© Hotel Waldhaus am See

 The suspect bottle front and center among some of the bar's other Macallan offerings.

 A hotel guest was left with a nasty taste after spending up on a counterfeit single malt.

 A $10,000 dram of single malt went down the wrong way with a hotel guest in Switzerland when the whisky in question turned out to be fake.

 ScotchWhisky.com reports that a Chinese guest paid $10,277 for a three-quarter-ounce measure of the 1878 Macallan single malt in the Devil's Place bar at the Hotel Waldhaus am See in St Moritz, Switzerland, at the end of July. The bottle was claimed to be the last unopened bottle of the 1878 vintage malt in the world.

 Shortly afterwards, however, an investigation was launched after a number of whisky enthusiasts raised concerns about the authenticity of the bottle. Macallan owner Edrington has also promised to help with the inquiry.

 "On Thursday I got some information from a whisky expert that this bottle could be a fake," said hotel manager Sandro Bernasconi said. "I've done some research and talked to different people. [Then] I called the Chinese guest to tell him that it could be a fake and said we would give the money back [if it is]. It's very important to us to find out if it's a real bottle or if it's a fake."

 The label on the bottle claims that the whisky was distilled in 1878, and was matured for 27 years. A "rare Speyside malt’", it claims to be "guaranteed absolutely pure by Roderick Kemp, proprietor, Macallan and Talisker Distilleries Ltd".

 Serge Valentin, experienced collector and founder of the Whiskyfun website, raised a number of issues related to the bottle, including the condition of the cork and label paper, which he said was "too new", and the accuracy of some details on the label.

 "This is the same kind of bottle that Macallan had bought themselves around 2002 – around 100 of them," he said. "What's dodgy with these bottles is that, apparently, Kemp never owned Macallan and Talisker at the same time, and that nobody ever found traces of a company called 'Macallan and Talisker Distilleries Ltd', not even Diageo in their archives."

 Emmanuel Dron, owner of The Auld Alliance bar in Singapore, said that the St Moritz bottle had come from the same source – believed to be in Italy – as a rash of fake Macallans of the early 2000s.

 "Most of them are kept and never opened," he added. "All the fakes have those corks that are artificially aged to make them look old, but they don't have what all the real ones have, a natural maturation of the cork that makes them shrink after decades. I don't blame the bar of that hotel, and they should not be judged as they are victims too."

 The bottle came from the collection of the hotel manager's father. "This is the only bottle from 1878," said Sandro Bernasconi. "The other Macallans are not that old, but my father has in his collection more than 400 different Macallans, including one more that is 18-something and from the same area."

 Bernasconi said the hotel was considering consulting lawyers about the matter. "It's a very big issue. For us it would be very bad, but if it's a fake we have to tell everybody in the world that it's a fake, and of course we have to give the money back."

 The whisky was now on its way to a testing laboratory in Scotland. He said it had initially been estimated that the testing process would take up to six months, but it was now hoped that it could be done more quickly. Tests are likely to analyse the cork, glass, label and liquid. "If there are some fake bottles, then we have to destroy them," said Bernasconi. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The dram was bought for £7,600

 A dram of vintage Scotch bought by a Chinese millionaire in a Swiss hotel bar for £7,600 was a fake, laboratory tests have concluded.

 Analysts from Scotland were called in by the Waldhaus Am See hotel in St Moritz after experts questioned the authenticity of the 2cl shot.

 It had been poured from an unopened bottle labelled as an 1878 Macallan single malt.

 It is believed to be the largest sum ever paid for a poured dram of Scotch.

 But analysis found that it was almost certainly not distilled before 1970.

 The hotel said it had accepted the findings and reimbursed the customer in full.

 Zhang Wei, 36, from Beijing - one of China's highest-earning online writers - had paid just under 10,000 Swiss francs (£7,600, $10,050) for the single shot while visiting the hotel's Devil's Place whisky bar in July.

 But suspicions about the spirit's provenance surfaced soon after the purchase, when whisky industry experts spotted discrepancies in the bottle's cork and label from newspaper articles.

 Image copyright Sandro Bernasconi Image caption Mr Zhang was photographed with hotel manager Sandro Bernasconi after buying the dram

 That prompted the Waldhaus to send a sample to Dunfermline-based specialists Rare Whisky 101 (RW101) for analysis.

 Carbon dating tests were then carried out by researchers from the University of Oxford, which suggested a 95% probability that the spirit was created between 1970 and 1972.

 Further lab tests by Fife-based alcohol analysts Tatlock and Thomson indicated that it was probably a blended Scotch, comprising 60% malt and 40% grain - ruling it out as a single malt.

 RW101 said the tests had shown that the bottle was "almost worthless as a collector's item".

 Had the bottle been genuine, it would have carried a bar-value of about 300,000 Swiss francs (£227,000).

 Image copyright Sandro Bernasconi Image caption The dram was poured from an unopened bottle that purported to be an 1878 Macallan

 Mr Zhang, who writes martial arts fantasy novels under the pen name Tang Jia San Shao, earned the equivalent of about $16.8m in 2015, according to China Daily.

 He bought the dram while on holiday with his grandmother at the Swiss hotel, which stocks 2,500 different whiskies.

 Waldhaus manager Sandro Bernasconi told BBC Scotland that the hotel had no idea the bottle was a fake.

 He said: "My father bought the bottle of Macallan 25 years ago, when he was manager of this hotel, and it had not been opened.

 "When Mr Zhang asked if he could try some, we told him it wasn't for sale. When he said he really wanted to try it, I called my father who told me we could wait another 20 years for a customer like that so we should sell it.

 "Mr Zhang and I then opened the bottle together and drank some of it."

 Image copyright Weibo Image caption Mr Zhang wrote about his experience with the "1878" Macallan a few days after his visit to the Waldhaus hotel

 A few days after tasting the whisky, Mr Zhang posted a message on the Chinese micro-blogging platform Weibo about his experience.

 He wrote in Mandarin: "When I came across a fine spirit from over 100 years ago, there wasn't much struggle inside.

