Here is a news article: As the ruinous force of Sandy begins to diminish, the nominal pause it created in the presidential election campaign is about to fade away.

 President Barack Obama continued his detour from the campaign trail Tuesday to focus on storm response. Republican Mitt Romney set aside a planned political rally in favor of a relief event to help storm victims. Both asked supporters to make donations to the Red Cross.

 Enlarge Image Close Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Mitt Romney helped unload supplies for storm relief in Kettering, Ohio, Tuesday.

 Enlarge Image Close Pool/Getty Images Barack Obama spoke at Red Cross headquarters in Washington.

 But a presidential campaign racing toward its conclusion next week is taking little more than a short break to acknowledge the storm's impact.

 Even as Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama canceled political appearances Tuesday, the two campaigns escalated a heated exchange over Mr. Romney's suggestion that the president's auto bailout had benefited China, rather than U.S. autoworkers. With new TV ad buys, Mr. Romney and his allies also pushed to enlarge the set of competitive states to include Pennsylvania, long an elusive prize for the Republican nominees.

 Mr. Romney will return to his schedule of campaign appearances Wednesday in hopes of regaining the momentum many polls showed he had built in recent weeks. Mr. Obama is scheduled to follow suit on Thursday, after more time in Washington and a tour of storm damage in New Jersey, as he juggles the political rewards and risks of focusing on the government disaster response.

 Northeast states grappled with how to make sure voting next week isn't unduly affected by the storm. With widespread power outages, flooding and blocked roads, officials said they may have to move or consolidate some polling locations. Connecticut gave voters two extra days to register while Maryland said it may have to resort to paper ballots for some locations due to power outages, which could delay the vote count.

 For Mr. Obama, the turn to disaster management paid a surprising political dividend when he won praise on Tuesday from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican who has been a scathing critic of his presidency.

 "The president has been great," Mr. Christie, who represents Mr. Romney at campaign events, said on MSNBC. "The president has been all over this and he deserves great credit." It was one of several television interviews in which Mr. Christie praised Mr. Obama, who will tour New Jersey storm damage Wednesday with the governor.

 The risk for Mr. Obama is that every day he is in Washington he isn't traveling the country for campaign rallies like one in Ohio last week, when the presidential plane landed in front of thousands of ecstatic supporters.

 "The president's No. 1 asset of Air Force One has now been grounded," said Scott Reed, manager of Republican Bob Dole's 1996 presidential bid. Mr. Obama's campaign uses such events to push supporters to take advantage of early voting.

 Even before Mr. Romney announced he would resume campaigning Wednesday with three events in Florida, he managed to stay in the public eye in the battleground state of Ohio. He turned a planned political rally in Dayton into a relief event for storm victims.

 As Mr. Romney maintained a reserved public posture, his campaign proceeded with partisan drive. The campaign's first new campaign commercial in Pennsylvania, part of a bid to expand the map of competitive battlegrounds, says the president's policies led 22 coal-fired power plants to close or be converted to another form of fuel.

 Obama campaign spokesman Michael Czin responded that the ad "distorts the president's record and reeks of desperation. Under President Obama's leadership, employment in coal mining hit a 15-year high in 2011 while he's making historic investments in clean coal research and development."

 Romney advisers hailed the last-minute advertising push as further evidence the president's support is eroding in unexpected places. Because 96% of Pennsylvania voters cast their ballots on Election Day, rather than through absentee or early voting, Republicans have hinted for months that the state was a prime target for a late push.

 "This expansion of the electoral map demonstrates that Gov. Romney's momentum has jumped containment from the usual target states and has spread to deeper blue states that Chicago never anticipated defending," Romney political director Rich Beeson wrote in a memo widely circulated on Tuesday.

 Mr. Romney's campaign would not say how much money it had budgeted for Pennsylvania, and it was still in the process of buying airtime Tuesday afternoon.

 The Romney campaign and its outside allies are spending at least $4.5 million in Pennsylvania this week, according to operatives tracking the 2012 race.

 The Romney allies are also buying airtime in attempts to expand the list of competitive states, spending nearly $2 million in Michigan and roughly $900,000 in Minnesota.

 Mr. Obama's campaign is responding in Pennsylvania, and by Tuesday afternoon had bought at least $650,000 in airtime through Election Day, as well as $290,000 in Minnesota, according to political strategists tracking the spending. The campaign also plans to match Republican advertising in Michigan, an Obama aide said.

 Obama campaign manager Jim Messina dismissed the Pennsylvania ad buy as a "desperate play" by a campaign still looking for a path to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win. The president is holding a lead of roughly five percentage points in the state, according to an average of public-opinion surveys compiled by Real Clear Politics. And Mr. Romney has spent very little time in the state.

 "Let's be very clear: The Romney campaign and its allies decision to go up with advertising in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Minnesota is a decision made out of weakness, not strength," Mr. Messina said.

 Not even the emergence of unexpected battlegrounds could distract from the importance of the nine swing states that have been the focal point of this election since early last year, particularly Ohio.

 The two campaigns sparred Tuesday over a TV ad the Romney camp aired in Ohio suggesting the president's auto bailout paved the way for Chrysler Group LLC, one of the beneficiaries of that federal intervention, to build Jeeps in China.

