WASHINGTON ― The Environmental Protection Agency has frozen its grant programs, according to sources there.

 EPA staff has been instructed to freeze all its grants ― an extensive program that includes funding for research, redevelopment of former industrial sites, air quality monitoring and education, among other things ― and told not to discuss this order with anyone outside the agency, according to a Hill source with knowledge of the situation.

 An EPA staffer provided the information to the congressional office anonymously, fearing retaliation.

 It’s unclear whether the freeze is indefinite or temporary as the agency transitions fully to the Trump administration; the Senate has not yet confirmed Trump’s pick for EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt. It’s also not clear the immediate impact the grant freeze would have on programs across the country, since EPA grants are distributed at varying intervals and frequency.

 “I will say it’s pretty unusual for us to get these kinds of anonymous contacts from people at the agency, which makes me think it’s unusual,” said the Hill source.

 A source who works closely with states and territories on EPA grants said they heard from the agency on Tuesday evening that a review of grants would be done by Friday.

 Neither the Trump transition office nor the central press office at the EPA responded to a request for comment Monday.

 The Huffington Post received a message that was reportedly sent to staff Monday that seems to cover the current agency guidance on talking to the press in general, not just about the directive on grants. The memo states that the agency is imposing tight controls on external communication, including press releases, blog posts, social media and content on the agency website.

 I just returned from a briefing for Communication Directors where the following information was provided. These restrictions are effective immediately and will remain in place until further direction is received from the new Administration’s Beach Team. Please review this material and share with all appropriate individuals in your organization. If anyone on your staff receives a press inquiry of any kind, it must be referred to me so I can coordinate with the appropriate individuals in OPA. No press releases will be going out to external audiences.

 No social media will be going out. A Digital Strategist will be coming on board to oversee social media. Existing, individually controlled, social media accounts may become more centrally controlled.

 No blog messages.

 The Beach Team will review the list of upcoming webinars and decide which ones will go forward.

 Please send me a list of any external speaking engagements that are currently scheduled among any of your staff from today through February.

 Incoming media requests will be carefully screened.

 No new content can be placed on any website. Only do clean up where essential.

 List servers will be reviewed. Only send out critical messages, as messages can be shared broadly and end up in the press. I will provide updates to this information as soon as I receive it.

 (”Beach team” refers to staffers for the new administration working at the various agencies while new leadership is put in place; “OPA” most likely refers to the “Office of Public Affairs.”)

 There are clearly major changes underway at the EPA as the Trump team takes the helm. Trump appointed Myron Ebell, the director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the libertarian think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute and a fierce EPA critic, to oversee the transition work at the agency. Axios reported Monday that the Trump team plans to cut $815 million from the agency’s budget, for programs like states and tribal assistance grants, climate programs and other “environment programs and management.”

 Pruitt has a long history of battling the agency over environmental regulations as the attorney general of Oklahoma, describing himself as “a leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda.”

 In a report later Monday night, ProPublica confirmed the freeze in an interview and reported it also includes EPA contracts. Ebell told ProPublica the freeze is to “make sure nothing happens they don’t want to have happen.”

 “This may be a little wider than some previous administrations, but it’s very similar to what others have done,” he said.

 But a former Obama administration EPA official tells HuffPost that while “it is completely normal for incoming administrations to come in and take stock of what’s happening across an agency,” the Trump administration’s moves so far are “extreme, and very troubling, especially when it comes to both the grant freeze and the public communications.”

 “When it comes to the grants freeze, this could be especially problematic at the state level. EPA sends a huge amount of its budget to the states, where it is ultimately spent,” said the official. “That’s where you could ultimately see the most negative impacts, especially at times when states are already suffering budget challenges. Time will tell, but this is not a great start when it comes to supporting states or transparency and a commitment to sharing important information with the public.”

 HuffPost also reported Tuesday that staffers at several other federal agencies, including the Department of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, have also been told to shut down external communication for the time being.

 Do you work in a federal agency? Email us at scoops@huffingtonpost.com and let us know what you’re seeing and hearing. |||||

 The headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington. (Matt McClain/ The Washington Post)

 The Trump administration has instructed officials at the Environmental Protection Agency to freeze its grants and contracts, a move that could affect everything from state-led climate research to localized efforts to improve air and water quality to environmental justice projects aimed at helping poor communities.

 An email went out to employees in the agency’s Office of Acquisition Management within hours of President Trump’s swearing-in on Friday.

 “New EPA administration has asked that all contract and grant awards be temporarily suspended, effective immediately,” read the email, which was shared with The Washington Post. “Until we receive further clarification, which we hope to have soon, please construe this to include task orders and work assignments.”

 According to its website, each year the EPA awards more than $4 billion in funding for grants and other assistance agreements. For now, it appears, that funding is on hold, casting a cloud of uncertainty over one of the agency’s core functions, as well as over the scientists, state and local officials, universities and Native American tribes that often benefit from the grants.

 President Trump signed an executive order formally withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, an order establishing a federal hiring freeze and a third order reinstating the "Mexico City policy," on Jan. 23 at the White House. (Reuters)

 “EPA staff have been reviewing grants and contracts information with the incoming transition team,” an agency spokesperson said in an email Tuesday. “Pursuant to that review, the agency is continuing to award the environmental program grants and state revolving loan fund grants to the states and tribes; and we are working to quickly address issues related to other categories of grants.” The agency said the goal is to complete the grants and contracts review by the close of business Friday.

 It is unclear whether the move by the incoming administration was related to President Trump’s order Monday that federal agencies halt hiring in all areas on the executive branch except for the military, national security and public safety, which also curbed contracting as a way of compensating for the freeze. “Contracting outside the Government to circumvent the intent of this memorandum shall not be permitted,” the memorandum states.

 [Trump’s regulatory freeze halts four Obama rules aimed at promoting greater energy efficiency]

 Administration officials inserted the language in an apparent attempt to curb the growth in federal contracts that arose during previous freezes imposed under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. But the total halt in contracts and grants for a single agency appeared to go beyond that specific provision, which applied solely to contracting activities in response to the halt in hiring.

 Myron Ebell, who oversaw the EPA transition for the new administration, told ProPublica on Monday that the freezing of grants and contracts was not unprecedented.

 “They’re trying to freeze things to make sure nothing happens they don’t want to have happen, so any regulations going forward, contracts, grants, hires, they want to make sure to look at them first,” said Ebell, director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, an industry-backed group that has long sought to slash the authority of the EPA.

 “This may be a little wider than some previous administrations, but it’s very similar to what others have done,” he told the publication.

 But not in recent history has such a blanket freeze taken place, and one employee told ProPublica he did not recall anything like it in nearly a decade with the agency.

 The move is likely to increase anxieties inside an already tense agency. Ebell and other transition officials have made little secret about their goal of greatly reducing the EPA’s footprint and regulatory reach. Trump has repeatedly criticized the EPA for what he calls a string of onerous, expensive regulations that are hampering businesses. And his nominee to run the agency, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, has repeatedly sued the EPA over the years, challenging its legal authority to regulate everything from mercury pollution to various wetlands and waterways to carbon emissions from power plants.

 1 of 83 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × A look at President Trump’s first 100 days View Photos The beginning of the president’s term has featured controversial executive orders and frequent conflicts with the media. Caption The beginning of the president’s term has featured controversial executive orders and frequent conflicts with the media. March 17, 2017 President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and their son, Barron, walk to Marine One at the White House en route to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.

 Read more:

 Trump names Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma attorney general suing EPA on climate change, to head the EPA

 Meet the man Donald Trump is counting on to scale back the EPA

 Trump freezes hiring of many federal workers

 For more, you can sign up for our weekly newsletter here and follow us on Twitter here. ||||| The Trump administration has imposed a freeze on grants and contracts by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a move that could affect a significant part of the agency’s budget allocations and even threaten to disrupt core operations ranging from toxic cleanups to water quality testing, according to records and interviews.

 In one email exchange obtained by ProPublica on Monday, an EPA contracting officer concluded a note to a storm water management employee this way:

 “Right now we are in a holding pattern. The new EPA administration has asked that all contract and grant awards be temporarily suspended, effective immediately. Until we receive further clarification, this includes task orders and work assignments.”

 Asked about any possible freeze and its implications, EPA officials did not provide an answer.

 One EPA employee aware of the freeze said he had never seen anything like it in nearly a decade with the agency. Hiring freezes happened, he said, but freezes on grants and contracts seemed extraordinary. The employee said the freeze appeared to be nationwide, and as of Monday night it was not clear for how long it would be in place.

 The substance of the email exchange was confirmed by one senior EPA employee with over 20 years at the agency. An EPA lawyer also said that earlier communications had described such a freeze.

 Monday night, Myron Ebell, who ran the EPA transition for the incoming administration, confirmed the basics of the freeze, but said the actions were not unprecedented.

 “They’re trying to freeze things to make sure nothing happens they don’t want to have happen, so any regulations going forward, contracts, grants, hires, they want to make sure to look at them first,” said Ebell, who returned over the weekend to his position directing energy and global warming policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free-market, industry-aligned group that has long fought the EPA’s growth and influence.

