Article:

Focused crawls are collections of frequently-updated webcrawl data from narrow (as opposed to broad or wide) web crawls, often focused on a single domain or subdomain. ||||| Dab A group of teens dabbing. Genre Hip-hop Year Mid-to-late 2010s

 Dabbing, or the dab, is a simple dance move or gesture in which a person drops the head into the bent crook of a slanted, upwardly angled arm, while raising the opposite arm out straight in a parallel direction. Since 2015, dabbing has been used as a gesture of triumph or playfulness, becoming a youthful American fad and Internet meme.[1] The move looks similar to someone sneezing into the "inside" of their elbow.[1][2]

 Origin

 The dab has its origins in the Atlanta hip-hop scene in the 2010s, but there was initially disagreement about who originated the dance.[3] Artists initially mentioned as possible originators of the name of the dance include Migos (as in "Look at My Dab"), Skippa Da Flippa, Peewee Longway, Jose Guapo and Rich the Kid.[4] QC labelmate OG Maco called out Migos for saying they were the creators when it was actually Skippa Da Flippa. The controversy was cleared up when Migos confirmed Skippa as the originator of the dance, though they were unhappy with the way Maco handled the situation.[5]. The dance evolved throughout Summer 2014 [6].

 American rapper Bow Wow attempted to explain the origin of the dab dance, saying it derived from the cannabis dabbers community, which started in about 2012, before the dance move. He was met with opposition from other rappers who immediately took to Twitter to insult him and disprove his claims.[7]

 The music video for "Shake It" by Metro Station, released in 2009, shows a person doing what appears to be a dab.[8]

 Popularity

 As XXL magazine reported in August 2015, "What started as a regional down South adlib is quickly becoming a masterful maneuver in clubs and on street corners. It’s called dabbin’."[9] Jason Derulo taught James Corden how to dab during the November 4, 2015 edition of "Carpool Karaoke" on The Late Late Show with James Corden.[10]

 The dab gained popularity in American sports following an eight-second celebratory dab by Cam Newton, football quarterback for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League, during a game against the Tennessee Titans on November 15, 2015.[11][12] According to a Sports Illustrated account of the incident, "[w]hen two Titans players confronted [Newton] about the celebration, he continued to dance in their faces, even as he backed away."[1] Newton explained the incident by crediting a 16-year-old for instructing him to "Dab on them folks":

 I'm a firm believer that if you don't like me to do it then don't let me in ... I just like doing it, man. It's not to be boastful, and from the crowd's response they like seeing it. ... Tell me what to do "Dab on them folks," so I tried "Dab on them folks," in that tone too. "Dab on them folks." He's only like 16, but he's got an Adam's apple out of this world.[13]

 It was later confirmed that the 16-year-old was Newton's younger brother Caylin.[14] On June 9, 2016, Cam Newton announced that he would no longer perform the celebration. However, he dabbed again on November 13, 2016 after a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs, nearly a year after his initial dab against the Titans.[15]

 Dabbing has made its appearance in politics, as well. In January 2016, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton dabbed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In October 2016, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez dabbed at the end of a Senate debate against Attorney General Kamala Harris.[16][17][18] On January 3, 2017, Cal Marshall, 17-year-old son of Rep. Roger Marshall (R-Kan), dabbed at his father's swearing in as a Congressman, confusing House Speaker Paul Ryan.[19] On February 22, 2017, Deputy Labour Leader Tom Watson dabbed in the UK's House of Commons.[20] French presidential candidates Emmanuel Macron,[21] Benoît Hamon and François Fillon dabbed on TV in March 2017. In May 2017, Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway dabbed at the Royal Palace in Oslo during his grandparents' King Harald V and Queen Sonja's official appearance for their 80th birthday.[22] In October 2017, Australian Labor Party leader Bill Shorten dabbed as part of a "diss track" criticising members of the Liberal Party.[23] He later alluded to the dab's infamy, stating that his children had been "humiliated" by it.[24]

 In January 2017, an Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja dabbed in celebration of his half-century scored in a Test match against Pakistan in Sydney. His move received mixed reactions, with some praising it while others accused him of disrespecting his opponents.[25]

 In February 2017, the president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, invited a dance group to State House to perform the dab dance move with him.[26] The president was doing the dab dance in a bid to appeal to the youthful population of Kenya to come out and register as voters. Some critics found this move to be in bad taste since there were other pressing issues like the doctors and lecturers strike that the president ought to have been dealing with rather than dancing.[27]

 Today, the dab is both a dance move and a statement. The culture behind it has been propagated by celebrity use and memes. Many dancers incorporate the move in their repertoire as a minor addition to a set. Whether in the beginning, middle, or end of a set, a dab is usually used to mark a drop. In Korean pop music (K-pop) some South Koreans adopted the move,[28] along with Whip and Nae Nae.[29]

 Manchester United footballers Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard also popularised the dab by performing the dance as their goal celebration.[30] Wrestler T.J. Perkins often uses the move as a taunt or a sign of disrespect after a headstand headscissors takedown.[citation needed]

 Illegality in Saudi Arabia

 In Saudi Arabia, the move was made illegal by the National Committee for Drug Control as it was deemed that it alludes to cannabis and other illegal substances. In August 2017, Saudi singer and actor Abdallah Al Shaharani was arrested for performing the move at a music festival in Ta'if, and afterward apologised in a tweet.[31][32] In January 2018 a Saudi footballer was criticized on social media for performing the move during a match.[33]

 See also ||||| Focused crawls are collections of frequently-updated webcrawl data from narrow (as opposed to broad or wide) web crawls, often focused on a single domain or subdomain. |||||
What is a summary?

– The 115th Congress was sworn in Tuesday, and Kansas Rep. Roger Marshall was one of the newbies who took advantage of a photo op with Speaker Paul Ryan after the ceremony. But per CNN, another Marshall ended up stealing the spotlight: the congressman's son, who started dabbing—for the uninitiated, Wikipedia describes it as "a dance move in which the dancer simultaneously drops the head while raising an arm and the elbow in a gesture that has been noted to resemble sneezing," and often employed by the Carolina Panthers' Cam Newton to celebrate a touchdown. Ryan seemed flummoxed by whatever was going on next to him, asking young Marshall, "Do you want to put your hand down?" Ryan said, gently pulling the boy's arm down. "You gonna sneeze? That it?" The elder Marshall responded with details of his son's fate Tuesday afternoon, tweeting, "Just so you know @SpeakerRyan: He's grounded." But Ryan's take on the dab debacle showed it was less the punishment he was concerned about and more answers that he sought. "Just finished swearing-in photos. Nearly 300 members. Countless cute kids. Still don't get what dabbing is, though," he tweeted Tuesday evening. Someone tape a Panthers game for him?


Article:

An 8-year-old girl came to court Thursday to tell Washington County jurors that her mother, Jessica Dutro, used to give her and her brothers “lickins” when they were bad.

 The girl was 7 years old when her 4-year-old brother, Zachary Dutro-Boggess, died from injuries related to a beating.

 Wearing a pink t-shirt and jeans, the girl answered attorneys’ questions from the witness stand during her mother’s murder trial. Dutro, 25, is charged with murder, murder by abuse and second-degree assault in Zachary’s August 2012 death.

 Brian Canady, Dutro’s 24-year-old boyfriend, pleaded guilty earlier this month to first-degree manslaughter for his abuse of the child.

 Prosecutors say both defendants abused Dutro’s three children and neglected to seek medical attention for Zachary until it was too late. The couple together had an infant son, who was not diagnosed with abuse.

 Zachary, Dutro’s second child, was taken to a hospital Aug. 14, 2012, with tears in his bowel from a blow to his abdomen. Doctors kept him alive for two more days before he was taken off life support.

 Zachary’s older sister told investigators that “Jessica and Brian” beat Zachary until he was sick. They knew he wasn't doing well, but they didn’t tell anyone, she said.

 She also reported that she and her two preschool-aged brothers were put in timeout for long stretches. They were forced to “face the wall” with their hands in the air. If their arms dropped, she said, Dutro or Canady would hit them.

 On audio and video recordings, the girl was talkative in one-on-one interviews.

 In a courtroom, before a jury, judge, her mother, lawyers and spectators, the girl often gave soft, one-word answers to questions.

 She said both Dutro and Canady gave her and her brother “lickins.” The punishments hurt and left marks, she said.

 Her mother told her she wasn’t supposed to talk about getting hit, she testified.

 She could remember a time when Zachary got hit in the stomach, she said. She couldn’t recall the specifics.

 The girl and her two surviving brothers now live with Dutro’s relatives. It's fun, she said.

 -- Emily E. Smith

  ||||| Jessica Dutro believed her 4-year-old son, Zachary Dutro-Boggess was gay, prosecutors told the court Wednesday, and that was her motive for subjecting him to deadly beatings.

 Dutro, charged with murder, murder by abuse and second-degree assault, is on trial in Washington County Circuit Court.

 Emergency crews brought Zachary to a Portland hospital Aug. 14, 2012, where doctors determined he was dying from trauma to his abdomen that caused tears in his bowel. He was taken off life support two days later.

 After jurors were released for the day Wednesday, Judge Don Letourneau ruled that a Facebook message from Dutro to her boyfriend was admissible evidence.

 Prosecutor Megan Johnson argued the message established Dutro’s motive for inflicting on Zachary a pattern of torture and abuse. Authorities say Dutro assaulted three of her children, but Zachary received the brunt of the violence.

 In the message, Dutro told her boyfriend, Brian Canady, that Zachary was “facing the wall” because he had made her mad.

 Her son was going to be gay, she wrote, using a slur. “He walks and talks like it. Ugh.”

 Canady would have to “work on” Zachary, she wrote.

 Canady pleaded guilty earlier this month to first-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault in the boy’s death.

 Letourneau further ruled that web searches thought to be done by Dutro would also be admissible evidence.

 Prosecutors say on Aug. 16, 2012, the day Zachary’s life support was terminated, Dutro searched terms such as anger management and parenting classes. She also searched listings for free stuff and sex with strangers, they said.