 The Obama campaign called the ad misleading, releasing its own spot to push back on this latest attack.

 Chrysler borrowed about $10.5 billion from the U.S. as part of its 2009 bankruptcy restructuring. In May 2011, the "new Chrysler," controlled by Fiat, repaid the last $7.1 billion it owed the government. But the U.S. Treasury department has said it is unlikely to fully recover the roughly $1.3 billion it is owed by the "old Chrysler."

 In a blog post on Oct. 25, Chrysler's chief spokesman, Gualberto Ranieri, called Mr. Romney's claim a "leap that would be difficult even for professional circus acrobats."

 Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of the Fiat/Chrysler Group, waded into the controversy on Tuesday, emailing company employees to reassure them that production of Jeep sport utility vehicles won't be moved to China. Instead, he said the company will be expanding Jeep production in the U.S., while looking to produce cars in China to be sold in that market.

 "Jeep assembly lines will remain in operation in the United States and will constitute the backbone of the brand," Mr. Marchionne wrote. "It is inaccurate to suggest anything different."

 The Romney campaign ignored the Obama campaign's criticism over its initial TV spot, airing a new radio ad that says Chrysler "plans to start making Jeeps in, you guessed it, China."

 "Barack Obama says he saved the auto industry,'' the radio ad says. "But for who? Ohio or China?"

 Mr. Obama canceled campaign events Wednesday in Ohio. He hasn't made a campaign appearance since Sunday. In remarks at a Red Cross relief center Tuesday, he said his message to federal relief officials is: "No bureaucracy, no red tape, get resources to where they need to be as fast as possible."

 Obama aides say that there is a downside to staying off the campaign trail with so few days remaining before Election Day. But they view the pause in campaigning as more harmful to Mr. Romney, who they say is having trouble promoting his message as the nation focuses on the storm.

 Mr. Obama is planning a campaign blitz in the final days, starting with scheduled campaign events Thursday in Nevada, Colorado and Ohio. On Friday he is scheduled to spend the entire day in Ohio. In supervising disaster response, Mr. Obama reinforced a campaign theme that the government plays a crucial role, and disaster relief is one of the few that enjoy bipartisan support.

 "It is a welcome counterpoint to a campaign that has been anything but elevated and, on the president's side, has been devoted at least as much to making the case against Romney as making the case for himself,'' said William Galston, a political analyst who was a domestic policy aide to President Bill Clinton.

 —Sara Murray, Carol E. Lee, Danny Yadron, Mark

 Peters, Douglas Belkin

 and Christina Rogers contributed to this article.

 Write to Janet Hook at janet.hook@wsj.com ||||| Mitt Romney and President Obama will re-emerge on the presidential trail on Wednesday, but in starkly different ways.

 Romney will hold a trio of events in the swing state of Florida with prominent Republicans Sen. Marco Rubio Marco Antonio RubioOvernight Defense: Senate passes 0B defense bill | 3,000 US troops heading to Afghanistan | Two more Navy officials fired over ship collisions Senate passes 0B defense bill Trump bets base will stick with him on immigration MORE (Fla.) and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

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 Obama will also appear with a prominent Republican: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who will be giving the president a tour of the damage in his state in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

 The president returns to the road on Thursday with campaign stops in Green Bay, Wis., Boulder, Colo., and Las Vegas, according to the Obama campaign.

 The divergent paths underscore the challenge both campaigns have faced in recent days, trying to best balance the demands of a presidential race and the need to project the appropriate sensitivity as the Eastern Seaboard grapples with the aftermath of the catastrophic storm.

 Obama has a natural advantage with the power of incumbency. The White House made sure to update reporters early Tuesday morning with the president’s work on response efforts to Sandy — including his endeavors overnight — and released photos of Obama meeting with federal officials. Later in the afternoon, the president visited the Red Cross, where he declared that his “message to the federal government” was “no bureaucracy, no red tape.” On Wednesday, a White House official noted Obama had continued to receive overnight updates on recovery efforts and he will be briefed again later today on "the impacts and the extensive federal support being provided to support state and local recovery efforts." The official noted that "the President continues to direct his team to lean forward aggressively."

 But Obama's day job can also hamper his reelection efforts: He hasn’t been on the campaign trail since Saturday, though he’s been able to brandish prominent surrogates like Vice President Biden and former President Clinton.

 More from The Hill:

 • Liberal groups push for free wireless Internet

 • Calif. sends privacy warnings to app makers

 • Sandy not expected to affect gas prices

 • Al Gore Al GoreStop the loose talk about hurricanes and global warming Parties struggle with shifting coalitions OPINION | Midterms may provide Dems control — and chance to impeach MORE: Sandy a ‘disturbing sign of things to come

 • Odd couple Christie and Obama to tour devastated NJ

 • Romney proves his mettle as a candidate

 • Bloomberg tells Obama not to visit New York

 • Campaigns seek to score points with Jewish voters on Iran

 Romney, meanwhile, returns to the campaign trail on Wednesday after a one-day break.

 The Republican candidate, sensing the need to make up ground in crucial swing states — and wary of losing momentum — will continue his aggressive campaign schedule through the final six days of the election.