 “This may be a little wider than some previous administrations, but it’s very similar to what others have done,” he said.

 President Trump has nominated Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the EPA. Pruitt has deep ties to the fossil fuel industry, and formed an alliance between the industry and other attorneys general to fight former President Baracks Obama’s climate proposals. He is seen as a hero among conservatives who believe the EPA oversteps its federal authority.

 Pruitt faced tough questioning and even outright skepticism during his initial confirmation hearing last week. The Washington Examiner published a statement Monday by Tom Carper, the Delaware Democrat and ranking member on the Environment and Public Works Committee, saying, "Following the committee hearing on Scott Pruitt's nomination to head the EPA, serious questions remain about the nominee's record and vision for the agency he seeks to lead."

 Much about any freeze at the EPA remains unclear, including whether it affects only new grants and contracts, or may also affect the roughly $6.4 billion worth of federal contracts the EPA already has in place. EPA press offices across the country did not immediately respond to calls and emails requesting comment.

 The EPA routinely contracts out services ranging from hazardous waste handling to drinking water quality testing. More than 600 active contracts with businesses ranging from small minority-owned consulting companies to institutions as big as Colorado State University can be explored here.

 The environmental agency’s grants are used to support private, state and municipal level environmental testing, remediation and innovation projects. Together those programs can total more in spending than an entire year’s budget for the agency. The EPA awarded roughly $1.4 billion worth of contracts and $9.6 billion in grants in 2013, the latest year for which data was available, according to the government spending website InsideGov.com. The agency’s total budget in 2016 was $8.6 billion.

 A freeze on payments would appear consistent with other actions taken on Monday, including President Trump signing an executive order instituting a hiring freeze for new federal workers — a centerpiece of the pledge he made in his “Contract with the American Voter” during the presidential campaign.

 If anyone has more information on recent events at the EPA, please contact us.

 Abrahm Lustgarten contributed reporting to this story. |||||

Write a summary.

– The Environmental Protection Agency is stuck in what insiders call a "holding pattern" after a Trump administration order that freezes all EPA grants and contracts. "New EPA administration has asked that all contract and grant awards be temporarily suspended, effective immediately,” an email obtained by the Washington Post states. "Please construe this to include task orders and work assignments," states the email, which was sent on Friday, within hours of Trump's swearing in. The email says the agency hopes to receive more clarification soon on the order, which could affect everything from climate research and education to waste handling and water testing. Trump has nominated longtime EPA critic Scott Pruit to run the agency. Myron Ebell, the prominent climate skeptic who ran the EPA transition for the Trump team, tells ProPublica that the move isn't unusual, though it may be wider than what previous administrations have done. "They're trying to freeze things to make sure nothing happens they don’t want to have happen, so any regulations going forward, contracts, grants, hires, they want to make sure to look at them first," he says. A source tells the Huffington Post that EPA staffers have been ordered not to discuss the freeze with anybody outside the agency. There also has been a freeze on EPA press releases and social media postings, according to a memo obtained by the HuffPo. (On Monday, Trump brought in a federal hiring freeze.)


Article:
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 This will NOT appear anywhere on Newser ||||| If you’re planning on picking up a Christmas tree for your holiday celebrations, the Sudbury Police Department has a request: do so responsibly.

 Sudbury police shared a photo on the department’s Facebook page Friday of a blue vehicle largely hidden under what appears to be at least one gigantic conifer, if not more. Police said the car was stopped that day by an officer on Route 20.

 “Sudbury PD would like to remind you to transport your Holiday trees responsibly,” the department wrote in the caption.

 Police Chief Scott Nix told Boston.com Tuesday there was just a single tree on the small sedan.

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 He said the family inside the car was given a warning in “the spirit of the holidays” and that the officer at the scene helped secure the tree in a safer way and marked it with caution tape.

 Nix said the department shared the photo to remind the public to move all items responsibly on their vehicles — including Christmas trees. |||||Summary:

– Police in a Massachusetts town are showing residents how not to transport their holiday trees. Sudbury police posted a picture of a vehicle with an enormous tree on top of it, per the AP. In fact, it looks more like a tree on wheels than a standard motor vehicle. "Sudbury PD would like to remind you to transport your Holiday trees responsibly," reads the post. "One of our Officer's stopped this vehicle on Route 20 today!" Boston.com fills in some details: It was only one (giant) tree on top of the vehicle; the officer helped secure it more safely, then let the driver off with a warning.


Summarize this article:

The homeless good Samaritan who gained national fame after the stranded motorist he gave his last $20 to raised more than $400,000 in his name is now suing her and her boyfriend, claiming the couple is committing fraud by taking more than half of the money for themselves.

 On Tuesday, attorneys for Johnny Bobbitt Jr. filed the lawsuit in the Superior Court of New Jersey in Burlington County against Kate McClure, 28 and Mark D'Amico, 39.

 Last year, Bobbitt, a 35-year-old Marine Corps veteran who was living on the streets of Philadelphia, gave McClure the last of the cash he had panhandled that day after she ran out of gas on Interstate 95, McClure wrote on a GoFundMe fundraiser she created on Nov. 10.

 Bobbitt even instructed McClure to get back in her car and lock the doors before returning minutes later with a red gas can, McClure wrote.

 At first, McClure showed her gratitude to Bobbitt by providing him with food, clothes and some cash.

 Then, more than 14,000 people who were moved by Bobbitt's generosity and his unlikely friendship with McClure donated over $402,000 to the fundraiser, but Bobbitt is now back on the streets and worried that he may never see the bulk of the money, according to the lawsuit.

 ABC News

 The couple initially provided Bobbitt with "some of the monies contributed" but have declined to provide him with access to the rest, according to the lawsuit.

 Bobbitt alleges that the couple has spent more than half of the funds raised, treating it like their "personal piggy bank to fund a lifestyle that they could not otherwise afford," his attorneys wrote.

 Bobbitt's drug addiction has relapsed and he is back on the Philadelphia streets panhandling for money after completing two stints in rehab, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported last week.

 ABC News

 D'Amico told The Inquirer that he controls the money but would rather "burn it in front of him" than give Bobbitt the remainder of the funds. Giving Bobbitt the money would be like "giving him a loaded gun," since Bobbitt is addicted to drugs, D'Amico told the local newspaper.

 Bobbitt's attorneys have also filed an application for an injunctive relief require McClure and D'Amico to refrain from dissipating any of the monies donated to the GoFundMe account and from using the funds for any other purpose other than to directly benefit Bobbitt, according to court documents.

 Chris Fallon, one of the attorneys representing Bobbitt, did not immediately return ABC News' request for comment.

 An update McClure had written on the GoFundMe account indicated that the couple tried to ensure the safety of Bobbitt's financial future. Two trusts were to be set up in his name, one to provide him a small "salary" each year and a retirement trust and another which was to "be wisely invested by a financial planner."

 ABC News

 A bank account had also been set up for Bobbitt with funds for his every day needs that was intended to "get him through until he finds a job," and his one planned indulgence was to buy a 1999 Ford Ranger, the "dream truck he's always wanted," and a home of his very own, McClure wrote.

 A formal trust for Bobbitt's benefit has not been created, according to the lawsuit.

 Bobbitt is seeking compensatory damages and interest, funds of counsel fees and costs of the lawsuit and accounting of all funds donated to the GoFundMe account. In addition, the lawsuit is requesting the appointment of a receiver for the funds and for the funds to be deposited with the court.

 McClure and D'Amico did not respond to ABC News' request for comment. ||||| 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. ||||| This photo taken Aug. 15, 2018, shows Johnny Bobbitt Jr., the homeless veteran who gave $20 for gas for Kate McClure, back on the streets with his brother. Bobbitt, who helped a stranded motorist in Philadelphia,... (Associated Press)

 MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. (AP) — A homeless man whose selfless act of using his last $20 to fill up the gas tank of a stranded motorist in Philadelphia got him worldwide attention is suing the couple who led a $400,000 fundraising campaign to help him.

 Johnny Bobbitt says he's concerned that Mark D'Amico and Katie McClure have mismanaged a large part of the donations raised for him on GoFundMe . The New Jersey couple denies the claims, saying they're wary of giving Bobbitt large sums because they feared he would buy drugs.

 Bobbitt's lawsuit contends the couple committed fraud by taking money from the fundraising campaign for themselves. He's seeking undisclosed damages, and his lawyers want a judge to appoint someone to oversee the account.

 A hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.

 McClure set up the online fundraiser page as a way to give back to Bobbitt, who came to her aid when she ran out of gas on an Interstate 95 exit ramp late one night. It raised more than $400,000 in funds donated by more than 14,000 people.

 Bobbitt walked a few blocks to buy McClure gas. She didn't have money to repay him at the time, but sought him out days later to give him the money, and visited him a few more times to bring food and water. They later appeared on shows like "Good Morning America" and were interviewed by the BBC.

 But the relationship has since gone sour.

 Christopher C. Fallon, one of Bobbitt's lawyers, told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the legal action was taken after D'Amico ignored multiple requests for a full accounting of the money raised by the GoFundMe campaign.

