called Super Tuesday, and he noted that his comments brought a strong response from the overflow crowd in gun-friendly Tennessee. "As soon as I mentioned it the place went absolutely wild," he said. ||||| Who are the Russians who contacted the Trump campaign? Who are the Russians who contacted the Trump campaign? Who are the Russians who contacted the Trump campaign? ||||| Story highlights Trump's comments on Saturday are his most extensive about firearms since he launched his campaign in June Trump went on to say he has a license to carry a gun in New York Washington (CNN) Donald Trump said Saturday that had teachers been armed at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, the deadly shooting there this week would not have been as tragic. Trump has previously cited mental health issues, not guns, as the biggest cause of shootings in the U.S. But his comments on Saturday are his most extensive and emotionally charged about firearms since he launched his campaign in June, as he spoke about his personal gun ownership and elicited his biggest applause of the afternoon in discussing gun rights. "By the way, it was a gun-free zone," he said at a campaign event in Franklin, Tennessee. "Let me tell you, if you had a couple teachers with guns in that room, you would have been a hell of a lot better off." Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college Community members attend a candlelight vigil at Stewart Park for those killed during a shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, on Thursday, October 1. The massacre left nine people dead and nine wounded. The gunman also died. Hide Caption 1 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college In response to the shooting on October 1, President Barack Obama delivers the 15th statement of his presidency addressing gun violence. "Somehow this has become routine," he said. "The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it. We've become numb to this." Hide Caption 2 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college Students and faculty are reunited with friends and family at the county fairgrounds on October 1. Hide Caption 3 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college People wait for information at the fairgrounds on October 1. Hide Caption 4 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college Hannah Miles, center, is reunited with her sister Hailey and father, Gary, on October 1. Hide Caption 5 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college A student waits to walk off a school bus at the fairgrounds on October 1. Hide Caption 6 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college Friends and family are reunited on October 1. Hide Caption 7 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college A woman is comforted after the deadly shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, on October 1. Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin announced at a news conference that the shooter was dead. Hide Caption 8 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college Authorities secure the campus after the shooting on October 1. Hide Caption 9 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college Students, staff and faculty leave the school on October 1. Hide Caption 10 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college A bullet casing is marked at the scene of the shooting on October 1. Hide Caption 11 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college People gather at a roadblock near the entrance to the college on October 1. Hide Caption 12 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college Authorities respond after reports of the shooting on October 1. Hide Caption 13 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college Police search students outside the school on October 1. Hide Caption 14 of 15 Photos: Shooting at Oregon community college A patient is wheeled into the emergency room at Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg on October 1. Hide Caption 15 of 15 Trump went on to say he has a license to carry a gun in New York, and if someone attacks him, he will respond. "In fact, I have a license to carry in New York, can you believe that? Nobody knows that," he said. Read More ||||| Three days after a gunman killed nine people at an Oregon community college and then shot himself dead, the Republican presidential frontrunner, Donald Trump, seemed to accept the inevitability of mass shootings in the US. 994 mass shootings in 1,004 days: this is what America's gun crisis looks like Read more In a rare sit-down interview, for broadcast on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Trump told Chuck Todd: “I have to say, no matter what you do, you’re gonna have problems. “Because you have sick people. They happen to be intelligent. And, you know, they can be sick as hell and they’re geniuses in a certain way. They are going to be able to break the system.” The New York real-estate billionaire, who boasts of possessing a concealed carry permit, said he did not see the need for increased firearms regulations after the mass shooting in Oregon. He amplified the argument in an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s This Week, saying: “The gun laws have nothing to do with this. This is mental illness.” At a rally in suburban Nashville on Saturday, Trump mentioned his New York state handgun carry permit and added that anyone who attacked him would be “shocked”, because he would emulate Charles Bronson in the vigilante film Death Wish. “I’m a very, very big second amendment person,” Trump said in Tennessee. “This is about self-defense, plain and simple.” Trump reminisced about the Bronson-starring 1974 film and got people in the crowd to shout out the title in unison. In the movie, an affluent, liberal architect embarks on a vigilante mission after his wife is killed and his daughter raped. “Today you can’t make that movie because it’s not politically correct,” Trump said. Speaking to NBC, Trump said those US jurisdictions with “the strongest, the most stringent laws [on gun control] are in almost every case the worst places. It doesn’t seem to work.” Instead, at both rally and in the interview, as on the day of the shooting, the Republican frontrunner blamed mental illness for such shootings as that at Umpqua Community College. Trump also defended his newly introduced tax plan, which independent economists estimate will cost $12tn over 10 years, by noting his ability to cut costs. He pointed to transportation as one place where he could save money. “I look at the cost of a road where they’re gonna spend $600m building a simple road,” said Trump. “And I don’t mean I’m gonna save you a little bit. We’re gonna bring in … you’re gonna build a better road. You’re gonna have a better road for a fraction of the cost.” Oregon shooting: Jeb Bush says 'stuff happens' as left calls for gun control Read more Speaking to ABC, Trump also pushed back against those who have said he himself would save a significant amount of money under his tax plan. He claimed instead that the major tax cut in his plan would hurt him financially. Under the current tax code, Trump said, “I have very big deductions, some of them are ridiculous.” He also hit back when NBC’s Todd pointed to polls which have him losing by a landslide to both vice-president Joe Biden and Vermont senator Bernie Sanders in any such general election matchup. Trump, who has long touted his poll numbers in the Republican primary, said: “I haven’t focused on Bernie Sanders.” He added: “I’ve been a guy that wins most of the time. And if I don’t win, I make it into a win.”

– Mass shootings in America aren't a gun problem, they're a mental health problem, according to Donald Trump. He told a rally in Nashville on Saturday that "it's not the guns, it's the people. It's these sick people," the AP reports. "Many states and many cities are closing their mental health facilities and closing them down, and they're closing them because they don't have the funding. And we have to start looking much stronger into mental health," he said. On NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, Trump explained that gun control wouldn't help because "they can be sick as hell and they’re geniuses in a certain way. They are going to be able to break the system.” He also told NBC that to avoid copycat killings, the media should have followed the local sheriff's advice and refused to name the gunman after the mass shooting in Oregon. At the Nashville rally, Trump spoke against "gun-free zones," saying people "would have been a hell of a lot better off" if there had been "teachers with guns in that room" during the Oregon shooting, and said that since he has a handgun carry permit in New York, anyone who attacks him is in for a surprise, CNN reports. He brought up Charles Bronson's Death Wish, got the audience to chant the name of the movie, and said: "Today you can’t make that movie because it’s not politically correct," reports the Guardian. (Jeb Bush took a lot of heat for saying "Stuff happens" after the Oregon shooting.)

“Dog Whisperer” star Cesar Millan is being investigated following an accusation of animal cruelty, TheWrap has learned. The host, who currently has a show on the Nat Geo WILD Channel titled “Cesar 911,” had a complaint made against his Santa Clarita, California, dog psychology center on Thursday. “There was a complaint that we received and we are investigating the matter,” Deputy Director Danny Ubario of L.A. County Animal Control told TheWrap. Also Read: CJ the German Shorthaired Pointer Wins Best in Show at 2016 Westminster Dog Show “An officer visited the center today and it is currently under investigation,” he added. The complaint was made by a single citizen but no further details could be released as it is an active case, Ubario explained. A TMZ report claimed that the incident involved a dog attacking and injuring a pig during a training session. Also Read: Shootings, Stabbings, Dog Fighting: 11 NFL Scandals That Rocked the League (Photos) Millan is a self-taught dog behaviorist who quickly rose to fame with his series “Dog Whisperer With Cesar Millan,” which was broadcast in more than 80 countries worldwide from 2004 to 2012. “Cesar 911” premiered on the Nat Geo WILD Channel in 2014. A Nat Geo WILD spokesperson issued this statement: “Cesar Millan has dedicated his life to helping dogs and to showing how even the most difficult “problem dog” can be rescued and rehabilitated. In a recent episode of the Nat Geo WILD series “Cesar 911,” Cesar works with an aggressive French bulldog/terrier mix named Simon, who has a history of attacking other animals, including his owner’s pet potbellied pigs. A short clip from the episode was shared online and showed Simon chasing a pig and nipping its ear, causing the ear to bleed. The clip caused some concern for viewers who did not see or understand the full context of the encounter. “We have included an additional clip from the same episode [click here to download] to provide missing context. Cesar has created a safe and controlled environment at his Dog Psychology Center (DPC) in California in which to rehabilitate some of the most extreme — or “red zone” — cases of dog aggression, such as Simon’s. It is important to clarify that Cesar took precautions, such as putting Simon on a long lead to assess his behavior, before making initial corrections and removing the leash. The pig that was nipped by Simon was tended to immediately afterward, healed quickly and showed no lasting signs of distress. As the additional clip reveals, Cesar and his animal pack effectively helped Simon to overcome his aggressive behavior toward other animals; as a result, Simon did not have to be separated from his owner or euthanized.” ||||| Cesar Millans methods are inhumane, in my opinion and his shows need to be taken off the air. In this episode, Cesar used pigs as bait for a dog who was a known pig killer and all for "entertainment" purposes and this is not the first time he has used bait animals. This is wrong! Using animals for bait is against the law. A complaint has been filed to Animal Control for animal cruelty for using animals as bait in Cesar911 Reality TV shows. Cesar Millan is currently under investigation for animal cruelty. We need your help. We need to have the voice of MILLIONS of you shouting now NO MORE abuse on any Reality TV shows again. One of the officers on this investigation with Animal Control called me today March 22, 2016, asking for more people to speak up and come forward about any abuse they witnessed while working, volunteering and or as a trainee in one of his courses at the DPC. He said that this case will remain open for a year so that people will have time to come forward as witnesses to any abuse to any animals. Please call with any concrete evidence not angry calls, CONCRETE evidence that you yourself witnessed any kind of abuse while working with, volunteering or as a trainee at the DPC. 562-658-2000 ask for Officer Ferrufino. Please sign the petition. It will be sent to Courteney Monroe, CEO of National Geographic. The American Humane Association is responsible for the protection of animals during the filming of any movie or tv. I spoke with Mark Stubis, the head of communications with AHA who put out this statement. Their contact information is: [email protected] and call them: 818-501-0123 or 818-574-7779. MESSAGE TO NAT GEO REALITY SHOW: ABUSE IS NEVER ACCEPTABLE "Animal abuse is never acceptable, and should never be tolerated. American Humane Association has received complaints regarding an episode of a Nat Geo reality television series featuring Cesar Millan. As this country’s first national humane organization, we are always vigilant about stopping abuse wherever it occurs. We saw what so many concerned Americans saw in that segment. Clearly, the treatment of the animals did not meet our stringent “Guidelines for the Safe Use of Animals in Filmed Media.” American Humane Association oversees the humane treatment of animals around the world with our No Animals Were Harmed® animal welfare program, but sadly we are not invited to protect the animals featured in reality television productions. We call on the entertainment industry to have American Humane Association on all of their productions with animals, including reality television, so that American Humane Association can ensure that all animals in entertainment are safe and humanely treated. Situations like this should never, ever happen again. All animals deserve to be humanely treated, and abuse must end now." According to California State Law West's Annotated California Codes. Penal Code. Part 1. Of Crimes and Punishments. Title 14. Malicious Mischief. § 597. Cruelty to animals ..."(a) Except as provided in subdivision (c) of this section or Section 599c, every person who maliciously and intentionally maims, mutilates, tortures, or wounds a living animal, or maliciously and intentionally kills an animal, is guilty of a crime punishable pursuant to subdivision (d). (b) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (a) or (c), every person who overdrives, overloads, drives when overloaded, overworks, tortures, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance, drink, or shelter, cruelly beats, mutilates, or cruelly kills any animal, or causes or procures any animal to be so overdriven, overloaded, driven when overloaded, overworked, tortured, tormented, deprived of necessary sustenance, drink, shelter, or to be cruelly beaten, mutilated, or cruelly killed; and whoever, having the charge or custody of any animal, either as owner or otherwise, subjects any animal to needless suffering, or inflicts unnecessary cruelty upon the animal, or in any manner abuses any animal, or fails to provide the animal with proper food, drink, or shelter or protection from the weather, or who drives, rides, or otherwise uses the animal when unfit for labor, is, for each offense, guilty of a crime punishable pursuant to subdivision (d).... This law is also stated in the petition but for your use when you are emailing and calling. Demand that Cesar Millan shows be to taken off the air. His shows cause the public to imitate his behavior with their own dogs causing children to witness abuse in their own homes to their family pets. This needs to stop. We NEED your support. We are their voice. ||||| Cesar Millan is GUILTY of allowing the ATTACK on defenseless Pigs on his show - "The DOG WHISPERER". A Woman that owned a Dog contacted him after the Dog KILLED her Potbellied Pig (PET) and asked if he could help because she wanted to get another one. He met her at a location (SEE YOUTUBE Video - "Pig Slayer") and had three small Pigs there in a large fenced in area. The Pigs were minding their own business, and Caesar brought the Dog into the area. He had the Dog on a long leash at first, but after about FIVE MINUTES - he removed the leash and allowed the Dog to be free. He thought - THOUGHT - he could control the Dog with his commands. He was wrong. The Dog ran and ATTACKED SEVERAL PIGS - CAUSING INJURIES THAT WOULD REQUIRE VET ASSISTANCE. THERE WAS BLOOD ALL OVER THE PIGS. He could not get the Dog under control for a while and it kept attacking the Pigs. Finally after several attacks, he caught the Dog and controlled it. He should have put a MUZZLE on this Dog - because he KNOWS THE DOG KILLED A PIG ALREADY! But with his ARROGANCE and OVER-CONFIDENT ATTITUDE, HE THOUGHT THAT HE COULD CONTROL THE SITUATION. This is UNACCEPTABLE and he ALLOWED the Abuse of several DEFENSELESS Pigs. I want him REMOVED COMPLETELY from NATGEOs airtime, and all other TV Stations that Air him (KTLA Channel 5, etc). He should have known better and it shows a lack of concern and the fact that he allowed Animals to be severely injured filming his show. I know he has had other issues in this area before, and it cannot continue!!!! Please sign and share this petition. I own three Intelligent, Amazing, Loving Pigs and have hundreds of friends that do as well, and that rescue them. They are not to be used to train Dogs without restraint!! Additionally - the man working with Caesar grabbed the Pig by the leg while it squirmed and screamed trying to get away from the Dog attacking it.......and this could have injured the Pig as well. That shows me - he has incompetent people working with the Animals and they are in DANGER of being hurt!

– A strange turn of events for the "Dog Whisperer": Police say they're investigating Cesar Millan for alleged animal cruelty after Millan's Nat Geo Wild show Cesar 911 featured a dog attacking a pig during a training exercise. "There was a complaint that we received and we are investigating the matter," an LA County Animal Control rep tells TheWrap. TMZ reports officials visited Millan's Dog Psychology Center in Santa Clarita on Thursday night to check on the health of the pig after receiving "numerous complaints." However, Millan was out of town on a business trip at the time, reports NBC Los Angeles. Officials say Millan was then given 24 hours to get in touch with investigators. It isn't clear if he has now done so. The episode showed a French bulldog/terrier mix named Simon, who had previously attacked its owner's potbellied pigs, biting the ear of a pig when introduced to the animal. "It was really difficult to watch," says a professional dog trainer. "It's not the way to rehabilitate an animal that is fearful and aggressive to pigs." A pair of Change.org petitions are calling for the show to be cancelled. Nat Geo Wild, however, says viewers "did not see or understand the full context of the encounter." It adds "Cesar took precautions" and the pig "was tended to immediately afterward, healed quickly, and showed no lasting signs of distress." A clip from the same episode shows Simon calmly interacting with the pig after the attack.

Officer Lameen Barnes prepared the official incident report that night on what happened to Mr. Dixon, writing that he had tried to throw an “unknown liquid substance” at the officers, and in response, they had searched his cell for contraband. When they entered, the report said, Mr. Dixon refused to come out, insulted them and would not follow their orders. He was restrained and handcuffed to a gurney. “Once on his feet, inmate Dixon was eventually escorted to the main clinic for medical examination without any further incident of force used,” Mr. Barnes wrote. That is nothing like what actually happened, according to accounts from three people who were there. Two requested anonymity because they said they feared retaliation from officers as well as their employer, Corizon, which has a contract with the city to provide health care at the jail. For the third witness, The Times was provided a copy of the clinician’s email to superiors about the incident, on the condition that the sender’s name be withheld. According to their accounts, a group of correction officers wheeled Mr. Dixon into an examination area without a security camera. “Don’t leave me,” he kept yelling to the medics and social workers. “They’re going to kill me.” About a half-dozen guards were crowded around the gurney, and one kept punching Mr. Dixon in the head. Next, the correction officers brought in Mr. Lane, who had also splashed guards with a liquid. Mr. Lane was known as a disruptive inmate. He had been in and out of Rikers, and much of his most recent stint had been spent in solitary confinement. Born to a mother who was a crack addict, he spent most of his time growing up in foster homes and had a lengthy history of mental health problems, with diagnoses for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and attention deficit disorder. “They punched me in the face and they kept punching me and punching me and punching me,” Mr. Lane recalled in an interview at Elmira Correctional Facility, where he recently completed a two-year sentence for a credit card theft conviction. ||||| NEW YORK (AP) — The newly appointed commissioner of New York City's jail system violated city law by sending as many as 47 mentally ill inmates into 23-hour confinement without first getting approval from mental health clinicians, a city oversight board said Tuesday. Commissioner Joseph Ponte, who took the helm of the country's second-largest jail system in March, insisted at a meeting of the New York City Board of Correction he was trying to quell rising levels of violence. Ponte, who had reduced the use of solitary confinement by two thirds in Maine's state prisons, said the June 13 move on Rikers Island was aimed at volatile inmates who have broken jailhouse rules and owe days in solitary. But board members rejected the argument, noting the move jeopardized the health of some inmates, particularly those on psychotropic medications who were taken from air-conditioned mental observation units and put into uncooled solitary cells. A federal judge has ordered that such inmates, deemed heat-sensitive because the exposure to heat while on such drugs can be fatal, shouldn't be placed in uncooled cells. Other inmates who were moved were denied medication and had seizure disorders, they said. At least one inmate suffered a seizure, Ponte said. "I would just hope that you would review these issues and in the future instruct your staff to be consistent with the board standards and not to violate these rules which are not just rules but designed for the safety of the prisoners," said board member Dr. Robert Cohen. Nearly 40 percent of the roughly 11,500 daily inmates in city jails have a mental health diagnosis, according to the Department of Correction and about a third of them suffer from serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The Associated Press has previously disclosed the deaths of two mentally ill inmates — one who essentially baked to death in a 101-degree cell in February — that have prompted calls for reform. During a City Council oversight hearing on violence and mental illness at Rikers the day before the inmate moves, Ponte was repeatedly asked about a list of hundreds of inmates who owe time in solitary confinement but are in general population because there's not enough space. Correction officials argue that those inmates, many of whom they say are gang members, drive the violence on Rikers. On Tuesday, Ponte told board members that figure is closer to 1,000 inmates. A number of them are high-risk for harming themselves and others and needed to be separated to stem surging violence, he said. "What we don't have, and have not had for probably more than five years now, is a plan that's impacted the level of violence on Rikers Island," he told the board. There were 21 slashings in one recent six-week period and a total of 87 during fiscal year 2014, according to a letter sent by Ponte to board members Monday night and obtained by the AP. There were a total of 68 total such slashing the previous fiscal year and 55 in fiscal 2012, the letter said. "Under such circumstances, I felt that it was imperative to take prompt action to prevent further violence," he wrote.

– Guards at Rikers Island don't just neglect the mentally ill or let them bake to death, they also routinely brutally beat them, often without suffering any repercussions, a New York Times investigation has discovered. The Times uncovered a secret report compiled by a city department this year that found that 129 Rikers inmates suffered "serious injuries" in altercations with staff members over an 11-month span last year; 77% of those inmates had a mental health diagnosis. In most cases, the inmates were beaten while handcuffed. The Times investigated the incidents individually, and offer some disturbing details: When guards found Jose Bautista trying to hang himself, they saved him, but then allegedly threw him to the ground and punched him with such force that they perforated his bowel. It was one of five beatings noted in the report that followed a suicide attempt. Bautista needed emergency surgery, but guards took nine hours to drive him to the hospital—which is only 15 minutes away. When Andre Lane threw water or urine at guards, they allegedly handcuffed him to a gurney, wheeled him to a clinic that wasn't monitored by security cameras, and beat him so violently that the walls and cabinets were covered with his blood. After Brian Mack complained that guards were stealing inmates' food, a guard captain allegedly hit him in the eye with his radio, while another officer punched him in the jaw. He came away with a broken eye socket and jaw. Correction officials said he'd been in a fight with another inmate, but investigators noted no such fight was logged in prison records. None of the guards involved in any of the cases have faced criminal charges—or even administrative ones. Rikers has been under pressure to reform its treatment of mentally ill inmates—in January, for example, it announced it would stop putting the "seriously mentally ill" in solitary, though the Times notes that classification applies to a small segment of the population. Last week an oversight board said the newly-appointed city jail commissioner had in June illegally sent as many as 47 mentally ill Rikers inmates to solitary without consulting clinicians, the AP reports.

Manspreading might make you the villain of the morning L train, but a new study suggests it could also make you lucky in love. People who adopted “expansive postures”—widespread limbs and a stretched-out torso—in speed-dating situations garnered more romantic interest than those who folded their arms in “closed postures,” the researchers found. For her recent paper, published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Tanya Vacharkulksemsuk, a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, performed two studies. First, she and her team watched videos of 144 speed-dates and correlated them with the participants’ ratings of each other. People who sat in expanded postures were deemed more attractive, and for both men and women, postural expansiveness nearly doubled their chances of getting a “yes” response to a second date. Even laughing and smiling didn’t work as well as spreading out, Vacharkulksemsuk found. Next, Vacharkulksemsuk posted pictures of people in open and closed postures on a dating site. Again, those in the expansive postures were about 25 percent more likely to generate interest from another user. However, this strategy worked much better for men than women. Men, overall, received far fewer bites than women did, but 87 percent of their “yeses” came in response to an open posture. For women, meanwhile, 53 percent of “yes” responses came when they were in an expansive posture. In a separate test, Vacharkulksemsuk found that both the male and female “expansive” photos were considered more dominant than the “closed” photos. That dominance might suggest an abundance of resources and a willing to share those resources. When potential romantic partners are evaluating each other for just a few seconds, in other words, money talks—mainly through bodily breadth. So should you rush to change your Tinder picture to something a little less pouty and a little more Backstreet Boys cira Millennium? Like with almost every study, there are reasons to be skeptical. “Power poses” made a big splash in 2010 when it was found that adopting them could tweak hormone levels—then sparked controversy after a follow-up study failed to replicate the effect. ||||| Story highlights New research looks at ideal postures in quick dating contexts Study finds that posing with stretched limbs in profile pictures increases odds of success (CNN) The power of posture reigns in the animal kingdom, where peacocks fan their feathers and chimpanzees flaunt their limbs to assert dominance and attract mates. New research suggests that humans trying online dating apps and speed-dating might want to follow their lead. Previous studies have shown that nonverbal cues such as a smile or a nod of the head garner interest from potential romantic partners. The gestures have what scientists call "positive signal value," meaning they create the impression that you are warm and friendly, someone others want to be around. But modern courtship rarely lasts long enough to form an impression based on meaningful, real-life interactions. Decisions are made in a matter of minutes, even seconds, with a single swipe in digital dating or a passing encounter in the real world. Research based on two studies found that literally extending yourself could make you more attractive in speed and online dating. In a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers found that body postures involving widespread limbs and a stretched torso nearly doubles the odds of success compared with closed postures involving limbs held close to the torso, hunched over. It's called "postural expansiveness," and it basically refers to how much space you take up with your torso and limbs. Such "power postures" convey dominance and willingness to share those traits with others, study co-author Tanya Vacharkulksemsuk said. Read More ||||| This set of studies tested whether humans are more attracted to individuals displaying their bodies expansively, a behavior considered to express both dominance and openness. Results from two field studies—a speed-dating event and a controlled experiment using a Global Positioning System-based dating application—suggested that (i) expansive (vs. contractive) body posture increases one’s romantic desirability; (ii) these results are consistent across gender; and (iii) perceived dominance and perceived openness are mechanisms through which expansiveness exerts its effect. These findings indicate that in modern-day dating contexts, in which initial attraction often is determined by a rapid decision following a brief interaction or seeing a photograph, displays of expansive posture increase one’s chances of initial romantic success. Abstract Across two field studies of romantic attraction, we demonstrate that postural expansiveness makes humans more romantically appealing. In a field study (n = 144 speed-dates), we coded nonverbal behaviors associated with liking, love, and dominance. Postural expansiveness—expanding the body in physical space—was most predictive of attraction, with each one-unit increase in coded behavior from the video recordings nearly doubling a person’s odds of getting a “yes” response from one’s speed-dating partner. In a subsequent field experiment (n = 3,000), we tested the causality of postural expansion (vs. contraction) on attraction using a popular Global Positioning System-based online-dating application. Mate-seekers rapidly flipped through photographs of potential sexual/date partners, selecting those they desired to meet for a date. Mate-seekers were significantly more likely to select partners displaying an expansive (vs. contractive) nonverbal posture. Mediation analyses demonstrate one plausible mechanism through which expansiveness is appealing: Expansiveness makes the dating candidate appear more dominant. In a dating world in which success sometimes is determined by a split-second decision rendered after a brief interaction or exposure to a static photograph, single persons have very little time to make a good impression. Our research suggests that a nonverbal dominance display increases a person’s chances of being selected as a potential mate.

– You may not think of that guy manspreading across from you on the subway as a magnificent peacock, but he's more or less doing it for the same effect: a show of dominance and openness. And indeed, new research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that in online dating and speed dating, nonverbal displays showing "postural expansiveness"—i.e., how much space you fill with your body and limbs—can up your chances of scoring with potential mates compared to those with a more "closed" posture. "We've seen it in the animal world, that ... maximizing presence in a physical space is used as [a] signal for attracting a mate," co-author Tanya Vacharkulksemsuk says, per CNN. "By exerting dominance they're trying to signal to a potential mate, 'I am able to do things.'" Scientists filmed 144 speed-dating sessions, matching 12 pairs of men and women for four minutes a pop; subjects were asked whether they'd want to see each partner again —and those who gestured or moved hands or arms nearly doubled their chances of a "yes." Even a tried-and-true smile didn't attract mates as well, Vacharkulksemsuk says, per the Atlantic. In the study's second part, a mobile dating app gave almost 3,000 subjects the profiles of possible dates, with each featuring a photo, first name, and age, Smithsonian reports. Each of the six candidates had two photos: one showing an expressive, open posture, the other a tighter one. Those with the more-expansive look got about 25% more hits, with the success rate higher for men. In online dating, "we are forced to rely more on these instincts because time is so limited," Vacharkulksemsuk says. (Here, cougar speed dating.)

Gaza City, Gaza (CNN) -- Israeli airstrikes and tank shells pounded parts of Gaza Tuesday -- killing a 4-year-old girl, Palestinian security and medical sources said -- after Israel said a Gaza sniper killed a Muslim Israeli man near a border fence. The events began when a sniper in Gaza shot a Bedouin Israeli citizen -- Salah Shukri Abu Latyef, 22 -- who was performing maintenance work Tuesday on the fence separating Israel from the Palestinian territory's northern border, the Israeli military said. Abu Latyef was from Rahat, a southern Israeli city inhabited mainly by Bedouins, an Arab Muslim minority in Israel, the military said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office promised a forceful response, saying the shooting was a "very severe incident, and we will not let it go unanswered." "Our policy until now has been to act beforehand and to respond in force, and this is how we will act regarding this incident as well," Netanyahu's office said. Israeli warplanes launched strikes on and near some Gaza camps of the al Qassam Brigades -- the military wing of Hamas, which controls Gaza -- Hamas security sources said. The Israeli military confirmed it launched tank and air attacks, saying it struck a weapon manufacturing facility and "a terror infrastructure in the southern Gaza Strip, a terror site and another terror infrastructure in the central Gaza Strip, and a concealed rocket launcher in the northern Gaza Strip." One airstrike struck a house near an al Qassam camp in central Gaza, killing a 4-year-old girl and injuring three of her relatives, the Hamas sources said. Israeli airstrikes also hit an empty field at an al Qassam camp near the southern Gaza area of Rafah, and an empty al Qassam training camp in the southern Gaza community of Khan Younes, the Hamas sources said. Hamas said the training camps were evacuated after the Israeli's killing. Israeli tank shells also hit near the al Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, according to the Hamas sources. The sources said 11 people were injured in the airstrikes and tank attacks, in addition to the child who was killed. The al Qassam Brigades claimed on its Twitter account that the slain Israeli was a soldier. The Israeli military, however, said Abu Latyef was a civilian. The Israeli defense minister, Moshe Ya'alon, said Israel holds Hamas responsible for the shooting. "We will not allow life in the south to be disturbed, and we will react in the sternest and gravest way to any attack on our sovereignty and injuries of our civilians and soldiers," Ya'alon said in a statement released by the defense ministry. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is concerned about the violence, condemns Abu Latyef's killing and deplores the death of the Gaza girl and other Palestinian civilian casualties, his spokesman said Tuesday. The Israeli military said Abu Latyef was the first Israeli civilian killed near the Gaza Strip since it launched a series of attacks there last year. In Israel's "Pillar of Defense" operation in November 2012, the country's military launched strikes on Gaza designed to stop constant rocket fire. Eight days of round-the-clock warfare followed between Israel and Hamas. More than 160 Palestinians, many of whom were civilians, were killed. Six Israelis died, including civilians and soldiers. Journalist Talal Abu Rahma reported from Gaza City; CNN's Michael Schwartz reported from Bethlehem in the West Bank. CNN's Saad Abedine, Hamdi Alkhshali, Kareem Khadder and Jason Hanna contributed to this report. ||||| Share on Facebook Share on Twitter A civilian working for the Defense Ministry was shot and killed on Tuesday from Palestinian sniper fire, while working to fix damages caused to the Israeli-Gaza border fence caused by the recent winter storm. Salah Shukri Abu Latyef, 22, from Rahat, was working for Shabbat Drilling operating a tractor at the Gaza border when he was shot and struck in the center of his chest by a Palestinian sniper, according to the army's assessment. He was airlifted to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba where he later succumbed to his wounds. Israeli media reported that the Palestinian militant group Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for the shooting. "The incident occurred very close to the border," one security source said. "This was his first day working on the Gaza Strip border and unfortunately it was also his last day of life," Latyef's cousin said. An IDF spokesman said that the military had limited the access of farmers working in the immediate vicinity of the fence in the aftermath of the attack. Israel clamped restrictions in the past on Palestinians working inside the Gaza Strip near the security fence to prevent exactly the type of sniper incident that killed an Israeli defense ministry worker on Tuesday, government officials said. The easing of those restrictions were part of the understandings brokered by Egypt that brought an end in November 2012 to Operation Pillar of Defense against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu characterized the attack a "very grave incident" that Israel would not let go unanswered. This attack, unlike the other terror attacks this week, elicited a quick and immediate response from Netanyahu. "Our policy up until now has been to prevent beforehand and to react with force, and this is how we will act now as well," he said. Government sources said Netanyahu viewed this incident as particularly serious both within the context of the string of other attacks this week – the foiled bus bomb in Bat Yam, the rocket fire from Gaza and the knifing of a Border Patrolman outside of Jerusalem – and also because it was such a clear violation of the understandings that brought an end to Operation Pillar of Defense. According to those understandings, Israel eased restriction on Gazans working close to security fence that were clamped on the area because of security concerns. Netanyahu made his comment as he was just about to fly back to Jerusalem from Sderot, where he went Tuesday to dedicate the new Tel Aviv-Sderot train line. Netanyahu said that Israel would not tolerate a "drizzle" of attacks from Gaza that would "turn into a storm." Since Operation Pillar of Defense last year, he said the south has been quieter than it has been for more than a decade. "I am committed to maintaining that quiet, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That is our policy." The cross-border shooting comes after a spate of attempts by Palestinians to plant explosives along the security fence and to damage the barrier in recent days. Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said there was "no direct relation" between terrorist attacks in Israel over the past two days and the cross-border shooting attack. "We view take a most severe view of them. In Gaza, Hamas is sovereign, and we see it as being responsible for today's shooting from the Strip and rocket launches over the past today at Israel. We will not allow a disruption to life in the South, and we will respond decisively and painfully to attacks on our sovereignty and against our civilians and soldiers," the defense minister added. He advised Hamas "not to test our patience," calling on Gaza's ruling regime to exercise its authority on the ground to prevent further attacks on Israel by other organizations. "If there won't be quiet in Israel, there won't be quiet in Gaza either," Ya'alon warned. "Terrorism incidents are the continuation of previous attacks, most of which are the result of a lone attacker, or one who has been influenced by the atmosphere of incitement and hatred that exists in the Palestinian Authority against Israel. This is an intolerable situation from our perspective, and despite the difficulties in dealing with a lone individual incited to murder Jews, we will act with a resolute hand and in various ways to harm anyone who tries to carry out terrorist attacks," Ya'alon pledged. As long as the PA continues to incite against Israel and its civilians, and fails to promote a culture of peace, Israel will have to deal with attacks that result from this, he added. Ya'alon sent his condolences to the family of the fatally wounded civilian, and wished the policeman stabbed on Monday a swift recovery. Ya'alon ordered the closing of the Kerem Shalom border crossing on Tuesday evening, following escalation on the Gaza border. President Shimon Peres said that "Israel will ensure its own security" and advised Hamas and the Islamic Jihad to stop aggressions against Israel. "If Gaza wants it to be quiet, it must remain quiet, otherwise it will suffer the consequences of the unrest many times over," Peres said. "Gaza is not under any occupation. It is playing with fire. The world will not continue supporting Gaza if it continues killing innocent people," the president added. Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein said the attack "proves that Hamas and its satellite organizations are determined to harm Israeli citizens without any connection to their religion or ideology." "The trickle of attacks must stop and life near Gaza must be stable and safe," Edelstein added, sending his condolences to the victim's family. Opposition leader Isaac Herzog (Labor) said he is certain that the recent wave of terror is meant to sabotage peace talks and the possibility of a two-state solution. "We will not give in to terror and will not let it win or determine the State of Israel's interests," Herzog stated. "I trust that the IDF and security forces will act against terror." However, some on the right did not share Herzog's determination to continue negotiating. "The deterioration in security shows once again that the Palestinians don't want peace," Deputy Minister for Liaison with the Knesset Ofir Akunis said. "This is a direct result of the Palestinian incitement against Israel." Knesset Finance Committee chairman Nissan Slomiansky (Bayit Yehudi) said the next release of terrorists from prison, which is planned for next week, should be canceled, calling it "absurd." "Day after day Israeli residents' lives are endangered and the government continues blindly giving in to the demands of the Palestinian Authority and the Americans. We should put an end to this farce. As long as terror against Israel continues, we cannot release even one terrorist," Slomiansky stated. In a separate incident, a Palestinian youth who approached the fence on the border with northern Gaza entered the closed security zone, and ignored calls by soldiers to vacate the area. He was shot in the leg and evacuated to a Gazan hospital by the Red Crescent. Lahav Harkov and Yasser Okbi contributed to this report.

– Israel launched an airstrike in the Gaza Strip today, in retaliation for the shooting of an Israeli working on the border fence, the Israeli military said, according to the AP. The military gave no hint as to its target or how many casualties it may have inflicted, but Hamas security sources tell CNN that one 4-year-old girl was killed in the strike, and three others were wounded. All four belonged to a family that lived near an al Qassam Brigades camp that the attack appeared to be targeting. A Palestinian sniper shot Salah Shukri Abu Latyef, a 22-year-old civilian engineer, earlier today, the Jerusalem Post reports. He was airlifted to the hospital, where he died of his wounds. Benjamin Netanyahu called it a "very grave incident," and promised to "react with force" in accordance with longstanding policy. Palestinians have launched a series of attacks on Israeli targets in recent days; Israeli soldiers have fired on Palestinian suspects five times since Friday, including an incident yesterday in which they spotted a man planting a bomb and fired at his legs.

"They were like, 'Talk loud because the engine will be roaring,'" Rogen laughed. "'You've got to talk over the engine; there's announcements early on in the flights. You've got to take that into consideration.'" But Rogen didn't just diss that promising-sounding but poorly received film. His self-deprecation also extended to The Green Hornet, which he cowrote with Evan Goldberg and starred in, calling it the "perfect storm of bad s--t happening". "We were making it for America and China at the same time," Goldberg added. "We shouldn't make expensive movies where he can't just do a million dick jokes," Rogen cracked. "That's what we've learned over the years. That's our strength. Play to your strengths."

– Critics did not enjoy Seth Rogen's last movie, Guilt Trip with Barbra Streisand, and it sounds like Rogen didn't, either. "We shot that movie in the format that plays on airplanes only," Rogen said on comedian Doug Benson's podcast last week, according to E!. "They were like, 'Talk loud because the engine will be roaring. You've got to talk over the engine; there's announcements early on in the flights. You've got to take that into consideration.'" He also sort-of dissed the poorly reviewed The Green Hornet, in which he not only starred but also co-wrote. "We were making it for America and China at the same time," and it ended up being the "perfect storm of bad s--- happening," he said. Lesson learned? Rogen says he should stick to movies involving "a million" penis jokes. "That's our strength. Play to your strengths." (Click to read about 10 other actors who have slammed their own projects.)

Pete Davidson proposes to Maggie Rogers on 'SNL' promo, and Ariana Grande is not laughing CLOSE Pete Davidson appears to joke about rushing to propose on a 'Saturday Night Live' promo. And former fiancée Ariana Grande is not amused. USA TODAY Pete Davidson is still joking about his broken engagement to Ariana Grande and let's just say the pop star has "no tears left to cry" over the matter. During a promo video for the upcoming episode of "Saturday Night Live," Davidson asked for musical guest Maggie Rogers' hand in marriage, while host Jonah Hill awkwardly stood between the two. “Hey Maggie, I’m Pete. You wanna get married?” Davidson, 24, jokingly proposed. Rogers, also 24, quickly shot down the comedian's advance, prompting Davidson to reference his past failed attempts at love: "0 for 3." Related: Ariana Grande reveals love of her life, slams rumors about Pete Davidson relationship Grande, however, didn't find the joke at the expense of their split the least bit funny. The "Sweetener" singer took to Twitter Thursday shortly after the "SNL" promo dropped to throw her own shade. "For somebody who claims to hate relevancy u sure love clinging to it huh," she wrote in a now deleted tweet. Related: Ariana Grande finally addresses Pete Davidson breakup, calls it 'very sad' In a now-deleted tweet obtained by USA TODAY, Ariana Grande appears to call out her ex-fiance Pete Davidson after he proposed to musical guest Maggie Rogers during a "Saturday Night Live" promo clip for this weekend's episode. (Photo: USA TODAY) In October, news broke that Davidson and Grande's whirlwind romance and hasty engagement ended in a matter of months. This is not the first time Davidson has mined his love life for fodder. Related: Pete Davidson laughs off Ariana Grande split: 'Does anybody have any open rooms?' CLOSE Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson are reportedly calling it quits. The couple met on "Saturday Night Live" and became engaged just weeks after making their relationship official on Instagram in May. Wochit During his first stage appearance since calling it quits, the comedian joked during the comedy show Judd & Pete for America on Oct. 20: "Well, as you could tell, I don't want to be here. There's a lot going on." The former couple appears to be moving on, both covering matching ink that outlived their engagement. It appears Grande would like Davidson to move on with his jokes as well. The pop star, meanwhile, has been keeping busy with her work. On Oct. 25, she announced a world tour for her new album "Sweetener." It's yet to be known if Grande will perform "Pete Davidson," a love song from "Sweetener" that praises the comedian with its sentimental lyrics. "Universe must have my back / Fell from the sky into my lap / And I know you know that you're my soulmate and all that," Grande sings. Related: Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson cover up matching ink that outlived their engagement Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2018/11/01/pete-davidson-proposes-maggie-rogers-ariana-grande-not-laughing/1854346002/ ||||| Ariana Grande is not holding back, seemingly taking aim at ex Pete Davidson. On Thursday, the 25-year-old “God Is a Woman” singer appeared to take a jab at her ex-fiancé writing on Twitter, “for somebody who claims to hate relevancy u sure love clinging to it huh.” Get push notifications with news, features and more. Moments later Grande tweeted “thank u, next.” The mysterious diss comes just a few hours after Saturday Night Live released a promo video for this weekend’s episode in which Davidson, 24, jokingly proposed to singer Maggie Rogers. “Hey Maggie, I’m Pete. You wanna get married?” Davidson says in the clip as host Jonah Hill, 34, cringes while standing in between them. Rogers, 24, quickly declines and Davidson responds by saying he’s “0-3,” poking fun at his failed relationships. RELATED: Pete Davidson Proposes to Maggie Rogers on SNL & Pokes Fun at Failed Engagement to Ariana Grande Ariana Grande Ariana Grande/Twitter Ariana Grande Ariana Grande/Twitter Ariana Grande Ariana Grande/Twitter Davidson previously dated Larry David’s daughter Cazzie David and Girl Code star Carly Aquilino. It is not clear if he was engaged to either. Grande also quote tweeted the SNL trailer posted by a fan who wrote: “SNL is about to milk their breakup just like they did with the engagement.” Grande simply wrote “.” Prior to Thursday, things between Grande and Davidson appeared to be very civil. The two called it quits earlier this month after getting engaged in June after dating for just a few weeks. “It was way too much too soon,” a Grande source tells PEOPLE. “It’s not shocking to anyone.” Pete Davidson and Ariana Grande Paul Zimmerman/WireImage Sources close to the couple told TMZ that the decision to split was a mutual choice, as both the “God Is a Woman” singer and Davidson felt the timing wasn’t right. The couple’s split comes after Grande has endured a difficult few weeks as she came to terms with the loss of former boyfriend Mac Miller, who died from an apparent drug overdose on Sept. 7. After venting about her emotional exhaustion to her Twitter followers, the star took some much-needed time off. “Given the events of the past couple of years, Ariana is going to take some much needed time to heal and mend,” her team told PEOPLE in September. “She will be staying close to home and using this period to spend time with her loved ones and work on new music without deadline. She thanks her fans for their understanding.” Pete Davidson and Ariana Grande Kevin Mazur/Getty Images Davidson’s SNL skit isn’t the first time the comedian has made a joke about their whirlwind romance. Davidson previously addressed his split with Grande on Oct. 20 at the Judd & Pete for America benefit for Swing Left in West Hollywood, California with Judd Apatow. RELATED: Ariana Grande (in Mac Miller’s Sweatshirt) Cozies Up to Late Rapper’s Dog During Tribute Concert Although he didn’t mention Grande by name at the start of his 45 minute-long set, everybody in the crowd likely understood why he began by announcing, “As you could tell, I don’t want to be here.” “There’s a lot going on,” he added, before jokingly alluding to his breakup by asking the crowd, “Does anybody have any open rooms? Looking for a roommate?” ||||| Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

– Although it was "very sad," the breakup of Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson at least seemed to be civil. Apparently that tenuous detente has ended, at least per the buzz around the 25-year-old singer's recent tweets. People reports on an SNL promo that dropped this week featuring her former fiance, as well as actor Jonah Hill and singer Maggie Rogers, in which Davidson introduces himself to Rogers, then immediately asks, "You wanna get married?" After Rogers rejects his "proposal," Davidson deadpans for the camera: "0 for 3" (ostensibly referencing his failed relationships). Shortly thereafter came the already-deleted and somewhat confusing Grande tweets, which many are taking to be jabs at Davidson. "For somebody who claims to hate relevancy u sure love clinging to it huh," was her first one, followed by, "thank u, next." USA Today notes Davidson had previously poked fun of his whirlwind-romance-gone-south during a comedy show last month, in which he quipped: "Well, as you could tell, I don't want to be here. There's a lot going on." Grande didn't seem to get (publicly) peeved at that joke. (Grande has been having a tough time after ex Mac Miller died.)

