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When the Taliban Takes the Girl Next Door

 In 2012, York County’s Caitlan Coleman and her husband were kidnapped by terrorists. They’ve been held in captivity ever since. Only after they vanished did friends and family learn Caitlan’s gut-wrenching secret.

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 In the early morning of July 4, 2012, Caitlan Coleman sent a short email to her friends.

 “Our flight leaves at 4 p.m.,” she wrote. “Only God knows exactly where it will lead or what all can be accomplished, seen, experienced or learned while we travel. So we put ourselves in His hands.”

 Caitlan had grown up in Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, a place without a single stoplight, with a population of 2,130. Now, at the age of 26, she was hours away from leaving it behind to embark on a journey to the other side of the planet. Caitlan, who has long chestnut-colored hair, big brown eyes and fashionably strong eyebrows, and her husband, a burly Canadian named Joshua Boyle, had decided to hike across the steppes of Central Asia. They dreamed of eating exotic foods, meeting the locals and doing aid work.

 The people close to Caitlan had long ago gotten used to how her wanderlust dragged her to faraway places, and she always penned long letters from the road that helped keep their anxiety at bay. Still, a few of her loved ones thought this trip was a bad idea. But she vowed she would only go to the “safe ’stans”: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. “They weren’t supposed to go to Afghanistan,” says Caitlan’s mother, Lyn Coleman. “They promised us they wouldn’t go.”

 Caitlan said she had return tickets for December.

 At first, Caitlan sent emails to her tight-knit group of friends in York County every couple of weeks, from Internet cafes in Asia. She told stories about hanging out with dogsledders, befriending cats at hostels, eating freshly slaughtered goat in the countryside.

 But by late September, the notes dried up. Even when Julia Newberger-Johnson sent Caitlan photos of her newborn son — the two had been friends since high school, when they met at a Catholic church in town — Caitlan didn’t write back.

 Later that fall, Julia finally got an email. But it was from Caitlan’s sister. “She asked me if I’d heard anything,” Julia says. “She told me she was afraid they’d been kidnapped. It didn’t feel real.”

 All of Caitlan’s friends and family have a story like this — of the moment when they realized she might not be coming home. They tell them the way people talk about where they were the morning of 9/11. Julia’s sister-in-law, Lindsay McAdam, got word that Caitlan was missing when she was on her way to see the latest Hobbit movie. “I froze mid-step and stood there, right in the middle of the sidewalk,” she says. “I didn’t want to believe it.”

 In 2013, the Coleman family learned something far worse than anyone could have imagined: Caitlan and Joshua had been kidnapped in Afghanistan by the Taliban.

 None of the words in that sentence made any sense to people who knew Caitlan. The Taliban kidnapped soldiers and journalists. It didn’t kidnap women from the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania. And what the hell had Caitlan been doing in Afghanistan?

 Even now — even after four years have passed, and the Associated Press and CBS and Serial have covered bits and pieces of what happened to Caitlan — it’s hard for her friends and family to accept. Today, Julia is sitting in a diner in New Freedom, Pennsylvania, sporting a brunette bob and an emerald green blouse. She pokes at Breakfast No. 1, a $3.79 plate of eggs, home fries and toast. “At first, it didn’t really hit me,” she says. “It just didn’t feel real, so I kind of put it to the back of my mind. But for some reason, when they put out the last video, it just felt a lot more real. Seeing her like that is really hard.”

 She’s talking about a video of Caitlan that surfaced online this August — the third clip of the couple that’s emerged. In it, Julia’s friend is in a hijab, pleading for her life. She begs the United States to do something the Taliban wants — otherwise, her captors will kill her. “I know that this must be very terrifying and horrifying for my family to hear that these men are willing to go to these lengths,” she says, “but they are.”

 Caitlan lived 10 minutes down the road from where Julia and I are eating breakfast on this overcast day in August. If you saw this town, you’d understand why it’s hard for Caitlan’s friends to believe what’s happened. It’s a land of cornfields and 4-H clubs and high-school football. It’s a land where bad things aren’t supposed to happen.

 I know. I grew up here. Caitlan and I actually share many of the same friends, including Julia and Lindsay. In fact, I saw Caitlan at a baby shower for Julia just four days before she left for Asia. I’ve tried to remember something substantial about her from that day — a real, genuine anecdote — but I can’t. All I recall is that she was unusually quiet. What I didn’t know, what none of her friends knew, was that Caitlan was also pregnant at Julia’s shower. She would go on to have her baby boy after being kidnapped by the Taliban. She would then give birth to a second son, while still in captivity, in 2015.

 But then again, no one ever imagines something like this could happen to someone they know, to a friend, a daughter. We never think that someone we love will end up in a video released by the Taliban. And perhaps that — the inability of most people to believe something so horrifying could touch their lives — helps explain why the American public is so grotesquely indifferent to the fate of two children and their young mother from York, who must live each day with terror the rest of us can scarcely imagine.

 •

 THERE ARE ONLY a few things we know today about how Caitlan and Joshua vanished.

 The couple was abducted in the fall of 2012 near Afghanistan’s war-torn capital, Kabul, and officials believe they’re currently being held in Pakistan. They’ve been in captivity for four years now. For reference, U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, the longest-held POW since the Vietnam War, was imprisoned for five.

 The men who took Caitlan and Joshua are part of the Haqqani network, a Taliban affiliate that’s in the kidnapping-for-ransom business. The New York Times once called them the “Sopranos of the Afghanistan war.”

 No one had any idea Caitlan and Joshua, who was then 29, would be traveling to Afghanistan when they left. The first time anyone heard about their change of plans was on October 8, 2012, when Joshua sent an email to Caitlan’s parents saying they were in an “unsafe” place in Afghanistan. On October 9th, a withdrawal was made from their bank account for the last time, in Kabul.

 The Taliban told reporters this summer that Caitlan and Joshua are “in good health” and in a place where they can move around and exercise. But there’s no way of knowing if that’s true. When the Haqqanis kidnapped Bergdahl, they beat him repeatedly with copper wire, spit in his food, kept him alone in the dark in a six-foot-wide cage, and refused him medical care even though he had severe diarrhea for years.

 The Haqqanis may have tortured Bergdahl in part because he tried to escape mere days after being captured. They treated former New York Times journalist David Rohde, who was held for eight months, notably better. But even if they’re handling Caitlan and Joshua humanely, there are other concerns that keep their friends up at night: Caitlan has a liver condition that requires her to undergo regular medical treatment, which may not be available wherever she’s being held. And then there’s the fact that she’s gone into labor twice in captivity.

 That’s another part of this ongoing nightmare that came as a complete surprise to Caitlan’s friends — that’s made them feel as if they might be living inside a screenwriter’s head. Caitlan’s parents found a sonogram of their grandson only after she’d disappeared. “She didn’t tell anyone,” says Lindsay. “We would have tried to talk her out of going. I kick myself. I should have told her, ‘Don’t do it.’”

 As far as hard facts go, that’s basically it. The Obama administration has made only a handful of public comments about the couple. It recently changed the way it deals with all hostage situations, but details have been few and far between. The latest statement from the U.S. government, issued in August, simply said that officials were examining the newest video of the couple and “continue to urge for their immediate release on humanitarian grounds.” The FBI, the Department of Defense, and a new federal organization known as the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell have all declined to discuss Caitlan’s case with Philadelphia magazine.

 The press hasn’t done much to help bring attention to Caitlan’s cause. Despite the made-for-Hollywood twists and turns — an all-American sweetheart gives birth twice after being kidnapped by the Taliban, and now her sons are growing up under the boot of terrorists — most news articles written about Caitlan are one-and-done. They detail the videos and little else.

 To be fair, journalists have to be careful while reporting on hostages: What they write could impact potential negotiations. That may have discouraged some outlets from covering Caitlan’s plight, but it doesn’t completely explain why she’s gotten so little attention. Even when, at a Senate hearing, a decorated war hero raised hell about the way the Obama administration has handled Caitlan’s case — and alleged that the FBI retaliated against him for telling a member of Congress about it — reporters wrote only a few he-said, she-said stories, then moved on.

 Caitlan, like the war in Afghanistan and the fight against the Taliban, has been forgotten. The public has stopped reading, stopped caring. The press, in turn, has stopped reporting. Not even the presidential candidates talk about Afghanistan. Today, the focus is ISIS and Syria; tomorrow, it will be something else.

 “It doesn’t get the attention it deserves, and I have no idea why,” says Lindsay. “It’s just messed up. She’s a person. She has a family. She’s not just this ‘kidnapped American woman.’ I keep reading that, and I’m like, that’s not who she is. She’s Caity. She’s this amazing, brilliant, wonderful woman.”

 •

 “DARWIN’S LAW AT WORK.”

 “I would rather the U.S. spend its money and effort to feed the hungry children in this country than to spend it trying to free these two idiots.”

 “If we get them back, they would probably travel to Syria for their next little getaway.”

 The comments about Caitlan and Joshua are some of the most vicious things I’ve read online — and that’s saying something in 2016.

 And perhaps that, too, has something to do with why Caitlan has been forgotten. The anonymity and abrasiveness of the Web has calloused Americans, made us quicker to judge and slower to empathize, especially with imperfect people who are thousands of miles away. There’s a little bit of Internet troll inside each of us nowadays, which makes you wonder what would have happened to Caitlan if she’d been kidnapped decades ago. Would we have cared more?