 "He's really left us with no choice but to go forward," said Fallon, one of two pro bono lawyers from Cozen O'Connor in Philadelphia whom Bobbitt retained last week.

 McClure and D'Amico have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing or misusing any of the money. D'Amico has said Bobbitt spent $25,000 in less than two weeks in December on drugs, in addition to paying overdue legal bills and sending money to his family.

 The couple also bought Bobbitt a camper with some of the funds and parked it on land McClure's family owns in Florence. But Bobbitt became homeless again after D'Amico told him in June that he had to leave the property.

 During an appearance Monday on NBC's "Megyn Kelly Today" show, D'Amico told Kelly there was well over $150,000 left of the donations. |||||

– The Philadelphia couple who raised more than $400,000 for a homeless veteran are using the fund as their "personal piggy bank," lawyers for Johnny Bobbitt Jr. write in a lawsuit filed Tuesday. Though lawyers say Bobbitt is staying at a hotel during a third stint in rehab, the 35-year-old Marine Corps veteran had been back to panhandling and battling a drug addiction on Philadelphia's streets despite a generous GoFundMe campaign organized by Kate McClure, 28, and Mark D'Amico, 39. They started the campaign after Bobbitt used his last $20 to buy gas for a stranded McClure and later bought a camper in which Bobbitt resided on property owned by McClure's family. Asked to leave in June because of drug use, per the Philadelphia Inquirer, Bobbitt alleges he's received just $75,000 of what he's due. McClure and D'Amico have interfered, spending more than half of the $402,000 raised "to fund a lifestyle that they could not otherwise afford," the lawsuit claims, per ABC News. Bobbitt previously wondered at how McClure, a receptionist, could afford a new BMW. But the couple have said only $500 of the fund was improperly spent on gambling and repaid. Noting well over $150,000 remains but is being withheld from Bobbitt for fear he will spend it on drugs, the couple say they'll open the fund to review by an accountant, per the Inquirer. Too late, according to Bobbitt's lawyers, who say the lawsuit seeking a court-appointed overseer of the account came after D'Amico ignored repeated requests for a full accounting. "He's really left us with no choice but to go forward," one tells the AP. A Thursday hearing is set.


Starbucks' employees can now wear grey and muted blue shirts. Starbucks Starbucks baristas can now wear dark jeans and dye their hair any color.

 On Monday, the coffee giant announced it was changing its dress code. Under the new policy, employees are allowed to wear shirt colors outside of solid black or white, as well as dark wash jeans. Beanies, fedoras, and "other suitable hats" — not bucket hats, sports caps, berets, or cowboy hats — are also permitted.

 Perhaps most notable, however, is that Starbucks workers are now allowed to "make a statement with hair color," according to the company's press release, as long as dyed hair is permanent or semi-permanent (some temporary dyes, hair chalk, or glitter could be a food safety issue).

 Starbucks employees quickly took to social media to celebrate the change.

 Employees have been complaining about the coffee giant's hair policy for quite some time.

 "Starbucks is place where partners are unique and should be able to show their true selves," reads a petition to change Starbucks' hair color policy on Coworker.org. "How are they going to do it if they can't color their hair how they want? Sometimes color shows the person's true self."

 The petition, which was posted last year, received nearly 15,000 signatures.

 An example of appropriate dyed hair, according to Starbucks' look book. Starbucks

 The new dress code certainly isn't a free-for-all. Permitted clothing colors are still subdued, and the chain's "no list" remains extensive. Banned items include brightly colored shirts (including certain plaids and floral prints), hoodies, socks with "distracting" graphics, and UGG boots.

 However, as with Starbucks lifting its ban on visible tattoos in 2014, the shift allows for a wider range of options and hair colors, a convenient way keep up with the times and boost employee morale. Now, most of Starbucks' most hated dress code requirements, such as no nail polish and minimal jewelry, can be tied to food safety issues — not a supposedly creative chain trying to blunt employees' freedom of expression. ||||| The new Starbucks Dress Code announced today invites baristas to shine as individuals while continuing to present a clean, neat and professional appearance.

 Effective immediately, a range of shirt colors beyond solid black and white are welcome, including gray, navy, dark denim and brown, including patterns. Shorts, skirts, dresses and pants, including dark-wash jeans, are all part of the Starbucks wardrobe, and partners are invited to make a statement with hair color, so long as coloring is permanent or semi-permanent, in keeping with food-safety standards. To cap the look off, beanies, fedoras and other suitable hats are welcome.

 Related: Starbucks Dress Code Lookbook

 Some partners (employees) have already been wearing clothing that fits the new dress code guidelines. Customers coming into the Starbucks at the 47th & Broadway store in Manhattan last September immediately detected something different. Rather than the familiar solid black, white and khaki clothing underneath green aprons, baristas were decked out in a range of colors and outfits that reflected their own personal tastes.

 Visitors to the store were caught slightly off guard by the change, but they welcomed the new style, according to Starbucks store manager Mario Leon.

 “Customers noticed right away,” Leon said. “They actually thought that something was wrong. They would ask me, ‘Why are you guys all out of uniform?’ And we just told them, ‘No, this is the new uniform for this store.’ They said, ‘We like it. We’re happy to see that you can wear expressive clothing to show who you are.’”

 The Broadway coffeehouse and select Reserve stores that spotlight small-batch coffees, as well as the Reserve® Roastery and Tasting Room in Seattle, are forerunners for all company stores in the U.S. and Canada as Starbucks updates its North America dress code beginning now.

 “This new dress code is what partners have in their closets,” Leon added. “It just makes it so much easier. It just makes so much sense.”

 “I believe these changes work well with our iconic green apron and also complement the passion partners bring to our coffee and their craft,” said Cosimo LaPorta, executive vice president, U.S. Retail Store Operations. “We want partners to be as proud of their look as they are when they tie on their green apron.”

 “Our success is rooted in our continual innovation and customization in every aspect of our business and this also applies to offering the best partner experience we can,” said Rossann Williams, president, Starbucks Canada. “We are responding to what our partners have told us and are confident this will uplift the Starbucks brand, partner and customer experience.”

 For more information on this story, contact the Starbucks Newsroom ||||| The Policy states: "HAIR: Keep it looking natural- no bright or unnatural colors (purple,pink, blue,green). Pull long hair back with clips, hair ties or bands."

 I would like Starbucks to allow Partners to have unnatural hair color. I feel that compared to tattoos and piercings, it should be nothing.

 The Starbucks mission statement is: "Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time."

 Starbucks is place where partners are unique and should be able to show their true selves. How are they going to do it if they can't color their hair how they want? Sometimes color shows the person's true self. Allowing tattoos and nose piercings was a good first step but now let's allow unnatural hair color.

 Variety in a workplace is always great! Wouldn't you want to have some red, purple, green, or maybe pink in your hair? ||||| Your favorite Starbucks Corp. (ticker: SBUX) barista might be showing off a new look next time you order that latte — sporting dark-wash jeans, a tone-on-tone plaid shirt and fedora.

 The coffee chain announced a new North American dress code Monday that invites more than just black, white and khaki options. It's extending shirt colors to gray, navy, dark denim and brown, plus patterns. Its partners can also wear shorts, skirts, dresses and pants, and go for any hair color they desire, so long as it meets food safety standards. The company had previously barred its employees from dyeing their hair unnatural colors, i.e. pink and purple, reports Fortune .

 The dress code is intended to be more reflective of what its baristas wear outside of work. "This new dress code is what partners have in their closets," Starbucks store manager Mario Leon said in a press release. "It just makes it so much easier. It just makes so much sense." Leon's 47th and Broadway Manhattan, New York location had already implemented the change in September.

 A full look at the new wardrobe is available here. It clearly invokes more of a hipster, average Joe coffee shop feel, one the chain could emulate to broaden its fast casual, basic appeal. It also builds on a growing trend of individual expression in the workplace.

 The company has been making a series of changes meant to benefit employees, notably through its college achievement plan and more recently its wage increase announcement set to go into effect in October. The caveat of the upcoming pay increase is that there won't be another in January, reports BuzzFeed . ||||| Crawl of outlinks from wikipedia.org started March, 2016. These files are currently not publicly accessible. Properties of this collection. It has been several years since the last time we did this. For this collection, several things were done: 1. Turned off duplicate detection. This collection will be complete, as there is a good chance we will share the data, and sharing data with pointers to random other collections, is a complex problem. 2. For the first time, did all the different wikis. The original runs were just against the enwiki. This one, the seed list was built from all 865 collections. |||||

Write a summary.