Rookie is an online magazine and book series for teenagers. Each month, a different editorial theme drives the writing, photography, and artwork that we publish. Learn more about us here , and find out how to submit your work here ! “Whoa, impressive taste for a teen-girl mag!” This comment, in one form or another, often gets directed at us on Twitter, especially on Friday nights, right after we post our weekly playlists. It’s also something I hear a lot in real life when I tell people—especially grown men—who I write for. “Wow!” they’ll say. “Good work, ladies!” Their surprise might be based on our staff’s working knowledge of punk rock history (yes, we know who the Wipers are) or on the fact that Rookie’s articles are actually thoughtful and well written, but it’s always condescending and insulting, and never itself much of a surprise. I know I’m coming dangerously close to generalizing about ALL men in the exact same way I’m complaining that SOME men generalize about young women. There are, of course, many male critics who celebrate teen-girl fandom and our voices as cultural consumers and analysts and don’t roll their eyes when we gush about 1D or whatever. Thank you for that, dudes. But because men have more power across the board than women in our culture, they get the message, from birth, that their opinions about things are the Most Important Opinions. Whether they choose to believe this is up to them, but rejecting it is a lot harder than sitting back and enjoying it. So I can hardly blame the many, many adult males who seem to have this cute assumption that all girls are dying for their approval of our cultural tastes, though we never actually asked for it. And I guess it’s kind of understandable that they might assume we have shitty taste—but I still don’t totally understand their need to vocally criticize us for liking the things we like. When Tavi posted a link to an excerpt of her Taylor Swift piece for The Believer, a highly detailed and laborious work of pure love for Swift’s music, a male cartoonist called her out for liking what sounded to him like “the soundtrack to getting a froyo and then stopping at Target for a new pair of Crocs.” Not that she asked him! When I wrote a long piece for Buzzfeed about discovering Animal Collective and falling in love with them as a 12-year-old girl, dudes in the comments section made fun of my musical taste! Apparently my enthusiasm and knowledge meant nothing, because this band’s music wasn’t on the sacred list of Music Men Approve Of. And that’s just one example in a long history of criticisms lobbed against me and my apparent TEEN TASTES! Once, I was talking to an older male friend about the brilliance of Mean Girls, and he kept dismissing it as an airheaded comedy “for teens.” Obviously, he hadn’t seen it, because I think we all know that Mean Girls is a classic for people of any age. It wasn’t until I told him that the movie was written by Tina Fey that he seemed willing to reconsider his first reaction. Because 30 Rock is cool, but young women are NOT. When you applaud or critique a young girl’s taste based on how well or badly it aligns with yours, you are suggesting that your taste = THE RIGHT TASTE, because you are the one IN THE KNOW. I sometimes rate movies on the website Mubi, and I can’t count the number of times an older male cinephile has urged me to rewatch a film I’ve given a low score to, because obviously I “didn’t understand it” the first time around. “How do you even know about this?” they sometimes ask. “You weren’t even born when this movie came out.” Dude: I have the internet. This kind of cultural superiority complex extends to the makers of culture as well. For evidence, look at almost any piece written by a grown man about a young female artist. Here’s one: When Jody Rosen wrote about T. Swift for New York magazine, rather than ask this funny, smart, world-famous young pop star anything interesting about her work or her views on the world, he pitted her G-rated pop against Beyoncé’s and Rihanna’s more risqué work and let us know that Swift has never “writhed across a stage wearing a negligee, or less.” Rosen found Swift “witty,” “despite her public persona.” Because, what, cute girls can’t be funny? He marveled at the mostly female crowd at her concert for a full paragraph, but was careful to point out that there were “creepy dudes from Oklahoma” among the screaming young females, to illustrate…what? That Swift is so versatile that she appeals to both (a) females and (b) male creeps? The whole piece came across as the work of someone deeply out of their element. I mean, he described the male gaze as an “old feminist bugbear.” Why is this the person who was assigned to the Taylor Swift story? Following the U.S. premiere of Chris Lilley’s television show Ja’mie: Private School Girl, which has Lilley playing a highly exaggerated mean-girl archetype, several think pieces popped up to criticize not the show itself (even though there was plenty to legitimately criticize, as a few smart writers did), but rather…the sorry state of REAL YOUNG WOMEN in the world. In one such article on The Atlantic’s website, Jake Flanagin took a look at a work of over-the-top campy fiction and posed, in all apparent sincerity, this question (about real people!): “Why are young women turning into monsters?” I repeat: monsters. Ooh, scary! I’m sure we’re a big threat to straight white men who write for magazines like The Atlantic, what with all our dangerous selfies and Snapchats and sexts. Flanagin went on to wonder whether the average viewer was smart enough to tell that the show is satire: “Presumably, Lilley poses this array of amusing insecurities and prejudices as a critical device, not face-value comedy,” he sniffed. “But it’s difficult to say whether the audience can discern the difference.” As a member of that audience and a teenage girl (aka future monster), I’d like to ease his fears, at least on that last point: Teenage girls know that Ja’mie: Private School Girl is satire; it’s by Chris Lilley, for god’s sake. Have you ever met a teenage girl, Jake? We don’t act like Ja’mie. Just like how you, a guy in his 20s, don’t act like Van Wilder. Or so I assume (insert a thousand winks here). I know I have a vested interest in this whole thing because I’m an aspiring cultural critic and a current young woman, but I think I speak for all girls and women between the ages of 13 and 19 when I say that grown-up male journalists are probably not the best choice to assign stories about teen-girl culture to (keeping in mind those aforementioned exceptions). What they come up with, too much of the time, is a lot of off-base and frankly clueless speculation about what girls think, what we do, what we want, and what we need. It’s not these dudes’ fault that they believe they know everything. They were raised that way. But they really don’t know much about us at all. Here’s a tip for them: Next time you’re musing as to what girls are all about, try to shut up and listen. ♦ ||||| High schooler and creator of online magazine Rookie, Tavi Gevinson is busy fashioning a DIY media empire that speaks to teens. Column One Tavi Gevinson rockets from Rookie to teen pop-culture heights High schooler and creator of online magazine Rookie, Tavi Gevinson is busy fashioning a DIY media empire that speaks to teens. In her Beatlemania schoolgirl outfit — gray miniskirt, knee-highs and electric-blue suede shoes — Tavi Gevinson looks like any other fashion-obsessed teen as she wanders the crowded aisles of Los Angeles' American Rag Cie. "I can't afford, like, anything here on my allowance," the 17-year-old says, scanning the store's horizon for any gems she might have missed. She pulls out her iPhone and responds to a text. Advertisement "My dad, he'll be here in about half an hour to pick me up," she says, heading toward a carousel rack of vintage-image postcards — "the one thing I actually can afford!" Gevinson is decisive as she plucks out certain moody postcards and quickly discards others. When the wobbly rack catches on the carpet and fails to turn, the petite Gevinson lifts the metal display and firmly plants it a few inches away, where it swirls freely. "There" she says sweetly. "I'll take these four." After paying, Gevinson tucks the cards away in her floral backpack. "Now, what were we talking about again?" One can forgive the high school senior for being a bit distracted. After flying in from Chicago, she was up late the night before finishing an essay. But the assignment wasn't for school. It was the editor's letter for Rookie, the online pop-culture magazine she started when she was 15; now she oversees a staff of about 80. There was also a photo shoot this morning, followed by a meeting with her agent and then another whirlwind shopping trip in Hollywood. She will appear at Skylight Books later to sign copies of "Rookie Yearbook Two," an annual print anthology of Rookie's best online writing paired with original content from the likes of Lena Dunham, Mindy Kaling, Judy Blume and singer-songwriter Grimes. The store expects an adoring mob of teenage fans for Gevinson, called "the future of journalism" by no less than Lady Gaga. Part Tina Brown, part Dorothy Parker, the quick-witted Gevinson has the ear — and Tumblr accounts — of a new generation of young women. Not to mention the eye of the media, the fashion world and, lately, Hollywood filmmakers. She was just 11 when she started the Style Rookie fashion blog out of her Oak Park, Ill., bedroom. Soon she was sitting on the front lines of New York's Fashion Week. Fast-forward to 2013: appearances on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" and "The Colbert Report," international speaking engagements and a role in the film "Enough Said" opposite Julia Louis-Dreyfus. With more than 4 million page views a month, Rookie is emerging as a DIY multiplatform media empire of sorts for Girl America. The goal has become to make people feel included, that they're cool enough or smart enough.” — Tavi Gevinson Share this quote "I'd felt like there wasn't a publication for teenagers that was respected. Or that I, myself, or my friends could really relate to," Gevinson says, settling into a booth at the cafe next door to American Rag, her creamy skin, crimson lipstick and blond bob giving her something of a "Ghost World"-era Scarlett Johansson quality. She slurps her lemonade. "One thing I'm very proud of is that Rookie has a lot of legitimacy in publishing and music journalism and fashion. As it's grown, the goal has become more to make people feel included, that they're cool enough or smart enough." Rookie beginnings The original Style Rookie blog impressed journalist Anaheed Alani so much she offered unsolicited help. "She emailed me and said: 'I work at the New York Times, and I will quit my job to help you,'" Gevinson says. "It was clear we were on the same wavelength. She's now second in command and my partner in a lot of ways." Alani, 43, now Rookie's editorial director, has no issues working for a teenage boss. "Tavi's one of the best bosses I've had," Alani says. "My rule for bosses and therapists is they have to be smarter than I am — and Tavi completely fits that bill." An instant success when it launched in late 2011, Rookie now boasts jewelry and makeup ads and hosts in-person Rookie events in cities across the country, such as an Urban Outfitters-sponsored road trip last year that included crown-making workshops — Gevinson feels her now-signature floral crowns show "a pride in one's girliness." In addition to material from the site, the Rookie yearbooks feature exclusive interviews with major pop cultural figures such as Morrissey, Chris Ware and Emma Watson; they're juxtaposed against personal essays by teens on universal issues such as sex, racism, friendship and feminism. Boiled down, Gevinson's message might be "embrace yourself" — and it seems to be resonating. "She's really, really popular with L.A. girls," says 16-year-old Xulani Akel, a sophomore at Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies. "It's so amazing that she's so young and so successful. I'm worried about getting, like, one B, and she has this whole company thing that she's doing and that she really enjoys. That sets the bar really high!" Fans at a bookstore Skylight Books is filling up. The teen girls filter in, some wearing brightly colored floral headbands, others in swingy skirts and glittering prom crowns. Most carry a certain dog-eared book tucked under their arms as they swing between intensely focused and bubbling over with excitement. Like a religious pilgrimage, many come bearing gifts cradled in their arms for Gevinson, who at the moment sits in the store's office loft, overlooking the main floor. Chitchatting with the two Rookie contributors who will be reading with her tonight, Gevinson looks very much her age. "This'll be fun. Who wants to go first?" she asks them, as if the event were an impromptu school talent show. Moments later, however, when Gevinson takes the podium before a now settled-in crowd of about 150 rapt girls, she is preternaturally poised as she faces the crowd. She holds her iPhone out in front of her with two hands, as if it were stiff essay paper, and reads off the screen in an adult, measured tone. How is she able to ingest so much pop culture daily, interview her heroes, blog prolifically, write essays for Rookie and oversee her staff — all while attending high school? It's simple time management, she says earlier in the day, at the cafe on La Brea Avenue. Gevinson spends nearly every sliver of downtime listening to podcasts or music — most recently Lorde, Taylor Swift and Kanye West — while walking to school, for example, or watching old episodes of "Freaks and Geeks" and "My So-Called Life" at night. Study hall, she says, is a perfect time to read other books she finds more relevant in the long run, like "Girl Power" by Marisa Meltzer. Such efficiency, however, is not without sacrifice. "There are compromises," Gevinson says. "Like there have been times when my grades have suffered or I can't visit my boyfriend when I'd like to because I have a number of interviews that day. But it's worth it." Still, Gevinson's parents have made sure to keep her life "full of normal teenage stuff," says her father, Steve. She attends the local public high school and recently got an allowance increase. She doesn't yet earn a salary from Rookie — though that may change soon, he says, as the site becomes more profitable — and speaking engagement fees go into her savings. The total sum of her liquid assets from day to day is her allowance: $25 a week. She left the room and I said, 'I want her.'” — "Enough Said" director Nicole Holofcener Share this quote "It's a nice little fiction that we're living out because she has this bank account," he says. "But she likes living that way. We like her living that way." Like many proud "pop culture nerds," Gevinson has a not-so-subtle obsessive streak. She might get up at 3 a.m. to rearrange all her books, she says, and not only journals her life's every happening, from monumental to mundane, but also "curates" her peripheral pop culture experiences to match her moods. "Sophomore year I had my heart broken by a boy. I loved the feeling of heartbreak with dressing in nightgowns from the '70s, lighting candles and listening to Heart and Carole King," she says. "I documented it all. It's like making a bunch of little movies. It makes me feel like I'm in control and everything has a place in the world." These days, Gevinson's mood is often a mix of excitement and trepidation. She's awaiting graduation in May and has applied to New York University, Barnard, Brown and Wesleyan — though she'd like to take a year off first to live in New York and focus on Rookie as well as other creative ventures, such as acting. "Enough Said" director Nicole Holofcener has no trouble envisioning Gevinson as a movie star. "Tavi walked in [to auditions], this little lovely thing, an angel with red lips and pink cheeks," Holofcener says. "She was maybe more nervous than someone who's been in a million films, but that nervousness was so natural and vulnerable and sweet. She left the room and I said, 'I want her.'" How does all this high-profile success translate in the halls, on an everyday basis, at school in suburban Illinois? Stirring the straw in her lemonade, Gevinson plays down her success, insisting that most kids at her school are either unaware of her growing fame or they don't particularly care. Suddenly, three eager heads poke out of a nearby booth, their hands waving furiously at Gevinson. "Hi, Tavi!" they squeal in unison. "We love you." Gevinson shrugs and breaks into a little-girl smile herself, giggling at the absurdity. "Oh, I guess they recognize me," she says. On her way out of the cafe, Gevinson pauses at the door. "I just hate 'voice of a generation' stuff," she says, balking at the suggestion. "You put someone on a pedestal and of course they can't represent all of feminism or all people their age or whatever." And with that, Gevinson scurries out to the parking lot to meet her dad, her books and notes for the evening's reading bundled in her arms. Contact the reporter Follow Deborah Vankin(@debvankin) on Twitter Follow @latgreatreads on Twitter ||||| Rookie is an online magazine and book series for teenagers. Each month, a different editorial theme drives the writing, photography, and artwork that we publish. Learn more about us here , and find out how to submit your work here ! When the movie Shallow Hal came out in theaters, I didn’t know how to articulate why I didn’t find it as funny as my friends did. Why I, 11 years old in a baggy T-shirt and squeezed into my cinema seat, wanted to hide, while everyone around me guffawed at the onscreen hijinks. But now I know: That was the first time I looked at a movie screen and saw an image that looked like me. And that image fucking sucked. For those of you who haven’t seen it, let me save you the pain: Shallow Hal is about a guy called Hal who falls in love with Rosemary, a fat woman played by Gwyneth Paltrow in a fat suit. The “joke” is that Hal has been hypnotized to see Rosemary as thin, but everyone else knows her true size. She breaks every chair she sits on and her cannonballs empty a swimming pool (LOLOLOL fat people, amirite? Why do they even bother leaving the house!), but he thinks she’s hot. When Hal finally sees her as she really is, he becomes a better man and learns not to judge people on appearances—because he fell in love with a fat girl he thought was thin and therefore learned that fat people actually have brains and hearts and feelings and personalities! What a hero! The reactions Gwyneth’s character got from people (aside from Hal) were very familiar to me. I’ve gotten the same reactions all my life: at the pool or at the food court or in the school gym or on a plane when I, too, had the gall to be FIP (fat in public). This movie, though not deep or heartfelt, also touches on something that is very real for a lot of fat girls: the idea that a thin, pretty version of yourself exists underneath your fat, and if you only bothered to excavate her, you might be happy/loved/successful. I call this the “but you’ve got such a pretty face” syndrome, based on comments I’ve heard my entire life—from relatives, from movies, from TV—that say in no uncertain terms, “You’re not good enough now, but with a little work, you could be.” We (people, women, Rookie) talk a lot about media representations of women and how they affect the lives of real, nonfamous women and girls. We celebrate Beyoncé’s power and her unapologetic, take-no-prisoners attitude (in her life and her art) and the messages these things send to young girls. We talk about the pressure that unrealistic beauty ideals in magazines and other mass media puts on girls, and how that affects their self-esteem. But it’s harder to talk about the way fat women are represented on TV and in film, and how these representations affect fat women (like me) IRL, because there are so few examples of our being seen as anything besides walking, talking truffle-shuffle jokes. It’s hard to work out how to do something properly when it’s so rarely been done at all. And it’s really, really hard to be OK with your body when you’re constantly being reminded that it’s something for other people to laugh at. The “pretty face” message was stunningly, heartbreakingly brought to the screen in episode two of the British TV series My Mad Fat Diary, one of very few shows on the air ever that have featured an authentic and multidimensional fat female character. In this episode, that character, Rae Earl, a 16-year-old girl, has just been released from a psychiatric hospital following a suicide attempt. We see her get into an argument with her best friend Chloe (who is thin, conventionally beautiful, and outgoing), then we see her weigh herself and hear bits from her diary in voiceover: “I am a body dysmorphic, without the dysmorphic. I am bulimic without the sick. I am fat.” What follows is a dream sequence in which Rae lowers a zipper that runs down her back and sheds her “fat self,” revealing a curvy lingerie model underneath. She drags her flabby shell down the stairs, takes it into the backyard, and sets it on fire. I followed Rae’s story obsessively throughout the show’s first season, because I saw so many memories in it of my own teenage years. When Rae lies down on the grass near the boy she likes, tugs at her T-shirt, and positions her hands across her stomach in a subtle attempt to hide its size, I replay in my mind scenes of myself doing those exact same things. When Rae struggles to find a swimsuit to wear to a pool party, I’m transported back to tear-filled changing rooms, where I relive my terror at the thought of anyone from school seeing me without my clothes on. But Rae is more than her insecurities and issues. She loves music and tells jokes. She’s a supportive friend and occasionally acts out as a bratty teenager. To me, Rae is a wonderful fat female character because her weight is important to her back story, but it’s never more important than her obsessive love of Madchester bands or her kind, sensitive personality. She makes us laugh by telling jokes, not by eating, struggling to walk, falling over, breaking chairs, or doing other Fat Person Things. She is Rae first, fat later. In this, Rae is kind of the inverse of the roles Rebel Wilson has been playing lately. After appearing briefly (but memorably) in Bridesmaids (more on that movie later), Wilson went on to star in the a cappella comedy Pitch Perfect, in the dark comedy Bachelorette, and on her own TV series, Super Fun Night, which is on the air now. In those three roles, Wilson’s weight informs her character. Pitch Perfect’s Fat Amy hates exercise and, in the movie’s uplifting climax, tells the thin girls on her singing team that she loves them because they have “fat hearts.” Becky, Wilson’s character in Bachelorette, is a mope whose friends tread all over her and tear her wedding dress in half when two of them get inside it and express their jealous disbelief that she’s about to marry a handsome guy. Kimmie Boubier, Wilson’s character in Super Fun Night, is the butt of almost every joke (many of them about Spanx—I counted five in the first episode alone). I wanted to love this show, just like I wanted to love Pitch Perfect (I did love Bachelorette, despite its characters’ awful treatment of Becky, because I find Adam Scott singing “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” irresistible, and I love seeing Kirsten Dunst being a hot mess), but they both just left me feeling shortchanged—especially Super Fun Night. After all the years of crappy role models, I was so psyched to see an actress—who, like me, is a fat Australian girl obsessed with Salt-N-Pepa and improv comedy—make it to the top of the comedy world, where she could’ve pitched any show she wanted to. Imagine my disappointment when I saw her, Super Fun Night’s star and one of its writers and executive producers, telling the world to keep laughing at the miserable fat girl who loses the handsome love interest to her skinny rival. ||||| Rookie is an online magazine and book series for teenagers. Each month, a different editorial theme drives the writing, photography, and artwork that we publish. Learn more about us here , and find out how to submit your work here ! Rookie is no longer publishing new content , but we hope you'll continue to enjoy the archives , or books , and the community you've helped to create. Thank you for seven very special years! ✴ Although she had no music out at this time last year, by now Lorde requires no introduction. Seventeen years old, from New Zealand, with a richly hushed voice that she lays over minimal beats—you’ve heard all this. You’ve probably also heard her portrayed as some kind of alpha-Daria. According to one YouTube commenter (I SWEAR I WASN’T READING YOUTUBE COMMENTS, THIS ONE WAS ALREADY AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE), “She’s like that awkward-ass girl in the back of your class lol.” According to many of the writers who have profiled her, she’s the patron saint of Weird Girls Everywhere. What these people don’t realize is that her reach goes far beyond a very hip sect on Tumblr. In fact, Lorde’s song “Royals” was #1 on the radio for nine weeks straight. Her debut album, Pure Heroine, got her four Grammy nominations. She is not niche. She is huge. But despite the commercial and critical success of her music, and the fact that she was signed to Universal at the age of 13, Lorde is continually portrayed as an underdog. Adult journalists tend to see only “edgy”-looking outsiders in the backs of classrooms identifying with her music, and totally miss the fact that hordes of snapchatting normies understand her, too, and vice versa. This is not only because they tend to underestimate Lorde’s ability to appeal to the masses. They also underestimate the capacity of “normal” teenagers to appreciate thoughtful, unflashy music. Sure, Lorde dresses like a witch and drips with sarcasm in interviews. Her best-known song denounces the materialism that other artists show off, and other ones say things like, “I’ll let you in on something big: I’m not a white-teeth teen.” But they also declare, “I’m little, but I’m coming for the crown. I’m little, but I’m coming for the title held by everyone who’s up.” And “We’re bigger than we ever dreamed, and I’m in love with being queen.” And “I’m doing this for the thrill of it, killing it, never not chasing the million things I want. And I am only as young as the minute is, full of it, getting pumped up on the little bright things I bought.” Do not for one second mistake her stoicism for self-deprecation, or think it’s only goth girls who relate. The album is a delightful cluster of such contradictions: Lorde is content with the world she’s created for herself but eager to make waves in the one outside. Bored by the suburbs but endlessly in love with them. Critical of the other songs on the radio but wondering if she’s any better (follow up a listen to “Royals” with “Still Sane”: “Only bad people live to see their likeness set in stone—what does that make me?”). It’s also insanely beautiful. A thorough listen feels like driving with shadows shifting across your face, quiet and thoughtful, in a car full of rowdier friends. Lorde elevates her suburban experiences to the level of mythology, becoming an empress surrounded by hounds, marking underpasses as her territory. She fixates on blood and veins as well as on the simple wonder of connecting with someone and wanting to experience everything with them. You can tell by the sound of her haunting voice that she means every word, and that she knows she’s on the edge of erupting, as if to say: I’ve been taking notes and keeping secrets, and I want to share them with you now. I met Ella (her given name) in October, after we’d both discovered via online interviews and social media that we shared a mutual admiration (she’s a Rookie!), so this interview got pretty conversational, but I liked that we could talk to each other as peers. We gave it a try on the night we met, but we were on a noisy restaurant rooftop and my recorder wasn’t working. (I was also nervous about meeting her and embarrassed when she called me out for humming “Royals” under my breath subconsciously.) (She was nice about it.) (It is a really catchy song.) She was generous enough to agree to a do-over last month, and we talked for over two hours on Skype. She addressed, among other things, the pervasive line that journalists dole out about her: “While I dress and talk somewhat differently from other people whose songs are in the Top 40, I feel like more people dress like me than the media makes out.” Instead of letting a few random sartorial choices narrow our expectations of music and music listeners, let us appreciate what Lorde’s popularity says about all sorts of people, which is the only way to describe her demographic. And let us see what she has to say for herself, right here. TAVI: How does it feel to be home right now? LORDE: It feels really good. I’m definitely not on holiday yet—I’ve been writing outlines for what I want to happen onstage for the tour and the next music video and this, like, big TV performance I’ve got coming up. It’s not work, per se, but—yeah, work. I’m curious, because I love what I do, but it is also a job, and everyone at times doesn’t like their job. What do you do when it starts to feel too much like work? Often I’m able to work on my own timeline—I’ll give myself enough time that if I don’t feel like doing something, I can wait and do it a few days later or whatever. That’s good. I want to start out by saying that what I want to do with this is…I’m in a unique position in interviewing you because we’re the same age– Holla. And I feel like everything I read about you is like grown men writing— Oh my god, that tweet you made where you were like, “She laces her Converse…” I was like, “This is so accurate!” There’s a definite viewpoint of the think piece by an adult writing about kids. "She giggles, lacing her Chuck Taylors. She may be famous, but she's still just a kid." -end of every profile of a well-known young person — Tavi Gevinson (@tavitulle) November 4, 2013 It’s true! The end is always like, “She does [this childlike thing] but she also does [this adultlike thing]. Whoa!” Mine is “She squeals…” Yeah! That’s what I’d just read when I wrote that! Or, no, it was a profile of Saoirse Ronan where they were like, “Then she’s just a kid in her Keds…” [Laughs] Yeah, so terrible. So I just want this to be, like…a lot of our readers really relate to you, and I want this to be for them. Not music-journalism-y or about “the pop music landscape.” Aw, yeah, yuck. Well, this is fun! ||||| The Wonder Years (1988–1993, ABC) This series was set in the 1960s and aired in the 1980s, but I first watched it as reruns in the late ’90s, which I think proves that it is truly timeless. It follows Kevin Arnold, played by Fred Savage, as he navigates the transition from sixth grade to high school. Unlike shows that actually aired in the 1960s, The Wonder Years shows growing up in the suburbs for what it really is: underwhelming, haunting, and hilarious all at the same time. Kevin is obsessed with this girl named Winnie Cooper, who is the ultimate girl-next-door (and is played by the real-life math whiz Danica McKellar). Winnie is friendly and beautiful, yet smart and kinda elusive. Honestly, I wish this the show would have been about Winnie. She is my ultimate style icon (you can catch her sporting short bangs, cat-eye glasses, and overalls in the pilot episode alone). My parents both grew up in the ’60s and would always say really nostalgic stuff when we’d watch this together, and I’d be all, “Ugh, guys, shut up!” But now just thinking about the opening credits to this show makes me want to cry wistful tears. —Gabby Seven Minutes in Heaven (1985) In my experience, a lot of the movies you adored as a kid don’t really hold up when you revisit them five or 10 years later. But having recently watched this for the first time since the ’90s, I can say with utmost confidence that Seven Minutes in Heaven is ONE OF THE BEST TEEN MOVIES EVER. It’s a quiet, realistic depiction of the murky entanglements between best friends and first loves. A 15-year-old Jennifer Connelly plays the quiet, studious Natalie, who is smart but is still trying to figure people out. When her dad goes away to a conference, she immediately allows her best male friend, Jeff, to crash at her parentless place after he fights with his own stepdad. Their cohabitation is terribly innocent, though it’s clear that Jeff is hopelessly in love with Natalie. Many mortifying things happen—like when she accidentally walks in on him in the bathroom and realizes what shacking up truly means. Meanwhile, Natalie’s best friend Polly (played by the awesome Maddie Corman) is less interested in love and devotion than good old-fashioned s-e-x, especially after a random encounter with a pro baseball player (and underwear model). The dialogue is so sweet and realistic, with Jennifer Connelly constantly dropping jewels like, “Parents and kids always fight. It’s the way of the world.” I could live inside this movie. —Julianne This Christmas (2007) Named after Donny Hathaway’s classic song, This Christmas follows the Whitfield family as they reunite for the holidays for the first time in four years. Ma’Dere’s children return to her quiet home with a whole lot of skeletons jingling noisily in their closets—with the exception of Baby (played by a still sweet-faced Chris Brown). Quentin’s on the run, Claude has two major secrets, Melanie’s got a new boo, and there’s some turbulence between career-driven, single Kelli and married Lisa, whose husband, Malcolm, is rather shady. The Whitfield kids work through the difficulties within and among themselves, and the warm-fuzzies-inducing moral of the story is that the bonds of family, trust, and love are the most important things of all. A part of me watches this movie every year for the epic baby-oil, belt, and shower scene (it’s not what you think!) with Lisa and Malcolm. Another part of me watches for all the eye candy, including Lauren London, who plays Melanie. But mostly, each year I look forward to watching Baby’s golden rendition of Otis Redding’s “Try A Little Tenderness,” which is easily one of the most memorable moments in the film. —Nova Angel (1999–2004, the WB) Angel was born out of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy fans know Angel as the vampire with a soul, which was the result of a gypsy curse. He feels crushing guilt for his days as Angelus, one of the most ruthless vampires in Europe, and to help alleviate it, he works with Buffy to fight the big BAD. They also fall in love, and when that relationship ends somewhat disastrously, he heads to demon-filled L.A. and opens Angel Investigations to continue fighting evil. I came to both Buffy and Angel late, checking them both out for the first time just last year. On the advice of my brother, I watched them in tandem, and while you’d probably get the most out of Angel that way because of the character crossover, it totally stands on its own. Two of my favorite characters are wholly original to Angel: Lorne, the demon lounge singer, and Fred, a physicist who was trapped in a demon dimension for five years (played by Amy Acker, one of my favorite actresses ever). All of the characters are multi-faceted—they’re dark and dramatic, as well as comedic. And that’s what I love most about Angel: Its premise, about finding redemption, is serious, but there are a lot of downright hilarious moments. It’s Joss Whedon doing what he does best! I really wish this show could have lasted forever, but at least it has eternal life on Netflix. —Stephanie Jeux d’enfants (2003) Jeux d’enfants aka Love Me If You Dare tells the tale of Julien (Guillaume Canet) and Sophie (Marion Cotillard), friends who begin a mischievous game of dares as children (Julien pees in the principal’s office!) that follows them into high school (Sophie wears a bra over a T-shirt during a class presentation!). As they become adults, it finally escalates into a sadistic competition that also is an excuse for them to stay connected to each other—possibly forever. If you’re a fan of unconventional love stories and the whimsy of movies like Amélie, put Jeux d’enfants in your queue immediately! You will either be charmed, irritated, or, hopefully, a little bit of both. Fun fact: Canet and Cotillard actually fell in love while making this movie and are still together today. —Marie A Christmas Story (1983) A Christmas Story will always be synonymous with the holidays for me because it’s been a favorite of my parents since they were young. I’ve watched it almost every winter for as far back as I can remember, and because its protagonist, a grade-schooler named Ralphie, is so hilarious, it never gets old. I’d watch as he groans about his father’s questionable taste in home decor (e.g. the iconic fishnet-clad lamp leg that is the center of one the movie’s plot lines), grimly dons a bunny suit gifted to him by a relative that thinks it’s just soooo cute, and, most crucially, pines for a BB gun (the gift he most wishes will appear beneath the tree) regardless of the season—although, of course, it’s best around this time of year. This movie is a perfect portrait of exactly what’s most exasperating AND most wonderful about being part of a family, which is why I love to watch it with my folks so much. See it with someone close to you, and “You’ll shoot your eye out!” will become a phrase that’s much warmer-feeling than it sounds. —Amy Rose Torchwood (2006–2011, BBC; 2011, Starz) I first found out about Torchwood while listening to a discussion panel about the show at San Diego Comic-Con. I had never seen an episode of this Doctor Who spin-off (Torchwood is an anagram of Doctor Who), so I didn’t understand what the hell anyone was talking about as storylines and character motives were being dissected by diehard fans and the show’s crew. All I knew was that John Barrowman, the only actor from the cast on the panel, was the most charismatic person I’d ever been in the same room with. Based entirely on this guy’s candor and amazing smile, I bought the two seasons of the show that were available at the time. The gamble paid off because Barrowman’s charm comes across in every scene he’s in. But it’s not just him: This whole sci-fi drama, about a group of people tracking down aliens on Earth, is just incredible. The Torchwood team, including the immortal Captain Jack Harkness (Barrowman) and new recruit Gwen (Eve Myles—who is just as captivating as Barrowman), deal with things like underground alien fight clubs, otherworldly technology that resurrects the dead, and cannibals. You get all of the mystery and adventure that make this genre so much fun, but the show is just as much about humanity and mortality as it is about extraterrestrials and the supernatural. In Torchwood: Miracle Day, the show’s fourth season, human death in the world stops, which causes all kinds of practical and philosophical problems. It’s pretty common these days for sci-fi shows and movies to have some sort of existential theme (you know, like using aliens to make a point about what it means to be human). But when characters on Torchwood confront things like death, which of course can be dramatic and entertaining, it’s done in a way that inspires genuine sympathy and introspection. —Amber The NeverEnding Story (1984) Sorry, I can’t see. My eyes are filling with tears…like every time I even think about this goddamn movie! The NeverEnding Story starts with a little boy, Bastian, who is being bullied at school. One day, he’s drawn to a mysterious book in a dark little shop; he swipes it behind the owner’s back, and then his adventure BEGINS. Squirrelled away in his school’s attic, he spends the day reading about a world called Fantasia where the borders are disappearing into a malevolent force called The Nothing. Fantasia’s ruler, the Childlike Empress, is ill because of The Nothing, and she summons the child warrior Atreyu to discover and banish the source of this danger. From the scenes of Bastian skipping school to read a book (MY FANTASY) to the wondrous characters—the beautiful and wise Childlike Empress, Falkor the flying dragon, and a giant bat that continually falls asleep—this film entranced me as a child. Throw in a magical amulet, the idea that every child (and their imagination) is important, and an amazing theme song (Limahl’s ’80s classic “The Neverending Story”), and you’ve got a film that will stick with me for life. —Estelle Nirvana: MTV Unplugged in New York (1993, MTV; 2007, DVD release) Most bands in the ’90s that went on MTV’s acoustic performance series, MTV Unplugged, did versions of their greatest hits, but not Nirvana. Aside from “Come As You Are” and “All Apologies,” the band went with their lesser known-material (they opened with “About a Girl,” which Kurt introduced by saying, “This is off our first record, most people don’t own it”) and an incredible selection of largely unknown cover songs (like the Meat Puppets’ “Lake of Fire”). The episode initially aired right around this time of year, and to me, a 14-year-old Nirvana fan, it was like a Christmas present from the band. It proved they could be just as powerful with all the distortion stripped away—and Krist Novoselic playing an accordion! Four months later, when Kurt Cobain committed suicide, MTV played the episode nonstop, and it became the performance that immortalized him. It feels strangely prescient, and the song choices (“Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam” by the Vaselines, “The Man Who Sold the World” by David Bowie) and white stargazer lilies and black candles decorating the set are all eerie to take in now. But there are so many moments that are pure, beautiful Kurt, like when he forces a smile, chastises himself for screwing up a song, and jokes with his bandmates (“What are they tuning back there? A harp?”). My favorite songs are his solo version of the band’s “Pennyroyal Tea” and the cover of Lead Belly’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night.” The moment during the last chorus, around 4:46 in this video, when he takes a deep breath and opens his eyes wide is EVERYTHING to me. —Stephanie Home for the Holidays (1995) Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, so it makes sense that my favorite holiday movie is a Thanksgiving movie—one of a genre that clearly needs more love. Home for the Holidays, directed by Jodie Foster, stars Holly Hunter as a big-city art restorer who, yep, goes home to her parents’ house to eat some turkey just as her own life is falling apart: She gets fired from her job, her love life is nonexistent, and her teenage daughter (Claire Danes in full-on My So-Called Life mode) is planning to lose her virginity. Anne Bancroft, one of modern cinema’s sexiest women, plays Hunter’s mother in a chain-smoking, wig-wearing, decidedly unglamorous part. Robert Downey, Jr. is Hunter’s brother, and even though RDJ has said he barely remembers making the movie because he was so high during its filming, I still find his goofiness totally charming. The reason this movie is so good is because it feels wonderfully true to life. Are any of us ever really adults when we’re at our parents’ house? I don’t think so. There’s a romance in there, too, but that part doesn’t even matter—it’s all about being in the kitchen with your siblings at midnight, talking about how crazy your parents are, and gorging on leftovers. —Emma S The Family Stone (2005) This is one of my favorite holiday movies and maybe one of my favorite movies, period. It’s Christmas, and the grown Stone children are converging on their parents’ cozily decorated New England home, which you’ll probably wish you could live in or at least snoop around. Some of my favorite actors play the Stones: Diane Keaton is the matriarch, Craig T. Nelson is the dad, Luke Wilson is the slacker brother, Rachel McAdams is the cynical sis, and Dermot Mulroney is Everett, the Good-Looking One. Everett brings his new fiancée Meredith (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) home for the holidays, and let’s just say the Stones aren’t warming up to her. What follows is a story of awkward encounters, clashing ‘tudes, and general mayhem. The Family Stone is better than other films about crazy, family-oriented Christmas antics, though, because of the performances. The snark-levels are high with Wilson, McAdams, and Keaton’s characters, and they make great foils to Parker’s uptight Meredith. Not to mention the family dynamics in the movie are just straight-up real. Those weird political conversations that happen at every fucking holiday gathering? This movie hits that nail right on the head in a particularly cringe-worthy scene in which Meredith explains her feelings regarding homosexuality and what’s “normal” to the family’s gay son Thad and his partner, Patrick. In The Family Stone, Christmas isn’t sugarplums and fairies: it’s children getting older and the strain of family politics. Oh, and Claire Danes makes an appearance as Meredith’s charming younger sister! Just watch it, folks. —Hazel ♦

– Tavi Gevinson became a fixture in the fashion world at age 11, thanks to her blog Style Rookie. Today, she's 17 and running Rookie, an online magazine delving into everything from pop culture to feminist issues to love to body image to celebrity interviews. Tavi and Rookie have come a long way since the magazine launched in 2011. Tavi now oversees an 80-person staff; the magazine's 43-year-old editorial director quit her job at the New York Times to come work for the teen. "My rule for bosses and therapists is they have to be smarter than I am—and Tavi completely fits that bill," Anaheed Alani tells the Los Angeles Times. Tavi also does book signings (Rookie puts out a print anthology of its best work, plus new content, each year), speaking engagements, and photo shoots; she's been interviewed by Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon; she even had a role in the film Enough Said. But she's also a senior at a public high school in suburban Illinois who has to get by on a $25-a-week allowance. (She's not yet drawing a salary from Rookie, though it gets more than 4 million page views a month and features jewelry and makeup ads; her dad says she may start getting paid soon.) Of the magazine, she says, "The goal has become more to make people feel included, that they're cool enough or smart enough." The Times' full profile is worth a read.

Photo — The Norwegian man charged Saturday with a pair of attacks in Oslo that killed at least 92 people left behind a detailed manifesto outlining his preparations and calling for a Christian war to defend Europe against the threat of Muslim domination, according to Norwegian and American officials familiar with the investigation. As stunned Norwegians grappled with the deadliest attack in the country since World War II, a portrait began to emerge of the suspect, Anders Behring Breivik , 32. The police identified him as a right-wing fundamentalist Christian, while acquaintances described him as a gun-loving Norwegian obsessed with what he saw as the threats of multiculturalism and Muslim immigration . “We are not sure whether he was alone or had help,” a police official, Roger Andresen, said at a televised news conference. “What we know is that he is right wing and a Christian fundamentalist.” In the 1,500-page manifesto, posted on the Web hours before the attacks, Mr. Breivik recorded a day-by-day diary of months of planning for the attacks, and claimed to be part of a small group that intended to “seize political and military control of Western European countries and implement a cultural conservative political agenda.” He predicted a conflagration that would kill or injure more than a million people, adding, “The time for dialogue is over. We gave peace a chance. The time for armed resistance has come.” The manifesto was signed Andrew Berwick, an Anglicized version of his name. A former American government official briefed on the case said investigators believed the manifesto was Mr. Breivik’s work. The manifesto, entitled “2083: A European Declaration of Independence,” equates liberalism and multiculturalism with “cultural Marxism,” which the document says is destroying European Christian civilization. The document also describes a secret meeting in London in April 2002 to reconstitute the Knights Templar, a Crusader military order. It says the meeting was attended by nine representatives of eight European countries, evidently including Mr. Breivik, with an additional three members unable to attend, including a “European-American.” The document does not name the attendees or say whether they were aware of Mr. Breivik’s planned attacks, though investigators presumably will now try to determine if the people exist and what their connection is to Mr. Breivik. Photo Thomas Hegghammer, a terrorism specialist at the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment, said the manifesto bears an eerie resemblance to those of Osama bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders, though from a Christian rather than a Muslim point of view. Like Mr. Breivik’s manuscript, the major Qaeda declarations have detailed accounts of the Crusades, a pronounced sense of historical grievance and calls for apocalyptic warfare to defeat the religious and cultural enemy. “It seems to be an attempt to mirror Al Qaeda, exactly in reverse,” Mr. Hegghammer said. Mr. Breivik was also believed to have posted a video on Friday summarizing his arguments. In its closing moments, the video depicts Mr. Breivik in military uniform, holding assault weapons. Rarely has a mass murder suspect left so detailed an account of his activities. The manifesto describes in detail his purchase of chemicals, his sometimes ham-handed experiments making explosives and his first successful test detonation of a bomb in a remote location on June 13. He intersperses the account of bomb-making with details of his television-watching, including the Eurovision music contest and the American police drama “The Shield.” The manifesto ends with a chilling signoff: “I believe this will be my last entry. It is now Fri July 22nd, 12.51.” Indeed, the operation appeared to have been extremely well planned. According to the police, Mr. Breivik first drew security services to central Oslo when he exploded a car bomb outside a 17-story government office building, killing at least seven people. Then he took a public ferry to Utoya Island, where he carried out a remarkably meticulous attack on Norway ’s current and future political elite. Dressed as a police officer, he announced that he had come to check on the security of the young people who were attending a political summer camp there, many of them the children of members of the governing Labor Party . He gathered the campers together and for some 90 hellish minutes he coolly and methodically shot them, hunting down those who fled. At least 85 people, some as young as 16, were killed. The police said Saturday evening that they expected the death toll to climb. There were still bodies in the bombed government buildings in Oslo, and at least four people missing on Utoya. The police also said that unexploded munitions were still in some downtown Oslo buildings, and they had not ruled out the possibility that Mr. Breivik had accomplices. He was equipped, the police said, with an automatic rifle and a handgun; when the police finally got to the island — about 40 minutes after they were called, the police said — Mr. Breivik surrendered. Photo The police also said he had registered a farm in Rena, in eastern Norway, which allowed him to order a large quantity of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, an ingredient that can be used to make explosives. The authorities were investigating whether the chemical had been used in the bombing. Besides the manifesto, Mr. Breivik left other hints of his motives. A Facebook page and Twitter account were set up under his name days before the rampage. The Facebook page cites philosophers like Machiavelli, Kant and John Stuart Mill. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content , updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. His lone Twitter post, while not calling for violence, paraphrased Mill — “One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests” — suggesting what he saw as his ability to act. Those postings, along with what was previously known about Mr. Breivik publicly, aligned with but hardly predicted the bloody rampage he would undertake on Friday. Before then, he had been a member of the right-wing Progress Party, which began as an antitax protest and has been stridently anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim. Joran Kallmyr, a member of the party who is now Oslo’s vice mayor for transportation, said he met Mr. Breivik several times in 2002 and 2003 at local party meetings. “He was very quiet, almost a little bit shy,” Mr. Kallmyr said. “But he was a normal person with good behavior. He never shared any extreme thoughts or speech with us. There was absolutely no reason to expect that he could do something like this. We’re very shocked.” Mr. Breivik quit the party in 2006, apparently disappointed by the party’s move toward the center. “He didn’t like our politics, I guess, and moved on,” Mr. Kallmyr said. His Internet posts also indicated contempt for the Conservative Party, which he accused of having given up the battle against multiculturalism. But on Friday he directed his firepower at the center-left Labor Party, which leads the coalition government. “Breivik feels that multiculturalism is destroying the society and that the enforcing authority is the prime minister and the Labor Party, the lead party of contemporary Norwegian politics,” said Anders Romarheim, a fellow at the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies. Photo But the attacks, along with what appear to have been years of preparation for them, raised questions about whether the Norwegian security authorities, concentrating on threats of Islamic terrorism, had overlooked the threat from the anti-Islamic right. “This is the Norwegian equivalent to Timothy McVeigh ,” the right-wing American who bombed a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, said Marcus Buck, a political scientist at the University of Tromso in northern Norway. “This is right-wing domestic terrorism, and the big question is to what extent Norwegian agencies have diverted their attention from what they knew decades ago was the biggest threat” to focus instead on Islamic militants. The unclassified versions of the last three Norwegian Police Security Service reports assessing national threats all played down any threat by right-wing and nationalist extremists. Instead, the reports emphasized the dangers posed by radical Islam, groups opposed to Norway’s military involvement in Afghanistan and Libya , and others. The 2011 report, released early this year, concluded that “the far-right and far-left extremist communities will not represent a serious threat to Norwegian society.” Even after the attacks, that appeared to be the official position. “Compared to other countries I wouldn’t say we have a big problem with right-wing extremists in Norway,” Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told reporters at a news conference on Saturday. “But we have had some groups, we have followed them before, and our police is aware that there are some right-wing groups.” Even if the authorities had focused on right-wing groups, it was unlikely that they would have noticed Mr. Breivik. Kari Helene Partapuoli, director of the Norwegian Center Against Racism, said Mr. Breivik did not belong to any violent neo-Nazi groups that she was aware of, and his Internet postings, before those of last week, did not espouse violence. “The distance between the words spoken and the acts that he carried out is gigantic, because what he did is in a different league of what the debates have to do about,” she said. Arild Groven, secretary general of the Norwegian Shooting Association, a sports group, confirmed that Mr. Breivik had belonged to Oslo Pistolklubb, one of the 520 clubs in the association. “We all read and watch the news about the shootings in the United States ,” Mr. Groven said. “But it doesn’t happen here.” Mr. Romarheim said in some ways the homegrown nature of the attack made it harder for Norwegians to accept. “With 9/11 in America, people could ask, ‘Who are they?’ and could pour their rage out on someone else,” he said. “But we can’t disavow this person, he’s one of us.” ||||| The man blamed for attacks on Norway's government headquarters and a youth retreat said he was motivated by a desire to bring about a revolution in Norwegian society, his lawyer said Sunday. EDS NOTE: IMAGE HAS BEEN DIGITALLY ALTERED BY THE ORIGINAL SOURCE TO REMOVE THE BACKGROUND - This image shows Anders Behring Breivik from a manifesto attributed to him that was discovered Saturday, July... (Associated Press) EDS NOTE: IMAGE HAS BEEN DIGITALLY ALTERED BY THE ORIGINAL SOURCE TO REMOVE THE BACKGROUND - This image shows Anders Behring Breivik from a manifesto attributed to him that was discovered Saturday, July... (Associated Press) This is an undated image obtained from the Twitter page of Anders Behring Breivik, 32, who was arrested Friday July 22, 2011 in connection to the twin attacks on a youth camp and a government building... (Associated Press) Norway's Prince Haakon, center right, talks to teenagers attending a Labour Party youth wing summer camp on the Utoya island who survived a shooting spree outside the Sunvold Hotel, Sundvollen, Norway... (Associated Press) Teenagers who were attending a Labour Party youth wing summer camp on the Utoya island arrive at the Sunvold Hotel, Sundvollen, Norway Saturday July 23, 2011. A Norwegian gunman disguised as a police... (Associated Press) A man is taken away by police, who told members of the media as he was loaded into a police car, that he had been carrying a knife, shortly after Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg arrived at a... (Associated Press) In this image from TV, Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, obscured behind tree at centre, bends down to comfort unidentified people outside a hotel where survivors are being reunited with family... (Associated Press) In this image from TV, Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, centre, bends down to comfort an unidentified man outside a hotel where survivors are being reunited with family members in Sundvollen,... (Associated Press) Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, left, bends down to comfort survivors and their families outside a hotel where survivors are being reunited with family members in Sundvollen, Norway, Saturday,... (Associated Press) Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, right, speaks to the media in Sundvollen, Norway Saturday July 23, 2011. A Norwegian gunman disguised as a police officer beckoned his victims closer before... (Associated Press) Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, center, shakes hands with a survivor of the shooting at an island youth retreat, as he visited survivors and relatives at a hotel in Sundvolden, Norway, flanking... (Associated Press) EDS NOTE: IMAGE HAS BEEN DIGITALLY ALTERED BY THE ORIGINAL SOURCE TO REMOVE THE BACKGROUND - This image shows Anders Behring Breivik from a manifesto attributed to him that was discovered Saturday, July... (Associated Press) Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, right, speaks to the media in Sundvollen, Norway Saturday July 23, 2011. A Norwegian gunman disguised as a police officer beckoned his victims closer before... (Associated Press) EDS NOTE: IMAGE HAS BEEN DIGITALLY ALTERED BY THE ORIGINAL SOURCE TO REMOVE THE BACKGROUND - This image shows Anders Behring Breivik from a manifesto attributed to him that was discovered Saturday, July... (Associated Press) Norwegian police detain a young man, center, accused of carrying a knife outside a hotel where Norway's prime minister was meeting families of shooting victims in Sundvollen, Norway Saturday July 23,... (Associated Press) In this image from TV, Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, centre, talks to the media after talking with various people outside a hotel where survivors are being reunited with family members in... (Associated Press) Norwegian police detain a young man, center, accused of carrying a knife outside a hotel where Norway's prime minister was meeting families of shooting victims in Sundvollen, Norway Saturday July 23,... (Associated Press) A manifesto published online _ which police are perusing and said was posted the day of the attack _ ranted that the European elite, "multiculturalists" and "enablers of Islamization" would be punished for their "treasonous acts." Police have not confirmed that their suspect, 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik, wrote the document, but his lawyer referred to it and said Breivik had been working on it for years. Police and his lawyer have said that Breivik confessed to the twin attacks, but denied criminal responsibility for a day that shook peaceful Norway to its core and was the deadliest ever in peacetime. He has been charged with terrorism and will be arraigned on Monday. In all, 92 people were killed and 97 wounded. There are still people missing at both scenes, and divers searched the waters around the island Saturday for bodies. Body parts remain inside the Oslo building, which housed the prime minister's office. Norway's King Harald V and his wife Queen Sonja and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg joined mourners on Sunday at Oslo Cathedral, where the pews were packed, and the crowd spilled into the plaza outside the building. The area was strewn with flowers and candles, and people who could not fit in the grand church huddled under umbrellas in the rain. More was coming to light Sunday about the man who police say confessed to a car bomb at government headquarters in Oslo and then, hours later, opening fire on young people at an island political retreat. Both targets were linked to Norway's left-leaning Labor Party, and authorities have said Breivik held anti-Muslim views and posted on Christian fundamentalist websites. "He wanted a change in society and, from his perspective, he needed to force through a revolution," Geir Lippestad, his lawyer, told public broadcaster NRK. "He wished to attack society and the structure of society." Lippestad said Breivik spent years writing the 1,500-page manifesto that police were examining. It was signed "Andrew Berwick" _ an apparent anglicization of his name. Police Chief Sveinung Sponheim said there was no indication whether Breivik had selected his targets or fired randomly on the island. The manifesto vowed revenge on those who had betrayed Europe. "We, the free indigenous peoples of Europe, hereby declare a pre-emptive war on all cultural Marxist/multiculturalist elites of Western Europe. ... We know who you are, where you live and we are coming for you," the document said. "We are in the process of flagging every single multculturalist traitor in Western Europe. You will be punished for your treasonous acts against Europe and Europeans." Police spokesman John Fredriksen confirmed that the essay was posted the day of the attacks. The document signaled an attack was imminent: "In order to successfully penetrate the cultural Marxist/multiculturalist media censorship, we are forced to employ significantly more brutal and breath-taking operations, which will result in casualties." Witnesses at the island youth retreat described the way Breivik lured them close by saying he was a police officer before raising his weapons. People hid and fled into the water to escape the rampage; some played dead. While some on the island reported that there was a second assailant and police said they were looking into that, Lippestad, the lawyer, said his client claims to have acted alone. Police took 90 minutes from the first shot to reach the island _ delayed because they did not have quick access to a helicopter and struggled to find a boat once they reached the lake. Breivik surrendered when they reached him, but before 85 people died. Another seven were killed in the bombing. ___ DiLorenzo reported from Stockholm. Associated Press writers Ian MacDougall in Oslo, and Louise Nordstrom and Karl Ritter in Stockholm contributed.

– Anders Behring Breivik, the 32-year-old right-wing nationalist suspected of killing at least 92 people in Norway on Friday, apparently left behind a 1,500-page manifesto and a 12-minute video detailing his bizarre beliefs, reports the New York Times. The document, titled “2083: A European Declaration of Independence” and posted to the Internet hours before the attacks, blasts "multiculturalism" and "Marxism" and provides a detailed daily diary of Breivik's preparations in the months leading up to the attacks. Both his lawyer and police say he has confessed to the attacks, the AP reports. The manifesto claims that a small group of like-minded militants would “seize political and military control of Western European countries and implement a cultural conservative political agenda," and talks of a London meeting in 2002 to re-form the "Knights Templar" crusading order. “The time for dialogue is over. We gave peace a chance. The time for armed resistance has come," wrote Breivik, predicting a war that would kill or hurt more than 1 million people. Some analysts say the manifesto bears a striking resemblance to the writings of Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders. “It seems to be an attempt to mirror al-Qaeda," but from a Christian rather than Muslim viewpoint, says a Norwegian terrorism expert.

These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| from Wikipedia Aaron Hillel Swartz (November 8, 1986 – January 11, 2013) was an American computer programmer, writer, political organizer and Internet activist.Swartz was involved in the development of the web feed format RSS, the organization Creative Commons,[4] the website framework web.py and the social news site Reddit, in which he was an equal partner after its merger with his Infogami company. Swartz also focused on sociology, civic awareness and activism.[6][7] In 2010, he became a research fellow at Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Research Lab on Institutional Corruption, directed by Lawrence Lessig. He founded the online group Demand Progress, known for its campaign against the Stop Online Piracy Act. ||||| Watch your back, Rep. Thaddeus McCotter! Another 2012 Republican candidate’s attempt at making sweet music has appeared on the internet, and it’s a doozy– introducing Sunday Morning*, a gospel album recorded by former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain. Precious little is know about the 13-track album, which appeared on the internet today, but the soulful baritone crooning is certainly worth a listen. Cain had certainly not mentioned anything about a past life as a gospel singer, but a few tracks off of Sunday Morning made their way online today via the Daily Caller. It’s mostly standard gospel fare and mostly slow tracks at that, with one standout single: “This is the Day,” a fast-paced track reminiscent of “Footloose” that certainly wins the prize for funnest danceable track on the album. It is worth noting that it not yet 100% certain this is Herman Cain– Dave Weigel notes that the Cain campaign has yet to comment on the album, but “it’s real, it was published 15 years ago by GLC Music, Selah Sound Production & Melodic Praise Records, and it is not being distributed now by the Cain campaign.” With McCotter on guitar, Cain on vocals and maybe some keytar work by Jon Huntsman, we’ve got ourselves a band! Below the Daily Caller’s song widget (Weigel found a couple of more in downloadable format). Really, give “This is the Day” a listen!: *not to be confused with the Maroon 5 song of the same name. Have a tip we should know? [email protected]

– Just when you thought the Republican presidential contest couldn’t get any stranger, we have breaking news: Herman Cain has a gospel album. That’s right, the Daily Caller today discovered an album online bearing the GOP hopeful's distinctive baritone. Cain's camp hasn’t commented, but Dave Weigel of Slate has confirmed that “it’s real, it was published 15 years ago … and it is not being distributed now by the Cain campaign.” The six-track offering is entitled Sunday Morning, and believe it or not, it’s actually pretty decent. “It’s mostly standard gospel fare,” says Frances Martel of Mediaite, but it has “one standout single: ‘This is the Day,’ a fast-paced track reminiscent of 'Footloose' that certainly wins the prize for funnest danceable track on the album. … Really, give ‘This is the Day’ a listen!”

BOSTON (AP) — Lawyers for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR' tsahr-NEYE'-ehv) say his trial should have been held outside the city because jurors couldn't avoid widespread outrage over the deadly attack and he deserves a new trial elsewhere. A filing by the lawyers on Monday explains their push for a new trial for Tsarnaev, who was sentenced to death. The filing says even on social media jurors would have seen friends and relatives posting about the 2013 bombing. The lawyers argue a recent Supreme Court ruling about the vagueness of the definition of a "crime of violence" throws many convictions into question. The legal term "crime of violence" was applied to Tsarnaev's actions. Tsarnaev was convicted of 30 federal charges in the bombing, which killed three people died and injured more than 260. He apologized at his sentencing. ||||| Attorneys for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev appealed his conviction and death sentence on Monday, arguing that publicity made it impossible for him to get a fair trial in the city and that capital punishment is unconstitutional. In court papers, defense lawyer William Fick cited a recent dissent by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer in which he said that he believes the death penalty "now likely constitutes a legally prohibited 'cruel and unusual punishment.'" However, the majority opinion in that very same case opened with the declaration that "capital punishment is constitutional." Tsarnaev was sentenced to death in June for helping his older brother carry out the April 15, 2013, blasts that killed three people and injured and maimed more than 200 others. The appeal claims that "continuous and unrelenting publicity" about the bombings, the defendant and his family, and wrenching survivor stories prevented him from getting an impartial hearing. It notes that Boston announced a new holiday marking the bombings while jurors were deliberating Tsarnaev's guilt. As users of social media, the jurors would have found it impossible to avoid coverage, the appeal argues. "Put simply, prejudicial media coverage, events, and environment saturated greater Boston, including the social networks of actual trial jurors, and made it an improper venue for the trial of this case," the court papers say. The defense repeatedly asked for a change of venue before the trial began, but the requests were rejected by the judge. ||||| Despite the dramatic news from court, the Boston Marathon bomber’s fate will take years to reach its conclusion: only three of 340 prisoners sentenced to federal death row have been executed in the last 50 years Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has become the 62nd inmate on federal death row after he was sentenced to death on Friday for his part in the Boston Marathon bombings. He will now join the rarified group of men and women (two are female) awaiting execution on federal death row; at 21 he will be the youngest. Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sentenced to death Read more But despite the dramatic news from the Boston courtroom on Friday, Tsarnaev’s fate will take years to reach its conclusion. Many of his new federal death row peers have been sitting waiting for the appeals process to work its way out for more than 20 years. Though the Justice Department could attempt to fast-track executions in the name of public interest, death penalty experts expect the very quickest timeframe from Friday’s sentence to Tsarnaev actually being put on a gurney and injected with lethal chemicals would be at least 10 years. The prisoner’s team of legal defenders, led by Judy Clarke, have already indicated two strong lines of likely appeal: that on prejudicial grounds the trial should never have been held in Boston where the bombings happened; and that the defense was given insufficient time to mount a full argument in mitigation that might have convinced the jury to spare Tsarnaev from the federal death chamber in Terre Haute, Indiana. Most capital cases in the US are handled by individual death penalty states, mainly in the deep south, while the involvement of the federal government in America’s most controversial judicial practice has become increasingly unusual in modern times. Although a total number of 340 prisoners have been executed by the US government since 1790, in the past 50 years only three have died: Timothy McVeigh in June 2001 for the Oklahoma City bombing; Juan Raul Garza, also in 2001, for a triple drug murder; and convicted rapist and murderer Louis Jones two years later. One of the paradoxes about federal death row is that being the responsibility of the US government, it might be assumed to have a national logic in terms of the types of crimes and regions of the country in which it is deployed. But in fact capital punishment has been even more maverick in its application federally than by individual states. Almost half of Tsarnaev’s new federal death row peers were put there by just three states: Texas, which has put 11 prisoners there; Missouri, nine; and Virginia, seven. A further 13 states have one inmate each. Very few of those individuals fall into the same category as the Boston Marathon bomber, whose involvement in extreme acts of public violence or domestic terrorism brought a genuinely nationwide spotlight on them. Most of the 62 inmates were put there for reasons that seem almost tangential – maybe a murder was conducted on federal land, or the gun used in a shooting was carried across state lines.

– Not a huge surprise: Lawyers for Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev today appealed his death-penalty conviction, arguing that "continuous and unrelenting publicity" biased jurors and made a fair trial in Boston impossible, NBC News reports. "Put simply, prejudicial media coverage, events, and environment saturated greater Boston, including the social networks of actual trial jurors, and made it an improper venue for the trial of this case," say the papers. The lawyers want another trial at a new location, the AP reports. Earlier this year, the Guardian reminded us that Tsarnaev's appeals will likely delay his punishment for "at least a decade." The April 15, 2013, bomb strike in Boston left three dead and more than 200 maimed or injured.

The brunette suspect — described as white, in her 20s or 30s, 5-foot-8 and 130 pounds — is believed to have knocked over six stores in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and North Carolina since April. The most recent heist was Monday at a Jared Vault in Mebane, North Carolina, the FBI said. She forced two workers into a back room at gunpoint, zip-tied their hands and then piled jewelry from the cases into a shopping bag. A male suspect — black, in his 30s or 40s, 6 feet and 250 pounds — was caught on surveillance cameras in three of the robberies. "Both suspects are considered armed and dangerous," the FBI said. Anyone with information about the suspects is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324). ||||| MEBANE, N.C. (WXII/WNCN) — A woman authorities believe has robbed jewelry stores across the Southeast, including one in North Carolina Monday, may be working with an accomplice. The FBI on Tuesday released several photographs of the woman and of a man believed to be working with her. A woman may be the same one who hit five jewelry store robberies in the South — netting more than $450,000 worth of goods — and then robbed a jewelry store Monday at Tanger Outlets in Mebane. The incident was reported around 10:30 a.m. at the Jared Vault at 4000 Arrowhead Boulevard. No one was injured. She may be working with a man caught on camera during robberies in Panama City Beach, Florida, and Dawsonville, Georgia. Mebane police said the woman showed a handgun and ordered the employees to a back room before tying them up with zip-ties. In previous robberies of jewelry stores, the woman also showed a gun and tied up workers at the stores with zip-ties. The woman fled with an undisclosed amount of merchandise, but so far has stolen more than $450,000 worth of jewelry in the six total robberies, officials say. Police released a surveillance image of the suspect. She stands about 5 feet 8, weighs about 120 pounds and should be considered armed and dangerous, police said. The same woman may be involved in similar robberies in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee, police said. Before Monday, the last jewelry store she robbed was in mid-October in Tennessee. Officials are also investigating similar robberies of jewelry stores in Florida, South Carolina and two in Georgia. In October, authorities say the woman went into Reeds Jewelers in Panama City Beach, Florida with a gun. In this case, she told two store employees to go to the store’s restroom where she zip-tied their hands, just like in Sevierville, before getting away with more than $400,000 worth of jewels. Police say she pulls out a gun and forces employees into the back where she then ties them up before stealing the jewelry. The first robbery was a Jared in Woodstock, Georgia. The next robbery was at a Zales in Dawsonville, Georgia. There she stole jewelry worth $13,000. A week later a woman robbed a Reeds in Panama City Beach. She hit that one for $40,000. The next store hit was a Jared Vault in Tanger Outlet Two in Bluffton, South Carolina. The thief was described as wearing a blue or purple striped skirt, a lavender and black brimmed hat according to WJCL. Police are trying to figure out if the robberies were committed by the same woman. The methods are similar and all the stores that were robbed were chain stores at large retail shopping/ entertainment plazas. If you can identify the woman, know her whereabouts or have any other information that can help investigators, you’re asked to call Mebane police at 919-563-9031 or Alamance County Crime Stoppers at 336-229-7100. — CNN and WATE-TV contributed to this report RELATED LINK

– A woman believed to be in her 20s or 30s held employees of a Jared Vault jewelry store in Mebane, NC, at gunpoint on Monday before making off with jewelry piled into a shopping bag. But this wasn't her first rodeo: The FBI says the same brunette has robbed five other jewelry stores across the South since April, including in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee, netting more than $450,000 worth of bling, per WNCN. A black man in his 30s or 40s, weighing about 250 pounds, was spotted by cameras during three of the robberies, reports NBC News. The FBI says both suspects "are considered armed and dangerous."

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Effigies of black lynching victims found hanging on a Northern California college campus have sparked debate over whether the images are powerful protest art or just plain tasteless and racist. The photographic images were found Saturday morning hanging at two prominent spots on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. They were discovered a few hours before a demonstration against police brutality organized by a black student union was to start. Police are investigating, but officials say they still don't know who hanged the images or the motivation. "It's unclear if this is racially motivated effort or an effort at something else," campus spokeswoman Claire Holmes said. Social media sites hosted debates between those who viewed the effigies as art and those offended by the images. Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, a UC Berkeley professor of social psychology who studies prejudice and stereotyping, said he sees no redeeming quality in the images hanged Saturday. "Given the volatility of the protests, I think it's misguided regardless of the protest," Mendoza-Denton said. "It's inflammatory and is triggering upset and anger." Others, however, said the effigies may have been a form of "guerrilla art" and that images of lynching victims have been used by artists in the past. The rap group Public Enemy used a photograph of two lynching victims on the cover the single "Hazy Shade of Criminal" released in 1992. Leigh Raiford, an associate professor of African American studies at UC Berkeley, told the San Francisco Chronicle (http://tinyurl.com/lo44y4c) that the effigies may have been created to provoke thoughtful discussion about historical black repression. "To me this suggested a really powerful public art installation that was trying to provoke people to make a historical connection between the history of lynching, state violence against black folks and the contemporary situation that we're faced with around police brutality and these non-indictments," A black student union representative said the group is also mystified about who hanged the effigies and why. "We hope that it's someone who wanted to bring attention to the issue," said Spencer Pritchard, 21, a Berkeley student who helped organize the Berkeley demonstration. About 300 people participated in the peaceful Berkeley protest Saturday afternoon. Many of them later joined a larger demonstration in Oakland that was mostly peaceful, though police arrested 45 people. ||||| BERKELEY -- Three effigies of African-Americans hanging from a noose were found on the UC Berkeley campus Saturday morning ahead of a noontime "#blacklivesmatter" protest in Sproul Plaza, a UC Berkeley spokeswoman confirmed. Amy Hamaoui, interim executive director of UC Berkeley's communications and public affairs, confirmed the effigies and also said that university officials are looking to see if there are more effigies. The cardboard cutouts had the names of historical lynching victims and the date. It's unclear if the effigies were placed by people supporting the protests as a political statement or from a group opposing the protests. Two of the effigies were found hanging from the arches at famed Sather Gate, and another was discovered in a tree near Bancroft Lane, Cal integrative biology student Eniola Abioye said. Police took possession of two of the effigies and students took one, said Pastor Michael McBride of the Way Christian Center and co-director of Intervarsity's Black Campus Ministries at UC Berkeley. Campus police could not be immediately reached for comment. "This is racial terror they are experiencing," McBride said. "I don't care if it was a white person, a black person, a blue person, if it was an adversary or ally, these images strewed across campus have terrorized my students." Advertisement Over the past week, the campus has been a starting point for demonstrators protesting grand jury decisions not to indict two officers who killed unarmed black men in New York and Ferguson, Missouri. A "#blacklivesmatter" rally was scheduled at noon Saturday in Sproul Plaza, and will continue as scheduled, Abioye said. David DeBolt covers breaking news. Contact him in Richmond at 510-262-2728. Follow him at Twitter.com/daviddebolt. ||||| Protesters in Berkeley, Calif. echoed marchers in Washington, D.C. and New York City calling for justice for unarmed blacks shot by white cops. Organizers worked hard to keep the protest peaceful after nights of destruction. Chris Wiggins for USA TODAY Students protest on the UC Berkeley campus. (Photo: Chris Wiggins) As thousands marched to end police brutality in Washington D.C., and New York City on Saturday, three cardboard cutouts of African-Americans were found hanging in effigy by nooses on the Berkeley campus of the University of California. School spokeswoman Amy Hamaoui told the AP the effigies appear to be connected to a noon-time demonstration nearby planned to coincide with a national protest against police brutality. The effigies, two male and one female, included names of lynching victims and the dates of their death. Hamaoui said it's unclear who hanged the effigies and police are looking into the matter. "We are unsure of the intent," Hamaoui said. As of late afternoon, no suspect had been identified. "It certainly could have been racially motivated, so we're taking it very seriously and are very interested in finding out who did this and what the intention was," UC Berkeley spokeswoman Claire Holmes tells USA TODAY. Fusion.net reports the female effigy of a lynched woman was identified as Laura Nelson from 1911, and included the hashtag "#ICantBreathe. Police officers took two of the effigies down soon after the student learned of them at 9:10 a.m, Holmes says. Students took down the third. Many on Twitter reacted with confusion and disgust. "No one knows who put effigy up it was not CAL BSU students or ally," tweeted Michael McBride, pastor of the Way Christian Center in Berkeley, who walked with protesters. "The impact is the same: racial terror & it's unacceptable." "This happened on the campus of the #1 Public Institution," wrote user @itsMumbeeezy. "Don't tell me that Racisim isn't alive." User @WhoGonStopMePR wrote "whether intentions were good or bad, the delivery IS distasteful. As an AfAm alum, I DON't support this." Hundreds of protesters in Berkeley, aided by the hashtags #berkeleyprotest and #Ferguson2Cal on Twitter, marched up and down Church street beginning at noon, chanting "the whole damn system is guilty as hell" and "I think that we will win." Police presence was minimal. Berkeley protesters merged with an Oakland contingent at 2 p.m. On campus, "there were no incidents from the protests," says Holmes. This morning at UCBERKELEY campus an effigy of a Black man was found hanging at one of the entrance gates. pic.twitter.com/Jcak10o2yY — Rosa A. Clemente (@rosaclemente) December 13, 2014 Contributing: Chris Wiggins, The Associated Press Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1Du37GD ||||| Add a location to your Tweets When you tweet with a location, Twitter stores that location. You can switch location on/off before each Tweet and always have the option to delete your location history. Learn more

– Amid nationwide protests against police brutality, effigies of three black people hung by their necks turned up on UC Berkeley campus in northern California yesterday—but was it racism or politically inspired art? "We are unsure of the intent," a school spokeswoman tells the AP. The effigies, one female and two male, had the names of lynching victims on them and the dates when they were killed. One effigy with the hashtag #ICantBreathe was named after Laura Nelson, who died by lynching in 1911, Fusion reports. (See a tweeted photo of an effigy here.) "It certainly could have been racially motivated, so we're taking it very seriously and are very interested in finding out who did this," another school rep tells USA Today. No one has claimed responsibility, and police are investigating. Meanwhile, people are debating whether the effigies are designed to support or terrorize protesters. "This is racial terror they are experiencing," an on-campus Berkeley pastor tells the Oakland Tribune. "These images strewed across campus have terrorized my students." But others call it "guerilla art" reminiscent of Public Enemy's 1992 single, "Hazy Shade of Criminal," the cover of which showed two lynching victims. "To me this suggested a really powerful public art installation" that connects lynching, "state violence against black folks," and the "situation that we're faced with around police brutality and these non-indictments," a Berkeley black studies professor tells the San Francisco Chronicle. Hundreds of protesters marched yesterday in Berkeley, without incident, under minimal police presence. (Protests there last weekend led to violence and six arrests.)

President Obama commanded House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Tuesday to work out a budget deal or else return to the White House every day until they do. In a surprise appearance in front of reporters in the briefing room, Obama said he and his team are “prepared to meet for as long as possible to get this result.” Obama announced that Boehner and Reid would meet at 4 p.m. Tuesday to talk about the budget. And he played hardball: "The speaker apparently didn't want our team involved in that discussion. That's fine. If they can sort it out, then we've got more than enough to do. If they can't sort it out then, I want them back here tomorrow. But it would be inexcusable for us to not be able to take care of last year's business." He told lawmakers to “act like grownups.” UPDATE: Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Boehner, denied that Boehner told Obama he didn't want the White House team at the meeting. He said in a statement: "The Speaker never said he didn’t want the White House there, just that he wanted to meet with Senator Reid. Speaker Boehner and Senator Reid have been having regular discussions on this topic for weeks. This is just one of those occasions." UPDATE 2: Michael Steel, another Boehner spokesman, later said in a statement: "The Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader sat down privately and had a productive discussion. They agreed to continue working on a budget solution." ||||| A visibly frustrated President Barack Obama emerged from a failed meeting on a budget deal Tuesday and said he would demand daily sessions with House Speaker John Boehner until an agreement was hammered out to prevent a U.S. government shutdown at week's end. House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio walks past media after a closed conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (Associated Press) House Speaker John Boehner Ohio smiles from the back of an elevator after attending a closed conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (Associated Press) House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio follows a staff member as he walks past media after a closed conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (Associated Press) Obama spoke not long after Boehner's office issued a statement that insisted the two sides remained far apart and that Republicans had never, as the White House contends, agreed on $33 billion in cuts to the federal spending allotment for the remaining six months of the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Boehner and Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid met in the White House Tuesday as the clock ticked toward a midnight Friday expiration of the government's spending authority. "We are closer than we have ever been to an agreement. There is no reason why we should not get an agreement," Obama said in a surprise appearance in the White House reporters briefing room. The president said Boehner and Reid were meeting later Tuesday, but if that session produced no agreement he would summon both men back to the White House Wednesday and daily thereafter, if necessary. "Myself, Joe Biden, my team we are prepared to meet for as long as possible to get this resolved," Obama said. Obama had barely finished speaking when Boehner strode before microphones to insist that the White House and Senate Democrats bow to demands for deeper cuts. Boehner is under extreme pressure from newly elected House members, many with allegiance to the ultraconservative tea party, to slash spending, the size of government and lower taxes. Short of a long-term deal, Boehner has proposed an agreement that would keep the government running for one more week and cut another $12 billion in spending. Boehner has already orchestrated action by Congress to pass a pair of stopgap bills, so far cutting $10 billion from an estimated $1.2 trillion budget to fund the day-to-day operations of government through the fiscal accounting period. Obama said he would only accept another short-term funding extension, of two or three days, to get a longer-term deal through Congress. But he ruled out a longer extension to allow negotiations to continue. "That is not a way to run a government. I cannot have our agencies making plans based on two week budgets," Obama said. "What we are not going to do is once again put off something that should have been done months ago." Boehner said Republicans "will not be put in a box" of accepting options they refuse to endorse. Democrats accuse Republicans of pushing for harmful spending cuts and attaching a social policy agenda to the must-pass spending bill. Boehner counters that the White House is pressing gimmicky budget cuts. As a government shutdown appeared increasingly inevitable, the White House has begun advising government agencies on the proper steps in preparation for a shutdown of the government. Republicans on Monday disclosed plans to instruct lawmakers "on how the House would operate in the event Senate Democrats shut down the government." And in a memo to agency officials, the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, Jeffrey Zients, urged agency heads to refine and update contingency plans in the event negotiators don't strike a deal by Friday's deadline. Boehner's one-week plan could reassure tea party-backed lawmakers who are among the most vocal in seeking to reduce the size and scope of the government. It could also put pressure on Democrats and the White House to offer greater spending cuts. But there's no visible movement on an impasse over Republican policy riders attacking Obama's health care and financial reform laws, cutting taxpayer funds to Planned Parenthood and reversing a host of Obama's environmental policies. On a separate long-term track, Republicans controlling the House have fashioned plans to slash the budget deficit by more than $5 trillion over the upcoming decade, combining unprecedented spending cuts with a fundamental restructuring of taxpayer-financed health care for the elderly and the poor. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan unveiled the Republican budget blueprint Tuesday morning just as Boehner headed to the White House. Ryan's program includes a controversial proposal to convert the traditional Medicare health care program for the aged into a system by which private insurers would operate plans approved by the federal government. Current Medicare beneficiaries or workers age 55 and older would stay in the existing system. At the same time, Republicans propose to sharply cut projected spending on the Medicaid state-federal health program for the poor and disabled and transform it into a block grant program that gives governors far less money than under current estimates, but considerably more flexibility.

– President Obama sounded like an impatient parent today as the threat of a government shutdown grew larger. Admonishing lawmakers to "act like grownups," the president said John Boehner and Harry Reid would meet again later this afternoon, reports Politico. If nothing comes of it, Obama said he'll order them back at it again tomorrow. "We are closer than we have ever been to an agreement," said Obama. "There is no reason why we should not get an agreement." Boehner spoke immediately afterward, notes AP, and said Republicans would continue to "fight for the largest cuts possible." It's possible another stopgap spending measure can keep government open if no deal is in place by Friday, but the president said he will accept one only if it's good for just two or three days.

Facebook Inc. on Wednesday disavowed comments by company director and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen that appeared to support the colonization of India—sentiments which also received a ringing denunciation from the company’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg. Mr. Andreessen also apologized for the remarks, made late Tuesday on Twitter, after Indian regulators banned a Facebook program offering free access to a limited set of Internet sites. ... ||||| Splash News/Corbis Marc Andreessen needs to tweet a billion apologies. The prominent Silicon Valley investor and Facebook board member on Wednesday took to Twitter to apologize for a series of offensive tweets he posted the night before. The short missives touched a nerve because they appeared to reference India's colonial history. The world's second-most populous country, with more than a billion people, was a British colony until 1947. Here's the backstory: On Monday, India's Telecom Regulatory Authority blocked Facebook's Free Basics, which seeks to bring a limited number of Internet sites and services for free to areas of the world where online access is unavailable. The decision was part of a ruling on Net neutrality, the principle of equal access to all types of content and services on the Internet. Facebook, the country concluded, was violating those ideals by picking which services were accessible for free. Andreessen, well known for his fiery Twitter personality, called the decision "morally wrong" because India was denying poor people at least partial Internet connectivity. Afterward, he responded to a tweet that suggested he supports "Internet colonialism." "Anti-colonialism has been economically catastrophic for the Indian people for decades. Why stop now?" Andreessen wrote in a now-deleted tweet captured by Quartz and Business Insider. Andreessen's venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, had no further comment. Andreessen said he withdrew his comments "in full and without reservation." Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday tried to distance himself from his board member. "I want to respond to Marc Andreessen's comments about India yesterday," wrote Zuckerberg on his Facebook page. "I found the comments deeply upsetting, and they do not represent the way Facebook or I think at all." A Facebook spokeswoman also reiterated the sentiment in a statement. "We strongly reject the sentiments expressed by Marc Andreessen last night regarding India." Andreessen's faux pas comes as Silicon Valley companies increasingly try to woo India and other developing countries to their services. Google and SpaceX are also trying to beam down Internet access to rural regions via balloons and satellites, for example. All of this comes as the technology sector becomes a bigger player on the world's stage. When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the US in September, he met with Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple's Tim Cook.

– Facebook just lost an important legal fight in India, and now one of its board members has complicated its next steps. The mess started when Silicon Valley venture capitalist Marc Andreessen took to Twitter to criticize India's decision to block Facebook from offering free but limited Internet access to poor areas. At one point, when a critic likened Andreessen's position to "Internet colonialism," he shot back, "Anti-colonialism has been economically catastrophic for the Indian people for decades. Why stop now?" recounts the Wall Street Journal. That sentiment drew widespread condemnation and prompted Mark Zuckerberg himself to quickly distance himself from it. And in a series of tweets, Andreessen apologized for his "ill-informed and ill-advised comment." On his Facebook page, Zuckerberg used stronger language, describing the tweet as "deeply unsettling" and making clear that the company "strongly" rejects it. The controversy revolves around a program called Free Basics. As CNET explains, an Indian court declared that the concept violated Net neutrality rules because it would have provided free access to the Internet but only to a limited number of services. The controversy "comes at an inopportune time" for Facebook, which wants to establish a bigger presence in the country but now needs a new strategy after the misstep with Free Basics, notes the New York Times. As for Andreessen, "I will leave all future commentary on all of these topics to people with more knowledge and experience than me," he wrote.

