Article:
Donald Trump Ex-Driver Sues ... I Didn't Get a Raise for 10 Years!!!

 Donald Trump's Personal Driver Sues for a Ton of Overtime Pay

 EXCLUSIVE

 The man who drove Donald Trump everywhere before he was President says he was getting financially screwed for years ... and now he's looking for the big payback.

 Noel Cintron says he was Trump's personal driver for more than 20 years until the Secret Service took that gig in 2016 -- and he says the last "meaningful" raise he got was more than a decade ago.

 According to a lawsuit, Noel says he was making $62,700 per year and, in 2006, he got bumped up to $68,000. Great, right? Well, Noel says he got another raise in 2010, but this time Trump pulled a fast one on him.

 In the suit, obtained by TMZ, he says his salary jumped up to $75k annually -- but, at the same time, he was forced to surrender his health benefits, which he says saved the Trump Corporation nearly $18k per year.

 Noel also claims to have worked about 3,300 hours of uncompensated overtime during his last 6 years on the job. Based on Noel's OT rate, he says he'd be owed about $178k ... just for the overtime.

 He's suing the Trump Corporation for lost wages and damages. ||||| LISTEN TO ARTICLE 2:57 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share Tweet Post Email

 Donald Trump’s personal driver for more than 25 years says the billionaire real estate developer didn’t pay him overtime and raised his salary only twice in 15 years, clawing back the second raise by cutting off his health benefits.

 Noel Cintron, who is listed in public records as a registered Republican, sued the Trump Organization for about 3,300 hours of overtime that he says he worked in the past six years. He’s not allowed to sue for overtime prior to that due to the statute of limitations.

 “In an utterly callous display of unwarranted privilege and entitlement and without even a minimal sense of noblesse oblige,” Trump and his businesses exploited the driver, Cintron says in the complaint.

 The driver’s allegations echo those of other Trump employees or contractors who have sued the president or his businesses over the years claiming he has underpaid them or failed to honor promises to compensate them for their work. They have included mortgage brokers, landscapers and electricians who say they were stiffed on commissions or fees.

 Last year, one of Trump’s luxury golf resorts in Florida was ordered by an appeals court to pay more than $32,000 to a supply company that claimed it wasn’t paid for paint that was used to spruce up the property.

 “Mr. Cintron was at all times paid generously and in accordance with the law,” Trump Organization spokeswoman Amanda Miller said in a statement. “Once the facts come out we expect to be fully vindicated in court.”

 Donald Trump Will See You in Court

 Cintron says he was required to be on duty for Trump starting at 7 a.m. each day until whenever Trump, his family or business associates no longer required his services. He worked as long as 55 hours per week, but was paid a fixed salary of $62,700 in 2003, $68,000 in 2006, and $75,000 in 2010, according to the complaint.

 The wage bump in 2010 came with a catch, Cintron said. He was induced to surrender his health insurance, saving Trump approximately $17,866 per year in premiums, according to the lawsuit.

 "President Trump’s further callousness and cupidity is further demonstrated by the fact that while he is purportedly a billionaire, he has not given his personal driver a meaningful raise in over 12 years!" Cintron said.

 Cintron, 59, lives in Queens, New York, his lawyer, Larry Hutcher, said in a phone interview. The driver started working for the Trump Organization about 30 years ago, and worked his way up to chauffeuring the president-to-be. He declined to comment to reporters outside his home.

 Cintron said he was Trump’s personal driver until the Secret Service took over.

 In addition to the unpaid overtime, Cintron claims the Trump Organization failed to provide annual wage notices as required by New York law. Cintron is seeking about $200,000 in damages, Hutcher said.

 The case is Cintron v. Trump Organization LLC, Supreme Court, State of New York (Manhattan).

 — With assistance by Erik Larson |||||Summary:

– President Trump's longtime personal driver says the billionaire exploited him in an "utterly callous display of unwarranted privilege and entitlement." Noel Cintron is suing the Trump Organization, claiming he was stiffed for around 3,300 hours in overtime over six years and didn't receive a "meaningful" raise for more than a decade, TMZ reports. The 59-year-old says he joined the Trump Organization more than 30 years ago and served as Trump's chauffeur for around 20 years until the Secret Service took over in 2016. He says he worked at least 50 hours a week but was paid a flat yearly salary, which rose to $75,000 in 2010, instead of time-and-a-half for overtime as required under New York law, reports the Washington Post. Cintron—whose lawyer says he is still employed by the Trump Organization—is seeking more than $200,000 in compensation for overtime worked over six years, which is as far back as his lawsuit can go under the statute of limitations, Bloomberg reports. According to his lawsuit, on one of the few occasions he received a raise, Cintron ended up losing money because the organization forced him to give up his health benefits. His lawsuit slams Trump for his "callousness and cupidity." The Trump Organization says it will fight the lawsuit. Cintron "was at all times paid generously and in accordance with the law," a spokeswoman said in a statement. "Once the facts come out we expect to be fully vindicated in court."


– The state known as America's Waiting Room is moving up in the ranks: According to Census data, Florida has officially deposed New York to become the third most populous state in the union, reports the Washington Post. The Sunshine State is now home to 19.9 million residents, compared to 19.7 million in the Empire State, but it's the difference in growth that's notable: Florida took in 293,000 new residents in the year ending July 1, or about 803 a day. New York managed just 51,000. Florida likely pushed past New York sometime in the spring, notes the AP, but it takes the Census to make it official. Interestingly and unsurprisingly, former New Yorkers make up about 10% of new Floridians. Other demographic nuggets, per the AP: Don't look for Florida to mess with Texas, America's No. 2 state with 27 million people, or No. 1 California's 38.8 million souls. The rest of the 10 most populous states: Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina, and Michigan. Six states lost population: Alaska, Connecticut, Illinois, New Mexico, Vermont, and West Virginia. North Dakota was the fastest-growing state, with a 2.2% jump that stood solidly on the shoulders of its energy boom. It's still the fourth least-populous state.

Expand this summary.

Florida added an average of 803 new residents every day over the last year to become the nation’s third-most populous state, the U.S. Census Bureau said Tuesday. At almost 19.9 million residents, Florida has supplanted New York, which clocked in at 19.7 million residents.

 New York’s growth has been much slower than that of the Sunshine State: Florida’s population grew by 293,000 over the year, while New York’s population expanded by just 51,000 residents.

 Overall, the Census Bureau’s annual report showed the U.S. population increased by three-quarters of a percent between July 1, 2013 and July 1, 2014, to 318.9 million residents.

 The report shows 44 states and the District of Columbia added population over the last year. Six states — Illinois, West Virginia, Connecticut, New Mexico, Alaska and Vermont — lost population over that period. Puerto Rico lost more of its population, 1.3 percent, or 47,000 residents, than any state.

 The fastest-growing states were mostly in the West and the South, with the exception of North Dakota, where an energy boom is attracting new residents in droves. Of the nearly 2.4 million new U.S. residents, 2 million moved to the South and West, while about 300,000 live in Midwestern or Northeastern states.

 North Dakota grew by almost 2.2 percent over the year, faster than any other state. Nevada, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Utah and Idaho all grew by more than 1.3 percent.

 Texas added more residents than any other state, at 451,000. California, Florida and Georgia all saw their populations grow by six figures. For the first time in its history, Georgia surpassed the 10 million resident mark, joining Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York, Florida, Texas and California as the only states with populations in the eight-figure range. ||||| ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — It's official: Florida has surpassed New York in population to become the third-most populous state in the union.

 Figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau show that Florida has at least 19.9 million residents. The number is likely higher because the Census uses the population as of July 1 to create its estimate.

 New York had 19.7 million residents.

 Florida added almost 300,000 new residents from 2013 to 2014, or a little more than 800 new residents a day. By contrast, New York grew by only 51,000 over that time period.

 Florida likely reached the milestone sometime last spring, but it wasn't official until the Census said so.

 An Associated Press analysis earlier this year showed that ex-New Yorkers represented about 1 in 10 new Florida residents. Migrants from other countries made up about a quarter of Florida's new residents.

 Florida has a way to go before it catches up with California and Texas, the largest and second-largest states. California has 38.8 million residents; Texas has 27 million residents.

 The other states rounding out the 10 largest in the nation are: Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina and Michigan. North Carolina slipped by Michigan for the ninth spot on the list.

 Six states saw population declines: Illinois, West Virginia, Connecticut, New Mexico, Alaska and Vermont.

 Fueled by an energy boom, North Dakota was the fastest-growing state in the nation, even though it is still the fourth least-populous state in the union. Its population increased 2.2 percent and now stands at 739,000. The other fastest-growing states from 2013 to 2014 were Nevada and Texas, which both had population increases of 1.7 percent. |||||


KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The NFL said Tuesday that Kansas City Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah should not have been penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct when he dropped to his knees in prayer after an interception.

 In this Sept. 29, 2014, photo, Kansas City Chiefs free safety Husain Abdullah, left, gets up in the end zone after dropping to his knees in prayer as New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman,... (Associated Press)

 Kansas City Chiefs free safety Husain Abdullah carries the ball after intercepting a pass and running it back 39 yards for a touchdown during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the New... (Associated Press)

 In this Sept. 29, 2014, photo, Kansas City Chiefs free safety Husain Abdullah prays after intercepting a pass and running it back for a touchdown during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against... (Associated Press)

 The league's rule book prohibits players from celebrating while on the ground, but spokesman Michael Signora wrote in an email Tuesday that the "officiating mechanic in this situation is not to flag a player who goes to the ground as part of religious expression, and as a result, there should have been no penalty on the play."

 The flag thrown in the fourth quarter of Kansas City's 41-14 victory over the New England Patriots on Monday night led to criticism on social media, with many wondering how it was different from players such as former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow dropping to one knee in Christian prayer.

 Abdullah is a devout Muslim who took a year off from football to make a pilgrimage to Mecca. He said after Monday's game that he knew before he even reached the end zone he would drop to his knees in thankful prayer after intercepting Tom Brady.

 After he slid to the grass in Arrowhead Stadium, yellow flags came flying from the officials.