 That’s not to say I’ve never wondered how someone could do something as boneheaded as travel on a whim to Afghanistan. How couldn’t I? But after talking to Caitlan’s friends and family members over the past couple months, I find it’s not so hard to understand why she, in particular, could make such a huge mistake.

 Those close to Caitlan describe her as big-hearted, relentlessly optimistic, adventurous, funny and flawed. The stories about her acts of kindness stick out most: She never forgot to send Christmas cards and thank-you notes. “I know it sounds kind of cliché, but she was just a really good person,” says Julia. If you had a bad day, she’d drop her plans to be by your side. “I went through a breakup when I was friends with Caity,” says Lindsay. “She was the one who would try to cheer me up and get my mind off of it.”

 Her mom, Lyn, says Caitlan was always generous: As a 10-year-old, she went door-to-door to raise money for the poor in Haiti. “The first person she asked slammed the door in her face, but she kept going. … If she had extra money, she wouldn’t necessarily spend it on herself. She would spend it on those who were in greater need.”

 Caitlan is quick with jokes, friends and family say, but not the kind that hurt: “Her humor doesn’t target people,” says Meghan Rogers. Instead, it’s goofy and childlike. She’d poke fun at movies, à la Mystery Science Theater 3000. She’d call her friends and boldly proclaim, “I’m bathing. I hope that doesn’t offend you!” And she could make you laugh “even if you were kind of upset or angry with her,” says Lyn.

 She was a devout Catholic. She made things: cookies, soaps, short films. She was a travel junkie. “When she was young, we would take trips out West,” says Lyn. “But she was never interested in going to the big tourist areas. She always wanted to know what normal life was like for people.” As a young adult, she’d save money from her grocery-store job to regularly visit Toronto, which she thought of as “the most amazing place in the world, this mecca of culture,” says Meghan. She actually got to know Joshua online after a friend she’d met in Canada put the teenagers in touch and they bonded over a shared reverence for Star Wars. Eventually, the couple backpacked together, and got married in Central America in 2011.

 “She had this curiosity about everything,” says Meghan, “and she deeply felt that everyone in this world was equal.”

 Her friends and family admired that she was so tolerant — it’s not the default worldview in my hometown. But Caitlan’s loved ones say she was naive, too, and overly trusting. “She always tried to see the best in people,” says Julia, “and I guess that’s part of why they ended up where they are.”

 I didn’t know Caitlan well; I only bumped into her a few times in town. But what I’ve learned about her since reminds me of many young women from rural Pennsylvania, who are at once ruggedly individualistic, brave and innocent. It’s not difficult to see why Caitlan was dewy-eyed: She was homeschooled as a kid, and grew up in a small, insulated town. I made a lot of mistakes when I left southern York County, too, oftentimes alongside a boy — and if I’m being honest, some could have gotten me killed.

 A note from Caitlan dated September 6, 2012, gives a closer look into her mind-set while she was in Central Asia: “I enjoy getting to know some of the most unique, quirky people I have ever met, and learning from them. It really gives you a different perspective on the world. We in the U.S. are taught to fear it … to the point that the U.S. State Department website’s current ‘travel advisory’ is advising people to simply not travel outside of the U.S. … but it’s a whole different world outside.”

 Amazingly, Caitlan wrote that just a week after telling friends that she had crossed the border from Kyrgyzstan into Tajikistan at night in the “strangest, sketchiest ride yet”: After flagging an early-morning taxi, she and Joshua were driven to a farmhouse where they were made to wait by a guide for another 18 hours until they could leave Kyrgyzstan in a caravan of other travelers. Always positive, she summed up the experience this way: “All turned out to be okay. … They didn’t try to demand any more money from us, and we were able to get some dinner.”

 Still, many think Caitlan would never have been in Afghanistan had it not been for her husband. On paper, Joshua doesn’t look all that different from many other millennials: He was an aspiring writer who had studied English at the University of Waterloo and worked service jobs to get by. But friends say he’s one of the smartest, most unusual people they ever met. He was fascinated by politics, Islam and the Middle East. Alex Edwards, a friend since 2002, says Joshua “spent hundreds, maybe even thousands of hours” writing Wikipedia articles on those subjects and others. Meghan, who studied Arabic in college, says he adored practicing the language with her.

 Joshua was also charitable, Alex says: In an online game they played, “He was always the first one to figure new ways to exploit the rules for his own advantage, but he donated large quantities of in-game currency and assets to new players.” According to friends, he was also very persuasive, which may explain how he and Caitlan ended up in Afghanistan. “Given that they had traveled through much of Central Asia already … maybe they just decided, ‘Hell, why not?’’’ says Alex. “Josh had long been interested in Afghanistan … and it’s not like they were going to get another chance to visit.”

 Another bizarre twist in this tale is that Joshua was so curious about Islam and the region that he once became intimately connected to a Muslim man who was imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay. The short version: As a young Mennonite who was passionately anti-war, Joshua became obsessed with Omar Khadr, a Canadian who had been captured at age 15 in Afghanistan and incarcerated without a trial for 10 years. Joshua eventually met the Khadr family and acted as their spokesman. Alex insists that Joshua advocated for Omar “just because he thought it was the right thing to do. … His first concern in life has always been helping others.” Later, Joshua married (and quickly divorced) Omar’s older sister, Zaynab.

 All of this has made it more difficult to engender sympathy for Caitlan and Joshua. But U.S. officials say their kidnapping had nothing to do with Joshua’s ties to the Khadrs, which they called a “horrible coincidence.” Friends say Joshua got involved with the family in the first place because he was a dedicated pacifist and activist. “If things were different, and I was the one being held hostage, Josh wouldn’t rest until I was free,” says Alex. “He’d stage sit-ins. He’d put up posters. He’d dedicate his life to it. That’s just who he is.”

 A fellow traveler named Richard Cronin bumped into Caitlan and Joshua in a hostel in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, shortly before the couple left for Afghanistan. He wrote on his traveling blog that he had never seriously thought about traveling to that country until he talked with Joshua:

 “Over the course of a conversation that ran long into the night, he planted in my head a strong desire to go. We started talking about Lawrence of Arabia and the explorer Richard Burton. He asked me if I admired those explorers. … ‘Wouldn’t you like to be like one of them?’” Joshua offered other reasons to go: “When’s the next time you will be in Central Asia? And chiefly, the window is closing and the security situation will only deteriorate when the American troops leave.”

 Cronin took off for Afghanistan a few days later with a friend. When they made it back safely, he waited for Caitlan and Joshua at a hostel in Dushanbe.

 “Every time the door opened, we hoped it would be them,” he wrote. It never was.

 •

 “I FAILED THEM. I exhausted all efforts and resources available … but I failed.”

 Jason Amerine, 45, is a retired Green Beret soldier and Army colonel who is so admired for his heroics that a toy manufacturer made an action figure of him. But in 2013, he was tasked with a mission he wasn’t able to complete: leading a secret Pentagon team to bring back Bowe Bergdahl, Caitlan, Joshua, and other hostages in Pakistan.

 As soon as the case hit his desk, he realized a terrifying thing: “Nobody had tried to free Coleman or the other civilian hostages.”

 That wasn’t even the worst part: Amerine says the agencies that played a role in rescuing hostages — the FBI, the Department of Defense, the State Department — weren’t coordinating effectively. At one point, Amerine was working on a deal that would have exchanged one Afghan warlord with ties to the Taliban for Bergdahl, Caitlan, Joshua, their son and other hostages, but it fell apart. “Our nation lacked an organization that could synchronize the efforts of all our government agencies to get our hostages home,” he told a U.S. Senate committee in 2015.

 It’s crazy to think that something as mundane as bureaucratic dysfunction may be part of the reason Caitlan is rotting away. And, sadly, her experience isn’t unusual: Critics say Bergdahl languished in captivity partly due to government ineptitude. In fact, the country’s hostage recovery efforts were apparently so flawed in 2015 that the U.S. accidentally killed Warren Weinstein, an American contractor who was being held hostage by Al Qaeda, in a drone strike.

 Amerine went to California Congressman Duncan Hunter, a Republican on the Armed Services Committee, to push for reform. But he hit another snag: Amerine says the FBI, which was supposed to be leading civilian hostage recovery efforts, retaliated against him, telling the Army he’d leaked classified information to Hunter. In 2014, a nine-month criminal investigation ensued — and during at least part of that time, he says, no one in the Department of Defense was working on Caitlan’s case.

 Something Hunter told me may explain, in part, why the media hasn’t covered Caitlan more. He says the FBI told her family that “if they posted anything on Facebook, they could sue them.” Amerine also claims that federal investigators threatened Caitlan’s father, saying that if he didn’t stop talking to Hunter, the family “would stop getting supported by the FBI.” Lyn vehemently denies this. “The FBI has never threatened or intimidated us. We’ve been treated with great respect and support,” she insists. Still, the Colemans have rarely talked to the press: “We chose to maintain a low profile.”

 The FBI wouldn’t talk about Amerine’s claims. But he eventually got his good name back: He was cleared of wrongdoing and retired with one of the highest decorations in the military, the Legion of Merit.

 There’s at least a sliver of good news in all of this: Amerine’s fury, as well as criticism from the Weinstein family and others, eventually led to reform. In 2015, the federal government created the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell. Essentially, it puts all of the government agencies working to free hostages in the same room — and gives a special envoy direct access to the Secretary of State.