– Just like a Starbucks customer can match her perc to her personality via a customized coffee, company baristas can now also "shine as individuals" thanks to the java giant's updated dress code. Per a company release posted Monday, baristas are now allowed to diverge somewhat from the black, white, and khaki attire that's been the Starbucks standard. Although the green aprons aren't going anywhere, baristas can now wear navy, brown, and gray clothing underneath, as long as it presents a "clean, neat, and professional appearance." Wild hair hues, previously forbidden, are also now welcome—though it has to be permanent or semi-permanent color and can't have glitter or spray in it for health reasons, Fortune notes—and employees can top off their tresses with beanies, fedoras, or other "suitable" headwear within the same color approved color scheme. The new dress designation, which will take effect in all stores in the US and Canada, offers "more of a hipster, average Joe coffee shop feel," US News reports—and it notes the chain could harness that feel to "broaden its fast casual, basic appeal." Business Insider notes that employees had long asked for similar concessions, especially regarding hair color, including via a petition with nearly 15,000 signatures that says, "Starbucks is [a] place where partners are unique and should be able to show their true selves." The code is expected to affect some 150,000 workers in the US. "This new dress code is what partners have in their closets," a Starbucks store manager in Manhattan says in the release. "It just makes it so much easier." Check out the company's new acceptable color palette here. (Starbucks also recently announced it will raise workers' wages.)


Write an article based on this summary:

– At least 99 people have been quarantined in four different locations in Uganda so far after State House Uganda confirmed a man died this week of the Marburg virus—a type of hemorrhagic fever that's strikingly similar to Ebola, CNN reports. Many of the individuals now in isolation are health workers, as the deceased was a radiographer in a Kampala hospital and another health center and had contact with multiple colleagues. So far 11 of the quarantined have tested negative for Marburg, though they may be retested in a few days if the symptoms they've developed don't disappear. And those symptoms might sound familiar if you've been following the Ebola situation: Both viruses are members of the Filovirus family and manifest in similar ways, including fever, severe headache, and major bleeding, the Washington Post reports. Although many of the outbreaks recorded since Marburg was IDed in 1967 have been single cases, the fatality rate ranges from 23% to 90% (if you discount those single-case years), the CDC notes. Perhaps to mitigate increasing concern over Ebola after Thomas Duncan's death in Texas this week, CDC Director Thomas Frieden has been talking up efforts the CDC has undertaken in Uganda and emphasized that no further Marburg cases have been documented. "That may not make headlines, but it does give us confidence that we can control Ebola in West Africa," he says, per CNN. Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, Uganda's prime minister, seems to share Frieden's optimism, posting a series of tweets this week that indicate the country's success rate and experience in dealing with hemorrhagic fevers.

1967 Germany and Yugoslavia Uganda 31 7 (23%) Simultaneous outbreaks occurred in laboratory workers handling African green monkeys imported from Uganda 1 In addition to the 31 reported cases, an additional primary case was retrospectively serologically diagnosed. 2

 1975 Johannesburg, South Africa Zimbabwe 3 1 (33%) A man with a recent travel history to Zimbabwe was admitted to hospital in South Africa. Infection spread from the man to his traveling companion and a nurse at the hospital. The man died, but both women were given vigorous supportive treatment and eventually recovered. 3

 1980 Kenya Kenya 2 1 (50%) Recent travel history included a visit to Kitum Cave in Kenya's Mount Elgon National Park. Despite specialized care in Nairobi, the male patient died. A doctor who attempted resuscitation developed symptoms 9 days later but recovered. 4

 1987 Kenya Kenya 1 1 (100%) A 15-year-old Danish boy was hospitalized with a 3-day history of headache, malaise, fever, and vomiting. Nine days prior to symptom onset, he had visited Kitum Cave in Mount Elgon National Park. Despite aggressive supportive therapy, the patient died on the 11th day of illness. No further cases were detected. 5

 1990 Russia Russia 1 1 (100%) Laboratory contamination. 6

 1998-2000 Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Durba, DRC 154 128 (83%) Most cases occurred in young male workers at a gold mine in Durba, in the north-eastern part of the country, which proved to be the epicentre of the outbreak. Cases were subsequently detected in the neighboring village of Watsa. 7

 2004-2005 Angola Uige Province, Angola 252 227 (90%) Outbreak believed to have begun in Uige Province in October 2004. Most cases detected in other provinces have been linked directly to the outbreak in Uige. 8

 2007 Uganda Lead and gold mine in Kamwenge District, Uganda 4 1 (25%) Small outbreak, with 4 cases in young males working in a mine. To date, there have been no additional cases identified. 9

 2008 USA ex Uganda Cave in Maramagambo forest in Uganda, at the southern edge of Queen Elizabeth National Park 1 0 (0) A U.S traveler returned from Uganda in January 2008. The patient developed illness 4 days after returning, was hospitalized, discharged and fully recovered. The patient was retrospectively diagnosed with Marburg virus infection. 10

 2008 Netherlands ex Uganda Cave in Maramagambo forest in Uganda, at the southern edge of Queen Elizabeth National Park 1 1 (100%) A 40-year-old Dutch woman with a recent history of travel to Uganda was admitted to hospital in the Netherlands. Three days prior to hospitalization, the first symptoms (fever, chills) occurred, followed by rapid clinical deterioration. The woman died on the 10th day of the illness. 11 12

 2012 Uganda Kabale 15 4 (27%) Testing at CDC/UVRI identified a Marburg virus disease outbreak in the districts of Kabale, Ibanda, Mbarara, and Kampala over a 3 week time period. 13 ||||| ...

 groups that exhibited their value added products, at a function where he presided over the handing over dummy cheques to various groups, operating projects under the programmes of Uganda Youth Livelihood Programme (UYLP) and that of the Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme (UWEP) Rulembo Youth Leather Products from Kisoro for example who tan leather exhibited good quality shoes they produce.. "Those are jobs. We need to do more of that. The skin is tanned and shoes made or even car seats," The President observed, and called for a movement of import substitution and export promotion. On the issue of budget allocation to youth, President Museveni emphasized the need to first improve the equipment of the Army, re-launch the country's Airline and increase funds for Operation Wealth Creation. "Let's not encourage bad planning and squander our resources. The country spends US$450 million on foreign travels and yet coffee alone fetches the country US$500 million. If we have discipline and reduce on the expenditure and foreign travels, we can increase OWC funds. I am glad some people have woken up and embraced commercial farming," he noted. The Minister of State for the Youth, Hon. Nakiwala Kiyingi, thanked President Museveni for prioritizing the skilling of the youth and women. She pointed out that it is only President Museveni who has come out to support women and youth groups unlike in several countries worldwide whose women and youth are funded 80% by NGO's.

 President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni applauded the exemplary work of the ||||| After an incubation period of 5-10 days, symptom onset is sudden and marked by fever, chills, headache, and myalgia. Around the fifth day after the onset of symptoms, a maculopapular rash, most prominent on the trunk (chest, back, stomach), may occur. Nausea, vomiting, chest pain, a sore throat, abdominal pain, and diarrhea may then appear. Symptoms become increasingly severe and can include jaundice, inflammation of the pancreas, severe weight loss, delirium, shock, liver failure, massive hemorrhaging, and multi-organ dysfunction.

 Because many of the signs and symptoms of Marburg hemorrhagic fever are similar to those of other infectious diseases such as malaria or typhoid fever, clinical diagnosis of the disease can be difficult, especially if only a single case is involved.

 The case-fatality rate for Marburg hemorrhagic fever is between 23-90%. For a complete listing of the case fatality rates for previous outbreaks, please see the History of Outbreaks table. ||||| Story highlights 30-year-old male health worker in Uganda dies of Marburg

 Marburg is an Ebola-like hemorrhagic fever

 99 put into isolation

 At least 11 test negative

 Three days after a fatal case of Marburg hemorrhagic fever was diagnosed in Uganda, 99 people have been quarantined in four different locations across the East African country, as field epidemiologists and surveillance officers continue to closely monitor all people who got into contact with only victim.

 More than 60 health workers form the bulk of people under quarantine after they were identified as having contact with a 30-year old male health worker who died September 28 of Marburg -- an Ebola-like hemorrhagic fever.

 "As of today, a total of 99 contacts are under follow up. All the contacts are still in a healthy condition," Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, director general for health services in Uganda, said in the latest update on the outbreak on Tuesday.

 "The National Taskforce through the field epidemiologists and surveillance officers continues to closely monitor all people who got into contact with this confirmed case," she noted.

 The dead health worker was a radiographer in a hospital in the capital of Kampala and also at Mpigi District Health Center IV, places where authorities say he made contact with colleagues.

 Aceng revealed that at least 11 people have tested negative after results from Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) indicate that although the suspects had developed signs and symptoms similar to that of the disease, they did not contract the virus.

 "However, for those who continue to have signs, tests will be run again after three days," Dr. Aceng said.