 "I don't think it was because of the actual prostration that I got the penalty," Abdullah told The Associated Press afterward. "I think it was because of the slide."

 And that's precisely the explanation that Chiefs coach Andy Reid said he received from the game officials. They had no issue with the prayer, Reid said, only the celebratory slide.

 The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil liberties and advocacy organization, issued a statement early Tuesday asking that the NFL take steps in response to the penalty.

 "To prevent the appearance of a double standard, we urge league officials to clarify the policy on prayer and recognize that the official made a mistake in this case," CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said.

 Reid didn't agree with the penalty, but he also didn't make much of it.

 "When you go to Mecca," he said, referring to the end zone, "you should have the privilege to slide anywhere you want to slide. We have two priests in here. I think they will vouch for me."

 Indeed, there were two pastors sitting in Reid's postgame news conference.

 Abdullah is in his second year with the Chiefs after spending an entire season away from the game. He decided that, in the prime of his career, he would join his brother Hamza — who also was playing in the NFL at the time — to make a pilgrimage to Mecca. The Fifth Pillar of Islam is The Hajj, the pilgrimage that all Muslims are supposed to make once in their lifetime.

 Abdullah, who also fasts during Ramadan, told the AP in an interview last year the brothers wanted to make sure they did the pilgrimage while they still had the health and means to go.

 In the case of Hamza, it proved costly. He never got a shot to return to the NFL.

 Husain Abdullah said he didn't expect any repercussions from his penalty Monday night, least of all from his coach. After all, it was Reid who gave him an opportunity to work his way back into the league after he had stepped away.

 "I'm pretty sure he understands who I am, what my faith is," he said. "And again, I think the prostration is all right. It's the slide. Come to a full stop, get down, make the prostration, get up and get out."

 ___

 Online:

 AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ||||| Husain Abdullah is a devout Muslim. He’s also a safety for the Chiefs, and he made a promise to himself if he ever did find himself in the end zone.

 “If I get a pick, I’m going to prostrate before God in the end zone,” Abdullah said.

 Early in the fourth quarter, Abdullah dropped deep in a zone coverage, read Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s eyes and broke hard, intercepting his pass.

 Abdullah then dashed 39 yards to the end zone, slid on his knees and bowed in prayer.

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 His celebration drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, but the NFL said Tuesday that Abdullah should not have been penalized.

 The league’s rule book prohibits players from celebrating while on the ground, but spokesman Michael Signora wrote in an email Tuesday that “the officiating mechanic in this situation is not to flag a player who goes to the ground as part of religious expression, and as a result, there should have been no penalty on the play.”

 There are exceptions made for religious expressions, such as Tim Tebow’s prayer while kneeling. But Abdullah may have drawn the flag by sliding with both knees into the prayer.

 “For me, I just got a little too excited,” Abdullah said. “I think it was for the slide.”

 The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil liberties and advocacy organization, issued a statement early Tuesday asking that the NFL take steps in response to the penalty.

 “To prevent the appearance of a double standard, we urge league officials to clarify the policy on prayer and recognize that the official made a mistake in this case,” CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said.

 Game officials didn’t say anything to Abdullah after the play, but Chiefs coach Andy Reid did when Abdullah came to the sideline.

 “He said, ‘You can’t slide,’” Abdullah said.

 Although Reid isn’t sure that should be the case.

 “When you go to Mecca, you should be able to slide wherever you want,” Reid said after the game. “We’ve got two priests in here. They’d probably vouch for me.”

 The interception — the sixth of Abdullah’s career — was still a special moment despite the penalty, which sparked controversy on social media.

 If the NFL tries to fine @HAbdullah39 for his TD celebration there's going to be some problems. — CJ LaBoy (@CJLaBoy) September 30, 2014

 Abdullah has a special place in mind for the football he intercepted from Brady, a future Hall of Famer.

 “That’s nice,” Abdullah said. “That’s definitely going up in the house. That’s a ball that’s definitely going up in the game room area, so it was amazing.”

 The Associated Press contributed to this report. |||||

Write a summary.

– The NFL is getting quicker with its mea culpas: Amid another growing controversy, the league admitted its mistake today in penalizing a player over a Muslim prayer on the field last night, reports the Kansas City Star. In the game, referees flagged Chiefs player Husain Abdullah, a devout Muslim, after he slid to his knees for a prayer after scoring a touchdown. Immediately, the league began taking flak: If, say, Tim Tebow, can pray in the end zone and not be penalized, why not a Muslim player? Earlier today, the Council on American-Islamic Relations urged the NFL to clarify its rules to "prevent the appearance of a double-standard," reports AP. Hours later, the NFL said the penalty was, in fact, a blown call. While league rules prevent players from celebrating while on the ground, there is an exception: The "officiating mechanic in this situation is not to flag a player who goes to the ground as part of religious expression, and as a result, there should have been no penalty on the play," says an NFL spokesperson. Abdullah, for his part, wasn't making a big deal of it. (The NFL lost a legal fight today with the FCC over game blackouts.)


Write a summary based on this article:

UPDATE: Monday, July 30, 11:00 A.M. - The body of 19-year-old TeNiya Elnora Jones has been found.

 The Jones family has been through tragedy previously when TeNiya Jones's brother Samuel was gunned down in Lehigh Acres last December.

 ORIGINAL STORY: A University of Kentucky student studying abroad this summer in the Middle East is missing following a swimming accident in Tel Aviv, Israel.

 19-year-old TeNiya Elnora Jones of Fort Myers traveled with several other students to Tel Aviv, where they went swimming in the Mediterranean Sea Saturday evening.

 One of the students involved in the swim reported that they got caught up in a strong current and were pulled out to sea. Two of the students were able to make it back to the shoreline; however, Jones did not.

 The students called Israeli officials, who are currently conducting a primary search and rescue effort.

 “Our thoughts and prayers are with TeNiya, her family and the students and others impacted,” said UK President Eli Capilouto. “We are in continual contact with Teniya’s family, officials in Israel, officials from the State Department and our Congressional delegation, to provide all the support we can for the family, students and others involved. We will do everything possible to provide whatever support is needed.”

 Following the accident, the students contacted UK Police and the program’s coordinator, the Council on International Exchange, (CIEE) based in Portland, Maine. UK has previously worked with CIEE, a well-known education abroad provider. Companies such as CIEE commonly coordinate education abroad involving university students, who work with the US and other universities and arrange travel, logistics, and accommodations.

 Officials from the US Embassy in Israel also have been alerted and have been involved throughout the last 24 hours, communicating with Jones’ family, CIEE and UK officials.

 Both UK Education Abroad and CIEE officials contacted Jones’ family Saturday evening of the situation. UK officials also have been in touch with federal authorities in Washington and Israel regarding the accident.

 UK Education Abroad officials are currently making arrangements for Jones’ mother and grandfather to travel to Tel Aviv.

 Associate Provost Sue Roberts, who leads UK’s International Center, will also travel to Tel Aviv to meet with the family and officials.

 CIEE and UK officials are in contact with the other students in Tel Aviv, who are safe, and are arranging for them to travel back to Amman, Jordan as soon as possible.

 The program, which began in June, is scheduled to be completed this week. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. |||||

– An American student has been missing since Saturday night, when she went for a late-night swim in the Mediterranean Sea off Tel Aviv, Israel. Two fellow students who were with 19-year-old TeNiya Elnora Jones say they managed to make it back to shore after being caught in a rip current, NBC 2 reports. Israeli authorities have launched a search and rescue operation for Jones, a University of Kentucky student who had been studying in Amman, Jordan, as part of a summer study abroad program focusing on the Arabic language, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. Jones, a sophomore, is from Fort Myers, Fla. A cousin tweeted recent photos of her on Sunday, urging anybody with information on her to get in touch. University officials are arranging for her mother and grandfather to travel to Israel. Jones, who was majoring in biology and also studying Islamic Studies, was due to enter the University of Kentucky's pre-med program next month. "I hope and pray for her that she’s somewhere fighting," Dunbar High School coach Guy Thomas, who coached her in track for years, tells the News-Press. "If she’s alive, she’s fighting. She’d fight until the end until she couldn’t fight anymore."


– Yesterday's terror raids in Belgium stopped, at the last minute, a terrorist plan to kill police officers in the street, officials say. Two suspected terrorists were shot dead in the series of raids, and another 15 were arrested in Belgium and France, the Guardian reports. Authorities were working to take down what they say was an active terror cell rooted in the two countries; the two gunmen killed in Verviers—and a third one who was wounded and among those detained—are believed to have been part of a "homegrown cell of jihadists" just recently back in Europe from Syria. Police found ammo, weapons including explosives, police uniforms, communication devices, and cash; they say the terrorists' plan also targeted buildings in Belgium, and several Jewish schools have been closed after warnings they could be targets. More: The Gare de l’Est train station in Paris was also evacuated after a bomb scare today, and Europe is on high alert for potential attacks. Officials say there is no link between the Belgium raids and last week's Paris terror attacks, but one notes that "a second potential Paris has been averted" with these raids. (Another 10 suspected terrorists allegedly linked to the Charlie Hebdo attacks were arrested in Paris today.) A Western intelligence source tells CNN that as many as 180 people in as many as 20 sleeper cells are primed to attack France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. And European security services have gotten tips that ISIS may be telling Europeans who have joined up in Syria and Iraq to launch attacks on their home soil; security agencies are investigating people recently returned from those countries. Separately, Germany arrested three men suspected of being involved with ISIS, but none appear to have been planning attacks.

Expand this summary.

Counter-terror officers kill two and arrest 15 suspected jihadis in Belgium and France with Europe on high alert for further attacks

 A major Islamist plot to kill police officers in the street has been foiled at the eleventh hour, prosecutors have said, after counter-terror raids led to the arrest of 15 suspected jihadis in Belgium and France.

 In the same series of raids, two suspected terrorists were shot dead by police and another wounded in the Belgian town of Verviers, near the German border.

 Authorities said they had moved to dismantle an active terror cell spanning both European countries to avert an imminent terrorist attack aimed at police officers and buildings in Belgium.