 Since the changes, more than 70 hostages have been freed, according to the New York Times. There are more than a dozen left out there, including Caitlan’s family.

 But even if the feds are now operating smoothly, unique challenges stand in the way of freeing Caitlan. She’s thought to be in Pakistan, where, experts say, the United States has been leery of launching recovery missions since the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden. The terms of Bergdahl’s release also could have given the Taliban unrealistic expectations: He was traded for not one but five Taliban members. Further complicating matters is the fact that the Obama administration’s policy, at least on paper, is to not negotiate with terrorists: It doesn’t do ransoms or prisoner exchanges. (Many European countries, by contrast, routinely pay ransoms.) When Obama strayed from his own rules in order to free Bergdahl, he faced endless criticism from the public and Congress. Few will admit it out loud, but bringing Caitlan home is politically fraught.

 •

 CAITLIN’S LOVED ONES aren’t sure what to think nowadays. They’re caught in a place where they can’t mourn, but they also don’t know whether it’s realistic to have much hope. They look at what happened to Weinstein and worry. When they talk about Caitlan, they go back and forth between past and present tense: She was? Or she is?

 “It’s like she’s dead, but she’s not at all dead. You can’t grieve for her,” says Meghan. “It almost feels like she’s in a stagnant place, but she’s not. She’s been living her life for the last four years. We just haven’t been a part of it.”

 There’s a terrible loneliness to their pain — only a fraction of a fraction of a percent of Americans can relate. “People don’t know what to say to me, and I don’t know what to say to them,” says Lyn. “Every day, I am overwhelmed by my loss.” Some close to Caitlan have stopped telling outsiders about her. “People don’t believe you,” says Lindsay. “It happens in TV shows and movies all the time, but it doesn’t happen to you. It doesn’t happen to your friend.”

 All the proof of life that the public has seen in the past two years is the latest video. In it, Caitlan is at least 50 pounds lighter than before. Her wavy brown hair is covered by a black headscarf, making her big, doe-like eyes and strong brows even more striking. Joshua has a long, scraggly beard, and he’s also lost a great deal of weight.

 Their captors are desperate, Caitlan explains on the video. The Afghan government has started executing Taliban prisoners, and it recently detained Anas Haqqani, the brother of the network’s leader. If something isn’t done to stop the slayings, Caitlan says, the Haqqanis will murder her: “They’re willing to kill us. Willing to kill women, willing to kill children, to kill whomever.”

 Somewhere off-screen, there are two little boys. Then, as quickly as she appeared, Caitlan’s gone.

 Published as “When the Taliban Takes the Girl Next Door” in the November 2016 issue of Philadelphia magazine. ||||| KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The State Department says it's evaluating a video released by the Afghan Taliban showing a Canadian man and his American wife warning that their Afghan captors will kill them and their children unless the Kabul government ends its executions of Taliban prisoners.

 The video, which has not been independently verified by The Associated Press, shows Canadian Joshua Boyle and American Caitlan Coleman, who were kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012, calling on Canada and the United States to pressure the Afghan government into changing its policy on executing captured Taliban prisoners.

 Coleman has told her family that she gave birth to two children in captivity.

 "I would tell you that the video is still being examined for its validity," State Department spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday, in response to a question at his daily briefing. "We remain concerned, obviously, about the welfare of Caitlan and her family, and we continue to urge for their immediate release on humanitarian grounds."

 Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told the AP that the video was not new and had in fact been recorded in 2015. Mujahid said Boyle and Coleman and their two children remain in captivity but in good health.

 The AP could not immediately verify the date of the recording. However, even if the video was recorded in 2015, it would mark the first time the couple has appeared in a video since 2013.

 The footage, which was uploaded Tuesday on YouTube, came to public attention through the Site Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist activity online.

 In a statement Tuesday, Global Affairs Canada spokesman Michael O'Shaughnessy said the government was aware of the latest video. He said the government will not comment further or release any information that might risk endangering the safety of Canadian citizens abroad.

 In the video, the scraggily bearded Boyle says the couple's captors "are terrified of the thought of their own mortality approaching, and are saying that they will take reprisals on our family."

 Coleman, wearing a black headscarf, then adds: "I know this must be very terrifying and horrifying for my family to hear that these men are willing to go to these lengths, but they are."

 A phone message left at a number listed for Coleman's family in Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, was not immediately returned.

 The couple set off in the summer of 2012 for a journey that took them to Russia, the central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and then to Afghanistan. Her parents, Jim and Lyn Coleman, last heard from their son-in-law on Oct. 8, 2012, from an internet cafe in what Josh described as an "unsafe" part of Afghanistan.

 In 2013, the couple appeared in two videos asking the U.S. government to free them from the Taliban. The Colemans received a letter last November in which their daughter said she had given birth to a second child in captivity.

 "I pray to hear from you again, to hear how everybody is doing," the letter said.

 In July, Jim Coleman, speaking to the online news service Circa News, issued a plea to top Taliban commanders to be "kind and merciful" and let the couple go.

 "As a man, father and now grandfather, I am asking you to show mercy and release my daughter, her husband, and our beautiful grandchildren," Jim Coleman said. "Please grant them an opportunity to continue their lives with us, and bring peace to their families."

 ___

 Associated Press writer Charles J. Gans in New York contributed to this report. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Caitlan Coleman hailed from Stewartstown, Pa., a "land where bad things aren't supposed to happen." And yet a gripping Philadelphia magazine story describes how something bad did happen to the 26-year-old and her husband—Canadian activist Joshua Boyle, once married to the sister of Gitmo prisoner Omar Khadr—in 2012: They were kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan during a hike across Central Asia. The story by Holly Otterbein (an acquaintance of Coleman's from the same town) documents the disbelief the pair's loved ones felt when they first heard they were missing, the horror when they heard in 2013 the Taliban was holding them captive, and the panic when a series of proof-of-life videos of the two emerged, the third one in August. "We never think that someone we love will end up in a video released by the Taliban," Otterbein writes. But the American public at large is "grotesquely indifferent" to the fate of the couple and their two kids, since born in captivity. Officials believe the couple were taken hostage near Kabul by a Taliban affiliate known as the "Sopranos of the Afghanistan war" and are now being held in Pakistan. They've been in captivity for four years—just one year shy of the five years US Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was held captive. The Taliban told the AP this summer the family was in good health, but in the August video, Coleman and Boyle said they and their kids would be executed unless Kabul officials stop killing Taliban prisoners. Otterbein notes their story has barely made a blip with the media, the US government has remained mostly tight-lipped, and online commentary about the disappeared pair can be cruel: "If we get them back, they would probably travel to Syria for their next little getaway," one poster noted. "Caitlan, like the war in Afghanistan and the fight against the Taliban, has been forgotten," Otterbein writes. (The chilling Philadelphia magazine story is worth the full read.)


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– As everyone wonders whether Conan O’Brien will stay at NBC or move to Fox, the Tonight Show host offered up a few more novel ideas yesterday: Perhaps he’ll “pretend to put my son in a giant foil balloon, then sit back and watch the offers come pouring in!” Watch him deliver the rest of his options on the video above—then check out Jay Leno, who also addressed the drama last night on his show. “NBC says the show performed exactly as they expected it would, and then they canceled it,” Leno said. “Now don’t confuse that with when we were on at late night and we performed better than expected and then they canceled us. That was totally different!” Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times takes a closer look at Fox’s early talks with Conan—who “would be a very compatible fit for our brand,” says the president of Fox Entertainment.


View Caption Hide Caption DeWayne Walker, an employee at CNN, is part of a class-action lawsuit against his employer. CREDIT: Walker

 This was posted on Wednesday, December 7, 2016 by Rodney Ho on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog

 Former and current black employees on Tuesday filed a class action lawsuit against Atlanta-based CNN, Turner Broadcasting and New York based parent company Time Warner for racial discrimination.

 MORE: Our interview with CNN president Jeff Zucker

 CNN falls sharply in ratings after election; Fox News grows

 Former CNN employee Omar Butcher sues, claiming race discrimination

 “As a result of the current discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of DeWayne Walker vs. CNN, Time Warner & Turner, we have uncovered stories involving abuse of power, nepotism, revenge, retaliation and discrimination,” said Daniel Meachum in a press release.

 The press release provided a photo of DeWayne Walker, a CNN producer who sued CNN individually in January for $50 million for racial discrimination and retaliation for filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He accused CNN of not promoting him over 13 years because he is black, skipped over frequently for promotions in favor of white employees.

 According to his LinkedIn page, Walker is an integrated marketing manager at CNN.

 Walker is not actually a plaintiff in this particular case but is a client of Meachum’s and his individual lawsuit is still active. Celeslie Henley, a former executive administrative assistant at CNN, and Ernest Colbert Jr., a senior manager at TBS, are the only named plaintiffs though Meachum said 20 to 30 other unnamed current and former Turner employees helped him out with information about their experiences.

 “This discrimination represents a company-wide pattern and practice,” the lawsuit asserts, “rather than a series of isolated incidents.” He said the company has been discriminating against blacks for more than 20 years.

 The 40-page lawsuit filed in the United States District Court in the Northern District of Georgia said blacks – especially black males – are discriminated against in evaluations, compensation and promotions. Blacks receive “disproportionately lower scores on evaluations,” the lawsuit alleges.