 -- Emily E. Smith

  ||||| Jessica Dutro is on trial for beating her 4-year-old son Zachary to death, and prosecutors say the mom snapped because she feared the toddler was gay.

 Dutro is charged with murder, murder by abuse, and second-degree assault for the incident in August, 2012. Emergency crews brought the boy to a Portland hospital after a beating so severe that he had torn his bowels, and the boy was taken off life support two days later.

 At the trial this week, the prosecution presented a Facebook message Jessica Dutro had sent to her boyfriend detailing the motive for the brutal attack.

 In the message, Dutro told boyfriend Brian Canady that the toddler was in timeout because he had angered her. Dutro added that she thought her son was going to be gay.

 “He walks and talks like it. Ugh,” she wrote, adding that her boyfriend would have to “work on” the boy.

 Canady has already pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault.

 Earlier in the trial, Jessica’s 7-year-old daughter told about how her brother Zachary “got dead.”

 “Jessica and Brian, they kept hitting him and punching him,” she said. “He didn’t listen to them so they kicked him and punched him and stuff and they kept doing it and doing it.”

 Prosecutor Megan Johnson said the message points to a long pattern of torture that Jessica Dutro inflicted on her 4-year-old. They allege that she beat three of her other children, but that Zachary received the harshest treatment.

 Prosecutors also said that one the Zachary was taken off life support, Jessica Dutro went onto the internet and searched for anger management and parenting classes. She made other searches for free items and sex with strangers, prosecutors added. |||||
What is a summary?

– An Oregon mom is on trial for allegedly beating her son to death, which she did, prosecutors told the court this week, because she believed the 4-year-old was gay. On Wednesday the judge in the case ruled that prosecutors could introduce as evidence a Facebook message in which Jessica Dutro, 25, told her boyfriend Brian Canady, 24, that her son Zachary was "facing the wall" for making her angry, the Oregonian reports. He's going to be gay, Dutro wrote, using a slur. "He walks and talks like it. Ugh." She said the two would have to "work on" the boy. Yesterday, Dutro's 8-year-old daughter testified that facing the wall was a common punishment, the Oregonian reports. Dutro would make the children stand holding their arms in the air, and hit them if they relaxed, she said, adding that Dutro and Canady also often gave her and her brother "lickins." She described the night her brother "got dead" this way, according to Inquisitr: "Jessica and Brian, they kept hitting him and punching him. He didn't listen to them, so they kicked him and punched him and stuff and they kept doing it and doing it." That beating allegedly tore the boy's bowels. Zachary Dutro-Boggess was brought to the hospital on Aug. 14, 2012, and was taken off life support two days later. Canady has already pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault.


News article:

Just because she’s engaged to a tech giant, that doesn’t mean Serena Williams has mastered technology.

 The pregnant tennis champ opened up about her pregnancy to Gayle King at Tuesday’s 2017 Ted Talks conference held inside the Vancouver Convention Centre and revealed that her baby bump Snapchat was sent out to the world by accident.

 “Well, actually it was an accident. I was on vacation just taking some time for myself and I have this thing where I’ve been checking my status and taking pictures every week to see how far along I’m going,” Williams, 35, said. “I didn’t tell a lot of people to be quite honest and I’d been saving it. On social media, you press the wrong button and… Thirty minutes later I missed four calls and I’m like, ‘That’s weird.’ But it was a good moment. I was only going to wait five or six more days [to share].”

 But the slip-up doesn’t have her stressing about future social media posts. “Every week I just take a picture and save it and I’ve been so good about it and this was the one time I slipped, but it’s okay,” she said.

 One week ago, the mother-to-be captioned a mirror selfie with her baby bump clearly visible underneath a custom yellow La Blanca Anniversary suit. “20 weeks,” she announced.

 Later that same day, Williams’ rep confirmed to PEOPLE that she and her fiancé, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, will welcome their first child in the fall. “I’m happy to confirm Serena is expecting a baby this fall,” the rep shared.

 Source: Serena Williams/Snapchat

 And just days after the baby news, the sports star posted a moving love note to her unborn baby.

 Also at the Ted Talks event, Williams opened up her career plans post-baby.

 “Roger Federer is older than me and he’s still winning everything,” she said about getting back in championship caliber shape.

 “My baby’s going to be in the stands, hopefully cheering for me,” Williams gushed. ||||| Serena Williams is just like us, well, sorta.

 The tennis legend admitted during her Ted Talk with Gayle King that she didn't mean for her pregnancy announcement photo to hit social media—but accidents happen!

 "I asked you about that picture and you said nobody was supposed to see that picture. What do you mean?" King asked.

 "Well, actually it was an accident. I was on vacation just taking some time for myself and I have this thing where I've been checking my status and taking pictures every week to see how far along I'm going," the pregnant star explained.

 "I didn't tell a lot of people to be quite honest and I'd been saving it. And you know how social media is when you press the wrong button…and…"

 King interjected, "There it was!" |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Some thought Serena Williams was being coy when she posted the image last week that announced her pregnancy to the world, then soon after deleted it. But it turns out the tennis star had simply never meant for the picture to go public at all, People reports. The tennis star sat down Tuesday with Gayle King at the TED conference in Vancouver, BC, and revealed, as E! Online puts it, that she's "just like us, well, sorta" when it comes to messing up on social media. "It was an accident," Williams confessed about the baby bump reveal now seen 'round the world. She explained how she's been regularly taking pictures of her pregnancy's progress and saving it for herself, except this time around she hit "Send" instead of "Save." "You press the wrong button and…," Serena explained. Williams isn't taking the goof-up too hard, though, noting that she'd planned on sharing the big news in "five or six more days" anyway. (Williams' note to her unborn baby.)


On May 13, in South Carolina, the AP reports that a prison inmate, out for a hospital visit, attempted to escape by trying a GTA-style driver-yank-and-carjack on a nearby car. Things didn’t work out so well for 18-year old Ezekiel Stevenson, the wannabe carjacker, because the driver of the car had a tiny advantage: the key fob.

 I have a sort of love/hate relationship with proximity keys. Well, mostly hate, if I’m honest. Sure, they can be convenient, but all too often they manage to cause complicated issues and hassles that could so easily be resolved if the damn car just demanded to have a key jammed in it somewhere.

 This time, though, I have to admit a clear and unfettered victory for the proximity key. See, when Stevenson dragged that unnamed guy out of his car, he had the key fob on him, so when the prison inmate tried to drive away, the car’s owner was able to shut down the car.

 With the car immobile, a standoff ensued, with Stevenson attempting to lock the doors, but the owner just kept clicking the button on the fob and unlocking them, over and over, until police were able to enter the car.

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 Stevenson bolted into the woods, but was caught within the hour. If the car had used a conventional key, this all would have played out very differently.

 Looks like I owe proximity keys a bit of an apology.

 ... ||||| This will appear next to all of your comments

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Write a summary.

– Authorities say a quick-thinking driver thwarted a car-jacking by a jail inmate in South Carolina, reports the AP. Arrest warrants say Ezekiel Stevenson yanked a driver from his car during a hospital visit on May 13. But the driver kept his key fob, shutting the engine down before the car could leave the lot. (This is thanks to a "proximity key," explains Jalopnik.) That led to a standoff with the 18-year-old inmate, who kept trying to lock the doors. Each time, the driver used the fob to unlock them for officers. Stephenson then managed to flee into the woods, dodging an officer's gunshot (no details are provided about why the officer opened fire), but he was found within the hour. He had been in the Darlington County Jail on a hit-and-run charge. Now he's back there facing escape, carjacking, and resisting arrest charges. His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.


By Anjali Athavaley, Pervaiz Shallwani, Sharon Adarlo, Alison Fox and Heather Haddon

 UPDATED | Despite last-minute efforts by officials in New York and New Jersey to help storm victims vote, confusion, lack of electricity and long lines still plagued polling sites throughout the area Tuesday.

 To prevent disenfranchising voters, shuttle buses were running in hard-hit areas, voting locations were combined and Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive ordering allowing storm victims to vote outside of their district Monday night. Still, problems arose as soon as some locations opened.

 On the playground of Scholars’ Academy on Beach 104th St. in Rockaway Park, several voting locations from the western end of the Rockaway peninsula were consolidated into one tent-covered polling site. Problems started immediately, as poll workers arrived to find that generators, heaters and lights were nowhere to be found.

 “It just got a little chaotic,” said pollworker Estel Lyons. “We had it planned the best we could and there were a few glitches.”

 Zuma Press People gather to vote at a makeshift tent, which is used as a polling station in Rockway.

 Marie Howley of Rockaway Park used a rental car to drive in from Rockville Centre on Long Island, where she has been staying with her daughter. Her only complaint was lack of sufficient light in the tents. “It’s dark in there,” she said. “You had to hold up the card to see. I think I filled in all the holes correctly.”

 In hard-hit Hoboken, various snafus caused long waits for voters to cast ballots at a combined polling location for two districts on Grand Street. The doors of the Multi Service Center of Hoboken weren’t open at 6 a.m., poll workers struggled to find a key to open the operational voting machines and voters were told they might have to cast paper ballots, said Joe Maziarski, a 27-year-old Hoboken resident at the polling site.

 “People weren’t really happy with that idea,” said Maziarski, a TV producer.

 The machines were eventually opened but the tables lacked signs directing people to their appropriate polling district, and voters took it upon themselves to guide people, Maziarski said. “It was very disorganized. You couldn’t tell who was running the organization,” he said.

 Sandy even threw some kinks in the voting process in parts of New York City where the lights stayed on throughout the storm.

 In Park Slope, voters who usually cast their ballots at John Jay High School, now serving as an shelter for storm evacuees, were directed to PS 282, more than a half a mile away. Some residents had received fliers passed out on Monday by Assembyman James F. Brennan redirecting them to the new site.

 Lines stretched outside the school and around the block. But displaced voters got a break and were directed to a separate entrance where lines were shorter. Those who already knew their election district were processed quickly, in about half an hour.

 It was unclear if the shorter lines were because of lower turnout from residents redirected from their usual polling places.