 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic An Ebola survivor participates in a study in Monrovia, Liberia, on June 17. The country launched a five-year study to unravel the mystery of the long-term health effects that plague survivors of the viral disease. Since the epidemic started more than a year ago in a remote village in Guinea, more than 11,000 people have died, the vast majority in three West African nations, according to the latest numbers from the World Health Organization . And that number is believed to be low, since there was widespread under-reporting of cases, according to WHO. Hide Caption 1 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Women in Monrovia celebrate after the World Health Organization declared Liberia Ebola-free on May 9. Other cases have recurred since, however. Two people in Liberia have died of the disease since the end of June, just weeks after the WHO declared the nation free of the disease. Hide Caption 2 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic A man walks past an Ebola awareness painting in Monrovia on March 22. Hide Caption 3 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Soldiers from the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division walk across the tarmac at Campbell Army Airfield before reuniting with their families at a homecoming ceremony March 21 in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The 162 soldiers were deployed in Liberia, where they helped fight the spread of Ebola. Hide Caption 4 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Relatives weep for a loved one who it was believed died from Ebola, at a graveyard on the outskirts of Monrovia on March 11. Hide Caption 5 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Doctors Without Borders staffer Alex Eilert Paulsen watches as mattresses and bed frames burn at the Ebola Treatment Unit in Paynesville, Liberia, on January 31. The organization reduced its number of beds from 250 to 30 as gains were made in battling the virus. Hide Caption 6 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Pauline Cafferkey, a Scottish woman diagnosed with Ebola, is put on a plane in Glasgow, Scotland, on December 30, 2014. Cafferkey, a 39-year-old nurse who volunteered in Sierra Leone, was being transported to London for treatment. Hide Caption 7 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic A child who survived the Ebola virus is fed by another survivor at a treatment center on the outskirts of Freetown, Sierra Leone, on November 11, 2014. Hide Caption 8 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Health workers in Monrovia cover the body of a man suspected of dying from the Ebola virus on October 31, 2014. Hide Caption 9 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Kaci Hickox leaves her home in Fort Kent, Maine, to take a bike ride with her boyfriend on October 30, 2014. Hickox, a nurse, recently returned to the United States from West Africa, where she treated Ebola victims. State authorities wanted her to avoid public places for 21 days -- the virus' incubation period. But Hickox, who twice tested negative for Ebola, said she would defy efforts to keep her quarantined at home. Hide Caption 10 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Health officials in Nairobi, Kenya, prepare to screen passengers arriving at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on October 28, 2014. Hide Caption 11 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic U.S. President Barack Obama hugs Ebola survivor Nina Pham in the Oval Office of the White House on October 24, 2014. Pham, one of two Dallas nurses diagnosed with the virus, was declared Ebola-free after being treated at a hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. The other nurse, Amber Vinson (not pictured), was treated in Atlanta and also declared Ebola-free. Hide Caption 12 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Health workers in Port Loko, Sierra Leone, transport the body of a person who is suspected to have died of Ebola on October 21, 2014. Hide Caption 13 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Health workers bury a body on the outskirts of Monrovia on October 20, 2014. Hide Caption 14 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Garteh Korkoryah, center, is comforted during a memorial service for her son, Thomas Eric Duncan, on October 18, 2014, in Salisbury, North Carolina. Duncan, a 42-year-old Liberian citizen, died October 8 in a Dallas hospital. He was in the country to visit his son and his son's mother, and he was the first person in the United States to be diagnosed with Ebola. Hide Caption 15 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Boys run from blowing dust as a U.S. military aircraft leaves the construction site of an Ebola treatment center in Tubmanburg, Liberia, on October 15, 2014. Hide Caption 16 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Aid workers from the Liberian Medical Renaissance League stage an Ebola awareness event October 15, 2014, in Monrovia. The group performs street dramas throughout Monrovia to educate the public on Ebola symptoms and how to handle people who are infected with the virus. Hide Caption 17 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Ebola survivors prepare to leave a Doctors Without Borders treatment center after recovering from the virus in Paynesville, Liberia, on October 12, 2014. Hide Caption 18 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic A man dressed in protective clothing treats the front porch of a Dallas apartment on October 12, 2014. The apartment is home to one of the two nurses who were diagnosed with Ebola after treating Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian national who traveled to Dallas and later died from the virus. Hide Caption 19 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic A woman crawls toward the body of her sister as a burial team takes her away for cremation October 10, 2014, in Monrovia. The sister had died from Ebola earlier in the morning while trying to walk to a treatment center, according to her relatives. Hide Caption 20 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic A man digs a grave on October 7, 2014, outside an Ebola treatment center near Gbarnga, Liberia. Hide Caption 21 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic A person peeks out from the Dallas apartment where Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person diagnosed with the Ebola virus in the United States, was staying on October 3, 2014. Hide Caption 22 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic A girl cries as community activists approach her outside her Monrovia home on October 2, 2014, a day after her mother was taken to an Ebola ward. Hide Caption 23 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic A health official uses a thermometer September 29, 2014, to screen a Ukrainian crew member on the deck of a cargo ship at the Apapa port in Lagos, Nigeria. Hide Caption 24 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Workers move a building into place as part of a new Ebola treatment center in Monrovia on September 28, 2014. Hide Caption 25 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Medics load an Ebola patient onto a plane at Sierra Leone's Freetown-Lungi International Airport on September 22, 2014. Hide Caption 26 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic A few people are seen in Freetown during a three-day nationwide lockdown on September 21, 2014. In an attempt to curb the spread of the Ebola virus, people in Sierra Leone were told to stay in their homes. Hide Caption 27 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Supplies wait to be loaded onto an aircraft at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on September 20, 2014. It was the largest single shipment of aid to the Ebola zone to date, and it was coordinated by the Clinton Global Initiative and other U.S. aid organizations. Hide Caption 28 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic A child stops on a Monrovia street September 12, 2014, to look at a man who is suspected of suffering from Ebola. Hide Caption 29 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic After an Ebola case was confirmed in Senegal, people load cars with household items as they prepare to cross into Guinea from the border town of Diaobe, Senegal, on September 3, 2014. Hide Caption 30 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic A health worker wearing a protective suit conducts an Ebola prevention drill at the port in Monrovia on August 29, 2014. Hide Caption 31 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic A burial team from the Liberian Ministry of Health unloads bodies of Ebola victims onto a funeral pyre at a crematorium in Marshall, Liberia, on August 22, 2014. Hide Caption 32 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Dr. Kent Brantly leaves Emory University Hospital on August 21, 2014, after being declared no longer infectious from the Ebola virus. Brantly was one of two American missionaries brought to Emory for treatment of the deadly virus. Hide Caption 33 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic An Ebola Task Force soldier beats a local resident while enforcing a quarantine on the West Point slum on August 20, 2014. Hide Caption 34 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Local residents gather around a very sick Saah Exco, 10, in a back alley of the West Point slum on August 19, 2014. The boy was one of the patients that was pulled out of a holding center for suspected Ebola patients after the facility was overrun and closed by a mob on August 16. A local clinic then refused to treat Saah, according to residents, because of the danger of infection. Although he was never tested for Ebola, Saah's mother and brother died in the holding center. Hide Caption 35 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Workers prepare the new Ebola treatment center on August 17, 2014. Hide Caption 36 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Liberian police depart after firing shots in the air while trying to protect an Ebola burial team in the West Point slum of Monrovia on August 16, 2014. A crowd of several hundred local residents reportedly drove away the burial team and their police escort. The mob then forced open an Ebola isolation ward and took patients out, saying the Ebola epidemic is a hoax. Hide Caption 37 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic A health worker disinfects a corpse after a man died in a classroom being used as an Ebola isolation ward August 15, 2014, in Monrovia. Hide Caption 38 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Aid worker Nancy Writebol, wearing a protective suit, gets wheeled on a gurney into Emory University Hospital in Atlanta on August 5, 2014. A medical plane flew Writebol from Liberia to the United States after she and her colleague Dr. Kent Brantly were infected with the Ebola virus in the West African country. Hide Caption 39 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Members of Doctors Without Borders adjust tents in the isolation area in Kailahun on July 20, 2014. Hide Caption 40 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Boots dry in the Ebola treatment center in Kailahun on July 20, 2014. Hide Caption 41 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Dr. Jose Rovira of the World Health Organization takes a swab from a suspected Ebola victim in Pendembu, Sierra Leone, on July 18, 2014. Hide Caption 42 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Red Cross volunteers disinfect each other with chlorine after removing the body of an Ebola victim from a house in Pendembu on July 18, 2014. Hide Caption 43 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic A scientist separates blood cells from plasma cells to isolate any Ebola RNA and test for the virus April 3, 2014, at the European Mobile Laboratory in Gueckedou, Guinea. Hide Caption 44 of 45 45 photos: The Ebola epidemic Health specialists work March 31, 2014, at an isolation ward for patients at the facility in southern Guinea. Hide Caption 45 of 45

 Among those who tested negative include are the brother of the deceased; two health workers from a children HIV/AIDS hospital; seven persons from Mpigi Health Center IV; and two relatives of the deceased who participated in the burial.

 "When he felt ill on September 17, he traveled back to Mpigi for treatment since he felt more comfortable with a facility that he had worked with for a long time, a duration the disease was spread," said a statement by health authorities last Sunday.

 Marburg virus was first identified in 1967, when 31 people became sick in Germany and Yugoslavia in an outbreak that was eventually traced back to laboratory monkeys imported from Uganda. Since then the virus has appeared sporadically, with just a dozen outbreaks on record, many -- including the current situation -- involving just a single patient.