 But Obama will likely own the news cycle Wednesday; the images of him and Christie walking side by side could pay political dividends for the president.

 The outspoken Republican governor, who gave the keynote address at this year’s GOP convention and endorsed Romney, has been effusive in his praise for the president in the aftermath of the storm.

 “The federal government’s response has been great. I was on the phone at midnight again last night with the president, personally — he has expedited the designation of New Jersey as a major disaster area,” Christie told NBC News on Tuesday.

 Asked by reporters if Romney might also visit the state, as had been previously rumored, Christie said he had “no idea, nor am I the least bit concerned or interested.”

 “If you think right now I give a damn about presidential politics, then you don’t know me,” Christie added.

 Obama campaign aides said Tuesday that the president is doing what voters elected him to do and is monitoring the situation hour by hour. Those close to the campaign suggested that Obama could be back on the trail later this week, possibly as early as Thursday.

 Strategists from both sides suggest that if the president’s response to the storm is seen as effective, it could buoy Obama in the campaign’s waning hours.

 “Good government is gonna be good politics,” said Steve Elmendorf, who served as deputy campaign manager for John Kerry John Forbes KerryBringing the American election experience to Democratic Republic of the Congo Some Dems sizzle, others see their stock fall on road to 2020 The Hill's 12:30 Report MORE’s presidential bid. “He has to spend as much time as necessary making sure the federal government is responsive and on top of the issues in the affected states.”

 Republican strategist Ford O’Connell, meanwhile, said that “as long as Obama looks like he’s at the head of the government, he’s getting some political points, too. There’s some advantage to looking as though you’re in charge.”

 But the Romney campaign also looked to use the storm to display its candidate’s compassion and leadership.

 At a “storm relief” event in Dayton, Ohio, Romney encouraged supporters to donate supplies that the campaign would transport to New Jersey, and helped box and load the supplies onto a moving truck.

 “I appreciate your generosity. It’s part of the American spirit, the American way, to give to people in need,” Romney told the assembled crowd.

 While both sides insisted their candidates were focused on the recovery efforts, strategists acknowledged that the campaigns were scrambling to strike the right tone in the storm’s aftermath.

 “Both campaigns are basically going positive — maybe not in television ads, but in their speeches at public events. They can’t afford to go negative in an environment like this,” said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean. “They have to connect to voters and what they care about, and right now, that is recovering from Hurricane Sandy. So if they want to be part of the hurricane news coverage that has saturated the national news 24 hours a day, it’s a wise idea to adjust their events and their schedule.”

 At the same time, political analysts acknowledged that with an election less than a week away, both Obama and Romney would need to re-engage on the campaign trail.

 “The biggest risk is looking too political, but at the same time we’re six days out and the show must go on,” said O’Connell.

 — This story was last updated at 9:40 a.m. on Oct. 31.

  |||||
A summary of this is?

– With Election Day less than a week away, President Obama and Mitt Romney are preparing to get back on the campaign trail—or at least those parts of it not flooded by superstorm Sandy. Romney resumes his campaign schedule today with three rallies in Florida, while Obama will start campaigning again tomorrow after spending time in Washington and viewing storm damage in New Jersey today, reports the Wall Street Journal. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he turned down Obama's request to visit the storm-battered city, but he stresses the move was not a "diss," reports Politico. The mayor praised FEMA's response and the level of cooperation between city, state, and federal governments. But Obama's visit to New Jersey could pay political dividends, the Hill notes. Republican Gov. Chris Christie has praised the president's handling of the disaster, saying the president "has been all over this and he deserves great credit." Asked whether Romney would also visit the state, Christie said he had "no idea, nor am I the least bit concerned or interested," adding that "if you think right now I give a damn about presidential politics, then you don’t know me." In Ohio, the swing state considered most likely to decide the election, fears that the storm would seriously disrupt early voting have not come to pass, the Washington Post reports. Only one county reported a power outage at its early-voting site yesterday, and several key counties say that as the storm approached, early voting was at its busiest since voting began.


Here is a news article: In the Mediterranean, the Navy’s regional commander postponed a scheduled port call in Naples, Italy, for a destroyer so that the ship would remain with a second destroyer in striking distance of Syria during the crisis. Pentagon officials said the decision did not reflect any specific orders from Washington, but both destroyers had on board Tomahawk cruise missiles, long-range weapons that probably would be among the first launched against targets in Syria should the president decide to take military action.

 On Friday, the Russian government called on President Bashar al-Assad of Syria to allow United Nations investigators into the areas east of Damascus where the attack occurred. But American and foreign diplomats said Russia’s move did not reflect any shift in its backing of Mr. Assad or its resistance to punitive measures in the Security Council.

 In a statement, Russia’s foreign ministry put the onus on Syria’s opposition forces to provide secure access to the site of the “reported incident.” A second statement suggested that the Russians believed the attack was actually a provocation by the rebels. It cited reports criticizing government troops that were posted on the Internet hours before the attack.

 “More and more evidence emerges indicating that this criminal act had an openly provocative character,” Aleksandr K. Lukashevich, a spokesman for Russia’s foreign ministry, said in the statement. “The talk here is about a previously planned action.”