 At the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School in midtown Manhattan, polling workers said that around noon, they had run out of affidavit ballot envelopes needed for voters who weren’t registered at the polling site.

 Jon Protas/The Wall Street Journal A double line of voters stretches around the block as people wait to vote on West End Ave at 95th street in Manhattan.

 “Governor Cuomo sits up there in Albany and signs an executive order, but he’s not in the trenches,” said coordinator Fred Kelly.

 Another Board of Elections worker said some voters had submitted ballots without envelopes, meaning their votes wouldn’t count.

 Voters were instructed to try other polling places in midtown. “I figured there would be a long line, but I thought I’d be able to vote here,” said 22-year-old James Bedell, who lives in East Village but works as a bank analyst in midtown. He said of the confusion at the high school, “A lot of people don’t even know what they’re supposed to do.”

 At some sites, voting was going smoothly. Voters have no wait time to use a polling booth at one Teterboro site that is accepting votes from displaced Moonachie residents.

 Eleanor Madison, 77, displaced by the storm, said her town had shuttles to Teterboro so they could vote.

 “We had calls from our police department,” she said about the voting change. “But not everybody is getting the calls. People have told me,” she said, guessing their numbers were not listed or registered.

 “They are calling people but I say they should go around with a megaphone,” she said.

 Dale Birnbaum, a small-business owner from South Brunswick who has been displaced by Sandy, struggled to figure out how to vote electronically. She couldn’t easily find information on the state’s website, and resorted to contacting friends on Facebook. She eventually contacted the Middlesex County clerk’s office for an application, but had yet to receive a response Tuesday.

 “I want to vote so badly,” said Birnhaum, who is staying with her daughter in West New York and is going to try to vote provisionally in Hudson County. “I have local people I would love to vote for but I just want to vote for the president.”

 Associated Press Poll worker Lisa Amico, right, helps voters by flashlight in a dark and unheated tent serving as a polling site in the Midland Beach section of Staten Island.

 New Jersey residents who chose to vote electronically were facing confusion and uncertainty whether their votes would be counted.

 Kate Supple, a 29-year-old Jersey City resident who was displaced by Sandy and staying in Manhattan, emailed her application to the Hudson County clerk Monday. Supple said she received a brief email acknowledgement of her application but has yet to receiver her ballot, and was worried that her vote wouldn’t be counted.

 Poll worker Lisa Amico, right, helps voters by flashlight in a dark and unheated tent serving as a polling site in the Midland Beach section of Staten Island.

 Several confused voters showed up Tuesday morning at PS 288 in Coney Island. A sign posted on the gate told them “school closed. No voting here.” A smaller sign directed people to 3001 west 1st street, 25 blocks away.

 Martha Gonzalez, 23, showed up to vote but quickly realized she couldn’t do so here. “My Internet is down in my household,” said Gonzalez, who lost her job at a liquor store that was damaged in the storm. “I thought it was here.”

 William Soto, 54, rode his bicycle to PS 288 with the hope of voting. When he saw the sign the retired mechanic got ready to turn right back around and go home.

 “Obama, I’m sorry, I’m not going there,” he said about the new polling location. “It’s too much for me.”

 Lines were long but the mood was subdued and civil at Bethel Baptist Church in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. The area was largely untouched by the storm.

 Several people had heard of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive order allowing voters in nine counties affected by Sandy, including New York City, Westchester and Long Island, to vote at any site by affidavit ballot and wondered allowed if it might help them skip 45-minute waits to vote. But no one appeared to leave to try their luck.

 – with Jennifer Smith

 See more photos of New York and New Jersey residents voting in areas affected by superstorm Sandy. ||||| CLOSE President Obama thanked his supporters, spoke about unity and said he wants to work with Republicans and Democrats to move the country forward. He also said he plans to meet with Mitt Romney to discuss how they can work together. (Nov. 7) AP

 President Obama is heading back to the White House after a hard fought race. His second term will be focused on the economy, job growth and heading off the looming fiscal crisis.

 President Obama and family arrive on stage in Chicago after winning the 2012 U.S. presidential election. (Photo: Saul Loeb, AFP/Getty Images) Story Highlights Wins in key battleground states, but a clear mandate?

 Obama vows to work with GOP to solve deficit, other woes

 Economy showing some signs of picking up steam

 President Obama won re-election in the USA's costliest and perhaps most bitterly contested national campaign in recent memory.

 A second term should guarantee Obama's signature legislative achievement, health care reform and coverage for millions of uninsured Americans. Yet four more years will not be smooth sailing. Obama faces a still anemic economic recovery, stubbornly high unemployment and a looming fiscal crisis.

 With Republicans retaining control of the House and Democrats adding to their advantage in the Senate, Obama also may be plagued by the same political gridlock that has sharply divided the electorate and hampered the president's agenda for solving the country's woes. And gridlock could thwart his efforts to negotiate a new fiscal plan.

 Obama and Congress have been unable to find common ground on tax and spending cuts. Obama wants to preserve low income tax rates for all except high-income Americans, spending more on public works and giving targeted tax breaks to businesses.

 GRAPHIC: Five reasons Obama won; Five reasons Romney lost

 If no agreement is reached by year's end, massive cuts in defense and domestic spending will kick in, as will sharp, across-the-board tax increases. Economists warn that could push the economy off a fiscal cliff and back into recession.

 New Mexico Democrats Clint Milhollin, left, and his boyfriend, Will Toledo, celebrate Obama's victory the Embassy Suites in Albuquerque, N.M. (Photo: Craig Fritz, AP)

 CLOSE A throng of supporters of President Barack Obama hugged and cheered outside the White House when Obama won re-election to a second term. (Nov. 7) AP

 Francis Lun, managing director of Lyncean Holdings in Hong Kong, said an Obama victory means an extension of the status quo.

 "Nothing will change. We will have ultra-low interest rates, a $1 trillion deficit and quantitative easing," Lun said. (Federal Reserve Chief Ben) Bernanke "will keep his job as Fed chairman. As for the fiscal cliff, the president will do something to minimize the effect of tax increases and spending cuts."

 Tuesday exit polls of voters in key states showed the economy remains a top issue among voters.

 INTERACTIVE: Exit polls provide voter insight

 "Business is rough. Everybody wants someone to blame," said Frank Robles, 45, who employs 15 at his North Las Vegas shoe store. Yet Robles supported Obama, saying he's not responsible for the worst of the economic crisis: "People need to give him a chance."

 Signs point to an improving economy. While the unemployment rate ticked up to 7.9% in October, employers added 171,000 jobs in October. Hiring also was stronger in August and September than first thought. Yet a separate Labor Department report issued Tuesday said job openings dropped by 100,000 in September to 3.56 million, lowest in five months, data that suggest hiring will remain modest.

 Gasoline prices have been dropping sharply — now $3.46 a gallon — a drop of 35 cents from a month ago. Cheaper gas typically spurs consumer spending, although prices typically fall in the fall.

 Stocks — which historically perform better with a Democrat in the White House — rose Tuesday and U.S. stock futures were up heading into Wednesday's market opening. Overseas markets also were up in early Wednesday trading.

 Yet overall economic policy needs to change, experts say. And that starts with bipartisan agreement in Washington.

 Senate and House leaders seemed conciliatory. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday's vote showed that the electorate had neither endorsed the "failures or excesses of the president's first term," but rather have given him more time to finish the job. "To the extent he wants to move to the political center, which is where the work gets done in a divided government, we'll be there to meet him half way," McConnell said.

 Said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: "Now that the election is over, it's time to put politics aside and work together to find solutions."

 In his victory speech early Wednesday morning from Chicago, Obama said he was willing to work across party lines to tackle problems. "Tonight you voted for action, not politics as usual,'' he told a partisan crowd. "You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours. And in the coming weeks and months, I am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties to meet the challenges we can only solve together. Reducing our deficit. Reforming our tax code. Fixing our immigration system. Freeing ourselves from foreign oil. We've got more work to do."

 Contributing: Julie Schmit, Associated Press.

 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/VPz3tR ||||| Massachusetts voters flocked to the polls today, drawn by the chance to vote in sharply contested races for president and US Senate. Many precincts reported long lines and steady turnout.

 After long, intense campaigns, voters said they were thrilled, and more than a little relieved, that Election Day was finally at hand — and they were eager to have their say.

 In Waltham, where voters began arriving at 6:30 a.m., turnout was strong.

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 “It’s wonderful,” said Georgie Hallock, an election warden. “And the number of absentee ballots has been fantastic.”

 Get Metro Headlines in your inbox: The 10 top local news stories from metro Boston and around New England delivered daily. Sign Up Thank you for signing up! Sign up for more newsletters here

 Jilda Diorio, 67, voted Republican. It was “time for a change as far as the presidency goes,” she said. And she liked how US Senator Scott Brown, who is being challenged by Democrat Elizabeth Warren, “worked across the aisle.”

 Terry Goodridge, on the other hand, voted Democratic. Obama had “accomplished a lot,” she said. As for Romney, “we’ve had our fill of him,” she said.

 In Copley Square around noon, the line to vote stretched out of the Boston Public Library and onto the sidewalk. Jim Riordan, 55, said he had waited in line two hours to cast his ballot.

 “It’s just a total mess downstairs,” he said. “It’s usually bad, but this is worse.”

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 Riordan, an independent, said he voted for Obama, who by his reckoning “did a good job,” and Warren.

 Sarah Godfrey, 33, said she planned to split her ticket by voting for Romney for president and Warren for Senate.

 “I’m just not happy with the situation right now, and if things aren’t going well, it doesn’t make sense to vote for the incumbent,” said Godfrey, who voted for Obama in 2008.

 “I’m not saying it’s necessarily Obama’s fault, but maybe we can give somebody else a shot this time,” she said.

 As of 3 p.m., 148,133 people had cast their vote in Boston, representing 38.26 percent of registered voters, according to the city. Turnout is slightly lower than during the last presidential election. As of 3 p.m. on Election Day in 2008, 152,780 people had voted, which was about 40.11 percent of registered voters.