CAIRO—Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak handed power to his vice president but retained his title, a half-measure that confused observers, angered opposition leaders and provoked an uproar from hundreds of thousands of protesters massed in the center of the country's capital. Charles Levinson has the latest from Cairo where protesters are reacting to President Mubarak's decision to remain in power. John Bussey and Robert Danin look at what's next for Egypt and U.S. relations with that country. Hosni Mubarak surprised many when he announced late today he would not step down as Egypt's President until elections in September. Tamer El-Ghobashy has reaction from Cairo's Tahrir Square. John Bussey and Jerry Seib have analysis of the situation. The move sets up another conflict with the opposition movement, which has called on supporters to gather for a huge protest Friday. Expectations that the president would resign had built through the day, and the immediate reaction to the speech was anger, with protesters chanting "Leave, leave." An Army officer using a loudspeaker tried to calm protesters. "Let's save our energy for tomorrow," a man screamed to the crowd. "Go home and sleep, because tomorrow will be the day of judgment." The defiant tone taken by Mr. Mubarak—and widespread confusion about the meaning of his speech—left the Obama administration scrambling to devise its next steps in a crisis that appears out of its control. After Mr. Mubarak's speech, President Barack Obama, in a statement from the White House, said "The Egyptian people have been told that there was a transition of authority, but it is not yet clear that this transition is immediate, meaningful or sufficient." Mr. Obama called on the Egyptian government "to move swiftly to explain the changes that have been made." Mr. Mubarak's speech left the White House with a sense of "disbelief," a U.S. official said. Egyptian officials said Mr. Mubarak gave the U.S. much of what Vice President Joe Biden requested earlier in the week: the delegation of presidential powers to the vice president, Omar Suleiman. But Mr. Suleiman, who delivered a televised address after Mr. Mubarak, enraged protesters by refusing to distance himself from the president, even as he gestured toward the legitimacy of the protesters' demands. The reaction casts a shadow over hopes by the U.S. and other traditional Egyptian allies that Mr. Suleiman would become a figure who is able to orchestrate a smooth transition from Mr. Mubarak to a more open electoral process in September. The White House is now squeezed between Arab and Israeli allies, who have complained loudly that Mr. Obama was pushing Mr. Mubarak too hard to step down, and lawmakers who accuse the White House of not pushing hard enough. Now, the White House finds itself largely a bystander. "This is really bad," a senior U.S. official said after Mr. Mubarak's address. "We need to push harder—if not, the protests will get violent." Mr. Mubarak's language and refusal to yield to what he called the intervention of foreigners—a reference that appeared directed primarily at the U.S.—left protesters furious and the situation in Cairo precarious. The anger welling among protesters placed the country's army in a tight position in its quest to keep the nation stable and secure. Opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, after Mr. Mubarak's address, told CNN that the president and Mr. Suleiman were "twins" and that "neither are acceptable to the people." In a earlier post on Twitter, Mr. ElBaradei wrote: "Egypt will explode. Army must save the country now." Mr. Mubarak's speech continued a pattern of making concessions short of what protesters have been demanding. "I've seen fit to delegate presidential powers to the vice president, as according to the constitution," Mr. Mubarak said in his speech. But he said he was "adamant to continue to shoulder my responsibility to protect the constitution and safeguard the interests of the people." He vowed that he would remain in the country and said he was addressing the youth in Tahrir as "the president of the republic." Israeli analysts remain concerned about possible new threats to the country's security amid unrest in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East. Special correspondent Martin Himel reports from Tel Aviv. Egyptian Ambassador to the U.S. Sameh Shoukry told CNN that Mr. Mubarak had passed all powers of the presidency to Mr. Suleiman, except for three: to amend the constitution, dissolve parliament—stacked with supporters of Mr. Mubarak—and fire the cabinet. Those powers now belong to no one, Mr. Shoukry said, insisting that Mr. Suleiman was now the "de facto" president. That interpretation wasn't immediately clear from the speech, however, and its nuances appeared lost, or irrelevant, to opposition leaders and protesters waiting to hear the president say he was quitting. Instead, the president's comments brought a deflating end to a day of rumors and contradictions. Hossam Badrawy, secretary general of the ruling National Democratic Party, had said early in the day that he told Mr. Mubarak that the president needs to step down for the good of the country, and said he believed the president would go. Egypt's powerful military signaled it was moving to take control of the country. State television showed the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces meeting—conspicuously without Mr. Mubarak present. The armed forces "have started taking necessary measures to protect the nation and support the legitimate demands of the citizens," an army spokesman said on state television. The meeting and statement that followed appeared to represent a break from the military's previous posture as a neutral party providing security. Those developments drew what was possibly the biggest crowd yet to Tahrir Square, the epicenter of protests that began Jan. 25. Western officials, senior Egyptian government officials, and opposition leaders appeared to believe it was likely that Mr. Mubarak would announce he was stepping down and that the military would take over. WSJ's Tamer El-Ghobashy reports from the streets of Cairo on demonstrations expanded beyond Tahrir Square, and that government workers are striking in opposition to president Mubarak refusing to step down. Google Inc. executive and Egyptian protest leader Wael Ghonim said in his Twitter account: "Revolution 2.0: Mission Accomplished." Question marks hang over what transpired inside the regime's corridors of power between early evening in Cairo, when signs pointed to Mr. Mubarak's stepping aside, and 10:50 p.m., when the president gave his televised address. A person familiar with Egypt's power centers said a possible wild card in Mr. Mubarak's decision could be the presidential Republican Guard, the opaque force that is responsible for the president's personal security. When Mr. Mubarak's face appeared on a makeshift television screen made from a large sheet in one corner of the square, the crowd suddenly hushed for what many thought would be a momentous event: the resignation of their president for 29 years. The crowd formed clusters, around people with radios and cellphones. People listened impatiently, and expressed frustration at the wordiness of his speech. As the end of the speech neared, a groan was audible in the masses. Some began chanting "resign" only to be told to shut up by those still listening. As it became increasing clear Mr. Mubarak wasn't resigning, many in the crowd began to hiss. "I don't like what I'm hearing," said Mohamed Mustafa, 49 years old, huddling with four others around a small radio. Once it was over, people joined in a massive chant of, "Resign means leave, obviously you don't understand!" Soldiers who had abandoned their posts outside ran back to the edges of the square and eventually to their positions near tanks. "This will make people go mad," said Sherif Oman, a 24-year-old engineer. "He will regret this speech tomorrow. He is insulting us with this speech." After a period of spirited chanting, the stunned crowd made its slow exodus from Tahrir Square. Some protesters marched on the nearby state television building; most appeared to opt for home. Some protesters meanwhile began to chant, "Tomorrow we go to the palace!" —Matt Bradley, Sam Dagher and Christopher Rhoads contributed to this article. Write to Margaret Coker at [email protected], Charles Levinson at [email protected] and Jonathan Weisman at [email protected] ||||| Mohamed ElBaradei, who has emerged as a leader of the opposition movement against President Hosni Mubarak, posted comments online within the last hour warning that the country has become volatile. “Egypt will explode," ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and retired diplomat, posted on Twitter. "Army must save the country now." In statements posted earlier in the day, ElBaradei vowed continued protests and complained of violence by Mubarak's government.

– One of the first public reactions to Hosni Mubarak's non-resignation doesn't bode well for what happens next: “Egypt will explode," wrote Nobel laureate and pro-democracy advocate Mohamed ElBaradei on Twitter, reports the Los Angeles Times. "The Army must save the country now. I call on the Egyptian army to immediately interfere to rescue Egypt. The credibility of the army is on the line." In Tahrir Square, protesters are seething and calling for bigger demonstrations tomorrow, notes the Wall Street Journal.

JAYAPURA, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian passenger plane that went missing two days ago was destroyed when it slammed into a mountain, killing all 54 people on board, the country's top rescue official said. Relatives of passengers on the missing Trigana Air Service flight listen to a National Policies Disaster Victim Identification official at Sentani airport in Jayapura, Papua province, Indonesia, Monday,... (Associated Press) Relatives of passengers on the missing Trigana Air Service flight sit at Sentani airport in Jayapura, Papua province, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 17, 2015. Rescue officials spotted an Indonesian airliner... (Associated Press) This photo released by the National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) of Indonesia Monday, Aug. 17,2015 shows the part of the wreckage that BASARNAS identified as of the missing Trigana Air Service... (Associated Press) Members of the National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) wait before leaving on a search for the missing Trigana Air Service flight at Sentani airport in Jayapura, Papua province, Indonesia, Monday,... (Associated Press) National Search And Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) chief F. Henry Bambang Soelistyo, left, looks at a map with Air Vice Marshal Sudipo Handoyo during a search operation for the missing Trigana Air Service flight... (Associated Press) Relatives of passengers on the missing Trigana Air Service flight wait for information at Sentani airport in Jayapura, Papua province, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 17, 2015. Rescuers are making their way into... (Associated Press) In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, soldiers prepare to leave for the crash site of an Indonesian passenger plane for rescue operations at an air base in Jayapura, Indonesia Tuesday,... (Associated Press) In this photo taken Dec. 26, 2010, Trigana Air Service's ATR42-300 twin turboprop plane takes off at Supadio airport in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The same type of a Trigana airliner carrying... (Associated Press) This photo released by the National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) of Indonesia Monday, Aug. 17,2015 shows the part of the wreckage that BASARNAS identified as of the missing Trigana Air Service... (Associated Press) More than 70 rescuers reached the crash site only on Tuesday after being hindered by rugged, forested terrain and bad weather. The flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, the plane's "black boxes," were found in good condition, said Henry Bambang Soelistyo, the National Search and Rescue Agency chief. The data they contain could help explain what caused the crash. "The plane was totally destroyed and all the bodies were burned and difficult to identify," Soelistyo told The Associated Press. He said all 54 bodies had been recovered and will be taken to Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, so they can be identified. The Trigana Air Service plane was flying from Jayapura to the city of Oksibil with 49 passengers and five crew members on a scheduled 42-minute flight when it lost contact Sunday. Soelistyo said the wreckage was at an altitude of 2,600 meters (about 8,500 feet). Much of Papua is covered with impenetrable jungles and mountains. Some planes that have crashed in the past have never been found. The airline's crisis center official in Jayapura's Sentani airport, Budiono, said all the passengers were Indonesians, and included three local government officials and two members of the local parliament who were to attend a ceremony Monday in Oksibil marking the 70th anniversary of Indonesia's independence from Dutch colonial rule. Oksibil, about 280 kilometers (175 miles) south of Jayapura, was experiencing heavy rain, strong winds and fog when the plane lost contact with the airport minutes before it was scheduled to land. The victims' relatives, who had been waiting at the airport, broke down in tears when they heard the news. Many of them accused the airline of taking too long to give them information. "They are unprofessional ... they play with our feelings of grieving," said Cory Gasper, whose brother Jhon Gasper was on the plane. The airline released a public apology just after a search plane spotted the smoldering wreckage of the ATR42-300 twin turboprop on Monday. It was unclear what caused the caused the crash, Indonesia's transportation safety commission has opened an investigation. The passengers included four postal workers escorting four bags of cash totaling $468,750 in government aid for poor families to help offset a spike in fuel prices, Franciscus Haryono, the head of the post office in Jayapura, the provincial capital, told The Associated Press. Indonesia has had a string of airline tragedies in recent years. In December, all 162 people aboard an AirAsia jet were killed when the plane plummeted into the Java Sea as it flew through stormy weather on its way from Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, to Singapore. The sprawling archipelago nation of 250 million people and some 17,000 islands is one of Asia's most rapidly expanding airline markets, but it is struggling to provide enough qualified pilots, mechanics, air traffic controllers and updated airport technology to ensure safety. From 2007 to 2009, the European Union barred Indonesian airlines from flying to Europe because of safety concerns. Trigana Air Service, which began operations in 1991, had 22 aircraft as of December 2013 and flies to 21 destinations in Indonesia. The carrier has had 19 serious incidents since 1992, resulting in the loss of eight aircraft and major damage to 11 others, according to the Aviation Safety Network's online database. The airline remains banned from flying to Europe along with other six Indonesian airlines. __ Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report. ||||| JAKARTA All 54 people on board a Trigana Air aircraft were killed in a crash two days ago in Indonesia's Papua province, the latest in a string of aviation disasters in the Southeast Asian archipelago, officials said on Tuesday. Major-General Heronimus Guru, operations director at Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency, told a news conference in the capital the passengers' remains were being put into body bags but poor weather had hampered efforts to recover them by air. Officials have declined to comment on the cause of Sunday's crash until the results of an investigation by the national transport safety committee are known, but Guru said the terrain in Indonesia's easternmost province may have been a factor. "There's a possibility the aircraft hit a peak and then fell into a ravine because the place that it was found in is steep," he said. The treacherous terrain of forest-covered ridges hampered rescuers' efforts to reach the site where the Trigana Air Service ATR 42-300 plane came down. The aircraft's black box flight recorder, which should provide investigators with some answers, was found in the early afternoon. The device will be taken to Oksibil town tomorrow, depending on the weather, Guru said. Television broadcast footage of rescuers in camouflage fatigues and surgical masks hacking through foliage and sifting through debris at the crash site as a helicopter hovered overhead. There were 44 adult passengers, five children and infants and five crew on the short-haul flight from provincial capital Jayapura south to Oksibil. The twin turboprop aircraft was also carrying about $470,000 as part of a village assistance program. Poor infrastructure in the province means aid money is often flown in by air, said Abu Sofjan, spokesman for the national postal service, four of whose workers were among the passengers. There was no suggestion the money was somehow linked to the crash. Five members of the Bintang Highlands district parliament and government were also on board, online news service detik.com reported. Reuters was not able to verify the report. All on board were Indonesian, officials have said. Officials of Trigana, placed on a European Union list of banned carriers since 2007 over safety or regulatory concerns, were not immediately available for comment. The aircraft made its first flight 27 years ago, online database Aviation Safety Network says. Trigana Air Service has a fleet of 14 aircraft, which are 26.6 years old on average, according to the airfleets.net database. Trigana has had 14 serious incidents since it began operations in 1991, Aviation Safety Network says. Besides the latest crash, it has written off 10 aircraft. Indonesia has a patchy aviation record, with two other major crashes in the past year. In December, an AirAsia flight went down in the Java Sea, killing all 162 on board. More than 100 people died in June in the crash of a military transport plane. Indonesia scored poorly on a 2014 safety audit by the U.N. aviation agency, largely because its Ministry of Transportation is understaffed, said two sources familiar with the matter, as the country struggles to cope with the rapid expansion of air travel. (Additional reporting by Fergus Jensen; Writing by Nicholas Owen; Editing by Robert Birsel and Alan Raybould) ||||| Story highlights No distress call was received, officials say The passenger plane lost contact with air traffic control on Sunday Villagers reported seeing it crash into a mountain Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) Indonesian rescue workers have reached the crash site of a passenger plane that went down in a mountainous area with 54 people on board, a senior official said Tuesday. The teams on the ground have so far seen at least 38 bodies at the scene and haven't found any survivors, said Bambang Soelistyo, the head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency. Helicopters are being deployed to the densely forested area in the eastern Indonesian province of Papua to begin the evacuation process, he said. The airliner, operated by the Indonesian carrier Trigana Air Service, lost contact with air traffic control Sunday about half an hour into a short flight from the provincial capital to a town in the mountains. Search planes spotted debris on a mountainside Monday, but efforts to try to reach it on foot and by helicopter were suspended until Tuesday because of fog. Read More

– Dozens of rescuers have made their way to the mountainous area where an Indonesian passenger plane crashed on Sunday, but they haven't found anybody to rescue. Officials say all 54 people on board—44 adult passengers, five children, and five crew members—were killed when the Trigana Air Service ATR 42-300 crashed in Papua province, Reuters reports. "The plane was totally destroyed and all the bodies were burned and difficult to identify," Indonesia's top search and rescue official tells the AP. He says all 54 bodies have been recovered, along with the plane's black boxes, which are in good condition. The turboprop plane crashed into the mountain around 30 minutes into a 42-minute flight without making a distress call, CNN reports. The cause of the crash hasn't been determined, though officials believe the rugged terrain may have played a role. "There's a possibility the aircraft hit a peak and then fell into a ravine because the place that it was found is steep," a search and rescue official tells Reuters, which notes that Trigana has a very patchy safety record, with 14 serious incidents since it started flying in 1991, including 10 in which the aircraft was destroyed. The plane was also carrying $468,750 in cash, which was to be distributed to poor families.

Numerous fathers called a genetic analysis center in Hanoi this week raising concerns about their newborn twins whom they doubted might not biologically be theirs, following a rare case of twins born of different fathers. Nguyen Thi Nga, director at the Center for Genetic Analysis and Technologies (CGAT), said she received incessant phone calls from one father after another on Thursday morning, requesting consultancy on cases where their twins look nothing alike. These calls came in the aftermath of the first recorded case of heteropaternal twins in northern Vietnam, covered by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Wednesday. Heteropaternal twins are born when two ova (egg cells) from the same menstrual cycle are fertilized by sperm from separate acts of sexual intercourse with two different males. The phenomenon is also known scientifically as heteropaternal superfecundation. The twins in question were brought in for a DNA test at CGAT by their father prior to Tet, or Vietnam’s Lunar New Year festival, which fell on February 8. According to Nga, the father in Hoa Binh Province was supposedly pressured by his relatives to take the test due to doubt about one of the twins’ real father, which had arisen from the baby’s appearance dissimilar from any family member’s. The results came as a shock to the said dad that he is the biological father of only one of the two babies, while his wife mothers both. Though the names of the parties involved have been kept secret to protect their identity and privacy, the curious case has still made the news so far, sparking a wave of other concerned fathers across Vietnam who are in a similar situation. No cause for concern One of the men who rang Nga said he has a pair of twin daughters who will turn one next month. The father had been troubled by the dissimilar appearances of his daughters since their birth, and his uneasiness has grown over time as their differences become more evident when they get older. Throughout the conversation, Nga said, the concerned father kept reaffirming his unshaken faith in his wife, but confessed that some thought still burdened him and it was intensified after he heard about the reported case. Nga said she had to keep reassuring the fathers who raised their ‘concerns’ that there was no cause for worry, as twins looking different from each other is not an uncommon phenomenon, and does not necessarily mean they are heteropaternal twins. In fact, Nga added, fraternal twins, or twins who were fertilized by two different egg cells, are just like siblings who were born separately and can look very different from each other depending on whom they take after in the family. “In these cases,” Nga said, “I always take it upon myself to advise the family not to take the DNA test, as heteropaternal twins are extremely rare in practice. Any doubt, no matter how small, can be devastating to their family ties, especially when such doubt hinges merely on the different appearances of the babies.” There are around 10 pairs of heteropaternal twins recorded worldwide, who can have different skin colors or even completely different appearances from each another, Nga concluded. Extremely unlikely, but not impossible Answering a Tuoi Tre question on Thursday about the likelihood of similar occurrences, Vu Ba Quyet, director at the National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said the probability is extremely low, but not completely impossible. Quyet denied commenting on the credibility of recent reports of the pair of heteropaternal twins in Hoa Binh, but said it is possible for a female to bear twins from different males if she has engaged in sexual intercourse with the males within the same menstrual cycle, and her body has released two ova to be fertilized separately by their sperm. The twins born this way can be different from each other in their appearance, genome, and gender, Quyet added. Luu Thi Hong, a gynecologist and former general director at the Department of Maternal Health and Children under the Ministry of Health, said it is completely normal for fraternal twins to look different from each other. According to Hong, the female body generally releases one ovum per month, though some women can release two at different times during a menstrual cycle, and the one that is churned out first, or either of the ova that comes out at the same time, is fertilized by the sperm. “The conceptus takes seven to eight days to travel to the uterus and cling to its wall. Strictly speaking, a woman is considered pregnant only after the implantation of the conceptus has finished, so even if one of her ova has been conceived, the other ovum can still be fertilized within the seven to eight days it takes for the first conceptus to travel to the uterus,” Hong elaborated. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! ||||| Story highlights Family has DNA testing after relatives note twins look very different from one another Twins who have different fathers are extremely rare, scientists say (CNN) Scientists in Vietnam have confirmed a case of bi-paternal twins, or twins who have different fathers. A Vietnamese couple recently brought their fraternal twins to the Center for Genetic Analysis and Technologies, in the country's capital of Hanoi, to have DNA tests, after pressure from extended family members who noticed the children did not look alike, said Le Dinh Luong, president of the Genetic Association of Vietnam. The tests showed there was no mix-up in the hospital: The twins have the same mother, but different fathers. Luong said the family was surprised by the revelation, and looking for the best way to deal with the situation. He declined to give more details, because of a confidentiality agreement with the parents. Read More ||||| DNA testing has disclosed that a set of Vietnamese twins have two different fathers. There are only 10 such cases of bipaternal twins reported from across the world so far. — Photo dantri.com.vn HA NOI (VNS) — A set of twins in the northern Hoa Binh Province were found to have different fathers, following DNA tests done by the Ha Noi-based Centre for Genetic Analysis and Technology. This is the first case of its kind to be detected in Viet Nam. The two-year-old twins of the same sex look different, as one has thick and wavy hair, while the other has thin and straight hair. The 34-year-old father, under pressure from a family member, agreed to a DNA test, which proved that he is the father of one infant. In order to rule out possible mistakes by nurses at the hospital in giving them a baby of another couple, the wife also underwent a DNA test. The result shows that she is the mother of both children. President of Viet Nam Genetics Association Le Dinh Luong said bipaternal twins were very rare. There are reportedly about 10 sets of twins with different fathers across the world, including one in Poland, one in Spain, two in the United States and two in India. He said the phenomenon had a scientific explanation. Two eggs of the same mother get fertilised by two different fathers, within the same ovulation period. When we see twins, we assume that both eggs were fertilised during a single act of intercourse. But it's quite possible for one egg to be fertilised during one act of intercourse, and the other during another. It's only logical, then, that when a woman has sex with more than one man while she's fertile, "heteropaternal superfecundation" can occur. That is, each egg can be fertilised by a different father. However, if the twins don't look alike, it should not be assumed that they have different fathers. Like siblings, twins with the same father can look completely different from each other. They may even appear to be of different races. — VNS

– Extended family butting in with opinions about your kids is nothing new—but this case in Vietnam is a wild exception. CNN reports that a Vietnamese couple had their 2-year-old twins genetically tested after family members kept harping about how different the children looked. What the Center for Genetic Analysis and Technologies in Hanoi discovered: The twins are bi-paternal, meaning they share only a mother. The revelations about the family pretty much end there. The twins' gender was not revealed, and the only identifying details given by Vietnam's state-run news agency VNS is that the children have very different hair (thick and wavy vs. thin and straight) and live in Hoa Binh province with their 34-year-old father and mother, whose age wasn't given. Le Dinh Luong, president of the Genetic Association of Vietnam, says he's unaware of any case like this in his country. That hasn't stopped paranoid fathers from phoning the Hanoi center over fears about their twins, reports the Tuoi Tre paper. It's rare, but certainly not unheard of in the US. Last year, a New Jersey judge ruled a man is father to one twin while another man is father to the other, in a case that had child-support implications. The judge in that case cited two other similar court cases, and a 1997 article by identity testing expert Karl-Hans Wurzinger, who testified in the case, put the number of reported paternity cases involving superfecundation (the fathering of fraternal twins by two males) at one in every 13,000. CNN reports that the lifespan of the egg and sperm allow for roughly a week-long period in which a woman could become pregnant through two acts of intercourse. (This man's son was "fathered" by his unborn twin.)

In this Nov. 9, 2015, photo, Yale University students and faculty rally to demand that Yale University become more inclusive to all students on Cross Campus in New Haven, Conn. (Arnold Gold/New Haven Register via AP) In November, an email about Halloween costumes touched off a student uprising at Yale over racial bias and insensitivity, echoed at colleges across the country. The Yale lecturer who authored the e-mail has decided to leave her teaching post, the latest chapter in an ongoing debate over racism, cultural offense, and freedom of speech. A confrontation over race at Yale: Hundreds of students demand answers from college’s first black dean “On the front lines for free speech at Yale” Isaac Stanley-Becker, a senior at Yale, writes about the fallout. By Isaac Stanley-Becker NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The Yale lecturer whose email about Halloween costumes exposed long-simmering racial tensions on this Ivy League campus has decided to stop teaching at the university. Before Erika Christakis found herself at the center of a national debate about free speech and racial sensitivity, she was known primarily as an early childhood educator who taught courses on child development and psychology. But it is her role as the associate master of Silliman College, one of Yale’s 12 undergraduate communities, that became a focus of intense scrutiny after she sent an email to Silliman students critiquing a college-wide request that they think twice before wearing Halloween costumes that might be seen as culturally insensitive. “American universities were once a safe space not only for maturation but also for a certain regressive, or even transgressive, experience,” she wrote Oct. 30. “Increasingly, it seems, they have become places of censure and prohibition.” The email, combined with allegations leveled the same weekend that a Yale fraternity had barred black women from a party, provoked outrage among students of color, who confronted top administrators and demanded they take action to improve the university’s racial climate. Through a set of initiatives unveiled last month, including faculty growth in fields dealing with race and ethnicity, Peter Salovey, Yale’s president, took a major step in quelling these tensions. At the same time, Salovey said Christakis and her husband, Silliman Master Nicholas Christakis, would remain at the helm of the college. And an open letter that circulated recently, and was signed by nearly 70 faculty members, expressed “strong support of the right of Erika and Nicholas Christakis to free speech and freedom of intellectual expression.” That figure is dwarfed by the number of faculty signatories on an open letter expressing solidarity with students’ concerns about “racism and devaluation,” though it did not specifically refer to the Christakises. While many student protesters called for the Christakises’ dismissal from Silliman, few mentioned their presence in the classroom. Christakis said she has resigned her teaching role to return to her work with young children and families. The decision was first reported by Business Insider. “I have great respect and affection for my students, but I worry that the current climate at Yale is not, in my view, conducive to the civil dialogue and open inquiry required to solve our urgent societal problems,” she said in an email to The Washington Post. Nicholas Christakis, a physician and sociologist who runs his own lab at the university, said Friday he will take a sabbatical in spring 2016 and thus not teach his popular lecture, Health of the Public. He said he is not teaching next semester so that he can focus on his laboratory research and on the needs of students in Silliman. This fall, Erika Christakis was teaching two seminars: The Growing Child in Global Context and Concept of the Problem Child. A course evaluation for Concept of the Problem Child states: “This seminar is phenomenal and Professor Christakis is, hands down, my favorite professor that I’ve had while I’ve been here.” An African American junior who was enrolled in the seminar this spring but asked not to be identified to speak freely about a former instructor praised the course, as well as Christakis’s care for students. Still, he said the week spent discussing children of color left him uncomfortable, as he felt compelled to speak from personal experience about his own black childhood to fill in for gaps in the syllabus and in class discussion. The student said he understood Christakis’s rationale for leaving the classroom, but said he was disappointed by her decision. “The concept of the problem child, and the global child, they’re very important topics, and Yale doesn’t have many classes on education and child development,” he said. “To lose that is a very big detriment to students interested in these issues, and the class could have been getting better. And if she was learning from the events happening on campus, and if she went into it trying to make it better for all communities, that would have been better for her and better for the school in general.” A Yale spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment. Read more: The Yale I know Amid national conversation about race, Yale acknowledges ‘failing’ its minorities Students accuse Yale fraternity brother with saying “white girls only” at party door Minority students give list of demands to the president of Yale Yale president responds to protesters, announces new initiatives to improve racial climate on campus ||||| NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A Yale University faculty member who sparked protests when she said students should be free to push boundaries with Halloween costumes, even to the point of offense, resigned from her teaching position, the school announced Monday. Erika Christakis chose not to continue teaching in the spring semester, the university said on its website. "Her teaching is highly valued and she is welcome to resume teaching anytime at Yale, where freedom of expression and academic inquiry are the paramount principle and practice," the school said. Christakis came under attack in October for her response to a request from the Intercultural Affairs Committee that students avoid wearing racially insensitive costumes, such as Native American headgear, turbans or blackface. She wrote in an email to students living in the residence hall where she's an administrator that they should be able to wear any costume they want. "Is there no room anymore for a child or young person to be a little bit obnoxious, a little bit inappropriate or provocative or, yes, offensive?" she wrote. "American universities were once a safe space not only for maturation but also for a certain regressive, or even transgressive, experience; increasingly, it seems, they have become places of censure and prohibition." The email was one of several incidents on campus that prompted hundreds of students and faculty members to march in protest on Nov. 9 of what they see as racial insensitivity at the Ivy League school. The school also has been dealing with criticism over a residential hall named after John Calhoun, a prominent slave-owning politician, questions about how minorities are treated on campus and allegations that a woman was turned away from a fraternity party because she was not white. After the march, dozens of faculty members contributed to an open letter showing support for Christakis, who taught courses on child development and psychology. "I have great respect and affection for my students, but I worry that the current climate at Yale is not, in my view, conducive to the civil dialogue and open inquiry required to solve our urgent societal problems," Christakis said in an email to The Washington Post.

– Christmas is around the corner but at Yale, they're still dealing with the fallout from a Halloween controversy. Lecturer Erika Christakis has resigned from her teaching position after causing an uproar in October with her response to an email from the campus Intercultural Affairs Committee urging students to avoid insensitive costumes like Native American headdresses, the New York Times reports. "Is there no room anymore for a child or young person to be a little bit obnoxious, a little bit inappropriate or provocative or, yes, offensive?" she asked. "American universities were once a safe space not only for maturation but also for a certain regressive, or even transgressive, experience; increasingly, it seems, they have become places of censure and prohibition." Christakis, who taught courses on child development, became the target of student protesters amid a wider discussion of racial issues on campus, AP reports. Yale said in a statement that it is disappointed she has decided to not to teach next semester and she is "welcome to resume teaching anytime." Christakis and her husband will remain as "masters" of Silliman College, one of Yale's 12 residential colleges. She tells the Washington Post that while she has great respect for her students, the current climate at Yale is not "conducive to the civil dialogue and open inquiry required to solve our urgent societal problems." (At Harvard, house "masters" have decided it is time for "a new inclusive title.")

These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| Salma Hayek is mourning the death of her beloved dog. The 49-year-old actress took to Instagram on Friday to reveal the sad news that her dog, Mozart, was found fatally shot last week. PICS: Stars and Their Adorable Pets "I haven't posted for a week as I [have] been mourning the death of my dog, Mozart who I personally delivered out of his mother's womb," Hayek wrote on Instagram, along with a sweet snap. "He was found dead in my ranch last Friday with a shot close to his heart," she continued. "I am hoping that the Washington State authorities do justice to this wonderful dog whom in 9 years never bit or attacked anyone. He loved his territory and never strayed away…he was the most loving and loyal companion." Hayek ended the note, which was also written in Spanish, with this declaration: "He didn't deserve a slow and painful death." RELATED: Salma Hayek Cut Off a Lot of Hair for Her New Movie 'Drunk Parents' The actress, whose Instagram is filled with adoring pics with her animals, shared a photo of her cuddling with one of the canine co-star on the set of Drunk Parents earlier this month. "I love dogs so much that I can't resist cuddling with them – even when they've helped arrest me in the movie we're shooting!" Hayek captioned, with the hashtags "#love," "#dogs" and "#cuddle." Last July, Hayek was one of several A-listers outraged over the killing of Cecil the Lion. Watch the video below to hear what she had to say exclusively to ET.

– Actress Salma Hayek has delivered sad and surprising news to her fans on Instagram: Someone shot and killed her 9-year-old dog, Mozart. "He was found in my ranch last Friday with a shot close to his heart," she writes. It's not clear what happened, and Hayek says she hopes authorities in Washington state can track down the shooter. Mozart had never attacked or bit anyone, writes Hayek, who adds that she "personally delivered" Mozart from his mother's womb. ETOnline notes that Hayek regularly fills her Instagram account with loving shots of Mozart and her other animals.

In an extraordinary public statement, all five Republican members of the House ethics committee are calling on Democrats to schedule ethics trials for Reps. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) before the November elections. Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.), ranking member of the committee, was joined by his four Republican colleagues on the bipartisan committee in slamming ethics committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) for not scheduling the trials even as the House prepares to adjourn until after Nov. 2. Text Size - + reset POLITICO 44 “It is in the best interests of the transparency and fairness to the American people, Representatives Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters, and other Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, that the House Ethics Committee stop stalling the resolution of the Rangel and Waters matters and complete those public trials prior to the November elections,” the Republican members of the normally secretive panel declared in their statement. Bonner and the Republican blamed Lofgren for the delays in moving forward with the proceedings, saying she alone has the authority under ethics committee rules to set a trial date for the Rangel and Waters cases. “The Chairwoman has repeatedly refused to set either the Rangel or Waters trial before the November election,” the Republicans wrote in a statement released Tuesday. “While we regret that the Committee has not worked together in a bipartisan fashion to ensure the transparent and fair resolution of these matters to date, we look forward to working with the Chairwoman in a bipartisan manner to accomplish this – and other important unfinished Committee business – in the coming weeks.” Bonner’s public criticism of Lofgren is a surprising move, considering the usually secretive nature of congressional ethics committees, and it opens up a divisive partisan clash over the Rangel and Waters cases. Lofgren and Bonner have been at pains since the start of the 111th Congress to play up their bipartisan cooperation on ethics cases, issuing frequent public statements highlighting their cooperation. The clash over the schedule for the Rangel-Waters trials is the worst public fight for the ethics committee since early 2005, when Republicans moved to replace former Rep. Joel Hefley (R-Colo.), the committee chairman, and top panel staffers following an investigation into then Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas). Democrats were privately furious over the decision by Bonner and the other four Republicans to go public with their complaints about Lofgren. “The whole ruse of it being a bipartisan, non-politicized committee has blown up in their face,” said one Democratic aide who follows the ethics panel closely. “The fact that they can put out this statement shows how damned partisan it is.” The Democratic aide also said that Lofgren “has lost control of the process.” ||||| GOP wants Waters, Rangel on trial before midterm election By Susan Crabtree - Republicans on the House ethics committee are calling on Democrats to schedule the public trials of charges against Reps. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) before the November elections. In an unusual break from the bipartisan secrecy the panel normally maintains, Rep. Jo Bonner (Ala.), the ranking Republican on the ethics committee, issued a public statement accusing Democrats of “stalling” the resolution of the Rangel and Waters matters. “It is in the best interest of transparency and fairness to the American people, Representatives Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters, and other members of the U.S. House of Representatives, that the House ethics committee stop stalling the resolution of the Rangel and Waters matters and complete these public trails prior to the November elections,” Bonner said in a lengthy written statement signed by himself and the four other GOP members of the ethics panel. The ethics committee has been struggling to set a date for the public trials. Last Thursday the committee huddled in its basement office to try to hash out an agreement on the scheduling, but Republicans and Democrats were still at an impasse as of late last week. Democratic leaders would no doubt like to avoid the spectacle of back-to-back public ethics trials for two of their members before the November elections. They have been frustrated with Rangel and Waters ever since they both rejected attempts to negotiate punishments and avoid a public trial. Republicans, who stand to gain seats in the November election and possibly retake the majority, have every interest in showcasing the ethics charges against two prominent Democrats. Rangel, too, said he would like to have a chance to clear his name before the midterm vote and has expressed frustration over the ethics committee’s failure to produce a trial schedule. Waters has urged the panel to hold the trial before the election, but last week said only that she would comment at the appropriate time. Watchdogs are expecting those trials to take place after the elections so the ethics committee can avoid any accusations of politicizing the process. In his public statement, Bonner specifically took issue with comments House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) made this past weekend. Bonner blasted Hoyer for inaccurately saying that the scheduling of the trials is “up to Jo Bonner, and Zoe Lofgren, the Democrat.” Hoyer also called for the trials to “be resolved as quickly as possible” and attributed the unwillingness of the committee to set trial dates prior to the November election to “their own scheduling problems.” Bonner pointed to committee rules allowing adjudicatory subcommittees to meet “at the discretion of the chair.” “After months of trial preparation — and, in the Rangel matter, two years of investigation — Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren should have already issued notices of public trial schedules in both the Rangel and Waters matters,” Bonner said in the statement. He also said that members of the committee have “repeatedly” expressed their willingness to meet in October and hold the trial and noted that in the past committee members have returned to Washington to conclude “pressing” ethics issues. “Representative Rangel and Representative Waters have publicly and rightfully — demanded the setting of their respective trials prior to the November election to ensure swift and fair resolution of their matters,” Bonner wrote. “In our opinion, Representatives Rangel and Waters deserve the opportunity to publicly and timely address the charges against them.”

– The ethics troubles of Maxine Waters and Charlie Rangel have led to what both the Hill and Politico call a rare bit of public infighting on the House ethics panel. The Republicans on the panel demanded today that Democrats schedule separate trials for the two Democrats before the November elections. Anything else is just stalling to avoid negative headlines, said ranking GOP member Jo Bonner. “After months of trial preparation—and, in the Rangel matter, two years of investigation—Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren should have already issued notices of public trial schedules in both the Rangel and Waters matters,” said Bonner. Congressional ethics committees general work in bipartisan secrecy to settle such things. Both Waters (earlier stories here) and Rangel (earlier stories here) have fiercely denied any wrongdoing.

645X363 - Full Sharing - Additional videos are suggested upon completion The Senate on Tuesday voted to advance President Obama’s trade agenda, approving a measure to end debate on fast-track authority. The 60-37 motion sets up a vote on final passage on Wednesday. If the Senate approves fast-track or trade promotion authority (TPA), it would then be sent to Obama’s desk to become law. ADVERTISEMENT Fast-track authority would allow Obama to send trade deals to Congress for up-or-down votes. The White House wants the authority to conclude negotiations on a sweeping trans-Pacific trade deal. Thirteen Democrats backed fast-track in Tuesday’s vote, handing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTrump steps up courtship of Dems Senate defense bill at standstill over amendment fight Overnight Health Care: Sanders enjoys big moment with single-payer bill | Five things to know about Sanders's plan | Trump applauds senators' latest ObamaCare repeal effort MORE (R-Ky.) a major legislative victory. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) voted against the procedural motion. The Democrats cast "yes" votes even though the trade package did not include a workers assistance program for people displaced by increased trade. The Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program was a part of the last fast-track package approved by the Senate in May, but became a key part of opposition to the package among Democrats in the House. To move fast-track forward, the White House and GOP leaders in both chambers decided to break TAA away from fast-track and to try to approve both in separate votes. After the Senate votes Wednesday on final passage for fast-track, it will take a procedural vote on a package that includes TAA and trade preferences for African countries known as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). McConnell has promised both bills will reach Obama’s desk by the end of the week. “If we all keep working together and trusting each other, then by the end of the week the President will have TPA, TAA and AGOA and Preferences on his desk,” he said on the floor. The House has already passed fast-track but it must still vote on the package including TAA, which faces opposition from conservatives. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) reiterated on Tuesday his pledge to vote again on TAA as soon as it clears the upper chamber. “The House will consider TAA once it passes the Senate as part of a new trade preferences bill. And we are ready to go to conference on the customs bill. Our goal is to get TPA and TAA to the president's desk this week and deliver this win for the American people,” he said in a statement. The Senate vote to end a filibuster against fast-track appeared in doubt until the final moment as a group of pro-trade Democrats balked at McConnell’s decision to split it off from TAA, a move made necessary to circumvent opposition in the House. Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet (Colo.), Chris Coons (Del.), Ben Cardin (Md.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Patty Murray (Wash.) and Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) refused to say publicly how they would vote. McConnell’s margin for error shrank further when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who is running for president, announced he would vote to block the bill, declaring in a Breitbart.com op-ed that it had “become enmeshed in corrupt Washington backroom dealmaking.” Other Republican White House hopefuls, including Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, oppose fast-track. Sen. Ron Wyden Ronald (Ron) Lee WydenIt is time to make domestic terrorism a federal crime McConnell: Blue slips shouldn't 'blackball' circuit court nominees 21st Century Fox backs bill to stop online sex trafficking MORE (Ore.), the senior Democrat on the Finance Committee, held talks with other pro-trade Democrats late into the evening Monday to address their concerns. He delivered an impassioned speech in favor of the bill shortly before the vote, arguing that it would allow the United States to keep pace with China in the competition for Asian markets. “This is our chance to set a new course. This is our chance to put in place higher standards in global trade on matters like labor rights and environmental protection, shine some real sunlight on trade agreements and ensure that our country writes the rules of the road,” he said. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who co-wrote the trade bill with Wyden, argued the vast majority of global economic growth will take place outside of the United States over the next decade. “If our workers, farmers, ranchers and service providers are going to be able to compete in these growing markets, we must have open access to these markets and fair trade rules to boot,” he said on the floor. Opponents led by Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) warned fast-track would cost thousands of American jobs and allow multi-national companies to evade U.S. law. Brown reproached his colleagues for voting to give Obama fast-track authority while having little idea of the shape of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade accord that will receive expedited consideration in Congress as a result. “We’ve gotten the worst of both worlds because we’re voting on TPA and we haven’t been able to see what’s in TPP,” Brown said before the vote. The AFL-CIO waged a fierce lobbying campaign against fast-track for months. “It will do nothing to prevent repeating the mistakes of failed trade policies that have contributed to stagnating wages, increasing inequality and the closure of more than 60,000 factories since 2000,” the union wrote in a letter dated Monday. Thomas J. Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and other business leaders applauded the development. “Today’s vote is an important step towards revitalizing our economy, creating more good American jobs, and reasserting our country’s global economic leadership,” Donohue said in a statement. Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) missed the vote. McConnell said Corker would have voted "yes" if he had been present, while Brown noted that Lee and Menendez would have voted "no." ||||| Getty Senate salvages Obama trade agenda More than a dozen Democrats side with the GOP to give the president fast-track authority. With no votes to spare, the Senate salvaged President Barack Obama’s trade agenda on Tuesday, putting a measure to give him enhanced powers to strike free trade deals on track to be signed into law by the end of the week. But the lead-up to the decisive vote exposed serious friction between the two parties over the chamber’s next big problem: the imminent shutdown of a government financial institution that conservatives despise, the Export-Import Bank. Story Continued Below The trade bill advanced 60-37, with the minimum votes needed to break a Democratic-led filibuster against the so-called Trade Promotion Authority. Thirteen Democrats sided with GOP leaders on the vote, and five Republicans, including presidential contenders Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted against the legislation. But discord between pro-trade Democrats and GOP leaders was on vivid display on the Senate floor leading up to the vote. Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) could be seen having an animated talk with Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) as the Republican pressed for her support and she sought a vote to renew the Export-Import Bank charter, which lapses next week. Heitkamp mentioned “Ex-Im” several times as she weighed whether to become one of the decisive votes for the president’s push for new trade deals with European and Pacific Rim countries. “John, I will tell you this,” Heitkamp told Cornyn, referring to the bank. “It’ll pass. It’ll pass overwhelmingly.” But GOP leaders didn’t offer any assurances to prevent the bank’s charter from expiring at the end of the month. Ex-Im provides credit and loan guarantees to American exporters. Cornyn said that he and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) remain committed to a vote on Ex-Im in July, after the bank’s authority has already lapsed. “I think our chances of not having the Ex-Im charter expire are gone,” Heitkamp said. “This is typical of the United States Congress to not only not do things timely, but completely late and disrupt the lives of thousands of American workers and thousands of American businesses. It is a sad day that we’re gonna walk out of here without renewing the Ex-Im charter.” Heitkamp was among several Democrats who wavered on the trade vote until the final moment. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) withheld his vote before finally voting no. When Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) swept into the chamber to deliver the 60th vote to break the filibuster, Republican leaders were elated to see him. Had he not shown, Republican leaders were prepared to hold the vote open to allow GOP Sen. Bob Corker to fly back from Tennessee to finish the job. As the Nevadan strolled into the Senate chamber shortly after 11:30 a.m., Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) smiled at Heller and yelled: “Mr. 60!” Democrats ultimately decided to trust McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to follow through on a joint pledge to shepherd into law both TPA — which gives Obama “fast-track” trade authority — and a measure to help laid-off workers known as Trade Adjustment Assistance. TPA will allow Obama to complete the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, but Democrats have long insisted that it be accompanied by TAA, which provides aid and job training for workers who lose their jobs to trade. Despite the opposition of most of the party, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) did not lean on his caucus to reject the trade bill as he had at one point in May. “I still hate the whole program,” Reid said after the vote. “I’ve never voted for a trade bill; I never even considered voting for this one. I’m not happy with it.” Boehner and McConnell issued a flurry of promises that they will usher TAA through their respective chambers; a vote in the Senate is expected on Thursday. For many Democrats, that was enough. “I have been assured that the House and the Senate will take up TAA and the enforcement legislation,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who was concerned as late as Monday that the workers aid bill would not pass. “I appreciate the speaker saying he’s going to take it up this week and Sen. McConnell filing cloture on it.” Still, the reluctance to move forward was evident even among those who had announced on Monday that they would vote to advance TPA. “What made me feel comfortable? I don’t think comfort has anything to do with it,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). “It’s the right thing for my state.” The Senate passed a TPA/TAA package in May. McConnell and Boehner unlinked the two bills after the package could not pass the House, while promising to pass each separately in order to assuage Democrats who’ve insisted on the worker aid. “This place has become pretty polarized over the years, and there’s not been a lot of trust,” Cornyn told reporters. “We needed to reassure our Democrat colleagues … that takes a little bit of trust. But I think it will reap benefits far beyond just this particular piece of legislation.” Getting to 60 votes, though, took more than just trust and public promises. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who helped write the trade legislation with Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), spent Monday evening working the phones to keep as many pro-trade Democrats as he could on board. With the newly announced opposition of Cruz, leaders could lose only two pro-trade Democrats. Wyden said he spoke with House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Monday to press GOP leaders to include the wishes of pro-trade Democrats in Senate and House-passed Customs enforcement legislation when the House and Senate iron out their differences. Meanwhile on the floor, McConnell buttonholed Cardin, who appeared to be waiting until the 60th vote was cast to register his opposition but held out until Heller arrived. Immediately before the vote, Cardin said he’d received “a lot of interest” from the White House and trade critics who had wooed him in recent days. He said his biggest concern was over the sequencing of the bills — he wanted the worker aid package and other outstanding trade bills all tied together with the fast-track proposal. “For reasons I don’t understand, they are bringing up TPA first,” Cardin said. “And that’s created a great deal of heartache for me.” Indeed, Cardin’s position demonstrated how difficult the vote was for many Democrats, who found themselves under intense pressure from unions and progressives. Senate Democrats supportive of the fast-track trade legislation huddled Monday night for a strategy session, but most remained mum about how they would vote. With the legislation hanging in the balance, anti-trade labor and liberal groups stepped up their last-minute whipping efforts, with AFL-CIO Director of Government Affairs William Samuel writing senators to vote “no” or risk “leaving U.S. workers in the lurch.” And Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), one of the most vocal opponents of the fast-track bill, railed against TPA moments before the vote, accusing Congress of turning its back on a “moral” obligation to assist the working class. “How shameful,” Brown said. “We’re making this decision knowing that people will lose their jobs because of our action.” But Republicans also had to deal with Cruz’s last-minute denunciation of TPA, even though he supported it last month with TAA attached. In an op-ed for Breitbart News, Cruz accused GOP leaders of cutting a deal with Democrats to keep Ex-Im alive. “No comment,” Hatch said when asked about Cruz’s flip. “I’ve learned a long time ago, when people run for president, you really can expect some very bizarre things.” Manu Raju contributed to this report. ||||| WASHINGTON — President Obama’s ambitious trade push is back on track, after several near-death moments, in large measure because top Republicans stood by him. The Senate on Tuesday narrowly voted to end debate on legislation granting Mr. Obama enhanced negotiating powers to complete a major Pacific trade accord, virtually assuring final passage Wednesday of Mr. Obama’s top legislative priority in his final years in office. The procedural vote of 60 to 37 just reached the minimum needed, but final Senate passage will require only 51 votes. The House approved trade promotion authority last week. With congressional support for “fast track” authority, the president can press for final agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a legacy-defining accord linking 40 percent of the world’s economy — from Canada and Chile to Japan and Australia — in a web of rules governing Pacific commerce. His administration can also bear down on a second agreement with Europe — known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership — knowing that lawmakers will be able to vote for or against those agreements but will not be able to amend or filibuster them. Photo The Atlantic agreement is not expected to be completed until the next administration is in office, but the trade negotiating powers would stretch for six years — well into the next presidency. Together those two accords would put much of the globe under the same trade rules, not only lowering tariffs and other import barriers but also creating new standards for Internet access, intellectual property and investor protections. “This is a very important day for our country,” said Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, whose procedural maneuvering was largely responsible for the outcome. “America is back in the trade business.” Most Democrats — along with labor unions, environmental groups and liberal activists — disagreed, saying that such trade agreements had resulted in lost manufacturing jobs and lower wages for American workers. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “It is a great day for the big money interests, not a great day for working families,” said Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. But 13 Democrats sided with Republicans to end the debate and get to a final vote on trade promotion authority. Tuesday’s vote was the second time the Senate had blocked a filibuster of fast-track authority, but this time the bill was shorn of a separate measure to offer enhanced retraining and educational assistance to workers displaced by international trade accords. That measure also faces a crucial vote on Wednesday. Passage of a stand-alone trade promotion bill will put pressure on House Democrats, who just over a week ago brought down the worker aid provision, known as trade adjustment assistance, when it was linked to the fast-track legislation, in a strategic move they hoped would defeat the entire trade package. But Republican leaders — with support from the White House — found a parliamentary way to corner the Democratic opponents, by separating the two pieces of the bill. By Wednesday evening, legislation will most likely be on the president’s desk, giving him the power to complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He can sign it whether or not the House passes worker dislocation assistance when it is scheduled to come to a vote late Thursday. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said House Democrats should get on board. “The previous explanation that we heard from some Democrats who voted against trade adjustment assistance — something that Democrats have steadfastly supported for decades — is that they were doing that in an effort to slow down the advancement of trade promotion authority legislation,” he said. “That will no longer be a factor to consider.” The tortuous path of the trade legislation over the last six months created the unusual alliance between Mr. Obama and Republican leaders, who otherwise have worked to thwart him on domestic and foreign policies. “Occasionally, even the leader of the Democratic Party, the president of the United States, gets things right,” said Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican. In the end, Mr. McConnell all but secured the top remaining legislative priority of a president he once vowed to turn out after one term. The Senate is set on Wednesday to give final approval to trade promotion authority, then vote to end debate on a separate bill that attaches worker dislocation assistance to a broadly popular bill extending a trade agreement with several African countries. To attract more votes, Senate leaders added another provision speeding up action against foreign competitors who are found to be “dumping” — selling steel and other products in the United States at artificially low prices in an effort to put domestic manufacturers out of business. Senators would vote on that package on Thursday, and if it is approved, as expected, it would go to the House the same day. This time, if Democrats vote down trade adjustment assistance, they will be effectively killing a worker education and retraining program created during the Kennedy administration and that party members have nurtured ever since, but will still most likely watch Mr. Obama sign the fast-track bill into law. “I don’t think any Democrats voted against T.A.A. last time because they opposed T.A.A.,” said Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the House’s No. 2 Democrat. “I will concede there will be a different context” around the next vote. At the same time, House and Senate negotiators will begin hashing out differences over a separate bill enhancing measures to police trade agreements. Opponents had hoped that trade promotion authority without worker assistance would run into trouble in the Senate. And some Democrats tried to stoke fears that Congress could give the president the power to complete major trade deals without assistance to affected workers. “How shameful is that?” said Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, who led the opposition to trade promotion authority. “We’re making this decision knowing people will lose their jobs because of our actions. Yet we are not going to pass this assistance.” In the end, though, Democratic senators who had already voted once for trade promotion authority understood they were not going to escape the criticism, especially from the unions. They wanted to be done with it. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Advertisement Continue reading the main story “Senate Democrats had already taken a lot of hits in getting to this point,” said Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee and a co-author of the trade promotion bill. Only one senator, Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, changed his vote from last month. In April, Mr. Cruz wrote an article with Representative Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, extolling the trade promotion bill for giving Congress more power over future trade accords. Under the trade promotion bill, such accords could not be considered by Congress for four months after completion, and for two of those months, the agreements would have to be made accessible to the public. The bill adds dozens of negotiating objectives requested by lawmakers, who still could vote down any deal struck. Since then, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, one of Mr. Cruz’s rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, announced his opposition to the trade promotion bill, and some conservatives voiced opposition to any bill enhancing Mr. Obama’s authority. On Tuesday, on the conservative website Breitbart.com, Mr. Cruz denounced the bill he once supported.

– President Obama's trade agenda lives to fight another day. The Senate this morning handed him the 60 votes he needed, voting 60-37 to end debate on his request for fast-track negotiating authority. It'll vote on final passage for fast-track tomorrow, which the New York Times sees as "virtually ensured" as final passage needs just 51 votes. As earlier reported, 14 Democratic senators backed fast track in a late May vote, and 13 did so today. The timeline, per the Hill: After the fast-track vote, the Senate will vote on a package that includes Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)—a measure that would provide job training and other help to people who lose their jobs because of the trade deal. Democrats have insisted TAA be paired with the fast track; some on the other side of the aisle oppose it. The House will then need to vote on it, and both Mitch McConnell and John Boehner have pledged to make TAA law. As Politico puts it, today's vote "came as Democrats wavered on whether to trust" them to do so.

Confectionery giant Nestle has failed to convince European judges that it has the right to trademark the shape of its four-finger KitKat bar in the UK. The European Court of Justice said that the company had to demonstrate the public relied on the shape alone to identify the snack. The judges concluded this was difficult to prove if goods also showed a brand name such as KitKat. Rival Cadbury has battled to prevent Nestle obtaining the trademark. Both Nestle and Cadbury said they were "pleased" with the ruling. The case will now return to the UK High Court for a final decision. Nestle claimed that in the 80 years since the chocolate bar was introduced, the four fingers have become almost completely associated with KitKats. In June, a senior European court lawyer, the advocate-general, disagreed saying such a trademark did not comply with European law. Nestle has not sought to trademark the two-fingered bar. Sally Britton, intellectual property lawyer at Mishcon de Reya, said that Nestle was likely to continue arguing its case, "even if, as now appears likely, the English court decides that the KitKat shape should not be registered as a trade mark". She said Nestle had experience of trying to register difficult marks. It took more than 40 years for it to register the slogan "Have a Break" as a trade mark, finally succeeding in 2006, she added. Image caption Norway's "Kvikk Lunsj" looks similar to the KitKat and is available in some parts of the UK Chocolate wars Wednesday's ruling is the latest development in a more than 10-year legal battle between Nestle and Cadbury, which started when Cadbury tried to trademark the purple colour it uses on its Cadbury chocolate wrappers. Nestle objected and finally had the original decision allowing Cadbury to trademark the colour overturned in 2013. Now it would appear Cadbury, which is owned by US company Mondelez International, has scored a significant but not final victory in the continuing chocolate war. It has always argued the shape alone was not distinctive enough for consumers to associate it with the rival snack. A bar called the Kvikk Lunsj, meaning "quick lunch", launched in Norway in 1937 is available in some UK shops, and although less well known, looks similar to the four-finger KitKat. A ruling in favour of Nestle would stop other confectionery producers making chocolate bars of the same shape or size. ||||| The origin of the name The Kit Kat name originates from the late 17th century in London, when a literary club met at a pie shop owned by pastry chef Christoppher Catling. The group was called the Kit Kat club and took its name from an abbreviated version of the owner's name. ||||| SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share Tweet Post Email Photographer: Jason Adlen/Bloomberg Photographer: Jason Adlen/Bloomberg Nestle SA may find it harder to convince U.K. judges that the shape of its KitKat chocolate bar is distinct enough to trademark after the European Union’s top tribunal set strict limits on what qualifies for the status. For a shape to deserve a trademark, owners must prove that consumers can recognize the product exclusively by that characteristic, and not in combination with another trademarked aspect, the EU Court of Justice said in a ruling Wednesday. The judgment gave both sides an opportunity to claim victory. The EU court decision will help guide a U.K. tribunal handling a clash between Cadbury, the U.K.’s biggest chocolate maker, and Nestle over the Swiss company’s 2010 application to trademark the four-fingered chocolate bar, which brought in 40 million pounds ($61.7 million) a year between 2008 and 2010 in the U.K. Cadbury separately is fighting an EU trademark Nestle got for the shape of its chocolate bar in 2006 in a case that’s been pending in a lower EU court since 2013. Any decision will determine whether or not the trademark is valid. The KitKat was first sold in Britain in 1935 by Rowntree & Co., with the shape changing very little since then. Nestle, the world’s biggest food company, bought Rowntree Plc in 1998. The U.K. Trade Marks Registry turned down the application to protect the shape of the chocolate bar in the U.K. in 2013 following the opposition from Cadbury. The EU court Wednesday said trademark protection can’t be given if a shape “contains three essential features, one of which results from the nature of the goods themselves and two of which are necessary to obtain a technical result.” Vevey, Switzerland-based Nestle said it was “pleased with the decision” and “now looks forward to the decision of the U.K. High Court.” Mondelez International Inc., which owns Cadbury, said in an e-mailed statement that the court’s ruling “is in line with our contention that the shape of the KitKat bar is not distinctive enough to be protected as a trademark.” Nestle won a U.K. Court of Appeal ruling in October 2013 blocking Cadbury from obtaining a trademark for the color purple it uses to package its milk chocolate. The case is: C-215/14, Societe de Produits Nestle SA v. Cadbury UK Ltd.

– It started with a candy wrapper and ended (for now) in a courtroom. Nestle's attempts to trademark the shape of its "four-fingered" KitKat have been rejected by the European Court of Justice, which ruled that shape alone isn't enough to recognize it as a KitKat, the BBC reports. The decision was a setback for Nestle—which manages the brand overseas; Hershey is licensed to sell the brand here in the US—and a victory for Cadbury, which was trying to block the trademark. The ruling means that, for now, other candy companies can make similar-looking chocolate bars. Nestle, which reaped more than $60 million a year from 2008 to 2010 in the UK from KitKat, argued that the four-fingered design has become inextricably associated with the KitKat brand over the past eight decades, Bloomberg notes. But Cadbury said the shape wasn't enough to make a consumer automatically think "KitKat," and the court agreed. The BBC even notes that in Norway, a lesser-known chocolate bar called Kvikk Lunsj ("quick lunch") has been around for nearly as long as KitKat. The fight between the two confectionary giants is the second major brouhaha they've had in recent years: In 2013, Nestle managed to block Cadbury's attempts to trademark its signature purple-colored chocolate wrappers, per Bloomberg. KitKat case now heads back to the UK High Court, which will render a final decision. (Claims of excess lead in Nestle noodles led to a major recall in India.)