 "My grandma who accompanied me on this trip was only 82, yet the alcohol was 139 years old - same age as my grandma's grandma.

 "To answer you all, it had a good taste. It's not just the taste, but also history."

 Image copyright Hotel Waldhaus Am See Image caption The dram was bought from the Devil's Place whisky bar in St Moritz

 Mr Bernasconi broke the bad news to Mr Zhang when he flew out to China to reimburse him recently.

 He added: "When I showed him the results, he was not angry - he thanked me very much for the hotel's honesty and said his experience in Switzerland had been good.

 "When it comes to selling our customers some of the world's rarest and oldest whiskies, we felt it was our duty to ensure that our stock is 100% authentic and the real deal.

 "That's why we called in RW101.

 "The result has been a big shock to the system, and we are delighted to have repaid our customer in full as a gesture of goodwill."

 RW101 co-founder David Robertson said: "The Waldhaus team did exactly the right thing by trying to authenticate this whisky.

 "We would implore that others in the market do what they can to identify any rogue bottles.

 "The more intelligence we can provide, the greater the chance we have to defeat the fakers and fraudsters who seek to dupe the unsuspecting rare whisky consumer." ||||| A Chinese author who paid £7,700 for a dram of 19th century Scotch whisky has been refunded by the Swiss hotel where it was bought after the drink was officially deemed a fake by an investigation.

 The probe was launched in the summer after the customer, multi-millionaire online fantasy writer Zhang Wei paid for a dram of what was thought to be one of the world’s only known bottles of Macallan 1878 still in circulation.

 But following a series of investigative and forensic tests carried out by Scottish whisky valuation service Rare Whisky 101, in conjunction with the hotel, the Waldhaus Am See in St Moritz, the whisky has been shown to date back no further than 1970, deeming it almost worthless as a collector’s item.

 Sandro Bernasconi from the Hotel has flown to Asia in the last week to refund the paying customer in full.

 The sale hit the headlines as the most expensive dram ever bought in July, but whisky collectors raised a number of concerns about the bottle, including the condition of the cork and alleged historical inaccuracies on the label.

 RW101 co-founder David Robertson said: “The Waldhaus team have done exactly the right thing by trying to authenticate this whisky. Over the past year, we have been invited by numerous bottle owners and auction houses to assess suspicious bottles. Indeed, we’ve noticed an increasing number of old, rare archive or antique bottles coming to market at auction, and it’s difficult to know how prevalent this problem is.

 "We would implore that others in the market do what they can to identify any rogue bottles. The more intelligence we can provide, the greater the chance we have to defeat the fakers and fraudsters who seek to dupe the unsuspecting rare whisky consumer. We’re also working closely with The Macallan brand owner, Edrington, as they start to take a leadership position on fake whisky."

 “As with any purchase, we would recommend that each buyer does their research, assesses the bottle and its packaging presentation, and where they can afford to do so, send some of the liquid for technical evaluation and/or carbon dating. If you do have a pre-1900’s bottle we suggest it’s worth extracting a sample to prove if it is genuine or not (most likely not). Even if the bottle has been opened, if you can prove the whisky was distilled pre 1900, then you have some very valuable whisky to enjoy!”

 Sandro Bernasconi, Waldhaus Am See hotel manager and bar manager at the Devils Place bar where the whisky was sold, said: “When it comes to selling our customers some of the world’s rarest and oldest whiskies, we felt it was our duty to ensure that our stock is 100 per cent authentic and the real deal. That’s why we called in RW101. The result has been a big shock to the system, and we are delighted to have repaid our customer in full as a gesture of goodwill.”

 Ken Grier, spokesman for The Macallan brand owner, Edrington, said: “As the leading brand in the fast growing secondary market for rare whiskies, with an estimated 30 per cent share by value, we take this very seriously. We praise the work that our partners, RW101, are doing to bring awareness of any fraud to light. We would urge consumers to buy from reputable sources at all times.”

 A sample of the Macallan 1878 was subsequently collected by the team at RW101, and flown back to the UK for a series of forensic tests and analysis to determine, as best as modern science allows, the precise composition of the liquid, including carbon dating at the University of Oxford to verify the year of distillation.

 Results from University of Oxford’s Research Laboratory for Archaeology and The History of Art suggested a 95 per cent probability that the liquid was created between 1970 and 1972. Subsequent laboratory tests carried out by Tatlock and Thomson (providers of scientific services to the wine and spirits industry) showed the spirit was most likely a blended scotch comprised of 60 per cent Malt and 40 per cent Grain. ||||| This content was published on November 2, 2017 2:53 PM Nov 2, 2017 - 14:53

 Found guilty: the CHF10,000 dram probably dates from around 1970, nearly a hundred years after initially claimed. (Sandro Bernasconi)

 The world’s most expensive whisky, a CHF9,999 ($9,998) tipple bought last August in a hotel in St Moritz, has been shown in lab testing to be a fake. The hotel has reimbursed the drinker, Chinese writer Zhang Wei.

 Suspicion mounted soon after Zhang forked out just under CHF10,000 for a small glass of the whisky, purportedly an 1878 bottle of Macallan Single Malt, at the Waldhaus Am See Hotel in early August.

 Now, after being submitted to laboratory tests by Scottish whisky experts and at the University of Oxford, the liquor has been revealed to be a fake, news the hotel confirmed on Thursday.

 Carbon dating found that there is a “95% probability that the liquid was created between 1970 and 1972,” according to a press statement sent by the hotel to swissinfo.ch. Moreover, the whisky may not have even been a single malt; Scottish analysts said it was more likely a blended Scotch, of 60% malt and 40% grain.

 Bernasconi and Zhang in Beijing (Sandro Bernasconi)

 The hotel has taken responsibility for the mix-up and reimbursed Zhang in full. Owner Sandro Bernasconi even travelled to China to personally apologise and hand over the cheque to the young whisky aficionado.

 “The result has been a big shock to the system,” Bernasconi said in the statement, “and we are delighted to have repaid our customer in full as a gesture of goodwill.”