 Eric van der Sypt, a Belgian federal magistrate, said 13 suspected terrorists were arrested in Belgium overnight with a further two detained in France. Nine of the suspects were held in raids in Molenbeek, two in Brussels, one in Berchem, one in Verviers, where the shootout took place, and two in France.

 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Belgian federal prosecutor Eric van der Sypt speaks to the press in Brussels. Photograph: Julien Warnand/EPA

 All three Verviers gunmen were Belgian nationals and are thought to have belonged to a homegrown cell of jihadis that recently returned from Syria. Van der Sypt added that officers were still working to formally identify the two gunmen killed in the shootout.

 At the address in Verviers, police found ammunition and weapons including four Kalashnikovs, several smaller firearms and explosives. Search teams also discovered several police uniforms, walkie-talkies, radios, mobile phones and false documents and a “significant amount of money”, Van der Sypt said.

 In Molenbeek, police found ammunition, a knife, mobile phones and “different objects important for the investigation”.

 “This operation was meant to dismantle a terrorist cell and also the logistic network behind it,” he said. “This investigation for the time being has shown that these people had intentions to kill several policemen in the street and at police [stations].”

 Van der Sypt said there was no link between events in Verviers and last week’s terror attacks in Paris but revealed that an atrocity on a similar scale had been averted at the last minute.

 “This operation stopped a major terrorist attack from taking place. You could say a second potential Paris has been averted,” he said.

 Meanwhile, several Jewish schools in Belgium have been closed amid warnings that they could be targets for Islamist militants, while cities across the country remain on a heightened state of alert.

 Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Cheider school, the only Orthodox Jewish school in the Netherlands, was closed on Friday after the anti-terrorism raids in neighbouring Belgium. Photograph: Koen Van Weel/EPA

 Jewish schools in Brussels and Antwerp were closed and classes cancelled after officials said they were a “potential target” for radical Islamists, the Belgian news site Joods Actueel reported.

 French and German authorities arrested at least 14 other people on Friday suspected of links to Islamic State (Isis), and the Gare de l’Est train station in Paris was evacuated after a bomb scare, with Europe on high alert for further potential terrorist attacks.

 A senior Belgian counter-terrorism official, who was not named, told CNN that the alleged terror cell was believed to have received instructions from Islamic State. The US news outlet quoted a separate western intelligence source as saying that the ongoing terror threat in Europe involved up to 20 sleeper cells of between 120 to 180 people ready to strike in France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

 Police sources told Belgian television stations they had resolved to launch the pre-emptive operation against the terrorist suspects a fortnight ago after bugging the homes and cars of the men who were said to have recently returned from fighting in the war in Syria. The investigation concluded that a large-scale attack was imminent, targeting police stations.

 Facebook Twitter Pinterest German police guard an apartment building Perleberger Strasse in Berlin during an anti-terror operation. Photograph: Paul Zinken/Corbis

 Separately, on Friday morning police in Berlin arrested two men suspected of helping to recruit for Isis in Syria. The pair were taken into custody following dawn raids on 11 residences in the German capital. Police said the men were not suspected of planning attacks in Germany.

 The Paris prosecutor’s office said 12 people were arrested in anti-terrorism raids in the region, targeting people linked to the gunman who attacked a kosher supermarket in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo killings and claimed ties to Isis.

 The US secretary of state, John Kerry, was in Paris on Friday to meet French leaders and deliver a speech in the Paris city hall in a visit aimed at making up for the absence of senior US officials at Sunday’s mass rally in defiance of last week’s terrorist attacks.

 The head of the European Union’s police agency, Europol, warned on Friday that the large number of radicalised Islamic extremists across Europe, their lack of command structure and growing sophistication make it “extremely difficult” for law enforcement agencies to foil every terror attack. Rob Wainwright told the Associated Press that security and law enforcement agencies need to cooperate more closely.

 He said the threat is evolving as cells controlled by a clear commander have been replaced by “thousands of independent actors or semi-independent terrorist suspects” who are difficult to track.

 “That’s the real problem I think that the intelligence community faces right now,” he said.

 The French newspaper Le Figaro reported on Friday that several French national media websites, including L’Express, Le Parisien and France Inter, were experiencing problems with serving pages. The problem was traced to a common service provider, Oxalide, which said it was investigating an “incident” with its core network, but did not yet know the cause. ||||| (CNN) European counterterrorism agencies scrambled Friday to assess the potential danger of a complex and growing terrorism threat exposed by the arrests of more than two dozen people with suspected links to Islamic extremists.

 As many as 20 sleeper cells of between 120 and 180 people could be ready to strike in France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, a Western intelligence source told CNN.

 European Union and Middle East intelligence agencies had identified an "imminent threat" to Belgium, and possibly to the Netherlands, the source told CNN.

 "There is a tremendous amount of concern over sleeper cells in Europe," said Western official with direct knowledge of the situation.

 Authorities worry about a rash of copycat attacks throughout Europe, according to the official, who compared the problem to "a slow-motion car accident happening right in front of us."

 Intelligence officials in Europe were trying to determine the nature of the wider threat, a senior European counterterrorism official told CNN. They were monitoring groups of men who have returned from fighting in Syria.

 It is believed ISIS directed the men to return to Europe to launch attacks in retaliation for airstrikes against the terror group in Syria and Iraq, according to the official.

 Overall, authorities made 17 arrests related to the Belgium threat -- 13 in Belgium and four at two locations in France.

 Here are the latest developments related to the terror threat in the West:

 • The suspected Islamist terrorists who had a shootout with police on Thursday in Verviers, Belgium, have ties to ISIS-linked cells in other European countries, a senior Belgian counterterrorism source told CNN's Paul Cruickshank. The two suspects who died in the shootout are believed to have fought with ISIS in Syria, the source said.

 • A total of 122,000 police officers, gendarmes and military personnel are deployed across France as part of the security plan, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.

 • There does not appear to be a command-and-control element to last week's Paris attacks at the offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine and two additional locations other than a general "go forward and do something," the Western official with direct knowledge told CNN. The attacks were "highly franchised terrorism with general instructions."

 • Sectarian turmoil in Yemen is bolstering al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's (AQAP) local recruitment and buying it space for attacks against the West and train the next generation of bomb makers, according to one Western diplomat.

 • Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, Britain's senior counterterrorism officer, said additional police patrols were being put in place at Jewish community centers, synagogues and schools.

 • An 18-year-old woman was arrested at Stansted Airport near London on suspicion of terrorism offenses, London's Metropolitan Police said on Twitter.

 • British Prime Minister David Cameron called on his country and the United States to fight the "poisonous ideology" behind the terrorist attacks that killed at least 17 people in France this month. "Britain and America both face threats to our national security from people who hate what our countries stand for and are determined to do us harm," Cameron said at a White House news conference with President Barack Obama.

 • Obama promised to "do everything in our power" to assist France in its effort to combat terrorism.

 • Two people suspected of involvement with the alleged terror cell in Verviers were detained trying to cross from France into Italy through the Frejus tunnel, a spokesman for Belgium's federal prosecutor's office said.

 • Belgian federal prosecutor Eric Van der Sypt said 13 people were arrested in a dozen anti-terror raids . Authorities believed the "threat of a terrorist attack was very imminent."

 • The suspected terror cell, which included people returning from Syria, planned to target police officers, Van der Sypt said. Police said they recovered weapons, bomb-making materials and police uniforms.

 • Belgium put 150 troops on standby for anti-terror operations.

 • At least a dozen people were detained in the Paris region overnight in connection with last week's shootings in Paris, the city prosecutor's office said.

 • Two men in their early 40s were arrested in Berlin on suspicion of links to ISIS , police said. They did not appear to have been planning attacks. Berlin police spokesman Stefan Redlich said the investigation had started a year ago; the police operation planned several weeks ago.

 • The Netherlands said it was not raising its terror threat level, currently at "substantial," the second-highest . "That means there is a realistic threat, but no concrete or specific information of an attack," said government spokesman Edmond Messchaert.

 • The current level of security in Belgium will remain for at least one month and will then be evaluated to determine if it needs to be modified, the country's prime minister said late Friday. "From the time we are confronted with an increase in the threat, we went to level 3 on a scale of 4; we must mobilize the resources available," Charles Michel told CNN affiliate RTL.

 Following up on Paris attacks

 European counterterrorism agencies have been trying to identify and thwart potential threats after the deadly attacks in Paris last week, in which 17 people were killed.

 Security services are working to track those associated with the attackers: brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi and Amedy Coulibaly.

 Neetin Karasular, a suspected Belgian trafficker in weapons who met with Coulibaly's widow, Hayat Boumeddiene, is in custody, Karasular's attorney, Michel Bouchat, told CNN.

 Karasular was charged with association with wrongdoers and firearm offenses, in Charleroi, Belgium. But his attorney said the arrest was not connected to the other Belgian raids.

 Graphic shows the links between the Paris suspects and a wider network.

 Coulibaly, who attacked a kosher supermarket in Paris last Friday, pledged allegiance to ISIS.

 However, the Kouachis , the men who French authorities say carried out the deadly shooting at the offices of the French satirical magazine, are believed to have had links to AQAP , which has claimed responsibility for the shootings.

 A European counterterrorism official told CNN that there were indications that ISIS leadership had directed returnees from Iraq and Syria to launch attacks in Europe in revenge for Syria and Iraq airstrikes.

 The official, who cited France, the United Kingdom and Belgium as countries facing a particular threat, said counterterrorism agencies in Germany are on high alert.

 Several European nations, including the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, are participating in the air campaign against ISIS in Iraq. |||||


Summarize this article:

Opinions on closing the prison have changed little since 2009

 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Twenty-nine percent of Americans support closing the terrorist detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and moving its prisoners to U.S. prisons, while two in three (66%) oppose the idea. Despite the recent controversy surrounding the release of five Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay in exchange for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Berghdal's release from Afghanistan, Americans' views have barely budged since 2009.

 These results are from a June 5-8 Gallup poll conducted days after the release of Sgt. Bergdahl. Gallup found that Americans are divided on the wisdom of negotiating with terrorist groups to secure the release of Americans prisoners.