Close Get email notifications on Kurt Erickson daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. Whenever Kurt Erickson posts new content, you'll get an email delivered to your inbox with a link. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. ||||| Emergency responders work at Table Rock Lake after a deadly boat accident in Branson, Mo., Thursday, July 19, 2018. A sheriff in Missouri said a tourist boat has apparently capsized on the lake, leaving... (Associated Press) BRANSON, Mo. (AP) — At least 13 people, including children, died after a boat carrying tourists capsized and sank on a lake during a thunderstorm in a country music mecca in southwest Missouri, authorities said Friday. Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jason Pace said four people remain missing Friday after the Ride the Ducks boat sank on Table Rock Lake in Branson Thursday evening. He said 14 people survived, and that seven of them were injured. Patrol divers found two more bodies early Friday, raising the death toll from 11 to 13, Pace said. A spokeswoman for the Cox Medical Center Branson said four adults and three children arrived at the hospital shortly after the incident. Two adults are in critical condition and the others were treated for minor injuries, Brandei Clifton said. Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said Thursday that stormy weather likely made the boat capsize. Another duck boat on the lake made it safely back to shore. Steve Lindenberg, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Springfield, Missouri, said the agency issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the Branson area Thursday evening. Lindenberg said winds reached speeds of more than 60 mph (100 kph). "It's a warning telling people to take shelter," he said. Rader said an off-duty sheriff's deputy working security for the boat company helped rescue people after the boat capsized. Dive teams from several law enforcement agencies assisted in the effort. The National Transportation Safety Board said investigators will arrive on the scene Friday morning. Suzanne Smagala with Ripley Entertainment, which owns Ride the Ducks in Branson, said the company was assisting authorities with the rescue effort. Smagala added this was the Branson tour's only accident in more than 40 years of operation. Branson is about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Kansas City and is a popular vacation spot for families and other tourists looking for entertainment ranging from theme parks to live music. An EF2 tornado that bounced through downtown Branson in 2012 destroyed dozens of buildings and injured about three dozen people, but killed no one. Duck boats, which can travel on land and in water, have been involved in other deadly incidents in the past. Five college students were killed in 2015 in Seattle when a duck boat collided with a bus, and 13 people died in 1999 when a duck boat sank near Hot Springs, Arkansas. Safety advocates have sought improvements since the Arkansas deaths. Critics argued that part of the problem is that too many agencies regulate the boats with varying safety requirements. Duck boats were originally used by the U.S. military in World War II to transport troops and supplies, and later were modified for use as sightseeing vehicles. ||||| Emergency responders work at Table Rock Lake after a deadly boat accident in Branson, Mo., Thursday, July 19, 2018. A sheriff in Missouri said a tourist boat has apparently capsized on the lake, leaving... (Associated Press) Emergency responders work at Table Rock Lake after a deadly boat accident in Branson, Mo., Thursday, July 19, 2018. A sheriff in Missouri said a tourist boat has apparently capsized on the lake, leaving several people dead and several others hospitalized. (Nathan Papes/The Springfield News-Leader via... (Associated Press) BRANSON, Mo. (AP) — At least 11 people, including children, died after a boat carrying tourists on a Missouri lake capsized and sank Thursday night, the local sheriff said. Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said five people remain missing and seven others were hospitalized after a Ride the Ducks boat sank on Table Rock Lake in Branson. A spokeswoman for the Cox Medical Center Branson said four adults and three children arrived at the hospital shortly after the incident. Two adults were in critical condition and the others were treated for minor injuries, Brandei Clifton said. Rader said the stormy weather was believed to be the cause of the capsizing. Another duck boat on the lake was able to safely make it back to shore. Steve Lindenberg, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Springfield, Missouri, said the agency issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the Branson area Thursday evening. Lindenberg said winds reached speeds of more than 60 mph. "It's a warning telling people to take shelter," he said. Rader said an off-duty sheriff's deputy working security for the boat company helped rescue people after the accident. Dive teams from a number of law enforcement agencies were assisting in the effort, but the sheriff said the divers ended their search for the night. The National Transportation Safety Board said on Twitter that investigators will arrive on the scene Friday morning. Suzanne Smagala with Ripley Entertainment, which owns Ride the Ducks in Branson, said the company was assisting authorities with the rescue effort. Smagala added this was the Branson tour's first accident in more than 40 years of operation. Branson is about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Kansas City and is a popular vacation spot for families and other tourists looking for entertainment ranging from theme parks to live music. Duck boats, known for their ability to travel on land and in water, have been involved in other deadly incidents in the past. They include one in 2015 in Seattle in which five college students were killed when a boat collided with a bus, and one in 1999 that left 13 people dead after the boat sank near Hot Springs, Arkansas. Safety advocates have sought improvements to the boats since the Arkansas incident. Critics argued that part of the problem is numerous agencies regulate the boats with varying safety requirements. Duck boats were originally used by the U.S. military in World War II to transport troops and supplies, and later were modified for use as sightseeing vehicles. ||||| BRANSON, M0. — It had been a nice summer day here in the Ozarks, and the duck boat filled with sightseers was coasting through a calm Table Rock Lake. Then the wind began to pick up and the water started to churn as a powerful thunderstorm crashed through. Rain pummeled the amphibious boat, waves tossed it like a toy, 65 mph gusts of wind hit it with spray, and water crashed over its bow. As the boat struggled toward the dock and safety for its 29 passengers and two-member crew, it was overwhelmed. Gripping video footage from the lake showed the boat seesawing and lurching in unrelenting waves. Before long, the small, flat-bottomed, half-boat half-bus capsized and sank, plunging to the bottom of the lake and killing more than half of the people aboard. By the end of the day Friday, authorities had recovered the bodies of 17, a list of victims that crossed generations, ranging from 1 to 76 years old, many of them out-of-state visitors — including nine members of one family. Authorities said the captain survived, while the boat’s driver was killed. Branson Mayor Karen Best identified the driver as local resident Robert “Bob” Williams, 73. Late Friday night, authorities released the names of the passengers who died. Four, including Williams, were from Missouri: William Asher, 69; Rosemarie Hamann, 68; Janice Bright, 63; and William Bright, 65. Two — Steve Smith, 53; and Lance Smith, 15 — were from Arkansas. One, Leslie Dennison, 64, was from Illinois. The remaining nine were from Indiana, all from the Coleman family: Angela, 45; Belinda, 69; Ervin 76; Glenn, 40; Horace, 70; Reece, 9; Evan, 7; Maxwell, 2; and Arya, 1. Only two members of the family survived. Duck boats are a popular tourist attraction in cities across the country, allowing passengers to sightsee by land and water in the same vehicle. The boat here, near this resort town in southwest Missouri, had been on a regular tour around Table Rock. Though Table Rock Lake is normally placid, some authorities and experts said Friday that it is unclear why operators did not heed forecasts and warnings that the potentially violent storm was approaching. [The violent storm behind the duck boat tragedy was well-predicted, not ‘out of nowhere’] Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader told reporters that he believed the boat — which he said was one of two duck boats still on the lake during the storm — sank because of the weather. When asked Friday whether he thought operator or design error played a role in the tragedy, Rader declined to answer. The second boat made it back to the dock safely. Jim Pattison Jr., president of Ripley Entertainment, which bought the duck boat operation in 2017, said in an interview Friday that it appeared the storm came on suddenly on a lake that normally is “very, very flat,” taking the crew by surprise. He said the boat captain has 16 years’ experience. “We’re absolutely devastated,” Pattison said. “Our hearts just really go out to everybody, and it’s just something that is very sad.” Suzanne Smagala, a spokeswoman for Ripley Entertainment, said that the company later became aware of the severe weather alert that had been issued before the storm and that boat captains receive weather alerts by email or text message. “However, we don’t know if the captain received it” on Thursday night, she said. “When the weather picked up, the captain turned it around,” she added. The boat was heading toward the shore when it capsized. Though tourists might have known generally that thunderstorms were expected sometime Thursday, meteorologists had been tracking the storm for hours, and their forecasts offered considerable lead time. The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch at 11:20 a.m., nearly eight hours before the storm struck, and at that time, it predicted “widespread damaging winds likely with isolated significant gusts to 75 mph possible.” The Weather Service then issued a severe thunderstorm warning — indicating a violent storm was imminent — at 6:32 p.m., about 30 minutes before police were called about the boat capsizing. Marshall Shepherd, a past president of the American Meteorological Society and a professor at the University of Georgia, tweeted that the “tragedy was completely preventable.” “This is not 1901,” he wrote. “We have satellites, advanced radars, good weather models, all short-term weather information showed that storms approaching well before the boat was on the water.” Authorities said they expected to recover the sunken boat late Friday from its resting place in 80 feet of water. Rader said the boat went down in about 40 feet of water but rolled to a deeper point and ended up on its wheels. “It’s going to take time to know the details of everything that occurred,” Gov. Mike Parson (R) said at a news briefing Friday, noting that the sprawling investigation had just begun. “Until that investigation is completed, I don’t think it’s my place or anyone’s place to speculate all the things that could have happened or why they happened.” The duck boat that sank Thursday was owned by Ride the Ducks Branson, a tourism company that takes people on tours of the Ozarks by land and water using the amphibious vehicles. Ride the Ducks is a national duck tour operator with locations across the United States, and Ripley’s purchase of the Branson company last year added to its collection of more than 100 entertainment venues. Those include the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! franchise and the Guinness World Records Attractions, as well as mazes, haunted houses, traveling shows and other attractions across the United States and 10 other countries worldwide. Pattison told The Post on Friday that the company bought Ride the Ducks Branson — to date, Ripley’s only duck boat outfit — in part because Ripley already had a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium in Branson. A press release announcing the purchase described the tour as a 70-minute, guided amphibious tour that takes passengers through the Ozarks. At the time of the announcement, the company operated 22 duck vehicles from March to November. The announcement has since been removed from Ripley’s website. Duck boats were originally developed as amphibious military vehicles used in beach landings. The duck boat tours in Branson include a trip up a nearby mountain to look at decades-old military equipment. While some tourism duck boats were converted from the Army’s World War II-era “DUKW” boats, those used by Ride the Ducks Branson were replicas, the company said, updated with modern safety equipment. Smagala said the boat tragedy was the first accident involving the duck boats in Branson. The company has been operating in the city for 40 years and is “a staple of Branson,” Smagala said. Federal investigators also headed to the scene to join state and local officials, with the National Transportation Safety Board dispatching a “Go Team” to the lake to help probe the latest disaster involving duck boats, which have been involved in several fatal accidents in water and on land. Thirteen people died in 1999 when a duck boat took on water and sank while touring Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Ark. The NTSB found that when the boat was converted for tourism, it was not given enough built-in buoyancy to stay afloat if flooded. Just seven minutes after that boat entered the lake, it sank in 60 feet of water. In 2015, a Ride the Ducks boat crashed into a charter bus on the Aurora Bridge in Seattle; five college students were killed and dozens of other people injured. Ride the Ducks International agreed the following year to pay $1 million for violating federal safety regulations, according to the Seattle Times. Flowers and a note rest on a car believed to belong to a victim of the duck boat accident in Branson, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Two passengers on a duck boat were killed in 2010 near Philadelphia when a barge collided with the smaller vessel. The NTSB determined that the accident — which caused the duck boat to sink — occurred because the person guiding the barge was focused on his cellphone, although federal investigators also criticized the duck boat’s operator, Ride the Ducks, for actions they said contributed to the accident. Some of the deadly accidents show dangers that come with some versions of the hybrid vessels. Often the boats are covered by thick canopies that shield riders from the sun and rain, but can create an obstacle to safety in emergencies, trapping passengers inside as the vessels sink. Four of the passengers who died on the Miss Majestic in 1999 in Arkansas were pinned against the underside of the canopy. “Contributing to the high loss of life was a continuous canopy roof that entrapped passengers within the sinking vehicle,” an NTSB report on the incident said. The Coast Guard issued nationwide standards for inspections of the vehicles in December 2000, which still cover the industry. The NTSB recommended in 2002 that built-in flotation devices or other means be added to the retrofitted military boats to make sure the vessels “remain afloat and upright.” The duck boats in Branson are popular with tourists and locals alike, said Best, the mayor. She said she could not recall previous problems with the two companies that have operated the boats in the 16 years she has lived in Branson. “The duck boats are such a great asset to our community,” she said. “As a local, I’ve ridden in them I can’t tell you how many times.” 1 of 26 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × The scene after a duck boat sinks, killing 17 during a storm near Branson, Mo. View Photos The boat was touring Table Rock Lake when a thunderstorm swept in. Authorities said 31 people were on board. Caption The boat was touring Table Rock Lake when a thunderstorm swept in. Authorities said 31 people were on board. Trent Behr Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. Many tourists riding similar boats in the District on Friday were undeterred by news of the fatal event in Missouri, viewing it as an isolated occurrence. As a fleet of boats operated by DC Ducks filed into Union Station on Friday afternoon, the Valdonedo family disembarked with wide smiles. The vacationers from Panama planned to stay in the nation’s capital for a week, and they said they had no intention of changing their plans to ride the duck boat. “One random accident doesn’t mean they’re a bad company,” said Gabby Valdonedo, 25. “It’s a good way to see the city.” Her sister, Monique Valdonedo, 19, added that duck boats are “way more fun than going down the Metro.” But other tourists expressed some concern about the amphibious tours. Tiffany Li, 19, was visiting Washington with a friend on Friday and considered taking a DC Duck tour to pass time before their train back to New York. “Clearly it’s a safety issue,” said Kume. “The boats don’t seem that stable, but tourists don’t know any better. They just pay to have fun.” Li compared the danger to riding a roller coaster at an amusement park. “You don’t want to question things when you’re having a good time, so you just don’t think about it,” she said. Ultimately, they decided against taking the tour, though Li said the decision was based more on money than safety. Branson, near the Arkansas border, is a destination for country and live-music fans, with many acts covering Elvis, Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton standards. Its main boulevard includes Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede Dinner Attraction, and Silver Dollar City, an 1800s-themed amusement park. Best, who is in her second term in office, said the city has about 10,000 residents and welcomes more than 8 million visitors yearly; July is one of its busiest months. Best and her staff prepared Branson City Hall as a refuge for those waiting for news of their loved ones, and the city brought in certified grief counselors. Best said she saw one of the grief counselors take wet socks from a young man and dry them with the bathroom hand drier. “That was such a small thing, but for that young man, having dry socks was such an improvement from being cold and wet,” she said. “Little things like that meant a lot to the families.” Seven passengers were injured, and two of those were in serious condition. Williams, the driver of the boat, lived in Branson with his wife of 30 years. He was described as having loved his role promoting Branson. “Every time you saw him he was smiling,” Best said. “He was a great guy. He loved Branson.” Victor Richardson, a grandson of Williams’s, said in a telephone interview that “he was the calmest spirit you could ever meet.” Police were called about the duck boat sinking shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday, officials said. While dive teams headed to the scene, people already there began to help, Rader said. Among those helping were one of his deputies, who was off-duty and providing security on the Branson Belle, a showboat used for lake tours. The weather had been nice until shortly before the disaster, Allison Lester, who saw what happened from a nearby boat, said in a television interview. “The wind really picked up bad, and debris was flying everywhere, and just the waves were really rough,” Lester told “Good Morning America” on Friday. “It was just suddenly and out of nowhere.” In video captured by onlookers from the lake, two duck boats can be seen plunging up and down in choppy waves and high spray. One boat lags behind the other, nose-diving into the water. “Oh my gosh, oh no,” a woman is heard saying in the background of the video. “Somebody needs to help them.” Crazy storm... 17 fatalities on Table Rock Lake. Lakesideresort.com #tablerock #lovetablerock #tablerocklake #branson Posted by Lakeside Resort & Restaurant on Table Rock Lake on Thursday, July 19, 2018 Berman, Chiu and Wax reported from Washington. Abigail Hauslohner, Michael Laris, Luz Lazo, Deanna Paul, Julie Tate, Jason Samenow, Samantha Schmidt and Rachel Siegel in Washington contributed to this report. Ristau is a freelance journalist based in Tulsa.

– Severe weather is being blamed for what could be America's deadliest "duck boat" disaster. Authorities in Branson, Missouri, have confirmed that at least 13 people, including children, died Thursday night when an amphibious boat carrying tourists capsized and sank in Table Rock Lake. Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jason Pace said Friday that four people remain missing, reports the AP. He added that 14 people survived, and that seven of them were injured. Stone County Sheriff Douglas Rader said the boat apparently sank due to intense winds and thunderstorms in the area, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Rader said some of the 31 people on the boat were rescued by an off-duty deputy who was in the area. National Weather Service meteorologist Steve Lindenberg says a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for the area Thursday evening, the AP reports. Eyewitness video shows the boat being struck by huge waves. "Duck boats," originally used by the military in World War II, have been involved in several other deadly accidents nationwide, including a sinking in Arkansas that killed 13 people in 1999, though a Ride the Ducks spokeswoman says this is the first accident in more than 40 years of operation in Branson. "I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the captain did his best," Roger Braillier, captain of another duck boat, tells the Washington Post. "All of our hearts are completely broken right now."

This “has worked for years in Latin America and Canada,” NATO chief John Fithian says — and could begin as an experiment in one U.S. state by the end of this year. “There are meetings this week about doing a test with a discount.” Although NATO has a state in mind, Fithian declined to say which one is being considered. He adds that studios have to endorse the concept. It makes sense, he says, because “our capacity is so unused,” which is why “we are looking aggressively at it.” Fithian says he can’t disclose much because so many decisions have yet to be made, and to avoid the possibility of violating antitrust laws by appearing to set prices. NATO “could never set what the discount could be … [it] would have to be a concept that this is the day in which theaters discount.” Get Deadline news and alerts sent to your inbox. ||||| If American movie-theater owners have been super hardcore about one thing, it’s ticket prices. No matter what the Europeans and Canadians do, no matter how many startups try to hack into ticket pricing, exhibitors for years have refused to budge. Until now. The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) announced Tuesday that it’s launching an off-night ticket-discount experiment sometime this year. But rather than dive in, they’re carefully dipping a toe: Only one state, which hasn't yet been revealed, will host the program, and it will run only for a limited time. See also: 8 Top Apps and Services for Streaming Your Favorite Movies It's hardly a full-scale ticket-price surrender, but it’s still a notable concession. Theaters have been uniformly steadfast in their stance against ticket discounting; they’re fine to honor coupons and membership points for popcorn and Junior Mints, but if the sign on the box office says $14.95, it’s gonna be $14.95, from sea to shining sea. That’s largely because studios are promised a hard cut of each ticket; any discount would slice directly into the theaters’ take. Startups like Groupon and MoviePass, which set out to offer unlimited moviegoing for $50 a month, have tried to break through. But they’ve had only limited success, largely withering in the face of intense exhibitor and studio pressure. NATO Chief John Fithian announced the plan at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, where hundreds of movie-theater owners — from major chains like AMC to mom-and-pop venues — rub elbows with the Hollywood studios’ elite once a year. But what’s meant to be a love-fest has, in recent years, become an incubator for tension. Issues of shrinking theatrical windows (the period of time between opening day and digital homevideo release), studios’ secret premium VOD — and now discounting — have clouded the air at Caesar’s Palace. Fithian stressed that exhibitors in other countries have buoyed their bottom lines with weeknight discounts, but Hollywood has held fast to the old chestnut that doing so devalues movie tickets across the board. Let people spin the turnstiles for six or eight bucks on Tuesday, the thinking goes, and they’ll be less likely to pay $15 or more on Friday. Box-office grosses seem to soar to new heights year after year, but actual ticket sales have been flat or in slight decline, with ticket prices and premium formats (3D and IMAX) inflating revenues. Though the exhibition community likes to repeatedly say the sky’s not falling, it looks like some are ready to at least get out their umbrellas.

– Got a free weeknight? Going to the movies may soon become a more affordable option. Last year, US movie theaters sold 1.34 billion tickets, down 1.5% from the year before. And ticket sales dropped 11% between 2004 and 2013, the Motion Picture Association of America reported yesterday. To combat the trend, theaters are mulling a coordinated move: They may drop ticket prices on one weeknight a week, the Wall Street Journal reports. The National Association of Theatre Owners plans to try it out in one state this year. Which night will be cheap night isn't yet clear. The move would run counter to theaters' current habit of raising prices each year—a trend which has resulted in higher revenues despite lower ticket sales. Last year, for instance, the average ticket price was $8.13, up from $7.96 in 2012. Box-office sales, meanwhile, hit $10.9 billion, compared to $10.8 billion in 2012. The cheap-day system "has worked for years in Latin America and Canada," says theater owners association head John Fithian, per Deadline. Studios will have to agree to the plan, he notes—and the industry has feared that lowering prices one day a week will lead to people opting not to pay the higher weekend price, Mashable points out.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri appeals court judge was appointed Monday to take over Ferguson's municipal court and make "needed reforms" after a highly critical U.S. Department of Justice report that was prompted by the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown. The Missouri Supreme Court said it is assigning state appeals Judge Roy L. Richter to hear all of Ferguson's pending and future municipal court cases. The high court said Richter also will have the authority to overhaul court policies to ensure defendants' rights are respected and to "restore the integrity of the system." Ferguson Municipal Judge Ronald J. Brockmeyer resigned Monday, saying through a spokesman that he was stepping down to promote public confidence in the court and help Ferguson "begin its healing process." The Ferguson City Council met in closed session Monday evening, but members left without taking questions and a city spokesman didn't disclose the purpose of the meeting. Ferguson City Manager John Shaw was escorted to his vehicle by a police officer without fielding questions, and Mayor James Knowles III declined comment to The Associated Press afterward except to say that the city on Tuesday would begin seeking Brockmeyer's permanent successor. Richter will take charge of the court on March 16. The Supreme Court said it also is assigning staff from the state court administrator's office to aid Richter in reviewing Ferguson's municipal court practices. "Judge Richter will bring a fresh, disinterested perspective to this court's practices, and he is able and willing to implement needed reforms," Chief Justice Mary Russell said in a written statement. "Extraordinary action is warranted in Ferguson, but the Court also is examining reforms that are needed on a statewide basis," Russell added. The change comes after the Justice Department released a report last week that cited cases of racial profiling and bigotry by police and chided what it described as a profit-driven municipal court system in the predominantly black St. Louis suburb where Brown, 18, was shot by a white Ferguson police officer on Aug. 9. The shooting prompted protests in the St. Louis area and across the nation. A St. Louis County grand jury and the U.S. Justice Department both declined to bring charges against Officer Darren Wilson, who resigned from the department. The Justice Department report said Wilson acted in self-defense when he shot Brown. But the Justice Department said Ferguson's police and court systems functioned as a money-making enterprise that heightened tensions among residents. The federal report noted that Ferguson was counting on revenues from fines and fees to generate $3.1 million, or nearly one-quarter of its total $13.3 million budget for the 2015 fiscal year. Although it was rare for the court to sentence people to jail as a penalty for city code violations, the Justice Department report said the city's court almost always imposes monetary penalties and then issues arrest warrants when people fail to pay on time or miss a court date. As a result, relatively minor violations can — and frequently do — lead to arrests and jail time, the report said. The federal report also cited several instances in which Ferguson's municipal judge, court clerk or city prosecutor helped "fix" tickets for colleagues and friends. The report cited the forgiven tickets for Ferguson officials as evidence of "a double standard grounded in racial stereotyping." It said Ferguson officials displayed "a striking lack of personal responsibility among themselves" while some nonetheless asserted to federal investigators that the city's African-American residents lacked "personal responsibility." Attorney Bert Fulk said in a statement announcing Brockmeyer's resignation that Brockmeyer had been "fair and impartial" as a part-time judge and that the court clerk bore the primary responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the court. The city fired court clerk Mary Ann Twitty last week. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon released a written statement Monday praising the "strong and appropriate actions by the Missouri Supreme Court" to overhaul the Ferguson municipal court. Monday's appointment of a new Ferguson judge drew mixed reviews among a dozen onlookers at that night's council meeting. Derrick Robinson, a protest organizer, said the move was "letting us know they're hearing our cry, and I think it's a good step in reconstructing Ferguson." Meldon Moffitt, of St. Louis, countered that it wouldn't make anything better, adding "the only way we can clean up Ferguson is to wipe out the police force, wipe out the courts and wipe out the judges." ___ Follow David A. Lieb at: https://twitter.com/DavidALieb ___ Associated Press writers Jim Suhr and Jim Salter contributed to this report from Ferguson. ||||| In the first session since the Missouri Supreme Court took over Ferguson's municipal court, Judge Roy L. Richter began with a detailed overview of the state's court system, and then announced he was lowering some of the fines.

– The Missouri Supreme Court is helping with the housecleaning in Ferguson: The court says that to "restore public trust and confidence" in the municipal court division, it's taking the "extraordinary action" of reassigning all municipal court cases to a state appeals court judge, reports the New York Times. Ronald Brockmeyer, the Ferguson judge who doubles up as a prosecutor, resigned from both roles yesterday. The 70-year-old tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he doesn't agree with a Justice Dept. report on the biased and "abusive" practices he allegedly played a key role in, including the "creative" use of fines and fees to raise money for the city, "but it's not worth fighting." The top Missouri court says it's assigning Judge Roy L. Richter to hear pending and future cases in Ferguson, and the appeals court judge will also have the power to "restore the integrity of the system" with a revamp of municipal policies, reports the AP. The court says it is also looking at statewide reforms. St. Louis University law professor Brendan Roediger tells the Times that this is the first case he knows of where a state court has taken over an entire municipal docket. "It's a very big deal because it actually is the solution," he says. "It puts the cases in front of full-time professional courts with no conflicts of interest."

June 15, 2016 Morgan Warthin , (307)344-2015 A Chinese national was fined $1,000 and a $30 court processing fee for walking off the boardwalk in the Mammoth Hot Springs thermal area Tuesday, June 14, 2016. A visitor observed and reported that the individual walked on the terrace formations near Liberty Cap and collected thermal water. The visitor also reported seeing the individual break through the fragile travertine crust. A park ranger took the witness’s statement, photos, and location of the violation. The subsequent law enforcement investigation identified the individual who stated that he did not read the safety information given to him at the park entrance. He also admitted to collecting hot springs water. A federal violation notice requiring a mandatory appearance in the Yellowstone Justice Center Court was issued for off boardwalk travel in a thermal area. Park rangers appreciate the willingness of the witness to document and report the violation. Park employees call on all visitors to protect their park and protect themselves. Regulations to stay on designated trails and boardwalks in thermal areas are for visitor safety and the safety of the exceptional park natural resources. Without visitor cooperation, park natural wonders will continue to be damaged and more individuals may be injured or killed. It is a violation of federal regulations to collect any park resources. ||||| YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) — A tourist from China was fined $1,000 for walking off a boardwalk at Yellowstone National Park and collecting thermal water, apparently for medicinal purposes, park officials said Wednesday. A witness reported seeing the man break through the fragile, rock crust surrounding the Mammoth Hot Springs area. The witness took photos of the man that were turned over to park rangers, officials said. The incident came only a week after an Oregon man died after falling into one of Yellowstone's hot springs. The Chinese tourist told rangers he did not read the safety information given to him when he entered the park. The man, whose name was not released, reportedly wanted the water for medicinal purposes, said park spokeswoman Charissa Reid. Reid said in an emailed response to questions about the case the "stiff fine" was levied in large part because of "the irreplaceable nature of the thermal feature." The 2.2 million-acre park has seen a string of incidents over the past month where tourists got into trouble. Some got too close to wildlife and several others walked off boardwalks near hot springs. On June 7, 23-year-old Colin Nathaniel Scott of Portland slipped on gravel and fell into scalding, acidic water after leaving a boardwalk in the Norris Geyser Basin. Park officials were unable to recover his body. A day after Scott's death, six people received $130-citations for walking off trail in the Grand Prismatic Springs area. Park regulations require visitors to stay on trails and boardwalks for their own safety as well as to protect Yellowstone's natural resources. It is a violation of federal regulations to collect any park resources. ||||| Yellowstone National Park tourist fined $1,000 for walking off boardwalk A man visiting Yellowstone National Park left with more than just memories Wednesday after he left the boardwalk at the Mammoth Hot Springs area. He walked away with a $1,000 fine and $30 court processing fee. According to the park, a witness saw the man step off the boardwalk, walk on the terrace formation near Liberty Cap and collect thermal water. The witness also said the man broke through travertine crust, which is very fragile. RELATED: 16 cool things you probably didn't know about Big Bend National Park When the man was interviewed by law officials, the Chinese national said he didn't read the safety information provided as he entered the park. He also admitted to taking water from the hot springs. A park spokeswoman told the Associated Press the wanted to water for medical purposes. The man was issued a federal violation notice, requiring an appearance in the Yellowstone Justice Center Court. >> Click the gallery above to see some dumb things tourists have done "Park employees call on all visitors to protect their park and protect themselves," Yellowstone Park officials said in a news release. "Regulations to stay on designated trails and boardwalks in thermal areas are for visitor safety and the safety of the exceptional park natural resources. Without visitor cooperation, park natural wonders will continue to be damaged and more individuals may be injured or killed. It is a violation of federal regulations to collect any park resources." Earlier this month, 23-year-old Colin Nathaniel Scott of Portland slipped on gravel and fell into scalding, acidic water after leaving a boardwalk in the Norris Geyser Basin. Park officials were unable to recover his body. The hefty fine follows another tourist incident at Yellowstone this year in which park visitors loaded a bison into their vehicle because it "looked cold." The bison was later euthanized when it could not be reunited with its herd.

– If you've ever wondered, "What's the worst thing that could happen if I stray from the boardwalk at Yellowstone?", well, the worst thing that could happen is you could be killed in a thermal hot spring. But, among the lesser-but-still-unfortunate consequences, you could be fined $1,000 plus a $30 court processing fee. That's what happened to a Chinese man visiting the Mammoth Hot Springs area of the national park, who was seen leaving the boardwalk, collecting thermal water, and breaking through the fragile travertine crust near Liberty Cap on Wednesday, the Houston Chronicle reports. After a witness took photos and turned them in, officials interviewed the man, who admitted to taking water from the hot springs (he said he wanted it for "medicinal purposes," the AP reports) and said he hadn't read the safety information he was given at the entrance to the park. In addition to being fined, he was hit with a federal violation notice, meaning he must appear at the Yellowstone Justice Center Court. "Without visitor cooperation, park natural wonders will continue to be damaged and more individuals may be injured or killed," park officials say in a press release.

Dwight Yoakam performs "Seven Spanish Angels" at the 50th annual CMA Awards at the Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP) (Associated Press) Dwight Yoakam performs "Seven Spanish Angels" at the 50th annual CMA Awards at the Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP) (Associated Press) Garth Brooks, who lost entertainer of the year at last year's Country Music Association Awards when he returned to music after a 13-year break, won the top prize at the show Wednesday, where Beyonce and the Dixie Chicks' surprise duet performance was met with love and hate. Brooks beat out Carrie Underwood, Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban and last year's winner, Luke Bryan. "We are so damn lucky to part of this thing called country music," Brooks yelled loudly at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Taylor Swift presented Brooks the award, but she wasn't the only pop star in the building: Beyonce sang her twangy song "Daddy Lessons" on a night celebrating the CMA Awards' 50th anniversary. It was the first time Beyonce, a Houston native, performed at the country awards show. The performance also marked a return for the Dixie Chicks, who hadn't attended the CMA Awards in some time. "Everybody get on your feet. Put your hands together," Beyonce told the crowd. The diva sported a sheer champagne-colored dress that plunged in the center and layered pearls around her neck. Faith Hill sang along, Trisha Yearwood clapped and Miranda Lambert moved side to side during the song, which the Dixie Chicks have also covered at their live shows. Beyonce and the trio's appearance, though, wasn't cheered by everyone: On social media some fans tweeted angrily about the performance — some country music fans have disliked Dixie Chicks since band member Natalie Maines criticized former U.S. President George W. Bush over a decade ago. The night featured a number of other memorable performances, too: A mix of classic and contemporary country stars kicked off the show with 12 performances to celebrate its milestone anniversary, which included Randy Travis, Vince Gill, Charley Pride, Roy Clark, Alabama, Charlie Daniels, Ricky Skaggs, Alan Jackson, Dwight Yoakam and Merle Haggard's youngest son, Ben. Dolly Parton, who earned the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award, was honored by Reba, Underwood, Martina McBride, Jennifer Nettles and Kacey Musgraves, who all sang a rousing rendition of "I Will Always Love You." "I would have cried, but I didn't want to mess up my eyelashes," said Parton, sporting a bright yellow dress. Chris Stapleton, who won big at last year's show, was the night's top winner with two: He took home male vocalist and music video of the year. "What a wonderful night ... I've cried just watching everybody," said Stapleton, who walked into the show as the top nominee along with Eric Church and newcomer Maren Morris. Underwood won female vocalist of the year, ending Lambert's six-year consecutive winning streak since 2010. "Glory to God, thank you Jesus," said a teary Underwood, who also thanked her husband and son. Church won album of the year for "Mr. Misunderstood" and Morris picked up new artist of the year. "Last year, I sat across the street at a bar and watched this show. I never thought as a songwriter I'd be standing here today," she said. A number of celebrities were in the audience and presented awards, including Matthew McConaughey, Peyton Manning, Jennifer Garner, Olivia Newton-John, Nicole Kidman, Lily Tomlin, Sharon Stone and the Final Five Olympic gymnasts: Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez and Madison Kocian. Paisley and Underwood, returning as hosts for the ninth time, told jokes about politics, Wikileaks, Brangelina's breakup and more. "We're so sick of politics, we don't even care who wins," they sang in harmony. At one point, Paisley called Underwood a "nasty woman," mocking Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. The three-hour-plus show, which aired on ABC, also featured performances by George Strait, Brooks & Dunn, Jason Aldean and Little Big Town, who sang their new song "Better Man," written by Swift. The first award of the night went to Thomas Rhett, who won single of the year for "Die a Happy Man." "I gotta first thank the Lord ... my lovely wife in the blue dress; she was the full inspiration of this song," said Rhett. Lori McKenna won song of the year for writing Tim McGraw's "Humble and Kind," a tune she said was based on a prayer she wrote for her five children. McKenna co-wrote Little Big Town's megahit "Girl Crush," earning a Grammy Award this year and last year's song of the year honor at the CMAs. "I have a job in this town because of this guy's wife, Faith Hill," said McKenna, who was escorted to the stage by McGraw. Kenny Chesney, who released a new album last week, earned the Pinnacle Award. Little Big Town and Brothers Osborne won vocal group and vocal duo of the year, respectively, while Dierks Bentley and Elle King's "Different for Girls" won musical event of the year. ____ Online: http://www.cmaworld.com/

– Garth Brooks, who lost entertainer of the year at last year's Country Music Association Awards when he returned to music after a 13-year break, won the top prize at the show Wednesday, the AP reports. Brooks beat out Carrie Underwood, Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban, and last year's winner, Luke Bryan. "We are so damn lucky to be part of this thing called country music," Brooks yelled loudly at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena. Taylor Swift presented Brooks the award, but she wasn't the only pop star in the building: In a surprise duet with the Dixie Chicks, Beyonce sang her twangy song "Daddy Lessons" on a night celebrating the CMA Awards' 50th anniversary. Dolly Parton, who earned the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award, was honored by Reba McEntire, Underwood, Martina McBride, and Kacey Musgraves, who all sang a rousing rendition of "I Will Always Love You." "I would have cried, but I didn't want to mess up my eyelashes," said Parton. Stapleton, who won big at last year's show, was the night's top winner with two: He took home male vocalist and music video of the year. Underwood won female vocalist of the year, ending Miranda Lambert's six-year consecutive winning streak since 2010. Eric Church won album of the year for "Mr. Misunderstood" and Maren Morris picked up new artist of the year. Click for a full list of winners.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, shown in a 2009 arrest photo, sought early last year to change his first name to Muaz, after slain Dagestan rebel fighter Emir Muaz. (Cambridge (Mass.) Police Department) WASHINGTON — Less than three months before the Boston Marathon bombings, a bitter, frustrated Tamerlan Tsarnaev visited a federal immigration office in the Boston area and signed forms seeking to legally change his first name. Eager to recast himself in the model of a well-known rebel figure killed by Russian forces in 2009, Tsarnaev chose as his new name "Muaz," according to a previously undisclosed Homeland Security Department petition form, which was obtained by The Times. It was not only a tribute to Emir Muaz, a celebrated fighter in Russia's Dagestan republic, it was also the nickname rebels had given Tsarnaev during his six-month visit to the region in 2012, law enforcement officials say. Asked as part of the Jan. 23, 2013, application to explain his name change request, Tsarnaev described the decision in political terms, according to a federal law enforcement official close to the Boston bombing case. "He said, 'The Russian people have been terrorizing my home country for all these years.' This is why he needed to come back to America and help," the official said. A year after twin explosive-laden backpacks killed three people and injured more than 260 others at the Boston Marathon, the name-change petition is part of a growing body of evidence that portrays Tsarnaev as more radical and organized than previously believed. Defense attorneys for his younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, say the older sibling may have been set off by what he believed was FBI pressure and attempts to recruit him as an informant. The emerging picture of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed as U.S. agents tried to arrest him days after the bombings, is likely to play a key role in the upcoming defense of his brother. Attorneys for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are expected to argue that his brother took the lead role in what became the worst domestic terrorist attack since Sept. 11, 2001. U.S. authorities believe Tamerlan was deeply radicalized during his 2012 visit to Dagestan, which, along with adjoining Chechnya, is home to an Islamist insurgent movement. They say he made an unsuccessful attempt to join the rebels and was either sent back to the U.S. to carry out a terrorist strike or took it upon himself. "You've got to be pretty full into this to want to change your name and not be just a nobody named Tamerlan," said the law enforcement source, who requested anonymity because the case is ongoing. "Maybe he thought because he could not get accepted over there, maybe he could do something here." At the bottom of the name-change form, Tsarnaev was advised that he would be required to take an oath of allegiance to the United States, including potentially serving in the U.S. armed forces. Rather than sign that part, he printed his name, then crossed out "Tamerlan" and changed it to "Muaz." Tsarnaev's anger toward the U.S. was fueled by what he perceived as pressure from American law enforcement agents to work for them, according to his brother's defense attorneys. Though the FBI has said that it met once with Tsarnaev to discuss his visit to the Caucasus region, lawyers for his brother claimed in court filings March 28 that federal agents interviewed him multiple times, a process that they said increased his anger against the U.S. In 2011, the Russian government asked the FBI to check on Tsarnaev, warning he might be preparing to travel to the Caucasus region. The FBI said it ran a series of checks, spoke with him and his parents, and reported back to Moscow that it had uncovered no links to terrorism. But according to his brother's lawyers, the FBI's involvement went further. They said in court papers that there was "more than one" FBI visit to talk with Tsarnaev and his parents, that he was questioned about his Internet searches, and that the bureau "asked him to be an informant." "Tamerlan misinterpreted the visits and discussions with the FBI as pressure, and they amounted to a stressor that increased his paranoia and distress," defense attorneys argued in the filings. Federal prosecutors, however, told defense attorneys in a March 14 letter that they had "no evidence that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was solicited by the government to be an informant." They did not comment on whether there were multiple FBI visits. The image of Tsarnaev as a more radicalized fighter fits with the conclusion of a House Committee on Homeland Security report last month, which said he returned to the U.S. in 2012 with a near-manic desire to strike out against the U.S., evidenced in tirades he carried out at local mosques. Signs of his radicalization also included a YouTube account he posted under his name that included Russian-language videos on Islam and play lists of militant videos he compiled, the committee report said. The new revelations about Tsarnaev have prompted defense lawyers for his brother to characterize him as the key player who "supplied the motivation, planning and ideology behind the Boston Marathon attack," according to recent filings. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to using a weapon of mass destruction and other federal charges. If convicted at his trial this fall, he faces a death sentence. His attorneys say Tamerlan "induced or coerced" Dzhokhar to take part in the attack and that the younger brother "acted under his domination and control." J. Reid Meloy, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UC San Diego School of Medicine, who has worked on notable terrorist cases including the Oklahoma City federal building bombing, said an "undue or coercive behavior" defense can be hard to prove and difficult to sell to a jury. In an interview, Meloy said that one of the few examples in which it worked was the 2002 Washington-area sniper case in which 10 people were killed and three injured. An adult killer was put to death, while his teenage protege, who looked up to him as a mentor and father figure, was given life in prison without parole. "In my view of the evidence in the Boston case, I find no indication that the younger man had a psychiatric disorder," Meloy said. But he added, "It now seems very clear that this may be the most viable and convenient defense for the younger Tsarnaev." [email protected] ||||| Lawyers for accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev asserted Friday that his older brother and alleged accomplice had been encouraged by the FBI to be an informant and to report on the Chechen and Muslim community, according to court records. “We seek this information based on our belief that these contacts were among the precipitating events for Tamerlan’s actions during the week of April 15, 2013, and thus material to the defense case in mitigation,” the lawyers said in their court filing. “We base this on information from our client’s family and other sources that the FBI made more than one visit to talk with Anzor [his father], Zubeidat [his mother] and Tamerlan, questioned Tamerlan about his Internet searches, and asked him to be an informant, reporting on the Chechen and Muslim community. Advertisement “We do not suggest that these contacts are to be blamed and have no evidence to suggest that they were improper, but rather view them as an important part of the story of Tamerlan’s decline. Since Tamerlan is dead, the government is the source of corroboration that these visits did in fact occur and of what was said during them.” Get Metro Headlines in your inbox: The 10 top local news stories from metro Boston and around New England delivered daily. Sign Up Thank you for signing up! Sign up for more newsletters here The lawyers suggested that Tamerlan Tsarnaev could have misinterpreted his interactions with the FBI as pressure from the agency, and that they could have “increased his paranoia and distress.” The defense wants to investigate those factors as it seeks to portray Tamerlan as a dominating family figure who may have pushed the younger Dzhokhar to take part in the April 15 bombings last year. Tamerlan was killed days after the bombings in a confrontation with police in Watertown. The lawyers’ allegation, based on conversations with family members and other sources, was made in a 23-page court filing Friday in which the lawyers sought a court order forcing prosecutors to turn over more evidence in the case. Specifically, they want additional evidence about Tamerlan’s radical views, which would be useful in the lawyers’ defense against the death penalty. Advertisement Lawyers argued that, now that prosecutors have declared they will seek capital punishment, Dzhokar should be allowed to present evidence of mitigating factors that would tilt a jury against the death penalty. Those factors include evidence about his age at the time of the bombings, which was 19, his lack of criminal history, and the possible influence of others, specifically a radical older brother, court records said. “The underlying data concerning the brothers’ activities, state of mind, and respective trajectories is critical,” the defense said. “Evidence that shows Tamerlan to have had a substantially longer and deeper engagement than his younger brother with extremist and violent ideology is mitigating for the light that it sheds on their relative culpability.” Prosecutors did not immediately respond to the defense request, though defense lawyers conceded that they have a March 14, 2014, letter in which prosecutors said they had “no evidence that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was solicited by the government to be an informant.” Although the FBI does not comment on court matters, the bureau cited a statement Friday that it made Oct. 18, 2013, which said, “The Tsarnaev brothers were never sources for the FBI, nor did the FBI attempt to recruit them as sources.” Advertisement Dzokhar Tsarnaev, now 20, faces a 30-count indictment in his alleged role in the bombings, which killed three people and injured more than 260. He and Tamerlan also allegedly shot and killed an MIT police officer before the confrontation with police in Watertown. Tsarnaev is being held at the federal prison at Fort Devens in Ayer. He is slated to go to trial in November. Prosecutors have described him as a young Muslim extremist who wanted to carry out jihad, or holy war, against the United States. They alleged the brothers learned to build the bombs through websites that supported Al Qaeda. In court requests filed late Friday, the defense lawyers sought a court order to force prosecutors to turn over a list of records, including reports related to the fatal shooting of MIT police Officer Sean Collier, the Watertown confrontation, and any evidence that an MBTA police officer was shot by fellow officers, rather than by Dzokhar Tsarnaev, who the lawyers say was unarmed. The request also targets records of the brothers’ Internet searches. One of the court requests asked for any information prosecutors collected under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act including any surveillance of Tamerlan’s return visits to Dagestan and the Chechnya region before the bombings. A recent US House of Representatives homeland security report indicated FBI officials in Moscow may have collected “electronic communication” between Tamerlan and a jihadist named William Plotnikov. “Any surveillance, evidence, or interviews showing that Tamerlan’s pursuit of jihad predated Dzhokhar’s would tend to support the theory that Tamerlan was the main instigator of the tragic events that followed,” the defense lawyers argued. The lawyers are also seeking the immigration records of Tsarnaev’s family members, including his mother, father, and brother. His father, Anzor, sought the family’s asylum in fleeing torture in Kyrgyzstan close to two decades ago, and the defense lawyers argued that the records would illustrate Tsarnaev’s family history. They also said that Tamerlan’s immigration records could yield more evidence about his encounters with federal authorities, specifically after his visits to Dagestan that caught the attention of Russian officials. The lawyers said they plan to argue that the unknowns about Tsarnaev’s “formative environment and relative moral culpability” and the possible “psychological domination” by his brother would support their case against the death penalty. Globe correspondent Haven Orecchio-Egresitz contributed to this report. Milton J. Valencia can be reached at [email protected].

– On Jan. 23, 2013, less than three months before the Boston Marathon bombings, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was ready to reinvent himself. He applied that day to change his first name to "Muaz," in honor of a rebel from Russia's Dagestan republic who was killed by Russian forces in 2009. Muaz was also the nickname bestowed upon Tsarnaev when he visited Dagestan in 2012, officials say. The previously unreleased name change application was recently obtained from the Department of Homeland Security by the Los Angeles Times. The reason Tsarnaev gave for changing his name, according to an official who spoke to the Times: "He said, 'The Russian people have been terrorizing my home country for all these years.' This is why he needed to come back to America and help." This detail, and others that are emerging, paint the elder Tsarnaev as more radical than he was originally believed to be—and defense attorneys for younger brother Dzhokhar are likely to use that picture in court, to argue that Tamerlan was the leader and coerced his brother to participate. Dzhokhar's lawyers have argued that Tamerlan may have become increasingly "distressed" after the FBI interviewed him about the trip to Dagestan, possibly believing the bureau was pressuring him "to be an informant, reporting on the Chechen and Muslim community," the Boston Globe reported last month.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) - In his re-election bid for the White House, President Barack Obama stopped at VCU's Siegel Center earlier this month where thousands of people flocked to hear him speak. But a source within the Richmond Police Department (RPD), who does not want to reveal his identity for fear of retribution, is blowing the whistle on the department. The man tells CBS 6 News' Sandra Jones that inappropriate comments were made by a 20-year police veteran, against the president and first lady. "There was an officer providing exterior security to the President on that day on the phone with the supervisor. The supervisor said to that particular officer, 'you're down there right? So, you can take a couple of shots, you might have to kill yourself, but you can take a couple of shots.'" The RPD source said the supervisor said that to a sharpshooter while on the phone during the department's roll call on the day of the president`s visit. The source also said that "another officer in the background started talking and he said, 'yeah, somebody should plant a bomb underneath the stage while they're on there and blow it up.' " And the police source also said comments were allegedly made about Michelle Obama. "Nobody wants to see her anyway -- unless she gets undressed or get naked," the source told Jones was what one officer said. No one at RPD is commenting, but the department is investigating the alleged incident. A spokesperson said the Secret Service investigated the complaint, and did not find any wrongdoing. But the whistleblower claims it took the police department two weeks before the matter was addressed. "It makes me feel terrible, terrible," said the whistleblowrer. "You see it as a loss. How could somebody in law enforcement be talking about killing somebody else...especially government. President of the United States, the highest in the land." Richmond police said the officers in question did not have an assignment related to the president’s detail. "The Richmond Police Department has conferred with the Secret Service. The Secret Service considers this matter resolved," wrote Richmond Police spokesperson Gene Lepley in a news release. A RPD source also said the alleged comments, while not criminal in nature, are being investigated by the department for appropriate administrative action. However, the department will not identify the officers nor discuss their current work status. Stay with CBS 6 News and WTVR.com for the latest on this story. Sign up for Breaking News email alerts from WTVR.com. Download the CBS 6 Breaking News App for your smartphone: Android | Blackberry | iPhone and iPad RELATED: COMPLETE COVERAGE: Obama Rally at VCU ||||| Whistleblower fired for revealing cops threatened Obama while protecting him By David Edwards Thursday, February 21, 2013 14:20 EDT A Richmond police officer who reported fellow cops for allegedly threatening President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama has been fired from his job on the force. WTVR on Wednesday confirmed that the officer, who did not wish to be named, had been called to police headquarters where he was terminated on Tuesday. The officer blew the whistle on a 20-year department veteran and other members of the Richmond force after they made inappropriate comments while providing protection to the president and first lady. “There was an officer providing exterior security to the president on that day on the phone with the supervisor,” the whistleblower explained to WTVR last May. “The supervisor said to that particular officer, ‘you’re down there right? So, you can take a couple of shots, you might have to kill yourself, but you can take a couple of shots.’” He said that the supervisor made those comments to a sharpshooter on the day of the president’s visit to Richmond. And “another officer in the background started talking and he said, ‘yeah, somebody should plant a bomb underneath the stage while they’re on there and blow it up,’” the source said. Inappropriate remarks were also made about Michelle Obama. “Nobody wants to see her anyway — unless she gets undressed or get [sic] naked,” an officer allegedly said. On Wednesday, the whistleblower told WTVR that he had been fired for violating department policy by doing an interview with the station. Virginia employment attorney Thomas Robert pointed out that the officer should have been protected under the First Amendment because he was “speaking about a matter of public concern as a citizen.” “It concerns me and it should concern others, if he was retaliated based upon his right to express his concern on this public matter as well as his opinion,” Roberts said. “There’s no question that this will have a chilling effect upon other members of the police force who will be afraid if they speak out about a matter of public concern. They too may lose their job.” Although a Secret Service investigation last year concluded that the officers had not violated the law with their comments about the president and first lady, two officers were fired and now want their jobs back. “Unfortunately, the termination of the self-proclaimed ‘whistleblower’ does nothing to remedy the fact that his false allegations resulted in the termination of two officers,” James Towey, an attorney for the officers told WTVR in a statement. “Their careers were ended and they have gone through eight months of hell.” Watch this video from WTVR, broadcast Feb. 20, 2013. ||||| Please enable Javascript to watch this video RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) - The Richmond Police officer who blew the whistle on fellow officers accused of making inappropriate comments about harming President Obama and the First Lady was fired from the Richmond Police Department. The fired officer, who granted the initial interview to CBS 6 on the condition he remain anonymous, confirmed Wednesday morning what CBS 6 first reported Tuesday, citing Richmond Police sources. Multiple sources confirmed that police unscrambled the effects of the whistleblower’s statement on tape to CBS 6. The man told CBS 6 reporter Sandra Jones he was ordered to police headquarters Tuesday afternoon where he was met by a several high-ranking police officials. The officials, he said, informed him of his termination. The man said Wednesday morning he returned to police headquarters to pick-up a packet of information. Included in that packet, he said, the reason he was fired. The reason, he said, was because he violated police department policy by doing an interview with CBS 6 about the a May 5 incident involving the President and the First Lady. Richmond Police would not comment on the employee's status with the department. "If he's speaking about a matter of public concern as a citizen which it sounds based upon the information provided to me that he was doing. Then, he has protection under the First Amendment,” said Thomas Robert, Employment attorney. Employment attorney Thomas Roberts is not associated with this case, but says he sees them all the time. "It concerns me and it should concern others, if he was retaliated based upon his right to express his concern on this public matter as well as his opinion,” said Roberts. Roberts says public employees do not shed Constitutional protection when they enter the work place. "There's no question that this will have a chilling effect upon other members of the police force who will be afraid if they speak out about a matter of public concern. They too may lose their job,” said Roberts. And that makes it a matter that should concern each and every citizen." The whistleblower told CBS 6 last year that the inappropriate comments were made by a 20-year police veteran who was talking on the phone to an officer assigned to provide outside security for the president and first lady. The whistleblower reported that the veteran suggested the officer “take a couple of shots . . .” and that another voice in the background talked about planting a bomb under the stage. The Secret Service investigated and found no criminal act, but the two officers were fired amidst the furor. The fired officers have been fighting to get their jobs back. A letter written by their attorney said the allegations against the officers were “false and/or greatly embellished” and that Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones pressured then Richmond Police Chief Bryan Norwood to fire the officers before letting an internal investigation run its course. James Towey, the lawyer, sent a statement to CBS 6. "Unfortunately, the termination of the self-proclaimed "whistleblower" does nothing to remedy the fact that his false allegations resulted in the termination of two officers. Their careers were ended and they have gone through eight months of hell," Towey wrote. "Until now, the City has been obstructionist, dysfunctional and anything but transparent in this matter. I am optimistic that newly appointed Chief Tarasovic described himself just yesterday as a believer in transparency and an advocate for the rank-and-file officers. If the new Chief is true to his word, the remaining grievance hearing for one of the terminated officers will be opened to the public and the Chief will reconsider the termination of the officers. Perhaps he, like me, will find it interesting that they were both terminated not for making the statements that the self-proclaimed whistleblower claimed they made, but for other "pre textual" reasons that would not normally warrant termination to begin with." The fired officer told CBS 6 he is weighing his legal options.

– So much for speaking up: Richmond police have fired a whistleblowing cop for claiming that two officers chatted about shooting and bombing President Obama while protecting him, Raw Story reports. The officer, who wasn't named, told WTVR last May that a supervisor had said to a police sharpshooter, "You’re down there right? So, you can take a couple of shots, you might have to kill yourself, but you can take a couple of shots." The supervisor allegedly discussed planting a bomb under the stage and dissed Michelle Obama, who was also there: "Nobody wants to see her anyway—unless she gets undressed or get [sic] naked." The whistleblowing cop said he was fired for ignoring department policy and giving the TV station an interview. But the two officers involved also lost their jobs: "Their careers were ended and they have gone through eight months of hell" over "false allegations," their lawyer tells WTVR.

Warren Buffett is facing a familiar dilemma. Barely a year after Berkshire Hathaway Inc. spent more than $26 billion on its biggest-ever deal, the billionaire investor once again is hunting for ways to deploy the loads of cash his company is generating as the challenge mounts to expand the sprawling conglomerate faster than the market. In Mr. Buffett's annual letter to Berkshire shareholders on Saturday, the Omaha, Neb., company's chairman and chief executive said he needs more large deals to supplement the improving earnings of Berkshire's many businesses, which sell everything from insurance to candy, operate utilities, and manufacture homes and ... ||||| Lucas Jackson/Reuters Warren E. Buffett does not put a title on his annual letter. But if he did, this year’s dispatch might be headlined “God Bless the U.S.A.” In the face of persistent worries about the American economy, the country’s most famous — and closely followed — investor struck a patriotic tone in his annual report to shareholders of his company, Berkshire Hathaway, writing that “money will always flow toward opportunity, and there is an abundance of that in America.” Mr. Buffett said Berkshire spent more than $5 billion last year on property and equipment in the United States – more than 90 percent of the company’s total expenditure – and that the overwhelming part of the company’s future investment would be at home. “The prophets of doom have overlooked the all-important factor that is certain: Human potential is far from exhausted, and the American system for unleashing that potential – a system that has worked wonders for over two centuries despite frequent interruptions for recessions and even a Civil War – remains alive and effective,” he wrote. “Now, as in 1776, 1861, 1932 and 1941, America’s best days lie ahead.” Dispensing financial observations in a folksy manner, the yearly dispatch from the 80-year-old Mr. Buffett has become something of a state of the union address for Wall Street and, more broadly, for the global economy. But the letter also serves as an update for Mr. Buffett’s most important constituency – the shareholders in Berkshire, an investment holding company. Mr. Buffett wrote that Berkshire had net income of $13 billion last year, about 61 percent higher than in 2009. The company also reported a 13 percent rise in book value. Shares of Berkshire Hathaway, which peaked in late 2007 at more than $148,000 apiece, closed Friday at $127,550. They rose about 29 percent in 2010, more than double the performance of the broader stock market. Mr. Buffett also highlighted smaller numbers in trumpeting the thrifty culture at Berkshire, which operates from modest offices in Omaha, Neb. He and his business partner, Charlie Munger, “treat your money as if it were our own,” he wrote to his shareholders. “At Berkshire’s ‘World Headquarters’ our annual rent is $270,212,” he wrote. “Moreover, the home-office investment in furniture, art, Coke dispenser, lunch room, high-tech equipment – you name it – totals $301,363.” Beyond the flag-waving, the letter provides fodder for investors and business executives who look to Mr. Buffett for sage advice. In a two-page discussion of “intrinsic value” – a favorite security analysis concept of Mr. Buffett’s and his investment hero, Benjamin Graham – he emphasized the importance of having the right chief executive in place. “The difference in outcome can be huge,” Mr. Buffett said. “A dollar of then-value in the hands of Sears Roebuck’s or Montgomery Ward’s C.E.O.’s in the late 1960s had a far different destiny than did a dollar entrusted to Sam Walton.” Those looking for clear insights into Mr. Buffett’s succession plans, one of Wall Street’s favorite parlor games, will be disappointed. He praised the head of his large insurance business, Ajit Jain (“even kryptonite bounces off Ajit”); lamented the retirement of one potential successor, Lou Simpson (“one of the investment greats”); and praised a new hire, the unheralded hedge fund manager Todd Combs (hopefully “a two-year-old Secretariat”). But there was no specific mention of a succession plan. Mr. Buffett has said that when he dies his job will be split into three positions: a chairman, a chief executive and a chief investment officer. Though his letter was largely free of negativity, Mr. Buffett used the hiring of Mr. Combs – and his relatively modest compensation arrangement – to take a swipe at the hedge fund industry. “The hedge-fund world has witnessed some terrible behavior by general partners who have received huge payouts on the upside and who then, when bad results occurred, have walked away rich, with their limited partners losing back their earlier gains,” he wrote. Mr. Buffett also mocked fund consultants who “like to require style boxes” — or investment categories — “such as ‘long-short,’ ‘macro,’ ‘international equities.’ At Berkshire our only style box is ‘smart.’” Mr. Buffett addressed one of Berkshire’s most closely watched holdings on Wall Street, the $5 billion investment in Goldman Sachs made during the depths of the financial crisis. He explained that Goldman has the right to repurchase his preferred shares, which have sharply increased in value, on 30 days notice. Goldman, he wrote, “has been held back by the Federal Reserve (bless it!), which unfortunately will give Goldman the green light before too long.” Mr. Buffett attributed much of the year’s success to his acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, calling it the highlight of 2010. The $26 billion deal, he said, has increased his company’s earnings power by more than 30 percent. But Mr. Buffett also trumpeted the benefits of rail travel beyond profits. “Railroads have major cost and environmental advantages over trucking, their main competitor,” Mr. Buffett said. “Our country gains because of reduced greenhouse emissions and a much smaller need for imported oil. When traffic travels by rail, society benefits.” He said that the railroad would need to invest in its infrastructure in order to expand its business, and that Berkshire was ready to spend on that. “However slow the economy, or chaotic the markets, our checks will clear,” he said. Mr. Buffett also teased his shareholders – and Buffett-watchers – in writing that he was on the hunt for “more major acquisitions.” “We’re prepared,” he wrote. “Our elephant gun has been reloaded, and my trigger finger is itchy.” ||||| A year after Berkshire Hathaway completed its biggest acquisition, CEO Warren Buffett is on the hunt again. Buffett told Berkshire (BRKA) shareholders in his annual letter to them Saturday that they should brace for more megadeals along the lines of last February's $26 billion buy of railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe. "Our elephant gun has been reloaded, and my trigger finger is itchy," Buffett said. Buffett may not strike you as much of a hunter. In the public's mind, Buffett is a gatherer of blue-chip stocks such as Coca-Cola (KO) that he buys on the cheap and holds forever. His success in that endeavor has been immeasurably aided by his access to cheap funding via the insurance companies that Berkshire runs. But while the insurance-funded investment business still accounts for much of Berkshire's value, the future lies elsewhere. More and more of Berkshire's gains come from a growing stable of 68 non-insurance companies, ranging from giant Burlington Northern to niche operators like Business Wire and See's Candies. "For the past 10 years we have seen a clear strategic shift toward buying wholly owned businesses over publicly traded stocks," said Whitney Tilson, a Berkshire shareholder and value investor who runs the $23 million Tilson Focus fund. Why? Size is one factor. As Buffett has often lamented, the bigger Berkshire gets the more difficult it becomes to move the needle with a winning investment. The scale of the firm's $158 billion investing portfolio "is absolutely an anchor on performance," says Tilson. For now, the value of that portfolio dwarfs the flows coming from the operating businesses. The investments were worth $94,730 a share at the end of 2010, Saturday's letter says. Per-share pretax earnings at Berkshire's noninsurance companies were worth $5,903 per share. But the operating-company earnings stream is plenty valuable in its own right – a point Tilson makes in a slide show on his web site. Even at a conservative multiple of, say, 7 times earnings, Berkshire's operating businesses alone are worth $42 billion before taxes. That exceeds the market value of warehouse retailer (and Berkshire holding) Costco (COST), for instance, though the numbers aren't strictly comparable because of the tax treatments. Moreover, the earnings stream expanded at a 20% annual clip over the past decade – compared with a just 6.6% yearly increase in the value of the investment portfolio. The earnings expansion stands to pick up in coming years if Berkshire succeeds in finding more big deals. The motivation is clear. Consider the Burlington Northern purchase, which was half again as big as the previous biggest Berkshire acquisition, the 1999 purchase of insurer General Re. Buffett said in last year's letter that the decision to make the cash-and-stock deal was "a close one," because he doesn't like issuing Berkshire stock. But he said in Saturday's letter that the railroad is "working out even better than I expected," boosting Berkshire's after-tax earnings capacity by more than 30%. Thanks in part to the strong flow of Burlington Northern earnings, Berkshire now can expect to generate around $12 billion in profits in a typical year, Buffett says. That number may take a hit this year and next as some of the sweet deals Berkshire negotiated during the financial crisis – including a $5 billion investment in Goldman Sachs (GS) and a $3 billion purchase of General Electric (GE) preferred stock -- run off. But losing a few hundred million in dividends here and there hardly slows the torrent of cash that comes pouring into Berkshire every day. Buffett said in last year's letter that he liked Burlington Northern in part because it gave Berkshire a way to put $22 billion to work in one shot. Now, just a year after it swallowed the railroad, Berkshire is back to $38 billion in cash and cash equivalents. With Buffett having sworn off dividends and stock repurchases, that money has to go somewhere. So which elephants might Buffett be after? Tilson, for one, puts long odds on another megadeal. He notes that Berkshire already owned nearly a third of Burlington Northern before saying in late 2009 it would acquire the rest. He views serial purchases of somewhat smaller, closely held businesses – along the lines of Berkshire's 2006 purchase of the Israeli metalworking company Iscar or the ongoing acquisition of the Pritzker family's Marmon Group – as a better bet. "I think Buffett would love to buy 10 more Iscars," said Tilson. "I'm sure he would love to buy Mars at the right price," he adds -- though there's no sign that sweet deal is likely to present itself any time soon. So 2011 will find Buffett in his familiar posture of looking for an opening – whatever that takes the form of an elephant or something less grand. As Tilson says, "I don't think he spends a lot of time thinking about how he has to have any particular deal. It's much more opportunistic than that." Also on Fortune.com: (A member of FORTUNE's staff, senior editor at large Carol Loomis, edits the chairman's letter in Berkshire's annual report.)

– Warren Buffett says he's looking to pull off another major deal on the scale of last year's big railroad purchase. "We're prepared," he writes in his closely watched annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. "Our elephant gun has been reloaded, and my trigger finger is itchy." (Read the letter in full here.) After a big gain in earnings, Berkshire is sitting on about $38 billion in cash, the highest amount since 2007, reports the Wall Street Journal. Despite his optimism for the US recovery—the report may as well be titled "God Bless the USA," notes the New York Times' Dealbook blog—it wasn't all rosy news: Even though the company's book value increased by 13%, it failed to beat the growth of the S&P (15%) for the second year in a row—a rarity for Buffett. "The bountiful years, we want to emphasize, will never return," he writes. "The huge sums of capital we currently manage eliminate any chance of exceptional performance." Click for one analyst's skepticism that another "megadeal" is in the offing.