 He told the 20 Minutes newspaper on Thursday that Zhang appreciated the honesty and the pair enjoyed an evening chatting about whisky in Beijing (see photo).

 Bootleg bottle

 The initial story blew across the web in August, when Zhang Wei – an online fantasy fiction author with a big following in China – provoked incredulity with the astronomical purchase from what was believed to be the world’s last unopened bottle of the Macallan vintage.

 The bottle had been bought by Bernasconi’s father Claudio 25 years ago for a “five-figure sum”. However, it didn’t take long for some experts to question the authenticity, and soon the hotel itself sent the bottle for testing in the UK.

 “When it comes to selling our customers some of the world’s rarest and oldest whiskies, we felt it was our duty to ensure that our stock is 100% authentic and the real deal,” Bernasconi said.

 For now, there is no indication that the hotel is concerned that other bottles in its 2,500-strong collection might also be shams.

 swissinfo.ch/dos

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 subscription form Form for signing up for free newsletter. Sign up for our free newsletters and get the top stories delivered to your inbox. ||||| It’s not every day that a customer wants to pay $10,000 for a .67-ounce taste of Scotch, but that happened recently at the Devil’s Place Whiskey Bar in St. Moritz, Switzerland. After the news got out, however, whisky experts from around the world said the bottle was almost certainly fake.

 On July 29, a tourist convinced Sandro Bernasconi, proprietor of the Devil’s Place Whiskey Bar, to open the bar’s prize possession: An ultra-rare bottle of Macallan whisky from 1878. The bottle was from Bernasconi’s father’s collection, and the bar never intended to actually open it. When the customer was serious about tasting it, however, Bernasconi was convinced.

 Bernasconi said at the time that he was petrified when opening it, because he thought the cork would have fallen apart or the whisky would be bad. The bottle opened nicely, though, and the customer was happy with the .67-ounce beverage he paid $10,000 for.

 According to Shanghaiist, the customer was fantasy novelist Zhang Wei, China’s richest and most prolific online writer. He’s written more than 150 novels in 12 years, and according to the New York Times he made $16.8 million in 2015. So that’s how he can afford to spend $10,000 for a single whisky.

 “I was in Switzerland and saw a 100-year-old whisky. I didn’t spend long weighing up whether to get it,” Zhang posted on social media after the experience. “In a nutshell, it tasted good. I was drinking not so much the whisky but a lot of history.”

 After the news of the open bottle and the $10,000 Macallan came out, however, a number of whisky experts contacted Bernasconi to say the bottle was probably fake.

 According to Wine Searcher, the label on the bottle claims that the whisky was distilled in 1878, and was matured for 27 years. The label also says the whisky is "guaranteed absolutely pure by Roderick Kemp, proprietor, Macallan and Talisker Distilleries Ltd."

 The thing is, though, that Roderick Kemp never owned Macallan and Talisker at the same time, and there’s no record of a “Macallan and Talisker Distilleries Ltc.” ever existing.

 The bottle most likely came from a store of fake Macallans that came out of Italy in the early 2000s. They’re very convincing fakes, though. Back in 2002, Macallan itself bought 100 bottles that were later proved to be fake. Bernasconi’s is likely from the same batch of fakes.

 Bernasconi says he contacted Zhang to tell him about the possibility that the whisky was fake. He says he’s having the bottle tested by experts in Scotland, who will analyze the whisky, the glass bottle, the label, the glue, and the cork. If they confirm it is fake, he says he will refund Zhang’s $10,000.

 If he gets his money back, Zhang should consider checking out these 16 bottles of liquor that cost more than a diamond. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– To say that it was an indulgent purchase would be an understatement: A Chinese millionaire paid a record $10,050 for a shot of 1878 Macallan single malt scotch in July—except it turns out the alcohol was all of 40 years old. Eyebrows were raised about the veracity of Zhang Wei's purchase after photos were posted online of Zhang posing with the bottle and the manager of the Waldhaus Am See hotel; the Swiss hotel's Devil's Place whisky bar has a 2,500-bottle collection. The prime condition of the vintage bottle, and the wording on the label didn't add up, said doubters. They were right. The BBC reports a series of lab tests were performed and returned all-around negative results. University of Oxford researchers carbon dated the sample and say there's a 95% probability it was produced between 1970 and 1972. And it's not even a single malt, as testing by alcohol analysts Tatlock and Thomson found it was a blend of 60% malt and 40% grain. Manager Sandro Bernasconi tells the Scotsman, "The result has been a big shock to the system, and we are delighted to have repaid our customer in full as a gesture of goodwill." The repayment was done in what's likely the most expensive way possible: SwissInfo.ch reports Bernasconi flew to Beijing to apologize and reimburse Zhang. The Daily Meal suspects the bottle is one of a batch of fakes that were so convincing Macallan actually purchased 100 such bottles in 2002. As for the story behind the man who felt comfortable paying so much for a nip of Scotch, he's a 36-year-old writer of online fantasy novels who reportedly made $16.8 million in 2015. (Here's why water improves whisky.)


Article:

««« previous next »»» Arrests as bodies of missing Dutch couple found in Spain Spanish police have arrested at least one person following the discovery of what is thought to be the bodies of missing Dutch international volleyball player Ingrid Visser and her partner Lodewijk Severin. The bodies were found buried in a shallow grave in a lemon grove close to a house in the village of Alquerías, some 12 kilometres from Murcia, local media reported.

 Indentification still has to be confirmed by dna but the bodies 'are extremely tall which is a good indication it is the missing couple,' a police spokesman told the Dutch media Appointments The couple disappeared in Murcia on May 13 and police found no trace of them since they checked into their hotel. Their hire car was later found on a Murcia street. Visser's family alerted the police after the couple failed to turn up for an appointment in the Netherlands. They also failed to meet a hospital appointment in Spain where some reports say they were due for fertility treatment. Spanish police are keeping details of the probe secret 'in the interests of their investigation', news agency ANP said.

 Raid However, police did say they raided an apartment in Murcia on Friday where they found evidence of a violent crime. One man was then arrested.