 President Barack Obama made the closing of Guantanamo Bay a part of his 2008 campaign platform, but he has yet to do so. However, he recently reiterated his desire to close the prison at West Point graduation ceremony. Despite the president's continued commitment to its closure, Americans' views have not changed much in the four times Gallup has asked them about this issue.

 Republicans remain more likely than Democrats to oppose closing the detention facility, although the majority of Democrats remain opposed.

 A consistent minority of Republicans have supported closing the prison since 2007, when 16% felt the prison should be closed. Republicans were even less likely to support the prison's closure by 2009, as Obama continued his pledge to close the facility, reaching its lowest at 8% in November of that year.

 Like Republicans, independents' support for closing the prison has fallen since 2007, from 37% in 2007 to 28% by November 2009.

 As of this year, Democrats have shown their lowest support for closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Currently, 41% support the idea, while 54% oppose it. Previously, Democrats were split in their views, sometimes differing by as little as two percentage points.

 Bottom Line

 Though President Obama has long backed plans to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, he did not have the support of Americans on the issue when taking office in 2009. Today, he still does not have their support, even among those in his own party.

 According to a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, 17 inmates from the detention facility have been moved out in the past 13 months, including the five Taliban officials who were recently swapped for Bergdahl. This leaves 149 remaining detainees at the facility, and the White House is currently exploring plans to transfer more of them on a case-by-case basis.

 Though public opinion on what to do with the facility has been consistent, it could change as prisoner numbers dwindle. Further, as more information regarding the Bergdahl case emerges -- including whether the recently freed Taliban detainees re-emerge as terror threats to the U.S. -- ideas about what to do with Guantanamo Bay could shift. ||||| The White House is drafting options that would allow President Barack Obama to close the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by overriding a congressional ban on bringing detainees to the U.S., senior administration officials said.

 Such a move would be the latest and potentially most dramatic use of executive power by the president in his second term. It would likely provoke a sharp reaction from lawmakers, who have... |||||

– President Obama is considering overriding a congressional ban on bringing Guantanamo prisoners to the US in an effort to close the Cuban prison, the Wall Street Journal reports. Lawmakers are strongly against the move, which "would ignite a political firestorm, even if it's the best resolution for the Guantanamo problem," a law professor explains. You might recall that a previous use of executive power could soon see the president sued. But White House officials say Obama is "unwavering in his commitment" to move Gitmo's 149 inmates and close the prison's doors, something the president apparently sees as key to his legacy. What will Obama do? Well, he has two options, the Journal points out. One: He vetoes the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes the ban on transferring detainees to the US, after the midterm elections. Two: He signs the bill but argues the ban infringes on his powers as commander in chief. While officials won't say to which US facilities the prisoners would shift—the Journal reports Charleston's military brig seems likely—Obama will likely lessen the blow by moving some of the 79 detainees cleared for transfer to places outside the US; Estonia, for example, has already agreed to accept one prisoner, and other European countries are willing. That isn't likely to please many, however. The most recent Gallup poll on the issue finds 66% of Americans want Guantanamo to stay open.


Article:

David Goldberg, the chief executive of online-questionnaire provider SurveyMonkey and husband of Facebook Inc. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, died suddenly Friday night. He was 47 years old.

 Mr. Goldberg’s brother posted the news on Facebook Saturday morning and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, a friend of the family, shared the post shortly after.

 The... ||||| David Goldberg, SurveyMonkey CEO and husband of Sheryl Sandberg

 The two met in 1996 when they both were working in Los Angeles, said Goldberg, who recently sat down with The Times before he spoke to an audience at "Start-ups: Uncensored" seminar at the Shutters on the Beach hotel in Santa Monica.

 He also happens to be married to Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, whom Forbes declared to be one of the most powerful women in the world.

 At 26 he sold his first start-up, Launch Media, for $12 million to Yahoo. Goldberg then served as general manager of Yahoo Music, and later left to work at Benchmark Capital as entrepreneur in residence. In 1999 he acquired a fledgling online survey company called SurveyMonkey and grew it into a billion-dollar business.

 "We went out to dinner and a movie and hit it off. She fell asleep on my shoulder, which I thought was great," Goldberg said. "Turns out, I learned much later, she sleeps through every movie, on any shoulder that is available, but it worked on me at that moment of time."

 Although Sandberg was dating someone else at the time and later moved to Washington, D.C., they remained good friends and started dating six years later.

 “On the day–to-day stuff we both ask each other for advice. But it is great having one of the smartest people in business as your partner. I don’t have to make an appointment to ask what you think about this or whatever, it’s good with my team. I always say, 'Well Sheryl said.' "

 In a competitive work environment in which many judge work ethic by the number of hours spent in the office, Goldberg encourages a work-life balance. He says he tries to remain rooted to his family and strives to lead by example. Despite the demands of their jobs, both Goldberg and Sandberg leave work at 5:30 p.m.

 "We made the decision on this particular thing, that we are going to be home with our kids. I am at home with my kids from 6 to 8. If I have a work dinner, I’ll schedule to have dinner after 8. But we’re working at night. You’ll get plenty of emails from me post-8 p.m. when my kids go to bed."

 While most CEOs stress success, Goldberg said he is big on failure.

 "You want to hire great people and give them the opportunity to fail. You need to let them figure things out as they go along," he said. "If they fail repeatedly, then you probably have to find a different person, but if you don’t let people have that opportunity to fail, they don’t get to learn and grow and try things."

 Although meetings are necessary and an important way to communicate and share information, Goldberg keeps them to a maximum of three regularly scheduled meetings a week.

 "I just find that people can waste a lot of time in meetings, so I try to restrict meetings to the minimum that they need to be," he said. "But I have lots of time in my day where I am available to have informal conversations, where I grab someone to talk, and people can just walk up to my desk and talk to me."

 He added: "We have a lot to do. But it is not whether or not we get it done tomorrow or the next day that is going to matter. So we get it done over a long period of time. For me going home at 5:30 is as much about my own choices, but also giving my team those choices too." |||||
What is a summary?

– Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, is known as a champion for women. What's less well-known is that her husband, Dave Goldberg, who died unexpectedly Friday at the age of 47, spent his life working to strengthen women's voices, reports the New York Times, which calls Goldberg "perhaps the signature male feminist of his era." Even as a teenager, his prom date says he pushed her to speak up in class, telling her, "They need to hear your voice." Years later, when an employee had a child, he didn't stop challenging her—but he did start letting her spend a day each week working from home. In his own life, he made sure he could be at home with the kids while his wife, whom he had encouraged to fight for a high salary, was traveling. Both often left work at 5:30 to have dinner with their two kids, the Los Angeles Times reported in 2013—though he noted that doesn't mean they don't work after dinner. Goldberg was "the first major chief executive in memory to spur his wife to become as successful in business as he was," adds the New York Times, and was a central figure in Sandberg's bestseller, Lean In. "The most important career choice you’ll make is who you marry. I have an awesome husband, and we’re 50/50," she said in 2011, per the Wall Street Journal. From his perspective: "It is great having one of the smartest people in business as your partner," he told the Los Angeles Times. "I always say, 'Well, Sheryl said.'"


Write a summary based on this article:

“They’ve been promising it for years. They’ve been promising it ever since Obamacare which is failed,” President Donald Trump said of Republicans. | AP Photo Trump: I'll be 'very angry' if the GOP health care bill fails

 President Donald Trump lamented that he'll be "very angry" if the Republican effort to repeal Obamaca collapses.

 “I will be very angry about it and a lot of people will be very upset,” Trump said on the possibility of the bill to repeal Obamacare failing, adding, “but I’m sitting waiting for that bill to come to my desk. I hope they do it.”

 Story Continued Below

 Trump’s comments were excepts from an interview with televangelist Pat Robertson of CBN News out Wednesday. The full interview is set to air on the 700 Club Thursday.

 His comments to Robertson stand in contrast to his earlier statement in late June on the GOP's bill, when he noted that "if we don’t get it done, it’s just going to be something that we’re not going to like, and that’s okay."

 Trump noted how often Republicans have touted repealing the landmark 2010 health care bill.

 “They’ve been promising it for years. They’ve been promising it ever since Obamacare which is failed,” Trump said. “It’s a failed experiment. It is totally gone. It’s out of business and we have to get this done.”

 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is trying to win support from several moderate Republicans and key conservatives in the coming days. He announced Tuesday that the Senate would stay in session through the first two weeks of August, shortening the summer recess considerably.

 “He’s got to pull it off. Mitch has to pull it off,” Trump said of the Kentucky Republican. “He’s working very hard. He’s got to pull it off." ||||| Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTrump tells McConnell to let Senate vote on criminal justice reform The Hill's Morning Report — Presented by T-Mobile — The political currents that will drive the shutdown showdown Senate edges closer to rebuking Trump on Saudi Arabia MORE (R-Ky.) is ramping up pressure on Senate Republicans to allow healthcare reform legislation to move forward, but old antagonist Sen. Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward CruzStrategist behind Warren's political rise to meet with O'Rourke: report Trump tells McConnell to let Senate vote on criminal justice reform Sanders to Colbert: 'You will be my vice presidential candidate!' MORE (R-Texas) is an obstacle.

 McConnell on Wednesday urged colleagues to drop procedural objections to the bill, a sign that his patience is wearing thin — and that he is uncertain he can win the day.

 “If we sit on our hands, families will continue to suffer. And if we let this opportunity to move beyond ObamaCare pass us by, what other options will there be?” he said in remarks from the Senate floor.

 McConnell argued that if senators blocked the bill, there would be no opportunity to debate their ideas in public.

 Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn John CornynSenate edges closer to rebuking Trump on Saudi Arabia Texas lawmakers introduce legislation aimed at helping border counties identify missing migrants US markets plunge after arrest of Chinese tech executive MORE (R-Texas) said his colleagues have an obligation to allow the debate to proceed and would break Senate traditions by blocking it.

 “The only time I’m aware of around here that people don’t vote yes on a motion to proceed is if they don’t have an opportunity to offer amendments and get votes on them,” he said.