 It says based on data provided by Turner, blacks are terminated at a higher rate than whites and promoted at a significantly slower rate. And the lawsuit said written and unwritten policies and practices for performing evaluations and promotions discriminate against blacks. Those policies “allow supervisors to essentially handpick candidates through word of mouth for available positions and make promotion decisions on the basis of subjective criteria,” the lawsuit said. “This system prevents qualified African-Americans from competing equally for positions or even knowing that they are available.”

 Meachum said at a press conference Wednesday morning at his downtown Atlanta office that he has been collecting information about CNN and Turner for three years before filing the class-action suit.

 “Upon information and belief,” the suit says, “African-American employees have had to endure racial slurs and prejudicial biases from superiors such as, ‘it’s hard to manage black people’ and ‘who would be worth more: black slaves from times past or new slaves.’ ”

 Meachum said he is “outraged as an African American lawyer to have to sit down and go through the facts with people telling what I’ve been told these past three years.”

 While blacks make up 30 to 35 percent of CNN’s mid-level managerial and staffing positions, the lawsuit said, “they are drastically under-represented at higher pay grades and senior positions, while still being required to generally labor three times as long as Caucasians [for promotions.].”

 And even blacks in the highest positions are not in the more crucial departments, the lawsuit said. In the Media Group Division, the Legal Division and Strategy Division, for instance, not a single black person is represented at the top levels, it said.

 Henley, 44 of Fairburn, worked at CNN for seven years as an executive administrative assistant. She alleged that she was mistreated in the workforce based on race, sex and pregnancy. She said she worked far longer hours than her white counterparts. And she said she was treated significantly worse after coming back from maternity leave. She said she was fired as retaliation for complaining to HR in early 2014.

 Colbert, 44, of Ellenwood, has worked at TBS for almost 20 years. He claimed in the lawsuit that he was consistently paid below grade level compared to comparable white employees. He also said he failed to receive a proper job description for nine years and was given senior-level managerial work without being properly compensated. He was promoted in August, 2016 to senior manager but said he is still underpaid compared to his white counterparts with comparable jobs. “Additionally, years of Mr. Colbert’s positive performance evaluations have been nullified due to TBS’s failure to maintain Mr. Colbert’s personnel file,” the lawsuit said.

 In the lawsuit, Colbert said he repeatedly requested to be promoted to a higher pay grade. A white person who had held his position previously was promoted to a job grade several levels above Colbert’s while performing the same job duties, he said.

 The class action covers all blacks employed in salaried and mid-level managerial positions in the United States at any time between April, 1997 to the present.

 “I’ve seen people at Turner that have worked there for 14, 15 years with a total raise over that time of $5,000 to $6,000. That’s horrible,” Meachum said. “That is not the face that I think Turner and CNN wants to put on. That’s the reality of the people who work there.”

 At least three others have filed individual lawsuits against CNN over the past three years.

 When I asked CNN president Jeff Zucker about the lawsuits last month, he declined to comment. A CNN spokeswoman today declined to comment about the latest lawsuit.

 Meachum, who represents Walker, showed up on “Real Housewives of Atlanta” to help out Cynthia Bailey this season with her divorce to Peter Thomas. (She has yet to file. He said they are trying to put the entire divorce together and have it all agreed upon before filing anything.) Meachum also represented actor Wesley Snipes for many years. ||||| A new court filing alleges that Turner employees faced racial discrimination that held them back in their careers and led to at least one former assistant being fired. Roughly two dozen current and former employees of CNN and TBS (both owned by Turner) claim that there is a systematic problem with “discriminatory practices being implemented throughout all of Turner’s Networks [sic],” according to a complaint filed Tuesday evening.

 The complaint cites statistics showing that black employees at Turner are promoted at a much lower rate than whites. The lawsuit alleges that this “can only be attributed to the fact that Turner, specifically CNN has implemented formal [emphasis in original] written and unwritten policies and practices regarding promotions[.]” The attorney who filed the complaint, Daniel Meachum, told LawNewz.com that the statistics were gathered by Turner themselves as part of an internal study.

 Black employees also historically received lower scores on their evaluations, according to the complaint. “There is no objective factor other than race that can explain this disparity, since performance is not linked to job title or education,” it alleges.

 One of the named plaintiffs, Ernie Colbert Jr., claims that in 19 years of working at TBS, he has only been promoted twice, and was paid less than his white coworkers. The other named plaintiff, Celeslie Henley, alleges that she suffered discrimination, and then lost her job after she complained. Henley claims that after she received discriminatory treatment from white managers, she complained to human resources, and was promptly terminated five days later.

 Meachum is also representing DeWayne Walker, a CNN producer who is also currently suing the network for race discrimination in a separate action. Walker first filed his $50 million lawsuit in December 2015, claiming that he has been passed over for promotion throughout his career at CNN because of his race. He also alleges that the company retaliated against him after he brought a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

 Meachum said in a statement obtained by LawNewz.com that during the course of investigating Walker’s case, “we have uncovered stories involving abuse of power, nepotism, revenge, retaliation and discrimination.” Meachum says that CNN, Turner Broadcasting, and parent company Time Warner have practices and policies that impact black employees in particular, keeping them from being promoted and preventing them from taking action. He told LawNewz in a phone conversation that the allegations stemmed from statistics provided by Turner that showed a disparity in treatment of black employees, which led to the new lawsuit.

 Since the lawsuit was publicly announced Wednesday morning, Meachum said he has received “20 or 30 calls from people asking to part of the class.” This is in addition to between 25 and 30 people already attached to the case.

 LawNewz.com reached out to Turner. They did not have any comment on the case.

 Henley and Colbert v Turner by LawNewz on Scribd

 [Image of CNN via Shutterstock, image of DeWayne Walker via Daniel Meachum] ||||| Two African-American employees have filed a class-action lawsuit against CNN, Turner Broadcasting and its parent company, Time Warner, alleging racial discrimination.

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 The two plaintiffs in the lawsuit are identified as Celeslie Henley and Ernest Colbert Jr. Henley is a former executive administrative assistant at CNN, while Colbert is still employed by Turner as a senior manager at TBS.

 "The current workplace culture utilizes practices that discourages or prohibit minorities from exercising their rights under employment discrimination statutes," they allege in the lawsuit, filed on Wednesday.

 They are represented by Daniel Meachum, whose Atlanta-based firm has a clientele that includes actor Denzel Washington and BET founder Bob Johnson. He also has represented actor Wesley Snipes and former NFL star Michael Vick.

 Meachum said a discrimination lawsuit filed last year against CNN, Turner and Time Warner uncovered stories involving "abuse of power, nepotism, revenge, retaliation and discrimination.”

 He noted that 20 to 30 other current and former Turner employees shared what they've observed and experienced over the years.

 Turner, whose networks include CNN, HLN, TNT, TBS, TruTV, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Boomerang, said it does not want to comment on pending litigation.

 The new 40-page class-action lawsuit includes data provided by Turner. That data, according to the suit, shows that "salaries paid by Turner and/or CNN to African-American compared with salaries paid to Caucasian employees reveals dramatic differences in pay in similarly situated employees of different race. Upon information and belief, the pattern exists throughout the company."

 The data also shows that promotions for African-Americans to high levels within the organization are nonexistent, according to the lawsuit.

 "In the 46-year history of Turner's network, no African-American has ever been promoted or selected to be President of Turner Broadcasting, Inc, or oversee any of Turner's networks," it reads.

 The new lawsuit is the latest allegation of discrimination against the broadcasting giant.

 DeWayne Walker alleged racial discrimination in a $50 million lawsuit filed late last year against CNN, Turner Broadcasting System, Time Warner Inc. and Turner Services Inc.

 Walker, who is an integrated marketing manager at CNN, according to his LinkedIn page, also claims he was retaliated against for filing an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint.

 He claims he has been passed over for promotion nine times because of race between 2002 and 2015.

 Two other CNN African-American employees, Omar Butcher and Ricky Blalock, have also filed discrimination lawsuits against the company this year.

 Butcher, a former associate producer at CNN, was fired in 2015.

 He is suing the network for wrongful termination after, he claims, co-workers discriminated against him.

 Blalock was a producer for Ashleigh Banfield's CNN legal show, which has since moved to sister network HLN.

 According to court documents, Blalock's lawyer alleges that CNN “intentionally and willfully violated Mr. Blalock’s right to be free from race-based discrimination in his employment.” |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Current and former black employees of CNN and Turner Broadcasting filed a class action lawsuit against the companies and their parent company, Time Warner, this week, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The employees allege racial discrimination. CNN producer DeWayne Walker sued the network individually in January, claiming he was skipped over for promotions for more than 13 years because he's black. "As a result of the current discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of DeWayne Walker ... we have uncovered stories involving abuse of power, nepotism, revenge, retaliation, and discrimination," says Walker's lawyer, Daniel Meachum. Walker is not a plaintiff in the class action lawsuit; just two plaintiffs are named in the lawsuit, but Meachum says 20 to 30 other unnamed people told him of their experiences, which prove "a company-wide pattern and practice" going back more than two decades, he says. The lawsuit alleges that black employees receive "disproportionately lower scores on evaluations" and are also discriminated against when it comes to compensation, promotions, and terminations. It also alleges that black employees have been subjected to racial slurs from their superiors. Two other black CNN employees have sued the network for discrimination this year, the Hill reports. Meachum tells LawNewz that since his lawsuit was announced, 20 to 30 additional people have requested to become part of the class.