 Reports that two others, possibly Romanian nationals, have also been picked up are untrue, Nos television quoted Spanish police as saying. However, RTL says police have told it two other men were picked up in Valencia on Monday and are aged 60 and 47.

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  ||||| Image caption Ms Visser is seen here playing in the European Women's Volleyball Championships in 2009

 Spanish police believe the murders of former Dutch volleyball star Ingrid Visser and her partner in south-eastern Spain may have been business-related.

 Their bodies were found in a shallow grave in a lemon grove, two weeks after they disappeared in the region.

 An ex-director of a Spanish volleyball club is among three people arrested.

 Murcia's police chief told reporters there appeared to have been a business disagreement between the couple and the suspects.

 Ms Visser, 35, disappeared along with her partner Lodewijk Severein, 57, on 13 May, shortly after after checking into a hotel in the city of Murcia.

 They were supposed to meet a doctor the next day, but failed to turn up, and the authorities were alerted. Their rental car was found on a city street more than a week later.

 Volunteers plastered the walls of the city with posters appealing for information about the missing couple.

 The search dominated the Dutch media. Ms Visser was a popular player, who held the record for the number of appearances for the national side, the BBC's Anna Holligan reports from The Hague.

 The couple's bodies were found in a grove on Sunday evening, a day after police arrested the suspects in the city of Valencia, to the north.

 Their investigation led them to a house in Molina de Segura, a town outside Murcia, and the shallow grave nearby.

 One of the suspects was named by Spanish media as Juan Cuenca Lorente, 36, former director of Murcia's volleyball team. Ms Visser played for the team from 2009 to 2011.

 The other two suspects are Romanian men.

 Murcia's chief of police, Cyril Duran, told reporters that there had been "certain business disagreements" between the murdered couple and the three men under arrest, the local newspaper La Opinion de Murcia reports.

 No details of the disagreements were given, the national daily El Pais reports. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. |||||
What is a summary?

– A double murder in the world of volleyball is dominating the news in Spain and the Netherlands, and Spanish police say the whole affair could be business-related. Dutch volleyball star Ingrid Visser and her partner, Lodewijk Severein, went missing shortly after arriving in Murcia, Spain, earlier this month. On Sunday their bodies were found in a lemon grove, buried in a shallow grave. Three suspects were arrested the previous day; among them: Juan Cuenca Lorente, the 36-year-old former director of Murcia's volleyball club, which Visser, a popular Dutch player, played for from 2009 to 2011. Police say Lorente and the couple had some sort of business disagreement, though no specifics were released. As for what Visser, 35, and Severein, 57, were doing in Spain, the BBC reports that they were supposed to see a doctor there on May 14 but never showed up for the appointment; the Telegraph and Dutch News report that they were to undergo fertility treatment.


BEIJING (Reuters) - More than 500 illegal outdoor barbecues, which Chinese state media say cause "serious air pollution", have been destroyed in Beijing as part of an emergency program to alleviate the city's often hazardous pollution.

 The raids were part of a three-month operation to supervise the barbecues, many of which are operated by ethnic Uighur Muslims from the restive Xinjiang province in China's west.

 "Over 500 illegal barbecue grills in Beijing were destroyed on Tuesday amid the city's efforts to fight air pollution and lingering foggy weather," state media Xinhua reported on Tuesday.

 Pollution often reaches hazardous levels and can cause long-term health issues. Chinese health officials say that lung cancer rates are rising among the city's more than 20 million residents.

 China has adopted an emergency response program to try to reduce the pollution, including alternating days for cars with odd and even license plates to be on the road and closing schools when the smog is particularly heavy.

 Smoke from factories and heating plants that encircle Beijing, winds blowing in from the Gobi Desert and fumes from millions of vehicles all contribute to the smog that often forms a thick blanket over the city.

 Last winter the capital's smog was so bad it was dubbed the "airpocalypse", and there are concerns this winter will see a repeat after huge swathes of northeastern China ground to a halt in October when they were smothered by pollution.

 (Reporting by Paul Carsten; Editing by Alison Williams) ||||| Beijing is waging a war against air pollution and it is doing so one barbecue at a time.

 Authorities in the capital have destroyed more than 500 open-air barbecues "to cut PM2.5" _ the tiny particulate matter in the air that can enter deep into the lungs.

 Photos carried by state media showed workers on Tuesday cutting pieces of metal with sparks flying as city wardens looked on.

 Citizens online ridiculed the exercise, suggesting authorities should focus on bigger sources of pollution.

 A media officer at Beijing's Xicheng district administration bureau said the hundreds of barbecue grills were confiscated over a three-month campaign and cut up so they couldn't be used again. She refused to give her name, as is common with Chinese officials.

 Beijing's pollution regularly reaches hazardous levels. The city government announced last month that emergency measures such as factory shutdowns and traffic limits would kick in when air pollution levels are particularly heavy. |||||

Write a summary.

– Grilled lamb has become a scapegoat for Beijing's notorious air pollution, Reuters finds. Authorities say they have destroyed more than 500 open-air barbecues, which they claim seriously affects the city's air quality. State media showed photos of workers cutting apart the grills, many of which are operated by migrants from Xinjiang. The barbecue blitz was ridiculed online, with citizens suggesting that authorities do something about the factories and millions of vehicles creating pollution instead, the AP notes. Earlier this year, the pollution index in the city soared to 755—on a scale of 500.


Summarize this article:

Tweet with a location

 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| Tweet with a location

 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| Heavily armed police stand guard as a motorcade carrying Vice President-elect Mike Pence, center, leaves the Richard Rodgers Theatre after a performance of "Hamilton," in New York, Friday, Nov. 18, 2016.... (Associated Press)

 Heavily armed police stand guard as a motorcade carrying Vice President-elect Mike Pence, center, leaves the Richard Rodgers Theatre after a performance of "Hamilton," in New York, Friday, Nov. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki) (Associated Press)

 BEDMINSTER, N.J. (AP) — The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times local):

 8:35 a.m.