 Marburg virus causes symptoms similar to Ebola, beginning with fever and weakness and often leading to internal or external bleeding, organ failure and death. The death rate runs as high as 80 percent, although it was significantly lower in the initial outbreak when patients were cared for in relatively modern, European hospitals.

 The most recent outbreak, also in Uganda, in 2012, killed four out of 15 patients, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 On Tuesday, CDC Director Thomas Frieden pointed to the most recent Marburg case as an example of how a deadly virus could be contained.

 "We've done important work in Uganda to help the Ugandans better have a laboratory network so they can find cases, have a response network with disease detectives who can follow up and have an emergency operations center to trace individual cases," Frieden said.

 The extensive contact tracing included tracking an embalmer back to Kenya, where he was tested and found not to be infected with Marburg.

 "I mention this, because oftentimes in public health, what gets noticed is what happens and it's hard to see what doesn't happen," Frieden continued, noting that there have so far been no additional cases. "That may not make headlines, but it does give us confidence that we can control Ebola in West Africa." |||||

 Marburg virus is closely related to Ebola. (C. Bickel/Science Translational Medicine)

 A 30-year-old hospital technician died of the Marburg virus this weekend in Uganda, health officials there announced Sunday. Marburg, like Ebola, is a hemorrhagic fever. It's rare but severe.

 According to NBC's Monday report, officials in Uganda have quarantined about 80 people who came into contact with the victim, one of whom — the man's brother — has developed the early symptoms of the disease. Sixty of those quarantined are health-care workers.

 On Tuesday, Uganda's Ministry of Health said in an emailed statement that testing on 11 potential cases of Marburg came back negative, including that of the victim's brother. Those who still show symptoms similar to Marburg three days from now will be re-tested at that time, the ministry added.

 As with Ebola, there is no cure for the virus. And like Ebola, Marburg can have a high death rate for those infected. That's leading many to wonder whether the Marburg case will begin yet another deadly outbreak of a terrifying disease in Africa, even though the bulk of the evidence suggests otherwise.

 What is Marburg — and what are the symptoms?

 Ebola and Marburg are the exclusive members of the Filovirus family of hemorrhagic fevers.

 Marburg has an incubation period of five to 10 days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After that, infected individuals can develop a severe headache, myalgia, a fever and chills. Like Ebola, those initial symptoms are similar to many other diseases, including malaria.

 After a few days, the symptoms worsen. They can include nausea, vomiting, chest pain, a sore throat, abdominal pain, diarrhea and a rash. Eventually, severe cases progress to "jaundice, inflammation of the pancreas, severe weight loss, delirium, shock, liver failure, massive hemorrhaging and multi-organ dysfunction," the CDC explains.

 There's a huge range in the disease's fatality rate in previous outbreaks, from 23 percent to 90 percent.

 How do you catch it?

 Marbug, like Ebola, is not an airborne virus. The disease is spread through direct contact with the blood, tissues or bodily fluids of an infected person or, as has happened in many cases before, an infected primate or fruit bat.

 Although Marburg seems to have its origin in and around Uganda, the first outbreak was actually in Europe: In 1967, laboratory workers in Germany and what was then Yugoslavia fell ill after handling African green monkeys imported from Uganda. There were 31 reported human cases and seven deaths, according to the CDC.

 Other outbreaks have originated with travelers who visited caves inhabited by likely vectors of the disease, like the Kitum Cave in Mount Elgon National Park in Kenya. It's believed that fruit bat guano is responsible for passing the disease along to humans in multiple instances.

 In 1998, a larger-scale outbreak of Marburg infected 154 people, killing 128. Most of those infected were young males working in a gold mine there, according to the CDC. Another large outbreak in Angola infected 252 people and killed 227 in 2004.

 Once a human catches the disease from an animal vector, it spreads person to person through direct contact. Often, as with Ebola, the people who care for human victims of Marburg are at the highest risk of becoming infected themselves.

 What's the treatment?

 There is no specific treatment for Marburg, nor is there a proven vaccine or cure. Hospitalized patients should receive "general supportive therapy," the World Health Organization notes. That includes treating any complicating infections, balancing fluids and electrolytes and replacing any blood loss.

 Because of Marburg's close relation to Ebola, there are experimental treatments being developed by some of the same companies working on Ebola drugs. Tekmira pharmaceutical announced that it had tested a drug on lab monkeys infected with a particularly deadly strain of Marburg. Many of the animals treated with the drug, even after the onset of symptoms, recovered, according to Reuters.

 Tekmira makes TKM-Ebola, one of a handful of experimental Ebola treatments used on Americans who caught Ebola in West Africa.

 Will the Marburg virus be at the center of the next terrifying outbreak?

 We can't predict the future, but this seems extremely unlikely. Uganda has experienced previous outbreaks of both Ebola and Marburg and controlled them. Here's what the country's prime minister had to say about the potential for a large-scale outbreak in his country after the Marburg victim died:

 Marburg is a Viral Hemorrhagic fever caused by the Marburg virus. MOH has put in place rigorous surveillance & disease control measures — Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda (@RuhakanaR) October 5, 2014

 Uganda has previously successfully handled similar situations of health threats involving Hemorrhagic fevers #Marbugdisease #Ebola — Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda (@RuhakanaR) October 5, 2014

 Uganda has experience and adequate capacity to deal with this health threat & World Health Organisation has been informed #Marburgdisease — Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda (@RuhakanaR) October 5, 2014

 Ruhakana Rugunda, who became prime minister in 2014, is a physician who used to serve as the country's health minister.

 According to the CDC, the most recent Marburg outbreak in Uganda infected 15 people and killed four. The outbreak lasted three weeks.

 Although Marburg is deadly, it is not particularly easy to catch. If an outbreak is identified early and controlled, it is unlikely to escalate the way the current Ebola outbreak has in West Africa.

 [This post has been updated] |||||


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A local women’s clinic says it's being forced to change names because people have confused it with a terrorist group.

 ISIS Women’s Health Care says it has received dozens of death threats from callers who thought the clinic was associated with the group that is known for torture, suicide bombings and executions.

 “This year marks the 10th anniversary for Isis Women’s Health Care, but instead of hoisting celebration banners, we're taking down the namesake that has proudly delivered thousands of babies,” says Dr. Hughan Frederick. “Thankfully, we're not closing our doors, but we are opening a new chapter.”

 Frederick originally selected the name ISIS for its tie to the Egyptian goddess of motherhood. Frederick decided that it was time for a name change for the safety of his employees and patients.

 “I’m not going to lie, this is hard,” said Frederick. “We’ve spent a decade and thousands of dollars perfecting and building our brand in this community. Now it’s all out the window. But instead of being sad, we want to turn this into something positive and fun. We’ve had to undergo a complete image change from pamphlets, to websites, to business cards.”

 ISIS Women’s Health Care employs dozens of people in three offices. They are affiliated with North Fulton Hospital and Emory Johns Creek Hospital. For many years, the ISIS name has become synonymous with “a better birth experience” in the north Metro Atlanta area.

 The unveiling of the new company name will be held on March 31 at its 1015 Mansell Road office. ||||| This year marks the 10th anniversary for Isis Women’s Health Care but instead of hoisting celebration banners we are taking down the namesake that proudly delivered thousands of Americans. Thankfully we are not closing our doors but we are opening a new chapter.

 “Isis” is the name we carefully selected over ten years ago.

 I still remember when Hughan and I were sitting on the floor of our apartment surrounded by ideas, spreadsheets and options. We wanted to build the best practice we could and that included picking a name with meaning. Hughan’s brother was the one to ultimately pitch the winner.

 The practice started with one full-time employee in a sub-leased space across from North Fulton Hospital. Even today, Hughan shudders at how nervous he was when he asked her to join him. He says, “For the first time I was going to be responsible for paying for someone’s livelihood.” It was a very small start but it was where Dr. Frederick realized his dream and hung his shingle.

 Today, ten years later, the Isis Women’s Health Care organization employs nearly 30 people in three offices. Through the hard work of so many people the name, Isis, has become synonymous with “a better birth experience” in the north Metro Atlanta area. It’s a name that we have all become proud to be associated with.

 Until now.

 One morning we woke up to news of a beheading by a terrorist organization the media chose to refer to as ISIS. It was tragic. But then it happened again, and again, and this group gained strength. Everyone called them something different; ISIS, ISIL, Islamic State…we weren’t sure what to call them. CNN, Fox News, Donald Trump and countless others seem to have settled on ISIS. That meant bad news for us.

 Initially we planned to stay the course. Surely, no one would confuse our ob/gyn practice for a terrorist organization?! We were wrong.

 People are mad. People are upset. People are confused. And they have let us know in some very unkind ways.

 And just like that, we are being forced to erase a decade’s worth of work. We have taken the first step and removed the name from the building. But what name could possibly be a strong enough replacement?

 I’m not going to lie. This is hard. But instead of being sad, we want to turn this into something positive and fun. Isis clients are some of the smartest, most creative and opinionated people in Atlanta.

 This time around, we’re going to open up the process to all of you and ask if you have any ideas for a name.

 I can’t think of a better way to move into the next decade together with a new name and a better way to practice.