TOKYO Exhausted engineers attached a power cable to the outside of Japan's tsunami-crippled nuclear plant on Saturday in a race to prevent deadly radiation from an accident now rated at least as bad as America's Three Mile Island incident in 1979. Further cabling inside was under way before an attempt to restart water pumps needed to cool overheated nuclear fuel rods at the six-reactor Fukushima plant in northeastern Japan, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo. Japan's unprecedented multiple crisis of earthquake, tsunami and radiation leak has unsettled world financial markets, prompted international reassessment of nuclear safety and given the Asian nation its sternest test since World War Two. It has also stirred unhappy memories of Japan's past nuclear nightmare -- the U.S. atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Working inside a 20 km (12 miles) evacuation zone at Fukushima, nearly 300 engineers were focused on trying to find a solution by restoring power to pumps in four of the reactors. "TEPCO has connected the external transmission line with the receiving point of the plant and confirmed that electricity can be supplied," the plant's operator Tokyo Electric Power Co said in a statement. Another 1,480 meters (5,000 feet) of cable are being laid inside the complex before engineers try to crank up the coolers at reactor No.2, followed by numbers 1, 3 and 4 this weekend, company officials said. If that works it will be a turning point. "If they are successful in getting the cooling infrastructure up and running, that will be a significant step forward in establishing stability," said Eric Moore, a nuclear power expert at U.S.-based FocalPoint Consulting Group. If not, there is an option of last resort under consideration to bury the sprawling 40-year-old plant in sand and concrete to prevent a catastrophic radiation release. That method was used to seal huge leakages from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Underlining authorities' desperation, fire trucks sprayed water overnight in a crude tactic to cool reactor No.3, considered the most critical because of its use of mixed oxides, or mox, containing both uranium and highly toxic plutonium. Japan has raised the severity rating of the nuclear crisis to level 5 from 4 on the seven-level INES international scale, putting it on a par with the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, although some experts say it is more serious. Chernobyl, in Ukraine, was a 7 on that scale. THOUSANDS DEAD, MISSING AND SUFFERING The operation to avert large-scale radiation has overshadowed the humanitarian aftermath of the 9.0-magnitude quake and 10-meter (33-foot) tsunami that struck on March 11. Nearly 7,000 people have been confirmed killed in the double natural disaster, which turned whole towns into waterlogged and debris-shrouded wastelands. Another 10,700 people are missing with many feared dead. Some 390,000 people, including many among Japan's aging population, are homeless and battling near-freezing temperatures in shelters in northeastern coastal areas. Food, water, medicine and heating fuel are in short supply. "Everything is gone, including money," said Tsukasa Sato, a 74-year-old barber with a heart condition, as he warmed his hands in front of a stove at a shelter for the homeless. Health officials and the U.N. atomic watchdog have said radiation levels in the capital Tokyo were not harmful. But the city has seen an exodus of tourists, expatriates and many Japanese, who fear a blast of radioactive material. "I'm leaving because my parents are terrified. I personally think this will turn out to be the biggest paper tiger the world has ever seen," said Luke Ridley, 23, from London as he sat at Narita international airport using his laptop. "I'll probably come back in about a month." Though there has been alarm around the world, experts have been warning there is little risk of radiation at dangerous levels spreading to other nations. The U.S. government said "minuscule" amounts of radiation were detected in California consistent with a release from Japan's damaged facility, but there were no levels of concern. Amid their distress, Japanese were proud of the 279 nuclear plant workers toiling in the wreckage, wearing masks, goggles and protective suits sealed by duct tape. "My eyes well with tears at the thought of the work they are doing," Kazuya Aoki, a safety official at Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, told Reuters. G7 INTERVENTION FOR YEN The Group of Seven rich nations succeeded in calming global financial markets in rare concerted intervention to restrain a soaring yen. The dollar surged to 81.98 yen on Friday after the G7 moved to pour billions into markets buying dollars, euros and pounds -- the first such joint intervention since the group came to the aid of the newly launched euro in 2000. The dollar later dropped back to under 81 yen, but it was still far from the record low of 76.25 yen hit on Thursday. "The only type of intervention that actually works is coordinated intervention, and it shows the solidarity of all central banks in terms of the severity of the situation in Japan," said Kathy Lien, director of currency research at GFT in New York. Japan's Nikkei share index ended up 2.7 percent, recouping some of the week's stinging losses. It lost 10.2 percent for the week, wiping $350 billion off market capitalization. The plight of the homeless worsened following a cold snap that brought heavy snow to the worst-affected areas. Nearly 290,000 households in the north were still without electricity, officials said, and the government said about 940,000 households lacked running water. Aid groups say most victims are getting help, but there are pockets of acute suffering. "We've seen children suffering with the cold, and lacking really basic items like food and clean water," Stephen McDonald of Save the Children said in a statement on Friday. (Additional reporting by Linda Sieg, Nathan Layne, Elaine Lies, Leika Kihara, Jon Herskovitz, Joseph Radford and Chris Gallagher in Japan; Fiona Ortiz in Madrid; Scott DiSavino in New York; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Robert Birsel) ||||| YAMAGATA, Japan -- Emergency workers seemed to try everything they could think of Thursday to douse one of Japan's dangerously overheated nuclear reactors: helicopters, heavy-duty fire trucks, even water cannons normally used to quell rioters. But they couldn't be sure any of it was easing the peril at the tsunami-ravaged facility. (SCROLL DOWN FOR LIVE UPDATES) Three reactors have had at least partial meltdowns, but an even greater danger has emerged. Japanese and U.S. concerns were increasingly focusing on the pools used to store spent nuclear fuel: Some of the pools are dry or nearly empty and the rods could heat up and spew radiation. It could take days and "possibly weeks" to get the complex under control, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jazcko said. He defended the U.S. decision to recommend a 50-mile evacuation zone for its citizens, a much stronger measure than Japan has taken. A senior official with the U.N.'s nuclear safety agency said there had been "no significant worsening" at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant but that the situation remained "very serious." Graham Andrew told reporters in Vienna that nuclear fuel rods in two reactors were only about half covered with water, and in a third they were also not completely submerged. If the fuel is not fully covered, rising temperatures and pressure will increase the chances of complete meltdowns that would release much larger amounts of radioactive material than the failing plant has emitted so far. Low levels of radiation have been detected well beyond Tokyo, which is 140 miles (220 kilometers) south of the plant, but hazardous levels have been limited to the plant itself. Still, the crisis triggered by last week's earthquake and tsunami has forced thousands to evacuate and drained Tokyo's normally vibrant streets of life, its residents either leaving town or holing up in their homes. President Barack Obama appeared on television to assure Americans that officials do not expect harmful amounts of radiation to reach the U.S. or its territories. He also said the U.S. was offering Japan any help it could provide, and said he was asking for a comprehensive review of U.S. nuclear plant safety. Japanese and American assessments of the crisis have differed, with the plant's owner denying Jazcko's report Wednesday that Unit 4's spent fuel pool was dry and that anyone who gets close to the plant could face potentially lethal doses of radiation. But a Tokyo Electric Power Co. executive moved closer to the U.S. position Thursday. "Considering the amount of radiation released in the area, the fuel rods are more likely to be exposed than to be covered," Yuichi Sato said. Workers have been dumping seawater when possible to control temperatures at the plant since the quake and tsunami knocked out power to its cooling systems, but they tried even more desperate measures on Unit 3's reactor and cooling pool. Two Japanese military CH-47 Chinook helicopters began dumping seawater on Unit 3 on Thursday morning, defense ministry spokeswoman Kazumi Toyama said. The choppers doused the reactor with at least four loads of water in just the first 10 minutes, though television footage showed much of it appearing to disperse in the wind. Chopper crews flew missions of about 40 minutes each to limit their radiation exposure, passing over the reactor with loads of about 2,000 gallons (7,500 liters) of water. Another 9,000 gallons (35,000 liters) of water were blasted from military trucks with high-pressure sprayers used to extinguish fires at plane crashes, though the vehicles had to stay safely back from areas deemed to have too much radiation. Special police units with water cannons were also tried, but they could not reach the targets from safe distances and had to pull back, said Yasuhiro Hashimoto, a spokesman for Japan's nuclear safety agency. Unit 3's reactor uses a fuel that combines plutonium, better known as an ingredient in nuclear weapons, and reprocessed uranium. The presence of this mixed oxide fuel, or MOX, means potentially that two very harmful radioactive products could be released into the environment. Tokyo Electric Power said it believed workers were making headway in staving off a catastrophe both with the spraying and, especially, with efforts to complete an emergency power line to restart the plant's own electric cooling systems. "This is a first step toward recovery," said Teruaki Kobayashi, a facilities management official at the power company. He said radiation levels "have somewhat stabilized at their lows" and that some of the spraying had reached its target, with one reactor emitting steam. "We are doing all we can as we pray for the situation to improve," Kobayashi said. Authorities planned to spray again Friday, and Kobayashi said: "Choices are limited. We just have to stick to what we can do most quickly and efficiently." Work on connecting the new power line to the plant was expected to begin Friday and take 10 to 15 hours, said Nuclear Safety Agency spokesman Minoru Ohgoda. But the utility is not sure the cooling systems will still function. If they don't, electricity won't help. Four of the plant's six reactors have seen fires, explosions, damage to the structures housing reactor cores, partial meltdowns or rising temperatures. Officials also recently said temperatures are rising even in the spent fuel pools of the other two reactors. The troubles at the nuclear complex were set in motion by last Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami, which knocked out power and destroyed backup generators needed for the reactors' cooling systems. That added a nuclear crisis on top of twin natural disasters that likely killed well more than 10,000 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless. Mario V. Bonaca, a physicist sits on an advisory committee to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said he believes the focus of the effort has shifted to the spent fuel pools. "I understand that they've controlled the cooling of the cores," said Bonaca, who said he was basing his understanding on NRC and industry sources. The storage pools need a constant source of cooling water. Even when removed from reactors, uranium rods are still extremely hot and must be cooled for months, possibly longer, to prevent them from heating up again and emitting radioactivity. While a core team of 180 emergency workers has been rotating in and out of the complex to avoid exposure, experts said that anyone working close to the reactors was almost certainly being exposed to radiation levels that could, at least, give them much higher cancer risks. Experts note, though, that radiation levels drop quickly with distance from the complex. While elevated radiation has been detected well outside the evacuation zone, experts say those levels are not dangerous. U.S. officials were taking no chances. In Washington, the State Department warned U.S. citizens to consider leaving the country and offered voluntary evacuation to family members and dependents of U.S. personnel in the cities of Tokyo, Yokohama and Nagoya. The first flight left Thursday, with fewer than 100 people onboard, Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy said. Plans also call for airlifting several thousand family members of U.S. armed forces personnel as well as nonessential staff stationed in Japan in the coming days. The U.S. evacuation zone is far bigger than that established by Japan, which has called for a 12-mile zone and has told those within 20 miles to stay indoors. Daniel B. Poneman, U.S. deputy secretary of energy, said at the briefing that his agency agreed with the 50-mile zone - but said Japan's measures were also prudent. Nearly a week after the earthquake and tsunami, police said more than 452,000 people were staying in schools and other shelters, as supplies of fuel, medicine and other necessities ran short. Both victims and aid workers appealed for more help, as the chances of finding more survivors dwindled. Noriko Sawaki lives in a battered neighborhood in Sendai that is still without running water and food or gasoline supplies and that, she said, makes life exhausting. "It's frustrating, because we don't have a goal, something to strive for. This just keeps on going," said the 48-year-old. In the town of Kesennuma, people lined up to get into a supermarket after a delivery of key supplies, such as instant rice packets and diapers. Each person was only allowed to buy 10 items, NHK television reported. With diapers hard to find in many areas, an NHK program broadcast a how-to session on fashioning a diaper from a plastic shopping bag and a towel. ||||| Smoke billowed from a building at Japan's crippled nuclear power plant Friday as emergency crews worked to reconnect electricity to cooling systems and spray more water on overheating nuclear fuel at the tsunami-ravaged facility. ALTERNATE CROP OF TOK870 OF MARCH 17, 2011 - In this photo taken on Wednesday afternoon, March 16, 2011 and released on Thursday, March 17 by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the top part of the badly... (Associated Press) A taxi driver moves along a quiet street in Tokyo Thursday, March 17, 2011. In elsewhere in the nation's capital, public apprehension over a brewing nuclear disaster is draining the streets and stores... (Associated Press) A man watches TV showing a Japanese military helicopter dumping water on the troubled reactors of the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex, at an electronics retail store in Osaka, western Japan, on Thursday, March... (Associated Press) A resident carries household belongings in a cardboard as his devastated house was due to be removed by earthmovers at Iwaizumi, northeastern Japan, on Thursday, March 17, 2011 following last week's massive... (Associated Press) Ecacuees watch a Japanese military helicopter dumping water on the troubled reactors of the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex in a live TV broadcast, at Fukushima, northeastern Japan, on Thursday, March 17,... (Associated Press) In this photo taken on Wednesday afternoon, March 16, 2011 and released on Thursday, March 17 by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the top part of the badly damaged No. 4 unit of the Fukushima Dai-ichi... (Associated Press) Japan's Self-Defense Forces's helicopter heads to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant to dump water on the stricken reactor in Okumamachi Thursday morning, March 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Asahi Shimbun,... (Associated Press) A sufferer searches for usable items amid debris in Iwaizumi, northern Japan Thursday, March 17, 2011 following Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT,... (Associated Press) Cars lie piled up in trees following the March 11 earthquake triggered tsunami at the port in Sendai, Japan, Thursday, March 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Mark Baker) (Associated Press) In this photo made off NHK TV video footage, a Japan Self-Defense Force helicopter dumps water over the No. 3 unit of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okumamachi, Fukushima Prefecture, Thursday,... (Associated Press) President Barack Obama arrives to make a statement about Japan following last week's earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent nuclear concerns, Thursday, March 17, 2011, in the Rose Garden of the White House... (Associated Press) A man walks down a nearly empty street Thursday, March 17, 2011, in Tokyo. In elsewhere in the nation's capital, public apprehension over a brewing nuclear disaster is draining the streets and stores... (Associated Press) ALTERNATE CROP OF TOK872 OF MARCH 17, 2011 - In this photo taken on Wednesday, March 16, 2011 and released on Thursday, March 17 by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), white smoke billows from the badly... (Associated Press) Headlights of vehicles stream along a landscape destroyed in Friday's earthquake and tsunami in Minamisanriku town, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, March 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT,... (Associated Press) Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant is pictured before helicopters dump water on the stricken reactor to cool overheated fuel rods inside the core in Okumamachi, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Thursday... (Associated Press) Four of the troubled Fukushima Dai-ichi plant's six reactor units have seen fires, explosions or partial meltdowns in the week since the tsunami. While the reactor cores where energy is generated are a concern, water in the pools used to store used nuclear fuel are also major worries. Water in at least one fuel pool _ in the complex's Unit 3 _ is believed to be dangerously low, exposing the stored fuel rods. Without enough water, the rods may heat further and spew out radiation. "We see it as an extremely serious accident," Yukiya Amano, the head of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters Friday just after arriving in Tokyo. "This is not something that just Japan should deal with, and people of the entire world should cooperate with Japan and the people in the disaster areas." Frantic efforts were made Thursday to douse a number of units with water, and authorities were preparing to repeat many of those efforts. Friday's smoke came from the complex's Unit 2, and its cause was not known, the nuclear safety agency said. An explosion had hit the building on Tuesday, possibly damaging a crucial cooling chamber that sits below the reactor core. Last week's 9.0 quake and tsunami in Japan's northeast set off the nuclear problems by knocking out power to cooling systems at the reactors. The unfolding crises have led to power shortages in Japan, forced auto and other factories to close, sending shockwaves through global manufacturing and trade, and triggered a plunge in Japanese stock prices. Low levels of radiation have been detected well beyond Tokyo, which is 140 miles (220 kilometers) south of the plant, but hazardous levels have been limited to the plant itself. Still, the crisis has forced thousands to evacuate and drained Tokyo's normally vibrant streets of life, its residents either leaving town or holing up in their homes. The Japanese government has been slow in releasing information on the crisis, even as the troubles have multiplied. In a country where the nuclear industry has a long history of hiding its safety problems, this has left many people _ in Japan and among governments overseas _ confused and anxious. "I feel a sense of dread," said Yukiko Morioka, 63, who has seen business dry up at her lottery ticket booth in Tokyo. "I'm not an expert, so it's difficult to understand what's going on. That makes it scarier." A senior official with the U.N. nuclear agency said Thursday there had been "no significant worsening" at the nuclear plant but that the situation remained "very serious." Graham Andrew told reporters in Vienna that nuclear fuel rods in two reactors were only about half covered with water, and they were also not completely submerged in a third. Edano said Friday that Tokyo is asking the U.S. government for help and that the two are discussing the specifics. "We are coordinating with the U.S. government as to what the U.S. can provide and what people really need," Edano said. At times, the two close allies have offered starkly differing assessments over the dangers at Fukushima. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jazcko said Thursday that it could take days and "possibly weeks" to get the complex under control. He defended the U.S. decision to recommend a 50-mile (80-kilometer) evacuation zone for its citizens, wider than the 30-mile (50-kilometer) band Japan has ordered. Crucial to the effort to regain control over the Fukushima plant is laying a new power line to the plant, allowing operators to restore cooling systems. The operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., missed a deadline late Thursday but said Friday that workers hoped to complete the effort in 10 to 15 hours, said nuclear safety agency spokesman Minoru Ohgoda. But the utility is not sure the cooling systems will still function. If they don't, electricity won't help. The official death toll from the disasters stood at 6,405 as of Friday morning, with 10,259 missing, the national police agency said. President Barack Obama appeared on television to assure Americans that officials do not expect harmful amounts of radiation to reach the U.S. or its territories. He also said the U.S. was offering Japan any help it could provide. A utility official said Wednesday that the company has been unable to get information such as water levels and temperatures from any of the spent fuel pools in the four most troubled reactors. Workers have been dumping seawater when possible to control temperatures at the plant since the quake and tsunami knocked out power to its cooling systems, but they tried even more desperate measures on Units 3 and 4. On Thursday, military helicopters dumped thousands of gallons of water from huge buckets onto Unit 3, and also used military firefighting trucks normally used to extinguish fires at plane crashes. Officials announced Friday they would not continue with the helicopter drops _ televised footage appeared to show much of that water blowing away _ but would continue spraying from the trucks. Police said more than 452,000 people made homeless by the quake and tsunami were staying in schools and other shelters, as supplies of fuel, medicine and other necessities ran short. Both victims and aid workers appealed for more help, as the chances of finding more survivors dwindled. At the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, a core team of 180 emergency workers has been rotating out of the complex to minimize radiation exposure. The storage pools need a constant source of cooling water. Even when removed from reactors, uranium rods are still extremely hot and must be cooled for months, possibly longer, to prevent them from heating up again and emitting radioactivity. In Washington, the State Department warned U.S. citizens to consider leaving the country and offered voluntary evacuation to family members and dependents of U.S. personnel in the cities of Tokyo, Yokohama and Nagoya. ___ Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo. Associated Press writers George Jahn in Vienna, Elaine Kurtenbach, Shino Yuasa, Jeff Donn and Tim Sullivan in Tokyo contributed to this report. ||||| While the findings were reassuring in the short term, the United States declined to back away from its warning to Americans there to stay at least 50 miles from the plant, setting up a far larger perimeter than the Japanese government had established. American officials did not release specific radiation readings. American officials said their biggest worry was that a frenetic series of efforts by the Japanese military to get water into four of the plant’s six reactors — including using water cannons and firefighting helicopters that dropped water but appeared to largely miss their targets — showed few signs of working. “This is something that will likely take some time to work through, possibly weeks, as eventually you remove the majority of the heat from the reactors and then the spent fuel pool,” said Gregory Jaczko, the chairman of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission , briefing reporters at the White House. The effort by the Japanese to hook some electric power back up to the plant did not begin until Thursday and even if they succeed, it is unclear whether the cooling systems, in reactor buildings battered by a tsunami and then torn apart by hydrogen explosions, survived the crisis in good enough shape to be useful. “What you are seeing are desperate efforts — just throwing everything at it in hopes something will work,” said one American official with long nuclear experience who would not speak for attribution. “Right now this is more prayer than plan.” On Thursday, President Obama said that the crisis had convinced him to order the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to do a comprehensive review of the safety of nuclear plants in the United States. After a day in which American and Japanese officials gave radically different assessments of the danger from the nuclear plant, the two governments tried on Thursday to join forces. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Experts met in Tokyo to compare notes. The United States, with Japanese permission, began to put the intelligence-collection aircraft over the site, in hopes of gaining a view for Washington as well as its allies in Tokyo that did not rely on the announcements of officials from the Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operates Fukushima Daiichi. American officials say they suspect that the company has consistently underestimated the risk and moved too slowly to contain the damage. Aircraft normally used to monitor North Korea’s nuclear weapons activities — a Global Hawk drone and U-2 spy planes — were flying missions over the reactor, trying to help the Japanese government map out its response to last week’s 9.0-magnitude earthquake, the tsunami that followed and now the nuclear disaster. President Obama made an unscheduled stop at the Japanese Embassy to sign a condolence book, writing, “My heart goes out to the people of Japan during this enormous tragedy.” He added, “Because of the strength and wisdom of its people, we know that Japan will recover, and indeed will emerge stronger than ever.” Later, he appeared in the Rose Garden at the White House to offer continued American support for the earthquake and tsunami victims, and technical help at the nuclear site. Video But before the recovery can begin, the nuclear plant must be brought under control. On Friday, steam that was likely laced with radioactive particles was again rising over the plant, this time billowing from reactor No. 2, which suffered an explosion Tuesday. But Japanese authorities said they did not yet know the cause of the latest release. American officials, meanwhile, remained fixated on the temperature readings inside that reactor and two others that had been operating until the earthquake shut them down, as well as at the plant’s spent fuel pools, looking for any signs that their high levels of heat were going down. If the fuel rods are uncovered and exposed to air, they heat up and can burst into flames, spewing radioactive elements. So far the officials saw no signs of dropping temperatures. And the Web site of the International Atomic Energy Agency , the United Nations nuclear watchdog, made it clear that there were no readings at all from some critical areas. Part of the American effort, by satellites and aircraft, is to identify the hot spots, something the Japanese have not been able to do in some cases. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content , updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. Critical to that effort are the “pods” flown into Japan by the Air Force over the past day. Made for quick assessments of radiation emergencies, the Aerial Measuring System is an instrument system that fits on a helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft to sample air and survey the land below. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Daniel B. Poneman, the deputy secretary of energy, said at a White House briefing on Thursday that preliminary results of the initial flights “are consistent with the recommendations that came down from the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” which led to the 50-mile evacuation guideline given to American expatriates. Although the worst contamination is closer to the plant, the recommendation takes into account the possibility of shifting winds or greater emissions. The State Department has also said it would fly out of the country any dependents of American diplomats or military personnel within the region of the plant and as far south as Tokyo. Space will be made for other Americans who cannot get a flight, it said. Getting the Japanese to accept the American detection equipment was a delicate diplomatic maneuver, which some Japanese officials originally resisted. But as it became clear that conditions at the plant were spinning out of control, and with Japanese officials admitting they had little hard evidence about whether there was water in the cooling pools or breaches in the reactor containment structures, they began to accept more help. The sensors on the instrument pod are good at mapping radioactive isotopes, like cesium 137, which has been detected around the nuclear plant and has a half-life of 30 years. In high doses, it can cause acute radiation sickness . Lower doses can alter cellular function, leading to an increased risk of cancer . Cesium 137 can enter the body through many foods, including milk. On Wednesday, when the American Embassy in Tokyo, on advice from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, told Americans to evacuate a radius of “approximately 50 miles” around the Fukushima plant, the recommendation was based on a specific calculation of risk of radioactive fallout in the affected area. In a statement, the commission said the advice grew out of its assessment that projected radiation doses within the evacuation zone might exceed one rem to the body or five rems to the thyroid gland. That organ is extremely sensitive to iodine 131 — another of the deadly byproducts of nuclear fuel, this one causing thyroid cancer . The commission says that the average American is exposed to about 0.62 rem of radiation each year from natural and manmade sources. The American-provided instruments in Japan measure real levels of radiation on the ground. In contrast, scientists around the world have also begun to draw up forecasts of how the prevailing winds pick up the Japanese radioactive material and carry it over the Pacific in invisible plumes. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Private analysts said the United States was also probably monitoring the reactor crisis with spy satellites that can spot the heat from fires — helping it independently assess the state of the reactor complex from a distance. Jeffrey G. Lewis, an intelligence specialist at the Monterey Institute, a research center, noted that the Japanese assessment of Reactor No. 4 at the Daiichi complex seemed to depend in part on visual surveillance by helicopter pilots. “I’ve got to think that, if we put our best assets into answering that question, we can do better,” he said in an interview. One main concern at No. 4 has been a fire that was burning there earlier in the week; American officials are not convinced that the fire has gone out. American officials have also worried that the spent-fuel pool at that reactor has run dry, exposing the rods. Japanese officials, however, have concentrated much of their recent efforts on Reactor No. 3, which has been intermittently releasing radiation from what the authorities believe may be a ruptured containment vessel around the reactor. Temperatures at that reactor’s spent fuel pool are also high. Perhaps because of the difficulties experienced Thursday trying to accurately drop water from helicopters, the Japanese military announced Friday that it was halting those efforts for at least a day.

– Japan is considering burying its troubled nuclear plant in sand and concrete—the same move made in Chernobyl 25 years ago, Reuters reports. “It is not impossible to encase the reactors in concrete. But our priority right now is to try and cool them down first,” said an official, as authorities work to restore power. Smoke has been rising from the No. 2 reactor at the plant, and authorities aren’t sure of the cause—though it may be linked to the explosion there Tuesday, notes the AP. New damage has been discovered in the fuel pool at the plant’s No. 4 reactor, hampering cooling efforts to refill it with water (click for more on the alarming situation). US data-collecting flights suggest that radiation hasn’t expanded outside a 19-mile area—but Japan has raised its threat level from 4 to 5 out of 7, pointing to danger that extends beyond the local. The crisis could continue for weeks, said a US official. Meanwhile, the Huffington Post notes, authorities are using every cooling method available, from fire trucks to water cannons.

In this Thursday, April 9, 2015 photo, divers emerge from the water as debris believed to be from a car floats to the surface where a car went off the berth and into the water at the San Pedro Slip, across... (Associated Press) In this Thursday, April 9, 2015 photo, divers emerge from the water as debris believed to be from a car floats to the surface where a car went off the berth and into the water at the San Pedro Slip, across from Ports O'Call in San Pedro, Calif. U.S. prosecutors have charged an Egyptian father with fraudulently... (Associated Press) In this Thursday, April 9, 2015 photo, divers emerge from the water as debris believed to be from a car floats to the surface where a car went off the berth and into the water at the San Pedro Slip, across from Ports O'Call in San Pedro, Calif. U.S. prosecutors have charged an Egyptian father with fraudulently... (Associated Press) In this Thursday, April 9, 2015 photo, divers emerge from the water as debris believed to be from a car floats to the surface where a car went off the berth and into the water at the San Pedro Slip, across... (Associated Press) LOS ANGELES (AP) — An Egyptian man was held without bail Tuesday on federal charges of fraudulently collecting insurance payouts after driving his severely autistic children to their deaths when he sped off a pier into the Port of Los Angeles. Ali Elmezayen (EL-mah-ZION) plotted for over two years before launching his plan into action April 9, 2015, when he barreled down a commercial fishing dock in San Pedro, turned his Honda abruptly toward a parking space and gunned the engine, federal authorities said. "Witnesses heard the tires of the car screech loudly and saw the car accelerate before it flew off the edge of the wharf, crashed into the water and immediately sunk," FBI agent Matthew Parker wrote in an affidavit in support of Elmezayen's arrest last week. Elmezayen, 44, did not enter a plea in the case in U.S. District Court, but he has told investigators and others he may have accidentally accelerated instead of hitting the brake, according to court papers. He blamed the city, Honda, and Jiffy Lube and others for negligence, but his lawsuit was tossed out. The Los Angeles County district attorney declined to bring charges in the deaths because of insufficient evidence. A police mechanic found evidence that the brake pedal didn't properly work, but couldn't tell if that was the case before the tragedy or because of salt water corrosion. While a county prosecutor said the father's explanation could create reasonable doubt, they suggested police tell federal prosecutors about evidence of insurance and other fraud. Federal investigators said they found that Elmezayen spent about a quarter of his reported $24,000 salary to insure himself, his longtime partner and three sons for $6 million. Elmezayen repeatedly called insurers to confirm they wouldn't automatically investigate a claim made more than two years after a policy was written, federal prosecutors said. The deadly plunge occurred two years and 12 days after the final policy took effect, authorities said. Elmezayen's car window was open, and he surfaced within 30 seconds and swam to a ladder on the pier. His partner, Rabab Diab, couldn't swim, but she was rescued by a fisherman after surfacing and screaming, "My kids, my kids." "The poor lady was screaming hysterically," said fisherman Ray Prince shortly after the incident. "I thought she was going to drown." Two boys, Abdelkarim, 8, and Elhassan, 13, couldn't swim and were strapped in child seats. They were pulled lifeless from the car by rescue divers and died from drowning. Elmezayen collected more than $260,000 in insurance payouts for the deaths and wired more than $170,000 back to his native Egypt, prosecutors said. Prosecutors argued that Elmezayen should not be free awaiting trial because he was likely to flee to his homeland. They also argued he still posed a danger to Diab because he had intended to kill her and still pays premiums on her life insurance policy and that of another son, who was at camp when his siblings were killed. A public defender representing Elmezayen argued that nothing had happened to Diab and the other son in over three years. He asked to have Elmezayen use $250,000 in equity in two houses he owns to secure his bond. Elmezayen and Diab came to the U.S. in 2000 and overstayed their tourist visas, prosecutors said. Both married other partners in hopes of becoming permanent residents. Elmezayen has acknowledged his was a sham marriage. Judge Alka Sagar said Elmezayen lacked credibility and she denied bail, in part, because of what she called the "ghastly scheme to obtain insurance benefits." ||||| LOS ANGELES – A Hawthorne man is due in court this afternoon after being arrested last week on federal charges that allege he intentionally drove his domestic partner and two severely autistic children off a pier into the ocean to collect proceeds on accidental death insurance policies he had purchased on their lives. Ali F. Elmezayen, 44, is scheduled to appear before a United States Magistrate Judge, who will consider a motion by prosecutors to have him held in jail without bond. Elmezayen was arrested on November 7 by special agents with the FBI after being charged with defrauding insurance companies. Elmezayen made his initial appearance on November 8, when he was ordered held without bond pending this afternoon’s detention hearing. According to a criminal complaint, Elmezayen purchased several accidental death insurance policies providing more than $6 million in coverage on himself, his domestic partner and his children in 2012 and 2013. Elmezayen allegedly paid nearly $6,000 a year for these policies – even though he was earning less than $30,000 a year – and he called at least two of the insurance companies to confirm they would not investigate claims made two years after the policies were purchased. On April 9, 2015 – two years and 12 days after he bought the last of his insurance policies – Elmezayen drove a car with his partner and two youngest children off a wharf at the Port of Los Angeles. Elmezayen swam out the open driver’s side window of the car. His partner, who did not know how to swim, survived when a nearby fisherman threw her a flotation device. The two children, ages 8 and 13, were unable to escape the car and drowned. Elmezayen then collected more than $260,000 in insurance proceeds from American General Life Insurance and Mutual of Omaha Life Insurance on the accidental death insurance policies he had taken out on the children’s lives, according to the complaint. In addition to posing as his domestic partner in communications with the insurance companies without her knowledge, Elmezayen allegedly made several false statements, including stating that the cause of his children’s deaths was accidental and that he had no other insurance policies on his children. “This case alleges a calculated and cold-hearted scheme to profit off the deaths of two helpless children,” said United States Attorney Nick Hanna. “The alleged conduct shocks the conscience, and we will use every tool available to us to ensure that justice is done.” “The defendant is accused of orchestrating a scheme to defraud insurance companies by taking the lives of his vulnerable young sons,” said Paul Delacourt, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “The defendant faces serious consequences as we seek justice on their behalf.” “IRS Criminal Investigation is proud to flex our financial fraud expertise in bringing this alleged killer to justice,” stated R. Damon Rowe of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Would-be fraudsters should be warned that it is very difficult to profit from death and steal from life insurance companies with impunity.” The criminal complaint specifically charges Elmezayen with mail fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for posing as his domestic partner in calls to the insurance companies. A criminal complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. During last week’s court hearing, a preliminary hearing was scheduled for November 23, and Elmezayen was ordered to appear for an arraignment on November 29. If he were to be convicted of the charges in the complaint, Elmezayen would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each of the fraud counts. The charge of aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years in prison. This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and IRS Criminal Investigation. The federal investigators received substantial assistance from the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles Port Police and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Alex Wyman and David Ryan. Assistant United States Attorney Michael Sew Hoy of the Asset Forfeiture Section obtained a seizure warrant that led to the seizure Thursday of approximately $80,000 from an Elmezayen bank account.

– What at first appeared to be a tragic accident is now labeled a "coldhearted scheme." Two children, ages 8 and 13, died on April 9, 2015, when the car their father was driving sped off a Los Angeles wharf and sank. Ali Elmezayen, whose window was open, quickly emerged, followed by his domestic partner, Rabab Diab, but their severely autistic children, strapped in the back seat of the 1998 Honda Civic, were pronounced dead once divers freed them. Prosecutors now say it was a double murder planned by Elmezayen, 44, for more than two years, per the Washington Post. In 2012 and 2013, Elmezayen allegedly purchased several accidental death policies providing more than $6 million in coverage for his family, costing him 20% of his annual salary, which was less than $30,000, per a DOJ release. Prosecutors say he even confirmed that claims wouldn't be investigated after two years. The crash allegedly came two years and 12 days after the last policy was bought, per the AP. "The alleged conduct shocks the conscience," says US attorney Nick Hanna. The problem is that the evidence may not prove murder. Elmezayen, who initially speculated about an "evil inside of me that pushed me to go," later said the car's brakes failed, and saltwater corrosion has made it difficult to determine their condition at the time of the crash, per the AP. Citing insufficient evidence of murder, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has instead charged Elmezayen with mail fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft, alleging he posed as Diab in interactions with insurance companies. Held without bail, Elmezayen faces up to 20 years in prison for each fraud count if convicted. (Cops say a mom's "moment of frustration" led to her toddler's death.)

It was the moment that temporarily stopped the discussions about medal tallies, green pools, drug cheats and world records. When Nikki Hamblin and Abbey D'Agostino, two middle distance runners previously unknown to one another, clashed in the 5000m heats and fell to the ground, not many would have given them a second glance. After all, distance track running often involves these stumbles. But what happened next became one of the iconic moments of the Rio Olympics, on par with Usain Bolt's triple-triple and Michael Phelps triumphant conclusion to his enormous personal medal tally. D'Agostino, quicker to her feet than Hamblin, helped get her off the turf, before she shuffled her way through 4 1/2 laps to finish the race, where Hamblin was waiting for her. D'Agostino had ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament, traditionally a 12-month injury. The two embraced at the finish line, where D'Agostino was wheeled out as she could no longer walk at all. Now, the International Olympic Committee has honoured the two runners by awarding them the Pierre de Coubertin medal. Advertisement The medal, only awarded 17 times in Olympic history, is reserved for athletes, volunteers or officials who are deemed to have demonstrated the Olympic spirit. "Winning this award is overwhelming," said Hamblin. "I am proud that what we did and truly believe that you can be both a competitor and kind and responsive at the same time." "Everyone comes here to compete but there are a lot of people who don't achieve that and the journey is really important too. That was one of those journeys and it has gone on to be one of the most important moments of my life." "I think it's very special for both Abbey and myself. I don't think either of us woke up and thought that that was going to be our day, or our race, or our Olympic Games. Both of us are strong competitors and we wanted to go out there and do our best on the track. "I was on the ground for too long to get back up and catch on to the pack. So then it becomes about finishing the race, and finishing the race well. I am so grateful to Abbey for picking me up, and I think many people would have returned the favour … Once you are on the track, there is a mutual understanding of what it takes to get there." ||||| Date 20 Aug 2016 Tags IOC News , RIO 2016 Fair Play Awards recognise true Olympic champions in sportsmanship The Olympic Games are about more than the win, the medals or the record-setting performances. At their core, the Games are about the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect. They are about fair play and human spirit. Nobody has epitomised these values more at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 than runners Abbey D’Agostino (USA) and Nikki Hamblin (NZL) and, beyond the Games, the Norwegian men’s handball team. The International Fair Play Committee (CIFP), with the support of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), presented them with Fair Play awards today at the Olympic Club in the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro for two separate acts of selflessness and exemplary sportsmanship. The D’Agostino and Hamblin story is one of humanity and sacrifice which has already captured the hearts of people across the globe. New Zealand runner Nikki Hamblin tripped and fell to the ground during the 5,000m race, accidentally bringing American D’Agostino down behind her with around 2,000m to go. The 24-year-old D’Agostino was quick to get up again, yet instead of carrying on with her race she stopped to help the stricken Hamblin to her feet, encouraging her to join her in attempting to finish the race. However, during her tumble, D’Agostino suffered an ankle injury, slowing the runner down, but Hamblin sportingly hung back to in return offer her encouragements. The two women went on to complete the race together. Getty Images Speaking of this recognition after the ceremony, 28-year-old Nikki Hamblin said: “I think it’s very special for both Abbey and myself. I don’t think either of us woke up and thought that that was going to be our day, or our race, or our Olympic Games. Both of us are strong competitors and we wanted to go out there and do our best on the track.” She added: “I was on the ground for too long to get back up and catch on to the pack. So then it becomes about finishing the race, and finishing the race well. I am so grateful to Abbey for picking me up, and I think many people would have returned the favour. […] Once you are on the track, there is a mutual understanding of what it takes to get there.” Getty Images The Norwegian men’s handball team was also honoured for its gracious attitude during a European championship match against Germany earlier this year, which saw them lose out on their Olympic dream. The match was tied when at the last minute the German team scored a goal. It was discovered that when the goal had been scored an extra player had come onto the field. Although the Norwegian team had every right to file a protest, after much deliberation, they finally opted not to contest the results as they felt that the additional player on the field, though illegal, did not partake in the activities that helped the German team score the final goal. Germany went on to qualify for the Olympics, while the Norwegians did not. “This is an honour for the Norwegian Handball Federation and for the players,” commented the President of the Norwegian Handball Federation Kaare Geir Lio. “It is also recognition for international handball, of how we want to play, and of how we want to be. We have fair play as a value and keyword in Norwegian handball in addition to respect, amongst others. And those two together are very important for us. This award is very energising and inspiring for us.” The trophies were presented by IOC Vice-President and Executive Board Member Nawal El Moutawakel and master of ceremonies CIFP Secretary General Sunil Sabharwal. Nawal El Moutawakel said: “The Olympic Games Rio 2016 have reminded all of us of the power and magic of sport. In the past weeks, the athletes have amazed us with their outstanding achievements and performances. We have seen new world records, we have seen high-level performances, we have seen personal bests and we have also seen great emotions. We have also been inspired by great moments of sportsmanship. Athletes are inspirational role models, and it is these moments of fair play that we have come together to celebrate today.”

– One of the most touching moments of the Rio Olympics has been rewarded with this year's Fair Play Awards. American runner Abbey D'Agostino and New Zealand's Nikki Hamblin, who helped each other finish the race after falling during a women's 5,000-meter heat, were given the awards Saturday night for what the IOC describes as "two separate acts of selflessness and exemplary sportsmanship." D'Agostino, who was accidentally brought down by Hamblin, helped the New Zealand runner to her feet. Hamblin then stayed with her fellow runner when she realized D'Agostino had injured her leg in the fall. "Winning this award is overwhelming," says Hamblin, per the Sydney Morning Herald. "I am proud [at] what we did and truly believe that you can be both a competitor and kind and responsive at the same time," she says. "Everyone comes here to compete, but there are a lot of people who don't achieve that, and the journey is really important, too." The IOC decided to allow both women to compete in the final, though D'Agostino was too injured to take part, the Guardian reports.

Since 1955, when amateur fossil hunter Francis Tully discovered the unlikely prehistoric creature in a coal mining area near Morris, the thing that would be named the Tully monster has presented one of the great puzzles in paleontology. Much as the people of Metropolis wondered whether Superman flying overhead was a bird or a plane, scientists have struggled to classify these fossils that showed traits associated with several disparate animal types and such abnormalities as eyes mounted on an external bar and a long, toothy proboscis. "If you put in a box a worm, a mollusk, an arthropod and a fish, and you shake, then what you have at the end is a Tully monster," said Carmen Soriano, a paleontologist at Argonne National Laboratory. The Tully's renown stretched even to the Illinois state legislature, which named it the official state fossil in 1989, some 308 million years after it inhabited the shallow salty waters that turned into the state's Mazon Creek geological deposits, in Grundy County, one of the richest fossil troves on Earth. Now, though, Tullimonstrum gregarium has a home on the Tree of Life rather than in the biological category known as the "problematica." Utilizing the synchrotron X-ray machine at Argonne and the Field Museum's collection of 2,000 Tully specimens, a team from those two institutions, Yale University and the American Museum of Natural History announced in a paper published in the journal Nature Wednesday that "The Tully monster is a vertebrate." Below that headline, the paper describes Tully as belonging "on the stem lineage to lampreys," a find that "resolves the nature of a soft-bodied fossil which has been debated for more than 50 years." "This is one of the mysteries that I heard about since I was a kid," said Soriano. "To be able to study, to basically 'unmonsterize' the monster, is really exciting." "Resolving this is a big deal," said Scott Lidgard, the Field's associate curator of fossil invertebrates and another of the paper's authors. "It's one of the examples used in textbooks around the world as what are called 'problematica,' " creatures that defied ready classification and were sometimes thought to be examples of extinct phyla, or animal categories. "This is kind of a poster child for that sort of evolutionary puzzle," Lidgard said. The finding "changes it from a mystery to a fishlike organism that is probably on the lineage leading to what we would recognize as lampreys." It's also a big moment for those who study lesser prehistoric animals and realize, said Lidgard, that "we're never going to be as popular as dinosaurs and fossil birds." The Tully monster is named for its assemblage of features, not for any sort of fearsome size. The biggest of the many, many specimens that have been found suggested a maximum length of about 18 inches and typical length of 12. But because Mazon Creek fossils are so well preserved, there is a lot of Tully to study. Skeletons have not survived, but detailed impressions in stone have. "If you see the specimens, they are typically well preserved," Soriano said. "It's not that they are a blob in the rock." Tully, a pipefitter for Texaco and lifelong fossil hound, described his find to the Tribune in a story in 1987, also the year of his death: "I found two rocks that had cracked open from natural weathering. They held something completely different. I knew right away. I`d never seen anything like it. None of the books had it. I`d never seen it in museums or at rock clubs. So I brought it to Chicago to the Field Museum to see if they could figure out what the devil it was." The first scientific paper describing the Tully monster, and giving it its vivid Latin name, came in the mid-1960s from one of Lidgard's predecessors at the museum, who "thought it was a worm," Lidgard said. Later papers proposed that it was a "free-swimming shell-less snail," he said, and then a conodont, extinct eel-like creatures very rare in the fossil record. "I've been looking at this thing for 30 years," said Lidgard. "Years ago I had a stab at it, thinking it might be related to squids. We gave up. We didn't publish anything." What got the ball rolling again was Lidgard hearing about Victoria McCoy, a Yale grad student exploring the Mazon Creek deposits who would become the paper's lead author. They met at a 2014 conference, and the following year, an assembled team spent three weeks at the Field studying its Tully specimens. The Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, southwest of Chicago, came into the picture because of its advanced imaging techniques using the Advanced Photon Source, an electron accelerator and storage ring that "provides ultra-bright, high-energy storage ring-generated x-ray beams for research in almost all scientific disciplines," according to Argonne. "The thing with these machines is they are incredibly powerful microscopes," Soriano said. "We can get information not only on the morphology of the sample, but also on the structure, on the composition." It allows people "to see what no one saw before basically," she said. What the scientists saw, as they studied the Argonne imagery, digital photographs of the fossils and the fossils themselves were characteristics that tied the Tully monster to lampreys. A chemical analysis of the eye stalks, for instance, showed the presence of zinc, "very similar to the material in the eyes of vertebrate fossil fishes," said Lidgard. "Tully is usually preserved so that you're looking down on its back," he added. "Every so often you can see its side. In those twisted fossils we found a very few where we think we can distinguish openings we interpret as openings to a particular kind of gill structure present in very primitive fishes like lampreys." And they were able to find the animal's gut trace, as well, the shadow of its digestive system, in the lower part of the body, which suggested that what had previously been thought to be a gut trace up on the back was in fact a notochord, a flexible rod in the back. That made it a primitive vertebrate, he said. He does not recall a moment where somebody said, "Hey, lamprey!", but recalls that "it became more and more clear," he said. "As those results started to come in, it was pretty convincing right away." ||||| Since it was first uncovered more than a half a century ago, this kooky-looking creature known as the “Tully monster” has puzzled paleontologists who, frankly, could not make heads, tails or claws of its fossilized remains. The creature was named after Francis Tully, the amateur who discovered it in 1958 in the Mazon Creek in Illinois. The state has designated the monster as its official fossil. Some thought the 300-million-year-old creature was a mollusk, like a snail. Others assumed it was an arthropod like an insect or crab. And others believed it was some sort of worm. Now, a team of researchers from Yale University say they have figured out the monster’s identity: It’s a vertebrate most closely related to the lamprey, an underwater bloodsucker. They published their findings on Wednesday in Nature. To come to their conclusion, team members first pored over 1,200 Tully monster specimens from museums. They closely examined the creature’s features, like its torpedo-shaped body and triangular tail, the proboscis that looks like an elephant’s trunk with sharp teeth, and the eyes on the side of its head, which resemble a hammerhead, but are similar to eye stalks found in crabs and insects. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “The frustrating thing is that these morphological features are not typical of any group,” said Victoria McCoy, a paleontologist and lead author on the paper. “But they do not rule out any group very easily.” The clue that led them to closing the cold case was a lightly colored structure scientists had previously identified as the creature’s gut. Only it wasn’t a gut. “We discovered that this feature was the notochord, the primitive backbone,” said Dr. McCoy. Photo Most guts in the fossilized record are dark and appear three-dimensional. But the Tully monster’s structure was light and appeared two-dimensional. “It didn’t make sense to us that there would be this one animal that would fossilize its gut completely differently,” she said. After finding that the creature had a primitive backbone, they could classify it as a chordate, which is a family of species that includes all vertebrates. Then they had to narrow down the type of chordate to which it was most similar. By further examining the notochord, the fossil sleuths noticed that the structure curved down as it went through the creature’s tail. Sign Up for the Science Times Newsletter Every week, we'll bring you stories that capture the wonders of the human body, nature and the cosmos. In animals like sharks, the notochord curves up into the top fin of the tail, and in some fish it goes through the middle of the tail. But in lampreys the notochord curves down. “There was no big ‘Aha!’ moment that pointed to the lamprey. But put together, the strongest evidence was that it could be a lamprey,” Dr. McCoy said. “The coolest thing is finding out that as weird as it looks, it is part of a familiar group of animals.”

– It's been more than half a century since Francis Tully found the monster that has since defied classification. Now, scientists say they know where the prehistoric oddball that lived some 308 million years ago fits on the Tree of Life: "The Tully monster is a vertebrate," according to research published Wednesday in Nature. That's a big step for the creature Tully discovered when he was hunting for fossils in the Mazon Creek geological deposits southeast of Chicago in 1955. Previously the Tully monster, with its torpedo body, hammerhead-like eyes, and long proboscis filled with sharp teeth, had been categorized as "problematica"—"creatures that defied ready classification," the Chicago Tribune reports. Some have speculated that Tullimonstrum gregarium—which, despite its name, is only about a foot long—was related to snails, worms, or insects and crabs, reports the New York Times. "If you put in a box a worm, a mollusk, an arthropod, and a fish, and you shake," one paleontologist tells the Tribune, "then what you have at the end is a Tully monster," Some have even floated the idea that the Tully monster was a tiny version of the Loch Ness Monster, per Smithsonian. However, the researchers found that Tully is related to the lamprey, an "underwater bloodsucker," as the Times puts it. Using a synchrotron X-ray machine, researchers were able to determine that what was previously thought to be the creature's gut was actually a notochord, "the primitive backbone," study lead Victoria McCoy tells the Times. "The coolest thing is finding out that as weird as it looks it is part of a familiar group of animals." Check out a graphic of the Tully monster. (A 90 million-year-old fossil indicates T. rex got smart before it got big.)

Describes the services provided by the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) in its roles as builder and steward of buildings on the Capitol Campus in Washington, D.C., which includes the U.S. Capitol, Capitol Visitor Center, Senate Office Buildings, House Office Buildings, Supreme Court, Library of Congress, U.S. Botanic Garden and Capitol Grounds. Covers AOC's maintenance and preservation activities and standards that it applies for sustainability and accessibility. Also provides inventories and descriptions of works of art housed throughout the campus. ||||| After discovering the existence and contents of an explicit group chat, Harvard administrators revoked admissions offers to at least ten prospective members of the Class of 2021. Harvard College rescinded admissions offers to at least ten prospective members of the Class of 2021 after the students traded sexually explicit memes and messages that sometimes targeted minority groups in a private Facebook group chat. A handful of admitted students formed the messaging group—titled, at one point, “Harvard memes for horny bourgeois teens”—on Facebook in late December, according to two incoming freshmen. In the group, students sent each other memes and other images mocking sexual assault, the Holocaust, and the deaths of children, according to screenshots of the chat obtained by The Crimson. Some of the messages joked that abusing children was sexually arousing, while others had punchlines directed at specific ethnic or racial groups. One called the hypothetical hanging of a Mexican child “piñata time.” After discovering the existence and contents of the chat, Harvard administrators revoked admissions offers to at least ten participants in mid-April, according to several members of the group. University officials have previously said that Harvard’s decision to rescind a student’s offer is final. College spokesperson Rachael Dane wrote in an emailed statement Saturday that “we do not comment publicly on the admissions status of individual applicants.” Advertisement The chat grew out of a roughly 100-member messaging group that members of the Class of 2021 set up in early December to share memes about popular culture. Admitted students found and contacted each other using the official Harvard College Class of 2021 Facebook group. “A lot of students were excited about forming group chats with people who shared similar interests,” Jessica Zhang ’21, an incoming freshman who joined both chats, wrote in an email. “Someone posted about starting a chat for people who liked memes.” Messages shared in the original group were mostly “lighthearted,” wrote Zhang, who said she did not post in the splitoff meme group and that her admission offer was not rescinded. But some members soon suggested forming “a more R-rated” meme chat, according to Cassandra Luca ’21, who joined the first meme group but not the second, and who also said her offer was not revoked. Luca said the founders of the “dark” group chat demanded that students post provocative memes in the larger messaging group before allowing them to join the splinter group. “They were like, ‘Oh, you have to send a meme to the original group to prove that you could get into the new one,’” Luca said. “This was a just-because-we-got-into-Harvard-doesn’t-mean-we-can’t-have-fun kind of thing.” Employees in the Admissions Office emailed students who posted offensive memes in mid-April asking them to disclose every picture they sent over the group, according to one member of the chat whose admission offer was revoked. The student spoke only on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to be publicly identified with the messages. “The Admissions Committee was disappointed to learn that several students in a private group chat for the Class of 2021 were sending messages that contained offensive messages and graphics,” reads a copy of the Admissions Office’s email obtained by The Crimson. “As we understand you were among the members contributing such material to this chat, we are asking that you submit a statement by tomorrow at noon to explain your contributions and actions for discussion with the Admissions Committee.” “It is unfortunate that I have to reach out about this situation,” the email reads. The anonymous student also said that administrators informed implicated students that their admissions status was under review and instructed them not to come to Visitas, Harvard’s annual weekend of programming for prospective freshmen held at the end of April. Roughly a week later, at least ten members of the group chat received letters informing them that their offers of admission had been withdrawn. The description for the official Facebook group for the Class of 2021, set up and maintained by the Admissions Office, disclaims all administrative responsibility for “unofficial groups” and warns members their admissions offers can be rescinded under specific circumstances. “As a reminder, Harvard College reserves the right to withdraw an offer of admission under various conditions including if an admitted student engages in behavior that brings into question his or her honesty, maturity, or moral character,” the description reads. Luca said she had mixed feelings about the administration’s move to revoke admissions offers. She said she was “going back and forth” on the matter. “On the one hand, I think people can post whatever they want because they have the right to do that,” Luca said. “I don’t think the school should have gone in and rescinded some offers because it wasn’t Harvard-affiliated, it was people doing stupid stuff.” She added, though, that if memes sent over the chat posed any kind of threat to members’ lives or well-being, then she believed administrators’ actions were justified. Other members of the Class of 2021 said they strongly supported the Admissions Office’s decision. Zhang wrote that she thought the students’ actions were indefensible, and that the administration was correct in choosing to penalize those who posted obscene images. “I appreciate humor, but there are so many topics that just should not be joked about,” Zhang wrote. “I respect the decision of the admissions officers to rescind the offers because those actions really spoke about the students’ true characters.” “I do not know how those offensive images could be defended,” she added. Wyatt Hurt ’21, who said he did not participate in either meme chat, agreed and said he was glad administrators took action. “I haven’t seen any of the stuff firsthand, but I definitely think that the administration made the right choice and I think that as an incoming student—we all have our group chats and everything like that going on—we all pretty much universally agree it was the right decision,” he said. Hurt added that he recently attended several scholarship conferences and that students he met at those events—many of whom he said planned to matriculate at Ivy League schools—also agreed that “rescinding was definitely the way to go.” This incident marks the second time in two years that Harvard has dealt with a situation where incoming freshmen exchanged offensive messages online. Last spring, some admitted members of the Class of 2020 traded jokes about race and mocked feminists in an unofficial class GroupMe chat, prompting Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 to issue a joint statement condemning the students’ actions. “Harvard College and the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid were troubled and disappointed to see a conversation that included graphics with offensive themes,” Khurana and Fitzsimmons wrote in their statement, which they posted on the Class of 2020’s Facebook page. But administrators chose not to discipline members of the Class of 2020 who authored the messages. Then-Interim Dean of Student Life Thomas A. Dingman ’67 said in an interview at the time that the individuals in question were “not matriculated students at this point.” Harvard admitted 5.2 percent of applicants to the Class of 2021, accepting 2,056 of the nearly 40,000 total applicants. Roughly 84 percent of students invited to join the class accepted their offer, marking the highest yield rate in recent memory. —Staff writer Hannah Natanson can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @hannah_natanson. ||||| The campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. (Lisa Poole/AP) The Facebook messaging group was at one point titled “Harvard memes for horny bourgeois teens.” It began when about 100 members of Harvard College’s incoming freshman class contacted each other through the university’s official Class of 2021 Facebook group. They created a messaging group where students could share memes about popular culture — a growing trend on the Internet among students at elite colleges. But then, the exchanges took a dark turn, according to an article published in the Harvard Crimson on Sunday. Some of the group’s members decided to form an offshoot group in which students could share obscene, “R-rated” memes, a student told the Crimson. The founders of the messaging group demanded that students post provocative memes in the main group chat to gain admittance to the smaller group. The students in the spinoff group exchanged memes and images “mocking sexual assault, the Holocaust and the deaths of children,” sometimes directing jokes at specific ethnic or racial groups, the Crimson reported. One message “called the hypothetical hanging of a Mexican child ‘piñata time’” while other messages quipped that “abusing children was sexually arousing,” according to images of the chat described by the Crimson. Then, university officials caught on. And in mid-April, after administrators discovered the offensive, racially charged meme exchanges, at least 10 incoming students who participated in the chat received letters informing them that their offers of admission had been revoked. In an email to The Washington Post Sunday night, Rachael Dane, a Harvard spokeswoman, said “we do not comment publicly on the admissions status of individual applicants.” But according to the Harvard Crimson article, written by Harvard student Hannah Natanson, representatives from the admissions office emailed the implicated students asking them to reveal every picture they sent in the group. “The Admissions Committee was disappointed to learn that several students in a private group chat for the Class of 2021 were sending messages that contained offensive messages and graphics,” read a copy of the Admissions Office’s email obtained by the Crimson. “As we understand you were among the members contributing such material to this chat, we are asking that you submit a statement by tomorrow at noon to explain your contributions and actions for discussion with the Admissions Committee.” “It is unfortunate that I have to reach out about this situation,” the email continued. According to Harvard college admissions policies, the university reserves the right to withdraw an offer of admission if the admitted student “engages or has engaged in behavior that brings into question their honesty, maturity or moral character,” among other conditions, Dane told The Post. The Harvard College Class of 2021 official Facebook group — like similar groups for incoming students at other universities — allows admitted students to meet classmates, ask questions and prepare for their first semester. The group is managed by the Admissions and Financial Aid Office and states in its description it is “not responsible for any unofficial groups, chats, or the content within.” “As a reminder, Harvard College reserves the right to withdraw an offer of admission under various conditions including if an admitted student engages in behavior that brings into question his or her honesty, maturity, or moral character,” the group description states. Cassandra Luca, an incoming student who joined the first meme group but not the second, told the Harvard Crimson the “dark” group chat was a “just-because-we-got-into-Harvard-doesn’t-mean-we-can’t-have-fun kind of thing.” Luca’s admission offer was not revoked, she told the student newspaper. This spring, 2,056 students were invited to join Harvard’s incoming freshman class, drawing from a record number of applications — 39,506, according to a university news release. Nearly 84 percent of the admitted students eventually chose to enroll at Harvard — the highest yield rate in several decades. The university’s decision to rescind the students’ acceptance to Harvard underscores the dangers of social media posts — public or private — among prospective college students. According to Kaplan Test Prep, which surveyed more than 350 college admissions officers, 35 percent of admissions officers said they check social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to learn more about applicants. About 42 percent of those officials said what they found had a negative impact on prospective students. “For better or worse, social media has become an established factor in college admissions, and it’s more important than ever for applicants to make wise decisions,” Yariv Alpher, executive director of research at Kaplan Test Prep said. The repercussions spurred both praise and criticism from Harvard students, alumni and others at a time when university campuses across the country are in the midst of clashes over free speech. Some felt the decision was justified, while others expressed a belief that admissions officers crossed a line by judging students for their private conversations. Erica Goldberg, an assistant professor at Ohio Northern Law School who calls herself a “free speech enthusiast,” wrote in a blog post that by “ferreting out” the members of the private chat group and revoking their acceptances Harvard “has proven that there is an oppressive force to transgress.” Goldberg, who said she taught at Harvard Law School for three years, compared the dark humor used by the Harvard students to the popular “unabashedly irreverent” game Cards Against Humanity, “whose purpose is to be as cleverly offensive as possible. “Even many good liberals love the game, precisely because the humor is so wrong, so contrary to our values,” Goldberg wrote. She called on Harvard to reconsider its decision. “Harvard should not teach its students to be afraid to joke in private, among people willing to joke back,” Goldberg wrote. “Harvard should not teach students to turn on each other for speech.” This was not the first time Harvard administrators addressed controversial messages exchanged among incoming students. Last year, after connecting on the university’s official Facebook page for the Class of 2020, incoming students joined a private unofficial chat on the GroupMe messaging app. In it, some students exchanged images that included racially charged jokes and at least one message that mocked feminists. Though the exchanges prompted a controversy among members of that incoming class, administrators did not discipline the students who sent the messages, according to the Harvard Crimson. Thomas A. Dingman, then the interim dean of student life, said in an interview at the time that the individuals were “not matriculated students at this point.” [Yale dean placed on leave after calling people ‘white trash’ on Yelp] In recent months, college meme groups on Facebook have become institutions among Ivy League students; some even refer to the craze as “college meme wars.” The groups have been popping up at the campuses of Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, Penn, Yale and Dartmouth, as well as the University of California Berkeley and others. College meme groups on Facebook have become institutions among Ivy League students; some even refer to the craze as "college meme wars." Here's what you need to know. (Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post) Students use the groups to share memes picking fun at college cliches, inside jokes and even standard student topics, such as textbook prices. Old-school college rivalries often play out in the groups, as Mic pointed on in a story titled “Inside the elite meme wars of America’s most exclusive colleges.” These groups have become so popular that many now have more members than the schools have students. In early February, a Harvard freshman started a Facebook group titled “Harvard Memes for Elitist 1% Tweens,” modeling it after two similar university-based groups: “UCLA Memes for Sick AF Tweens” and “UC Berkeley Memes for Edgy Teens,” according to an article in the Harvard Crimson magazine, Fifteen Minutes. By early March, there were more members of the Harvard meme group than Harvard undergraduate students. The group now has nearly 30,000 members — including “pharmabro” Martin Shkreli, the former Turing Pharmaceuticals executive who became known as “Pharma Bro” after he dramatically boosted the price of a drug. According to the Harvard meme Facebook group description, all memes must be Harvard-specific. “If the meme could apply to any group of wealthy, pretentious pseudo-intellectuals, at least Photoshop a Harvard logo in there somewhere,” the description states. As the group’s popularity swelled, so did disputes and controversies that played out in exchanges between its members. “Most of these fights fell in line with a discourse familiar to contemporary college campuses,” Tarpley Hitt wrote in the article in the student magazine, “with one side calling for increased moderation of posts which played into racial stereotypes or targeted marginalized groups, while the other championed freedom of expression.” One participant in the Harvard meme group posted a link Sunday to the news about the obscene meme exchange. “When the memes get too real,” the post read. One Twitter user who shared the story surmised: “Are these the first casualties of the college meme wars?” Editor’s note: The original version of this story inadvertently neglected to put in quotes words in the fourth paragraph which came from the Harvard Crimson. The story has been adjusted. Much memes. So web. Such wow. (Adriana Usero,Danielle Kunitz/The Washington Post) More from Morning Mix Why ‘Over the Rainbow’ was the perfect closer for Ariana Grande’s Manchester tribute ‘Completely heartless’: Man charged with stealing Portland hero’s wedding ring as he lay dying ‘Wonder Woman’ soars at the box office, breaks superhero glass ceiling ‘He broke me’: A defiant, tearful Kathy Griffin slams attacks by Trump and his family

– At least 10 students lost their spots at Harvard before the first day of class after they exchanged offensive messages in a private Facebook group, the Harvard Crimson reports. College officials told the incoming freshmen they were no longer welcome after getting wind of the messages and memes in a chat group once called "Harvard memes for horny bourgeois teens." The posts included sexually explicit memes and posts that called child sexual abuse arousing and mocked the Holocaust and minorities, per the Crimson, which obtained screenshots of the posts (but didn't publish them). One post dubbed a hypothetical hanging of a Mexican child "piñata time." The rogue chat sprang from a larger group of 100 students who began exchanging popular memes in December on Harvard's official Class of 2021 Facebook page. Jessica Zhang tells the Crimson prospective students like her "were excited about forming group chats with people who shared similar interests." But the mostly "lighthearted" messages, as Zhang put it, gave way to suggestions for a "more R-rated" meme" that spurred the "dark" group, per student Cassandra Luca, who added "it was people doing stupid stuff." Harvard officials who discovered the posts in mid-April took a harder line and revoked at least 10 admission offers, per the Crimson. The college reserves the right to rescind admission if a prospective student "engages or has engaged in behavior that brings into question their honesty, maturity, or moral character," a Harvard rep tells the Washington Post. In September, 2,056 freshmen will begin classes at the elite college; 39,506 students applied. (Those incoming students include Malia Obama.)