 However, Mr. Lukashevich may have been confused by YouTube’s practice of time-stamping uploaded videos based on the time in its California headquarters, no matter the originating time zone. The attacks occurred early Wednesday in Syria, when it would still have been Tuesday in California for about eight more hours.

 Mr. Lukashevich praised the Assad government for welcoming Carla del Ponte, a member of a United Nations commission on Syria who suggested in May that the rebels had used chemical weapons, and he accused the Syrian opposition of not cooperating with the investigation by United Nations experts.

 The Syrian government did not comment on Friday.

 On Friday CBS News, citing administration officials, reported that American intelligence agencies detected activity at locations known to be chemical weapons sites before Wednesday’s attack. The activity, these officials believe, may have been preparations for the assault. ||||| Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool at the bottom of any article or visit www.djreprints.com |||||
A summary of this is?

– A government backed by Russia is accused of killing its own civilians. That applies not only to the current situation in Syria but to the 1999 situation in Kosovo. And as the New York Times reports, top US officials are keeping Kosovo very much in mind as they weigh their options. President Obama would likely never get the approval of the UN Security Council for a military response because of Russia's veto power. When Bill Clinton was in the same boat in 1999, he turned to NATO and got its blessing for 78 days of airstrikes. “It’s a step too far to say we’re drawing up legal justifications for an action, given that the president hasn’t made a decision,” a government official tells the Times. “But Kosovo, of course, is a precedent of something that is perhaps similar.” Obama was meeting today with national security aides to determine next steps if the US concludes that Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons. (Assad in turn accused the rebels of doing the same today.) Meanwhile, the US Navy is keeping two destroyers positioned in the Mediterranean in case the green light is given for a cruise-missile attack, reports the Wall Street Journal.


Nearly two dozen Islamist women and girls, some as young as 15, were handed heavy prison sentences Wednesday for protesting in a court ruling that came a day after police beat and terrorized prominent female activists in a crackdown on secular demonstrators under a tough new anti-protest law.

 In this Nov. 23, 2012 photo, activist Nazly Hussein pauses during an interview with the Associated Press in Cairo, Egypt. After being detained at a Cairo protest, Hussein was among 14 women, some of Egypt’s... (Associated Press)

 An Egyptian woman holds the national flag during a protest in Talaat Harb Square in Cairo, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013. After being detained at a Cairo protest, 14 women, some of Egypt’s most prominent democracy... (Associated Press)

 An Egyptian woman supporter of ousted President Mohammed Morsi stands inside the defendants' cage in a courtroom in Alexandria, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013. An Egyptian court has handed down heavy... (Associated Press)

 Egyptian women supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi stand inside the defendants' cage in a courtroom in Alexandria, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013. An Egyptian court has handed down heavy sentences... (Associated Press)

 Egyptian women supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi stand inside the defendants' cage in a courtroom in Alexandria, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013. An Egyptian court has handed down heavy sentences... (Associated Press)

 Egyptian women supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi stand inside the defendants' cage in a courtroom in Alexandria, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013. An Egyptian court has handed down heavy sentences... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013 file photo, Egyptian police detain two female protesters in Cairo, after police water cannons to disperse two protests by dozens of secular anti-government activists,... (Associated Press)

 Protesters chant slogans in Talaat Harb Square in Cairo, Egypt, against the issuance of a new law regulating demonstrations, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013. Nearly two dozen women, some as young as 15, are... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013 file photo, Egyptian police fire water cannons to disperse a protest by secular anti-government activists in Cairo, the security forces' first implementation of a... (Associated Press)

 The harshness of the sentences and the scenes a day earlier were new signs that the military-backed government is becoming bolder in silencing dissent, turning to abuses reminiscent of the Hosni Mubarak era. Authorities have been justifying tougher measures as needed to fight terrorism and bring stability _ while they also appear to be exploiting divisions among secular democracy activists.

 The crackdown is rearranging Egypt's political map after months when authorities were focused on crippling the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist backers of ousted President Mohammed Morsi.

 This week, security forces have moved against secular youth activists opposed to the military and police. Some government supporters warn that its actions are widening the base of the opposition and could bring together Morsi supporters and the secular activists, though they bitterly oppose the Islamists and Morsi as equally authoritarian. The crisis is fragmenting the loose coalition of liberal and secular groups that supported the military in its July 3 removal of Morsi.

 In a Mediterranean city of Alexandria courtroom, the 21 young female defendants flashed defiant smiles to the media, standing handcuffed in white head scarves and white prison uniforms in the defendants cage. They were convicted on charges related to holding an Oct. 31 protest in the city demanding Morsi's reinstatement.

 Among them were seven teenagers aged 15 and 16, who were sentenced to prison terms until they turn 18. The rest _ most aged 18 to 22 _ were sentenced to 11 years in prison. Six other Brotherhood members were sentenced to 15 years in prison for inciting the demonstrations.

 "We thought they will get a month or something but we were shocked with the 11 years," defense lawyer al-Shimaa Ibrahim Saad said.

 The Muslim Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, said the sentences are meant to be a "deterrent" for the group's opposition to the military, vowing the verdict "will only increase the determination of the people to get their rights."

 Meanwhile, hundreds of secular youth activists protested Wednesday in downtown Cairo against the government's clampdown on dissent. At the center of the crisis is the law issued this week banning any protests or public political gatherings of more than 10 people without a prior police permit, imposing stiff fines and jail terms for violators.