Sorry, your browser doesn't support Flash , needs a Flash update , or has Flash disabled. You need Flash to watch this video. EMBED </>More News Videos Investigators say the woman suspected of kidnapping a 7-week-old baby from the King of Prussia Mall on Thursday night had been claiming to be pregnant.

 "King of Prussia Mall has 24/7 state-of-the-art security protocols both inside and outside the property, including a robust security force and continuous patrol routes. Our emergency procedures were operationalized instantly, including the deployment of law enforcement personnel. The results of these efforts, in partnership with our local law enforcement officials, resulted in the happy outcome of returning the baby safely to his family and we are incredibly thankful of their support."

 Authorities have identified and charged the woman accused of abducting a 7-week-old baby from the King of Prussia Mall on Thursday night, and we're also learning new details about the incident.Cherie Amoore, 32, has been charged with kidnapping of a minor, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, interference with the custody of a child, concealment of the whereabouts of a child and other related charges. She was arraigned and held on $500,000 cash bail.The baby, Ahsir Simmons, was found safe a few hours after the abduction.Amoore said nothing going into court for her arraignment on Friday, but she and relatives openly wept inside the courtroom."It's a very difficult day for everyone. Difficult for her, difficult for her family, and you saw her in the courtroom. She was shaken," said public defender Greg Nester.According to police documents, Amoore told detectives she gave birth to a boy on Feb. 11, but the baby only lived a few hours, and she never told anyone the child had died.She then allegedly told police, "I don't know why I did it. I can't explain it. I held him, and all those feelings rushed back. I just wanted my baby. I felt like I was holding my son again. It felt so good. I didn't want to lose that feeling. I was crazy. I never intended to do anything like this."Police have not been able to confirm that pregnancy, and friends of Amoore tell Action News they were skeptical she was pregnant.The kidnapping was reported at around 5:45 p.m. Thursday.Police say Amoore had approached the family and began talking with the mother, asking how old the baby was. During the course of the conversation, Amoore allegedly said she had a baby about the same age.Amoore followed them around while engaging in small talk, went to stores with them, followed them to the food court, and sat at their table, according to the affidavit.When the mother arrived after getting food, police say Amoore was still at the table.According to the affidavit, Amoore asked the mother if she could hold the baby, but was told "no." While the mom was helping other children, police say the baby began to cry and Amoore took him from his stroller and began to console him.The mom told police she was distracted by the other children and, when her back was turned, Amoore ran off with the baby. She started to chase after Amoore, but lost sight of her when she turned to check on her other son, who was still at the table.Two people sitting nearby pointed out which direction Amoore went, police say, but by then she was gone.Chopper 6 was overhead as police searched cars at the mall.Investigators say, after the kidnapping, Amoore took little Ahsir to show him to relatives.However, once news of the abduction emerged and surveillance video of the abductor was released, police say family members recognized her and notified police.Meanwhile, police reviewed video showing Amoore talking to another woman shortly before the abduction. That woman also helped police identify the suspect.Those tips brought police to a home above a barber shop in Tredyffrin Township, Chester County, where Ahsir was found safe and Amoore was taken into custody.Police say when she answered the door, Amoore said "I took the baby and I am sorry." The baby was asleep in a car seat belonging to Amoore, police say."She has told our investigators that she did not go to the mall with intention to steal a baby," said Chief Tom Nolan."I just got up and walked away," Amoore is quoted as saying in the police affidavit. "I remember walking, it was like an out of body experience."Action News was there as baby Ahsir was reunited with his family at the Upper Merion police station.His mother, Malika Hunter, said, "I would like to thank God for allowing my baby to come back. And, I want to thank the Upper Merion Police Department, and everybody on social media that helped me get my baby back. I want to thank you so much."Hunter says she has not been able to sleep since her ordeal. She tells Action News she is still in shock about what happened, and now fears taking her children outside."For you to come along to take somebody else's child to fill your void, and try to leave me with one is not right," said Hunter. "I have a sister that suffered the same loss, but you don't see her out here kidnapping and stealing people's children.""I lost my son and I was hurt, and what I never want to do is put that hurt on somebody else," said Quydeira Hunter, sister. "So for her to use that as an excuse, that's not an excuse."Hunter, who also has another young son, Ahmad, says her children are her world. And while she is deeply grateful to have Ahsir back, the ordeal has left her deeply scared."From this situation, I don't wanna go outside anymore, I don't want to take my kids out, I just want to keep my kids in the house where they're safe," said Hunter. "I don't trust no one. Now I feel as though if I go somewhere, my kids are a target now. I don't wanna go nowhere."Cherie Amoore is the daughter of Renee Amoore, who is both the deputy chairman of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania and a panelist on 6abc's "Inside Story." She had no comment outside court.Shoppers were in disbelief that something like this could happen with all the police presence and surveillance cameras at the mall."It's unbelievable. That's crazy," said Sara Elhollal of King of Prussia. "I feel so bad for the mother."And yet there were others who were completely oblivious to what was happening."They didn't make an announcement. They didn't do anything, they didn't say anything," said Camrah Carter of Camden, New Jersey."How am I supposed to know that's going on if nobody says anything?" said Amina Sabre of Camden, New Jersey.In a statement, a King of Prussia Mall spokesman said: ||||| A woman is in custody after she allegedly kidnapped a baby at the King of Prussia Mall. But what was the actual motive behind the kidnapping? NBC10's Randy Gyllenhaal has the details. (Published Saturday, April 2, 2016)

 Less than 24 hours after her infant son was kidnapped by a woman at the King of Prussia Mall, a Philadelphia mother is speaking out for the first time.

 Alleged KOP Mall Kidnapper Weeps in Court

 NBC10's Deanna Durante was in court Friday to hear the confession of kidnapping suspect Cherie Amoore. Amoore was seen on surveillance video taking a baby out of King of Prussia Mall on Thursday, according to police. (Published Friday, April 1, 2016)

 "I'm glad he's in my arms at this moment," said Malika Hunter. "I didn't know what the outcome of this situation would be."

 Cherie Amoore Walks Out of Arraignment

 Suspected kidnapper, Cherie Amoore walks out of district court after facing felony kidnapping charges in the abduction of a 7-week-old baby at the King of Prussia Mall Thursday evening. (Published Friday, April 1, 2016)

 Hunter told NBC10 the ordeal began Thursday when she took her children, including 7-week-old Ahsir, to the King of Prussia Mall. She says she met 32-year-old Cherie Amoore at a jewelry store and the two quickly bonded.

 Cherie Amoore

 "She was so polite," Hunter said. "Nice, calm and energetic. Like the normal, average person."

 Mall Security Concerns and Praises After Baby Reunited with Family

 NBC10's Lauren Mayk spoke with King of Prussia Mall security officials Friday regarding how they identified a woman accused of kidnapping a baby and what their role was in helping police find the suspect and child. (Published Friday, April 1, 2016)

 Hunter says Amoore asked her about Ahsir and the two bonded over being mothers.

 "She was just stressed and she just had a new baby and the father is in the military so that puts all the work on her," Hunter said. "It was relatable. She ain't been out in a while."

 Kidnapped Baby Reunited with Family in Frankford

 Malika Hunter is now reunited with her 7-week-old child after he was kidnapped by a woman in King of Prussia Mall. NBC10's Aundrea Cline-Thomas caught up with the mother in their neighborhood of Frankford. (Published Friday, April 1, 2016)

 The two continued talking as they headed to the food court. During their conversation, Amoore asked Hunter if she could hold Ahsir. While police initially said Hunter let Amoore hold him, they later said Hunter told her "no" and never handed him to her. Hunter told NBC10 she began tending to her 2-year-old son who was growing irritable. That's when Amoore took Ahsir from his stroller and walked away, according to police.

 Awaiting Charges for KOP Mall Abduction Suspect

 NBC10's Drew Smith has the latest as Upper Merion Township Police prepared charges Friday against a woman they say took a 7-week-old boy from the King of Prussia Mall. (Published Friday, April 1, 2016)

 "When I realized it was really happening it was like my heart could just bust open at any moment," Hunter said. "At any moment I could just hit that floor. It was the worst feeling I ever felt in my life."

 Police said Amoore walked up a set of stairs and then walked by the Bonefish Grill before exiting the mall. Surveillance video shows Amoore with Ahsir in her arms leaving the mall around 5:30 p.m., according to investigators.

 Caught on Cam: Woman Kidnaps Baby at KOP Mall: Police

 Police released surveillance video of a woman who they say kidnapped a baby at the King of Prussia Mall Thursday night. (Published Thursday, March 31, 2016)

 Hunter alerted police and an extensive search began.

 Police stopped cars as they left the mall as well as SEPTA buses. The FBI assisted with the search and an Amber Alert was issued both on television and through push notifications Thursday night. Police searched for the baby in Montgomery and Chester counties. Police Scour King of Prussia Mall After Abduction

 NBC10's own Monique Braxton, who was shopping, was among the motorists searched after a woman took a 7-week-old boy from the King of Prussia Mall Thursday night. The boy was found safe in Chester County later in the evening. (Published Friday, April 1, 2016)

 Around 10:30 p.m., police announced the good news that the boy had been found safe and Amoore was in custody. Police said they found Amoore and the baby inside a home on the 900 block of Upper Gulph Road in Tredyffrin Township. Friends say the man who lives at the home had a relationship with Amoore. While the man declined to comment, his mother spoke to NBC10, telling us her son had no idea about the kidnapping.