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 Statewide, officials predict that as many as 3.2 million people could vote, surpassing the record set in 2008.

 In Belmont, a cheer went up outside the Beech Street Center after Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, and his wife, Ann, cast their votes in their hometown.

 “I think you know,’’ was Romney’s reply when reporters asked for whom he had voted for president. Romney, who drew several hundred supporters as well as backers of President Obama, said he was feeling “very good, very good.”

 Wearing his signature barncoat and accompanied by his wife and one of his two daughters, Brown voted in Wrentham around 7:30 a.m. He said he voted for himself, and that he expected the election, which is considered to be extremely close by experts, will have a clear winner by 10 p.m. tonight.

 “It’s going to be a close election and I look forward to the results,” Brown told reporters.

 Some 200 people were already in line waiting to vote when Brown arrived.

 “I’ve never seen it this crowded before,’’ Brown said. “And I’ve been here for 25 years.’’

 In Cambridge, Warren cast her vote around 7:45 a.m., and went to the polling place accompanied by her husband and granddaughter.

 “This campaign was never about me,” Warren told reporters after voting. “This campaign was about all of us, about all the people who invested in it, all the people who truly believed that if you got out there and worked together you can make a difference.”

 Globe correspondent Johanna Kaiser and John Ellement of the Globe staff contributed to this report ||||| via @NewspaperVideo's Twitter

 via @CBSMiami's Twitter

 via @LizRoldanCBS4's Twitter

 via @AdamBeasley's Twitter

 via @doug_hanks Twitter

 Update, 10:30 a.m. There's at least one neighborhood in Miami immune to hours-long voting waits: South Beach.

 Perhaps most voters cast absentees or early ballots. More likely: most neighbors around here are either sleeping off a night at Mansion, baking in the sun completely oblivious to the fact that it's Election Day, or are German DJs who can't vote in the States.

 Either way, this was the scene at Fienberg Fisher Elementary School:

 photo by Tim Elfrink

 Inside the doors, about 15 voters were filling out ballots in voting booths, on folding chairs or sitting along the walls. Total time to cast a ballot: About 15 minutes.

 Life is good in SoBe.

 Update 10:40 It's a world of difference in Edgewater, where New Times web editor Jose Duran found a three-hour line outside of Cameron House:

 Update 12:09 New Times fellow Jon Tayler reports from Trinity Cathedral Hall at 14th St. and Biscayne Boulevard, where the line stretches out of the church and well into the parking lot.

 No poll workers have given any official wait times, but Tayler estimates the full wait will easily take two hours.

 photo by Jon Tayler

 At 7 a.m. this morning, 829 polling sites opened in schools, storefronts and churches around Miami-Dade County. And despite the fact that almost half of likely Florida voters have already cast ballots, imposing lines quickly formed, snaking out front doors and down sidewalks -- and forcing some to abandon their election plans so they could get to work.Still, election officials say presidential voting is running as smoothly as possible so far. "We're going to see long lines because voters are enthusiastic," Christina White, deputy supervisor at Miami-Dade County Elections tells Riptide.Wait times have varied wildly around the county so far, based on online reports. Thes Kathleen McGregory reports on Twitter that some voters cast ballots in less than half an hour at City Hall in Coconut Grove.But photos from Liberty City to Miami Shores to Sunny Isles show long lines stretching out of the polling places.Thanks to an absurdly long ballot -- the handiwork of Florida's GOP-dominated Legislature, which tacked on 11 lengthy constitutional amendments -- voters can't just pop in, fill in a bubble for Mitt or Barry, and then move on.But White says early reports that some poll places were running short on ballots or on voting booths were incorrect, adding she's heard no reports so far of "major issues.""We've deployed the maximum equipment possible at every site," she says. "In many places, we have space limitations."Here are some scenes culled from Twitter:Have any election day horror stories? Share them in the comments or tweet us @MiamiNewTimes. We'll keep this post updated as voting continues today. ||||| by Joy Lin | November 06, 2012

 With his vote cast, Joe Biden once again flirted with the possibility of another presidential race.

 The vice president returned to his home state of Delaware to vote on Election Day, and spoke to reporters outside the polling center at Alexis DuPont High School in Greenville.

 "Is this the last time you're going to vote for yourself?" a reporter asked.

 "Oh, I don't think so," he replied coyly.

 The nation's oldest president was Ronald Reagan, elected to the Oval Office at age 69. Biden turns 70 on Nov 20, but it appears age is no barrier for a man who was elected to Senate at the age of 29.

 In his last campaign speech before Election Day, Biden spoke like a man considering a run in 2016. He discarded his attack dog role and wrapped up his remarks with a call for the nation to unify.

 "It's time we come together and realize the great potential of this great country," he said in Richmond. "It's time to replace unyielding ideology with principled compromise. Ladies and gentlemen, I believe most Democrats and Republicans are prepared to do just that." |||||

Write a summary.

– Americans flocked to the polls this morning, forming long lines in many places around the country. USA Today counted 75 people in line at one DC polling place. Here are some of the stories filtering in nationally: Some problems have already cropped up in Virginia, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. One poll worker was caught telling voters they needed a registration card and picture ID, when the law only requires one of the two. Several problems with voting machines also cropped up, in one case forcing voters to be turned away for up to an hour. The lines were also long in Massachusetts, where Mitt Romney cast his ballot today, the Boston Globe reports. When asked who he voted for, Romney replied, "I think you know." Scott Brown, meanwhile, marveled at the lines at his polling place. "I've never seen it this crowded before," he said, "and I've been here for 25 years." Joe Biden caused a bit of a stir after casting his ballot in Delaware, when a reporter asked if this was the last time he would vote for himself. "Oh, I don't think so," he replied, which Fox News is taking as a hint that he might run for president again. In New York and New Jersey, confusion reigned, the Wall Street Journal reports. Power outages forced some polling places to make on-the-fly changes, like opening voting machines and switching to paper ballots. "It was very disorganized. You couldn't tell who was running the organization," says one Hoboken voter. The Miami New Times is reporting "imposing lines," even though half of likely Florida voters have already voted—adding that, because Florida's GOP has put 11 lengthy constitutional amendments on the ballot, voting can take a while.


News article:

SEOUL—Pope Francis arrived in South Korea on Thursday for his first trip to Asia as pontiff, kicking off a five-day visit that will showcase the Vatican's efforts to spread the faith on a continent where just 3% of the population is Catholic.

 The opening day of the visit—Pope Francis' third abroad and the first papal trip to Asia since St. John Paul II went to India in 1999—included meetings with bishops and South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who said the pontiff's decision to make the trip demonstrated his special... ||||| SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Pope Francis called Thursday for renewed efforts to forge peace on the war-divided Korean Peninsula and for both sides to avoid "fruitless" criticisms and shows of force, opening a five-day visit to South Korea with a message of reconciliation as Seoul's rival, North Korea, fired five projectiles into the sea.

 Pope Francis waves from a car after his arrival in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014. As Francis became the first pope in 25 years to visit South Korea on Thursday, Seoul's never-timid rival,... (Associated Press)

 Pope Francis, center, receives flowers from children in traditional dress as South Korean President Park Geun-hye, left, looks on upon his arrival at Seoul Military Airport in Seongnam, South Korea, Thursday,... (Associated Press)

 Pope Francis poses with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, for photographers at the presidential Blue House in Seoul Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014. Pope Francis became the first pontiff in 25 years to visit... (Associated Press)

 Pope Francis, left, and South Korean President Park Geun-hye inspect honor guard upon his arrival at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014. Pope Francis has arrived in South... (Associated Press)

 South Korean President Park Geun-Hye, right, talks with Pope Francis at the presidential Blue House in Seoul on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014. Pope Francis became the first pontiff in 25 years to visit South... (Associated Press)

 Pope Francis, center, is escorted by South Korean President Park Geun-hye, left, upon his arrival at Seoul Military Airport in Seongnam, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014. As Francis became the first... (Associated Press)

 Pope Francis is welcomed by a 21-gun salute upon his arrival in Seoul, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014. The Pontiff arrived in South Korea on the first papal visit to the Asian nation in a quarter century, stepping... (Associated Press)

 Pope Francis walks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye upon his arrival in Seoul, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014. The Pontiff arrived in South Korea on the first papal visit to the Asian nation in a quarter... (Associated Press)

 Pope Francis waves upon his arrival at Seoul Air Base as South Korean President Park Geun-hye, left, smiles in Seongnam, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014. Pope Francis arrived here on a visit meant... (Associated Press)

 North Korea has a long history of making sure it is not forgotten during high-profile events in the South, and Thursday's apparent test firing off its eastern coast made its presence felt.

 In the first speech of his first trip to Asia, Francis told South Korean President Park Geun-hye and government officials that peace required forgiveness, cooperation and mutual respect. He said diplomacy must be encouraged so that listening and dialogue replace "mutual recriminations, fruitless criticisms and displays of force."

 The Argentine pope spoke in English, the first English speech of his pontificate. Usually he speaks in Italian or his native Spanish, but the Vatican said he would deliver at least four speeches in English on the trip to accommodate his Asian audiences.

 North Korea's apparent test firing was conducted from Wonsan on its east coast and the initial three short-range projectiles flew about 220 kilometers (135 miles), according to a South Korean Defense Ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing office rules. It wasn't immediately clear what the projectiles were. After an initial three firings an hour before Francis arrived, North Korea followed up with two others a short time after he landed.

 North Korea has conducted an unusually large number of short-range missile and artillery test firings this year. It has expressed anger over annual military drills between the United States and South Korea, which it says are invasion preparations. A new round of drills, which Seoul and Washington call routine and defensive, are expected to start in coming days.

 Neither Francis nor Park referred to the firings in their public remarks.

 Organizers of the pope's trip had invited a delegation of North Korean Catholics to attend his Aug. 18 Mass for peace and reconciliation at Seoul's main cathedral. But late last month, North Korean authorities told the organizers that they wouldn't participate for various reasons, a Vatican spokesman said.