 "Those thinking the authoritarian pharaonic style works will find it doesn't anymore," said one protester, Laila Soueif. "There will be a third wave of the revolution much more violent than before. We are witnessing a turning point."

 A day earlier, security forces broke up two small activists' protests in Cairo. Security forces beat and dragged women protesters outside parliament.

 The images were reminiscent of the days of Mubarak, the autocrat who ruled the country for nearly 30 years and was ousted in a 2011 uprising. Under his rule, police at times focused on humiliating female protesters. Similarly, under the rule of the military that followed his ouster, police broke up an anti-military protest, half-stripping a female protester and stomping on her chest.

 After breaking up Tuesday's protest, police detained 14 women, then drove them in a van through the desert where they were dropped off on a remote road in the middle of the night, several of the women said. That too is a tactic used by Mubarak-era police to intimidate protesters.

 "They want to terrorize us," said Mona Seif, a prominent activist who was among the 14 women. "I think the interior minister decided to escalate and tell everyone whose family was killed... beaten or anything that I am here, this is how I do business, and if you don't like it, beat your head against the wall."

 In the face of the criticism, the Cabinet issued a strongly worded statement saying it is determined to implement the new protest law with "all firmness and force ... so freedom doesn't turn to chaos." It linked it to a "war on terrorism" _ pointing to the Brotherhood protests and violence by Islamic militants in Sinai.

 "There are elements that want to spread domestic chaos in a desperate attempt to hurt the prestige of the state," it said.

 The law comes ahead of an election season that will include a referendum on amendments to the Islamist-drafted, Morsi-era constitution. Authorities have shown they are eager to push through the new charter _ but they could face troubles in the January vote on two fronts.

 Secular activists oppose the document because of wider powers it gives the military and the president. The Brotherhood rejects the entire amendment process _ along with the new government in general _ and although it has been weakened by a crackdown, it has kept up protests for over 20 weeks and can still mobilize against the document.

 On Wednesday, the prosecutor general's office ordered 24 people who were arrested in Tuesday's activist protest to be held for four days for questioning on possible charges of violating the protest law.

 In a statement, the prosecutors office accused the protesters of "chanting antagonistic slogans against the state" and refusing to end their rally. It said the demonstration "disturbed traffic and affected citizens' interests," terms mentioned in the protest law as violations justifying police action. It also accused them of attacking a police officer and taking his telephone.

 The prosecutor also ordered the arrests of Alaa Abdel-Fattah and Ahmed Maher, two top activists, on suspicion of inciting others to break the protest law, the state news agency MENA said.

 In a sign of the Islamists' eagerness to find a common cause with secular activists, the Brotherhood-led coalition supporting Morsi reached out to them Wednesday with a statement denouncing "brutal repression" of the protests the day before, saying the "youth of the revolution stand united."

 The spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood-led coalition, Diaa al-Sawi, said he will contact youth activists to coordinate rallies.

 They met a quick rejection, however, from the youth activists, who joined the massive anti-Morsi protests that preceded his ouster.

 "A message to the Muslim Brotherhood: we will not put our hands in the hands of those who betrayed and hijacked the revolution," said Hossam Moanis, spokesman of one activist group, the Popular Current. ||||| Cairo (CNN) -- Police on Monday arrested the head of the defense team for the 21 women and girls sentenced for protesting in Egypt last month, a colleague and member of the defense team told CNN.

 Lawyer Ahmed El-Hamrawy was arrested at his home in Alexandria at dawn Monday, lawyer Mahmoud Farouq told CNN. "I can't separate his arrest from the girls' case," said Farouq, who is part of the team defending the 21 jailed protesters. "This means that any lawyer who comes close to the case will be detained."

 Gen. Nasser El-Abd, the head of the Alexandria Criminal Investigation Department, told Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm that El-Hamrawy was arrested with five others for "incitement of violence."

 Reports: Egypt's draft constitution goes to interim president

 On Wednesday, 14 women were sentenced to 11 years in prison, and seven minors to juvenile detention, on charges of gathering, thuggery and weapons possession at a demonstration for ousted President Mohamed Morsy. The harsh sentence sparked wide criticism of the way the Interior Ministry and the judiciary have been handling the cases of Morsy supporters. An appeals hearing for their case is scheduled to take place Saturday.

 "We don't have any doubt that this verdict is a new episode in a series of politicized judicial rulings, which include the sentencing of several Al-Azhar students to 17 years for various misdemeanors based on accusations that are mostly trumped up and generalized," said a joint statement issued by 14 rights groups last week.

 Egyptian lawmakers begin vote on new constitution

 The verdict coincided with an increasing crackdown on non-Islamist activists who oppose the military-led regime and Morsy. Prominent activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah, detained during the Mubarak and the military council regimes in 2006 and 2011, is being held pending investigations for his alleged involvement in calling for a demonstration. Ahmed Maher, founder of the April 6 Youth Movement, is also being questioned about similar charges.

 Legislation restricting demonstrations reignited confrontations between police and the non-Islamist opposition, especially at university campuses across the country. A demonstration coinciding with the retrial of two policemen accused of killing Khaled Saied, whose death had fueled the uprising in 2011, was dispersed with force in Alexandria on Monday.