 Their pleas, however, failed to move some members of the GOP conference.

 Cruz, the runner-up in last year’s Republican presidential primary, declined to say Wednesday whether he would vote to allow the healthcare debate to begin next week.

 “Depends what’s in the bill,” Cruz told reporters before heading into a lunch where lawmakers discussed the outline of the legislation.

 Cruz and fellow conservative Sen. Mike Lee Michael (Mike) Shumway LeeSenate edges closer to rebuking Trump on Saudi Arabia Overnight Defense: GOP senators rip Saudi prince after CIA briefing | Top general says Afghan war at a stalemate | Mattis extends border mission through January | Pompeo gives Russia deadline on nuclear arms treaty Trump-GOP rift grows over Saudis MORE (R-Utah) are insisting on an amendment that would allow insurance companies to sell any kind of health plan they want as long as they offer at least one that complies with federal regulations.

 Cruz was summoned to Cornyn’s office late Wednesday afternoon but a spokesman for Cornyn said it was to discuss judicial vacancies, not Cruz's concerns with the legislation.

 Critics say the Cruz-Lee amendment would lead healthier people to flock to cheap, bare-bones plans, sending premiums for older and sicker people soaring.

 In a document circulated on Capitol Hill, the main insurer trade group, America’s Health Insurance Plans, warned the Cruz-Lee amendment could lead to higher costs for those with pre-existing conditions.

 Such individuals could “potentially lose access to comprehensive coverage and/or have plans that were far more expensive, as premiums in the Exchange market would rise much faster,” it said.

 McConnell can afford only two defections if he is to still pass the bill, as Republicans control 52 seats. Vice President Pence would break a 50-50 tie.

 Sen. Rand Paul Randal (Rand) Howard PaulMeadows says 'too early to tell' if special House election should be held in North Carolina Kobach ‘very concerned’ voter fraud may have happened in North Carolina Sen. Paul must release his hold on Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act MORE (R-Ky.) is expected to oppose the bill, and many observers also believe it will be impossible to win support from Sen. Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsSenators want assurances from attorney general pick on fate of Mueller probe 5 themes to watch for in 2020 fight for House Judd Gregg: The last woman standing MORE (R-Maine).

 Despite the tough odds, one GOP lawmaker who attended Wednesday’s lunch said there’s generally a “more positive feeling” that the motion to proceed to the bill will pass next week but conceded “no one stood up and said they changed their minds” to express support for the bill.

 But several Republican senators left the lunch voicing frustration with McConnell’s strategy of keeping the details of the bill secret until the last minute in order to keep critics from picking it apart.

 “People have asked, ‘Has [the bill] addressed concerns that you have in Alaska?’ I have no idea, so I’m not going to make any commitment to anybody that I’m going to vote for a motion to proceed,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski Lisa Ann MurkowskiSenate advances Trump energy pick after Manchin flips The Senate must reject Bernard McNamee’s nomination for FERC Overnight Defense: Congress pauses to mourn George H.W. Bush | Haspel to brief senators on Khashoggi killing | Soldier is fourth to die from Afghan IED blast MORE (R-Alaska), who remains undecided.

 In a bid to entice moderates, Cornyn promised “a substantial” increase to a $62 billion state fund designed to help low-income people with high healthcare costs afford insurance.

 McConnell has scheduled a special meeting of the conference at 11:30 a.m. Thursday to discuss the detailed contents of the legislation. GOP leaders say the bill will be posted publicly sometime Thursday morning.

 McConnell used this same playbook when he rolled out the first version of the Senate bill repealing and replacing major parts of ObamaCare on June 22.

 But even when he unveiled the legislation in a morning meeting late last month, the discussion was limited to the bill’s broad goals and lawmakers were not given paper with detailed language.

 GOP lawmakers said the leadership’s tactic of limiting information was designed to keep complaints and objections to a minimum.

 Republican senators and senior aides have differing opinions on how much support there is for the Cruz-Lee proposal, but they agree it cannot pass as drafted. One GOP lawmaker predicted it would get 47 votes. A senior aide familiar with negotiations last week said it would only get 15.

 Cornyn said no final decision has been made on the Cruz-Lee provision.

 “The base bill will be released tomorrow morning. There’s going to be a lot of information released but I can’t speak to the exact format,” Cornyn said.

 Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) are negotiating with Cruz and Lee to modify their amendment so that it could gather at least 50 votes on the floor.

 Rounds, a former insurance executive, has proposed setting a ratio for how much insurers could charge people for plans meeting federal requirements versus the lower charge for cheaper, simpler plans.

 He said that Cassidy has been in touch with Cruz on a “slightly different approach, but a similar concept.”

 A spokesman for Cassidy did not comment.

 Cruz declined to say late Wednesday whether he would accept their suggested modifications.

 “We continue to have productive conversations,” he said.

 Correction:

 This report was updated on July 13 at 7:10 a.m. after a spokesman for Cornyn said the senator met with Cruz on Wednesday to discuss judicial vacancies. |||||

– President Trump has warned senators that he will be "very angry" if they fail to repeal ObamaCare as promised. In an interview with televangelist Pat Robertson, the president said "a lot of people will be very upset" if Senate Republicans don't pass the legislation this summer, Politico reports. "I am sitting in the Oval Office with a pen in hand, waiting for our senators to give it to me," Trump said. "It has to get passed. They have to do it. They have to get together and get it done." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is expected to present a revised version of the bill to senators Thursday morning, "has to pull it off," Trump said. "He's working very hard. He's got to pull it off." McConnell urged senators Wednesday to drop procedural objections to the bill and let a vote move forward, saying, "If we sit on our hands, families will continue to suffer," the Hill reports. McConnell can only afford to lose two Republican votes, and Sen. Rand Paul said Wednesday that he can't support the revised bill because it is "the same as the old bill, except it leaves in place more taxes," the Washington Post reports. McConnell also faces opposition from moderate senators and conservatives including Sen. Ted Cruz, who's pushing for an amendment that would allow insurance companies to sell plans that don't meet federal coverage requirements. (McConnell has cut the Senate recess by two weeks.)


Here is a news article: "They're trying to profit off of it, and I think it's disgusting," Lori Alhadeff, whose daughter, Alyssa, was killed after being shot 10 times at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, said on Tuesday. "We are trying to prevent this from happening again, and they are encouraging it. It is despicable. It is vile."

 The computer game was going to be released via the digital marketplace Steam, and was developed by Revived Games, which marketed it as a "dynamic SWAT simulator." It offered the option to play either the shooter or a SWAT team member.

 Acid, the publisher of the game, addressed the controversy in a confusing blog post last week on Steam's forums, writing: "After receiving such high amount of critics and hate, I will more likely remove the shooters [sic] role in this game by the release, unless if it can be kept as it is right now."

 The post is attributed to a developer named Arthur Belkin, who lists the Russian Federation as his home country.

 But on Tuesday night, Valve Corporation, the owner of Steam, announced it had removed the game after an investigation, and found that the developer and publisher was actually "a person calling himself Ata Berdiyev, who had previously been removed last fall."

 "Ata is a troll, with a history of customer abuse, publishing copyrighted material, and user review manipulation," Valve said. "His subsequent return under new business names was a fact that came to light as we investigated the controversy around his upcoming title. We are not going to do business with people who act like this towards our customers or Valve."

 Many had called for the game to be pulled, including anti-gun activist Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was killed in the Parkland shooting.

 "Wow, this is amazing news!!!" he tweeted after learning it had been removed.

 A disclaimer at the beginning of the game's demo had said it did not intend to glamorize violence.

 The game's description also said players should "not take any of this seriously" and urged them to get help if they feel like hurting anyone.

 But many critics had said that was not enough — including Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who called the game "inexcusable" and tweeted, "Any company that develops a game like this in wake of such a horrific tragedy should be ashamed of itself."

 This isn't the first video game to create such controversy. In 2011, another game, "School Shooter," which portrayed the Columbine school shooting that took place in 1999 in Colorado, was pulled after public outcry. ||||| A video game that let players simulate a school shooting was set to come out on Steam, the PC’s biggest platform for buying and selling games. But Valve Corporation, which runs Steam, has taken it down.

 Active Shooter, from developer Revived Games and publisher ACID, was set to release next week on Steam. But it drew a lot of negative attention, including from outlets like BuzzFeed and Kotaku, as well as the survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. Parkland activist Emma Gonzalez tweeted, “Valve Corp shut down this shovelware immediately please.” (Shovelware is software that does nothing new and is a quick cash grab.) Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) called the game “inexcusable.”

 On Tuesday, a Valve spokesperson told Deadline that the company is removing the game from its online storefront:

 We have removed the developer Revived Games and publisher ACID from Steam. This developer and publisher is, in fact, a person calling himself Ata Berdiyev, who had previously been removed last fall when he was operating as “[bc]Interactive” and “Elusive Team”. Ata is a troll, with a history of customer abuse, publishing copyrighted material, and user review manipulation. His subsequent return under new business names was a fact that came to light as we investigated the controversy around his upcoming title. We are not going to do business with people who act like this towards our customers or Valve. The broader conversation about Steam’s content policies is one that we’ll be addressing soon.

 The ill-advised game, based on a video posted on Steam, would let you play either as a SWAT team member focused on stopping the school shooting or as the actual shooter. The game’s developer, it seems, saw this as a selling point — with the developer pointing out on Steam that “[o]nly in ‘Active Shooter’, you will be able to pick the role of an Elite S.W.A.T [sic] member or the actual shooter.”

 The video showed a shooter running through school hallways and classrooms while killing — with firearms and grenades — police officers and civilians. Through a score counter, the game tracked “civ killed” and “cops killed.”

 The developer responded to the outrage last week, saying that it “will more likely remove the shooters [sic] role in this game by the release, unless if [sic] it can be kept as it is right now.” But it also defended the game, arguing that there are worse games out there (“Hatred, Postal, Carmageddon and etc.”) and that it “does not promote any sort of violence, especially any soft [sic] of a mass shooting.”

 For more on America’s gun violence problem, read Vox’s explainer. ||||| Valve Corporation of Bellevue is planning to launch a video game on June 6 that is a school shooting simulator. This is horrific.