 President-elect Donald Trump isn't happy with Saturday Night Live, the popular late-night comedy show that pokes fun at politicians.

 Trump tweeted early Sunday that he watched "parts" of last night's show and didn't like it: "It is a totally one-sided, biased show - nothing funny at all. Equal time for us?"

 On the show, actor Alec Baldwin portrayed Trump as ignorant on foreign policy and using Google to ask "What is ISIS?"

 Also on Sunday, Trump renewed his complaints about the Broadway hit "Hamilton." His Twitter rants come as his transition team was focused on vetting potential candidates for his administration.

 ___

 7:20 a.m.

 President-elect Donald Trump is renewing his Twitter complaints about the Broadway hit "Hamilton."

 Early Sunday morning, Trump wrote on Twitter that the cast and producers "should immediately apologize to Mike Pence for their terrible behavior." He also said he heard the show was "highly overrated."

 The vice president-elect attended the show Friday night. At the end, actor Brandon Victor Dixon challenged him from the stage, saying the cast was concerned about the Trump administration.

 Trump fired off two angry messages on Twitter Saturday morning, calling for an apology. He posted another such message Saturday evening, but then deleted it.

 His tweets came as his transition team was focused on vetting potential candidates for his administration.

 ___

 7 a.m.

 President-elect Donald Trump is kicking off another day of meetings at his New Jersey golf club.

 Trump wrote on Twitter Sunday that "Numerous patriots will be coming to Bedminster." He added that he is continuing to "fill out the various positions necessary to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

 Trump's Sunday schedule in Bedminster includes New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

 Trump met with 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney Saturday. He also met with retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, considered a contender to lead the Pentagon.

 Trump said he may announce some of his picks on Sunday. |||||

– Alec Baldwin made his return as the president-elect on Saturday Night Live—a week after his conspicuous absence in a muted Cold Open—and it is again safe to assume that his performance did not go over well with the future occupant of the Oval Office, reports the AP. After a general praises Trump's ''secret plan" to take out ISIS, Baldwin's Donald Trump scurries over to his desk to frantically Google "What is ISIS?" Bowled over by the results, he proceeds to ask his BlackBerry, "Siri, how do I kill ISIS?" Starting to freak out, Baldwin's Trump soothes himself by repeating, "Big beautiful boobs and buildings big beautiful boobs and buildings," adds People. SNL alum Jason Sudekis returned in his role as Mitt Romney; Romney and Trump met in reality on Saturday at Trump's New Jersey golf course. The real Trump was back on Twitter trolling SNL, tweeting, "I watched parts of @nbcsnl Saturday Night Live last night. It is a totally one-sided, biased show - nothing funny at all. Equal time for us?" Trump also doubled down on his insistence that the cast of Hamilton apologize to VP-elect Mike Pence, tweeting that the show, "which I hear is highly overrated," should "apologize immediately" for "terrible behavior."


Article:
Authorities say 23-year-old Paul Ciancia walked inside Terminal 3 at LAX and pulled an assault rifle from a bag. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.

 A man carrying anti-government material and an assault rifle shot his way through security at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, killing a Transportation Security Administration worker and wounding two others — after sending a suicidal text message to his family, authorities said.

 NBC News Paul Anthony Ciancia

 The gunman who sent travelers diving for cover and fleeing onto the tarmac — identified by authorities as 23-year-old Los Angeles resident Paul Anthony Ciancia — was shot in the chest by law enforcement and taken into custody in critical condition.

 The TSA confirmed the identity of the slain officer as 39-year-old Gerardo I. Hernandez, according to an agency official. Hernandez is the first officer to have been killed in the line of duty in the agency's 12-year history.

 Law enforcement officials said at a news conference Friday afternoon that the crime scene is extensive and that authorities are still investigating the suspect's background. While airport terminals 1 and 2 are being reopened, Terminal 3 remains shut down, officials said.

 The motive isn't clear, but it's believed the suspect had anti-government views based on written materials he was carrying, the officials said. He texted his brother in New Jersey before the shooting and said he was thinking about killing himself, police told NBC Philadelphia.

 Federal officials told NBC News it was unclear whether the gunman was targeting the TSA or was trying to shoot his way farther into the airport. But a witness said the shooter, calmly walking through the terminal with his weapon, approached him with a one-word question.

 "All he said was, 'TSA?' Just like that," Leon Saryan told MSNBC.

 The shooting started about 9:20 a.m. (12:20 p.m. ET) at Terminal 3, which serves Virgin America and other airlines.

 NBC News Authorities believe the gunman used a a .223-caliber semiautomatic assault-style rifle.

 The gunman walked through an "exit" lane reserved for passengers leaving the secure area of the airport, pulled the .223-caliber semiautomatic assault-style rifle out of a bag and opened fire at the security checkpoint, officials said.

 Related:

 As he walked through the terminal, still firing, airport police pursued him. At a cluster of restaurants in the rear of the terminals, near the waiting area for some of the gates, they shot him several times in the chest, law enforcement sources said.

 "He's been shot and he's been treated. He survived," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said at the news conference.

 The mayor added that the suspect had "more than 100 more rounds that could've literally killed everybody in that terminal today."

 When the gunfire erupted, travelers who were waiting to snake through the security line suddenly had to abandon their suitcases and hit the ground.

 "We were just standing there in line, and somebody started shooting," said Nick Pugh, a witness, who told NBC Los Angeles that he heard eight to 10 shots. "Everyone dropped to the floor and started crawling along the ground."

 The shooting brought one of the nation's busiest airports to a standstill.

 Eyewitness Leon Saryan talks about his experience at the Los Angeles airport and his interaction with the gunman.

 Officials said 746 flights were affected, 46 of which were diverted. The rest were held on the ground in Los Angeles or at their originating airports, said Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports. The ground stop applied to airports roughly west of and including Denver, officials said. It was imposed shortly after the shooting began and was lifted at 3 p.m. (6 p.m. ET)

 "This has been a trying day for everyone, I know," Lindsey added.