 "El-Hamrawy was part of Morsy's opposition. He demonstrated against him on June 30, but he's been involved in defending freedoms since July 3," when the military removed the Islamist President from power, Farouq told CNN. "He's being punished for that."

 Read: Prison sentences for women as Egypt clamps down on protest |||||

Write a summary.

– As protests rage on in Egypt, the lawyer at the helm of the defense team representing 21 young female protesters was today arrested at home for "incitement of violence," CNN reports. On Wednesday, 14 of the women—mostly aged 18 to 22, the AP notes—were sentenced to 11 years following their participation in a pro-Mohamed Morsi demonstration. Seven girls, meanwhile, were sentenced to juvenile detention until they turn 18. Charges included illegal gathering, weapons possession, and thuggery; rights groups called the ruling "politicized." "I can't separate his arrest from the girls' case," says another lawyer defending the women, whose appeal is set to be heard Saturday. "This means that any lawyer who comes close to the case will be detained." Though the women were clamoring for Morsi's reinstatement, he added that the lawyer, Ahmed El-Hamrawy, "was part of Morsi's opposition. He demonstrated against him on June 30, but he's been involved in defending freedoms since July 3 ... He's being punished for that." Authorities have long cracked down on Islamists who supported Morsi, but lately, they've been targeting young, secular demonstrators, the AP notes. A new rule bans gatherings of more than 10 people without prior notice.


– Plans for a boycott of Harley-Davidson are "great," President Trump said Sunday, the day after he met with 180 bikers at a "Bikers for Trump" event. Many Harley owners "plan to boycott the company if manufacturing moves overseas," Trump tweeted. "Great! Most other companies are coming in our direction, including Harley competitors. A really bad move! US will soon have a level playing field, or better." Trump has been feuding with the American motorcycle maker since June, when it announced it would shift production of some bikes destined for the European Union from the US to overseas to avoid tariffs the EU introduced as a response to Trump's steel tariffs. Harley—which has plants in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania but is planning to close one in Missouri by the end of next year—says it stands to lose $100 million a year from the tariffs, though Trump accuses the company of using tariffs as an excuse to move production out of the US, CNN reports. Harley-Davidson declined to comment on the latest remarks from Trump, who welcomed bikers to his golf course in Bedminster, NJ, on Saturday, the AP reports. CEO Matt Levatich told CNBC last month that Trump's remarks were "unfortunate attention" at a time when the company is being forced to make tough choices because of stagnant motorcycle sales in the US.

Expand this summary.

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump is backing calls for a Harley-Davidson boycott amid an ongoing steel tariff dispute.

 Harley-Davidson drew Trump's wrath in June after the manufacturer announced it is moving production of motorcycles sold in Europe to facilities outside the U.S. The company blames the decision on tariffs imposed by the European Union to retaliate for tariffs Trump imposed on a host of EU products.

 On Sunday Trump tweeted that "many" Harley-Davidson owners plan to boycott the company if manufacturing moves overseas.

 That followed Trump's meeting on Saturday with about 180 bikers who are part of a "Bikers for Trump" fan group at his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey.

 Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson declined to comment. In July, Harley-Davidson said it expects new tariffs to cost the company as much as $100 million annually. ||||| 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 ||||| (CNN) President Donald Trump said it's "great" that consumers might boycott Harley-Davidson if it moves some motorcycle production overseas.

 The President tweeted about the potential boycott on Sunday

 "Many @harleydavidson owners plan to boycott the company if manufacturing moves overseas. Great!" Trump wrote. "Most other companies are coming in our direction, including Harley competitors. A really bad move! U.S. will soon have a level playing field, or better."

 Many @harleydavidson owners plan to boycott the company if manufacturing moves overseas. Great! Most other companies are coming in our direction, including Harley competitors. A really bad move! U.S. will soon have a level playing field, or better. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2018

 Harley-Davidson did not respond to request for comment on Sunday.

 Trump's remark came after the President hosted "Bikers for Trump" supporters at his golf club in Bedminister, New Jersey, over the weekend.

 Read More |||||


Write an article based on this summary:

– Imagine you're in the middle of law class lecture on vigilantes, when a man bursts in, jumps on a desk, announces that he's making a "citizen's arrest," and then pepper sprays the professor. Because that's exactly what happened at George Mason University yesterday, and no, it wasn't a planned part of the lecture. The professor, popular libertarian economics blogger and occasional New York Times columnist Tyler Cowen, ran into the hall, and the intruder chased him, ABC 7 reports. Luckily, a student in the class was an off-duty police officer, and chased down the pepper sprayer, catching him at a building exit. Multiple charges are now pending against the sprayer. Twelve to 15 people, including Cowen, were treated for breathing issues, but Cowen was soon well enough to tweet that he was back to work, Raw Story points out.

It is often suggested that Facebook, Google, and the other major tech companies violate the privacy of their users, and of course the companies are criticized on those grounds. Yet I never see those critics go after other sources of privacy violations, such as say the friends and acquaintances who gossip behind our backs. If privacy were so important, you might expect the overall campaign to be “pro-privacy” rather than just “anti-corporate” or “anti-tech.”