 "All he knew is when he got home from work," said Gladys Biggers. "She was there too."

 The baby's family dealt with a roller coaster of emotions throughout the ordeal.

 "I was like hysterical I was going through it," said Burdette Lewis, the boy's grandfather. "We all prayed in there together."

 Their prayers were answered as they had him back in their arms at the Upper Merion Police headquarters late Thursday night.

 "(The family) thanks the police officers and all of them for doing their job," said Lewis.

 Investigators said Amoore showed off the child to family and friends at a handful of locations before being caught. They also said she gave the baby boy a bath and new pajamas.

 Amoore is charged with felony kidnapping, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment and other related offenses following a formal arraignment Friday afternoon. She is currently being held on $500,000 bail.

 Police don't believe Amoore, who lives in the King or Prussia area, has any connections to the baby's family, which lives in Philadelphia's Port Richmond section. They're still trying to determine a motive.

 "She has told our investigators she did not go to the mall to steal a baby," said Upper Merion Police Chief Tom Nolan. "She also told investigators that she gave birth to a baby boy on February 11 which died a few hours later. We have not been able to confirm any of that story."

 Police are currently looking at Amoore's medical records to confirm her pregnancy.

 Amoore is the daughter of Republican Party of Pennsylvania Deputy Chairman Renee Amoore, a longtime GOP advocate. NBC10 approached Renee Amoore as well as a family pastor for comment.

 KOP Kidnapping Suspect Has Well-Connected Background

 NBC10's Brandon Hudson was in court to see the emotional reaction of KOP mall kidnapping suspect Cherie Amoore's mother, Rene, a well-connected member of the Republican Party in Pennsylvania. (Published Friday, April 1, 2016)

 "I'm just here as the family's pastor, supporter and keeping them in prayer," the pastor said. "Keep the other family in prayer as well."

 Amoore's family also issued a statement Friday night saying they were focused on her health and wellness. They also asked for privacy.

 Amoore's attorney said Renee's political status did not have any impact on her daughter's alleged decision to kidnap the baby.

 Hunter told NBC10 she hopes Amoore gets proper help.

 "She needs help," she said. "Get her some help. That's what she needs."

 For many smartphone users the official Amber Alert notification was not sent until around four hours after the baby was kidnapped. In the state of Pennsylvania, sending out an Amber Alert is a process with at least three steps. Local authorities notify the state police, the state police notify the National Center for Missing Children in Washington, DC, and then the National Center for Missing Children sends the alert to phones.

 Before law enforcement officials issue an Amber Alert they must first believe an abduction occurred and that the child, under the age of 17, is in imminent danger. They also need enough descriptive information to assist in a recovery. Chief Nolan insisted those criteria were quickly met on a local level.

 "I know that the Amber Alert that went out through the Upper Merion Police Department went out to all surrounding jurisdictions in Montgomery County within the first few minutes," he said.

 What Caused the Amber Alert Delay During KOP Mall Kidnapping Case?

 What caused the delay in the Amber Alert notification after the King of Prussia Mall kidnapping? NBC10's George Spencer investigates. (Published Saturday, April 2, 2016)

 Pennsylvania State Police told NBC10 their watch center was first contacted at 7:45 p.m. Thursday but it took an hour for them to obtain appropriate pictures and information. They then activated the Amber Alert at 8:48 p.m. With that activation, State Police notified the National Center for Missing Children in DC which sent the alerts to phones, a process that took about 45 minutes. |||||

Write a summary.

– A woman befriended a mom and kids at Pennsylvania's King of Prussia Mall on Thursday night and then, when the mom was briefly distracted by her older children, grabbed the baby out of his stroller and ran off. Malika Hunter, the mother of 7-week-old Ahsir Simmons, ran after her, but turned back to check on a child still sitting at their food court table and lost track of her. A search was launched and surveillance video was released showing 32-year-old Cherie Amoore allegedly leaving the mall with Ahsir in her arms, and within hours, both had been found, 6ABC reports. Amoore, who was arraigned Friday on charges of kidnapping, false imprisonment, and more, claims that she gave birth to a baby boy on Feb. 11, but he died shortly after birth and she never told anyone. "I just wanted my baby. I felt like I was holding my son again," she reportedly told police. But police haven't been able to confirm her story, and friends tell 6ABC they're not sure Amoore was ever really pregnant. While talking to the baby's family at the mall, Amoore told his mother she had a baby around the same age; Hunter says Amoore seemed "nice" and like a "normal, average" person, NBC Philadelphia reports. Shortly before Amoore allegedly took Ahsir, she asked if she could hold him, but his mother refused. Then, when Hunter was distracted and Ahsir started to cry in his stroller, Amoore allegedly picked him up and left. Police say she took him to show her relatives and friends at a few different locations, and it was her family members who recognized her on the surveillance video that was released and called the cops. Ahsir was asleep in a carseat owned by Amoore when police found him; police say Amoore had also given him a bath and new pajamas.


News article:

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 This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. ||||| poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201810/1097/1155968404_5842963961001_5842958151001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true white house White House corrects Trump's insult in press conference transcript

 The White House on Tuesday corrected its official transcript of President Donald Trump's Monday press conference in which he insulted an ABC reporter.

 At Monday's Rose Garden press conference, held to mark the trade deal agreement struck by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, Trump called on ABC News' Cecilia Vega. As Vega was waiting for a microphone to be passed to her, Trump said, “she’s shocked that I picked her. Like in a state of shock.”

 Story Continued Below

 “I’m not, thank you, Mr. President," Vega responded.

 "That’s okay. I know you’re not thinking, you never do," Trump replied.

 The initial transcript, released several hours after the press conference, quoted as Trump saying, "I know you're not thanking. You never do."

 Vega proceeded to ask a question about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh that Trump refused to answer, insisting that he would only take trade-related questions before moving on to other subjects. The president later returned to Vega, allowing her to ask her Kavanaugh question.

 The exchange went viral online, with Vega tweeting: “A news conference means you get to ask whatever question you want to ask. #FirstAmendment.” |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– President Trump made headlines Monday when he delivered a slam to ABC News journalist Cecilia Vega. Then the White House kept the story alive with a controversial official transcript—one that toned down Trump's remark—before fixing it after an outcry. You can watch the original back and forth for yourself in this video. Trump selects Vega to ask the first question at a news conference, then jokes that she is shocked at that. "I'm not, thank you, Mr. President," Vega responded. Trump, apparently mishearing her, then says, "I know you're not thinking. You never do." However, Politico reports that the first version of the White House transcript, out later Monday, quotes Trump as saying: "I know you're not thanking. You never do." The transcript was spotted by Voice of America journalist Steve Herman, who tweeted the pertinent section and said he wasn't buying it. "I was sitting just behind her in the Rose Garden and we all clearly heard him say: "I know you're not thinking. You never do.” As critics accused the White House of whitewashing the exchange, a revised transcript appeared Tuesday morning, reflecting that Trump did indeed say "thinking," reports NBC News.


Write a summary based on this article:

By Fred Kiva

 A game ranger's two and a half year old child has been eaten by a leopard at Mweya Safari Lodge in Queen Elizabeth National Park.

 Elisha Nabugyere was killed by the wild animal on Friday at around 7:30pm.

 His father, SSP Francis Manana Nabugyere says the child was attacked at their house doorway where he was seated at the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) staff quarters.

 "He was seated with the maid when the leopard grabbed and ran with him. Efforts to rescue him did not yield, we later recovered the skull and some other bones," SSP Nabugyere, an officer at the police senior Command and staff college Bwebajja told Kampala Post.

 The deceased's mother who is a park ranger was at the neighbour’s at the time, according to Mr Nabugyere.

 He says his son's remains have been buried.

 "UWA gave us the coffin. I have not talked to them about the incident but I would expect something reasonable to compensate me, although my son's life is gone," Nabugyere said, challenging UWA to do more in ensuring the security of their staff and children.

 UWA communications manager Bashir Hangi described the incident as unfortunate. He was however not specific on whether the parents would be compensated or not, saying: "We have an arrangement for our staff who lose their lives or their loved ones in the line of duty."

 He revealed that efforts are underway to track down the killer leopard.

 "We are working towards establishing the leopard and evaluating options such as relocating it somewhere else. It is not good to keep it there,” he said in Watsapp message to this reporter. ||||| Ugandan authorities are hunting for a leopard in Queen Elizabeth National park after it snatched and ate a ranger's three-year-old son.

 The toddler had been left in the care of a nanny at the unfenced staff quarters of a safari lodge in the park, when he was taken by the leopard on Friday night.

 Wildlife authority spokesman Bashir Hangi said the child had followed the nanny outdoors.

 "The maid was not aware the child followed her. She heard the kid scream for help, she intervened but it was too late the leopard had vanished with it in the bush and a search was mounted until we got the skull the next day," he said.

 "The hunt is on with the intention of capturing the leopard and removing it from the wild because once it has eaten human flesh, the temptations are high to eat another human being, it becomes dangerous," he added. ||||| CLOSE Authorities are trying to capture a leopard who killed a toddler while at the Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. Tony Spitz has the details. Buzz60

 A leopard sits in a tree at the Mashatu game reserve in Botswana. (Photo: CAMERON SPENCER, Getty Images)

 A 2-year-old toddler was attacked and killed by a leopard on Friday at the Mweya Safari Lodge in Uganda's Queen Elizabeth National Park.