 Let the brainstorming begin! |||||

– Over the past decade, "Isis" has "become synonymous with 'a better birth experience,'" Georgia's Isis Women's Health Care writes on its website. That's recently changed, for obvious reasons. "One morning we woke up to news of a beheading by a terrorist organization the media chose to refer to as ISIS," the business states. "That meant bad news for us." Since then, Isis Women's Health Care has received dozens of death threats, WSB-TV reports. "I became concerned for me and my staff," Dr. Hughan Frederick tells WXIA. Finally, one caller made it clear it was time for a name change. "This particular individual identified himself as ex-military and indicated for us not to be surprised if someone were to come and shoot up the building," Isis administrator Randy Haviland says. WSB-TV reports Isis Women's Health Care will announce its new name at the end of the month. But judging by its website, it will now be known as Nile Women's Health Care. That's in keeping with its original Egyptian theme—the business was named for the Egyptian goddess of motherhood. Even before a new name was chosen, Isis removed signage from outside its three Atlanta-area offices to head off further threats. “This year marks the 10th anniversary for Isis Women’s Health Care, but instead of hoisting celebration banners, we are taking down the namesake that has proudly delivered thousands of babies,” the business states. (It's not the only business named Isis in America.)


Here is a news 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 ||||| Susan Carland, wife of The Project host Waleed Aly, has found a way to channel the daily abuse she receives at the hands of Twitter trolls.

 As one half of “Australia’s Muslim power couple”, Susan Carland is exposed to a daily onslaught of hate-filled tweets from social media trolls. The respected Muslim sociologist, who is married to The Project host Waleed Aly, is bombarded by racial slurs, targeted because she wears a hijab and speaks openly about the rights of Australian Muslims.

 But in an effort to bring about something positive from her experiences, Carland is donating $1 for every hateful tweet she receives. Speaking about her decision, the highly-regarded academic said that she was “getting a lot of hate on Twitter. Sometimes I’d respond to them and sometimes I’d ignore them, and I felt like none of that really achieved anything.”

 “How about I try to repel it with something better, with something good? “What about for every hate-filled tweet I get, I donate a dollar to UNICEF? Children in need, it doesn’t get much nicer than that.” Carland is a recent PhD graduate, and lectures at Monash University in Melbourne.

 Although she was brought up in a Christian household, she decided to convert to Islam when she was 19 years old. Some of the more horrifying tweets label Carland as “a filthy traitor” and accuse her of converting to a religion that is “a disgusting cult started by a child molesting war mongering slave keeper.” One user spat "it's your religion and deception that anger me and how you prey on innocent people (sic)."

 Another disgusting tweet reads "@SusanCarland is stupid enough to convert to a religion that considers her half a man..." That is just the tip of the iceberg; Carland has to ignore a daily barrage of insults.

 This means that although she undertook the pledge a little more than two weeks ago, she has already donated over $1000 to the worthy cause. “I started this project on a whim… I knew that I was getting a lot of hate on Twitter.” ||||| Bombarded with hateful tweets from trolls, it was only natural that my response would be rooted in the fact that I am Muslim.

 As a Muslim woman, people from many different quarters are eager to tell me how to dress and how to act. They also seem determined to tell me what I believe.

 I regularly get tweets and Facebook messages from the brave freedom-fighters behind determinedly anonymous accounts telling me that, as a Muslim woman, I love oppression, murder, war, and sexism.

 Susan Carland and her husband Waleed Ali. Photo: Don Arnold

 They have no interest in what I actually think about these things, or any other; I realised this quickly after pointless attempts to engage achieved nothing. I am just a blank canvas onto which they can project their own prejudices and fantasies about Muslims.

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 Their online abuse ranges from requests to leave Australia, hope for my death, insults about my appearance (with a special focus on my hijab), accusations that I am a stealth jihadist, and that I am planning to take over the nation, one halal meat pie at a time.

 As I browsed some of their Twitter timelines, I noticed just how many of the tweets they sent out were full of rage, scattered at any recipient they could find. It seemed that as people so full of darkness, they could only see darkness in others.

 Susan Carland is fighting Twitter trolls by donating $1 to UNICEF for each hateful message she receives. Photo: Simon O'Dwyer

 And while these trolls are desperate to tell me what I believe in order to wedge me into their own miserable world-view, I am not defined or confined by that. My response to them is not an act of angry defiance but a calm reaction that is deeply rooted in who I am and the faith that defines me - not a perverted caricature of Islam that people try to force on me, but one that instructs its followers to take the higher road and be a force for good in the world, not because people necessarily deserve it but because it is simply the right thing to do.

 So, in response to all the hate I receive simply because I am Muslim, it was only natural that my response would be rooted in the fact that I am Muslim.

 I donate $1 to @UNICEF for each hate-filled tweet I get from trolls. Nearly at $1000 in donations. The needy children thank you, haters! 😎 — Susan Carland (@SusanCarland) October 21, 2015

 As I sat in front of my laptop one day, reading the merry stream of toxicity directed towards me, I wondered what the most edifyingly Islamic response I could give would be. The Koran states "Good and evil are not equal. Repel evil with what is better." I'd tried blocking, muting, engaging and ignoring, but none of them felt like I was embodying the Koranic injunction of driving off darkness with light. I felt I should be actively generating good in the world for every ugly verbal bullet sent my way.

 And so the idea of donating $1 to UNICEF for every hate-filled tweet I received came to me. I particularly liked the idea of giving to UNICEF, as so often they were assisting children who were in horrific situations that were the direct outcome of hate – war, poverty due to greed, injustice, violence. These children seemed like the natural recipients for the antidote to hate. And donating to them every time I was abused felt like tangible good in response to virtual hate.

 I've been doing this for some months (so the sudden news interest is somewhat baffling) simply as a way of authentically living my beliefs. Now when a ghastly tweet comes my way, I barely bat an eyelid. It represents nothing more than a chalk-mark on my mental tally for the next instalment to UNICEF.

 And this has been an unexpected outcome; by refusing to let the hate of others mould me, I am more secure and relaxed in my own identity than ever. Their hatred of what they believe Muslims are has encouraged me to recommit to the beauty of my tradition.

 I have a choice: to respond similarly, or respond with "that which is better". Their hate doesn't define me; my beliefs do. And so what my response should be is clear.

 Dr Susan Carland lectures in the School of Social Sciences at Monash University. |||||
A summary of this is?

– "Good and evil are not equal. Repel evil with what is better." That's the line from the Koran that Dr. Susan Carland says came to mind as she sat one day mulling the best way to deal with online trolls attacking her because she's Muslim. She writes in the Sydney Morning Herald that she endures a regular litany of abuse, including jeers at her hijab and even death threats. "I'd tried blocking, muting, engaging, and ignoring, but none of them felt like I was embodying the Koranic injunction of driving off darkness with light," she writes. Then Carland—who converted to Islam at age 19 and is now considered part of "Australia's Muslim power couple" with TV host husband Waleed Aly, per Australian Women's Weekly—hit on a way she could repel that darkness: give money to others each time she was attacked. "I donate $1 to @UNICEF for each hate-filled tweet I get from trolls," she tweeted on Oct. 21. "Nearly at $1000 in donations. The needy children thank you, haters!" She writes in the Herald that UNICEF seemed like the natural choice as her recipient, since the group often helps kids "in horrific situations that were the direct outcome of hate—war, poverty due to greed, injustice, violence." Many are praising her idea, with Mashable calling her efforts "inspired," and UNICEF Australia tweeting: "You've turned hate into something wonderful: education, health care and protection for kids." Carland's mission has even had an effect on how she responds to nasty postings. "Now when a ghastly tweet comes my way, I barely bat an eyelid," she writes. "It represents nothing more than a chalk-mark on my mental tally for the next [installment] to UNICEF." (A slain Japanese journalist tweeted against hate before he died.)


Write a summary based on this article:

Belgian international airport of Zaventem airport, which is still not operating, is seen behind fences more than a week after the attacks in Brussels metro and the airport, in Zaventem, Belgium, April 1, 2016.

 BRUSSELS Brussels Airport will partially reopen for passengers on Sunday, 12 days after suicide bombers destroyed its departure hall and killed 16 people.

 There will be far fewer flights than normal at the start and tighter security will be in place, but the airport operator said the aim was to return to full capacity by summer.

 The country's main airport has not handled passenger flights since two suspected Islamist militants carried out the suicide attacks. Those bombs and a separate one on a metro train in the city killed 35 people, including three bombers.

 "Never will we forget this black day," the airport's chief executive Arnaud Feist told a news conference. "A restart of the operations even only partially as quick as this is a sign of hope.

 "As of tomorrow, Sunday, Brussels Airport should be partially operational," he added.

 Feist said the airport had planned three flights for the first day, to Faro, Athens and Turin, all operated by Brussels Airlines. The number of flights should increase over time.

 The airport is one of the largest in Europe, handling 23.5 million passengers and 489,000 tonnes of freight annually. It links the Belgian capital, headquarter city of the European Union and NATO, with 226 destinations worldwide through 77 different airlines.