 North Korea's constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but in practice only sanctioned services are tolerated by the government. The U.S. State Department says North Korea permits no religious freedom at all. Currently, there are no Vatican-sanctioned institutions or resident priests operating in North Korea.

 As he arrived at an airport just south of Seoul on the first papal visit in a quarter century, the pope shook hands with four relatives of victims of a South Korean ferry sinking that killed more than 300 and two descendants of Korean martyrs who died rather than renounce their faith. Francis plans to beatify 124 Korean martyrs who founded the church on the peninsula in the 18th century, hoping to give South Korea's vibrant and growing church new models for holiness and evangelization.

 Some elderly Catholics wiped tears from their faces, bowing deeply as they greeted the pope on the tarmac. A boy and girl in traditional Korean dress presented Francis with a bouquet of flowers, and he bowed in return. The pope then stepped into a small, black, locally made car for the trip into Seoul where the official welcome ceremony and speeches took place.

 Park, the South Korean president, said she hoped the pope's presence would heal the Korean Peninsula's "long wounds of division," referring to the 1950-53 Korean War, which continues to divide the Koreas along the world's most heavily guarded border.

 "Division has been a big scar for all Koreans," she said.

 Francis sought to encourage the pursuit of peace.

 "Korea's quest for peace is a cause close to our hearts, for it affects the stability of the entire area and indeed of our whole war-weary world," he said. "May all of us dedicate these days to peace: to praying for it and deepening our resolve to achieve it."

 As his plane flew through Chinese airspace early Thursday, Francis sent a telegram of greetings and prayers to Chinese President Xi Jinping. It was a rare opportunity for an exchange since the Holy See and Beijing have no diplomatic relations, and furthers a low-key push for better ties with China and efforts to heal a rift between the Chinese authorities and those Catholics who worship outside the state-recognized church.

 Other highlights of Francis' visit include his participation in a Catholic festival for young believers from around Asia. The pope is also expected to meet with some families of the South Korean ferry sinking in April. The government's response to the disaster, which killed mostly high school students, has angered many South Koreans.

 Park said she hoped the pope's visit would heal the pain many South Koreans are feeling because of the sinking and the recent deaths of young soldiers.

 "A lot of bad things keep happening in our country right now, and people are going through tough times," said Ryun Sun-hee, a 19-year-old college student. "So I hope this event can encourage people and bring more positive things to our country."

 It's the first papal visit since Pope John Paul II traveled to South Korea in 1989. In January, Francis plans to visit Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

 South Korea's church, which has been growing steadily over the last half century, is seen as a model for the future. Local church officials hope for a continuing increase in believers in a country that once welcomed missionaries to help spread the faith but now sends its own priests and nuns abroad to evangelize in other countries.

 Park credited Catholics in South Korea with playing a big part in making the country what it has become: South Korea has risen from poverty, war and dictatorship into Asia's fourth biggest economy. She called the Korean martyrs "pioneers who spread freedom and equality," and said their sacrifice helped develop Korean society.

 There was high anticipation in South Korea ahead of the visit. Banners and posters welcoming the pope decorated streets and subway stations. The Yonhap news agency reported an increase in sales of rosaries and other Catholic goods, and special displays of books on the pope and Catholicism sprung up in book stores.

 ___

 Associated Press writer Christopher Bodeen in Beijing contributed to this story. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Pope Francis: "Korea's quest for peace is a cause close to our hearts"

 Pope Francis urged dialogue between the two Koreas instead of "displays of force" at the start of his five-day visit to South Korea.

 The Pope's call for peace came hours after North Korea fired short-range rockets around the time of his arrival.

 It is his first visit to Asia since he became pope in March 2013.

 Pope Francis will beatify Korean Catholics who died for their faith, attend a Catholic youth festival and conduct a "reconciliation" mass.

 In a speech addressed to South Korean President Park Geun-hye and senior officials, the Pope said reconciliation on the Korean peninsula had implications for "the stability of the entire area and indeed of the whole war-weary world".

 "Diplomacy... is based on the firm and persevering conviction that peace can be won through quiet listening and dialogue, rather than by mutual recriminations, fruitless criticisms and displays of force," he said.

 He also called on Koreans to set an example for future generations. "I think it is especially important for us to reflect on the need to give our young people the gift of peace," he said.

 Earlier in the day, North Korea fired three rockets off its east coast as the Pope's plane approached South Korean airspace. It fired another two in the afternoon.

 Pyongyang has engaged in several such launches in recent months in what it says is a response to US and South Korean provocations - in the latest case, a military drill due to start on Monday.

 No North Koreans

 The Pope is spending five days in South Korea, where the Catholic Church is growing. It currently has just over 5.4 million members, some 10.4% of the population.

 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption President Park Geun-hye greeted the pontiff on his arrival in South Korea

 Image copyright AP Image caption Preparations are under way at Gwanghwamun Square for the papal mass

 Pope Francis will pay tribute to some of South Korea's first Catholics when he beatifies 124 Koreans who died in the 18th and 19th Centuries. After an individual is beatified, he or she is given the title "blessed".

 The ceremony will be held on Saturday at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, with up to one million people expected to attend.

 The pontiff is also attending Asian Youth Day, a festival for young Catholics from across the region, and will meet students who survived the Sewol ferry disaster.

 On the last day of his visit, on Monday, the Pope plans to hold a "reconciliation" mass in the Myeong-dong cathedral in Seoul.

 He will deliver a message of peace for the divided Koreas and East Asia, according to Yonhap News Agency.

 North Korea rejected an invitation by the Archdiocese of Seoul for 10 North Korean Catholics to attend the final mass, South Korean officials say.

 It is not clear how many Catholics there are in North Korea. A UN Human Rights Council report released in February 2014 said that apart from the few organised state-controlled churches, Christians were prohibited from practising their religion and were persecuted.

 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Rupert Wingfield-Hayes: "South Korea is a huge success story for the Catholic Church"

 Pope Francis is due to visit Asia again in January when he travels to Sri Lanka and the Philippines, one of only two Asian countries with a Catholic majority - the other being East Timor.

 Pope John Paul II was the last pope to visit South Korea in 1989, where he prayed for reunification between the North and the South.

 Beijing detente?

 Meanwhile, on his way to South Korea the Pope also sent a telegram to China's leaders, a tradition when the pontiff flies over a country.

 "I extend best wishes to your Excellency and your fellow citizens, and I invoke the divine blessings of peace and wellbeing on the nation," he said.

 In response, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman told AFP news agency that "China all along has retained sincerity towards improving China-Vatican relations."

 She added that China was "willing to continue making efforts with the Vatican to advance constructive dialogue and promote the process of improving bilateral relations".

 The Vatican has no official ties with Beijing. The last time a pope visited the region, he had to avoid Chinese air space.

 But in what a Church spokesman has called "a sign of detente", the papal plane was given permission to use Chinese air space.

 More than 100 Chinese people were due to attend Asian Youth Day, but about half were unable to attend due to "a complicated situation inside China", said a spokesman for a committee organising the Pope's visit. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– South Korea welcomed Pope Francis today with flowers and a red carpet, as the pontiff kicked off a five-day visit in which he called for peace on the divided peninsula. North Korea, on the other hand, shot off rockets. Pyongyang fired five short-range projectiles off its east coast, including three around the time of the pope's arrival—though none endangered his plane, the Wall Street Journal reports. On his first Asian tour since becoming pope, Francis also marked another first: He made a speech in English, the AP notes. "Quiet listening and dialogue" must replace "mutual recriminations, fruitless criticisms, and displays of force," he said. Though 10 North Korean Catholics were invited to attend Pope Francis' upcoming "reconciliation" mass in Seoul on Monday, the invitation was declined, officials say. Then again, a UN Human Rights Council report this year said Christians "were prohibited from practicing their religion and were persecuted," the BBC notes. The Vatican didn't extend an olive branch only to North Korea, however. In what the Church called "a sign of detente" with Beijing, Francis was allowed to fly through Chinese airspace on his way to South Korea and sent a telegram of prayers to President Xi Jinping as he did so.


Summarize this article:

In the wake of Friday's massacre at an Aurora, Colo., movie theater, law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation say the gunman must have had a substantial amount of target practice before the shootings.

 They based their assessment on what they call the gunman's “unusually high” hit rate during the attack in the theater. Twelve people were killed, and 58 were injured.

 The gunman used -- perhaps most notably -- an AR-15 assault-style rifle with a magazine that could hold as many as 100 rounds. But when that weapon jammed, authorities said, he switched to a less powerful weapon. He also carried a 12-gauge shotgun and a Glock .40-caliber pistol, authorities say.

 Police said they recovered a second Glock from the suspect's car.

 Among other things, the law enforcement officials said, authorities are searching the suspect's apartment for evidence of a gun range receipt, a brochure, related information he accessed on his computer or phone calls he may have placed to a range.

 The officials are being briefed on the local investigation, but did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the developing case.

 Such evidence would go to the gunman's state of mind, the officials said, and provide more evidence of premeditation and that he deliberately planned the attack. For the government, investigators said, such evidence would tend to knock down any defense strategy that the suspect is insane.

 Or the gunman could have simply gone out to the prairie east of Aurora and practiced alone, much like Tucson shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner did before the attack in Arizona last year.

 PHOTOS: 'Dark Knight Rises' shooting

 One local shooting range owner said the suspect in the Aurora case, James E. Holmes, applied for membership at his club in June. But when the owner, Glenn Rotkovich, called Holmes, he was unnerved by the answering machine message.

 "It was this very bass, guttural, rambling, incoherent message that was bizarre, at best," Rotkovich told the Los Angeles Times on Sunday. "Freakish, maybe."

 Rotkovich ultimately told his staff not to follow through with Holmes without checking with him, but Holmes never showed up. The next time Rotkovich heard his name, it was on television.

 Officials monitoring the local investigation in Colorado said the gunman displayed a high degree of marksmanship for an amateur.

 They said he first fired the shotgun, which would have sprayed a large area of the theater with buckshot or pellets. Then he fired the semiautomatic AR-15 with the 100-round magazine. When that weapon jammed, he started shooting from the Glock pistol, they said.