 The boy was following his nanny into the kitchen of the park's staff headquarters when he was snatched by the leopard and dragged into bushes. The child's mother is a game ranger at the park, and was working when the incident happened.

 The Kampala Postoriginally reported the story. Bashir Hangi, a spokesman for the Uganda Wildlife Authority, told the Post on Tuesday that the nanny heard the child scream and then saw the animal dragging the boy to the bush.

 The nanny chased after the boy and animal, but to no avail. The headquarters are reportedly in a protected area popular with tourists.

 A search team later found the boy’s skull and "some other bones" on Saturday, indicating that the leopard had eaten the boy. Francis Manana Nabugyere, the boy's father, said they buried his son's remains over the weekend.

 Nabugyere also said he expects compensation from UWA , and said he wants to see heightened security that would help protect staff and children.

 "UWA gave us the coffin," Nabugyere told the Kampala Post. "I have not talked to them about the incident but I would expect something reasonable to compensate me, although my son's life is gone."

 The incident has shocked many in Uganda, where leopard attacks on humans are rare.

 Hangi also responded to a reporter for the Kampala Post via WhatsApp on plans to track down the leopard.

 "We are working towards establishing the leopard and evaluating options such as relocating it somewhere else. It is not good to keep it there,” he said.

 The killing of the toddler comes as the fourth unfortunate incident for the UWA in recent weeks. A pride of 11 lions died on April 11 in Queen Elizabeth National Park, a French tourist died on April 14 on park grounds and another lion died at the end of April.

 Contributing: Associated Press

 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2Io4wXm |||||

– A horrifying story out of Uganda, where a toddler was grabbed and eaten by a leopard Friday at the Mweya Safari Lodge in Queen Elizabeth National Park. The 2-year-old boy's mother is a game ranger at the park and was working, and the boy was with his nanny in the kitchen of the family's home in the park's staff quarters, near a doorway. "He was seated with the maid when the leopard grabbed and ran with him," the boy's father tells the Kampala Post. But a spokesperson for the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) says the boy followed the nanny outdoors: "The maid was not aware the child followed her. She heard the kid scream for help, she intervened but it was too late the leopard had vanished with it in the bush." The staff quarters are reportedly in a protected area that is popular with tourists, USA Today reports, but the family's home is said to be unfenced. A search team ultimately found some of the boy's bones, including his skull, and they were buried over the weekend. The boy's father says he expects compensation from the UWA and that the organization should do more to protect staff and their families. "UWA gave us the coffin," he says. "I have not talked to them about the incident but I would expect something reasonable to compensate me, although my son's life is gone." Leopard attacks on humans are rare in Uganda. The UWA spokesperson says efforts are being made to locate the leopard and possibly relocate it. "The hunt is on with the intention of capturing the leopard and removing it from the wild because once it has eaten human flesh, the temptations are high to eat another human being, it becomes dangerous," he says, per the Telegraph.


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University of WisconsinArchive-It Partner Since: Aug, 2007Organization Type: Colleges & UniversitiesOrganization URL: http://archives.library.wisc.edu This collection currently includes two distinct sub-collections: The UW-Madison Collection and The Stem Cell Research Archives Project.The UW-Madison Collection includes University of Wisconsin Web sites that document many aspects of campus life including university administration, colleges, departments, and major campus organizations, student life, research, buildings, and special and ongoing events. We also crawl UW System and Colleges administration and UW Extension Web sites.The Stem Cell Research Archives Project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries collects, preserves, and provides access to records of stem cell research at UW-Madison and reactions in Wisconsin to work accomplished or underway at UW-Madison.For more information about these collections or UW campus history, visit http://archives.library.wisc.edu or contact uwarchiv@library.wisc.edu. On Wisconsin! ||||| New York is no longer the city with the biggest super-rich population.

 Hong Kong overtook the Big Apple to become the top destination for the planet's wealthiest people last year, according to a study published Thursday by research firm Wealth-X. The number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) residing in the Asian financial hub rose by almost a third in 2017 to 10,000, the study said.

 New York had held the top spot since Wealth-X first started ranking cities in 2011. The firm defines a UHNWI as a person worth $30 million or more.

 It said the rise in the number of ultra rich in Hong Kong was propelled by its booming stock market and growing financial links with the broader Chinese economy.

 China's rapid economic growth in recent decades has helped drive a dramatic increase in the number of ultra-rich people in the region.

 Among Hong Kong's most prominent billionaires are Li Ka-shing, whose Cheung Kong (CKHUY) empire controls ports, telecommunications networks and energy companies across the globe.

 No single city in mainland China made it into Wealth-X's top 10 in terms of its number of super-rich individuals.

 It said that was because Chinese wealth was not concentrated in any one area, but distributed around the country. Its wealthiest citizens include tech tycoons Jack Ma and Pony Ma who founded internet juggernauts Alibaba (BABA) and Tencent (TCEHY), respectively.

 "The dynamism of wealth creation across China's vast landscape is nevertheless staggering," the report read.

 Overall, the United States remains the preferred country for the world's richest and is home to almost a third of the world's ultra-high-net-worth individuals.

 But Asia, and China in particular, are catching up. Last year the number of ultra-rich people in Asia rose by 20%. Rising Asian wealth has been helped by increasing consumer spending, more investment in infrastructure and economic reforms, among other factors, Wealth-X said.

 "Asia-Pacific is forecast to close the ultra-wealth gap with other regions over the next five years," the report added.

 For the past four years, the region's tally of people with $1 million in investable assets has been higher than anywhere else in the world, according to another study by consulting firm Capgemini. And by one estimate, China alone already has more billionaires than the United States.

 But things could get tougher in 2018. China faces headwinds from its trade war with the United States and the huge levels of debt in its financial system. Chinese stocks entered a bear market this year, while its currency has plunged versus the dollar.

 Globally, the number of ultra-rich individuals rose by 13% last year to more than 250,000. Their combined total wealth hit $31.5 trillion, boosted by an upturn in the global economy and good performances of stock markets.

 Other cities in the top 10 for global wealth included Tokyo, Los Angeles, Paris and London. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Looking to hobnob with the rich but not necessarily famous? Although New York City used to be where you'd be find the largest population of super-rich people in the world, Hong Kong has taken over the top spot this year, CNNMoney notes. That's per a new report from research firm Wealth-X, which looked for how many UHNWIs (ultra-high-net-worth individuals) reside in cities around the globe. To qualify as an UHNWI for this study, an individual had to be worth $30 million or more, and thanks to its robust stock market and ties to a burgeoning Chinese economy, Hong Kong now claims more than 10,000 of these super-rich residents. The Big Apple falls to second place with nearly 8,900. Here, the top 10 cities and the number of UHNWIs in each:


Nastassja Kinski praises sister for reporting sex abuse

 Nastassja Kinski is seen here in 1993

 Continue reading the main story Related Stories

 The actress Nastassja Kinski has praised her half-sister Pola for her courage in reporting that their late father Klaus abused her as a child.

 Pola said she had been abused between the ages of five and 19 by the actor, who died in 1991 after a career making some of Germany's most notable films.

 Nastassja was quoted by Bild newspaper as saying she was "deeply shocked" by the revelations.

 But she was proud, she added, that Pola had found the strength to speak out.

 The elder sister, 60, made the revelations in an interview published by Stern magazine on Thursday, ahead of the publication of her autobiography.

 Klaus Kinski acted in spaghetti westerns before starring in films by director Werner Herzog which included Aguirre The Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) and Fitzcarraldo (1982).

 Revered by many for his film work long after his death, he was also famous for his numerous sexual liaisons with adults.

 'Heroine'

 Klaus Kinski died in 1991

 "My sister is a heroine, because she has freed her heart, her soul and also her future from the weight of the secret," Nastassja Kinski said.

 "This is a difficult moment for me. I am on my sister's side, I support her. I am deeply shocked."

 The actress, 51, whose films include Roman Polanski's Tess and Paris Texas by Wim Wenders, said she had read Pola's words and wept.

 Pola's book Kindermund, she argued, would help "all the children, adolescents and mothers who fear their father and swallow this fear to hide it in the depths of their souls".

 Pola Kinski, herself an actress, spoke to Stern ahead of the release of her autobiography.

 She said she had decided to speak out about the abuse because of the continuing adulation for her father.

 "The terrible thing is that he once told me that it was completely natural, that fathers all over the world did that with their daughters," she said.

 "He was paying for me to be his little sex object, placed on silk cushions."

 A biographer of Klaus Kinski, Christian David, told BBC News there had been rumours about the relationship between the actor and Pola for years before this week's revelations. ||||| Two questions are enough to reveal the deep complexity of German actor Klaus Kinski's appeal: Why are we so fascinated with him? And why are we simultaneously so repelled?

 The answer to both questions is the same. It was his madness, his not always successful tightrope walk between sanity and lunacy. And it is an answer that remains unchanged even after his daughter's disturbing interview this week, in which she said he had sexually abused her.

 The first reaction to the news was a visceral one: Will it ever be possible to enjoy being a Kinski fan again? Or is it even possible to continue being a Kinski fan at all? Still, given Kinski's unique genius for providing an unobstructed glimpse into his disturbed soul, the confirmation of evil somehow fit seamlessly into our overall image of him.

 It is an image that began with his voice. In his famous German language recitation of Frenchman François Villon's poetry, it pulsates and erupts with emotion; he needs but a breath to move from violence to tenderness. And both were part of his schizophrenic personality. To hear it is to accept that the voice's owner must be borderline insane. Or a genius. Or an insane genius, which is how we prefer our geniuses to be.