 The company is taking the stand that this game is legal because of free speech and everything else that tech billionaires hide behind when they are doing something the public knows is absolutely, morally corrupt but legally fine - but we cannot stand for this.

 How can anyone sleep at night knowing that they are profiting from turning deadly school shootings into entertainment?

 Please sign this petition asking Valve to not launch this game. ||||| Environment & Future Plans

 Hello everybody!!

 First of all, I wanted to thank each of you who left any soft of feedback and support for our game and what I do. I really appreciate it!!

 Now, I wanted to talk more about game's enviroment and future plans. For now, there is only one in-game location where you could exprecience active shooter simulations. This is not where I am stopping. I am planning on adding extra enviroments to the game; Those will include "Shopping Stores", "Gas Stations" and enviroments in this sort. I have to say though, majority of them will depend on active S.W.A.T play rather than the shooter himself, but we will see.

 Updates with more enviroments will be out for free and within a first month of release. I will definitely try to have at least an extra location available on the day of the release. Other than that, game will continue its course of development and improvement throghout the year.

 Multiplayer will mostly include 2 teams against each other sort of play. In Co-Op you will be able to choose sides and play as you would normally play in the Single-Player.

 Hopefully this will clarify a few things for each of you. If there are any questions, feel free to ask them in F.A.Q thread in game's discussion forums.

 Thanks a lot guys!! |||||
A summary of this is?

– More than 120,000 people so far have signed a petition calling for a game that simulates a mass shooting inside a school to be pulled from release. Active Shooter allows players to play as either the shooter or a SWAT responder and is due out June 6 on digital platform Steam, although after outcry erupted, its creator insisted in a blog post it is meant to be a "SWAT simulator" and said he might remove the ability to play as the shooter due to the controversy. Many have spoken out against the game, from politicians to activists to survivors of shootings in Parkland, Fla., and elsewhere, NBC News reports. Vox notes that a screenshot of the game shows that when playing as the shooter, stats are kept on the number of police officers killed as well as the number of civilians killed.


News article:

In September 2012, Harvard Divinity School professor Karen King announced the discovery of a Coptic (ancient Egyptian) gospel text on a papyrus fragment that contained the phrase "Jesus said to them, 'My wife . . .' " The world took notice. The possibility that Jesus was married would prompt a radical reconsideration of the New Testament and biblical scholarship.

 Yet now it appears almost certain that the Jesus-was-married story line was divorced from reality. On April 24, Christian Askeland—a Coptic specialist... ||||| This papyrus, said to be from ancient times, says that Jesus had a wife. Its discovery was announced in 2012 and new information uncovered by Live Science casts doubt on its origins.

 The "Gospel of Jesus's Wife," a papyrus written in Coptic and containing text that refers to Jesus being married, is looking more and more like it is not authentic, research is revealing.

 A growing number of scholars have denounced the business card-sized papyrus as a fake, with recent op-eds appearing in The Wall Street Journal and on CNN. Meanwhile, Harvard University, which announced the papyrus' discovery, has fallen silent on the artifact, not responding to requests for comment on new developments suggesting the find is a forgery.

 The discovery of the Gospel of Jesus's Wife was first announced by Karen King, of Harvard University, in September 2012. Its owner, who reportedly gave the papyrus to King, has insisted on remaining anonymous, and King has not disclosed the person's identity.

 The fragment contains the translated line, "Jesus said to them, 'My wife …'" and also refers to a "Mary," possibly Mary Magdalene. If authentic, the papyrus suggests some people in ancient times believed that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married.

 At the time of the discovery, King tentatively dated the papyrus to the fourth century A.D., saying it may be a copy of a gospel written in the second century in Greek. Recent radiocarbon dating suggests that the papyrus may date to between the sixth and ninth centuries A.D.

 Live Science investigation

 Documents provided by the anonymous owner published in an essay by King recently in Harvard Theological Review say that the Gospel of Jesus's Wife was purchased from Hans-Ulrich Laukamp in 1999 and he, in turn, obtained it in Potsdam, in what was East Germany, in 1963.

 A Live Science investigation published last week revealed that Laukamp was co-owner of ACMB-American Corporation for Milling and Boreworks in Venice, Florida. The man listed as representative of Laukamp's estate in Sarasota County, Florida, Rene Ernest, said that Laukamp didn't own this papyrus, didn't collect antiquities, didn't have an interest in old things and was living in West Berlin in 1963 — as such, Laukamp couldn't have reached Potsdam across the Berlin Wall to purchase this papyrus. Laukamp died in 2002.

 Axel Herzsprung, who was another co-owner of ACMB-American Corporation for Milling and Boreworks, also said Laukamp didn't own this papyrus and didn't collect antiquities.

 Additionally, since the investigation was published, Live Science has been in contact with an agency in Berlin that issues permits for the exportation of antiquities. Representatives of that agency said they could find no record that a papyrus like this had been exported from their office. It's possible that the Gospel of Jesus's Wife papyrus was exported from elsewhere in Germany or from the European Union.

 More evidence appears

 Just recently, Christian Askeland, a research associate with the Institut für Septuaginta-und biblische Textforschung in Wuppertal Germany, revealed new information that casts further doubt on the papyrus' authenticity. His work is set to be published in the journal Tyndale Bulletin and is currently posted on a blog.

 Askeland analyzed a second papyrus that, according to documents published in the Harvard Theological Review, was also purchased by the anonymous owner from Laukamp. It was presented to Harvard as a papyrus believed to be genuine.

 This second papyrus, which has writing on two sides, includes text from the Gospel of John — and is a fake, writes Askeland, its lines being copied from a papyrus published in 1924. In addition, the researcher notes this papyrus has similar handwriting and ink to the Gospel of Jesus's Wife, making it likely that the Jesus's wife papyrus is also fake. [Proof of Jesus Christ? 7 Pieces of Evidence Debated]

 The John papyrus fragment (right) comes from the same anonymous owner as the Gospel of Jesus's wife and has the same line breaks as a papyrus transcribed in 1924 (shown on left). The papyrus and Gospel of Jesus's Wife have similar ink and writing styles, suggesting the latter is a fake. Credit: Image courtesy Professor Mark Goodacre

 This second papyrus, which was carbon dated to between the seventh and ninth centuries A.D., is very similar to a Gospel of John papyrus, written and published by Egyptologist Sir Herbert Thompson in 1924, Askeland noted. In fact, the line breaks (the places where the text begins) are identical to those from Thompson's text. This is illustrated in an image of one side of the papyrus alongside Thompson’s 1924 text posted by Mark Goodacre of Duke University on his blog and republished on Live Science.

 "Seventeen of 17 line breaks are the same. This defies coincidence," writes Askeland.

 The John fragment is written in a dialect of Coptic called Lycopolitan, which had died out by the seventh century A.D., which would seem to confirm the fragment's inauthenticity, Askeland said.

 Tests carried out by James Yardley and Alexis Hagadorn of Columbia University found that the ink from the Gospel of Jesus's Wife and the John fragment are similar but not quite the same. The handwriting style, however, from the John fragment is similar to that of the Gospel of Jesus's Wife, Askeland noted.

 Given the similar handwriting and ink, and the identical owner, Askeland, and a large number of other scholars who have written online about Askeland's finds, argue that the Gospel of Jesus's Wife is likely also fake.

 Live Science contacted two Egyptologists who have examined the Gospel of Jesus's Wife firsthand to get their opinions. Malcolm Choat, of Macquarie University, who published an analysis of the writing of the Gospel of Jesus's Wife recently in Harvard Theological Review, says that he needs time to investigate Askeland's findings before he can comment. Similarly, Roger Bagnall, the director of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University (the Gospel of Jesus's Wife was examined there at one point) said that he needs time to analyze Askeland's findings and those of other scholars before he can comment.

 Hans-Ulrich Laukamp – Superman?

 If Laukamp did own both the Gospel of Jesus's Wife and the John papyrus, as the documents from the anonymous owner indicate, then this makes him an even more interesting and daring man.

 He would have had to cross the Berlin Wall in 1963, at the height of the Cold War, to obtain the Jesus' wife papyrus from Potsdam (and if caught, he would have to explain to East German police that the Jesus' wife papyrus was just an ancient manuscript and not a coded message). He also would, at some point, have obtained a fake Coptic papyrus of the Gospel of John that had very similar handwriting and ink to the Jesus' wife papyrus.

 He then would have hidden his collecting habits from Ernest (his estate representative in Sarasota County, Florida) and Axel Herzsprung, his closest business partner.

 The two Egyptologists who can verify any part of this story, Gerhard Fecht and Peter Munro, died in 2006 and 2009, respectively. Additionally, Laukamp didn't have any children and doesn't appear to have any relatives still alive. And if the papyrus was exported from Berlin at some point, antiquities officials there have no record of it.

 Can you win the lottery twice?

 Biblical scholars have made numerous comments arguing that the Gospel of Jesus's Wife is a fake. [See Photos of the Gospel of Judas]

 "If the Gospel of Jesus's Wife fragment is genuine, this already involves a pile-on of unusual and suspicious features that amounts to us having won the lottery," writes James Davila, a professor at the University of St. Andrews, on his blog. "Now another manuscript from the same cache written in the same hand again presents us with another pile-on of similarly suspicious features. At what point do we stop claiming another lottery win and just accept that the whole thing is a forgery?"

 Leo Depuydt, of Brown University, sent an email to several journalists and scholars saying that King should retract her findings. "When is this papyrological pantomime, this Keystone Coptic, this academic farce, this philological burlesque finally going to stop?" asked Depuydt in the email.

 Harvard silent

 King has remained silent on the new evidence. Calls made by Live Science to Harvard Divinity School's media relations office were not returned. Calls made directly to King's phone were also not returned. The reasons for the silence are unclear; there are unconfirmed reports that divisions have emerged within the Harvard Divinity faculty over the authenticity of the papyrus.

 A spokesperson for the Smithsonian Channel said that they are still planning to premiere their documentary on the Gospel of Jesus's Wife on Monday evening.

 Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– A papyrus suggesting Jesus had a wife has sparked continuing controversy since it was announced in 2012 in the Harvard Theological Review. Now, Live Science explains that the evidence against the authenticity of the "Gospel of Jesus' Wife" is mounting. Among the site's findings and observations: The supposed former owner of the papyrus, one Hans-Ulrich Laukamp, had no interest in antiquities, say two sources: the representative of his estate and a business associate. What's more, he's said to have obtained the papyrus in East Germany in 1963—a bit fishy since he was living on the other side of the Berlin Wall at the time. Another papyrus reportedly owned by Laukamp and given to Harvard is fake, a researcher has asserted. It looks a lot like the "Gospel," with similar handwriting and ink. Other experts are raising doubts, rather forcefully. "When is this papyrological pantomime, this Keystone Coptic, this academic farce, this philological burlesque finally going to stop?" asks a Brown University researcher. Asks another authority: "At what point do we stop claiming another lottery win and just accept that the whole thing is a forgery?" The story has started "to crumble faster than an ancient papyrus exposed in the windy Sudan," writes Jerry Pattengale in the Wall Street Journal. Specialists are saying that Harvard professor Karen King and colleagues "were the victims of an elaborate ruse," and Pattengale doesn't blame King—it's the media's "rush … to embrace the idea" that's of more concern. Click for his full piece.


Write an article based on this summary:

– With their case making international headlines, the Australian parents of baby Gammy are telling their story. Speaking to Australia's 9News, David Farnell said he and his wife, Wendy, "wanted" to take Gammy home with them, Reuters reports—but his surrogate mother wouldn't let them. Surrogate Pattaramon Chanbua "said if we tried to take our little boy, she's going to get the police and she's going to come and take our little girl," Farnell said, via Sky News, referring to Gammy's twin sister. Earlier, the BBC notes, the Farnells told reporters they hadn't known about Gammy at all. In other moments from the interview: David Farnell also says the couple would likely have sought to terminate the pregnancy if they'd known earlier that Gammy had Down Syndrome, Sky News reports. "It was late into the pregnancy that we learned the boy had Down's," Farnell says, noting that "no parent wants a son with a disability." Farnell acknowledged his convictions for child sex abuse; 9News notes that he was convicted of abusing four girls, ages five to 10, over a decade. He spent three years in jail. "I’ve been convicted of child sex offenses and I hang my head in shame," he said. "Everybody hates sex offenders," he noted, per Sky. "That's why I've tried so hard and want to be a good father to my children, so people can see that I'm a good person now because I did this bad thing a long time ago."

Gammy, a baby born with Down's Syndrome, is held by his surrogate mother Pattaramon Janbua at a hospital in Chonburi province August 3, 2014.

 SYDNEY (Reuters) - The Australian biological parents of twins caught up in a surrogacy scandal in Thailand wanted both babies but the surrogate mother threatened to involve the police and they feared she would keep both children, they said on Sunday.

 David and Wendy Farnell were speaking publicly for the first time since the story broke more than a week ago of 7-month-old baby Gammy, who has Down's syndrome and is being cared for by his surrogate mother in Thailand.

 The couple told Australian television they felt they had little choice but to leave Thailand with Gammy's healthy sister.

 "We wanted to bring him with us," David Farnell, 56, told the Nine Network’s 60 Minutes program.

 They returned to Australia with Gammy’s sister Pipah as the surrogate mother Pattaramon Janbua had told them “if we try to take our little boy, she’s going to get the police and she’s going to come and take our little girl… and she’s going to keep both of the babies,” he said.

 The couple have been criticized for apparently rejecting the boy, who also has a hole in his heart and is being treated for a lung infection in a Thai hospital.

 60 Minutes said the couple were not paid for the interview.

 Pattaramon said doctors, the surrogate agency and the baby’s parents had known that Gammy was disabled when she was four months pregnant but had not told her until the seventh month.

 She said she had feared she would be asked to abort him but would have refused due to her Buddhist beliefs.

 The Farnells said they were angry that the agency had not told them about the boy's condition until too late in the pregnancy to safely abort.

 They said they want the baby.

 The case has drawn international attention to the lack of regulation of international surrogacy and sparked calls in Australia for an overhaul of laws to cut the number of couples traveling abroad for surrogates.

 Public outrage intensified last week when it became known that David Farnell was jailed in 1997 for sex offences involving three girls aged under 13.

 "I have been convicted of child sex offences and I hang my head in shame for that," he told 60 Minutes, adding that he had reformed and was no longer a risk to children.

 As commercial surrogacy is outlawed in Australia many couples turn to clinics in Thailand and India.

 Thailand has no clear legal framework for surrogacy. Commercial surrogacy is barred by the Medical Council of Thailand but non-profit surrogacy is permitted for blood relatives, and exceptions are permitted on a case-by-case basis.

 A draft law banning commercial surrogacy in Thailand has been submitted to the military government, an official of the Social Development and Human Security Ministry said on Thursday.

 The Australian government has asked the Thai authorities to allow for the completion of any current commercial surrogate arrangements before introducing changes.

 Hands Across the Water, an Australian-run children's charity based in Thailand, will administer the more than A$241,000 ($224,000) raised so far in an online public appeal for Gammy’s medical treatment and care.

 (Reporting by Lincoln Feast in Sydney and Morag McKinnon in Perth; Editing by Lynne O'Donnell) ||||| The biological father accused of abandoning a baby because he was born with Down's syndrome has said he would have terminated the surrogate pregnancy had he known sooner about the boy's condition.

 A surrogate mother in Thailand gave birth to twins for David and Wendy Farnell.

 The girl, Pipah, was healthy and came back to Western Australia with the couple but the boy, named Gammy, was born with the disability and remains in the surrogate's care.

 Speaking on Channel 9's 60 Minutes programme, Mr Farnell said: "No parent wants a son with a disability.

 "It was late into the pregnancy that we learned the boy had Down's. They sent us the reports but they didn't do the checks early enough."

 Pattaramon Chanbua, baby Gammy's Thai surrogate mother

 He denies asking the surrogate mother at any time to have an abortion.

 Accused of ditching the boy, the couple have found themselves at the centre of an international scandal.

 "It has been very distressing and we miss our little boy," said Mr Farnell.

 "I come home from work some days and Wendy has dressed our little girl all in blue. She wants to still remember our little boy."

 They say that rather than abandoning Gammy the Thai surrogate, 21-year-old Pattaramon Chanbua, refused to let him go.

 Ms Chanbua says the boy's biological parents rejected him

 "She said if we tried to take our little boy she's going to get the police and she's going to come and take our little girl," said Mr Farnell.

 His wife added the whole episode made them both "very, very stressed".

 For more than a week Ms Chanbua has repeatedly painted the Farnells as heartless.

 To complicate matters further, Mr Farnell has 22 convictions for sexually abusing girls, one as young as five years old.

 "There is no reason to be concerned. I'm not going to harm my little girl," he told the interviewer when pressed on whether his daughter would be safe in his care.

 Asked if the couple understood why many think they are the most hated couple in Australia, he replied: "I can understand that. For one, thinking that we have abandoned our little boy, it's a terrible thing.

 Gammy's twin sister lives with their biological parents in Australia

 "And then to have me as a sex offender. Everybody hates sex offenders ... that's why I've tried so hard and want to be a good father to my children so people can see that I'm a good person now because I did this bad thing a long time ago."

 Worldwide attention generated by the story has led to almost £150,000 being raised to help pay for Gammy's medical costs.

 It has also highlighted the disturbing nature of Thailand's surrogacy industry.

 Thailand is preparing to fast-track legislation to outlaw commercial surrogacy, banning agencies acting as brokers, or accepting financial or other benefits.

 Advertising for women to act as surrogates for commercial purposes would also be illegal.

 Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has called on the Thai government to allow a transitional period before the ban, to enable Australians to receive children still being carried by surrogates. ||||| Thai surrogate baby Gammy: Australian parents 'wanted him'

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 Continue reading the main story Related Stories

 The Australian couple accused of abandoning a baby born with Down's syndrome to a Thai surrogate mother say they wanted to take him home.

 David and Wendy Farnell, speaking publicly for the first time, insisted the Thai mother would not hand over Gammy, now seven months old.

 The couple, who took Gammy's twin sister, say they want to get him back.

 The surrogate mother originally said the couple deliberately left Gammy behind because of his disabilities.

 But in an interview with the Associated Press on Sunday, Pattharamon Chanbua, 21, appeared to backtrack, saying: "I did not allow Gammy to go back with them - that's the truth. It is because they would have taken Gammy back and put him in an institute."

 In an emotional interview on Australia's Channel Nine on Sunday, David Farnell said: "We did not abandon our son.

 "(Pattharamon) said that if we tried to take our little boy, she's going to get the police and she's going to try and take our little girl and she's going to keep both of the babies."

 He added: "The surrogate mother - it is her choice if she wants to give you the baby or not give you the baby. Although you have a surrogacy agreement, it really doesn't mean anything. It is her decision, and our surrogate mother said that she wanted to keep the baby boy."

 An online campaign has raised tens of thousands of pounds to help Pattharamon Chanbua with Gammy's medical expenses.

 The case took an even darker twist when it emerged that David Farnell had been convicted in the 1990s of multiple sex offences against young girls.

 He insisted on Sunday that his daughter, Pipah, was not at risk of harm from him.

 "I will do everything in the world to protect my little girl," he said.

 "I have no inclination of doing anything like this. I don't have any thoughts about this at all. That is the 100% truth. I cannot do this again."

 Officials say they have contacted the couple, but have no major concerns at present.

 'Anger at agency'

 Pattharamon Chanbua, who has two other children, said the couple had asked her to have an abortion when she was told of the baby boy's condition four months after becoming pregnant.

 She said she refused, as it was against her Buddhist beliefs. Abortion on the grounds of foetal impairment is illegal in Thailand.

 David Farnell denied asking the mother to have an abortion but said they were angry that the surrogacy agency had not conducted tests earlier because by the time they found out about the baby's condition, it was too late in the pregnancy to abort the foetus.