 Further, the gunman was shooting in a dark theater after midnight and aiming at moving targets, all amid a canopy of thick gas from canisters he'd set off. That environment, when combined with the kick from the shotgun and the Glock, would make firing with much precision all the harder.

 To kill 12 people and wound 58 in that kind of chaos would be “unusually high for someone new to this,” one official said.

 Officials also theorize that the suspect believed police were being drawn to an explosion at his apartment and that time was on his side.

 When he burst out of the back of the theater, he probably had one of several plans in mind, they said. One, retrieve the second Glock from his white Hyundai and return to the theater, or drive off with the Glock and use it should he come under police fire, officials said. Or, as one official said, “turn the gun on himself.”

 Instead, police were at the theater within two minutes and arrested the suspect before he reached his car.

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 richard.serrano@latimes.com ||||| James Holmes seemed well on his way to a career as a scientist.

 His résumé after he graduated with honors in neuroscience from the University of California-Riverside in 2010 cites experience in the lab dissecting birds, studying their musculature and analyzing data and graphs to measure molecules.

 A video from a science camp he attended after high school shows him making a presentation about temporal illusions, misfirings in brain cells that lead to misreading the passage of time — the feeling that time stands still. In the video, Holmes refers to "an illusion that allows you to change the past."

 He was one of six students admitted to the University of Colorado's graduate program in neuroscience last year. He received a $26,000 federal stipend.

 But neuroscientist David Eagleman says Holmes' credentials were no better than those of an average student. The mass killing suspect is no elite neuroscientist, says Eagleman, of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

 "He was just a second-year grad student," he says. "He didn't know anything."

 Aurora, Colo., police say Holmes, 24, entered a midnight showing of the movie TheDark Knight Rises early Friday and opened fire with a rifle, shotgun and .40-caliber handgun, killing 12 people and injuring 58. They found his apartment booby-trapped with explosives and chemicals set to explode if someone entered.

 Eagleman, a former researcher at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif., where Holmes attended the eight-week summer camp when he was 18, said the young man had a reputation as a "dolt."

 Eagleman didn't know Holmes but says the teen parroted his advisers' words in his presentation on temporal illusions. A video of the speech was first reported by ABC News.

 "He was just given the presentation to read," Eagleman says. "He wasn't any sort of superscientist when he was 18."

 Stacie Spector, a Salk Institute spokeswoman, confirmed that Holmes attended a summer course at the institute but said that she could not comment further because of privacy concerns. She said the institute did not release the video.

 John Jacobson, a former researcher at Salk whom Holmes listed as his mentor during the camp, told the Los Angeles Times that the teenager was a "mediocre" student who was stubborn and did not listen to direction.

 "I saw a shy, pretty socially inept person," he told the newspaper. "I didn't see any behavior that would be indicative of violence then or in the future."

 Jacobson told the newspaper Holmes "should not have gotten into the summer program. His grades were mediocre. I've heard him described as brilliant. This is extremely inaccurate."

 He said Holmes' high school transcripts showed Bs and no advanced-placement classes. He was accepted to the camp because he had done computer programming, Jacobson said. He was never Holmes' mentor, he said, but Holmes worked in his lab to write a computer code for an experiment Jacobson was working on. He told the newspaper Holmes never finished it.

 "What he gave me was a complete mess," Jacobson says.

 Holmes' résumé suggests he was trained in dissection of birds and mice, performing chemistry tests and attaching small gene tags to cells to target them for treatment.

 "Recipe-book stuff, literally, that every biology student should learn," Eagleman says. As for the grant, Eagleman says, "Holmes is being depicted as some sort of brilliant researcher who won a rare grant, but there are thousands of research students in this country with such grants. Everyone has one. There is nothing elite about it."

 (Clarification: In our story published online Wednesday, Eagleman says he did not intend to suggest that all graduate students win research grants.)

 Holmes had difficulty with a June 7 preliminary exam, given orally by three university faculty members. It is designed to evaluate students' knowledge at the end of the first year. Three days later, Holmes dropped out. ||||| University of Colorado officials disclosed Monday that mass shooting suspect James Holmes was being paid $26,000 a year for his studies, money that could have financed the cache of firearms, ammunition and explosive devices found in his apartment.

 Holmes, 24, unexpectedly dropped out of an elite neuroscience graduate program June 10 after failing part of his first-year final exam.

 School officials say they were stunned to learn of his arrest Friday after a shooting rampage at a packed movie house a few miles from campus that left 12 dead and 58 wounded. Police found Holmes' apartment near campus filled with booby-trapped explosive devices.

 At an initial court appearance Monday morning, Holmes had orange hair and a dazed demeanor, a contrast to the doctoral candidate who arrived at the university with stellar academic credentials and references. He's due back in court July 30, when he is expected to face several first-degree murder charges.

 "Everybody is in a state of shock," graduate school Dean Barry Shur said. "Everybody is upset. Who wouldn't be?"

 The program to which Holmes was accepted last fall admits just six students a year. Candidates have top grades and "near perfect" test scores, Shur said. They undergo a background check but no mental examination. "No program requires psychiatric evaluation, to the best of my knowledge,"

 Holmes came with "excellent academic credentials," Shur said at a press briefing Monday flanked by school Chancellor Don Elliman and Executive Vice Chancellor Lilly Marks.

 Shure and other administrators were at a loss to explain Holmes' motive, especially given Shur's comments that the faculty "tightly monitors" its neuroscience students.

 Doctoral students receive free tuition, and most get federally sponsored 12-month grants of $26,000, about $500 a week. Holmes, who was not employed, bought an assault rifle, shotgun, two semi-automatic handguns and 6,000 rounds of ammunition in the months leading up to what police called a methodically planned shooting spree.

 Officials say virtually no doctoral student has an outside job, given the intense nature of the program, which can take four or more years to complete.

 Holmes has been described as a shy, quiet loner. Shur did not characterize him, but said scientists often immerse themselves in academics and research. "Scientists are quirky people," he said. "There are a lot of intense characters."

 The preliminary exam, given orally by three professors, is designed to determine a student's basic knowledge and possible weaknesses, not weed anyone out, the officials said. The school would have provided remedial work and retesting if Holmes had sought help, Shur said. But after apparently failing June 7, he dropped out three days later. Campus Police Chief Doug Abraham said Holmes' school identification cards, which provide access to its facilities, were voided June 12.

 School officials would not say if faculty contacted Holmes after his departure, but Shur said he never received forms from Holmes with an explanation for dropping out. "My understanding is he partially completed the forms but did not fill in his reason for leaving the program," Shur said.

 School officials repeatedly deflected questions about Holmes' academic performance and details after he dropped out June 10, citing the ongoing criminal investigation into the case, but acknowledged it was unusual to quit.

 Over the weeks before Holmes left, 90 packages containing ammunition and other items were shipped to the campus. Elliman said there was no way of knowing the volume or content of the shipments, which went directly to Holmes or to a campus mailroom. "We have thousands of packages that come here every day," he said.

 The suburban Denver campus was on alert Monday, when a suspicious package was found at a professor's office and a second in a campus mailroom, school spokesman Daniel Meyers said. Both buildings were locked down but later reopened.

 Authorities are checking whether materials from campus labs were used in the explosive devices found in Holmes' apartment. |||||

– The latest in the attempt to better define Aurora shooter James Holmes: He apparently had a lot of target practice, isn't so smart, and may have a thing for prostitutes. From the most to least concrete: Based on Holmes' "unusually high" hit rate, police believe he had extensive target practice in advance of the shootings, reports the Los Angeles Times. To be able to kill or wound 70 moving targets in a dark theater cloaked in gas is no easy feat, and the kick from the shotgun (used to shower the theater with buckshot, or something like it) and Glock (which he switched to after his semiautomatic AR-15 jammed) only added to the difficulty level. Such a hit rate under those circumstances would be "unusually high for someone new to this," said one law enforcement official. So he was a skilled shooter—but was he brilliant? His neuroscience career path, his federal grant, that science camp video may indicate so, but the man Holmes listed as his camp mentor calls him a "mediocre" student; another neuroscientist says he was considered a "dolt," reports USA Today. He "should not have gotten into the summer program. I've heard him described as brilliant. This is extremely inaccurate." As for that $26,000 grant, "Everyone has one.There is nothing elite about it." (Business Insider speculates that the grant money could have paid for his weapons cache.) And then there's the latest from TMZ, which claims Holmes frequented prostitutes in the months before the attack. Click to hear from three women Holmes supposedly "reviewed" online.


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 The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced on Wednesday that it arrested three Palestinians from east Jerusalem recruited online by an al-Qaida operative in Gaza, who were in the midst of preparations to carry out a string of large-scale bombing and shooting attacks on multiple targets in Israel.