Billionaire businessman Donald Trump Donald TrumpTrump attending Women's Open on Saturday in NJ Castro to Trump: Cuba doesn't need 'lessons' from the US Trump golf course may not host Scottish Open due to concern over 'politics' MORE stands atop the 2016 GOP presidential field in the first national poll since he was roundly criticized for his comments about Sen. John McCain’s war record. ADVERTISEMENT Trump holds 18 percent support among Republicans in a CNN/ORC International Poll released Sunday morning. Jeb Bush follows in second place with 15 percent. Since a similar poll in late June, Trump’s support has risen 6 percentage points. “There's a movement going on, this is more than me,” Trump said while discussing the latest poll results Sunday morning on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “People are tired of these incompetent politicians in Washington I can't say I’m unhappy or anything, I'm just not that surprised.” The poll also found that most Republican voters want Donald Trump to remain in the GOP presidential race. Fifty two percent of registered Republicans and Republican-leaning independents want the outspoken real estate magnate to stay in the race, according to the CNN/ORC poll. Thirty three percent want him to drop out, however, and 15 percent say he should run as an independent. Trump told The Hill in an exclusive interview last week that he would consider a third-party run if RNC leaders were unfair to him during the primary process. Among all respondents, 40 percent expect former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to be the Republican nominee. Eighteen percent think Trump will be the nominee and 11 percent think Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will emerge as the GOP nominee. Thirty one percent of Republicans, however, expect Bush to represent the party in 2016. Twenty two percent predicted Trump will be the nominee and 14 percent selected Walker. The poll of 1,017 adults was conducted between July 22 and 25th, after Trump mocked McCain’s time as a prisoner of war, drawing condemnation from a broad spectrum of Republicans. The poll has a 3.5 percentage point margin of error. --Sarah Ferris contributed to this report, which was updated at 11:41 a.m. ||||| (CNN) In the first national telephone poll since Donald Trump earned rebukes from Republican leaders over his comments about Senator John McCain's military service, the real estate mogul has increased his support among GOP voters and now stands atop the race for the party's nomination. The new CNN/ORC Poll finds Trump at 18% support among Republicans, with former Florida governor Jeb Bush just behind at 15%, within the poll's margin of error. They are joined at the top of the pack by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, with 10% support among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who are registered to vote. Trump's backing has climbed 6 points since a late-June poll, while support for Bush and Walker has not changed significantly. None of the other 14 candidates tested in the new CNN/ORC survey earned double-digit support. Though Trump currently tops the race for the nomination, his advantage is by no means firm. A majority of Republican voters, 51%, say they see the field as wide open, and that it's too soon to say which candidate they will ultimately get behind. Among that group that see the contest as wide open, Bush has 14% support, while Trump has the backing of 13% and Walker stands at 9%. Trump does much better among those Republicans who say they've narrowed it down to one or two candidates, 24% of that group backs him, 16% Bush and 12% Walker. Trump's popularity among Republican voters does not translate to the broader pool of registered voters. When tested in hypothetical general election matchups against top Democrats, he trails both frontrunner Hillary Clinton and upstart Senator Bernie Sanders by wide margins. Bush and Walker run just behind Clinton and about even with Sanders. Trump's unfavorability rating is sky high. Overall, 59% of all registered voters have an unfavorable opinion of Trump, though that dips to 42% among GOP voters. None of the other Republicans landing near the top of the field have such a negative image nationwide, though many remain little known. Clinton is the only candidate who is about as well-known as Trump, and while she is more well-liked than the developer, her favorability rating is net negative among registered voters nationally: 49% have an unfavorable view while 44% have a positive impression. Still, the poll suggests Republican voters haven't yet had their fill of Trump. A majority (52%) say they'd like to see Trump continue his run for the GOP nomination, including nearly six in 10 conservatives, tea party supporters and white evangelicals. Even among those Republican voters who support someone other than Trump, 42% say they'd like him to remain in the field. The Republican electorate is more enthusiastic about next year's vote than the Democrats are. The poll finds 46% of Democratic voters say they are extremely or very enthusiastic about voting for president next year, compared with 55% of Republican voters. But enthusiasm is down in both parties compared with June of 2011, when 61% of Republican registered voters and 55% of Democratic registered voters were that enthusiastic. In another positive sign for Trump's candidacy, among those Republicans who are enthusiastic about voting next year, Trump holds a larger edge over his competition: 22% say they would back him for their party's nomination, compared with 14% who back Bush and 12% behind Walker. Overall, about three-quarters of Republicans are satisfied with their choices, more so than in 2011 at this time (about two-thirds were satisfied then), but still, just 23% say they are "very satisfied" with the field. Meanwhile, an NBC News/Marist poll on Sunday showed Trump leading among New Hampshire GOP primary voters and narrowly trailing Walker in Iowa. Trump took 21% of the New Hampshire GOP primary vote, with Bush running second at 14%, while in Iowa Trump was at 17% and Walker at 19%, according to the NBC/Marist survey On the Democratic side, the CNN poll found Clinton remains the clear frontrunner, though Sanders has increased his support slightly since last month's poll. Clinton is backed by 56% of registered Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters, while Sanders has inched up to 19% from 15% in June. The rest of the field is about even with where they were before. The CNN/ORC International Poll was conducted July 22-25 among a random national sample of 1,017 adults, including 898 registered voters. Results for all registered voters have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. The registered voter sample included 419 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents as well as 392 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents.

– Some media outlets might want to evict Donald Trump from their politics sections, but he appears to be doing pretty well among Americans surveying the political arena. As CNN reports in a new CNN/ORC national poll, Trump is polling at the top of the considerable heap of Republican presidential contenders, at 18%. Jeb Bush comes in second at 15%, Scott Walker at 10%, and no other GOP candidate cracked double digits. Of note: The poll was conducted after Trump started swinging at John McCain's war record, indicating he's emerged unscathed; the new poll puts Trump up 6 points over a similar poll at the end of June. "There's a movement going on," Trump told CNN this morning in response, per the Hill. "People are tired of these incompetent politicians in Washington ... I'm just not that surprised." Trump is racking up similar numbers in Iowa, per an NBC/Marist poll out today: He's at 17%, though he's trailing Walker's 19% in that state, reports Politico. Bush has 12% there. The story is a little more marked in New Hampshire, where Trump is pulling down 21% to Bush's 14% and Walker's 12%. And Trump's divisiveness shows in his unfavorability ratings: 53% of New Hampshire Republicans view him unfavorably, notes Politico, while that number is 44% in Iowa, and what CNN calls a "sky high" 59% of all registered voters in its poll.

Washington state has approved gay marriage, joining Maine and Maryland as the first states to pass same-sex marriage by popular vote. Zach Silk, campaign manager for Washington United for Marriage, is applauded as be begins to speak at a news conference by supporters of Referendum 74, which would uphold the state's new same-sex marriage... (Associated Press) Rep. Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, right, leans down to kiss her partner, Laura Wulf, during a news conference by supporters of Referendum 74, which would uphold the state's new same-sex marriage law, Wednesday,... (Associated Press) Revelers kiss as they celebrate early election returns favoring Washington state Referendum 74, which would legalize gay marriage, during a large impromptu street gathering in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood,... (Associated Press) People celebrate early election returns favoring Washington state Referendum 74, which would legalize gay marriage, during a large impromptu street gathering in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, Tuesday,... (Associated Press) Supporters of Referendum 74, which would uphold the state's new same-sex marriage law, cheer at a news conference Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, in Seattle. Supporters of gay marriage in Washington state declared... (Associated Press) Supporters of Referendum 74, which would uphold the state's new same-sex marriage law, cheer at a news conference Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, in Seattle. Supporters of gay marriage in Washington state declared... (Associated Press) Revelers display U.S. and gay pride flags as they celebrate early election returns favoring Washington state Referendum 74, which would legalize gay marriage, during a large impromptu street gathering... (Associated Press) Crystal Davis, of Seattle, waves a sparkler as she celebrates the 2012 election with a large crowd in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood.... (Associated Press) A large crowd of people celebrates at the conclusion of the presidential election in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. The re-election of President Barack Obama and Washington... (Associated Press) With about three-quarters of the expected ballots counted Thursday, Referendum 74 was maintaining its lead of 52 percent. Opponents conceded the race Thursday, while supporters declared victory a day earlier. Zach Silk, a spokesman for Washington United for Marriage, called it a "historic day." "We have always understood that there are good people on the other side of this issue," he said in a statement issued Thursday. "Yet, we remain confident that once people see how much marriage matters to families, they will realize that the love and commitment that marriage embodies only strengthens families, neighborhoods and communities." R-74 asked people to approve or reject a state law legalizing same-sex marriage that legislators passed earlier this year. That law was signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire but has never taken effect. It was on hold pending the election's outcome. Washington is one of four states where voters were asked about the issue this election cycle. Maryland and Maine approved gay marriage Tuesday night, while Minnesota voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Six other states _ New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont _ and the District of Columbia already allowed gay marriage. But Maryland, Maine and Washington are the first to approve it by public vote. The other states' laws were enacted either by lawmakers or court rulings. In Washington, additional voter returns will continue to be posted daily. Because Washington is a vote-by-mail state, and ballots only had to be postmarked by Tuesday, votes will continue to trickle in for days. The measure was losing in 31 of the state's 39 counties. But it had its strongest lead _ 66 percent of the vote _ in King County, which holds about a third of the state's voters and is home to Seattle. Gregoire, who announced her support of gay marriage at the start of the legislative session in January, said she was proud of the outcome. "Voters stood up for what is right and what is just and said that all Washington families are equal under the law," she said in a statement issued Thursday afternoon. "This is a day that historians will look back on as a turning point for equality." Preserve Marriage Washington, meanwhile, issued a statement saying its members were disheartened but will "continue to educate citizens and policymakers on the timeless truth that real marriage is the union of one man and one woman." "We are disappointed in losing a tough election battle on marriage by a narrow margin," said Joseph Backholm, the campaign chairman. Backholm blamed several factors, saying Washington is a "deep blue state." "The election results reflect the political and funding advantages our opponents enjoyed in this very liberal and secular state," he wrote. "The results show only that in a deep blue state, with a huge financial advantage, gay marriage activists can win _ barely." About $13.6 million was spent on the initiative in Washington state, with the bulk of it coming from gay marriage supporters. Washington United for Marriage far outraised its opponents, bringing in more than $12 million, including donations from big names like Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos, Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Opponents of gay marriage raised just $2.7 million. Many supporters started celebrating early, taking to the streets in a Seattle neighborhood and cheering at election watch parties Tuesday night as early results showed the referendum taking a narrow lead. Police closed off several blocks in Seattle's Capitol Hill area as more than 1,000 people gathered for a late-night, impromptu election celebration, dancing and chanting "74, 74, 74." Gay rights supporters in neighboring Oregon said the passage of same-sex marriage measures in other states gives them hope for 2014. Domestic partnerships are legal in Oregon, but same-sex marriage was banned by ballot measure in 2004. Jeana Frazzini, director of the gay-rights group Basic Rights Oregon, said they considered going to the ballot to overturn the constitutional amendment this year but abandoned the effort in part because there wasn't clear evidence it could pass. "Basic Rights Oregon is committed to leading the way to make Oregon the first state to overturn a constitutional amendment banning marriage," she said in statement. Gay couples in Washington could start picking up their marriage certificates and licenses from county auditor offices Dec. 6, a day after the election is certified. However, because Washington has a three-day waiting period, the earliest a certificate could be signed, making the marriage valid, is Dec. 9. The law doesn't require religious organizations or churches to perform marriages, and it doesn't subject churches to penalties if they don't marry gay or lesbian couples. The path to gay marriage in Washington state began several years ago. A 2006 state Supreme Court ruling upheld a 1998 law banning same-sex marriage. But earlier that year, a gay civil rights measure passed after the idea had failed for nearly 30 years, signaling a change of mindset in the Legislature. The state's first domestic partnership law passed in 2007, granting couples about two dozen rights, including hospital visitation and inheritance rights when there is no will. It was expanded a year later, and then again in 2009, when lawmakers completed the package with the so-called "everything but marriage" law that was ultimately upheld by voters later that year. This year, lawmakers passed the law allowing gay marriage, and Gregoire signed it in February. Preserve Marriage gathered enough signatures for a referendum, putting the law on hold before it could take effect. State Sen. Ed Murray, a Democratic gay lawmaker from Seattle, sponsored the law. He said the election's outcome "rectifies an injustice that was done to gay and lesbian couples" when the state Legislature passed the Defense of Marriage Act banning gay marriage in the state. Murray was in his third year as a state representative when that 1998 law passed. At the time, he was the Legislature's lone gay lawmaker. "I believe that when the marriages start happening next month, that will be a healing moment for this state," he said. ___ AP writer Jonathan J. Cooper contributed from Portland, Ore. Follow Rachel La Corte at http://www.twitter.com/RachelAPOly or http://www.facebook.com/news.rachel ||||| Washington approves same-sex marriage Washington voters have narrowly approved same-sex marriage, completing a four-state sweep of victories on Election Day by marriage-equality advocates. Before Tuesday, gay marriage had never won a statewide vote anywhere in America. On Thursday, opponents conceded. "With additional results showing that we have not closed the gap, it now appears clear that Referendum 74 will be narrowly approved," Joseph Backholm, head of Preserve Marriage Washington, said in a statement. "We are disappointed in losing a tough election battle on marriage by a narrow margin. But while we are disappointed, we are not defeated." Bolstered by getting two-thirds of the vote in populous King County, Ref. 74 held a 96,000 vote lead as of mid-afternoon Thursday. It was capturing 51.96 percent of the vote, to 48.04 percent opposed. Zach Silk, campaign manager for the pro-R-74 group Washington United for Marriage, called Thursday a "historic day" for the state, nation and "for families across the state of have dreamed of this day." "From the beginning, this campaign told the stories of loving couples and their families who simply want to get married. All of us, from our volunteers, to our staff to the nearly 20,000 donors who invested in the freedom to marry, are enormously grateful to the voters of Washington state. Yes, we made history, but more importantly, we helped protect and defend thousands of families across the state. Joel Connelly has been a staff columnist for more than 30 years. He comments regularly on politics and public policy. Joel Connelly has been a staff columnist for more than 30 years. He comments regularly on politics and public policy. "We have always understood that there are good people on the other side of this issue. Yet, we remain confident that once people see how much marriage matters to families, they will realize that the love and commitment that marriage embodies only strengthens families, neighborhoods and communities." Washington, Maryland and Maine became the first states in America to vote for marriage equality. They will soon become the seventy, eighth and ninth states to permit same-sex marriage. Minnesota voters rejected a state constitutional amendment, heavily prompted by the Catholic Church, defining marriage as between a man and a woman. While a majority of the state's counties rejected Ref. 74, its lead in King County totaled 186,629 votes -- with 232,000 remaining to be counted. Same-sex marriage also was approved on Tuesday in Maine and Maryland. Minnesota voters rejected a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman; as recently as 2004, multiple states enacted such an amendment. Supporters of Ref. 74 were giddy even before Wednesday's vote totals confirmed its victory. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee described it as "a grand step forward in the arc of the moral universe." Same-sex marriage drew the support of 70 percent of the state's voters under 30, according to the Washington Poll. Paul Holmes, a Yale student from Seattle, observed: "I don't think I'm being biased when claiming that the positions favored by young people are simply more reasonable . . . Often, that'll mean leaving people alone, ending programs that don't work, and not being too selfish." The anti-gay rights National Organization for Marriage had a string of successes until Tuesday, including California's Prop. 8 and Maine's earlier rejection of marriage equality. Opponents of gay marriage "significantly outperformed the Republican ticket in nearly every state," NOM president Brian Brown said in a statement. NOM has been ferociously anti-Obama. "We were fighting the entirety of the political establishment in most of the states, including sitting governors in three of the states who campaigned heavily for gay marriage," Brown said in a statement. "Americans remain strongly in favor of marriage as the union of one man and one woman . . . The election results reflect the political and financial advantages our opponents enjoyed in these very liberal states." One vociferous opponent of marriage equality — Yakima's Catholic Bishop Joseph Tyson — tried to put a positive spin on being on the losing side. "Voters in Yakima Diocese Reject Referendum 74," screamed a headline on the diocesan web site. It claimed voters "clearly and resoundingly heard our message in Central Washington." (Results from such places as Grant, Benton and Franklin Counties showed anti-74 percentages higher than the support level in King County.) "People in Central Washington did affirm marriage between one man and one woman: I'm grateful to many folks in the English-speaking and Spanish-speaking communities who did so much to push out our proposal for the common good of society," Tyson said on the site. Seattle's Catholic Archbishop J. Peter Sartain was much more restrained. Sartain faced a lay revolt, and a group called Catholics for Marriage Equality staged a big demonstration outside his cathedral the week before election day. More than 1,000 Catholics signed a newspaper ad supporting marriage equality, and 63 resigned priests signed a pro-Ref. 74 statement. "The campaign to preserve marriage as a union between a man and a woman represents a starting point for a long-term effort to educate Catholics about its meaning and purpose," Sartain said in a statement. Washington was the first state to vote for civil unions, aka "everything but marriage," when it approved Referendum 71 in 2009. It has now joined two other states, bringing to a total of nine states that will now recognize marriage between partners of the same gender. All other states have adopted marriage equality because of court rulings or legislative action.

– Voters have approved same-sex marriage in Washington state after a tight vote, meaning marriage-equality advocates won all four of their Election Day battles: Maine and Maryland backed gay marriage, while Minnesota nixed a constitutional ban on such unions. Opponents conceded yesterday in Washington: "With additional results showing that we have not closed the gap, it now appears clear that Referendum 74 will be narrowly approved," says the head of one activist group. "But while we are disappointed, we are not defeated." As of mid-afternoon yesterday, Referendum 74 was leading with 51.96% of the vote, compared to 48.04% against it. The majority of counties voted against the measure, but King County, home to Seattle, helped push it through, the Post-Intelligencer reports. Noted Gov. Christine Gregoire: "Voters stood up for what is right and what is just and said that all Washington families are equal under the law." Nine states now recognize same-sex marriage, though Washington, Maine, and Maryland are the only states where it was won via ballot measure, the AP notes.

With this petition, and the efforts of several other people on the internet, we were able to convince Disney to issue an epilepsy warning for Incredibles 2! Now we're moving on to our next goal: to have them include an epilepsy warning in the Blu-Ray release of the film. This can set a precedent to make movies (both in the theater and at home) safer for all viewers. ||||| More from USA Today: Even Sophia Bush has a 'lady crush' on Voyd, her breakout 'Incredibles 2' hero 'Incredibles 2' soars with $180M: Biggest opening ever for an animated film The definitive ranking of all 20 Pixar movies (including 'Incredibles 2') AMC supervisor Mauricio Mencia, who's worked at the Universal CityWalk location in Los Angeles for the past year, says, "I've never seen something like that happen." The memo, which has been shared on social media, says: " 'Incredibles 2' contains a sequence of flashing lights, which may affect customers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy or other photosensitivities." Mencia's theater has informed the staff about the memo and posted the warning next to the guest greeter who rips tickets. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, "for about 3 percent of people with epilepsy, exposure to flashing lights at certain intensities, or with certain visual patterns, can trigger seizures. This condition is known as photosensitive epilepsy and it's more common in children and adolescents, especially those with generalized epilepsy and a type known as juvenile myoclonic epilepsy." Jackie Aker, director of media relations for the Epilepsy Foundation, says her organization had never before called for a movie to issue a photosensitivity warning, but earlier this year asked Apple to change a promotional spot for the new iPad that had flashing lights that would be unsafe for certain viewers. Apple worked with the foundation to change the video. In 1997, an episode of "Pokémon" that aired in Japan with flashing lights sent nearly 700 children to the hospital. ||||| This is not a joke. I was at a first-night showing tonight, and my immediate thought was how disasterously unsafe this movie is for my photosensitive epilepic friends. @markingatlightspeed I’m tagging you with this specifically because I feel that this would be extremely dangerous for you to watch. There are multiple scenes in this movie with full-screen, black-and-white flashing strobe effects. They all happen without warning, and last anywhere between a few seconds to more than two minutes. In a darkened movie theater, this means the likelihood of a seizure could be VERY HIGH if you are sensitive to these effects. If you have photosensitive epilepsy or another disorder that is triggered by strobe lights, I would highly recommend you DO NOT SEE THE INCREDIBLES 2 IN THEATERS. Wait until the movie’s released on digital/Bluray, and you can watch it in a fully-lit room, with someone with you who will be able to help if the strobe effects do trigger a seizure. Please stay safe. UPDATE: After talking to some people who have loved ones with severe epilepsy, I would sadly have to recommend that you DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE - PERIOD - IF YOU HAVE SEVERE SEIZURES WHEN EXPOSED TO STROBE EFFECTS. DO NOT PUT YOUR HEALTH AT RISK FOR A MOVIE. NO KIND OF MEDIA IS WORTH GAMBLING WITH YOUR LIFE. The scenes in which the flashing happens are MAJOR plot points and CANNOT be skipped. The one workaround I can suggest would be to find a version of the movie (when it’s released) with Audio Descriptions for the visually impaired. Watch it on your PC - turn the monitor OFF, but keep the audio going. If you have been disappointed by the creative decisions made by Disney-Pixar, please sign the petition created by @moviehealthcommunity for Disney to include a seizure warning for moviegoers and people who buy/rent the movie. It is unlikely they would edit these things out of the movie entirely - but there are nearly 20,000 notes on this post, and if 20,000 people asked them to consider people with epilepsy, it could mean they consider these things more carefully in the future. Thank you.

– After anecdotal warnings circulated on social media, Disney has issued an official seizure warning for Incredibles 2. Both the film and the trailer contain flashing or strobe light effects, which can cause seizures for some epileptic viewers; the Epilepsy Foundation spoke out about the issue, and a petition called for Disney to include a visual warning about the lights. On Friday, Disney asked theaters showing the movie to include such a warning, reports CNBC, which calls it an "unprecedented" move by the company. The lights can also affect people who suffer from migraines or have other conditions causing them to be photosensitive. Disney's official memo reads, "Incredibles 2 contains a sequence of flashing lights, which may affect customers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy or other photosensitivities."

QUEENSBURY, N.Y. (AP) — A teenager fell from a stopped gondola ride at an upstate New York amusement park Saturday night, tumbling into a crowd of park guests and employees gathered below in an effort to catch the victim before she hit the ground.; The Warren County Sheriff's Office said late Saturday the unidentified 14-year-old girl from Greenwood, Delaware, is at Albany Medical Center in stable condition with no serious injuries. The accident happened on the "Sky Ride" at Six Flags Amusement Park, about 55 miles (88.51 kilometers) north of Albany, New York, just after 8 p.m. Saturday. The sheriff's office said in a statement that the girl was riding the attraction with a child relative, and fell about 25 feet from a stationary two-person car. The ride was stopped by an operator after word was received that there was a rider in distress, officials said. Authorities say the girl fell from the car and struck a tree before landing in the crowd. She was treated by park emergency medical staff and transferred by ambulance to Glen Falls Hospital before being taken by helicopter to the medical center. Officials inspected the ride and said it was in proper working order. The park said in a statement that the safety of guests is a top priority. "There does not appear to be any malfunction of the ride, but we have closed the attraction until a thorough review can be completed," a park official said. Authorities also said an unidentified 47-year-old man from Schenectady, New York, who was a guest at the park, was treated and released from a hospital for a back injury sustained when he attempted to catch the falling girl. No additional information was immediately available. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites.

– A teenager fell from a stopped gondola ride at an upstate New York amusement park Saturday night, tumbling into a crowd of park guests and employees gathered below in an effort to catch the victim before she hit the ground. The Warren County Sheriff's Office said late Saturday the unidentified 14-year-old girl from Greenwood, Delaware, is at Albany Medical Center in stable condition with no serious injuries. The accident happened on the "Sky Ride" at Six Flags Amusement Park, about 55 miles north of Albany, New York, just after 8pm Saturday, reports the AP. "There does not appear to be any malfunction of the ride, but we have closed the attraction until a thorough review can be completed," a park official said. The sheriff's office said in a statement that the girl was riding the attraction with a young relative, and fell about 25 feet from a stationary two-person car. The New York Daily News refers to Facebook video that shows the girl first dangling from the ride and screaming; people are recorded yelling, "Her neck is stuck," and then telling the girl they'll catch her. Authorities say she struck a tree branch before landing in the crowd. She was treated by park emergency medical staff and transferred by ambulance to Glen Falls Hospital before being taken by helicopter to the medical center. Authorities also say an unidentified 47-year-old park guest from Schenectady, New York, was treated and released from a hospital for a back injury sustained when he attempted to catch the falling girl.

Manti Te'o has already tried to explain how his heartwarming story of playing through adversity was a lie he wasn't responsible for, how he was the victim of a cruel hoax about a dead girlfriend who never existed. FILE - In this Jan. 5, 2013, file photo, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o answers a question during media day for the BCS national championship NCAA college football game in Miami. The wrenching story... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2012, file photo, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o chases the action during the second half of an NCAA college football game against BYU in South Bend, Ind. The wrenching story... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Nov. 17, 2012, file photo, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o takes the field during senior day before an NCAA college football game against Wake Forest in South Bend, Ind. The wrenching... (Associated Press) People walk in front of the Notre Dame administration building, known as the Golden Dome, Thursday Jan. 17, 2013 on the campus of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. In a shocking announcement,... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Aug. 16, 2012, file photo, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o answers a question during NCAA college football media day in South Bend, Ind. The wrenching story of Te'o's girlfriend dying... (Associated Press) Manti Te'o's family home appears, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013, in Laie, Hawaii. People in Te'o's hometown stood firmly behind the Notre Dame linebacker after the story of his girlfriend and her death from... (Associated Press) He still has questions to answer, with many wondering whether he was a victim or participant in the scam. Those doubts even extended to his own campus, where he is one of the most popular players in Notre Dame's storied history. "Whenever Manti decides to speak I'll bet the entire campus will stop what they're doing and watch what he has to say," Notre Dame student body president Brett Rocheleau said Thursday. "I think the majority of students believe in Manti. They just want to hear him answer these final few questions and hear the story from his point of view." When Te'o will do that, like so much else about this story, is still a mystery. An Associated Press review of news coverage found that Te'o talked about his doomed love in a Web interview on Dec. 8 and again in a newspaper interview published Dec. 10. He and the university said he learned on Dec. 6 that it was all a hoax _ not only was she not dead, she wasn't real. On Thursday, a day after the bizarre news broke, there were questions about whether he really was duped, as he claimed, or whether he and the university were complicit in the hoax and misled the public, perhaps to improve his chances of winning the Heisman. He came in second, propelled by one of the most compelling plot lines of the season. Yahoo sports columnist Dan Wetzel said the case has "left everyone wondering whether this was really the case of a na??ve football player done wrong by friends or a fabrication that has yet to play to its conclusion." Gregg Doyel, national columnist for CBSSports.com, was more direct. "Nothing about this story has been comprehensible, or logical, and that extends to what happens next," he wrote. "I cannot comprehend Manti Te'o saying anything that could make me believe he was a victim." On Wednesday, Te'o and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said the player was drawn into a virtual romance with a woman who used the phony name Lennay Kekua, and was fooled into believing she died of leukemia in September. They said his only contact with the woman was via the Internet and telephone. Te'o was not at the news conference; the school released a 225-word statement from him. Te'o also lost his grandmother _ for real _ the same day his girlfriend supposedly died, and his role in leading Notre Dame to its best season in decades endeared him to fans and put him at the center of one of college football's feel-good stories of the year. Relying on information provided by Te'o's family members, the South Bend Tribune reported in October that Te'o and Kekua first met, in person, in 2009, and that the two had also gotten together in Hawaii, where Te'o grew up. Sports Illustrated posted a previously unpublished transcript of a one-on-one interview with Te'o from Sept. 23. In it, he goes into great detail about his relationship with Kekua and her physical ailments. He also mentioned meeting her for the first time after a game in California. "We met just, ummmm, just she knew my cousin. And kind of saw me there so. Just kind of regular," he told SI. Among the outstanding questions: Why didn't Te'o ever clarify the nature of his relationship as the story took on a life of its own? Te'o's agent, Tom Condon, said the athlete had no plans to make any public statements in Bradenton, Fla., where he has been training with other NFL hopefuls at the IMG Academy. Notre Dame said Te'o found out that Kekua was not a real person through a phone call he received at an awards ceremony in Orlando, Fla., on Dec. 6. He told Notre Dame coaches about the situation on Dec. 26. The AP's media review turned up two instances during that gap when the football star mentioned Kekua in public. Te'o was in New York for the Heisman presentation on Dec. 8 and, during an interview before the ceremony that ran on the WSBT.com, the website for a South Bend TV station, Te'o said: "I mean, I don't like cancer at all. I lost both my grandparents and my girlfriend to cancer. So I've really tried to go to children's hospitals and see, you know, children." In a column that first ran in The Los Angeles Times, on Dec. 10, Te'o recounted why he played a few days after he found out Kekua died in September, and the day she was supposedly buried. "She made me promise, when it happened, that I would stay and play," he said on Dec. 9 while attending a ceremony in Newport Beach, Calif., for the Lott Impact Awards. On Wednesday, when Deadspin.com broke the story, Swarbrick said Notre Dame did not go public with its findings sooner because it expected the Te'o family to come forward first. Asked if the NCAA was monitoring the Te'o story for possible rules violations, NCAA President Mark Emmert said: "We don't know anything more than you do," he told reporters at the organization's convention in Dallas. "We're learning about this through the stories just the same as you are. But we have to wait and see what really transpired there. It's obviously (a) very disturbing story and it's hard to tell where the facts lie at this point. "But Notre Dame is obviously looking into it and there will be a lot more to come forward. Right now, it just looks ... well, we don't know what the facts are, so I shouldn't comment beyond that." ___ AP Sports Writers Ralph Russo and Tim Reynolds contributed to this report. ||||| Story highlights Manti Te'o is a hoax victim, Notre Dame says, but questions continue to pop up A sportswriter thinks Te'o may have embellished his relationship An NFL football player says he has met a woman he thought was Kekua In a little more than three months, Manti Te'o probably will be drafted by an NFL team and sign a multimillion dollar deal. Before teams sink that much money into players, they have questions. With the revelation that the football feel-good story of the year centered on the Notre Dame linebacker's love for a woman who never existed, many people have questions for Te'o -- a lot of questions. And as each question in the saga gets answered -- none publicly by Te'o --- it seems another one, or two, or three, crop up. For instance, why did Te'o tell reporters before the Heisman Trophy presentation on December 8 that he "lost both my grandparents and my girlfriend to cancer," when two days earlier the woman he thought was dead called him on his cellphone? JUST WATCHED How the Te'o girlfriend hoax began Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH How the Te'o girlfriend hoax began 04:10 PLAY VIDEO JUST WATCHED Notre Dame stands behind Te'o Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Notre Dame stands behind Te'o 02:55 PLAY VIDEO JUST WATCHED Deadspin shares how it broke Te'o story Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Deadspin shares how it broke Te'o story 03:16 PLAY VIDEO JUST WATCHED Manti Te'o: My girlfriend never existed Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Manti Te'o: My girlfriend never existed 08:28 PLAY VIDEO Why did he tell a Sports Illustrated reporter in October that Kekua came to one of his games then issue a statement this week that he never met her? Who is now behind the one of the Twitter accounts associated with Lennay Kekua, a woman who apparently never lived, let alone died, in September before Te'o, who called her his girlfriend, played one of the biggest games of the young season? The Te'o hoax in 30 posts A tweet Thursday purportedly from the fictional girlfriend promised she would have a big announcement that would help sort out details of the story, but the tweet was merely a joke about Te'o. Two other tweets on the page were retweets from the verified account of Te'o. "@LennayKay I miss you!" a November 6 tweet from Te'o said. On September 12, Te'o tweeted "@LennayKay you will always be with me wherever I go!" It was unclear Thursday whether the person Te'o tweeted to in September used it again after reports broke of a hoax or whether someone created a new account with the same user name. The airing of the bizarre story began Wednesday, when sports website Deadspin published a piece dismissing as a hoax the existence of Te'o's girlfriend -- the one who he said died around the same time as his grandmother while his team marched toward the BCS National Championship Game. Then Wednesday, the university held a news conference saying Te'o was the victim of a "elaborate hoax." And Te'o, the Heisman Trophy runner-up, released a statement saying he was embarrassed that he was the victim of a "sick joke." The bizarre developments left many wondering if they, instead of Te'o, were led on. "Te'o's story that he is completely innocent in this does not really ring true to us," Timothy Burke, co-author of the Deadspin article, told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday night. Pete Thamel, the Sports Illustrated writer who published a transcript of his interview with Te'o, said he thinks the star linebacker was duped. "If he was acting he deserves an Oscar nomination," Thamel said. "The depth and the detail of this scam is mindboggling, but I do think Te'o ... he caught the wave of this story, maybe exaggerated the depths of their relationship a little. But at the end of the day, we need to hear from Manti Te'o." JUST WATCHED Writer: Reporters didn't check Te'o hoax Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Writer: Reporters didn't check Te'o hoax 02:55 PLAY VIDEO JUST WATCHED Burke: Three people may be in on hoax Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Burke: Three people may be in on hoax 04:57 PLAY VIDEO JUST WATCHED Journalists missed truth about Te'o Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Journalists missed truth about Te'o 03:13 PLAY VIDEO Doubters wonder if Heisman Trophy a factor in hoax The hoax The story of the girlfriend came to light in September as Notre Dame continued its improbable undefeated season, and Te'o, a relentless tackler, was beginning to emerge as a front-runner for the prestigous Heisman Trophy. He led the Fighting Irish, amassing double-digit tackle games and becoming the face of one of the best defenses in the nation. In September and October, Te'o told interviewers that his girlfriend and grandmother had died within hours of each other. The girlfriend, a 22-year-old Stanford University student, died of leukemia, he said. The twin losses inspired him to honor them with sterling play on the field, Te'o said. He led his team to a 20-3 routing of Michigan State after he heard the news. "I miss 'em, but I know that I'll see them again one day," he told ESPN. Opinion: Te'o tale a mirror to our gullibility? It was indeed a gripping interest story of determination. And the media ran with it. No one bothered to seek out Kekua's family until Deadspin, acting on an anonymous e-mail received last week, started poking around. "What do you do when you first want to know something? You Google it, right?" Burke said on CNN. "And Google searches for 'Lennay Kekua' only showed up articles about her dying, and inspiring Manti Te'o. "There's no evidence of her existing in any way, other than, you know, after she had allegedly died. And we thought that was a little weird." Te'o's grandmother died in September, Deadspin said. But there was no Social Security Administration record of Kekua's death. The Birth and Death Registration Office in Orange County, California, told CNN it had no record of Kekua, nor does the county coroner. Deadspin called mortuaries and funeral homes in Carson, California, where Kekua was reportedly buried -- but came up empty. The website sought out the person whose picture had been presented as that of Kekua and tracked her down. Timeline: How the story unfolded She was alive, didn't have leukemia and had never met Te'o. "That sort of opened everything up," Burke said. The revelation prompted the Notre Dame athletics director to call a news conference Wednesday. There was no way for Te'o to know the relationship was a hoax because it had been conducted strictly online and on the phone, said director Jack Swarbrick. The pair had set up several meetings, including in Hawaii, where Te'o grew up -- but Kekua never showed, Swarbrick said. The university said it did not know how many people were in on the ruse. According to Swarbrick, Te'o received a call from a woman claiming to be his girlfriend on December 6, telling him she was not dead. Those calls continued, but Te'o did not answer, he said. The Heisman Trophy was awarded two days later, and Te'o made comments about losing relatives to cancer before he finished second in the award voting to quarterback Johnny Manziel of Texas A & M. The Stanford University registrar's office told CNN that it has never had a student registered in Kekua's name or using an alternate spelling. "Outside of a few Twitter and Instagram accounts, there's no online evidence that Lennay Kekua ever existed," Deadspin contends. "There was no Lennay Kekua." Te'o in his own words Her 'soulful eyes' So, how did the two fall in love? According to the South Bend Tribune in Indiana -- the newspaper of Notre Dame's hometown, the two met -- yes, met -- after a football game in Palo Alto, California, in 2009. "Their stares got pleasantly tangled, then Manti Te'o extended his hand to the stranger with a warm smile and soulful eyes," the paper gushed. "They could have just as easily brushed past each other and into separate sunsets. Te'o had plenty to preoccupy himself that November weekend in Palo Alto, Calif., back in 2009." The article went on to say: "Lennay Kekua was a Stanford student and Cardinal football fan when the two exchanged glances, handshakes and phone numbers that fateful weekend three seasons ago." Te'o's father, Brian, was quoted in the article: "They started out as just friends. Every once in a while, she would travel to Hawaii, and that happened to be the time Manti was home, so he would meet with her there. But within the last year, they became a couple." The newspaper said Wednesday it based Teo's story on information from the linebacker, his family members and coaches -- and moved the story to its archives. But as Thamel reported Thursday, Te'o said they met through a cousin. "The only time he didn't speak with confidence was when I asked how they met," he wrote. I didn't press him, as it was clearly something he didn't want to share. I suspected they may have met online, understood he wouldn't have wanted that public and moved on." Media reports indicate the parents never met Kekua. Social media jump all over story Te'o was in Florida training for the NFL Scouting Combine, where draft prospects showcase their abilities for teams. He didn't meet with reporters or answer phone calls to his room on Thursday. He tried to clear things up with a statement Wednesday saying he "developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online." "We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her," he said in the statement. "To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someone's sick joke and constant lies was, and is, painful and humiliating," the statement continued. "It further pains me that the grief I felt and the sympathies expressed to me at the time of my grandmother's death in September were in any way deepened by what I believed to be another significant loss in my life." Share your online dating experience with CNN iReport Who's who on the Internet? Who knows

– If Manti Te'o really was an innocent dupe, tricked into believing he had a girlfriend with a tragic story, he's going to have some explaining to do, reports the AP. Two holes in Te'o's story so far: Even though Te'o says he learned on Dec. 6 that "Lennay Kekua" never existed, he perpetuated the story at least twice after that in interviews. Te'o claimed to have met Kekua in person, including once in a September interview with Sports Illustrated. "We met just, ummmm, just she knew my cousin," he said of their first supposed encounter. "And kind of saw me there so. Just kind of regular." As for who "Lennay Kekua" really was, the New York Post reports that the woman seen in the fake Twitter account is Diane O’Meara, a 23-year-old marketing rep from California. “Somebody stole her identity,” a relative says. O'Meara is lawyered up and keeping quiet at the moment. "Te'o's story that he is completely innocent in this does not really ring true to us," said Timothy Burke, the Deadspin editor who co-wrote the original story, on CNN.

(CNN) -- Hundreds dead. Many more infected. Pervasive fear and denial are challenging authorities in west Africa who are trying to assess and address the Ebola crisis. So far, it has killed more than 650 people, says Doctors Without Borders. That's the highest death toll the World Health Organization has recorded in an Ebola outbreak. And it's getting worse. The swelling numbers prompted heads of state to cancel travel plans on Thursday to direct their full attention toward fighting the outbreak of the virus that has crippled parts of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea and stirred palpable concerns that it will spread around the region and the world. Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Sierra Leone's President Ernest Koroma both canceled trips to the United States, and Koroma declared a state of emergency. He announced a action plan that addressed many of the barriers international medical workers complain they face while fighting disease. Some residents in affected villages have accused them of bringing the disease into the country and have barricaded their towns or otherwise blocked access to Ebola hemorrhagic fever victims. A nurse with Doctors Without Borders, Monia Sayah, told CNN, "the most challenging" aspect of trying to help people is that "we go into communities where we are not necessarily welcome," because people don't want to believe they or their loved ones have Ebola -- in part because "they understand now that the survival rate is not very high." Koroma said he will deploy police and military to accompany the aid workers. They will search house to house for the infirm and enforce orders designed to curb the virus' spread. What is the risk of catching Ebola on a plane? Aid groups pull out "The matter has reached a crisis point," Liberian Information Minister Lewis Brown told CNN's Richard Quest. "...The dire prognosis is that it will get worse before it gets better." The dangers are so real that some humanitarian organizations are pulling out to protect their own. Samaritan's Purse -- an international evangelical Christian humanitarian agency -- and the missionary group Serving in Mission have recalled all nonessential personnel from Liberia. The Peace Corps announced Wednesday it is doing the same, removing its 340 volunteers from that country, as well as Sierra Leone and Guinea. While there are no confirmed cases, a spokeswoman for the agency did say that two volunteers did come in contact with someone who ended up dying from the virus. Those Americans haven't shown signs of Ebola but are being isolated just in case, with the spokeswoman saying they can't return home until they get medical clearance to do so. American dies One American, 40-year-old Patrick Sawyer, died in a Nigerian hospital earlier this month -- having come from Liberia, where he was a top Ministry of Finance official, and before he could go back home to Minnesota to celebrate his daughters' birthdays. But the vast majority of those afflicted are Africans. They come from big cities and small villages, some of them falling ill without really knowing what hit them. "This epidemic is without precedent," said Bart Janssens, director of operations for Doctors Without Borders, a group also known as Médecins Sans Frontières. "It's absolutely not under control, and the situation keeps worsening." As of now, the outbreak has been confined to west Africa. But there are rising concerns that it could spread, especially since a person may not know they have Ebola or show symptoms for two to 21 days after being infected. Sawyer, for example, collapsed getting off a plane in Lagos, Nigeria. He very well could have made it out of the region, perhaps to the United States, before showing symptoms of Ebola; it's only then that the virus spreads. To further complicate matters, signs of Ebola include fever, headaches, weakness and vomiting -- symptoms that also define many other ailments, from malaria to the flu that Brown notes often pop up "at this time of year." For all these reasons and more, Janssens says, "If the situation does not improve fairly quickly, there is a real risk for new countries to be affected." Could outbreak spread to U.S.? 2 infected Americans Ebola spreads through the transmission of bodily fluids. Those most at risk are loved ones of those infected, as well as health care workers tending to the ill. Sawyer is believed to have been infected by his ailing sister, who he spent time with in Liberia -- even though neither likely knew she had Ebola -- according to Brown. Then there are those like Dr. Sheik Humarr Khan, who fell ill early last week while overseeing Ebola treatment at a Sierra Leone hospital and died days later. Two Americans affiliated with Samaritan's Purse who also were infected "have shown a slight improvement in the past 24 hours" though both are in serious condition, according to the Christian humanitarian agency. One of them is Dr. Kent Brantly, a 33-year-old who last lived in Fort Worth, Texas. He has been the medical director for the Ebola Consolidated Case Management Center in Monrovia, Liberia, where he has been providing care for Ebola patients since October. After testing positive for the virus, Brantly went into treatment at ELWA Hospital. The other is Charlotte, North Carolina, resident Nancy Writebol, a Serving in Mission member working with Samaritan's Purse to help fight the Ebola outbreak. Ebola fears hit close to home It is believed one of the local staff was infected with Ebola and came to work with the virus on July 21 and 22, Samaritan's Purse Vice President Ken Isaacs said. That staff member died Thursday. "We think it was in the scrub-down area where the disease was passed to both Nancy and Kent," he said. Brown, the Liberian information minister, noted Brantly and Writebol's fight in his CNN interview, as well as Liberia's need for more health care workers like them. "We join the families in prayers that they can come through this and become ... shining examples that, if care is taken, one can come out of this." Liberian president: 'Ebola kills' On Monday, the CDC issued an alert warning travelers to avoid hospitals with Ebola patients and funerals for those patients in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea due to the outbreak. The United States is considering raising the alert to discourage "nonessential" travel to those three countries, a spokesman said. Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has told the Ministry of Health to consider quarantines in some areas and cremating bodies in an attempt to prevent further infection, according to Brown. The president also urged residents to avoid public amusement and entertainment areas, and set aside Friday "for the disinfection and chlorination of all public facilities." "My fellow Liberians, Ebola is real. Ebola is contagious. And Ebola kills," Sirleaf said. "All of us must all take extra measures announced by the Ministry of Health to keep ourselves safe. "The government will do its part. But you must do yours." READ: Ebola doctor in Sierra Leone dies READ: What you need to know CNN's Jonathan Helman, Elise Labott, Pamela Brown and Nana Karikari-apau contributed to this report. ||||| MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Liberia's president late Wednesday ordered the nation's schools to shut down and most civil servants to stay home as an Ebola outbreak that already has killed more than 130 people in the country deepened. Meanwhile, the U.S. Peace Corps said it was evacuating its volunteers from Liberia as well as neighboring Guinea and Sierra Leone as the regional death toll topped 670 people. The Ebola outbreak is now the largest recorded in history. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is skipping a summit of African leaders in Washington this week amid the crisis, also called for the closure of markets in an area near the borders with infected countries Guinea and Sierra Leone. "My fellow Liberians, Ebola is real, Ebola is contagious and Ebola kills," she warned. "Denying that the disease exists is not doing your part, so keep yourselves and your loved ones safe." Fear and panic over the mounting death toll has prompted some rural communities to accuse foreign aid workers of bringing the deadly virus. Others have kept people with Ebola symptoms at home instead of bringing them to quarantine centers. In anger, one man recently set fire to part of the health ministry building in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, after his teenage brother reportedly died of Ebola. Sirleaf said that security forces would enforce the new precautions taken a week after an American man of Liberian descent boarded a plane in Monrovia and flew to Nigeria, where authorities said he died of Ebola. The fact that he was able to board a plane and traveled through a major airport transit hub in Togo has only heightened fears about Ebola's possible spread in the region. The airline involved, ASKY, has suspended its flights to both the capitals of Liberia and Sierra Leone, and said passengers departing from Guinea would be carefully screened. Ebola has no vaccine and no specific treatment, with a fatality rate of at least 60 percent. But experts say the risk of travelers contracting it is considered low because it requires direct contact with bodily fluids or secretions such as urine, blood, sweat or saliva. Ebola can't be spread like flu through casual contact or breathing in the same air. Patients are contagious only once the disease has progressed to the point they show symptoms, according to the World Health Organization. The most vulnerable are health care workers and relatives who come in much closer contact with the sick. Still, Liberia is among the poorest countries in the world, and the outbreak already has taxed the capacity of local health clinics and doctors, prompting concern for those who remain in the country. In a statement released Wednesday, the Peace Corps said that 340 volunteers in the three affected countries were being evacuated and "a determination on when volunteers can return will be made at a later date." Two U.S.-based missionary groups also have ordered the evacuation of their non-essential personnel from Liberia after a doctor and a missionary both contracted Ebola. SIM USA President Bruce Johnson announced Tuesday that his group and Samaritan's Purse decided on the evacuation following an upsurge in the number of Ebola cases in Liberia. A Texas-trained doctor and a missionary from North Carolina have contracted the disease and are in isolation in Liberia. ___ Associated Press writer Krista Larson in Dakar, Senegal contributed to this report. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The current outbreak is the deadliest since Ebola was discovered in 1976 Liberia's government has announced that it is closing down all schools across the country to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola virus. Some communities would be placed under quarantine as well, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said. Non-essential government workers will be sent home for 30 days and the army deployed to enforce the measures. The number of people killed by the virus in West Africa has now reached 672, according to new UN figures. The BBC's West Africa correspondent Thomas Fessy says treatment facilities have reportedly been overwhelmed in the Liberian capital Monrovia. Ebola virus disease (EVD) Image copyright Science Photo Library Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage Fatality rate can reach 90% Incubation period is two to 21 days There is no vaccine or cure Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery Fruit bats are considered to be virus' natural host Profile: Dr Sheik Umar Khan Some wards have already filled up, forcing health workers to treat some patients at their homes. President Sirleaf said that Friday 1 August would be a non-working day in Liberia to allow for the disinfection of all public facilities. "All non-essential staff - to be determined by the heads of ministries and agencies - are to be placed on 30 days' compulsory leave," she added. Rapid spread The US humanitarian organisation Peace Corps said it was withdrawing 340 volunteers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea because of the spread of the virus. Two of its volunteers had been isolated after being exposed to someone who later died from the virus, it added. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Dr Stephan Monroe: "Outbreak presents challenges to do what is needed to break the chains of transmission" A Peace Corps spokeswoman said: "These volunteers are not symptomatic and are currently isolated and under observation." Ebola kills up to 90% of those infected, but patients have a better chance of survival if they receive early treatment. It spreads through contact with an infected person's bodily fluids. The outbreak - the world's deadliest to date - was first reported in Guinea in February. It then spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone.

– The Peace Corps is evacuating its volunteers from the three nations in West Africa hit hard by the Ebola epidemic, reports CNN. The 340 Americans will be returning to the US from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea as the outbreak worsens. In fact, two Peace Corps workers must remain behind in isolation because they had contact with an infected person, though neither has shown symptoms, says the group. The move comes as health officials try to contain the disease to West Africa. Today, Liberia shut down all its schools, sent home non-essential government workers for three weeks, and dispatched troops to enforce quarantines in some communities, reports the BBC. "My fellow Liberians, Ebola is real, Ebola is contagious and Ebola kills," said President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. "Denying that the disease exists is not doing your part, so keep yourselves and your loved ones safe." With 670 deaths and counting, the outbreak is now the largest in history, reports the AP. "This epidemic is without precedent," says the director of Doctors Without Borders. "It's absolutely not under control, and the situation keeps worsening."

Don't worry, be snappy: Stop complaining about your digital camera When one has done something long enough (and, for the sake of this particular argument, let's say living can be reasonably counted among them) there's a tendency to take the long view--we have some notion of where we've been as well as how things are now. Recent complaints about the state of Apple and photography have compelled me to take a journey down the historical highway in the hope of gaining some perspective on just where we stand in regard to taking and making images with our cameras. Why you should care about CloudKit If you've lived through the last couple iterations of OS X and iOS, you've probably had the opportunity to develop a special love/hate relationship with iCloud. Apple's cloud service suite is made up of many different parts and systems, and while it's great when it works, it also has a history of being prone to hard-to-diagnose outages and, for developers, obscure error messages. With Yosemite public beta, Apple's more open than ever Just a few years after a big leadership transition, Apple announced not only a brand new operating system but said they would be offering a public beta to interested customers. Sound familiar? The year was 2000 and the OS in question was the very first version of OS X. Now, 14 years later, Apple's once again inviting users to come and check out the Mac's latest and greatest operating system before its impending release. ||||| Article Excerpt HONG KONG--Samsung Electronics Co. and Google Inc. on Wednesday jointly unveiled a new smartphone they developed together running on a new version of the Android operating system as the South Korean company pushes out new models in its attempt to gain more ground in the highly competitive and litigious smartphone market. The launch of the Galaxy Nexus smartphone comes just days after Apple Inc. unveiled its new iPhone 4S in several markets across Europe, the U.S. and Asia on Oct. 14. Samsung and Google originally planned to launch the device in San Diego on Oct. 11 but the event was ...

– Only hours after Motorola rolled out its new Razr, Samsung and Google unveiled a new Android smartphone of their own. The high-end Galaxy Nexus—which is set to retail for more than $700—would have launched more than a week ago, but the companies decided to reschedule after the death of Steve Jobs, the Wall Street Journal reports. The phone runs Android's new Ice Cream Sandwich platform, designed to run on both smartphones and tablets. "We're targeting the premium segment of the mobile handset market with this handset," says a Samsung exec. New features in the latest version of Android include facial recognition software that allows a user to use his face to unlock his phone, although when demonstrated onstage at the Galaxy Nexus launch, the phone failed to recognize its owner, PC World notes. Google says the new phone—which analysts believe will help Samsung in its quest to overtake Apple—also has tighter integration with Google+, allowing users to have video chats with as many as nine contacts.

The New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman was in Texas visiting his former teammate Danny Amendola late last month when he received a direct message on his Instagram account: “Dude, there is a kid in your comment section says he s going to shoot up a school, i think you should alert the authority.” Edelman instantly thought of the mass shooting about five weeks earlier in Parkland, Fla., in which 17 people were killed. “With the emotions of what happened, and I have a kid now, I said, holy Toledo, what is going on?” Edelman said in an interview this week. ||||| PORT HURON, Mich. - A 14-year-old boy was arrested Wednesday in connection with a school threat that was reported by New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman, police said. The threat was posted as a comment on an Instagram post made by Edelman. After Edelman reported the incident, police found the boy, who admitted to making the threat, officials said. Police said they also found two rifles, which belong to the boy's grandfather, at the home. Police said the threat was directed toward Central Middle School in Port Huron. The 14-year-old is charged with making a false report of a terrorist threat, which is a four-year felony. He is being held in the Macomb County Juvenile Justice Center. Copyright 2018 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.

– A potential school shooting in Michigan was thwarted with the help of New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman—and a fan who alerted him to a disturbing message on his Instagram page. Edelman tells the New York Times that he received a direct message late last month warning him that somebody in his comment section had posted: "I'm going to shoot my school up watch the news." "I said, holy Toledo, what is going on?" Edelman says. He spoke to assistant Shannon Moen, who found the message among hundreds of comments on one of Edelman's posts and called 911. Police were able to track the message to a home in Port Huron, Mich., where a 14-year-old boy was arrested. Police say the teen, a Central Middle School student, admitted making the threat. WDIV reports that two rifles belonging to the boy's grandfather were found at the home. The boy, who is now being held in a juvenile detention center, has been charged with making a false report of a terrorist threat, a felony that could get him up to four years in prison. Edelman says he wants to thank the person who alerted him, who has the Instagram handle jesseyi3. "Thankfully, this kid said something," Edelman says. "We're going to send him something, a care package, just for his work. He's the real hero." (Police say this would-be school shooter in Ohio changed his mind at the last second.)

Tweet with a location You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| Patton Oswalt married his fiancée Meredith Salenger on Saturday. The couple posted pictures of their ceremony on Sunday confirming the news. “True love,” Salenger captioned a snap of her walking down the aisle holding her step-daughter Alice’s hand and new husband Oswalt on the other side. “True happiness. Forever and Always. The Oswalts. November 4, 2017. Jim Henson Studios.” Oswalt, 48, posted the same photo to Instagram with the quirky question, “What’d you guys do yesterday?” In October, the couple announced they would be exchanging vows in November, but kept the details to themselves. Oswalt’s journey to finding love again hasn’t been easy. His first wife, Michelle McNamara, suddenly died in April 2016 at age 46. He wasn’t able to remove his wedding ring until a year after McNamara’s passing. By July 2017, Oswalt had proposed to Salenger one month after taking their relationship public. “It’s official. I’m the luckiest happiest girl in the universe!!!!” Salenger said at the time. “I love you @PattonOswalt I love you Alice Oswalt. #YesYesYes.” A request for additional wedding details wasn’t immediately returned. ||||| It’s time to uncork the bubbly! Patton Oswalt and his fiancée, Meredith Salenger, are married, Us Weekly can confirm. Celebrity Engagement Rings of 2017: See the Bling! The 48-year-old Veep actor and the 47-year-old Hollywood Heights actress tied the knot at the Jim Henson Company lot in L.A. on Saturday, November 4. The pair, who made their debut as a couple at the Los Angeles premiere of Baby Driver in June, announced their impending nuptials via Instagram in July. “I don’t wanna brag … but check out the size of The Rock on my finger,” Salenger captioned a playful snap of herself with a photoshopped picture of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on her ring finger while cuddling close to her love. I don't wanna brag… but check out the size of The Rock on my finger! Hahahah (photoshop via @edwardderuiter) A post shared by Meredith Salenger (@meredithsalenger) on Jul 6, 2017 at 8:29am PDT Hours later, the brunette beauty shared a collage of images from the proposal, which included a sweet snuggle between Salenger and Oswalt’s daughter, Alice, 8, from his first marriage. “It’s official. I’m the luckiest happiest girl in the universe!!!!💖 I love you @pattonoswalt I love you Alice Oswalt! #YesYesYes” the Lake Placid actress wrote of the adorable moment. It's official. I'm the luckiest happiest girl in the universe!!!!💖 I love you @pattonoswalt I love you Alice Oswalt! #YesYesYes A post shared by Meredith Salenger (@meredithsalenger) on Jul 6, 2017 at 9:26am PDT The pair’s engagement came 15 months after the death of Oswalt’s first wife, Michelle McNamara, who died in her sleep from a mix of prescription medications and an undiagnosed heart condition in April 2016. Shortly after announcing their engagement, the King of Queens alum shared a blog titled “A Widow’s Rage Defense Against Patton Oswalt’s Engagement,” written by Erica Roman, who lost her husband days before McNamara passed away. Oswalt, who called the article “amazing,” thanked Roman for her gentle words. “I expected some bitter grub worms to weigh in (anonymously, always always always) with their much-needed opinions when I announced my engagement last week. I decided to ignore them,” he wrote on Facebook. “But yeah, I felt this rage. And Erica articulated it better than I could have ever hoped. So there you go. Thank you, Erica.” Famous Celeb Dads and Daughters Salenger also took to social media to share her feelings. “Everyone has been so lovely to us… all of Patton’s family… ALL of Michelle’s siblings and friends and family… a few trolls have strong opinions,” she wrote at the time. “But I think for Patton, having met and found love after over a year of intense therapy and openly grieving and dealing with his pain… I am grateful to be the one who helps him climb out of the depths of grief and find some joy again. And most of all… Alice is happy and feels loved. I have waited 47 years to find true love.” She continued: “Creating our family unit while honoring the brilliant gift Michelle has given me will be my life’s goal and happiness. I am deeply in love with both Patton and Alice and very much looking forward to a beautiful happy life having adventures together.” Just months before the couple tied the knot, the Virginia native opened up about his relationship with Salenger in Playboy’s September/October 2017 issue. “My fiancée and I started talking February 28, through Facebook,” he said of his relationship with the actress. “We have friends in common and we were messaging, and it just turned into every night for three months — February through May. We would talk about everything, writing these short novels to each other every night.” Celebrity Bridesmaids: Stars Who’ve Helped Out at Weddings Oswalt continued: “It was as if I had known this person since we were teenagers and we both had unrequited crushes since we were 14 and now it was finally crashing together. Even though I’m at this level of joy I didn’t think I would ever feel again, I still wouldn’t recommend those extremes to anybody. I’d like people to have this joy without that despair.” Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter to get breaking celebrity news, hot pics and more delivered straight to your inbox! Want stories like these delivered straight to your phone? Download the Us Weekly iPhone app now! ||||| Patton Oswalt has found love again after heartbreak. On Saturday, the 48-year-old actor and comedian wed Meredith Salenger. The nuptials came over a year and a half after Oswalt’s first wife, Michelle McNamara, died unexpectedly in her sleep. Here’s a look back at how Oswalt’s life has changed since last April. A tragic loss Oswalt wed crime writer McNamara in 2005, and the two welcomed a daughter, Alice Rigney, in 2009. On April 21, 2016, McNamara died in her sleep at age 46. In an instant, Oswalt became a widower — and single parent. Patton Oswalt and Michelle McNamara in December 2011 Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic In an October 2016 interview with The New York Times, Oswalt recounted the last night he had with his wife, speculating that she may have accidentally overdosed. McNamara, who was writing a book about a serial rapist and killer at the time, was working long days and nights and unable to sleep due to anxiety and nightmares. Worried about her health, Oswalt suggested she take a night to “sleep until you wake up.” McNamara took some Xanax and went to sleep — but never woke up. The next morning, Oswalt remembered waking up early to get Alice dressed, packed and off to school. On the way home, he picked up an Americano coffee and left it on McNamara’s bedside table — around 9:40 a.m., he recalled. Hours later, he checked to see if his wife was up yet. She was still in bed — not breathing. The paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene. While a cause of death was not declared by the coroner’s office at the time, Oswalt said he believed the Xanax was to blame. In February, Oswalt revealed McNamara’s cause of death: “We learned today the combination of drugs in Michelle’s system, along with a condition we were unaware of, proved lethal,” he wrote in a statement to the Associated Press. Oswalt also explained that the couple had “no idea” McNamara had a heart condition that caused blockages in her arteries. According to Oswalt, the blockages, combined with her taking the medications Adderall, Xanax and the pain medication fentanyl, were responsible for her passing. Learning to cope On the one-year anniversary of her death, Oswalt remembered his late wife in a lengthy Facebook post — expressing a combination of grief, gratitude and perseverance. “It’s awful, but it’s not fatal,” Oswalt began. “That’s the dispatch I’m sending back from exactly one year into this shadow-slog.” He went on to say that he had removed his wedding ring and placed it in a box of keepsakes. “I couldn’t bear removing it since April 21st, 2016,” he wrote. “But now it felt obscene. That anonymous poem about the man mourning his dead lover for a year and a day, for craving a kiss from her ‘clay cold lips.’ I was inviting more darkness. Removing the ring was removing the last symbol of denial of who I was now, and what my life is, and what my responsibilities are. But it’s not fatal.” “I’m not making today any sort of dark ritual or painful memorial. No graveside visit. Those are for when Alice and I have something exciting to say to her. No candle lighting or balloon launching. We think of her every day — she’s still so tied into our worlds, in a way that’s encouraging, and energizing. So why light a flame that will die, or release a balloon that will disappear? Michelle’s gone but she wasn’t the kind of soul that disappears or dies out.” A new beginning In June, Oswalt stepped out for the premiere of Baby Driver with a very special guest by his side: his girlfriend Salenger. The couple held hands while posing for the cameras. Patton Oswalt and Meredith Salenger at the Baby Driver premiere Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic Salenger — a 47-year-old Harvard-educated actress with credits in TV and films including Lake Placid and Hollywood Heights, plus voiceover work for cartoons like Star Wars: The Clone Wars — also tweeted an adorable selfie with Oswalt in the theater. At the time, a source close to the couple told PEOPLE the relationship was “new” and the two were “very happy.” “They met through mutual friend Martha Plimpton,” said the insider. “They started chatting as friends and it blossomed from there.” A month later, PEOPLE exclusively confirmed that Oswalt and Salenger were engaged. “It’s official. I’m the luckiest happiest girl in the universe!!!!” she gushed on Instagram. “I love you @pattonoswalt I love you Alice Oswalt! #YesYesYes.” “I put the ring in a marzipan [Star Wars] Slave I replica and said, ‘Will you be my Padawan of Love?’ ” Oswalt quipped of the proposal on Twitter. “She maced me but said yes later.” I put the ring in a marzipan Slave I replica and said, "Will you be my Padawan of Love?" She maced me but said yes later. https://t.co/9gIr2yxfP5 — Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) July 6, 2017 Hitting back at critics After facing harsh blowback on social media for getting engaged 15 months after McNamara’s death, Oswalt and Salenger defended their decision on social media. On Facebook, Oswalt referred to his critics as “bitter grub worms,” thanking blogger Erica Roman for writing an article in their defense. “This is so amazing. And SO well-written,” he wrote. “I expected some bitter grub worms to weigh in (anonymously, always always always) with their much-needed opinions when I announced my engagement last week. And I decided to ignore them. But yeah, I felt this rage. And Erica articulated it better than I could have ever hoped. So there you go. Thank you, Erica.” Salenger also posted Roman’s article alongside her own defense of the couple’s engagement. “Everyone has been so lovely to us… ALL of Michelle’s siblings and friends and family… a few trolls have strong opinions,” she wrote. “But I think for Patton, having met and found love after over a year of intense therapy and openly grieving and dealing with his pain…I am grateful to be the one who helps him climb out of the depths of grief and find some joy again. And most of all… Alice is happy and feels loved.” “I have waited 47 years to find true love,” she continued. “Creating our family unit while honoring the brilliant gift Michelle has given me will be my life’s goal and happiness. I am deeply in love with both Patton and Alice and very much looking forward to a beautiful happy life having adventures together.” WATCH: Patton Oswalt Opens Up About Emotional Wedding to Meredith Salenger: ‘This Is a New Level of Joy and a New Life’ Staying strong for Alice Since McNamara’s death, Oswalt’s top priority is taking care of their daughter. “If I hadn’t had a daughter and my wife died, we wouldn’t be talking right now. I’m not saying I would be dead, but I would be a shut-in alcoholic,” he told Playboy in August. “Everything would have shut down. I wouldn’t have been about anything. But with Alice, it was and is ‘You got to get up.’ ” “There were times when I had to get her to play a game on her iPad or start a little project, and then I would say, ‘Oh, let me go upstairs,’ and I would go put my head in a pillow and just scream and cry because I didn’t want to break down in front of her,” he confessed. Still, the father-daughter duo opted to stay in their family home, admitting that a move “would have been more painful,” and have felt like they were “running away from Michelle’s ghost.” And at the end of the day, Oswalt said he chose to move forward with his life for the sake of his daughter. “I’m moving forward — clumsily, stupidly, blindly — because of the kind of person Alice is,” he wrote in a December 2016 first-person essay for GQ. “She’s got so much of Michelle in her. And Michelle was living her life moving forward. And she took me forward with her. Just like I know Alice will. So I’m going to keep moving forward. So I can be there with you if you need me, Alice. Because I’ll need you. “I can do it,” he added. “I can do it. I can do it. Because of you, Alice.”