 The Federal Aviation Administration grounded flights at LAX, where 1,500 flights take off and land every day. Passengers heading there for departing flights were stuck in colossal traffic jams. Some abandoned their rides and rolled their suitcases the last distance to the airport.

 Saryan said he was "cowering in a corner" when the gunman came over and asked whether he was with the TSA, even though he was in street clothes.

 "He was calm. He was walking slowly," Saryan said. "He must have felt that he was in control, because he had his weapon and nobody else did at that time.

 "But for the grace of God, you know, I would have been one of the fatalities," he said.

 The airport said that seven people were injured in all but that the nature of all injuries wasn't clear.

 A doctor from Harbor-UCLA Medical Center said two victims were taken there, including Hernandez, who was killed by a round that broke into fragments inside his torso, causing massive bleeding and chest and abdominal injuries.

 Shooting suspect Paul Anthony Ciancia carried anti-government written material that was critical of the federal government and the TSA, officials say. NBC's Pete Williams reports.

 Dr. David Plurad said that the victim didn't have a pulse when he arrived and that surgeons worked for more than an hour to try to revive him.

 "We made every effort to stop the bleeding and get the heart to beat on his own," Plurad said.

 The union that represents TSA workers told NBC Los Angeles that Hernandez was a behavioral detention officer who scanned passengers for unusual behavior and had been transferred to Los Angeles from Montana recently.

 Another TSA worker was shot in the leg, said Nico Melendez, a spokesman for the TSA.

 Brian Adamick, an accountant who was waiting for a flight to Chicago, spoke with a TSA agent with a leg wound on one of the buses that sped to the tarmac to evacuate passengers taking cover there.

 "His right ankle is injured and he gets on and sits in the seat next to me, and I said, 'Are you OK?' He said: 'I'm fine. I got shot. Don't worry, I've been shot before,'" Adamick told NBC News in a telephone interview.

 "I said, let me take a look, and he pulls up the pant leg and there's a flesh wound — 3 to 4 inches — looks like it's straight out of Hollywood, maybe a drop of blood or two," he said.

 Another witness told MSNBC that there was an initial round of shots, then a pause, then more shots. An airline worker told travelers, "Go out! Go out!" and people streamed down the stairs and onto the tarmac for safety, he said.

 Former Los Angeles and New York Police Chief Bill Bratton discusses the shooting that killed a TSA worker and wounded others at the Los Angeles airport.

 Authorities said the suspect was living in Los Angeles but is originally from Pennsville, N.J., where his parents and brother still reside.

 Pennsville Police Chief Allen Cummings said Ciancia texted his brother in the morning and said he was thinking about taking his own life. The family called local police, who alerted Los Angeles police. Officers went to Ciancia's apartment; he wasn't there, but his roommates said everything was fine, Cummings said.

 President Barack Obama was briefed on the shooting, the White House said in a statement. Obama called TSA Administrator John Pistole to express his condolences to the family and friends of those injured, including the TSA employee who was killed in the line of duty, a White House official said.

 In 2002, an Egyptian national opened fire at the El Al ticket counter at LAX, killing two Israelis before he was shot dead. Authorities ruled it a terrorist incident, even though the shooter was not tied to a known group.

 Kristen Welker and Becky Bratu of NBC News contributed to this report.

 This story was originally published on ||||| Gasaya Ichihara, left, runs across the street with her daughter, Sachika Ichihara, as they try to make their flight to Japan at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, Nov. 1, 2013. Thousands of... (Associated Press)

 A passenger walks with her luggage while leaving the Los Angeles International Airport on Friday Nov. 1, 2013. A suspected gunman was in custody Friday following a shooting at Los Angeles airport that... (Associated Press)

 In this aerial video frame grab provided by CBS-LA, fire and rescue personnel gather at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday Nov. 1, 2013. Shots were fired Friday at Los Angeles International Airport,... (Associated Press)

 In this photo provided by Natalie Morin, people stand on the tarmac after being evacuated from Los Angeles International Airport, Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, in Los Angeles, after shots were fired at Terminal... (Associated Press)

 Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck talks with other responders at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday Nov. 1, 2013. Shots were fired Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, prompting authorities... (Associated Press)

 Passengers walk with their luggage leaving the Los Angeles International Airport on Friday Nov. 1, 2013. A suspected gunman was in custody Friday following a shooting at Los Angeles airport that left... (Associated Press)

 A police officer closes a road at the Los Angeles International Airport on Friday Nov. 1, 2013, after shots were reporter in Terminal 3, prompting authorities to evacuate the terminal and stop flights... (Associated Press)

 A police officer directs traffic at the Los Angeles International Airport on Friday Nov. 1, 2013, after shots were fired in Terminal 3, prompting authorities to evacuate the terminal and stop flights... (Associated Press)

 Passengers are directed outside Terminal 2 at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday Nov. 1, 2013, after shots were fired, prompting authorities to evacuate a terminal and stop flights headed for... (Associated Press)

 Passengers evacuate the Los Angeles International Airport on Friday Nov. 1, 2013, in Los Angeles. Shots were fired at Los Angeles International Airport, prompting authorities to evacuate a terminal and... (Associated Press)

 Airplanes sit on the tarmac at Los Angeles International Airport Friday, Nov. 1, 2013. Thousands of fliers were delayed Friday after a shooting in Terminal 3 closed parts of the airport for hours, prompting... (Associated Press)

 In this photo provided by John Forstrom, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, people wait at Gate 142 in Los Angeles International Airport, Friday, Nov. 1, 2013.... (Associated Press)

 Passengers evacuate the Los Angeles International Airport on Friday Nov. 1, 2013, after shots were fired there, prompting authorities to evacuate a terminal and stop flights headed for the city from taking... (Associated Press)

 Police stand on high alert at Terminal 2 at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, Nov. 1, 2013. Shots were fired Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, prompting authorities to evacuate a... (Associated Press)

 Passengers walk with their luggage while leaving Los Angeles International Airport on Friday Nov. 1, 2013. Shots were fired Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, prompting authorities to evacuate... (Associated Press)