 Had they known earlier, he said, they probably would have terminated the pregnancy.

 "I don't think any parent wants a son with a disability," he said. "Parents want their children to be healthy and happy."

 David Farnell said that was when Pattharamon Chanbua offered to keep Gammy.

 "We were thinking, oh, maybe this might be OK," he said.

 But when the babies were born, he added, he and his wife realised they wanted to keep both.

 He said the surrogate mother then insisted she be allowed to keep Gammy, and threatened to keep Pipah as well.

 Besides Down's syndrome, Gammy has a congenital heart condition and a lung infection. |||||


Article:

A 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck Eureka at around 4:30 p.m. Saturday, leaving much of the city without power and police scanners buzzing with reports of damage and injuries.

 The quake, which lasted for around 30 seconds, had power poles waving back and forth along Eureka streets and brought panicked residents out of their homes.

 The Bayshore Mall, as of 5:30 p.m., had been closed off to customers and employees. It was unclear how many people were injured there, but one employee reported that several people were picked up by ambulances.

 Employees also reported light fixtures falling out of the ceiling and floor tiles popping up off the ground. Another employee reported seeing chunks of the ceiling fall onto customers.

 Employees

 Eureka Natural Foods shortly after the quake. (Shaun Walker)

 were waiting around to get back in to the building to collect their things and survey the damage.

 All along Broadway, Eureka's busiest thoroughfare, lights were out and traffic was heavy as people attempted to get out of town.

 Arcata, near Humboldt State University, had power, and residents of McKinleyville also reported having power. Fortuna seemed fairly undamaged as of early evening.

 Sgt. Matt Eberhart of the Fortuna Police Department said Fortuna takes dispatches for Rio Dell, Ferndale and Fortuna, adding that there were a couple reports of gas leaks and of businesses that had items had falling off the shelves, including Safeway and Beverage Plus.

 One woman in front of Fortuna's Rite Aid said she lived four miles from the

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 epicenter of the Loma Prieta quake and said this was a piece of cake.

 "This was nothing compared to Loma Prieta," said Theresa Chesmore.

 In Eureka, 77-year-old Paul Knaak owns a two-story house on Summer Street, where he had two broken water pipes and his belongings strewn across the floor.

 "I don't know about the foundation yet," he said, as he waited outside Shafer's Ace Hardware in Henderson Center to purchase supplies. The store, however, was closed.

 He said it was the biggest quake he'd experienced in his life.

 Mike Hagedorn, bakery manager at Winco, said the store was a mess.

 "Everything was off the shelves," he said. "It was booming ... . You can imagine our liquor section right now."

 Phillip Smith-Hanes, Humboldt County administrative officer and public information officer for this incident through the Office of Emergency Services, confirmed just before 6 p.m. that the quake measured 6.5.

 The epicenter was 20 miles west-northwest of Ferndale.

 "Kind of straight west of Humboldt Hill," Smith-Hanes said.

 The office has not received any reports of major injury.

 "We do have quite a few reports of damage,"Smith-Hanes said.

 He classified the damage as minor to moderate.

 As of 7 p.m., about 27,000 PG&E; customers were without power.

 Broken gas lines and downed power lines were the most types of calls coming across the scanner.

 Marshall Boyett of McKinleyvile was driving when the earthquake hit.

 "It was like the street was breakdancing," Boyett said.

 Releases from both HSU and St. Joseph Health System said no injuries were reported at those locations.

 Power is out at the Times-Standard, and reports Saturday evening were filed from the parking lot on a single laptop, illiminated by headlamps from employee vehicles.

 Jana Morris, spokewoman for PG&E;, said just before 8 p.m. that about 28,000 customers didn't have power. Outages have been reported in all the major cities and unincorporated area.

 "We have done a thorough investigation of the power plants, both the fossil and nuclear sites, and everything looks good," Morris said. "The investigation turned out that there was no significant damage and everything is up and running."

 Morris said that crews will work around the clock to try and restore power with estimates of power being restored in some areas as late as Sunday night. Crews from Mendocino and Sonoma counties were on their way to help as of 8 p.m.

 Morris said that people should not approach downed power lines even if the neighborhood is dark.

 Report down power lines to 911 or 1-800-PGE-5000.

 The temblor was felt at least as far east as Willow Creek where the night manager Chris Potter said the movement was definitely noticeable.

 "It was pretty intense," he said. "We really felt it."

 He said he thought merchandise would be falling, but that didn't happen.

 According to the U.S. Geological Survey Web site, it appears as if six aftershocks have struck since the major shaiking began, none of which approached the original magnitude of the quake. ||||| Reporting from Los Angeles and Eureka, Calif. - The day after a powerful earthquake rocked the Northern California city of Eureka, residents woke today to a mess: toppled chimneys, downed traffic signals and shattered nerves as minor aftershocks continued to rattle windows.About 30 people visited hospitals for minor injuries, but there were no reports of major injuries caused by the magnitude-6.5 temblor, which struck offshore at 4:27 p.m. about 33 miles southwest of the coastal city of 26,000.More than 25,000 people were initially without power, but electricity was restored to everyone shortly after 6 a.m., according to David Eisenhauer, spokesman for Pacific Gas & Electric Co."We're checking all the bridges and buildings and hope to have a complete damage assessment soon," said Leslie Lollich, spokeswoman for the Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services.Already, officials had declared an apartment building and several commercial structures unsafe, referring the residents to Red Cross officials for temporary shelter.At the 124-year-old St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Church in Eureka, parishioners were busy picking up pieces of plaster that had fallen from the ceiling and climbing ladders to adjust paintings that had tilted in the shaking. The church's tall steeple was intact after the quake.Pastor H. Loren Allen said he had delivered a homily to church members that gave thanks for the relatively minor damage. "I didn't want to make light of it," he said, "but I didn't want to sound like the grim reaper either."Centered about 13 miles deep, the quake was felt as far north as central Oregon, as far south as Santa Cruz and as far east as Reno, the U.S. Geological Survey said."It was a monstrous one," said Phil Burns, owner of Mity Nice Bakery Cafe Restaurant in Eureka, which is about 80 miles south of the Oregon border. "Usually, they're sharp, but this one was very wiggly. It was rolling in all directions."In the south Eureka fishing village of King Salmon, the 10 seconds of shaking broke power lines and knocked out electricity throughout the isolated seaside community of about 750 people.When it stopped, people gathered in the street. Some were visibly distraught. Shouts of "You all right?" were heard. Then car engines began revving up as residents raced to the only access road to the closest higher ground, the 150-foot-high Bell Hill, in case of a tsunami, said William Bowman, a resident. None materialized, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.Residents of Northern California coastal communities have reason to worry about tsunamis. In 1964, a magnitude 9.2 earthquake off the Alaskan coast sent a catastrophic tsunami to Crescent City, north of Eureka, killing 11 people.Frayed nerves were evident throughout the Humboldt County region as dusk fell. Rooms at Mad River Community Hospital in Arcata, 15 miles north of Eureka, were in the dark, and patients in robes were sitting in the hallway. Generators provided only enough power to keep vital machinery working, said nursing supervisor Annie Conkler."Everyone's shaken, but fine," she said, adding that there were no patients with quake-related injuries coming into the emergency room.At Myrtle Avenue Pet Center on Hubbard Lane in Eureka, owner Melanie Noe spent the evening picking up shampoo bottles and shattered dog bowls. The only other casualties were the cats' nerves, she said.On the other side of town, lamps and dishes crashed down at Antiques and Goodies, causing a couple to run out of the store, while two women took cover under a table. "We've been through a lot of earthquakes, but I can't recall there ever being any this bad," said store owner Sandra Hall.To the south, floodlights fell at the Humboldt County Fairgrounds, and windows shattered in Ferndale. Farther south, in Redway, shoppers abandoned their carts in a grocery store and raced to their cars.State officials said authorities in the county have not asked for additional assistance from Sacramento."It looks like they will be able to handle it on their own," said Kelly Huston, a spokesman for the California Emergency Management Agency. "Our big concern now is aftershocks."At least 10 aftershocks were reported in the hours after the temblor, the strongest of them registering 4.2.Richard Allen, a UC Berkeley seismologist, said the area where the earthquake occurred was in the Mendocino Triple Junction, where three tectonic plates collide: the Pacific, North American and Juan de Fuca. It is one of the most seismically active parts of the San Andreas fault system that runs through the state."Although 6.5 is a large event, it is not uncommon there by any means," said Richard Buckmaster, a U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist.The last major quakes in the offshore region, Buckmaster said, were magnitude 7.2 and 6.6 temblors in June 2005. ||||| As of right now, major networks and newspapers are failing to report what's being noted on Twitter as a giant fucking earthquake that just hit somewhere around Humboldt County. But Twitter users sure seem to know what's up.

 Brian Stetler at the New York Times found some solid pictures off of Twitter of the 'quake. Good lookin' out!

 Some of our favorite observations so far!

 The media is sloooooooow says Michael van Poppel, who heads up the BNO team/Twitter feed. This is like Usain Bolt telling you to stop dragging ass.

 Crowdsourcey! (Thanks, Bucky).

 Trenchant!

 Accessible!

 Uhh, sure!

 Did you see any good Tweets about the Earthquake? Let me know! Twitter tends to bring out the most exciting/fanatical in people during emergencies, and it's great fun to watch, and it'll be even better one they're all high again. |||||
What is a summary?

– Communities in Humboldt County in northern California are cleaning up today after a 6.5-magnitude earthquake rocked the coastal area yesterday afternoon. " It was like the street was breakdancing, " a local resident who was driving when the temblor struck around 4:30pm told the Times-Standard of Eureka, 33 miles from the epicenter. There were numerous reports of power outages and property damage, but no serious injuries and no tsunami warning. "It was a monstrous one," a Eurekar restaurateur told the Los Angeles Times. "Usually, they're sharp, but this one was very wiggly." Humboldt County, about 275 miles northeast of San Francisco, enjoys a reputation as "the Napa Valley of weed," Gawker notes. " The pot will be OK no need to start a panic! " tweeted one Humboldt resident.