– When Patton Oswalt tweeted on Sunday, "What'd you guys do yesterday?," it was less a call to conversation and more to reveal what he did on Saturday: marry Meredith Salenger, per Page Six. His tweet showed him holding hands with his 8-year-old daughter, Alice, who in turn was holding hands with Salenger on the happy occasion. While Page Six didn't have much in the way of wedding details, which Us says took place at the Jim Henson Company lot in Los Angeles, Oswalt, 48, and Salenger, 47, offered some insight online, including an Oswalt tweet showing Aimee Mann and Michael Penn performing for their first dance. Oswalt also showed off a photo of his smiling daughter, with the caption "World Champion Flower Girl." Salenger gushed about becoming stepmom to Alice ("This little girl is MINE!!!!!!!!!," she tweeted), posted a pic of herself and Alice, and shared a poignant photo of Oswalt hugging his daughter, with the simple caption: "My family." People documents all that's happened since Oswalt's first wife, Michelle McNamara, died in her sleep in April 2016, including his grieving process, his first public appearance with Salenger in June, and their journey toward marriage, with Alice at the top of their priority list. "Creating our family unit while honoring the brilliant gift Michelle has given me will be my life's goal and happiness," Salenger wrote in July. "I am deeply in love with both Patton and Alice and very much looking forward to a beautiful happy life having adventures together."

Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" dominated the nominations for the EE British Academy Film Awards early Wednesday. The historical American epic earned 10 nominations including best film, best actor for Daniel Day-Lewis, best supporting actor for Tommy Lee Jones and best supporting actress for Sally Field. Tom Hooper's musical "Les Miserables" and Ang Lee's adventure "Life of Pi" received nine nominations each from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, while the James Bond thriller "Skyfall" earned eight nominations. Besides "Lincoln," best film nominees are "Argo," "Les Miserables," "Life of Pi" and "Zero Dark Thirty." Joining Day-Lewis in the lead actor category is Ben Affleck for "Argo," Bradley Cooper for "Silver Linings Playbook," Hugh Jackman for "Les Miserables" and Joaquin Phoenix for "The Master." COMPLETE LIST: British Academy of Film and Television Awards nominees Lead actress nominees for the BAFTA are Emmanuelle Riva for "Amour," Helen Mirren for "Hitchcock," Jennifer Lawrence for "Silver Linings Playbook," Jessica Chastain for "Zero Dark Thirty" and Marion Cotillard for "Rust and Bone." ||||| Once again, the Twilight Saga has been deemed so much swill by Razzie voters. Breaking Dawn Part 2 leads the field heading into the 33rd Golden Raspberry Awards with a whopping 11 nominations, meaning it's up for dishonor in every category, including Worst Picture, Actor, Actress, Ensemble and Director. They even doubled up on Kristen Stewart, making her Worst Actress nod a twofer, for Breaking Dawn Part 2 and Snow White and the Huntsman. (Think she'll show up like Halle Berry and Sandra Bullock have good-naturedly done in the past?) ||||| Kelsey Grammer will host the 65th annual event Feb. 2. Ben Affleck scored the first DGA Award nomination of his career as the Directors Guild of America announced its motion picture nominees Tuesday. Affleck, who was welcomed into the club for his work on Argo, was nominated along with four past winners of the DGA Award: Kathryn Bigelow, nominated for Zero Dark Thirty; Tom Hooper, Les Miserables; Ang Lee, Life of Pi; and Steven Spielberg, Lincoln. Among the directors who failed to make the cut are Django Unchained's Quentin Tarantino, Silver Linings Playbook's David O. Russell, The Master's Paul Thomas Anderson -- all previous DGA Award nominees -- and Moonrise Kingdom's Wes Anderson. Bigelow, receiving her second nomination, won the award for 2009's The Hurt Locker. Hooper is also a two-time feature nominee, having won the award for 2010's The King's Speech. Lee had been nominated three times previously and won for 2005's Brokeback Mountain and 2000's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Spielberg's nomination was the 11th of his career; he won for 1998's Saving Private Ryan, 1993's Schindler's List and 1985's The Color Purple. The 65th annual DGA Awards will be held Feb. 2 in the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland. Kelsey Grammer will host the event for a second consecutive year. The DGA Award usually points the way toward the winner of the Academy Award for best director; only six times since the DGA Awards began in 1948 has the winner has not gone on to score the Oscar. The most recent was Rob Marshall for 2002's Chicago, after which Roman Polanski won the Academy Award for The Pianist. PHOTOS: THR's Director Roundtable: 6 Hollywood Auteurs on Tantrums, Dealing With Actors and When They'll Quit The guild will announce its television and commercial nominees Wednesday. Here are the feature nominees and their respective directorial teams: BEN AFFLECK Argo (Warner Bros. Pictures) Mr. Affleck’s Directorial Team: · Unit production manager: Amy Herman · First assistant director: David Webb · Second assistant director: Ian Calip · Second Second assistant directors: Clark Credle, Gavin Kleintop · First assistant director (Turkey Unit): Belkis Turan KATHRYN BIGELOW Zero Dark Thirty (Columbia Pictures) Ms. Bigelow’s Directorial Team: · Unit production manager: Colin Wilson · First assistant director: David A. Ticotin · Second assistant directors: Ben Lanning, Sarah Hood · First assistant director (Jordan Unit): Scott Robertson · Second assistant directors (Jordan Unit): Jonas Spaccarotelli, Yanal Kassay · Second second assistant director (Jordan Unit): Tarek Afifi · Unit production manager (India Unit): Rajeev Mehra TOM HOOPER Les Miserables (Universal Pictures) Mr. Hooper’s Directorial Team: · Unit production manager: Patrick Schweitzer · First assistant director: Ben Howarth · Second assistant director: Harriet Worth · Second second assistant director: Dan Channing Williams ANG LEE Life of Pi (20th Century Fox) Mr. Lee’s Directorial Team: · Unit production manager: Michael J. Malone · Unit production manager (Taiwan): Leo Chen · First assistant directors: William M. Connor, Cliff Lanning · Second assistant directors: Robert Burgess, Ben Lanning · Unit production manager (India Unit): Sanjay Kumar · First assistant director (India Unit): Nitya Mehra · Unit production manager: Susan McNamara · First assistant director: Adam Somner · Second assistant director: Ian Stone · Second second assistant directors: Eric Lasko, Trevor Tavares STEVEN SPIELBERG Lincoln (DreamWorks Pictures/Twentieth Century Fox) Mr. Spielberg’s Directorial Team: · Unit production manager: Susan McNamara · First assistant director: Adam Somner · Second assistant director: Ian Stone · Second second assistant directors: Eric Lasko, Trevor Tavares

– A nice bit of schadenfreude for Twilight haters: Breaking Dawn Part 2, the merciful final installment in the vampire saga, leads this year's nominations for the Golden Raspberry Awards (aka Razzies), which honor the year's worst films. It managed to grab a nomination in each of the 10 categories, plus an 11th nomination because it was nominated twice in the Worst Screen Couple category, E! reports. Lead actress Kristen Stewart scored a second Worst Actress nomination too, for Snow White and the Huntsman. Other much-dishonored films: Adam Sandler's That's My Boy, with nine nominations, and Rihanna's Battleship, with seven. Awards are handed out the day before the Oscars, Feb. 23. On a more serious note, BAFTA nominations also came out today, and Steven Spielberg's Lincoln dominated that field with 10 nominations, the Los Angeles Times reports. Tom Hooper's Les Miserables and Ang Lee's Life of Pi came in second with nine nominations each, followed by James Bond flick Skyfall with eight. All of the above except Skyfall were nominated for best film, along with Ben Affleck's Argo and Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty. Those five best film nominees also made up the five Director's Guild of America Award nominees that were announced yesterday, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The DGA Awards will be held Feb. 2; the BAFTAs are Feb. 10.

Enlarge Warner Bros. Pictures Existing in a demolished world, Eli (Denzel Washington) keeps to himself. When he's challenged, his machete does the talking for him. ABOUT THE MOVIE ABOUT THE MOVIE The Book of Eli * * out of four Stars: Denzel Washington , Mila Kunis, Gary Oldman , Jennifer Beals, Malcolm McDowell, Tom Waits Directors: Albert and Allen Hughes Distributor: Warner Bros. Rating: R for some brutal violence and language Running time: 1 hour, 57 minutes Opens Friday nationwide Post-apocalyptic desolation is spreading like a contagion. MEET THE DIRECTORS: Allen and Albert Hughes open up GETTING BIBLICAL: Hollywood gets religion TRAILER: Get a read on 'The Book of Eli' FAITH AND REASON BLOG: Is every scripture-inspired script worthwhile? A month ago we had The Road, and a month before that it was 2012. The latest end-of-the-world movie is The Book of Eli, which looks as if it borrowed some of the ravaged landscape, battered clapboard houses and marauding extras from the world inhabited by Viggo Mortensen in The Road. Computer-generated images of toppled skyscrapers, severed freeways, decaying cars and rotting skeletons look numbingly familiar. But while devastation, disaster and brutality reign in all three movies, the difference here is the strident religious message. Poetic psalms uttered amid stylized violence are disconcerting. Religion and bloodshed, though linked through much of history, make queasy entertainment partners. An attractively grizzled Denzel Washington plays the enigmatic Eli, a true believer with quasi-mystical fighting skills. He walks the barren roads, fending off desperate highwaymen, with a leather-bound King James Bible stowed carefully in his ragged knapsack. Having received what he believes is divine revelation, Eli is on a mission to a place he refers to as "west." He tries to avoid confrontation but puts up a hellacious fight if challenged. Only Eli and a few others remember how things were before the war that destroyed their world. Young people have not been taught to read. One of the few literates with potent memories is Carnegie (Gary Oldman in over-the-top villainous mode), a venal, self-styled dictator of a re-populated ghost town. When Carnegie learns that Eli has the book he's seeking, he's determined to wrest it away, for nefarious purposes. Carnegie tries to manipulate his adopted daughter, Solara (Mila Kunis), as he controls her mother, Claudia (Jennifer Beals). The feisty Solara sees in Eli a way out of her oppressive existence. But Kunis seems miscast. Vacuous and far too glam, she looks as if she dropped in from a Ray-Ban commercial. In an interview, Washington once recounted a pivotal story from his youth. A patron at his mother's hair salon known locally for being able to predict the future told him he would speak to millions, in the way of a preacher. Washington, who produced the film, seems to have taken the words of this neighborhood fortuneteller to heart. But his monosyllabic performance falls short of moving us. He keeps to himself, either passively listening to music on earphones or aggressively carving off the hand of someone who crossed him. "You lay that hand on me again and you will not get it back," he informs a hooligan before applying his magical machete. So much for turning the other cheek. Despite his admiration for Scripture, Eli is vicious. He also is selective about on whom he bestows kindness. He endangers an elderly couple (Michael Gambon and Frances de la Tour) and is unmoved when they are slain. He'll protect Solara, a pretty young girl, but let her abused mother fend for herself. A didactic and humorless Western, Eli is too laborious for an action film and too brutal to be an inspirational tale. With its handsomely moody look, it seems more like an extended music video. Mostly, Eli is hampered by drab performances and a ponderous story. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more ||||| "The Book of Eli" plays out like the film version of a great graphic novel that no one ever got around to writing. Its over-the-top violence is cartoonish at times, menacing at others - which is a good thing. And truly, if one must wander a barren, post-apocalyptic landscape with somebody, who better to wander with than Denzel Washington? Washington is Eli, a man who has been walking for the 30 years since war laid waste to the planet. Survivors have long since turned desperate; imagine a cross between the worlds of "The Road" and "Mad Max" and you'll have an idea. It has gotten so grim that when strangers show up in a town, the first thing they're asked to do is hold out their hands, to see if they're steady. It seems that too much cannibalism leaves you with the shakes. Along with the provisions Eli scrounges along the way, he carries, with great care, a book. To him, it's clearly more than that, though. It's a totem of sorts, and he guards it with his life. There's much to guard it against, of course. But your run-of-the-mill roving savage is nothing compared with Carnegie (Gary Oldman). He runs the town that Eli finds himself in, and he wants the book, badly. He has, in fact, searched the world for it for years, sending bands of marauders out to find it. Its contents, he's convinced, are all he lacks to take over what's left of the world. Eli, naturally, will have none of it. He hasn't guarded the book all this time to hand it over to a guy so obviously devious that he lacks only a handlebar mustache to twirl. So he leaves the town, albeit violently, with Solara (Mila Kunis) in tow; she's had enough of Carnegie's mistreatment of her and her mother, Claudia (Jennifer Beals). (Like some survivors of the war, Claudia was blinded; Carnegie isn't exactly the picture of compassion.) A chase ensues, turning "The Book of Eli" into a mash-up of road trip action-adventure fare and that old reliable, the buddy movie. The film is better when Eli is on his own, frankly; Kunis is a fine-enough actress, but this is Washington at his most tail-kicking, if occasionally comic-book, intense - brooding, silent until pushed too far. But Solara does give him someone to protect and, more importantly, someone to explain the book's contents and importance to (although most of the audience will have figured that out long before). "The Book of Eli" is directed by the Hughes brothers, from a script by Gary Whitta. They bring the right touch to it, for the most part, though things get heavy-handed toward the end, when the message of the film is laid on a bit thick. The fun here is in watching Washington, a sort of avenging angel, and Oldman, who has a ball with Carnegie's trumped-up accent and scheming. Throw in the stylized look of the ruined landscape and you have a most agreeable film. One note: There is a bit of a twist, not obvious (at least not to me), which I pass along solely to heighten your observation of the film's details. It's more fun that way. Reach Goodykoontz at [email protected]. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: goodyk. ||||| The clouds are gray, the scorched earth is gray, and the age-old nuclear ash falling from the sky is gray. If you look closely at Denzel Washington, as he saunters in slow motion through a bombed-out hotel lobby full of rotten-toothed ruffians, you can see that his hair and beard are flecked with gray as well. Is it just our imagination, or is the aridly desolate post-apocalyptic road movie showing its age? In the last 35 years or so, there have been an awful lot of them, going back to A Boy and His Dog (1976) and, of course, The Road Warrior (1982) — the greatest of all futuristic wasteland thrillers — and, most recently, The Road. I'm not sure if anyone was clamoring for another one of these films just now, but one thing is certain: We don't need The Book of Eli, a ponderous dystopian bummer that might be described as The Road Warrior without car chases, or The Road without humanity. What's left? A lot of wide-open barren desert space shot from music-video angles (think the Red Hot Chili Peppers' ''Give It Away''). The directors, Allen and Albert Hughes, do their best to make the landscape threatening by filling it with a token sprinkle of homicidal bikers and cannibals, plus Gary Oldman as an evil ringleader whose scariest aspect is his harshly photographed skin. Roving through it all is Washington's Eli, a monosyllabic lone gunslinger in a signature outfit of sunglasses, kaffiyeh, and knapsack packed with lethal blade. He's a mystical avenger who has been wandering through the wilderness for 30 years, toting a leather-bound King James Bible from which he plucks ominous quotes. He makes apocalyptic prophecy sound like a rerun. I'd be willing to forgive The Book of Eli its portentous sins if it had kick-ass action scenes, and every so often Eli does slice and dice the stuffing out of half a dozen hooligans at once, or he presides over a gun battle in which the bullets clatter and echo with full-metal zing. But those are just about the only scenes in the movie that have a pulse. At their best, the Hughes brothers have been brilliant directors: Their first film, the 1993 mind-of-a-gangbanger classic Menace II Society (made when they were just 20), established them as visceral and psychological prodigies, and the criminally underrated From Hell (2001) was a gothic-shock serial-killer mystery that featured Johnny Depp in one of his finest performances. (Had he been the mainstream superstar he is today back when the film was released, it might have been a sensation.) The Book of Eli is the first Hughes brothers movie that feels stripped of drama, imagination, sensibility. Some may find the film worth sitting through simply for its final ''Whoa!'' of a twist, but the Hughes brothers direct most of it as if they were glorified end-of-the-world set decorators. The Book of Eli is like a movie based on a graphic novel you don't want to read. D See all of this week's reviews ||||| 1. Nowhere Boy Sam Taylor-Wood's portrait of the young John Lennon (Aaron Johnston) is a touching coming-of-age tale. 2. My Father My Lord An astonishingly sure first feature from Israeli David Volach, set deep within an ultra-Orthodox family in Jerusalem. 3. Sherlock Holmes Robert Downey Jr is a kick-ass super sleuth and Jude Law a terrific Watson in Guy Ritchie's spectacular reboot of the Victorian detective series. 4. Avatar Avatar's $300 budget was money well spent. 5. Where the Wild Things Are Captures both the darkness and innocence of childhood — just don’t take the kids. Critics' Choice Andrew O'Hagan What a performance for Andy Serkis. His Ian Dury comes across as a profoundly human piece of work Henry Hitchings The cast's physical feats are so accomplished that one can lose sight of the risks they involve Bruce Dessau A lot of comedians have emerged to challenge Connolly for the mainstream stand-up crown, but the Big Yin is holding on like an ageing prizefighter Reader reviews Simon, LDN As a bafta member I have seen this film three times. And it is brilliant on many levels. Nicky, London Bring us a new show Cirque, we've seen this one before! Nihal, Watford As a long time hip hop fan, I have no hesitation in stating that Soweto Kinch is better than 90% of the 'full time' rappers

– The Book of Eli is almost certainly the best post-apocalypic Christian action movie you'll see this year, say critics, although many were put off by the preaching. The directors scored with the casting—Denzel Washington as a grizzled gunslinger protecting the world's last Bible—the fight scenes and the explosions, Derek Malcolm of the Evening Standard writes in a spoiler-laden review. But the message is overkill. "The result is like The Road rewritten by Sarah Palin for the greater good of Alaska and mankind." Bill Goodykoontz of the Arizona Republic was more tolerant, with the over-the-top violence putting him in mind of the film version of a never-written graphic novel. "If one must wander a barren, post-apocalyptic landscape with somebody," he asks, "who better to wander with than Denzel Washington?" Claudia Puig at USA Today agrees about Washington, but finds poetic psalms uttered amid stylized violence disconcerting. Religion and bloodshed." she writes, "make queasy entertainment partners." And Owen Glieberman of Entertainment Weekly thinks the post-apocalyptic road movie genre, now about 35 years old, is showing its age. Eli is a "ponderous dystopian bummer that might be described as The Road Warrior without car chases, or The Road without humanity," he writes.

The French government released its own version of the White House video on the Paris climate accord Friday, complete with what it views as corrections to the Trump administration’s stance on the deal. The day after President Trump announced he will withdraw the United States from the agreement, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs tweeted the White House’s video with responses to the Trump administration’s talking points penciled in. One of the claims in the White House video reads, “U.S. economy would lose 6.5 million industrial sector jobs, including 3.1 million manufacturing sector jobs by 2040.” The French foreign affairs version reads, “Many major U.S. companies from all sectors, such as Exxon Mobile, Schneider Electric or Microsoft, disagree." ADVERTISEMENT The French government’s version of the video also says the deal was “comprehensively negotiated” by former President, replacing the White House’s assertion that it was “badly negotiated.” French President Emmanuel Macron issued his own response to Trump’s decision Thursday. He offered his own version of Trump’s campaign slogan — "make American great again." We all share the same responsibility: make our planet great again. pic.twitter.com/IIWmLEtmxj — Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 1, 2017 “We will succeed because we are fully committed. Because wherever we live, whoever we are, we all share the same responsibility. Make our planet great again,” the newly elected French leader said. When Trump announced he would pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate deal, he said the deal was “unfair at the highest level to the United States.” ||||| French President Emmanuel Macron has offered a "second homeland" for US climate scientists after Donald Trump announced America would withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement. Mr Macron immediately joined international condemnation of The President's decision to abandon the pact for environmental action on Thursday and raised fears it could lead to "a world of migrations, of wars, of shortage - a dangerous world". In a live broadcast from the Élysée Palace, he also riffed on Mr Trump's pledge to "Make America Great Again" as he urged US climate scientists to travel to France and "make our planet great again". Join Indpendent Minds For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month Get the best of The Independent With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month Get the best of The Independent Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month The message echoes criticism from the leaders of France, Germany, and Italy - and EU and UN officials who branded the withdrawal "a major disappointment". "Tonight, I wish to tell the United States, France believes in you — the world believes in you," said Mr Macron. "I know that you are a great nation. I know your history — our common history. “To all scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, responsible citizens who were disappointed by the decision of the president of the United States, I want to say that they will find in France a second homeland. “I call on them: come and work here with us. To work together on concrete solutions for our climate, our environment. I can assure you, France will not give up the fight. “I call on you to remain confident. We will succeed, because we are fully committed, because wherever we live, whoever we are, we all share the same responsibility: Make Our Planet Great Again.” A total of 194 countries, including China and the EU, signed the Paris Climate accord and agreed to a series of pledges designed to limit global warming, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and provide funding for poor nations in late 2015. Mr Trump sought to renegotiate the terms to ease conditions on US businesses and workers, claiming the current deal could cost 2.7 million American jobs by 2025. When European leaders said the Paris accord couldn't be altered, The President decided to pull out and insisted he was keeping his campaign promise to stop international agreements that disadvantage the US. In his English-language speech from the presidential palace, unprecedented from a French president in an address at home, Mr Macron said: "I do respect this decision but I do think it is an actual mistake both for the US and for our planet." "If we do nothing our children will know a world of migrations, of wars, of shortage - a dangerous world," he added. "It's not a future we want for ourselves. It's not a future we want for our children." Shape Created with Sketch. Paris climate talks in pictures Show all 12 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Paris climate talks in pictures 1/12 A man is covered with a multi-coloured banner with the message, "Climate" as environmentalists attend a demonstration near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, during the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) that meets in Le Bourget, December 12, 2015 Reuters 2/12 French President Francois Hollande (C) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) applaud after a statement at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning. Getty 3/12 US Secretary of State John Kerry (C) speaks with China's Special Representative on Climate Change Xie Zhenhua (R) and officials at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning. Getty 4/12 Delegates and members of NGO's read and work on copies of 'The adoption of the Paris agreement' is pictured after the announcement of the final draft by French Foreign Affairs minister Laurent Fabius at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning Getty 5/12 UN climate chief Christiana Figueres (C) speaks with French President Francois Hollande (L), United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (2ndL) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) after a statement at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning Getty 6/12 A Swiss Dominican priest poses with activists dressed as polar bears as activists gather for a demonstration to form a giant red line at the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris. Getty 7/12 Activists hold up a giant banner reading 'Climate justice' by association 'ourpowercampaign' during a demonstration near the Arc de Triomphe at the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris. Getty 8/12 Representatives of indigenous peoples demonstrate in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters 9/12 Environmentalists demonstrate near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters 10/12 Environmentalists demonstrate near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters 11/12 Activists form a giant red line during a demonstration on the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris ALAIN JOCARD/AFP/Getty Images 12/12 The slogan "No Plan B" is projected on the Eiffel Tower as part of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) in Paris, France, December 11, 2015. Reuters 1/12 A man is covered with a multi-coloured banner with the message, "Climate" as environmentalists attend a demonstration near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, during the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) that meets in Le Bourget, December 12, 2015 Reuters 2/12 French President Francois Hollande (C) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) applaud after a statement at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning. Getty 3/12 US Secretary of State John Kerry (C) speaks with China's Special Representative on Climate Change Xie Zhenhua (R) and officials at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning. Getty 4/12 Delegates and members of NGO's read and work on copies of 'The adoption of the Paris agreement' is pictured after the announcement of the final draft by French Foreign Affairs minister Laurent Fabius at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning Getty 5/12 UN climate chief Christiana Figueres (C) speaks with French President Francois Hollande (L), United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (2ndL) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) after a statement at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning Getty 6/12 A Swiss Dominican priest poses with activists dressed as polar bears as activists gather for a demonstration to form a giant red line at the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris. Getty 7/12 Activists hold up a giant banner reading 'Climate justice' by association 'ourpowercampaign' during a demonstration near the Arc de Triomphe at the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris. Getty 8/12 Representatives of indigenous peoples demonstrate in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters 9/12 Environmentalists demonstrate near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters 10/12 Environmentalists demonstrate near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters 11/12 Activists form a giant red line during a demonstration on the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris ALAIN JOCARD/AFP/Getty Images 12/12 The slogan "No Plan B" is projected on the Eiffel Tower as part of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) in Paris, France, December 11, 2015. Reuters Earlier, France had released a rare joint statement with Italy and Germany that dismissed Mr Trump’s suggestion that the Paris accord could be altered. “We deem the momentum generated in Paris in December 2015 irreversible and we firmly believe that the Paris Agreement cannot be renegotiated since it is a vital instrument for our planet, societies and economies,” the leaders of the three countries said. The EU's top climate change official, Miguel Arias Canente, said in a statement that Mr Trump's decision to leave the Paris accord made it "a sad day for the global community," adding that the bloc "deeply regrets the unilateral decision." UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the US withdrawal "a major disappointment" and said it was "crucial that the US remains a leader on environmental issues," according to his spokesman. In November, Fiji's Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama will be in Germany to chair the UN's annual climate summit. He said Mr Trump's decision was a grave disappointment for places like his Pacific island nation and US coastal cities like New York and Miami that are vulnerable to climate change. He said he was deeply disappointed by Mr Trump's decision and did what he could to try to persuade Mr Trump to stick with the agreement as nations tackle "the greatest challenge our planet has ever faced". He said he was convinced the US will eventually rejoin. Before Mr Trump announced his decision Thursday afternoon, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told reporters during a visit to Berlin that fighting global warming was a "global consensus" and an "international responsibility." Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea also regretted the US move and reiterated their commitment to implement the agreement. Speaking in Tokyo the Japanese finance minister, Taro Aso, angrily suggested the decision showed America's chronic failure to commit. He compared Mr Trump's move to America's historic role in establishing the abortive League of Nations after the First World War. He described a pattern of the US helping set up initiatives before dropping out of them, adding: "I think that's just how they are." ||||| (CNN) France is taunting the US on the Paris Agreement -- again. This time, French officials remade a White House video by editing captions that explain why the Paris climate accord was a "bad deal" for the US. The video, posted on Twitter by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, is France's latest challenge of President Donald Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the United Nations-brokered deal, which seeks to limit global temperature rises by 2100 to 2 degrees Celsius above levels recorded before industrialization. We've seen the @WhiteHouse video about the #ParisAccord . We disagree -- so we've changed it. #MakeThePlanetGreatAgain . pic.twitter.com/8A92MBwe6c In the original 40-second US video , the first slide reads, "The Paris Accord is a bad deal for America." The new French version tweaks that line to read, "Leaving the Paris Accord is a bad deal for America and the world." The French video goes on to refute the main arguments in the US video using new slides with text edits. For example, the US version asserts that the climate deal "undermines US competitiveness and jobs." JUST WATCHED CEOs to Trump: You're wrong on climate change Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH CEOs to Trump: You're wrong on climate change 01:43 The French video adds: "Major US companies from all sectors such as Exxon Mobil, Schneider Electric or Microsoft, disagree." Where the White House video claims the United States set up a $3 billion UN "slush fund," the French video points out that the US financial commitment to the "green climate" fund is less, per capita, than that of many other countries, including Germany and France. Other edits include swapping "badly negotiated" for "comprehensively negotiated." Macron takes on Trump France's new President, Emmanuel Macron, has led the international charge against the US decision to become one of just three countries -- along with Syria and Nicaragua -- not to abide by the Paris accord. JUST WATCHED Macron to US: Make our planet great again Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Macron to US: Make our planet great again 01:01 He repeatedly has said the Paris deal will "make the planet great again," a play on Trump's campaign slogan. And Macron on Thursday released a video address to the American people asserting that Trump is an outlier against American greatness, despite his own political mantra. In their latest video, the French also point out a White House line that some US researchers say Trump twisted to support his own priorities. The White House video states that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology believes the impact of the Paris accord "would be negligible." The French video says the deal was "a step in the right direction." MIT agrees with France In fact, the President misinterpreted MIT's data, showing "a complete misunderstanding of the climate problem," said John Reilly, the co-director of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change and one of the study's authors. JUST WATCHED Trump pulls US from Paris accord (full speech) Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Trump pulls US from Paris accord (full speech) 27:43 Trump in announcing his decision Thursday to pull out of the deal said, "Even if the Paris Agreement were implemented in full with total compliance from all nations, it is estimated it would only produce a two-tenths-of-one-degree-Celsius reduction in global temperature by the year 2100." "The whole statement seemed to suggest a complete misunderstanding of the climate problem," Reilly said. "I think Paris was a very good deal for the United States, contrary to what they are claiming," Reilly told CNN. "This one small step with Paris is a necessary step," he added. "It is an incredibly important step. If we don't take the step, then we aren't prepared to take the next step." ||||| The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

– Since President Trump announced Thursday he was pulling the US out of the Paris climate agreement, France has been relentlessly dragging the White House. CNN reports the dragging now includes the French government tweeting a remixed version of a White House video on the agreement Friday. The new version of the video, created by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, pencils in corrections to the original. For example, the White House's video claims the agreement was a "bad deal for the US"; it was changed to say leaving the agreement is the bad deal. The edited video also points out that companies like Microsoft and Exxon Mobil think the Paris agreement is good for the US economy and that the deal was "comprehensively"—not "badly"—negotiated by former President Obama, according to the Hill. The video comes after new French President Emmanuel Macron tweaked Trump by pledging to "make the planet great again" and reasserting American greatness despite Trump's actions. In a live broadcast in English, Macron offered France as a "second homeland" for US climate scientists, as well as "all scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, responsible citizens," telling them, "Come here and work with us," the Independent reports. "I wish to tell the United States, France believes in you—the world believes in you," Macron added.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video DENVER -- Officers pursued a stolen tractor towing an attachment through central Denver Friday night. The chase is believed to have began near City Park and ended in Lower Downtown. The tractor was stolen from a Denver Water facility at 1600 West 12th Avenue in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. We are working with @DenverPolice regarding their investigation into the stolen tractor Friday night. Any additional questions regarding this investigation should be directed to them at this time. Thank you. — Denver Water (@DenverWater) July 21, 2018 Videos show a number of Denver Police Department vehicles pursuing the tractor, which could be seen driving on busy city streets and sidewalks. One clip shows the tractor crossing Park Avenue. The pursuit ended near 15th and Market Streets in LoDo. The Denver Police Department said two of its officers were taken to the hospital with injuries. By Saturday morning, both had been treated and released. One witness said the pursuit ended when a police cruiser hit the tractor head-on. The impact was strong enough to make the police vehicle's airbags deploy. The witness reported that immediately after, the officer who had been driving the wrecked cruiser used a Taser to subdue the tractor driver. Another witness reported the male suspect was apprehended and placed in an ambulance. "It could've definitely been a lot worse, for sure," he said. The second witness also described the actions of the officer who rammed their vehicle into the tractor, ending the pursuit. "Him doing that and going for it -- that takes a lot of dedication," he said. Police said officers did not fire their guns. Police have not released the suspect's identity as the investigation is ongoing. FOX31 and Channel 2 have reached out to the DPD for details regarding the circumstances of the chase. This story will be updated as authorities make more information available. For alerts on the latest breaking news, download our app for iPhone and Android. ||||| A local hospital is treating two police officers who sustained injuries on Friday night after a dramatic pursuit of a stolen tractor swerving through downtown Denver, officials reported. The tractor, which was pulling some kind of farm equipment, struck several cars and buildings as it caromed through streets, Denver police spokesman Tyrone Campbell said later at a press conference. More than a dozen police cars and a helicopter pursued the vehicle. Only when a police cruiser rammed it did the tractor stop.

– Imagine looking outside and seeing over a dozen cop cars chasing ... a tractor. That was the scene in Denver last night when a stolen tractor towing an attachment smashed into cars and buildings as it plowed through downtown, the Huffington Post reports. Addie Hooper, 20, was visiting from Texas with family when she looked out a restaurant window onto Market Street and saw a police SUV crash into the tractor: "We were just like, 'Woah, that's crazy!" Hooper tells the Denver Post. Police vehicles rushed the scene and officers jumped out with guns drawn. "We thought they were going to shoot him," she adds. Instead, officers Tased the driver and made sure he was carted off by ambulance. Two officers sustained non-life-threatening injuries, and no reports have emerged of injured pedestrians. "It could've definitely been a lot worse," a witness tells KDVR. No more details have emerged, but police say the slow-speed chase began around City Park and concluded downtown, where officers rammed the tractor to protect pedestrians. Among Twitter videos, this one seems to capture it best. (Read about the easiest suspect chase ever.)

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Gudrun Burwitz pictured with her father Himmler - who led the SS The daughter of top Nazi Heinrich Himmler was hired by West Germany's foreign intelligence agency (BND) in the 1960s, officials have confirmed. The revelation about Gudrun Burwitz was first reported in the German newspaper Bild following her death aged 88. Her father was in Hitler's inner circle and is viewed as the chief architect of the Holocaust. He killed himself in custody in 1945. Burwitz never disavowed Nazism and defended her father's reputation. She was a teenager when the war ended and was released in 1946 after testifying at the Nuremberg trials. German Tabloid Bild reported on her post-war involvement with the BND on Friday, following her death in Munich last month. Image copyright Shutterstock Image caption Gudrun Burwitz continued to attend neo-Nazi events throughout her life, and died in May The head of the spy agency's history department then corroborated the newspaper report about Burwitz's activities in West Germany, which reunited with communist East Germany in 1990 to form the present German state. "The BND confirms that Ms Burwitz was a member of the BND for a few years until 1963 under an assumed name," Bodo Hechelhammer said. "The timing of her departure coincided with the onset of a change in the understanding and the handling of employees who were involved with the Nazis." She worked as a secretary at BND headquarters in Pullach, near Munich, from 1961 to 1963. At that time the organisation was under the control of Reinhard Gehlen, a former Nazi military intelligence commander who left the BND in 1968. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Himmer (left) pictured inspecting SS Guards with Adolf Hitler Mr Hechelhammer said the organisation did not ordinarily discuss current and former employees but was making an exemption because Burwitz had died. German organisations such as the BND have grappled with how to address their own Nazi links in the post-war era. Burwitz remained prominent in far-right politics throughout her life. She was reported to be a prominent member of Stille Hilfe (Silent Help), a secretive group known to provide legal and financial support to former SS members. She was also known to attend other neo-Nazi events and rallies before her death. Heinrich Himmler was in Adolf Hitler's elite circle. He commanded the SS (Schutzstaffel) - the organisation which played a major role in murdering millions of Jews, Poles, Soviet prisoners-of-war, Roma and others categorised as "racially inferior" during the Holocaust. After being taken into British custody in 1945 he killed himself, evading trial for war crimes. ||||| Gudrun Burwitz, the true-believing daughter of Heinrich Himmler, the architect of the Holocaust and Nazi Germany’s highest-ranking official after Adolf Hitler, died May 24 in or near Munich. She was 88. Her death was first reported by the German newspaper Bild, which also confirmed that Mrs. Burwitz had worked for two years in West Germany’s foreign intelligence agency. The agency’s chief historian, Bodo Hechelhammer, told the newspaper that Mrs. Burwitz worked as a secretary under an assumed name in the early 1960s. The agency does not comment on current or past employees until they have died. Mrs. Burwitz, who was sometimes called a “Nazi princess” by supporters and detractors alike, remained unrepentant and loyal to her father to the end. Although she had visited a concentration camp, she denied the existence of the Holocaust and, in later years, helped provide money and comfort to former Nazis convicted or suspected of war crimes. At the time of her birth in 1929, her father was consolidating power as leader of the elite Nazi paramilitary corps known as the SS. Himmler also commanded the German secret police, the Gestapo, and established the Nazi network of prison and death camps throughout Europe. Millions of people — primarily Jews but also Roma (or Gypsies), homosexuals, disabled people and others — would perish in the Holocaust. The only person who outranked Himmler in the Nazi hierarchy was Hitler himself. Gudrun, who was Himmler’s oldest child and only legitimate daughter, was exceptionally devoted to her father. Himmler and his wife later adopted a son, and Himmer had two other children with his mistress. Throughout the 1930s and early 1940s, the bespectacled, undistinguished-looking Himmler enjoyed having Gudrun at his side, as a blond, blue-eyed symbol of Aryan youth. In a diary later seized by Allied authorities, she noted that she liked to see her reflection in her father’s polished boots. She attended Christmas parties with Hitler, who gave her dolls and chocolates. When she was 12, Gudrun accompanied her father to the Dachau concentration camp, which was the site of Nazi medical experiments and the execution of tens of thousands of people. Gudrun recalled the visit in her diary: “Today we went to the SS concentration camp at Dachau. We saw everything we could. We saw the gardening work. We saw the pear trees. We saw all the pictures painted by the prisoners. Marvelous. “And afterward we had a lot to eat. It was very nice.” As the Third Reich was collapsing in May 1945, 15-year-old Gudrun and her mother fled to northern Italy, where they were arrested by American troops. Himmler was captured, and, while in British custody, killed himself on May 23, 1945, by biting on a cyanide capsule he had concealed. 1 of 60 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Notable deaths in 2018: George H.W. Bush, Stan Lee, John McCain, Aretha Franklin and other famous faces we lost this year View Photos Remembering those who have died in 2018. Caption Remembering those who have died in 2018. Victoria Arocho/AP Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. Gudrun and her mother were held for four years in various detention facilities in Italy, France and Germany. She refused to believe that her father’s death was a suicide and maintained that he had been killed by his British captors. She was present at some of the war-crimes trials of her father’s associates in Nuremberg, Germany. “She did not weep, but went on hunger strikes,” Norbert and Stephan Lebert wrote in “My Father’s Keeper,” their 2002 book about the children of Nazi leaders. “She lost weight, fell sick, and stopped developing.” After their release, mother and daughter settled in the northern German town of Bielefeld, where Gudrun trained as a dressmaker and bookbinder. She found it hard to hold a steady job with her family history. In 1961, she joined the German intelligence service as a secretary under an assumed name at the agency’s headquarters near Munich. She was dismissed in 1963, when West German authorities were reviewing the presence of former Nazis in the government. In the late 1960s, she married Wulf-Dieter Burwitz, a writer who became an official in a right-wing political group, and settled in a Munich suburb. They had two children. Gudrun Margarete Elfriede Emma Anna Himmler was born Aug. 8, 1929, in Munich. Except for a brief interview in 1959, she is not known to have spoken in public about her father or her later life. She did, however, often wear a silver brooch given to her by her father, depicting the heads of four horses arranged in the shape of a swastika. She was also known to be active in a group called “Stille Hilfe,” or silent help, which was formed in the 1940s to help Nazi fugitives flee Germany, particularly to South America, and to support their families. The organization is “closely linked to a number of outlawed neo-Nazi movements and actively promotes revisionism — the notion that the Holocaust never happened and Jews caused their own downfall,” Andrea Roepke, a German authority on neo-Nazis, told Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper in 1998. Among followers of the group, Mrs. Burwitz was “a dazzling Nazi princess, a deity among these believers in the old times,” according to German author Oliver Schrom, who wrote a book about Stille Hilfe. Mrs. Burwitz attended underground reunions of Nazi SS officers, often held in Austria, possibly as recently as 2014. “She was surrounded all the time by dozens of high-ranking former SS men,” Roepke said, after attending one such gathering. “They were hanging on her every word . . . It was all rather menacing.” Mrs. Burwitz also provided support, through Stille Hilfe, to convicted Nazi war criminals, including Klaus Barbie, an SS officer dubbed the “Butcher of Lyon,” and Anton “Beautiful Tony” Malloth, who was convicted of killing prisoners at the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Malloth was sentenced to death in absentia by a court in the Czech Republic, but Mrs. Burwitz reportedly helped arrange for him to stay at a retirement facility outside Munich on land once owned by Nazi official Rudolf Hess. “I never talk about my work,” she said in 2015 when British journalist Allan Hall confronted her at her home. “I just do what I can when I can.” “Go away,” her husband said. “You are not welcome.” An earlier version of this story stated that Heinrich Himmler was captured by Russian forces on May 20, 1945. Historical accounts differ on how and when he was captured. The story also incorrectly implied that all victims of the Holocaust died in concentration camps.

– The daughter of the man seen as second only to Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany has died at age 88. Gudrun Burwitz, the oldest child of Heinrich Himmler, was famous in her own right, however. When she was a child, Himmler frequently brought her to public events "as a blond, blue-eyed symbol of Aryan youth," in the words of the Washington Post. In her later years, she was believed to have been a member of the group Stille Hilfe (Silent Help), which provides assistance to former SS members and their families. Gudrun, who was detained temporarily after the war and testified at the Nuremberg trials, never denounced her father or the Nazi regime, reports the BBC. With her death, the German newspaper Bild has uncovered a nugget that has caused a stir in Germany: For about two years in the 1960s, Gurdrun worked for what was then West Germany's spy agency. "The BND confirms that Ms Burwitz was a member of the BND for a few years until 1963 under an assumed name," says an official with the agency. She worked there while the agency was run by a former Nazi military intelligence commander. The BND still exists as the unified Germany's foreign intelligence agency, and Deutsche Welle notes that its use of former Nazis in Eastern Europe after the war remains controversial. One item in wide circulation in Gudrun's obituaries is a diary entry she wrote at the age of 12 after her father took her to the notorious Dachau concentration camp. "We saw everything we could," she wrote. "We saw the gardening work. We saw the pear trees. We saw all the pictures painted by the prisoners. Marvelous." (Himmler's own diaries were found a few years ago.)

Pope Francis wrapped-up his big day in New York City by rocking the Garden. The leader of the Roman Catholic church took over the home of the New York Knicks, Liberty and Rangers on Friday and transformed the sports shrine into a holy hall. “God is living in our cities,” Francis said in Spanish. The 24,000 worshippers packing Madison Square Garden did something that’s not usually done at Masses — they burst into applause. LIVE BLOG: THE DAILY NEWS FOLLOWS THE POPE IN NEW YORK “In big cities, beneath the roar of traffic, beneath the rapid pace of change, so many faces pass by unnoticed because they have no right to be there, no right to be part of the city," Francis continued. "They are the foreigners, their children who go without school, those deprived medical insurance, the homeless, the forgotten elderly.” Embrace them and “go out and show that God is in your midst,” Francis said. “Knowing that Jesus still walks our streets, that he is vitally a part of the lives of his people, that he is involved with us in a vast history of salvation, fills us with hope,” he said. And with those words, Francis hammered some of the same points he has been making ever since he began his pilgrimage to the U.S. on Tuesday. God, he said, “frees us from anonymity, from a life of emptiness and selfishness.” Thousands cheer as Pope Francis rides through Central Park. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Still flanked by the heavy security that has been with him every step of the way since he got to Gotham, Francis took the Popemobile on a procession down West Drive where he basked in the adoration. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News) Near the end of the Mass, thunderous applause echoed through the hall when Timothy Cardinal Dolan stood up and declared, “We pray for Francis our Pope, and now here you are.” Calling his Papa Francesco, Dolan said, “It is so dazzlingly evident this evening that the church is our family, and you Holy Father, thanks for visiting us, your family.” Then Dolan hugged the Pope and handed him a golden chalice while somene yelled "Viva Papa!" from the crowd. And when Francis stood up and gave a parting blessing, he did so in English. “Go in peace,” he said. “Please I ask you, don’t forget to pray for me.” It was the crowning end to a day that began with Francis urging the United Nations General Assembly to combat climate change, segued into a solemn visit to the National September Memorial & Museum, was followed by a trip to East Harlem to meet Catholic school children and a ride through Central Park where 80,000 people cheered him on. Back in 1979, one of Francis’ popular predecessors, Pope John Paul, got the rock star treatment at MSG when he attended a youth rally for 20,000 kids. Francis got the same kind of reception when he arrived at the Garden around 6 p.m. after taking a ride through Central Park where he was feted by 80,000 New Yorkers. MSG erupted in cheers as Francis did a quick ride-through on a white golf cart, waving and shaking as many hands as he could. At one point Francis blessed a baby that was brought out to him before he ducked out to change into his green vestments for a celebratory mass. “This is a once in a lifetime thing,” said Dennis Hogan of Staten Island, who had been waiting with his wife Judy since 11:30 a.m. when the line to get in was three blocks long. Hogan, a deacon at Our Lady Queen of Peace in the New Dorp section, was enlisted to help distribute Holy Communion. “We prepared for this for years, and when it happens it's a culmination of a dream,” he said. Asked if he had any pre-Mass jitters, Hogan smiled and said, “I'm strangely calm." They were lining-up to see Francis hours before he showed-up at MSG. The faithful waiting patiently outside began heading in at 2 p.m. when the doors opened and once inside there they were stuck. The heavy security that had been protecting Francis from the moment he arrived in New York City on Thursday did not allow anybody to leave. But nobody seemed to mind. Paul Kelaher, 61, who lives upstate in Clifton Park, called Francis a "unique guy" and said he had a more common touch than his predecessor Pope Benedict. Pope Francis presides over an interfaith service as he visits National September 11 Memorial and Museum Friday in New York City. (TONY GENTILE/REUTERS) Leaders of different faiths watch Francis speak at the multi-religious service. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Pope Francis, left, is escorted by Timothy Cardinal Dolan through the museum near the Ladder Company 3 truck. (Susan Watts/New York Daily News ) "I think he's more open-minded than other popes, in his own way more progressive," he said. "We went from a guy who was wearing Gucci to a guy in a Fiat." To pass the time, the faithful said the Rosary, both in English and Spanish, and they sang sacred songs. They gazed down on the altar, which was decked-out in the Vatican colors of white and gold. And they shopped at the concession stands where Pope-themed merchandise, including Swarovski crystal Rosary beads for $175, "Official Papal NYC 2015" baseball hats for $25, and commemorative Christmas ornaments for $30 were on sale. Then at 3:30 p.m., Francis’s warm-up act appeared — West Wing actor Martin Sheen — to start the pre-Mass program. “It is a joyful privilege for all of us in Madison Square Garden to welcome Pope Francis to New York City and into our hearts," he said. What followed was a show called “A Journey in Faith” that featured other performers like singers Kelli O’Hara, James “D-Train” Williams and Norm Lewis. MIRACLE ON FIFTH: POPE FRANCIS IS A 'BREATH OF FRESH AIR' Jennifer Hudson belted out "Hallelujah." Harry Connick Jr. did a jazzy version of "How Great Thou Art." Then the Broadway Inspirational Voices, a Grammy-nominated gospel choir, and the St. Charles Borromeo Choir, got the house rocking. Late Show host Stephen Colbert, who is a practicing Catholic, pre-taped a video message for Francis. "Let me say I'm deeply honored to be part of this historic mass,” he said. “It's a good day for New York, a good day for the world. Enjoy today’s Mass and please say a prayer for me." After Mass, Francis heads back to the residence of the Vatican’s rep to the United Nations on E. 72nd St. to rest up after a day during which he logged 54-miles around Manhattan in the popemobile — and his now famous Fiat 500L. But Francis won’t be able to sleep-in on Saturday. He’s got a plane to catch to Philadelphia in the morning. Earlier, Francis took a spin through Manhattan’s green jewel on Friday with 80,000 of his biggest fans — and let his hair down a bit during one of the fun parts of his first and only full day in the city. Still flanked by the heavy security that has been with him every step of the way since he got to Gotham, Francis took the popemobile on a procession down West Drive where he basked in the adoration. Soaking up the waning afternoon sunshine, Francis smiled broadly and blessed the cheering throng. In Washington, police carried babies over to the car for the Pope to bless. But police kept the crowd in the park on a tighter leash — possibly because Francis was already running late for the mass at MSG. Pope Francis places a white rose after praying for victims Friday at the September 11, 2001 memorial in New York. (TONY GENTILE/REUTERS) Timothy Cardinal Dolan, left, and the pontiff place flowers on the memorial. (SHANNON STAPLETON/REUTERS) The Pope arrived at the park after a grueling and emotional day that began with an address to the United Nations General Assembly and a prayer service at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. He got a pick-me-up in East Harlem when he got to meet the kids at Our Lady Queen of Angels School. Standing in the popemobile, the 78-year-old leader of the Catholic Church looked refreshed and energized by the show of devotion. And when the 15-minute ride-through was over, Francis hopped back into his now famous Fiat 500L for the ride down to MSG, where thousands awaited him — and where a rainbow was spotted. For Francis, the ride in the park was a chance to unwind after a wrenching visit to the 9/11 memorial where he made it his mission to mend hearts broken by the tragedy. With a handshake and a few quiet words, Francis consoled some of the still-inconsolable relatives of those who perished at the hands of terrorists. And he remembered the heroic cops and firefighters who were killed on that awful day. “We ask you in your goodness to give eternal light and peace to all who died here,” the Pope said in his halting English while standing near the underground flood wall that survived the 2001 terrorist attacks. “The heroic first-responders: our firefighters, police officers, emergency service workers, and Port Authority personnel, along with all the innocent men and women who were victims of this tragedy simply because their work or service brought them here on September 11, 2001.” For those who needed comfort the most, the very fact that Francis was there was a balm. Pope Francis prays for the victims at the September 11, 2001, memorial in New York. (TONY GENTILE/REUTERS) “It speaks volumes, the kind of person that he is, his heart, his soul, his desire to be with and among people who are experiencing some sort of tragedy, even 14 years later,” said Anthoula Katsimatides, whose brother John was killed on 9/11. "He's the Holy Father for a lot of us, who aren't even Roman Catholics,” said Debra Burlingame, whose brother Charles was a pilot on the plane that hit the Pentagon. “For me his coming here is acknowledging the best of humanity. We saw a lot terrible things on 911 and the world responded with great love and compassion. He's acknowledging that with us.” Among those Francis met with were widows Virginia Bauer, whose husband David perished in the North Tower, and Monica Iken-Murphy, whose husband Michael died in the South Tower. “Everyone has a story here,” said a weeping 43-year-old Loretta Sabella, whose firefighter brother Thomas Sabella was killed. “I hope he brings peace to this place, where many have been suffering for the last 13 or 14 years.” Francis also blessed wheelchair-bound NYPD Detective Terrance McGhee, a terror specialist who helped bring down Osama Bin Laden’s brother. A solemn-looking Francis arrived at 11:11 a.m. and waved to the excited crowd while legions of police officers and Secret Service agents kept watch. “Bless us!” some in the crowd yelled out. “If you don't bless us? Who will?!" Francis went over to the pool where the South Tower once stood, said a silent prayer and left behind a white rose. He took a moment to take in some of the inscribed names of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks in New York, at the Pentagon and in a lonely Pennsylvania field, as well as in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Then Francis shook hands with former mayor Michael Bloomberg and went over to speak to the grieving families. Joining them were Mayor de Blasio, Gov. Cuomo, Sen. Chuck Schumer, and former mayor Rudy Giuliani. Then the Pope descended into the museum for a service that included Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and other representatives of the world’s major religions. “I can tell you, Papa Francesco, we in New York are sinners," Timothy Cardinal Dolan said at the start of the service. "We have many flaws. We make many mistakes." But one of the city's strengths, Dolan said, is cultivating friendship and good will between people of different faiths. "Your prayer, your presence, and your words this morning inspire us,” he said. Going back to his native Spanish, Francis said at the service, “I feel many different emotions standing here at Ground Zero, where thousands of lives were taken in a senseless act of destruction.” “Here grief is palpable,” he said. Francis called the water flowing into the pools where the Twin Towers once stood “the silent cry of those who were victims of a mindset which knows only violence, hatred and revenge.” May God bring “peace to our violent world” and to “turn to your way of love” those who justify killing in the name of religion, Francis said. One of the most haunting moments of the service was when Cantor Ari Schwarz sang a Jewish prayer for the fallen, his soaring voice echoing through the museum. Before he left, the Pope viewed the famous 9/11 cross — two pieces of steel that fused together after the attacks — which became a focal point at Ground Zero. After lunch, the Pope headed uptown. Earlier, Francis took his campaign to combat global warming to the UN when he condemned the “misuse and destruction of the environment” and the “culture of waste.” It was a message Francis had hammered home earlier this week during his White House speech. “We human beings are part of the environment,” the Buenos Aires-born pontiff said in Spanish. “Any harm done to the environment, therefore, is harm to humanity. Mankind, he said, “is not authorized to abuse it, nor is he authorized to destroy it.” Without naming any names, Francis also accused the world’s powerful countries of a “selfish and boundless thirst” for money. Francis said this is not just destroying the planet, but it’s making paupers of the weak and disadvantaged. “We are dealing with real men and women who live and struggle and suffer,” he said. “To enable these real men and women to escape from extreme poverty, we must allow them to be dignified agents of their own destiny.” The poor, Francis said, have an inherent right to what he called the “three L’s” — lodging, labor and land. Pope Francis speaks at the United Nations General Assembly Friday in New York City. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images) Before Francis addressed the big shots, he met with about 400 janitors, cooks, electricians and secretaries and other workers who keep the UN going and thanked them. (MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS) The Pope also said women and girls have a “right to education.” That statement cheered 18-year-old Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani education activist who survived being shot by a Taliban triggerman — and who was in the hall for the papal address. A GUIDE TO GETTING AROUND MANHATTAN DURING THE POPE'S VISIT Francis was the fifth pope to address the UN. His pro-environment message has been lauded by President Obama and Democrats but has angered some Republicans — especially those with ties to the oil industry who continue to insist global warming is myth. The Pope also voiced support for another thing the GOP has fiercely objected to — the Iran nuclear agreement. Calling it “proof of the potential for political good will,” Francis said he hopes “it will bring forth the desired fruits with the cooperation of all the parties involved.” But Francis also gave social conservatives something to applaud by underscoring the Catholic church’s continued objection to gay marriage, abortion and birth control. Before Francis addressed the big shots, he met with some 400 janitors, cooks, electricians and secretaries and other workers who keep the UN going and thanked them for making “possible many of the diplomatic, cultural, economic and political initiatives.” “Be close to one another, respect one another,” he said. “Thank you for your spiritual guidance ... and love for humanity,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, left, told Pope Francis. (TONY GENTILE/REUTERS) Then he asked the workers to pray for him. Francis’ humble request prompted a round of cheers, and a broad grin creased the holy man’s face. The Vatican flag was flying above the UN when Francis arrived. He was greeted at the world body by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “Thank you for your spiritual guidance ... and love for humanity,” he said. Then the Pope signed the UN visitors’ book. The pontiff took a white card from his pocket and copied a lengthy message into the bound book. It was not immediately clear what he wrote. When Francis was done, the UN chief showed the pontiff a Norman Rockwell image on the wall called “The Golden Rule” which bears the famous words: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” That was a theme Francis sounded on Thursday during his historic address to a joint session of Congress in which he urged lawmakers to embrace the migrants heading north to the U.S. in search of a better life — and the refugees fleeing to Europe to escape the civil war in Syria. Francis had been invited to speak to the body by House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican and a Catholic. On Friday, he stunned his colleagues by announcing that he would give up both his leadership post and seat in Congress at the end of October. Francis, who had never set foot in New York City before, arrived in the city on Thursday to the strains of a Catholic high school band playing “New York, New York” and then headed into Manhattan for a prayer service at the newly refurbished St. Patrick’s Cathedral. “As soon as you walked through the door, you became a New Yorker,” Dolan told the Pope. ON A MOBILE DEVICE? WATCH THE FIRST VIDEO HERE. WATCH THE SECOND VIDEO HERE. With Thomas Tracy ||||| New York (AFP) - Pope Francis on Friday visited the 9/11 Memorial in New York, where he prayed and laid a white rose at one of the reflecting pools, before he is to lead a multi-faith service for peace. The memorial is dedicated to the nearly 3,000 people killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks and six victims of a first attack on the Twin Towers in 1993. The 78-year-old Argentine pontiff clasped his hands together and bowed his head in prayer at one of the two reflecting pools built in tribute to the worst terror attack on US soil. After he placed a white rose on the edge of the pool, on which the names of the victims of the 9/11 attacks are inscribed, the crowd broke into chants of "Francisco, Francisco." The pope spoke to a group of 9/11 families and responders, before he was to descend into the memorial. He will offer a prayer of remembrance with around 700 representatives of different faiths. The memorial occupies eight of the 16 acres on the World Trade Center site, where the Twin Towers were destroyed in the Al-Qaeda attacks that killed 2,753 people.

– At a reflecting pool at the 9/11 Memorial, Pope Francis prayed and laid a white rose before leading a multi-faith service for peace today. "Francisco, Francisco," the crowd chanted after he placed the rose on the pool's edge, according to AFP. The pontiff met with 9/11 families and responders, including two widows, before the service; he blessed a wheelchair-bound NYPD detective who helped catch Osama bin Laden's brother. The service included a prayer of remembrance: "We ask you in your goodness to give eternal light and peace to all who died here," he said, per the New York Daily News. Also at the service: Mayor Bill de Blasio, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Sen. Chuck Schumer, former mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, and representatives of other major religions.

The man suspected of killing a mother and her oldest daughter in order to kidnap two other young girls has been rushed to the top of the FBI's list of its Top Ten Most Wanted fugitives. Adam Mayes is believed to be armed and on the run from authorities with two of the girls he allegedly kidnapped on April 27. "We will hunt down Adam Mayes and rescue those two little girls," said FBI Special Agent Aaron Ford at a press conference today. Mayes, 35, and his wife, Teresa, 31, are both charged with first degree murder and especially aggravated kidnapping. Adam Mayes has also been charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, a federal crime which gave the FBI jurisdiction over the case. He takes the place on the FBI's infamous wanted list of Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger who was captured last year. "We keenly and firmly believe that Adam Mayes is out there somewhere with those two young children and it's going to be up to the public to help us bring these children back home and place him in custody where he needs to be," said Sheriff Tommy Wilhite of Union County, Miss., where Mayes lives. When asked if they had established a motive for the kidnapping, Ford said, "We have no indication now as to motive." Adam and Teresa Mayes are charged with killing JoAnn Bain and her 14-year-old daughter, Adrienne, in the Bain's Tennessee home in order to kidnap the two younger girls, according to affidavits filed in the murder charges. Teresa Mayes told police she witnessed Adam kill JoAnn Bain in the garage of the Bain's home, and then kill Adrienne Bain in the home itself. Adam and Teresa Mayes then took the dead bodies and two young girls to the Mayes' home in Mississippi, where Adam Mayes allegedly buried the two bodies, the documents state. "Teresa Mayes stated that Adam Mayes intended to take Alexandria Bain and Kyliyah Bain from their home in Hardeman County," the affidavits state. "Both murders were directly part of the kidnapping of Alexandria Bain and Kyliyah Bain." The bodies of mother and daughter were found ealier this week in the backyard of the home Mayes shares Teresa and his mother and father. Police believe the two youngest daughters are still in Mayes' custody and may be in extreme danger. The FBI has warned that Mayes may have changed his appearance and the appearances of the two girls since they were last seen. Police located a trailer that Mayes had rented from Union County, Miss., that contained items belonging to the two girls, the documents state. Police arrested Teresa Mayes and Mary Mayes, Adam's mother, on Tuesday in connection with the kidnapping. Mary Mayes is charged with conspiracy to commit especially aggravated kidnapping. Both Mary and Teresa Mayes confessed to police that Teresa helped transport the children and bodies from Mississippi and that they both witnessed Adam Mayes digging the holes in the Mayes' backyard, according to the arrest documents. Mayes was last seen on April 30, in surveillance video from a grocery market in Guntown, Miss., where he lives. Police have also found a trailer Mayes rented from Guntown that contained personal items belonging to the two young girls. Teresa Mayes' sister, Bobbi Booth, said her sister knew about the killings, but may have been too scared to call the police, according to the Associated Press. Authorities are offering a $71,000 reward for information leading to Adam Mayes' whereabouts and arrest, including $6,000 from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, $50,000 from the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service, and $15,000 from the Tennessee Governor's office. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is offering a $6,000 reward for information leading to Adam Mayes' whereabouts and arrest, and the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service are offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the location of the missing victims and the arrest of Mayes. ||||| Murder charges were filed Wednesday against the fugitive suspected of killing a Tennessee woman and her teenage daughter and fleeing with her two younger girls. This combination of two undated photos provided by the Hardeman County, Tenn. Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 shows Mary Francis Mayes, left, mother of Adam Mayes, and Teresa Mayes, Adam Mayes'... (Associated Press) Six-year-old Eli Downen, left, and 5-year-old Brayden Waller write notes to a kidnapped Tennessee mother and her three daughters before a prayer vigil on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 in Bolivar, Tenn. The mother,... (Associated Press) FILE - This combo image made of undated photos provided by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety shows Jo Ann Bain, left, and her 14-year-old daughter, Adrienne. The bodies of the two women were... (Associated Press) Mary Francis Mayes, mother of Adam Mayes, is seen in an undated photo provided by the Hardeman County, Tenn., Sheriff’s Office. Mary Mayes and Teresa Mayes, Adam Mayes' wife, were arrested and charged... (Associated Press) FBI agents get ready to resume their search for a man accused of abducting a Tennessee mother and her three daughters on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 in Guntown, Miss. Authorities on Tuesday said they were searching... (Associated Press) This undated photo provided by the Hardeman County (Miss.) Sheriff's Department shows Adam Mayes. Warrants for kidnapping are being issued for Mayes, who is considered "armed and extremely dangerous,"... (Associated Press) Teresa Mayes, wife of Adam Mayes, is seen in an undated photo provided by the Hardeman County, Tenn., Sheriff’s Office. Teresa Mayes and Mary Mayes, mother of Adam Mayes, were arrested and charged Tuesday,... (Associated Press) Two first-degree murder counts against 35-year-old Adam Mayes, who has been sought for more than a week, were announced Wednesday. His wife, Teresa Mayes, also was charged. An affidavit filed in Bolivar, Tenn., says Teresa Mayes of Guntown, Miss., told authorities she was there April 27 when Adam Mayes, killed Jo Ann Bain and her 14-year-old daughter, Adrienne, in a garage at their Whiteville, Tenn., home. Teresa Mayes told officials the motive was to kidnap Bain's two younger daughters, 12-year-old Alexandria and 8-year-old Kyliyah. A call seeking comment from Teresa Mayes' attorney wasn't immediately returned. The wife was charged a day earlier with especially aggravated kidnapping. She said she drove her husband, the girls and the two bodies from southwest Tennessee to Guntown and saw him dig a hole in the yard. The bodies of Jo Ann and Alexandria Bain were found buried at that property a week later. An intense manhunt continues for Adam Mayes and the two girls.