 The intended targets included the Jerusalem Convention Center, a bus traveling between the capital and Ma'aleh Adumim, the US embassy in Tel Aviv, and emergency responders who would have arrived at the scene of attacksThe Shin Bet said an al-Qaida operative in Gaza, named as Ariv Al-Sham, recruited the men separately from one another, and had planned to activate three independent terrorist cells via his recruits. Senior Shin Bet sources said they believed Al-Sham received his orders directly from the head of al-Qaida's central structure, Ayman Al-Zawahri.Using Sykpe and Facebook, Al-Sham was able to recruit Iyad Khalil Abu-Sara, 23, of Ras Hamis in east Jerusalem, who has an Israeli ID card. During questioning, Abu-Sara, who was arrested on December 25, admitted to volunteering to carry out a "sacrifice attack" on an Israeli bus travelling between Jerusalem and Ma'ale Adumim. In the planned attack, terrorists would have fired shots at the bus's wheels, causing it to overturn, before gunning down passengers at close range, and firing on emergency responders.According to the Shin Bet's investigation, Abu-Sara also volunteered to help orchestrate a double suicide bombing, involving the dispatching of two suicide bomber to the Jerusalem Convention Center and the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, simultaneously. Subsequently, Abu-Sara planned to detonate a suicide truck bomb in the vicinity of emergency responders arriving at the Convention Center.To that end, Al-Sham and Abu-Sara plotted to bring a group of foreign terrorists to Israel using fake Russian passports, who would have entered the country by posing as tourists. Abu-Sara was meant to receive the terrorists, and prepare their suicide bomb vests and a truck bomb. Abu-Sara was also supposed to travel to Syria for training in combat and explosives manufacturing, and had purchased a flight ticket to Turkey, a gateway to Syria.Abu-Sara received computer files containing virtual training courses on bomb manufacturing from Al-Sham in Gaza, the Shin Bet added.Security forces monitored communications between Abu-Sara and Al-Sham, observing how the latter asked his recruit which targets he had access to. After Abu-Sara suggested various targets, Al-Sham would direct the conversation towards operational aspects of attacks.A second suspect, Rubin Abu-Nagma, confessed to plotting to kidnap a soldier from the Jerusalem Central bus station, as well as a bombing against a residential building housing Israeli Jews in the Abu Tor neighborhood of east Jerusalem. During questioning, he described how he learned to manufacture bombs online.Ala Anam, a third suspect, also confessed to being in internet communication with Al-Sham, and plotting to set up a Salafi-Jihadi cell in Samaria for the purpose of carrying out terror attacks.Security sources noted with concern the swift process of recruitment and preparations that occurred online in the space of a few months. They added that Abu-Sara's father was opposed to his son's activities and warned him repeatedly after seeing his son surfing radical Islamist websites."Abu-Sara and Al-Sham coordinated a trip to Syria, and money transfers. This all happened very quickly," said a source. "All three terror channels formed at a fast rate," he added.The investigation underlines the fact that the Internet remains the main means of expansion for global jihadi elements, the source said. Terrorist operatives use the internet to create operational cells, local commanders, and transfer bomb-making know-how.The relationship between recruits and their handlers online is similar to relations between a cow and a calf, the source said. "The calf wants to suckle, and the cow wants to give it milk," he added.It is also evidence of the fact that the Gaza Strip is a terrorism base for al-Qaida-affiliated elements, in addition to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the source said.Hundreds of Salafi-jihadis in Gaza have access to rockets and arms, and travel to Sinai to attack both Egypt and Israel, the source explained.Hamas has reached an understanding with these elements, according to which, they must not directly harm Hamas by provoking an Israeli response against the Islamist rulers of the Strip, but are otherwise free to act as they please. There have been no recent arrests by Hamas of Salafi jihadis in Gaza. Rather, Hamas engages with these groups by deploying its own forces to rocket launching grounds to prevent attacks on Israel, and through dialogue with the al-Qaida-affiliated elements.Outside of Gaza, Hamas supports global jihadi activities in Syria and in the Sinai Peninsula, the source continued. Hamas would prefer to avoid a confrontation with smaller terror groups in Gaza, while also avoiding a head-on clash with Egypt and Israel.The episode also underlines the risk posed by al-Qaida's attempt to recruits east Jerusalem Palestinians, Israeli Arabs, and Palestinians in the West Bank, the source said.In November, three Salafi-jihadi terrorists who were in the middle of planning a terror attack were killed in a counterterrorism mission in the Palestinian village of Yatta, near Hebron.The suspects were in a car that had explosives and firearms in it, when they were met by the Israel Police's Counterterrorism Unit, sent to intercept the vehicle.Israeli forces opened fire at the car’s wheels, and the suspects fired back. Following an exchange of fire, the two suspects were killed, the source said.A little over an hour after the firefight, security forces engaged a third armed suspect, killing him as well.

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  ||||| JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's internal security agency says it has foiled an al-Qaida plan to attack the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv and hit other targets in the country.

 Shin Bet said Wednesday it arrested three Palestinians it accuses of plotting to carry out bombings, shootings, kidnappings and other attacks.

 It said the men, two from Jerusalem and one from the West Bank, were recruited by an operative based in the Gaza Strip who worked for al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

 Shin Bet alleges the Palestinians planned on attacking a Jerusalem conference center with firearms and then kill rescue workers with a truck bomb.

 It said al-Qaida also planned to send foreign militants to attack the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv on the same day using explosives supplied by the Palestinians. |||||Summary:

– Israel says it has foiled a major plot by al-Qaeda that included a planned attack on the US embassy in Tel Aviv, reports the AP. The Shin Bet security agency arrested three Palestinians it says were recruited indirectly by al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. The alleged plot called for suicide bombers to hit the embassy and the Jerusalem Convention Center simultaneously, and then for subsequent bombs to go off when first responders arrived, reports the Jerusalem Post. Another attack was planned on a passenger bus near Jerusalem. Authorities say an operative in Gaza who worked for Zawahiri recruited the three men separately via Facebook and Skype. One was supposed to go to Syria first to learn how to make bombs, and then help other foreign terrorists enter the country with fake Russian passports, says Shin Bet.


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By Acting Lieutenant Tom Fuhrmann, Antioch Police Investigations

 On Monday, May 11, 2015 at 7:44 PM, Antioch Police Officers responded to the 4900 block of Ridgeview Drive on the report of a burglary in progress. The homeowner advised she was in the home holding her baby when she saw an intruder enter her home through an unlocked door.

 She fled out of the front of the house with her baby. Upon fleeing she had left her four-year-old daughter behind in the house. Officers arrived, conducted an interior check of the residence and located the four-year-old at the top of the stairs. The child was directed to go outside to her mother as officers continued to check inside. The four-year-old daughter told her mother, who then alerted the officers that the intruder was hiding in the little girl’s bedroom closet. Upon checking the little girls bedroom, they located 21-year-old Antioch transient male, Demaria Lopez hiding in the closet.

 Lopez would not comply with commands. A brief struggle ensued and Lopez was taken into custody without further incident. Lopez was transported and booked into the Martinez Detention Facility on charges of burglary and resisting arrest. There were no injuries to any involved.

 Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to call Det. McManus with the Antioch Police Department at (925)779-6940. You may also text a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using key word ANTIOCH.

 Share this: ||||| Burglary suspect found after 4-year-old leads police to him

 A burglary suspect was arrested in Antioch after he allegedly broke into an occupied home and tried to hide when police arrived, only to be pointed out by the young girl whose closet he was hiding in, officials said Tuesday.

 Officers responded to reports of a burglary in progress on the 4900 block of Ridgeview Drive around 7:45 p.m. Monday. The caller told police she had been at home holding her baby, her second child, when she saw a man enter the house through an unlocked door.

 The woman fled the home — baby in tow — but realized she had left her 4-year-old girl, in the house, police said.

 Police searched the house and found the young girl at the top of the stairs, police said, but no sign of the intruder. The girl went outside and told her mom that the guy was hiding in her closet, police said.

 The woman relayed that information to police who found the man, later identified as Demaria Lopez, a 21-year-old transient, exactly where the girl said he was, police said.

 Officers briefly struggled with Lopez when he failed to comply with their commands, police said. But he was eventually taken into custody without injury and transported to the Martinez Detention Facility where he was booked on suspicion of burglary and resisting arrest.

 Kale Williams is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: kwilliams@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfkale |||||

– What should this 4-year-old be when she grows up? Our suggestion: police officer. The San Francisco Chronicle has the initially frightening story of woman who ran from her Antioch, Calif., home after seeing a man come inside through an unlocked door. She had her baby in her arms—but had left the 4-year-old inside. Police arrived and found the girl unharmed, but they were unable to locate the reported intruder ... until the child told her mother exactly where he was. Police did indeed find the man hiding inside the girl's closet, as the child had said. Following a short struggle, 21-year-old Demaria Lopez was arrested, the Antioch Herald reports. He faces charges of attempted burglary and resisting arrest.


News article:

Pete Davidson proposes to Maggie Rogers on 'SNL' promo, and Ariana Grande is not laughing

 CLOSE Pete Davidson appears to joke about rushing to propose on a 'Saturday Night Live' promo. And former fiancée Ariana Grande is not amused. USA TODAY

 Pete Davidson is still joking about his broken engagement to Ariana Grande and let's just say the pop star has "no tears left to cry" over the matter.

 During a promo video for the upcoming episode of "Saturday Night Live," Davidson asked for musical guest Maggie Rogers' hand in marriage, while host Jonah Hill awkwardly stood between the two.

 “Hey Maggie, I’m Pete. You wanna get married?” Davidson, 24, jokingly proposed.

 Rogers, also 24, quickly shot down the comedian's advance, prompting Davidson to reference his past failed attempts at love: "0 for 3."

 Related: Ariana Grande reveals love of her life, slams rumors about Pete Davidson relationship

 Grande, however, didn't find the joke at the expense of their split the least bit funny. The "Sweetener" singer took to Twitter Thursday shortly after the "SNL" promo dropped to throw her own shade.

 "For somebody who claims to hate relevancy u sure love clinging to it huh," she wrote in a now deleted tweet.

 Related: Ariana Grande finally addresses Pete Davidson breakup, calls it 'very sad'

 In a now-deleted tweet obtained by USA TODAY, Ariana Grande appears to call out her ex-fiance Pete Davidson after he proposed to musical guest Maggie Rogers during a "Saturday Night Live" promo clip for this weekend's episode. (Photo: USA TODAY)

 In October, news broke that Davidson and Grande's whirlwind romance and hasty engagement ended in a matter of months.

 This is not the first time Davidson has mined his love life for fodder.

 Related: Pete Davidson laughs off Ariana Grande split: 'Does anybody have any open rooms?'

 CLOSE Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson are reportedly calling it quits. The couple met on "Saturday Night Live" and became engaged just weeks after making their relationship official on Instagram in May. Wochit

 During his first stage appearance since calling it quits, the comedian joked during the comedy show Judd & Pete for America on Oct. 20: "Well, as you could tell, I don't want to be here. There's a lot going on."

 The former couple appears to be moving on, both covering matching ink that outlived their engagement. It appears Grande would like Davidson to move on with his jokes as well.

 The pop star, meanwhile, has been keeping busy with her work. On Oct. 25, she announced a world tour for her new album "Sweetener."