 It is obvious to viewers of Kinski's most important films that this madness is not acted, but a state that he could easily cross into. The films he made with Werner Herzog were particularly bleak journeys, and not just into the lost biographies of his heroes, all of whom were diabolical characters. They were also trips into the soul of his tortured lead actor -- and that is what gave his works such power.

 Tormented by an Egomaniac

 In "Aguirre, the Wrath of God," Kinski was the conquistador who drove his men into death, leaving just the monkeys of the jungle at the end. In "Fitzcarraldo," he plays a wraithlike adventurer who wants to build an opera house in the heart of the wilderness. In "Nosferatu," he portrayed a deceitfully innocent-looking vampire who robbed souls. In "Cobra Verde," he was a slaveholder and child molester. It was only in "Woyzeck" that Kinski failed. The original figure was an underling at the mercy of others -- and that is a role that Kinski was unable to play. Klaus Kinski, after all, only ever played himself.

 Nobody knew that better than director Werner Herzog. Indeed, it would be interesting to know how he feels about the allegations of abuse levelled against him by his daughter. Because Herzog belongs to that group of people who, in their own way, were all tormented somehow by the egomaniac Kinski, who died in 1991. As a 13-year-old, Herzog shared an apartment with Kinski for three months, when the young actor "from the very first moment terrorized everyone" with his fits of rage, Herzog said. Just how traumatic this experience must have been for the sensitive youth who went on to become a filmmaker is depicted in the documentary "My Best Fiend."

 Herzog got to know Kinski as a wild-eyed madman, which is exactly how he cast him in his films. The result was a series of masterpieces bristling with the kind of megalomaniacal power that the world hasn't seen since. Had Kinski made comedies, they would have been eternally destroyed by his daughter's revelations. But, horrifyingly, the films he made with Herzog survive. Even worse, the evil within them has become more genuine, retroactively authenticated by the depravity of their lead actor. There is a difference between playing a role involving incest and actually living it out as Kinski has been accused of doing. It is the difference between being an artist and being a criminal.

 It had always been clear to enthralled audiences, as they watched Kinski dance on the precipice of lunacy, that they wouldn't be able to stand the man for even five minutes in real life. His daughter, however, was left at the mercy of this crazy genius. Three years ago, her younger sister Nastassja Kinski said in an interview: "He hurt us so badly. It is good that some people don't remain in this world for longer." Her sister Pola has now provided the background for that verdict. He was probably the monstrous psychopath that we always thought he was. In the Friday edition of the tabloid Bild, Nastassja describes her sister as a "hero" for coming forward with the accusations.

 Horribly Unbearable

 Kinski didn't even try to hide his mindset. His comments in a 1977 talk show -- displaying as always his disregard for God, the world and societal morals -- are legendary. "Here, you land in prison for sleeping with a 12-year-old girl; in the Orient, they marry at age 11. Isn't that absurd?" he said to approving laughter from the audience.

 It is exactly this deification that Pola Kinski has courageously contradicted. It is courageous because she is not only taking on her father, but also his adoring fans. Are we accomplices because we interpreted his unveiled criminal cravings as art?

 For "My Best Fiend," Herzog traveled to sites where the movies he made with Kinski were filmed. He presented outtakes and archival material and showed the physical and psychological violence his lead actor exhibited on the set. "He would scream at me for hours, two inches away from my face," Herzog says in the film. But he also noted that "he was also very loving with me then and would kiss me and hold me and could also be very emotional and very moving." Herzog reached the conclusion that working with insanity had made him crazy -- or complicit -- as well. His therapeutic documentary ends with the weak claim that their joint derangement must have converged to create great art.

 "My Best Fiend" ends with a conciliatory scene of unexpected gentleness -- a scene that, in light of the new revelations, is horribly unbearable. An enthralled, laughing Kinski is playing with a butterfly that is fluttering about. Herzog says with feeling: "Then I see him with a butterfly, softly, delicately. The little creature doesn't want to leave him, and is so unafraid. Sometimes it seems to me that Klaus himself turns into a butterfly. Everything that weighed on us is gone. And even though my mind revolts against it, something deep inside tells me this is the way I'd like to keep him in my memory."

 That, however, is no longer possible. And perhaps it's better that way. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– The daughter of madman actor Klaus Kinski says he raped her repeatedly throughout her youth and showed not a shred of remorse, Der Spiegel reports. Pola Kinski, now 60, says the star of Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre, the Wrath of God "flouted everything—even the fact that I often resisted and said, 'I don't want to.' He didn't care. He simply took what he wanted." The BBC reports that she describes herself as "his little sex object" from ages 5 to 19. "The terrible thing is that he once told me that it was completely natural, that fathers all over the world did that with their daughters." Pola's sister Nastassja Kinski said she is "deeply shocked" by her sister's story: "My sister is a heroine, because she has freed her heart, her soul and also her future from the weight of the secret." But an op-ed piece in Der Spiegel argues that Klaus Kinski's "alleged depravity" has only authenticated the "evil that he oozed on the silver screen." Writes Arno Frank: "They were also trips into the soul of his tortured lead actor—and that is what gave his works such power." Pola Kinski, also an actor, made the revelations in advance of her upcoming memoir Kindermund, or Child's Mouth. Her father died in 1991, at age 65, of a heart attack.


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Image copyright iStock/Norimoto Image caption It's easy to see why tourists flock to Palau but the government wants to attract fewer people and more money

 Palau wants to cut the number of tourists visiting its idyllic shores by making it a more expensive place to visit.

 President Tommy Remengesau wants to rebrand the Pacific island state as a luxury destination and is proposing a new law that would allow only five-star hotel developments in future, Radio New Zealand International reports. He's offering tax breaks for high-end investors if they sort out all their own infrastructure needs, such as building roads and designing water treatment systems for the resorts.

 Palau relies heavily on tourism, but in recent years locals have complained about an influx of visitors causing overcrowding at popular sites, damaging coral reefs and disturbing wildlife. The biggest increase has been among Chinese tour groups, and in 2015 the government announced it was halving the number of charter flights arriving from China.

 President Remengesau says the proposed law focuses on "quality rather than quantity", and he makes clear that Palau wants to attract big spenders, Marianas Variety reports. But he says it's also about developing the islands in a way that respects the natural environment and those who call the country home.

 "There's a right way to do things and there's a wrong way to do things," he says, adding that when it comes to development, "the best spots around the world have blended in with the environment".

 Next story: Marshall Islands struggle to restore web

 Use #NewsfromElsewhere to stay up-to-date with our reports via Twitter. ||||| The President of Palau has proposed a new law that will allow only five-star hotels to open up on its islands, essentially closing them to all but the wealthiest visitors.

 Tommy Remengesau has expressed his desire for a “quality rather than quantity” tourism strategy – focusing on travellers with more cash to spend – after concerns were raised about the effects of mass tourism on the islands.

 Palau is renowned for its coral reefs and desert islands Credit: alamy

 In a statement to reporters, Remengesau said he wanted to encourage high-end hotels that “would come in with their own designed water treatment system [and] power back-ups. If there are any other infrastructures that they have to do, like opening a road, the investor would do that themselves.”

 The hotels would be rewarded by the government for their assistance with “the necessary tax breaks and exemptions,” said Remengesau. “It’s kind of a win-win situation for Palau and the investor.”

 Palau, a remote republic in Oceania, is pure Bounty advert territory, with pristine beaches, world-class scuba diving, and forest-covered volcanic islands. It relies on tourism for 85 per cent of its GDP, but over the years rising visitor numbers have taken their toll – with damage to local coral reefs, relative overcrowding, and wildlife disturbance.

 The archipelago is particularly popular with Chinese tourists, who visit on package holidays – but they are notorious for spending little money locally. In an effort to discourage these travellers, the Palau government halved the number of charter flights from China in 2015.

 The move appeared to pay off. “While the numbers went down, the actual tourist spending went up,” said Remengesau. “It confirms our direction [to attract] less tourists who spend more which equates to more tax dollars. We [will] go for quality rather than quantity... to create a goal of high-end, high-value tourism.”

 A traditional wooden 'bai' house in Palau Credit: alamy

 At present, there is just a handful of five-star resorts in Palau, centred around Koror – the most populous island in the state. Remengesau gave no indication of where he would like Palau’s new five-star resorts to be built, but with 500 islands to its name there is no shortage of palm-fringed beaches and superlative sea views.

 Whether the hotels will be built sustainably, in harmony with Palau’s natural assets, remains to be seen. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– The Pacific island nation of Palau boasts some stunning sights—but they don't want just anybody coming to check them out. The country's president, Tommy Remengesau, is planning to introduce legislation restricting hotel development to five-star chains, a move that would effectively make Palau a "luxury only" nation, the Telegraph reports. Remengesau says mass tourism is damaging the environment of Palau, which is made up of around 250 islands, and he wants to pursue a "quality not quantity" strategy. "There's a right way to do things and there's a wrong way to do things," says the president, per the BBC. And when it comes to development, he adds, "the best spots around the world have blended in with the environment." Radio New Zealand notes that the proposal comes after massive growth in tourism over the last couple of years, most of which involved package tours from mainland China. Remengesau says tourism spending actually went up after steps were taken to reduce the number of charter flights from China. (A tourism slogan in Australia is pretty darn explicit.)