– The noose is tightening around Adam Mayes, the man believed to be on the run with two girls he is suspected of kidnapping last month. The FBI today pushed him to the top of its 10 Most Wanted list, reports ABC News, filling in the spot vacated when James "Whitey" Bulger was captured last year. The 35-year-old was also charged with first-degree murder today, as was his wife. The two are charged with killing Jo Ann Bain and her 14-year-old daughter, Adrienne. According to an affidavit, Teresa Mayes admitted to being present on April 27 when her husband killed the two in a garage at the Bain's Whiteville, Tenn., home. She says the motive was to kidnap Bain's younger daughters, 12-year-old Alexandria and 8-year-old Kyliyah, reports the AP. She confessed to driving her husband, the girls, and the two bodies from Whiteville to their home in Guntown, Miss., where she says she saw him dig a hole in the yard. Mayes was last spotted on April 30, on surveillance footage taken at a convenience store in Guntown. A $71,000 reward is being offered for info leading to his arrest.

Apple's officially off the hook. The US Department of Justice, with the help of a third party, has successfully accessed data on a phone used by a terrorist in December's attack in San Bernardino, California, the agency revealed in a court filing Monday. It said it no longer needs Apple's assistance in unlocking the iPhone 5C used by Syed Farook, and it has asked Riverside, California-based US Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym to vacate her order compelling Apple to assist in the case. The move Monday ends the legal battle between Apple and the FBI in this particular case, but it doesn't end the overarching battle about privacy and security. There are hundreds of other iPhones that law enforcement agencies around the country want unlocked, opening Apple to potential litigation across the US. And the government's success at accessing data on the iPhone also raises some concerns about the security of Apple's devices. "We sought an order compelling Apple to help unlock the phone to fulfill a solemn commitment to the victims of the San Bernardino shooting -- that we will not rest until we have fully pursued every investigative lead related to the vicious attack," Eileen M. Decker, US attorney for the Central District of California, said in a statement. "Although this step in the investigation is now complete, we will continue to explore every lead, and seek any appropriate legal process, to ensure our investigation collects all of the evidence related to this terrorist attack." After the filing, Apple reiterated its belief that the FBI's demand for a backdoor was "wrong and would set a dangerous precedent" and said that "this case should never have been brought." "Apple believes deeply that people in the United States and around the world deserve data protection, security and privacy," Apple said in a statement. "Sacrificing one for the other only puts people and countries at greater risk." Last week, the Justice Department asked a judge to call off last Tuesday's hearing over whether Apple should have to make software that lets the FBI unlock an iPhone 5C connected to the San Bernardino attack. In a surprise revelation the day before the hearing, the government said an unnamed outside party had given investigators a method that might provide access to the phone's data. It wanted time to explore the alternative way to get into the iPhone. Monday's move by the Justice Department ends the legal tussle between the tech titan and the government over a single iPhone, which has spun out into a broader debate with much more at stake. Technology companies and rights groups argue that strong encryption, which scrambles data so it can only be read by the right person, is needed to keep people safe and protect privacy. Law enforcement argues it can't fight crimes unless it has access to information on mobile devices. Now playing: Watch this: FBI drops Apple court case after unlocking terrorist's... Justice Department spokesman Marc Raimondi said Monday that "it remains a priority for the government to ensure that law enforcement can obtain crucial digital information to protect national security and public safety, either with cooperation from relevant parties, or through the court system when cooperation fails. We will continue to pursue all available options for this mission, including seeking the cooperation of manufacturers and relying upon the creativity of both the public and private sectors." Monday's news raises questions about the security of Apple's devices and how the Justice Department was able to break into the phone. The FBI hasn't said what company it's working with or what method it used to access the data. Cellebrite, a privately held Israeli company that specializes in transferring and extracting data from phones, has been named in some reports as the third party helping the FBI unlock the iPhone, but neither the FBI nor Cellebrite has confirmed the reports. A law enforcement official, speaking Monday with reporters on the condition of anonymity, declined to specify how the FBI got into the phone or what company helped it gain access. The official also declined to say whether the method works on other iPhones besides Farook's iPhone 5C, and it wouldn't say if the FBI would tell Apple about how it got into the phone. "We cannot comment on the possibility of future disclosures to Apple," the official said. But the official, when asked about how the case will impact the government's relationship with Apple going forward, said the FBI's "goal is always to work cooperatively with Apple." Still, if the FBI was able to hack into the iPhone 5C, it could mean other iPhones aren't as secure as believed. "Although this averts the possibility of a further court decision that imperils Apple, it makes it clear that there is a security flaw in that generation of the OS," said Joshua Rich, a partner at Chicago-based law firm McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff. "Apple now will have to try to pinpoint the flaw and fix it -- most likely, without much help from the US government in showing how it got in. So while this resolution averts a crisis, it means Apple has more work to do." Updated at 4 p.m. PT: Adds comments from law enforcement official. Updated at 6:40 p.m. PT: With Apple's statement. Apple Status report ||||| According to a new court filing, government prosecutors have formally asked a federal judge to cancel her prior order that would have compelled Apple to assist efforts to unlock a seized iPhone linked to the San Bernardino attacks in late 2015. Apple had publicly said in court that it would resist all efforts to force its compliance. Last week, however, the hearing between prosecutors and Apple was postponed less than 24 hours before it was set to take place, because the Department of Justice said it was evaluating a new method to access the phone's data. "The government has now successfully accessed the data stored on [terrorist Syed Rizwan] Farook’s iPhone and therefore no longer requires the assistance from Apple Inc.," prosecutors wrote in the Monday filing, which does not explain precisely what was done. The government has also not explained what, if any data was recovered. Thom Mrozek, a DOJ spokesman, did not respond to Ars' questions as to whether this technique would be disclosed to the court, to Apple, or even to the public. Apple did not immediately respond to Ars' request for comment. In a Monday evening call with reporters, a law enforcement official who was granted anonymity, said that the DOJ would not comment on the possibility of future disclosures to Apple, adding that it would also not explain what data was accessed, nor what non-government entity helped prosecutors. He also said that the FBI would continue to assist state and local law enforcement partners in lawfully accessing data held on mobile devices—suggesting that this technical and legal tactic could continue in the future. The DOJ had previously told the judge they needed this new version of iOS as a way to get into the seized iPhone 5C that was used by Farook. The iOS 9 phone was encrypted with a four-digit passcode, and investigators were afraid that if they enter the wrong passcode 10 times, it would auto-delete all the data on the phone. The initial order would have forced Apple to create a customized version of iOS that would disable this lockout feature, enabling the government to brute force passcodes until it could get in. The government relied on its interpretation of an obscure 18th-century law known as the All Writs Act, which allows courts to compel people and companies to do certain actions. Last month, Apple put forward its first formal legal arguments, based on a rejection of a 1977 Supreme Court decision United States v. New York Telephone, the prominent case that relies on the All Writs Act. There, authorities demanded that the utility implement a surveillance tool known as a pen register trap and trace device to investigate a gambling operation. "This shows that Apple was right all along that it was not necessary for the government to make it weaken its encryption to get what it needed pursuant to its warrant," Neil Richards, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, told Ars. "It’s an implicit concession by the government that its All Writs Act argument wasn’t a good one." Last Friday, Jonathan Zdziarski, a well-known iOS security and forensics expert, detailed a NAND mirroring attack, which demonstrates "how copying back disk content could allow for unlimited passcode attempts." ||||| Case 5:16-cm-00010-SP Document 209 Filed 03/28/16 Page 1 of 2 Page ID #:3188 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 EILEEN M. DECKER United States Attorney PATRICIA A. DONAHUE Assistant United States Attorney Chief, National Security Division TRACY L. WILKISON (California Bar No. 184948) Chief, Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section Assistant United States Attorney 1500 United States Courthouse 312 North Spring Street Los Angeles, California 90012 Telephone: (213) 894-2400 Facsimile: (213) 894-8601 Email: [email protected] Attorneys for Applicant UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 12 13 14 IN THE MATTER OF THE SEARCH OF AN APPLE IPHONE SEIZED DURING THE EXECUTION OF A SEARCH WARRANT ON A BLACK LEXUS IS300, CALIFORNIA LICENSE PLATE #5KGD203 ED No. CM 16-10 (SP) GOVERNMENT’S STATUS REPORT 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Applicant United States of America, by and through its counsel of record, the United States Attorney for the Central District of California, hereby files this status report called for by the Court’s order issued on March 21, 2016. (CR 199.) The government has now successfully accessed the data stored on Farook’s iPhone and therefore no longer requires the assistance from Apple Inc. mandated by Court’s Order Compelling Apple Inc. to Assist Agents in Search dated February 16, 2016. Case 5:16-cm-00010-SP Document 209 Filed 03/28/16 Page 2 of 2 Page ID #:3189 1 2 Accordingly, the government hereby requests that the Order Compelling Apple Inc. to Assist Agents in Search dated February 16, 2016 be vacated. 3 4 5 6 7 8 Dated: March 28, 2016 Respectfully submitted, EILEEN M. DECKER United States Attorney PATRICIA A. DONAHUE Assistant United States Attorney Chief, National Security Division 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 TRACY L. WILKISON Assistant United States Attorney Attorneys for Applicant UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ||||| The Department of Justice on Monday filed to withdraw a legal action compelling Apple's assistance in unlocking an iPhone linked to last year's San Bernardino shootings, saying it successfully gained access to, and extracted data from, the target device. The Justice Department has moved to vacate a California court order compelling Apple provide aid in an ongoing FBI investigation into the San Bernardino shootings. With a working exploit, law enforcement agents no longer require help from the iPhone maker and cannot —or need to —assert the All Writs Act to force Apple's assistance."The government has now successfully accessed the data stored on Farook's iPhone and therefore no longer requires the assistance from Apple Inc. mandated by Court's Order Compelling Apple Inc. to Assist Agents in Search dated February 16, 2016," the government said in a court filing.An unnamed government official informed USA Today of the Justice Department's plans on Monday , more than one week before federal prosecutors in the case are due to update the court on the efficacy of a third-party unlock method presented earlier this month . Court reporter Dan Levine of Reuters confirmed the decision on Twitter."It remains a priority for the government to ensure that law enforcement can obtain crucial digital information to protect national security and public safety, either with cooperation from relevant parties, or through the court system when cooperation fails," said DOJ spokesperson Melanie Newman in a statement to BuzzFeed News. "We will continue to pursue all available options for this mission, including seeking the cooperation of manufacturers and relying upon the creativity of both the public and private sectors."Apple in February was ordered by a federal magistrate judge to comply with FBI demands for assistance in unlocking an iPhone tied to San Bernardino terror suspect Syed Rizwan Farook. The company resisted, arguing that the creation of a software workaround weakens the security of millions of iOS devices around the world and had implications on the public's right to privacy.Due to its high-profile nature, the case spilled over into the public arena, sparking a contentious debate over the proper balance between civil rights and national security. The stakes were high for both sides, as an FBI win would set valuable precedent in asserting AWA as an effective evidence gathering tool, while Apple would gain protections against the same if it won.In a last minute twist just one day prior to an initial evidentiary hearing, federal prosecutors called for a delay after being presented a potential workaround from an outside party. It appears the method is effective, rendering all prior arguments moot.With a working iOS exploit in the wild, focus is bound to shift toward Apple. The company's assertions, which rested on the premise of a nigh unhackable operating system, have been upended by today's development. Not only does Apple need to recover from the inevitable PR debacle, but it must also work to secure its devices against an attack method that could be aired in public as court evidence.The government has not yet determined whether or not it will furnish details of the vulnerability to Apple engineers, and it is not clear that the company is entitled to such information.Aside from its prepared statements, the DOJ made no substantial comments on the matter during a media conference call, saying that releasing details on the exploit would be premature. Apple did not comment on today's news.Apple has issued a brief statement, as reported by BuzzFeed's John Paczkowski:"From the beginning, we objected to the FBI's demand that Apple build a backdoor into the iPhone because we believed it was wrong and would set a dangerous precedent. As a result of the government's dismissal, neither of these occurred. This case should never have been brought.We will continue to help law enforcement with their investigations, as we have done all along, and we will continue to increase the security of our products as the threats and attacks on our data become more frequent and more sophisticated.Apple believes deeply that people in the States and around the world deserve data protection, security and privacy. Sacrificing one for the other only puts people and countries at greater risk.This case raised issues which deserve a national conversation about our civil liberties, and our collective security and privacy. Apple remains committed to participating in that discussion."

– The FBI said Monday it successfully used a mysterious technique without Apple Inc.'s help to hack into the iPhone used by a gunman in a mass shooting in California, effectively ending a pitched court battle between the Obama administration and one of the world's leading technology companies. The government asked a federal judge to vacate a disputed order forcing Apple to help the FBI break into the iPhone, saying it was no longer necessary. The court filing in US District Court for the Central District of California provided no details about how the FBI did it or who showed it how (some reports say the Israeli company Cellebrite hacked the iPhone, CNET reports, and this blog apparently shows how to do it). Apple did not immediately comment on the development. The surprise development also punctured the temporary perception that Apple's security might have been good enough to keep consumers' personal information safe even from the US government—with the tremendous resources it can expend when it wants to uncover something. The FBI used the technique to access data on an iPhone used by gunman Syed Farook, who died with his wife in a gun battle with police after they killed 14 people in San Bernardino, Calif., in December. "This shows that Apple was right all along that it was not necessary for the government to make it weaken its encryption to get what it needed pursuant to its warrant," a law professor tells Ars Technica. But Apple now has to handle "the inevitable PR debacle" and consider that the hacking method "could be aired in public as court evidence," says Apple Insider.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White unveiled the regulator’s most sweeping plan yet for reining in high-frequency trading and monitoring dark pools and other secretive trading practices in the world’s largest equity market. Proprietary traders who use computers to buy and sell stocks in milliseconds would have to register with the SEC under recommendations made public yesterday by White in New York. Operators of dark pools, broker-owned venues that compete with exchanges and don’t publish bids and offers, would have to provide the regulator with their rules for matching buyers and sellers, White said. The SEC is aiming to bring more transparency to markets and address claims of unfair advantages held by traders who account for about half of U.S. stock executions and have been blamed for everything from the flash crash of May 2010 to market volatility during the European debt crisis. The agenda outlined yesterday could affect stock exchanges, brokerages and a class of proprietary traders who have so far escaped oversight. “The SEC should not roll back the technology clock or prohibit algorithmic trading, but we are assessing the extent to which specific elements of the computer-driven trading environment may be working against investors rather than for them,” White told the Sandler O’Neill & Partners Global Exchange and Brokerage Conference. New Scrutiny The SEC joins the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which has previously said it was considering registration for high-speed traders of futures. Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, asked regulators to provide information on risks posed by high-speed traders in advance of a hearing this month, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. Levin, a Michigan Democrat, sought responses from the SEC and CFTC to 13 questions on the effects, trends, concerns and regulatory reaction related to high-frequency trading, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Bloomberg News and confirmed by one of the people. “We have remained concerned with those issues as public interest in high frequency trading in the U.S. capital markets, and apparent trading abuses in connection with high-frequency trading, have increased,” according to the April 11 letter signed by Levin and Senator John McCain of Arizona, the panel’s top Republican. They requested responses by May 1. Law Enforcement High-frequency trading has also drawn scrutiny from law enforcement. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is examining whether traders abuse information to act ahead of orders by institutional investors. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is investigating whether U.S. stock exchanges and alternative venues give high-frequency traders improper advantages and has called on regulators to tighten oversight. Schneiderman, in a posting on his Twitter account, said he was “pleased to see” White’s comments “calling for market reforms to curb unfair advantages for HFT.” Automated trading has achieved wider renown since the publication of Michael Lewis’s book “Flash Boys” and an announcement by one of the biggest firms, Virtu Financial Inc., to go public. Virtu’s offering has since been postponed. High-frequency trading accounts for about 48 percent of all U.S. share volume, according to research firm Tabb Group. Such firms include Chopper Trading LLC, Jump Trading LLC and Tower Research Capital LLC, all of whom have been subpoenaed as part of Schneiderman’s probe, a person familiar with the matter said in April. Registration Requirements The new registration requirements would apply to a subset of trading firms that aren’t registered as broker-dealers with the SEC. Rick Ketchum, chief executive officer of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, said last month that such unregulated firms are often responsible for manipulative or disruptive trading seen by regulators. “There still are a lot of smaller players and by forcing these firms to register there is going to be increased oversight on what she terms destabilizing HFT,” said Sal Arnuk, co-founder of brokerage Themis Trading. The SEC is preparing a new rule that would require more oversight by traders of their algorithms, formulas that automate the buying and selling of shares, White said. While White said she was wary of setting speed limits on traders, the SEC will consider options for minimizing the speed advantage that some proprietary traders have. Minimizing Advantages “These could include frequent batch auctions or other mechanisms designed to minimize speed advantages,” she said. “They could also include affirmative or negative trading obligations for high-frequency trading firms that employ the fastest, most sophisticated trading tools.” Under the plan White outlined yesterday, stock exchanges also will come in for more scrutiny. The SEC will review the exchanges’ dozens of order types, which have been criticized for adding complexity with little public benefit by Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE) Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Sprecher, whose Atlanta-based company owns the New York Stock Exchange. The majority of order types are designed to deal with the exchanges’ maker-taker pricing, a system of fees and rebates intended to attract orders from brokers. The maker-taker system can “create conflicts of interest and raise serious questions about whether such conflicts can be effectively managed,” White said. SEC ‘Engaged’ Sprecher, who has said NYSE will reduce its order types by more than one dozen, said White’s speech shows the SEC is “engaged.” “Obviously, the Flash Boys book has galvanized more people into looking at the way these markets work,” Sprecher told the conference in a separate appearance. “The markets can be much simpler and much easier to understand and doing so will bring more confidence to the way they operate.” The SEC also will work with stock exchanges to address claims of unfairness in how order and price data reach the public. Traders buying direct feeds from exchanges get orders and prices faster than investors relying on the public ticker, a gap highlighted in Lewis’s book and criticized by New York-based trading-platform provider IEX Group Inc. CEO Brad Katsuyama. More Consensus “The commission has been aware of many of these issues for some time,” said Annette L. Nazareth, a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP and a former SEC commissioner. “Over the course of time, there comes to be more consensus around the fact that something needs to be done about these issues.” Operators of dark pools will also have to provide more information about their clients and how they process buy and sell orders, White said. KCG Holdings Inc. (KCG), based in Jersey City, New Jersey, and New York-based Liquidnet Holdings Inc., which both operate dark pools, have already said they will publicize their dark-pool rule filings. KCG Holdings was formed last year by the merger of two dominant high-frequency traders, Getco LLC and Knight Capital Group Inc. “Transparency has long been a hallmark of the U.S. securities markets, and I am concerned by the lack of it in these dark venues,” White said. The regulator also will wade into the debate over how brokers fill the orders of their institutional clients. The agency will develop a requirement that brokers tell investors where their stock trades go to be executed, White said. The initiative responds to complaints that routing decisions are sometimes made against a customer’s best interests. Preventing Failures The measures outlined yesterday include proposals that have been embraced by some large brokers and investors and can be advanced in the near term. White cited, for instance, a proposed rule known as Regulation SCI that will require exchanges and some dark pools to guard against technology outages and failures. The SEC staff is preparing a recommendation for a final version of the rule, White said. The SEC still envisions examining whether its own rules, including the package known as Regulation NMS, have driven excessive fragmentation and complexity, White said. The agency will create a new advisory committee of investors and others to help inform its initiatives and rule changes, she said. SEC Commissioners Luis A. Aguilar and Michael Piwowar both said yesterday that the agency must consider how much its prior rulemaking, including its National Market System rules, have driven unhealthy changes in market behavior. “We need to consider the extent to which the current regulatory regime, including Regulation NMS, has contributed to some of the problems we have seen and whether it should be revised and modified,” Aguilar said. To contact the reporter on this story: Dave Michaels in Washington at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Maura Reynolds at [email protected] Anthony Gnoffo, Gregory Mott ||||| The top U.S. stock-market regulator vowed to ratchet up oversight of computer-driven trading Thursday, setting a more aggressive tone for market regulation amid concerns that lightning-fast trading poses risks that could undermine market integrity and harm investors. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Jo White, in a wide-ranging speech before exchange executives, bank officials and high-speed traders, called for...

– The SEC is finally trying to rein in the robots. Chairman Mary Jo White today announced a massive initiative designed to tame high-frequency traders, the Wall Street Journal reports. These automated trades currently make up more than half of all trading volume, yet they've almost totally avoided direct regulatory oversight because the computers are trading on behalf of their owners, not clients. The rules White is proposing would change that, forcing high-frequency traders to register as broker dealers. White also said the SEC was working on rules to prevent the computers from engaging in strategies that put the market at risk of massive swings, like the infamous flash crash. The SEC also introduced plans to affect how human traders operate, Bloomberg adds—the agency is concerned that the stock exchanges have too many types of orders, adding complexity for no reason, and that some traders are using exchange-sold price feeds that are faster than the ones the general public relies on.

A chance discovery at a rock shelter in southern Australia has revealed a human settlement dating back 49,000 years. Archaeologist Giles Hamm was surveying the territory in Flinders Ranges with aboriginal elder Clifford Coulthard when his colleague needed a toilet break. "Nature called and Cliff walked up this creek bed into this gorge and found this amazing spring surrounded by rock art," Mr Hamm told ABC news. "A man getting out of the car to go to the toilet led to the discovery of one of the most important sites in Australian pre-history." Image: The finding is crucial in understanding human settlement in Australia. Pic Giles Hamm What sparked the archaeologists' interest was a rock shelter with a blackened roof because, Mr Hamm told ABC, "that's people lighting fires inside that rock shelter, that's human activity". Sophisticated tools and bone fragments from the largest ever marsupial were found at the site. Eventually some 4,300 objects and 200 bone fragments were recovered. Scientists working with Mr Hamm's team have determined the age of the site at 49,000 years. Aboriginal Australians are the oldest continued civilisation in the world, descending from the first people to leave Africa, according to a genetic study published by the University of Copenhagen in September. Image: Scientists determined the age of the site at 49,000 years. Pic Giles Hamm But the time of arrival of the first Australians is debated among researchers. The consensus view is they arrived 50,000 years ago. But Mr Hamm said their presence 49,000 years ago at a site in southern Australia suggested they must have reached northern parts far earlier. "If people did come 50,000 years ago, it doesn't give them much time to move so far south," Mr Hamm said. "There could have been colonisation much earlier than the accepted time frame of 50,000 years ago. It could be 55,000 maybe 60,000 years ago." Image: Flinders Ranges is 550km north of Adelaide. Pic Giles Hamm The site also contained evidence of human interaction with mega fauna, namely the Diprotodon optatum - a marsupial measuring 2m in height and weighing more than 2,500kg. Scientists have previously puzzled over how humans had interacted with them. But the presence of bones from juvenile animals in a cave on a cliff suggests they were hunted, said Gavin Prideaux, palaeontologist at Flinders University in South Australia. "Those animals weren't built to climb up a cliff into the settlement, the only way they could have got there was through human agency," he said. ||||| Excavation methods Hand excavation was undertaken within Warratyi rock shelter (Extended Data Fig. 1a–c), using two 2 × 1 m trenches (Extended Data Fig. 1b, c). The first exploratory trench (squares 4C and 4D) was located on the southern side of the shelter to provide a cross-section through potential living areas from east to west (taking in part of the back wall). The second trench (squares 2B and 2C) was positioned in the centre of the shelter floor. Square 2B was only excavated down to spit 6 (30 cm) until obstructed by a large roof fall block. Excavation was carried out using a 1-m grid system. This grid was further subdivided into 25 cm square units (quadrats: A–D Extended Data Fig. 1c) to enable greater recording precision. Excavation was undertaken using 5 cm spits, with a trowel and hand shovel and the excavated material was dry-sieved through (8, 5 and 2 mm) sieves. Stratigraphic features, such as charcoal lenses, ash or hearth-like lenses, were all drawn, photographed and noted during the excavation process. Detailed profile drawings were made on completion of the excavation. If possible, stone artefacts, bone and ochre were individually recorded and excavated from their in situ location and bagged separately, rather than being retrieved from the bulk sediment collected from individual spits. To reduce the potential for contamination of the excavated surfaces by loose material falling into the pit, the area surrounding each square (where possible) was covered with plastic sheeting and any loose spoil removed. Excavators were encouraged to wear soft shoes to reduce potential damage to the pit walls. Each spit was recorded using a standard excavation sheet, which included making notes of the individual features and conditions encountered within each square and quadrat. A geomorphologist (P.M.) was present during the excavation process to advise excavators on the variability of sedimentary units and the positions of potential depositional changes associated with strata boundaries. When these depositional changes were detected during the excavation, they were noted and new strata were excavated as separate entities within a spit. This process reduced the potential for the sediment of two different strata being mixed. Where a filled burrow (mostly attributable to rabbits) was encountered, the infilling sediment was removed as a discrete unit and bagged separately. These burrows were excavated in each square before the undisturbed enclosing sediments were excavated, thereby minimising potential contamination of the primary sediment by younger and/or mixed burrow infill material. All in situ finds larger than 2 cm (including bone) were plotted in plan view within each excavated quadrat (A–D) and their depth ascertained by levelling within each spit (Extended Data Fig. 1b, c). Some of these in situ finds were photographed, however, most were not as their importance at the time of the excavation was not known (for example, bone point and Diprotodon bone fragments). All sediment removed from each spit was weighed. All material remaining on the sieves was bagged for further analysis. Bulk soil samples were removed for sedimentary analyses. At a later stage, sediment residues were wet-sieved through a 1-mm mesh before sorting. All charcoal, artefacts, bone fragments and plant matter recovered from this process were bagged. The location of charcoal samples collected during the excavation was plotted on plans, their depth recorded and then bagged separately. A total of 1,070 stone artefacts were tested for refitting from square 2C in order to confirm the integrity of the apparently intact depositional laminae. These artefacts were assessed to see if they could be refitted together as parts of a former piece of stone artefact, on the assumption that their original separation was attributable to stone reduction activity and that they must have originated on a single surface in the shelter. All artefacts from square 2C that were greater than 10 mm in maximum dimension were assessed for refitting. Each refit set comprised artefacts that could be treated analytically as a single knapping episode30. As such, the distance between artefact elevations for each refitting set provides a proxy measure for the vertical displacement of cultural material through the deposit by human trampling and other post-depositional activty31. Refitting was attempted within a 1 × 1 m area, which represents only a sample of the occupied area and therefore is unlikely to capture an entire knapping event. In addition, artefacts will have undoubtedly been laterally dispersed as a result of repeated human and animal occupation; therefore we can predict that the overall percentage of refits (the ‘success rate’) will be low32. Optical dating of quartz grains Seven optical dating samples were collected from cleaned exposures of excavation square 2C using metal tubes, and wrapped in light-proof bags for transportation and storage. Bulk sediment samples were also collected from the surrounding few centimetres of each sample tube for β-dose rate determination and water content analysis. In the laboratory, quartz grains of 180–212 μm diameter were extracted from the un-illuminated centres of the metal tubes under safe light (dim red LED) conditions and prepared for burial dose estimation using standard procedures33, including etching by 48% hydrofluoric acid for 40 min to remove the α-irradiated external layers. Two semi-independent approaches were used to obtain optical age estimates for the Warratyi samples. Single-grain optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of quartz34, 35 was routinely applied to all samples, and was preferred over standard multiple-grain OSL dating because of its ability to identify insufficiently bleached grain populations36, 37, contaminant grains associated with post-depositional mixing38, and aberrant grains displaying inherently unsuitable luminescence properties39, 40. Single-grain TT-OSL dating of quartz41, 42, 43 was applied to the oldest sample in the sequence (ERS-7) as a means of cross-checking the reliability of the OSL-dating approach over dose ranges of 150–200 Gy. TT-OSL dating was applied to individual grains of quartz rather than multi-grain aliquots in this study, following the reliable application of this approach at other archaeological cave and rock shelter sites38, 44, 45. OSL and TT-OSL equivalent dose (D e ) measurements were made using experimental apparatus and quality assurance criteria described previously38, 44. Samples were irradiated with a Risø TL-DA-20 90Sr/90Y β source that had been calibrated to administer known doses to multi-grain aliquots and single-grain discs. For single-grain measurements, spatial variations in the β-dose rate across the disc plane were taken into account by undertaking hole-specific calibrations using γ-irradiated quartz. Quartz grains with a diameter of 180–212 μm were measured in standard single-grain aluminium discs drilled with an array of 300 × 300 μm holes. D e values were determined for individual grains of quartz using the single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) procedures34 shown in Supplementary Table 3. Between 900 and 1,300 individual quartz grains of each sample were measured for D e determination (Supplementary Table 4). Sensitivity-corrected dose–response curves were constructed using the first 0.17 s of each green-laser stimulation after subtracting a mean background count obtained from the last 0.25 s of the signal. A preheat of 260 °C for 10 s was used in the OSL SAR procedure before measuring the natural (L n ) and regenerative dose (L x ) signals, and a cut-heat of 160 °C was applied before undertaking the test-dose OSL measurements (T n and T x ) (Supplementary Table 3). These preheating conditions yielded an accurate measured-to-recovered dose ratio of 1.03 ± 0.03 and a relatively low overdispersion value of 12 ± 3% for a ~130 Gy dose-recovery test performed on individual grains of sample ERS-5 (Extended Data Fig. 6A). The single-grain TT-OSL SAR procedure (Supplementary Table 3) uses a TT-OSL test dose measurement rather than an OSL test-dose measurement (step 11) to correct for sensitivity change, following suitability assessments performed elsewhere40, 44, 45, 46. A dose-recovery test performed on 1,200 individual quartz grains of sample ERS-7 attests to the general suitability of this SAR procedure (Extended Data Fig 6A). The TT-OSL dose-recovery test was performed on a batch of unbleached grains owing to the relatively long periods of light exposure needed to bleach natural TT-OSL signals down to low residual levels47. A known (172 Gy) laboratory dose of similar magnitude to the expected D e was added on top of the natural signals for these grains. The recovered dose was then calculated by subtracting the weighted mean natural D e of sample ERS-7 (168 ± 12 Gy; determined on a separate batch of grains and summarized in Supplementary Table 5) from the weighted mean D e of these unbleached and dosed grains (350 ± 18 Gy). This approach yielded a net (that is, natural-subtracted) recovered-to-given ratio of 1.06 ± 0.09 for sample ESR-7. An overdispersion value of 12 ± 9% was calculated for the D e distribution of the unbleached and dosed batch of grains, which is consistent with that obtained for the single-grain OSL dose-recovery test. Individual D e estimates are presented with their 1 standard error ranges (Supplementary Table 5 and Extended Data Fig. 6C), which have been derived from three sources of uncertainty: (i) a random uncertainty term arising from photon-counting statistics for each OSL or TT-OSL measurement, calculated using equation 3 from ref. 48; (ii) an empirically determined instrument-reproducibility uncertainty of 2% for each single-grain measurement; and (iii) a dose–response curve fitting uncertainty determined using 1,000 iterations of the Monte Carlo method implemented in Analyst49. Environmental dose rates have been calculated using a combination of in situ field γ-ray spectrometry and high-resolution γ spectrometry of dried and homogenized bulk sediments collected directly from the OSL-sampling positions. Cosmic-ray dose-rate contributions were calculated using the equations in ref. 50 after taking into consideration site altitude, geomagnetic latitude, density, thickness and geometry of the sediment or bedrock overburden. A small, assumed internal (α plus β) dose rate of 0.03 ± 0.01 Gy per kyr has been included in the final dose-rate calculations, based on published 238U and 232Th measurements for etched quartz grains from a range of locations51, 52, 53, 54 and an α efficiency factor (a value) of 0.04 ± 0.01 (refs 55, 56, 57). Radionuclide concentrations and specific activities have been converted to dose rates using published conversion factors58, allowing for β-dose attenuation59, 60 where applicable. Radiocarbon (14C) dating of hearth charcoal and eggshell samples Seventeen eggshell fragments (15 Dromaius, 2 megapode) and two large charcoal fragments associated with hearth features were used to derive the final 14C chronology of SU1A to SU4. A range of other organic materials were initially submitted for 14C analysis but these were considered unreliable based on stratigraphic or methodological grounds, as detailed in Supplementary Information (radiocarbon dating). Samples were pretreated using acid–base–acid procedures and their 14C contents were measured using accelerator mass spectrometry at the Waikato Radiocarbon Laboratory and the ANSTO Radiocarbon Facility. Uncalibrated eggshell and charcoal 14C ages (Supplementary Table 7) are expressed in 14C years before present (14C yr bp, where bp is defined as 1950 ad) following standard reporting conventions61. Isotopic fractionation has been corrected for by using the measured δ13C value of each sample. The 14C age estimates have been calibrated with the internationally ratified southern hemisphere SHCal13 curve62, using OxCal v4.2.4 (ref. 63). The calibrated 14C age ranges (cal yr bp) are described as 95.4% probability ranges throughout. Bayesian age modelling Bayesian age modelling was used to integrate all stratigraphically reliable chronological information within a unified statistical framework and to derive combined age estimates for individual stratigraphic units. The Bayesian age model for Warratyi was constructed using OxCal v4.2.4 (ref. 63). A sequence-deposition model with nested phases of uniform prior duration and associated boundaries was used to derive a combined chronostratigraphic framework for the site, following the approach outlined previously64. The main depositional sequence incorporates the five stratigraphic units found at Warratyi (SU1A–SU4) in an ordered succession according to depth. Units have been represented as nested sequences within the broader depositional column as their overall stratigraphic ordering is sufficiently well preserved. Separate phases have been used to represent groupings of numerical ages within individual units. This approach was deemed necessary for SU2–SU4 because the 14C and optical dating samples were collected from multiple excavation squares that exhibited potentially irregular or spatially heterogeneous stratigraphic relationships. The exact relative ordering of dating samples from each unit could therefore not be directly constrained in a vertical profile. SU1A and SU1B are internally heterogeneous and exhibit signs of inter-horizon mixing, as borne out by the multiple dose components of optical dating samples ERS-1, ERS-2 and ERS-3 (see Supplementary Information: chronology). This has prevented us from making any assumptions about relative chronological ordering of dated horizons within these units, although the relative ordering of SU1A and SU1B remains sufficiently clear. Groupings within SU1A and SU1B were therefore also nested as separate phases rather than sub-sequences. Each stratigraphic unit has been represented by a single phase, with the exception of SU3. This unit is significantly thicker than the others at Warratyi and can be differentiated into two broad archaeo–palaeontological phases according to distinct changes in artefact content and bone abundance at a depth of approximately 60–65 cm (Fig. 2). Two separate phases were nested within the SU3 sequence to account for archaeological sub-structuring of the dated horizons. Boundaries were used to delineate the beginning and end of each stratigraphic unit. We have not, however, incorporated any prior depositional gaps in the sequence model as there is no direct evidence of unconformities at Warratyi. The entire site sequence has been constrained with a minimum age of 0 years before 1950 ad and a maximum age of 60 kyr before 1950 ad. The latter represents a conservative upper age estimate for this archaeological sequence and has been chosen to predate sufficiently the earliest existing evidence of human presence in Australia around ≤50 ka, as determined from an assessment of 26 early occupation sites across Sahul65. We note, however, that the Bayesian age model is largely insensitive to our choice of maximum age constraint given the range of likelihoods obtained on the lowest stratigraphic unit. The 14C data were input into the model as conventional ages (using the OxCal R_Date function) and were subsequently calibrated using the SHCal13 curve62 as part of the modelling procedure. Modelled posterior 14C age ranges are therefore presented in calendar years before 1950 ad (cal yr bp). To avoid introducing systematic errors in the posterior results, optical dating ages (calculated as kyr before sample collection in 2012 ad) were similarly converted to years before 1950 ad before their incorporation in the model. The final Bayesian age model for Warratyi was run using the general outlier function66, which is based on a Student’s t-test distribution with 5 degrees of freedom. Prior outlier probabilities of 5% were equally assigned to all dating samples to identify potentially significant statistical outliers. Likelihood estimates that yielded posterior outlier probabilities >5% were not excluded from the final model but were proportionally down-weighted in the iterative Monte Carlo runs, thereby producing an averaged chronological model66. Use-wear and residue analyses Use-wear studies were conducted using a hand-held polarizing Dino-Lite AM4815ZT microscope at magnifications of 30× to 230×. Additional high-power microscopic investigation using an Olympus BX51 at magnifications of 50× and 500× in brightfield and darkfield, were undertaken on seven artefacts. Within the overall study, six small samples of residue (approximately 10–20 μl) were extracted from margins or areas of interest on specific stone artefacts. Samples were extracted with pipettes using distilled water as the lifting medium and transferred to slides that had been pre-cleaned with ethanol. The Dino-lite was used to guide this process. Sample slides were dried under covers for 24 h and then stained with a 0.25% solution of picrosirius red using the protocols described previously67. A Leitz Dialux 22 microscope with polarizing capability was used to examine the stained slides. Residues were photographed in plane, part-polarized and cross-polarized light at a magnification of 400× using a Tucsen ISH 500 camera. Data availability All elements necessary to allow interpretation and replication of results, including full datasets and detailed experimental procedures are provided in the Supplementary Information. Fossils and archaeological material generated in this study will be deposited at the SA Museum and an Adnyamathanha Traditional Lands Association (ATLA)-keeping place within a 6–12-month time-frame and will be publicly accessible upon request with permission from ATLA and the corresponding author. ||||| Oldest known evidence of Aboriginal settlement in arid Australia found in Flinders Ranges rock shelter Updated The chance discovery of a rock shelter in the Flinders Ranges has unearthed one of the most important prehistoric sites in Australia. Key points: Dating of artefacts and fossils from Warratyi indicates human settlement between 49,000 and 46,000 years ago Timing shows people moved through central Australia and used key technologies such as stone axes and ochre much earlier than previously thought Archaeological evidence also shows humans lived alongside, and hunted megafauna The site, known as Warratyi, shows Aboriginal Australians settled the arid interior of the country around 49,000 years ago — some 10,000 years earlier than previously thought. The shelter, about 550 kilometres north of Adelaide, also contains the first reliably dated evidence of human interaction with megafauna. Artefacts excavated at the site also push back the earliest-known dates on the development of key bone and stone axe technologies and the use of ochre in Australia. Lead author Giles Hamm, a consultant archaeologist and doctoral student at La Trobe University, found the site with local Adnyamathanha elder Clifford Coulthard while surveying gorges in the northern Flinders Ranges. "Nature called and Cliff walked up this creek bed into this gorge and found this amazing spring surrounded by rock art," Mr Hamm said. "A man getting out of the car to go to the toilet led to the discovery of one of the most important sites in Australian pre-history." Mr Hamm said during a survey of the gorge they noticed a rock shelter with a blackened roof about 20 metres above the creek bed. "Immediately when we saw that we thought, 'Wow, that's people lighting fires inside that rock shelter, that's human activity'," he said. At the time they had no idea how significant the find was, Mr Hamm admitted, and thought maybe it would reach back about 5,000 years. Excavations reveal treasure trove of artefacts and bones Working with the Adnyamathanha people over the past nine years, Mr Hamm and colleagues recovered from the one-metre-deep excavations around 4,300 artefacts and 200 bone fragments from 16 mammals and one reptile. Importantly dating of the artefacts and fossil finds show humans occupied the site from 49,000 to 46,000 years ago. Mr Hamm said the significance of the site was the combination of its age and geographic location. The previous oldest-known site in the arid zone, located at Puritjarra in western Central Australia, is around 38,000 years old. "[This discovery] puts people moving south from the northern part of the continent to the southern interior a lot sooner than we thought," he said. However, Mr Hamm said it was likely the climate was more favourable when they arrived. "They got there before it became really arid," he said. "In one sense they were trapped in the Flinders Ranges because once the climate changed [due to the last glacial maximum] it was too risky to move out of these well-watered ranges that had these permanent springs." It was a view supported by palaeoanthropologist Michael Westaway at Griffith University, who was part of a recent genomic study that confirmed modern Aboriginal Australians are the descendants of the first people to inhabit Australia and showed they adapted genetically to survive in the desert. "Our DNA paper suggested the arid centre at 50,000 years ago was not really a barrier to the movement of people, and this seems to be what Giles is suggesting — people were able to migrate south quite quickly," Dr Westaway said. Among the other significant artefact finds at the site was the earliest-known use of ochre in Australia and South-East Asia around 49,000-46,000 years ago. Mr Hamm said they had pushed back the dates on the development of technologies such as bone needles (40,000-38,000 years ago), wood-handled stone tools (at least 24,000 years ago) and gypsum use (40,000-33,000 years ago). The site also provided reliably dated evidence of hafted axe technology about 38,000 years ago. Evidence dates cohabitation with megafauna Co-author Professor Gavin Prideaux pointed to the discovery of bones from the extinct giant wombat-like Diprotodon optatum and eggs from an ancient giant bird as important evidence of interaction with ancient humans which would have an impact on the debate over the extinction of megafauna. Professor Prideaux, from Flinders University's School of Biological Sciences, said the only previous site in Australia where megafauna remains and human artefacts had been found together was Cuddie Springs in NSW, which had become the subject of controversy over the accuracy of dating. "One good thing about this study ... is there's no doubt there are megafauna remains in the form of Diprotodon and a giant bird in that rock shelter in a well-dated, well-stratified context sometime between 45,000 and 50,000 years ago," Professor Prideaux said. "The only way those bones and shells got there [because of the steep incline up to the rock shelter] is because people brought them there [to eat] ... in terms of megafauna that's the really significant finding." Professor Prideaux said the discovery was an important milestone in the debate over whether humans or climate change drove the extinction of megafauna. "[The find] undermines one of the supposed pillars of support for climate change, not humans, causing the extinctions because [the Warrayti site shows] humans lived alongside these animals and hunted them," he said. Professor Prideaux said the paper, published yesterday in Nature, "smashed several paradigms about Indigenous Australians". "People ... were set up in arid southern Australia by about 50,000 years ago and they had all these amazing technologies much earlier than what we've thought." Dr Westaway supported this view. "There is a Eurocentric view that material culture in Australia is quite simplistic and backward, but this helps rewrite that story," he said. Elders told stories of shelters Mr Coulthard, of the Adnyamathanha Traditional Lands Association, said he had worked on the property where Warratyi was located when he was a teenager. The elders he had worked with had told him their people had lived in the area and had pointed out a lot of the shelters. He had forgotten the information until he teamed up with Mr Hamm and believed "the spirits showed me the road" to the site. He said the Adnyamathanha people were proud and happy about the discovery and interested to know how it would be received. Topics: science-and-technology, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, archaeology, sa First posted ||||| Humans arrived in the arid interior of Australia some 10,000 years earlier than we thought, archaeologists suggest, with the discovery of ancient artefacts in a South Australian cave that have been dated to as far back as 49,000 years ago. That means once humans first set foot on the Australian coastline, it took a mere 1,000 years for them to expand out into its dry interior - further evidence of the ingenuity of what now stands as the oldest continuous civilisation on Earth. The site, which is a newly discovered cave in the Flinders Ranges, about 550 km north of Adelaide, is known as the Warratyi rock-shelter. Archaeologist Giles Hamm from La Trobe University in Melbourne led the excavations at the cave, finding what appear to be some of the oldest bone and quartz tools ever found in Australia, plus the earliest known use of the pigment ochre in the country’s history. Artefacts that have been found so far include burnt eggshells, sharpened stone and bone tools, red ochre and gypsum pigments, and the team says this is evidence that these early technologies were developed locally. "The old idea is that people might have come from the East, from the Levant, out of Africa, and these modern humans may have come with a package of innovative technologies," Hamm told Nicola Davis at The Guardian. "But the development of these fine stone tools, the bone technology, we think that happened as a local innovation, due to a local cultural evolution." That’s significant, adds one of the team, Gavin Prideaux from Flinders University in Adelaide, because it challenges certain assumptions that Indigenous Australians were not as innovative as similar populations elsewhere in on the globe. "There is a Eurocentric view that material culture in Australia is quite simplistic and backward, but this helps rewrite that story," he told ABC News. Until now, the oldest human tool found in Australia’s vast, arid interior has been a tiny axe fragment found earlier this year in the Carpenter's Gap rock-shelter of the Kimberley region of northwest Australia. While the Carpenter’s Gap site is not far from the northwest coast of Australia - thought to be one of the earliest settled parts of Australia - the Warratyi rock-shelter sits more than 2,000 km from the early settlement of Lake Mungo in southeasten New South Wales, making it a much more difficult trek. The tools have been dated based on a couple of estimates - quartz grains from the site have been dated to 44,000 years ago, but radiocarbon dating of the burnt eggshells, which are thought to be evidence of human cooking, revealed them to be between 45,000 and 49,000 years old. The shells are thought to have come from emus and a large, extinct flightless bird from the Genyornis genus. Together with discovery of bones of a huge, extinct wombat-like species, Diprotodon optatum, this suggests that early humans were actually interacting with Australia’s legendary megafauna. Diprotodon reconstruction. Credit: Dmitry Bogdanov/Wikimedia This doesn’t necessarily mean they were hunting them, but they were at least living in close enough quarters that they could find bones and eggs and bring them back to the cave. "One good thing about this study ... is there's no doubt there are megafauna remains in the form of Diprotodon and a giant bird in that rock shelter in a well-dated, well-stratified context sometime between 45,000 and 50,000 years ago," Prideaux told the ABC. "The only way those bones and shells got there is because people brought them there ... in terms of megafauna that's the really significant finding." The find is, of course, controversial, because that tiny axe fragment we mentioned earlier has been dated to around the same time period - 44,000 to 49,000 years ago. The problem is these estimates are all fairly rough, and still up for interpretation - Hamm's team, for example, insists that the axe is no more than 48,000 years old. "[E]veryone is keen to make their site sound older," Sue O'Connor from the Australian National University, who was not involved in either find, told Marcus Strom at The Sydney Morning Herald. But she did add that "the Hamm discovery was likely older". "The methodology of this study is as good as it gets," she said. "It's a very important site and a really significant find." Debate will likely rage among archaeologists for some time, but the most important thing is that we're finally seeing real evidence of just how widespread the Indigenous Australians were within just 1,000 years of hitting the coast. The study has been published in Nature.

– "A man getting out of the car to go to the toilet led to the discovery of one of the most important sites in Australian pre-history," archaeologist Giles Hamm tells ABC News. Hamm was surveying a section of Australia's Flinders Ranges when his partner, aboriginal elder Clifford Coulthard, had to go to the bathroom. "Nature called and Cliff walked up this creek bed into this gorge and found this amazing spring surrounded by rock art," Hamm says. At the time, Hamm thought the newly discovered human settlement, a site called Warratyi, was only 5,000 years old. It turns out it's closer to 49,000 years old, and that has huge ramifications for our knowledge of ancient Australian civilization, Sky News reports. Hamm and his team published a study on Warratyi this week in Nature. The discovery of Warratyi in the arid interior of the continent means humans either arrived in Australia up to 10,000 years earlier than previously believed—or they expanded across the continent at a much quicker rate, Science Alert reports. Researchers at the site found 4,300 objects, including tools, and 200 bone fragments from multiple animals, including a 5,500-pound marsupial. The bones help explain how early Australians interacted with megafauna, including hunting them. The tools show Australians were using bone and stone axes earlier than believed and are evidence that early Australians developed some technologies on their own rather than adopting them from other peoples as previously believed. (Ninety rocks in Australia could rank up there with Stonehenge.)

EMBED More News Videos Fairfield couple has been charged with everything from child neglect to torture after police say they discovered their 10 children living in squalor. Here's a look inside the home. EMBED More News Videos Torture, child cruelty, child endangerment -- all charges a Fairfield couple now face after the discovery of ten children living in squalid conditions at their family home. #DEVELOPING Ina Rogers says she and husband Jonathan Allen did not abuse 10 children. “My husband is amazing person. I am amazing mother.” pic.twitter.com/El5DkoKxtz — Laura Anthony (@LauraAnthony7) May 14, 2018 EMBED More News Videos Fairfield police held a press conference regarding 10 children who were rescued after being allegedly abused by their parents. #DEVELOPING Fairfield father Jonathan Allen charged with 6 counts of child cruelty, 9 counts of child torture. #abc7now pic.twitter.com/ABp2rXrwNp — Laura Anthony (@LauraAnthony7) May 14, 2018 ##BREAKING Bail for Fairfield man Jonathan Allen accused of torturing and abuse 10 children raised to $5million. #abc7now pic.twitter.com/f0hzAJTDej — Laura Anthony (@LauraAnthony7) May 14, 2018 #BREAKING Fairfield mom responds to allegations that she and her husband abused and tortured their 10 children. #abc7now pic.twitter.com/tWwJCDf0kp — Laura Anthony (@LauraAnthony7) May 14, 2018 “Not one of my kids even has a cavity...” says Ina Rogers, defending herself and her husband against charges of abuse and torture. #abc7now pic.twitter.com/0IfwkU1L4C — Laura Anthony (@LauraAnthony7) May 14, 2018 A Fairfield couple has been charged with everything from child neglect to torture after police say they discovered their 10 children living in squalor."This is absolutely appalling," Ina Rogers said, standing in the doorway of her Fairfield home while giving reporters her reaction to charges she and her husband abused, even tortured, their 10 children."I strive, I thrive on being a good parent to my children," Rogers said. "My husband has a lot of tattoos. He looks like a scary individual, and that's why people are so quick to judge him. But my husband is an amazing person. I am an amazing mother."The 30-year-old mother is out on bail after her arrest in late March, in which she was being charged with abuse after police returned her 12-year-old son to the family home after he had been reported missing.Rogers showed reporters the inside of her home, which she claims was left messy by police after their search. All of the children sleep on the floor in one room.Fairfield police arrested Rogers' 29-year-old husband Jonathan Michael Allen on Friday after a six-week investigation. He's been charged with nine felony counts of child cruelty, and seven of torture."The children described incidents of intentional abuse resulting in puncture wounds, burns, bruising and injuries consistent with being shot by a pellet or airsoft gun," said Lt. Greg Hurlbut.Hurlbut added that police found filthy conditions in the home shared by Rogers and Allen."Officers located unsafe and unsanitary living conditions including garbage and spoiled food on the floor, animal and human feces and a large amount of debris making areas of the house unpassable," he said.Sharon Henry, chief deputy district attorney for Solano County, said she was "horrified" by the statements from the children.She said at a news conference that "torture occurred in this house" and it was carried out "for sadistic purposes." She declined to elaborate."It literally breaks your heart, and you're outraged by how a parent or anyone could commit those acts," Henry said afterward.Rogers says she got pregnant when she was 16 years old. The Fairfield resident went on to say that she has 11 biological children ages four months to 14 years old. Three she had before meeting Allen and eight more in the past 10 years.She says she home schools the children, while working full-time as a medical technician. "Not only do I have 11 children and I'm 30 years old, but I also homeschool all of my children and people don't agree with that lifestyle and so I've had many people question my right to parent and I just feel like this whole situation was exploded," Rogers said.Allen was arraigned Monday afternoon in a Solano County court. He is being held on $5.2 million bail.The children have all been placed in the custody of Rogers' sister and mother in the Bay Area. All 10 children were initially taken into protective custody by Solano County Child Welfare Services.With the assistance of Child Welfare Services and the Solano County District Attorney's Office, detectives with the Fairfield Police Department's Family Violence Unit initiated an investigation.Officials say the investigation revealed a long and continuous history of severe physical and emotional abuse of the children. As a result of the investigation, an arrest warrant was issued for the father of the children and served by detectives on Friday, May 11 at 8:30 a.m. at the family home. ||||| FAIRFIELD, Calif. (AP) — Police said Monday they had removed 10 children from a squalid California home and charged their father with torture and their mother with neglect after an investigation revealed a lengthy period of severe physical and emotional abuse. The children range from 4 months to 12 years old, said Fairfield police Lt. Greg Hurlbut. The mother, Ina Rogers, told reporters that she called authorities in March after her 12-year-old son didn't come home. She said the "squalor" officers saw while investigating came from her tearing her house apart as she searched for her child. "I was afraid I could not find him," she told KGO-TV. "Once that fear sets in you don't know what to do." The investigation began March 31 when police responded to the missing juvenile report in Fairfield, 46 miles (74 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco. The officers found the boy and returned him to the family home, where they said they found nine other children living in "squalor and unsafe conditions." The father, Jonathan Allen, 29, faces felony charges of torture and child abuse and the 30-year-old Rogers faces child neglect charges. She was arrested March 31 and released after posting $10,000 bail. Allen was arrested Friday after specialists conducted interviews with the children, Hurlbut said. He's being held in the Solano County Jail in lieu of $1.5 million bail. Court records do not indicate whether the parents have lawyers. In a separate case, prosecutors in Riverside County, have filed eight new charges against a father accused of shackling and starving some of his 13 children, alleging that he lied on government forms about their schooling. David Turpin and his wife Louise previously pleaded not guilty to torture, child abuse and other charges in a case that has drawn international attention since the couple's 17-year-old daughter escaped the family's Perris, California, home in January and called 911.

– Police say they removed 10 children from a squalid California home and charged their father with torture and their mother with neglect after an investigation revealed a lengthy period of severe physical and emotional abuse. The children range from 4 months to 12 years old, says Fairfield police Lt. Greg Hurlbut. The mother, Ina Rogers, told reporters that she called authorities in March after her 12-year-old son didn't come home. She said the "squalor" officers saw while investigating came from her tearing her house apart as she searched for her child. "I was afraid I could not find him," she told KGO-TV. "Once that fear sets in you don't know what to do." The investigation began March 31 when police responded to the missing juvenile report in Fairfield, 46 miles northeast of San Francisco. The officers found the boy and returned him to the family home, where they said they found nine other children living in "squalor and unsafe conditions." The father, Jonathan Allen, 29, faces felony charges of torture and child abuse and the 30-year-old Rogers faces child neglect charges, the AP reports. She was arrested March 31 and released after posting $10,000 bail. Allen was arrested Friday after specialists conducted interviews with the children, Hurlbut says. He's being held in the Solano County Jail in lieu of $1.5 million bail.

Oscar Pistorius during his trial. (Reuters) Oscar Pistorius is expected to be released in August from a prison in South Africa after serving 10 months of his five-year sentence for culpable homicide in the death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. “Oscar will be released on parole by the end of August,” a family member who requested anonymity told Reuters. Corrections officials did not comment, but Pistorius was eligible for release under “correctional supervision” after serving a sixth of his sentence. Pistorius, the South African sprinter who became a national hero for triumphing over the amputation of his legs as a baby, shot Steenkamp, a 29-year-old law school graduate and model, through a locked door in his bathroom on Valentine’s Day 2013. Although prosecutors pushed for a murder conviction, Pistorius claimed that he mistakenly believed an intruder was in the house when he fired his gun. After a 10-month trial, he was convicted of the lesser charge, a decision the state is appealing. In a case to be heard in November, prosecutors will seek a murder conviction. If successful, Pistorius would face a minimum of 15 years in prison. Pistorius has been incarcerated at the Pretoria Central Prison since his conviction last fall and is expected to be released Aug. 21. ||||| Serving time: Pistorius was sentenced to five years for culpable homicide Disgraced sprinter Oscar Pistorius will be freed from prison in August, it has been reported. The athlete was sentenced to five years in jail last year for shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his home in South Africa on Valentine's Day 2013. The Paralympian claimed the killing was a tragic mishap after he mistook her for an intruder. But the double amputee was found guilty of culpable homicide by a judge. He is eligible for release from prison to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest in August. And a family member has confirmed they expect Pistorius to leave jail in a matter of weeks. According to ENCA News, Pistorius was seen by a parole board last week and a date has been set for August 21. The family of Reeva Steenkamp reacted with dismay, saying Pistorius' ten months in prison is "simply not enough" of a punishment for his crime. In a statement they said: "We have forgiven Mr Pistorius even though he took the life of our precious daughter Reeva. "Our lives will never be the same again as live with the sadness of her death every day. "Reeva had so much to offer this world and we were all robbed of her life when she was killed. "As her family, we do not seek to avenge her death and we do not want Mr Pistorius to suffer; that will not bring her back to us. "However a person found guilty of a crime must be held accountable for their actions. "Statistics show that our society is under continuous attack form criminals and murderers. "Incarceration of 10 months for taking a life is simply not enough. "We fear that this will not send out the proper message and serve as the deterrent it should." But in a separate development, South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal set a date for prosecutors to appeal the runner's conviction for manslaughter. Getty Tragic: Reeva Steenkamp died after being shot through a toilet door The state believes Pistorius should have been convicted of murder and they will challenge the ruling in November. If successful, the Blade Runner could be locked up for life. Supreme Court of Appeal registrar Paul Myburgh said that chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel and defence lawyer Barry Roux have met with the president of the court. The Pistorius legal team claim the 28-year-old is so desperate to get his life back on track he wants to work with disadvantaged youngsters when released. A source said: “He is managing in jail, he’s isolated but hanging in and praying to keep up his strength. “He is keen to become involved in assisting children in whatever opportunity comes up. His legal team are trying to help with this and sort a job.” Pistorius has been held in a single cell at the notorious Kgosi Mumpuru prison, in Pretoria, over fears he will face attacks from violent inmates. After a six-month trial last year the Paralympian - known as the Blade Runner - was found not guilty of murder but guilty of culpable homicide. He was handed a five-year jail term but will serve just a sixth of that under South African laws. His solicitor, Barry Roux, who represented him throughout his legal fight, said: “[Oscar] walks free in August and then has ten months on parole. “The parole conditions will be at their discretion, don’t drink, go to church, no drugs, he’ll have a psychological programme, an anger management course. “They will set the parameters and he will keep to them.” He added: “He will leave prison in three months time and wherever he goes he will be Oscar Pistorius. Reuters “There is no way a man as famous as him can change his name. “Anyway, How can you change your name, it’s running away. Why would you want to change your name, it’s disowning what happened. He will have to lift his head, and take it on the chin." Earlier this year images emerged of Pistorius playing football with Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir in a concrete courtyard. The two-minute clip, which shows Pistorius practising penalty shoot-outs with the notorious underworld figure on trial for kidnapping, sparked condemnation from South African prison authorities. But Mr Roux defended the footage, claiming it was a misrepresentation of how Pistorius was being treated in prison. VIEW GALLERY He said: Mr Roux said: “Oscar is in a single cell, we had to make the choice between the devil and the deep blue sea. “Do you put him in a cell with inmates, with all the horrible associated risks of attacks and tormenting, or in a single cell with the loneliness and isolation? “At least this way he is protected. His cell is three metres by two metres. Life is lonely. “He spends 18 hours-a-day in isolation seven days a week. He has one hour a day for physical exercise. “People completely misunderstood when they saw a photo of him playing soccer with the notorious Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir. “The man is also in the hospital section and he had his hour of exercise at the same time one day, so they kicked a ball around for a few minutes. “That’s all it was, its not like Oscar has a life of leisure and football.” Reuters Mr Roux also revealed Pistorius had rejected a string of Hollywood film offers and book deals - despite being broke. He said: “All Oscar has to his name is the shirt on his back and his underpants. “Oscar has spent all his money. I was not paid for the last two months, but I just could not ‘walk away’, I couldn’t morally do that. “Oscar was left with nothing, he is totally and utterly penniless, I mean zero. The shirt on his back and his underpants. That’s all he has. “The case has cost him at least two million Rand. He sold his brand new Audi, all his art, his watches, even his guns I believe. “He has never discussed the book or movie offers but they have poured in. He has in fact declined the book offers and Hollywood options every time, and he has been right to decline.”

– Oscar Pistorius is "so desperate to get his life back on track" that he already has a plan to work with disadvantaged youth when he gets out of prison, the Daily Mirror reports. Which could be soon: The South African commissioner of correctional services says the Paralympian will likely be freed on probation Aug. 21 from the Kgosi Mampuru II prison in Pretoria, the BBC notes. Pistorius' release, recommended by a prison committee for good behavior, would come 10 months into his five-year sentence if the parole board approves, the AP reports; the BBC adds that under South African law, he's eligible for probation after serving one-sixth of his sentence (which would be 10 months) and would be kept under "correctional supervision," or house arrest, during his probation period. Reeva Steenkamp's family isn't pleased with the news. "As her family, we do not seek to avenge her death and we do not want Mr. Pistorius to suffer; that will not bring her back to us," they said in a statement, per the Mirror. "However, a person found guilty of a crime must be held accountable for their actions. … Incarceration of 10 months for taking a life is simply not enough. We fear that this will not send out the proper message and serve as the deterrent it should." His freedom may be short-lived, however: In November, prosecutors will appeal his murder acquittal in court, which could net Pistorius a minimum of 15 years if convicted, the Washington Post reports. (Wonder how his book is coming along.)