 Graphic locates LAX airport and terminal three where a shooting has injured multiple people and killed a TSA agent; 3c x 4 1/2 inches; 146 mm x 114 mm; (Associated Press)

 A passenger walks with his luggage while leaving Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, Nov. 1, 2013. A suspected gunman was in custody Friday following a shooting at Los Angeles airport that left... (Associated Press)

 Passengers evacuated from Terminal 1 wait outside Los Angeles International Airport on Friday Nov. 1, 2013. Shots were fired Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, prompting authorities to evacuate... (Associated Press)

 Passengers evacuated from Terminal 1 wait outside Los Angeles International Airport on Friday Nov. 1, 2013. Shots were fired Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, prompting authorities to evacuate... (Associated Press) ||||| The young man believed to have carried out a shooting at Los Angeles International Airport had sent a sibling a text message mentioning suicide, leading their father to seek authorities' help in finding him, a New Jersey police chief said Friday.

 Paul Ciancia's father called Pennsville Police Chief Allen Cummings early Friday afternoon saying another of his children had received a text message from the 23-year-old "in reference to him taking his own life," the chief told The Associated Press.

 The elder Ciancia asked for help in locating Paul, Cummings said. The chief called Los Angeles police, which sent a patrol car to Ciancia's apartment. It wasn't clear whether the police visited before or after the airport shooting.

 "Basically, there were two roommates there" Cummings said. "They said, `We saw him yesterday and he was fine.'"

 He told Cianci's father that because of his son's age, he couldn't take a missing persons report.

 A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity identified Paul Ciancia as the man who pulled a semi-automatic rifle from a bag and shot his way past a security checkpoint at the airport, killing a security officer and wounding two other people.

 The gunman was wounded in a shootout with police and was taken into custody, Los Angeles police said.

 The official who identified Ciancia was briefed at the airport on the investigation and requested anonymity because was he was not authorized to speak publicly.

 A motive wasn't immediately clear. The shooter was wearing fatigues and carrying a bag containing a handwritten note that said he "wanted to kill TSA and pigs," the official said.

 A second law enforcement official confirmed the identity, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly.

 The Pennsville police department has had no dealings with the younger Ciancia, Cummings said.

 Outside the father's home Friday in Pennsville _ in southern New Jersey across the Delaware River from Wilmington, Del. _ a police cruiser blocked the long driveway to the home, which isn't visible from the road. Phone calls weren't answered, and efforts to reach siblings were also unsuccessful.

 Neighbor Josh Pagan, 17, said that he would sometimes encounter Ciancia at orthodontist appointments, but that it had been at least two years since the last one.

 "He was never weird toward me. He never gave me any weird vibes," he said, adding that in the 10 years he's lived across the street from the Ciancia family "they've been nothing but nice to us."

 Ciancia's father owns an auto body shop, Cummings said.

 "I've been here 23 years and they are a good family," he said.

 ___

 Rubinkam reported from Pennsylvania. Associated Press writer Tami Abdollah in Los Angeles and Alicia Caldwell in Washington contributed to this report. |||||Summary:

– We've got a name but still no real explanation of why a shooter opened fire at LAX today. Authorities have identified the gunman at Los Angeles International Airport as 23-year-old Paul Ciancia. A law-enforcement official says Ciancia was carrying a note that said he "wanted to kill TSA and pigs," reports AP. One witness tells NBC News that the gunman approached him calmly in the airport while carrying his weapon. "All he said was, 'TSA?' Just like that." (The one person killed in today's shooting was a TSA employee.) Not much is known about Ciancia at this point, but a separate AP story has this surprising nugget: His father in Pennsville, NJ, called police there this afternoon because Ciancia had texted one of his siblings suggesting he was about to kill himself. The New Jersey chief called the police in LA, who sent a patrol car to his apartment. He wasn't there. "Basically, there were two roommates there," says the Pennsville chief. "They said, 'We saw him yesterday and he was fine.'"


Hell hath no fury like the mother of an entitled, lazy, narcissistic millennial.

 One such mother in Toronto has taken her frustration over having to bankroll her 23-year-old son's lifestyle, along with her impressive Quickbooks skills, and used them to send him a powerful message:

 Bitch better have my money!

 "Mom gave me an invoice for supporting me for three months," Reddit user Chalipo wrote in a post on the subReddit /r/funny last month. "Charged me $1000 for being an unappreciative asshole."

 Other charges on the list included home utilities, prescriptions, cleaning services, health insurance and "specialty meals" — all things that are often consumed by entitled, lazy, narcissistic millennials, who might still be living at home with their parents because they're burdened with too much student loan debt to be able to afford to move out.

 In a new interview with TODAY, Chalipo's mom said that her invoice was just a lighthearted gag and she does not actually expect her son — who, statistically speaking, is probably making way less money than his parents did — to pay her the $39,000 she is owed.

 "It was intended to be tongue-in-cheek, although obviously I was a little annoyed by him, as you can see with that thousand dollar itemized 'unappreciative' comment," she told TODAY. "But he was never expected to pay it. It was really just to prove a point and to make him wake up."

 Will the wake-up call help Chalipo overcome his inherently entitled, lazy, narcissistic millennial nature and get a job, despite the dismal employment prospects facing his generation? Only time will tell.

 (No, but seriously, our generation is totally screwed.)

 h/t TODAY ||||| Parents Angry mom bills 'unappreciative son' $39K for things he takes for granted

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 A 23-year-old Toronto student living at home just got schooled about failing to give his mother the respect she deserves.

 After the two got into an argument that both sides agreed stemmed from a misunderstanding, the mother drew up a $39,254 bill, charging him for just a fraction of the ways she has supported her son since he moved back home 13 months ago.

 Among the more notable expenses on the bill: a $1,000 fee for “being an a**hole and not appreciative of your mother’s support financially or otherwise.”

 The stunt worked. The son owned up to his poor behavior and apologized.

 And then he immediately shared his mom’s note on Reddit.