 It's yet to be known if Grande will perform "Pete Davidson," a love song from "Sweetener" that praises the comedian with its sentimental lyrics.

 "Universe must have my back / Fell from the sky into my lap / And I know you know that you're my soulmate and all that," Grande sings.

 Related: Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson cover up matching ink that outlived their engagement

 Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2018/11/01/pete-davidson-proposes-maggie-rogers-ariana-grande-not-laughing/1854346002/ ||||| Ariana Grande is not holding back, seemingly taking aim at ex Pete Davidson.

 On Thursday, the 25-year-old “God Is a Woman” singer appeared to take a jab at her ex-fiancé writing on Twitter, “for somebody who claims to hate relevancy u sure love clinging to it huh.”

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 Moments later Grande tweeted “thank u, next.”

 The mysterious diss comes just a few hours after Saturday Night Live released a promo video for this weekend’s episode in which Davidson, 24, jokingly proposed to singer Maggie Rogers.

 “Hey Maggie, I’m Pete. You wanna get married?” Davidson says in the clip as host Jonah Hill, 34, cringes while standing in between them.

 Rogers, 24, quickly declines and Davidson responds by saying he’s “0-3,” poking fun at his failed relationships.

 RELATED: Pete Davidson Proposes to Maggie Rogers on SNL & Pokes Fun at Failed Engagement to Ariana Grande

 Ariana Grande Ariana Grande/Twitter

 Ariana Grande Ariana Grande/Twitter

 Ariana Grande Ariana Grande/Twitter

 Davidson previously dated Larry David’s daughter Cazzie David and Girl Code star Carly Aquilino. It is not clear if he was engaged to either.

 Grande also quote tweeted the SNL trailer posted by a fan who wrote: “SNL is about to milk their breakup just like they did with the engagement.” Grande simply wrote “.”

 Prior to Thursday, things between Grande and Davidson appeared to be very civil.

 The two called it quits earlier this month after getting engaged in June after dating for just a few weeks.

 “It was way too much too soon,” a Grande source tells PEOPLE. “It’s not shocking to anyone.”

 Pete Davidson and Ariana Grande Paul Zimmerman/WireImage

 Sources close to the couple told TMZ that the decision to split was a mutual choice, as both the “God Is a Woman” singer and Davidson felt the timing wasn’t right.

 The couple’s split comes after Grande has endured a difficult few weeks as she came to terms with the loss of former boyfriend Mac Miller, who died from an apparent drug overdose on Sept. 7. After venting about her emotional exhaustion to her Twitter followers, the star took some much-needed time off.

 “Given the events of the past couple of years, Ariana is going to take some much needed time to heal and mend,” her team told PEOPLE in September. “She will be staying close to home and using this period to spend time with her loved ones and work on new music without deadline. She thanks her fans for their understanding.”

 Pete Davidson and Ariana Grande Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

 Davidson’s SNL skit isn’t the first time the comedian has made a joke about their whirlwind romance.

 Davidson previously addressed his split with Grande on Oct. 20 at the Judd & Pete for America benefit for Swing Left in West Hollywood, California with Judd Apatow.

 RELATED: Ariana Grande (in Mac Miller’s Sweatshirt) Cozies Up to Late Rapper’s Dog During Tribute Concert

 Although he didn’t mention Grande by name at the start of his 45 minute-long set, everybody in the crowd likely understood why he began by announcing, “As you could tell, I don’t want to be here.”

 “There’s a lot going on,” he added, before jokingly alluding to his breakup by asking the crowd, “Does anybody have any open rooms? Looking for a roommate?” ||||| Rating is available when the video has been rented.

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What is a shorter version of the above article?

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


A judge found three members of the Russian feminist punk group Pussy Riot guilty of hooliganism for their anti-Kremlin protest in February in Moscow’s main cathedral. The case has become an international cause celebre and highlights the stark divide between the secular, Westernized forces who took to the streets to protest against Vladimir Putin’s rule earlier this year and the more conservative Russians he counts on as his main support.

 WSJ’s Moscow bureau live blogged the hearing and reaction from Moscow, with contributions from Paul Sonne and Jeanne Whalen from London. ||||| Members of the female punk band ''Pussy Riot'' (R-L) Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Yekaterina Samutsevich and Maria Alyokhina sit in a glass-walled cage after a court hearing in Moscow, August 17, 2012.

 MOSCOW |

 MOSCOW (Reuters) - Three women from the Russian punk band Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in jail on Friday for staging a protest against President Vladimir Putin in a church, a ruling supporters described as his "personal revenge".

 The group's backers burst into chants of "Shame" outside the Moscow courthouse and said the case showed Putin was cracking down on dissent in his new six-year term as president. Dozens were detained by police when scuffles broke out.

 The United States and the European Union condemned the sentence as disproportionate and asked for it to be reviewed, although state prosecutors had demanded a three-year jail term and the maximum sentence possible was seven years.

 But while the women have support abroad, where their case has been taken up by a long list of celebrities including Madonna, Paul McCartney and Sting, opinion polls show few Russians sympathize with them.

 "The girls' actions were sacrilegious, blasphemous and broke the church's rules," Judge Marina Syrova told the court as she spent three hours reading the verdict while the women stood watching in handcuffs inside a glass courtroom cage.

 She declared all three guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, saying they had deliberately offended Russian Orthodox believers by storming the altar of Moscow's main cathedral in February to belt out a "punk prayer" deriding Putin.

 Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Marina Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, giggled as the judge read out the sentences one by one, but portrayed themselves as victims of Soviet-style persecution during the trial that began on July 30.

 They have already been in jail for about five months, meaning they will serve another 19, and could be released if Putin were to pardon them. The Orthodox Church hinted it would not oppose such a move by appealing, belatedly, for mercy.

 Pussy Riot took on two powerful state institutions at once when they burst into Moscow's golden-domed Christ the Saviour Cathedral wearing bright ski masks, tights and short skirts to protest against Putin's close ties with the Church.

 The judge said the three women had "committed an act of hooliganism, a gross violation of public order showing obvious disrespect for society." She rejected their argument that they had no intention of offending Russian Orthodox believers.

 It became one of Russia's most high-profile trials since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and Putin's critics said it put the 59-year-old Kremlin leader's policies in the dock.

 Opponents depicted it as part of a crackdown by the ex-KGB spy against a protest movement that took off over the winter, attracting what witnesses said were crowds of up to 100,000 people in Moscow to oppose his return to power.

 "They are in jail because it is Putin's personal revenge," Alexei Navalny, one of the organizers of the protests, said outside the court. "This verdict was written by Vladimir Putin."

 A police source told Itar-Tass news agency 50 people had been detained near the court when scuffles broke out. Among them were Sergei Udaltsov, a leftist opposition leader, and Garry Kasparov, a Putin critic and former world chess champion.

 But there was no sign of the opposition taking to the streets in anger. Opposition leaders plan a small gathering in Moscow on Sunday, the anniversary of a failed coup shortly before the Soviet Union fell in 1991, but the next big anti-Putin rally is not planned until September 15.

 Putin's spokesman did not immediately comment on the verdict but the president's supporters said before the trial that he would have no influence on the court's decision.

 Although Pussy Riot have never made a record or had a hit song, foreign singers have led the campaign for the trio's release. Madonna performed in Moscow with "PUSSY RIOT" painted on her back and wearing a ski mask in solidarity.

 But a poll of Russians released by the independent Levada research group showed only 6 percent sympathized with the women and 51 percent found nothing good about them or felt irritation or hostility. The rest could not say or were indifferent.

 Valentina Ivanova, 60, a retired doctor, said outside the courtroom: "What they did showed disrespect towards everything, and towards believers first of all."

 CHURCH CALLS FOR MERCY

 Putin, who returned to the presidency for a third term on May 7 after a four-year spell as prime minister, had said the women did "nothing good" but should not be judged too harshly.

 The trio's defense lawyers said they would appeal. The Church issued a statement condemning the women's actions but urged the state to show mercy "within the framework of the law".

 That appeared to signal that the Church would back a pardon or reduced sentence, although the women would be expected to admit guilt if they sought a pardon.

 U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Washington was concerned about the "disproportionate sentences ... and the negative impact on freedom of expression in Russia", and urged Russian authorities "to review this case".

 EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the sentence called into question Russia's respect for the "obligations of fair, transparent, and independent legal process".

 In protests outside Russia in support of Pussy Riot, a bare-chested feminist activist took a chainsaw to a wooden cross bearing a figure of Christ in Kiev. In Bulgaria, sympathizers put Pussy Riot-style masks on statues at a Soviet Army monument.

 Opposition leaders say Putin will not ease up on opponents in his new term. Parliament has already rushed through laws increasing fines for protesters, tightening controls on the Internet, and imposing stricter rules on defamation.

 Gay rights suffered a blow in Moscow when an appeals court upheld a ruling rejecting applications from activists to hold a gay rights march each year for the next 100 years. Anti-gay activists later sued Madonna for $10 million in St Petersburg, saying she insulted their feelings by speaking out for gay rights there last week.

 (Additional reporting by Nastassia Astrasheuskaya, Alissa de Carbonnel, Thomas Grove and Steve Gutterman in Moscow and Olzhas Auyezov in Kiev; Editing by Alastair Macdonald, Will Waterman and Giles Elgood) |||||

Write a summary.

– A Russian judge today found three members of punk band Pussy Riot guilty of hooliganism driven by "religious hatred and enmity" and sentenced them to two years in prison, Reuters reports. Prosecutors had been seeking three years. The three were arrested in March after performing an anti-Putin "punk prayer" inside Moscow's main cathedral. The three women sat in a courtroom cage as the judge addressed the court for nearly three hours. Finally, two and a half hours after the band members were declared guilty, the sentence was read. Previously, the judge had been reading from a seemingly endless summary of the trial as participants and observers alike appeared to grow increasingly bored. From the Wall Street Journal's live blog: "One of the lawyers for Pussy Riot is blatantly flicking through a Twitter feed on her smartphone as the judge drones on."