 One possibility is that service users don’t see much of a chance that the “Zip files” assembled on them by the algorithms stand much chance of harming their fortunes or even being released in decipherable form.

 Still, people are made vaguely uncomfortable by some of what is going on. Could it be a “control” issue rather than a privacy issue? That is, people do not like “feeling out of control” when it comes to their lives, including their personal data. They used to “feel in control” and now they do not, in part because of the very media critics who view themselves as solving the privacy problem.

 If it is a control problem, the chance that placebos will improve matters is higher, because I do not see our privacy losses as being reversible, or people even caring all that much. What is the cheapest placebo that can help us address the control problem? Passing some meaningless piece of legislation? Self-reforms from the media? The right kinds of proclamations from the tech companies? All of the above?

 I believe public discourse would be improved if we realized “privacy problems aren’t always about privacy,” to paraphrase Robin Hanson. ||||| Professor teaching class on vigilante justice is pepper-sprayed by vigilante seeking justice

 By Scott Kaufman

 Thursday, March 27, 2014 8:52 EDT

 Yesterday, George Mason economist and popular blogger Tyler Cowen was pepper-sprayed and placed under citizen’s arrest by an unknown white male while teaching a class on the literature of vigilante justice.

 According to police, around 3 p.m. on Wednesday a man entered the classroom and attempted to place Cowen under citizen’s arrest. The unidentified suspect entered the seminar room, jumped on the table, declared he was making a citizen’s arrest, and pepper-sprayed the professor.

 Cowen ran into the hallway, and the suspect followed him. Two students in the hallway immediately detained the intruder until police arrived.

 Students in the class itself were slow to react, because the course in session was on law and literature, and they were in the middle of a unit about vigilante justice, so the students assumed that the arrest was part of the class.

 Cowen refused medical treatment, and tweeted the following shortly after the attack:

 Back to work! (as usual)… — tylercowen (@tylercowen) March 26, 2014

 Police are not sure why the Cowen was targeted, but commenters on the first story to report on the incident suggest that it could be because of the libertarian beliefs he advocates online.

 Watch a report on the incident from WJLA below.

 [Image via Cowen's faculty profile at George Mason University] |||||


Summarize this article:

We’ve heard of tangled webs, but this is getting ridiculous.

 Father of eight Jon Gosselin is embroiled in a “he-said she-said battle” with girlfriend Hailey Glassman and Octo-mom Nadya Suleman.

 Hailey says he has emotionally abused her, and Nadya says he was talking about teaming with her for a new reality show.

 Only one of these statements is true – and according to a source close to Gosselin, it isn’t Hailey’s.

 A close confidante to Jon Gosselin tells Fox411 that last week’s taped confession by Hailey on “The Insider” was all designed for TV by Jon himself.

 “Jon actually made the decision to have Hailey go on air and bad mouth him,” says the insider. “Jon and Hailey get paid for their appearances on these shows and they need the money. It was easy for Hailey to conjure tears, their lives are less than stellar right now, but Jon hasn’t abused [her].”

 So why go on TV and say that he did?

 “They agreed to have her go on and make the abuse allegations!” our shocked source says. “Jon doesn’t have much money left and he is not currently searching for a real job. Jon still seeks money through his fame and notoriety. He really wants a reality show of his own, and he is stretching out every moment of the drama for a dollar.”

 Which means Hailey’s abuse allegation was just a “Balloon Boy” type stunt to attract reality-TV producer attention.

 However, the other rumor of the week, that Jon would be involved with Octomom, was true, even though he denied it, says the source.

 Jon released a statement on Thursday night denying he even heard about a reality show with Nadya Suleman. But emails seen by Fox411 and RadarOnline.com show Gosselin was contemplating the show and hoping to get close to a million dollars for a slew of fake dates with Octomom.

 “His whole team heard of the project and was involved in brokering the possible deal,” the confidante tells Fox411. “His managers, lawyers and publicists need to get something rolling for him or he won’t be able to pay them. Jon doesn’t have a big bank account loaded with money. He has to do something and this would have been funny, plus Hailey had no problem going along with the fake dates and pretending to be upset. She is along for the ride and enjoys being on TV.”

 The insider says Jon is still using excuses to explain his bad behavior and the poor example he’s setting for his children.

 “Jon still believes he got married too young and had too many children that he wasn’t ready for – that’s what has led to the demise of his relationship and the TV show,” says the source. “Kate doesn’t even talk to him. She leads a totally separate life, and their schedules are worked out far in advance to completely avoid each other.”

 Meanwhile, Jon Gosselin went public Sunday begging Kate for forgiveness, and Hailey Glassman Tweeted her followers that she and Gosselin are now kaput.

 Just more grist for the rumor mill?

 Stay tuned… ||||| Sorry, fellas: Hailey Glassman isn't back on the market.

 She took to her Twitter page Monday to set the record straight about her relationship status with Jon Gosselin.

 "Yes, I am semi-single, but definitely NOT YET ready to mingle," she wrote. "I need some Hailey time and regroup myself and my life."