 Reddit

 “I just looked at it and thought, ‘This is golden Reddit material,’” the young man, who goes by “Chalipo” on the platform, said in a phone interview with TODAY.com. “I thought it was one of those things that everyone would appreciate and get a good laugh out of it. I expected a couple of witty comments but I didn’t know that it would make international headlines.”

 The post went viral, with most people finding the note humorous and sympathizing with Chalipo’s mom.

 “It was a joke," she said. "It was intended to be tongue-in-cheek, although obviously I was a little annoyed by him, as you can see with that thousand dollar itemized ‘unappreciative’ comment. But he was never expected to pay it. It was really just to prove a point and to make him wake up.”

 But some Reddit users criticized the way she went about making her point, or mistook her for being serious. That’s why neither she nor her son wanted their real names used.

 RELATED: Boy, 5, gets 'no-show' bill for missing his buddy's birthday party

 The argument that ultimately led to the invoice began over an application Chalipo’s mom was trying to fill out over the phone for a plan to help cover medication costs for Chalipo's brother. Because the plan only provides coverage for an entire household, Chalipo’s mother needed information from her older son, who refused to provide it. Both he and his mother admit he didn’t understand the circumstances at the time.

 “To me, I thought I was arguing about giving her my personal information to a stranger over the phone, when I knew there were scams going on out there,” Chalipo said. “I didn’t have all the facts.”

 And yes, both agreed that Chalipo acted, indeed, like a … jerk.

 “I can see why she thought I was being selfish, but my motives weren’t bad,” he said.

 Shutterstock Front view of female bank employee in elegant white blouse writing something on receipts with documents and adding machine on her wooden desk.; Shutterstock ID 312203876; PO: today.com - mish

 In addition to being charged for being unappreciative, Chalipo’s mom also billed her son $1,037 for his portion of the electricity bill, $23,550 for five years of tuition and $5,726 for health care premiums. She clarified that the $600 she charged him for “wedding, xmas gifts, valentines” was not for anything she bought him but, instead, money she gave so that he could buy presents for others, including a Valentine’s Day gift for his girlfriend.

 "She was being generous so I could be generous," Chalipo agreed.

 Chalipo has lived with his mom for most of his life but moved in with his father about three years ago. He moved back in with his mother 13 months ago and currently works part time and is a full-time student. He plans to graduate soon with a radio broadcast degree and is saving up to move into his own place with his girlfriend.

 “He’s a good kid. He means well,” his mother said.

 Chalipo said he eventually plans to repay his mom, hopefully in more ways than one.

 “My mom will get old one day and I’ll take care of her and spend years and years repaying her, even changing her diapers,” he said.

 His mother wasn't sure how to respond to the gesture.

 “That’s a really morbid thought," she said, "but thanks."

 Follow TODAY.com writer Eun Kyung Kim on Twitter. ||||| Press J to jump to the feed. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts

 r/funny ||||| After an argument, one fed-up mother in Brampton, Toronto, decided to give her 23-year-old son who lives at home a wake-up call by invoicing him for more than $39,000.

 The son, known on Reddit as “Chalipo,” posted the invoice to the site on March 2, and it's since gone viral.

 “We got into a discussion that it doesn’t cost a lot for him to live here,” Chalipo’s mom, 51, who asked that her name not be disclosed, told ABC News today. But her son didn't get it. So she made up a mock invoice to show how much money her son costs her.

 Chalipo’s mom addressed the invoice to her “Unappreciative Son” and wrote that it was “for services delivered free of charge in the last 13 months ALONE (except for Tuition – which is 5 years).” The bill came to a grand total of $39,254.17.

 Courtesy Chalipo

 There were the typical charges for Internet, cable and gas. But there were also some unique charges such as “specialty meals,” “contribution towards wedding, xmas gifts, valentines” -- which she clarified was money she gave to him to buy gifts -- and a $1,000 charge for “being an a--hole and not appreciative of your mother's support.”

 Chalipo, who also asked that his real name not be disclosed, said that he chuckled at the last charge. But he added that the invoice did teach him a lesson about being more appreciative of his mother.

 “After a few moments of quiet reflection, I let my mom know how effective this invoice was to help me understand how much she does for me and my brother,” Chalipo said.

 He added that he posted the invoice on Reddit because he knew people could get a laugh out of it, but he “had no idea it was going to make national headlines.”

 But, most importantly, Chalipo wants to “embrace this situation and show my appreciation.” He said he hopes to be “successful one day to support my family and continue to do good things for my family.”

 “I guess it worked,” Chalipo’s mother said.

 “It helped bring us closer,” her son added. “It restored her faith in me to be a successful son.” |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– A Reddit user living in Toronto better be kissing up to his momma for quite a while: The 23-year-old student, who goes by Chalipo on Reddit, recently got into an argument with his mom about how much it had cost her to support him over the last 13 months, reports ABC News. The pair clearly disagreed, so his mom drew up an invoice—including $23,550 for college tuition, $1,200 for specialty meals, an $187.20 share of the cable bill, and $1,000 "for being an a--hole and not appreciative of your mother's support financially or otherwise"—adding up to $39,254.17 after she applied 13% tax. As Mic.com puts it, "Hell hath no fury like the mother of an entitled, lazy, narcissistic millennial." "I just looked at it and thought, 'This is golden Reddit material,'" Chalipo, who shared the invoice on the platform on March 1, tells Today.com. The post quickly went viral. "I thought it was one of those things that everyone would appreciate and get a good laugh out of it ... but I didn't know that it would make international headlines," Chalipo adds. His mom admits she never expected her son to pay the bill. "It was intended to be tongue-in-cheek, although obviously I was a little annoyed by him," she says. "It was really just to prove a point and to make him wake up." It worked. "This was a very effective parenting technique and it has helped me to realize what an entitled little s--- I have been," Chalipo writes on Reddit. He also plans to make it up to his mom eventually. "My mom will get old one day and I'll take care of her and spend years and years repaying her, even changing her diapers," Chalipo says. Mom's response: "That's a really morbid thought, but thanks." (This mom billed her son as a roommate.)