 See all the women Jon Gosselin has wooed

 Earlier in the day, Jon, 32, thanked the 22-year-old former party girl for helping him reform his ways. "Going home to see my kids,-excited, but i'll miss Hailey," he Twittered. "She has made me realize I need to be an honest person/father for my kids."

 See photos of Jon and Hailey's trip to France!

 The two made headlines over the weekend, each issuing statements about their relationship.

 Glassman first told The Insider that Gosselin emotionally abused her (she referred to his outbursts as "mantrums").

 He then issued a statement saying that he regrets "any pain that my actions have caused her as she has selflessly born the pressures I have endured under the media glare."

 see how Jon Gosselin and Hailey Glassman spent their summers apart

 Speaking at a New York City synagogue Sunday night, Jon apologized again to Glassman - and his estranged wife Kate - claming that he was planning to reconnect with his "deeper, more spiritual, more altruistic self" by studying with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach.

 Check out Jon Gosselin's biggest photo faux pas

 He also reiterated that he and Glassman weren't splitting, but were going to "slow things down." He said he doesn't want to make "the same mistakes with Hailey [Glassman] that I did with Kate." |||||

– Jon Gosselin’s quest for fame hit a new low with Hailey Glassman’s Insider interview—the octodad apparently invented Glassman’s claims of emotional abuse. “Jon and Hailey get paid for their appearances on these shows and they need the money,” a source tells Fox News, adding that Jon “really wants a reality show of his own, and he is stretching out every moment of the drama for a dollar.” Speaking of his very own reality show, the source also confirms Gosselin was considering the reality special with octomom Nadya Suleman. “He has to do something and this would have been funny, plus Hailey had no problem going along with the fake dates and pretending to be upset,” the source says. Meanwhile, Glassman tweeted that she is “semi-single,” Us adds—but, tragically, “not yet ready to mingle.”


Just call her “Elisabeth Open Mouth & Insert Foot!” Just a month after her conservatism prompted her to make some seemingly sexist remarks about stalking victim Erin Andrews, The View’s Elisabeth Hasselbeck is back in the news after courting controversy over her views on late-in-life lesbianism.

 Let’s just say the Meredith Baxters of the world are none too pleased with Hasselwack’s assertion that a male obsession with younger women has driven would-be cougars to the nearest labia. You see in Lizzie Land women turn to other women because there are no available men.

 Oh Elisabeth, it takes real work to make Sarah Palin look like the smartest Republican with a vagina, but it appears you’ve managed to trump asinine remarks like: “I read all newspapers…” and “I can see Russia from my house….”

 Is it possible for someone to actually have an IQ of negative zero? If so, I think Elisabeth just earned a gold in the Idiot Olympics. The phrase “Gurl, Good Damn Day!” springs to mind. Someone willing to say something like that on national television cannot possibly have any common sense or gay or lesbian friends. Elisabeth, please invest in Rent-A-Lez or something such service before opening your flytrap again.

 Panelist Joy Behar seemed the most taken aback by Elisabeth head-scratching logic, blasting the remarks as “ridiculous.” (Somebody get this lady a gold star!)

 “Being gay is not just holding hands and walking through the tulips,” Behar argued. “I don’t think you suddenly wake up one day and say, ‘Oh, I wanted to do that.’ You wanted to do it, but you were just trapped in a system that has just said, ‘get married.’”

 Spotted@

 Written by Castina on July 28th, 2010 | Tagged as: Elisabeth Hasselbeck,The View ||||| 'The View' host Elisabeth Hasselbeck's lesbian theory: Older women just couldn't get a man

 Warga/News 'The View' host Elisabeth Hasselbeck is catching some heat for her comments about late blooming lesbians.

 Elisabeth Hasselbeck thinks a lot of older lesbians would have turned out straight ... if they could only land a man.

 The co-host of "The View" said older women who have led heterosexual lives are choosing same-sex partners because men their age are chasing younger women.

 "All the older men are going for younger women, leaving the women with no one," Hasselbeck said on Tuesday.

 Joy Behar, a co-host of the show, immediately blasted the 33-year-old, calling her late-blooming lesbian claim "ridiculous."

 "Being gay is not just holding hands and walking through the tulips," Behar said. "I don't think that you suddenly wake up and say, 'You know, I think I want to do that.' You wanted to do it; you were just trapped in a system that said 'get married.' "

 Hasselbeck then said that women might turn to homosexuality later in life not for sex, but companionship.

 The conservative Hasselbeck has been known to spar with her more liberal co-hosts and is no stranger to controversial statements. She once argued that the morning-after pill should be banned even in cases of rape and incest, and she criticized ESPN's Erin Andrews for being the victim of a stalking because she was "wearing next to nothing." |||||

Write a summary.

– She's blabbed about everything from Erin Andrews' outfits to her own nipple, and now Elisabeth Hasselbeck is sharing her theory of lesbianism. The conservative View co-host says older women become lesbians simply because they just can't land a man, reports the New York Daily News. "All the older men are going for younger women, leaving the women with no one," she says. Hasselbeck told viewers that lesbians link up for companionship, not sex—a claim which her co-host, Joy Behar, called "ridiculous." "Being gay is not just holding hands and walking through the tulips," Behar says. "Oh Elisabeth," quips Pop Crunch, "it takes real work to make Sarah Palin look like the smartest Republican with a vagina."