 With its temporary check-in zone, it will only be able to handle some 800 departing passengers per hour, around 20 percent of previous capacity.

 The airport says it aims to return to maximum capacity before the start of summer holidays at the end of June or early July, with some check-in desks restored in the departure hall, followed by a full reopening of that space.

 Initially, the airport will only be accessible by car.

 Special cameras will be set up to read number plates, there will be random checks of vehicles and the drop-off zone will not be accessible.

 Passengers and their baggage will be checked on arrival and there will be increased patrols of armed police and military.

 Brussels Airlines, Belgium's largest carrier and 45 percent owned by Lufthansa (LHAG.DE), has estimated the closure of its Brussels hub is costing it 5 million euros ($5.7 million) per day.

 The city's association of hotel operators pointed to the closed airport as one of the main reasons for a more than 50 percent drop in overnight stays up to March 28.

 (Reporting By Philip Blenkinsop; editing by Jeremy Gaunt) ||||| Brussels Airport plans to resume limited short-haul passenger service on Sunday in a first test for the stringent security arrangements put in place 12 days after terrorists detonated nail bombs in the departures hall.

 Only three flights by Brussels Airlines NV are scheduled on April 3, Brussels Airport Chief Executive Officer Arnaud Feist told reporters in Zaventem on Saturday. Checks will begin with random vehicle screenings on the sole access road to the Belgian capital’s airport. Travelers and luggage will be inspected in tents outside the main building and at a second security barrier in the makeshift check-in area, according to police spokesman Peter De Waele.

 “The temporary arrangements won’t be able to offer the level of comfort travelers are used to at Brussels Airport,” Feist said. “Our main challenge is to rapidly return to normal capacity. We hope to have maximum capacity available at the start of the summer holidays, at the beginning of July.”

 The tighter restrictions, agreed upon by Belgian authorities and police unions after two days of negotiations, may reduce airport capacity to even fewer than 800 people an hour, already a fraction of the regular 5,000 because of damage to the departures hall. Airport access will be restricted to cars and taxis initially, with train or bus service to resume later. The hub’s busiest airlines will continue using alternative airports next week.

 Brussels Airlines, the top carrier at Zaventem with a third of passengers, said it will gradually expand offerings from Brussels, including some long-haul flights, starting Monday. Planes and crews used for intercontinental flights were sent to Frankfurt and Zurich to maintain links with the U.S. and a number of African destinations. The limitations will keep part of the airline’s short-haul fleet at regional airports in Liege and Antwerp initially.

 Ryanair Holdings Plc, Zaventem’s second-biggest carrier, has shifted all Brussels flights to its Charleroi hub and said Thursday that it will keep all operations there until April 7 at least. TUI AG’s Jetairfly arm said flights will remain at Ostend in the north until April 10 and Thomas Cook Airlines will keep flying from Liege until April 11. |||||

– Twelve days after suicide bombs killed 16 people there, the Brussels Airport will reopen—at least partially—on Sunday, Reuters reports. Brussels Airlines will fly three flights—to Greece, Italy, and Portugal—out of the airport that day. "A restart of the operations, even only partially, as quick as this is a sign of hope," the airport's chief executive says. According to Bloomberg, new security measures will be in place for the reopening. Vehicles approaching the airport will be randomly screened, travelers and baggage will be checked outside the airport, and there will be another security barrier inside the airport. Trains and buses will not be servicing the airport for the time being, and cameras will read the license plates of vehicles arriving there. These measures will drastically reduce the amount of passengers the airport can handle, but officials hope to be back to normal capacity by July.


Article:
Leonardo DiCaprio will star in the long-in-development “The Devil in the White City” with Martin Scorsese directing for Paramount, sources confirm.

 The project, which has been in the works for more than a decade, reunites DiCaprio with Scorsese two years after “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

 Paramount won an auction to buy the movie rights to Erik Larson’s book “The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America.” The studio has previously owned the rights twice.

 Billy Ray, whose credits include “Captain Phillips” and “The Hunger Games,” will write the script. Producers are DiCaprio and his Appian Way partner Jennifer Davisson along with Stacey Sher, Scorsese, Rick Yorn and Emma Koskoff.

 DiCaprio first joined the project in 2010.

 DiCaprio will play H.H. Holmes, who murdered between 27 and 200 people, mostly single young women. Set against the backdrop of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, “The Devil in the White City” tells the intertwining stories of fair architect Daniel H. Burnham and Holmes, who used a hotel he built near the fairgrounds to lure his victims.

 “The Devil in the White City” was first put in development in Hollywood by Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner through their Cruise/Wagner banner via the shingle’s deal with Par, but the option lapsed in 2004. Paramount reacquired the film rights in 2007 and set it up with producers Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher, whose shingle Double Feature Films had a first-look deal with the studio at that point.

 Besides “The Wolf of Wall Street,” DiCaprio and Scorsese have made “Gangs of New York,” “The Aviator,” “The Departed” and “Shutter Island” together.

 DiCaprio is repped by LBI, which also reps Scorsese. WME also reps Scorsese CAA and attorney Peter Nichols rep Ray. Larson is repped by APA and David Black Literary Agency.

 Deadline Hollywood first reported the news. ||||| EXCLUSIVE: A killer role that Leonardo DiCaprio has wanted to play for a long time finally is coming to the forefront after Paramount just closed a splashy deal to acquire the Erik Larson book The Devil In The White City: Murder, Magic And Madness At The Fair That Changed America. There was a big auction that had five studios chasing and three bidding aggressively — Universal and Fox were the others — before Paramount captured a package that has DiCaprio starring and reteaming with his The Wolf Of Wall Street director Martin Scorsese. Billy Ray will write the script. Appian Way’s DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson are producing with Stacey Sher, Scorsese and Emma Tillinger Koskoff. This is a big one for recently minted Paramount Film Group President Marc Evans; it’s expected to be the next collaboration for DiCaprio and Scorsese, who’ve made five films together.

 Between book option and Ray’s writing fees, this is a solid seven figure commitment, and much more when the picture gets made. Paramount’s Elizabeth Raposo will oversee it with Evans.

 DiCaprio will play one of the most prolific serial killers in Chicago history, the 19th century equivalent of Hannibal Lecter. He has wanted this for a long time, but the project’s second wind occurred after Warner Bros let the rights lapse a month ago on the 2003 nonfiction book (Graham Moore was among the writers who did drafts) and came out of conversations with Par’s Brad Grey and Scorsese and Yorn about the studio being at the center of the next DiCaprio-Scorsese teaming; the studio released 2013’s The Wolf Of Wall Street, which got five Oscar nominations. Yorn, DiCaprio and Scorsese went out with a new take on the material from Ray that got everybody excited all over again. The trick with this property has been interlacing the two main characters, the producer/architect of the World’s Fair and the man who works for him and turns out to be a mass murderer. Ray cracked that, and the town flipped for it.

 DiCaprio will play Dr. HH Holmes, a cunning serial killer believed to have murdered anywhere from 27 to 200 people at a time when the city of Chicago was enthralled with hosting the World’s Fair of 1893. Holmes constructed The World’s Fair Hotel, an inn more lethal than the Bates Motel, especially for young single women. The sociopath used charm and guile to lure guests into what became known as a “murder castle,” a haunt that had a gas chamber, crematorium and a dissecting table where Holmes would murder his victims and strip their skeletons to sell for medical and scientific study.

 It’s a departure for DiCaprio to play an unrepentant bad guy, but it goes well into a career full of risk taking that includes The Wolf Of Wall Street with Scorsese (for which both got Oscar nominations), and the upcoming The Revenant, the Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu-directed film for New Regency and Fox. Ray has been working with DiCaprio and Davisson as he wrote the script for The Ballad Of Richard Jewell, the film that will star Jonah Hill. He’s also writing Twilight Zone for Appian Way at Warner Bros. Ray wrote and directed The Secret In Their Eyes, which STX Entertainment releases November 20.

 DiCaprio and Scorsese have made Gangs Of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island and The Wolf Of Wall Street together. LBI reps DiCaprio, Appian Way and Scorsese (who’s also with WME), and CAA, Management 36o and attorney Peter Nichols rep Ray. The author is repped by APA. |||||Summary:

– Leonardo DiCaprio will play to his dark side for a new role as "the 19th century equivalent of Hannibal Lecter," reports Deadline. He'll play serial killer HH Holmes in the film adaptation of Erik Larson's 2003 book, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, And Madness At The Fair That Changed America, which will be directed by Martin Scorsese for Paramount. The book follows Holmes' killing of at least 27 people (mainly women) around the time of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago—though he had as many as 200 victims—combined with the story of fair architect Daniel Burnham, Variety reports. The film has been in the works for more than a decade. (Read about a possible "good guy" role for DiCaprio.)


News article:

China confirms forced abortion case after uproar

 BEIJING — Chinese authorities confirmed Thursday that a woman was forced to abort seven months into her pregnancy, several days after her plight came to light when images of her baby's corpse were posted online.

 Rights groups have blamed authorities in north China's Shaanxi province for forcing Feng Jianmei to abort her pregnancy because she failed to pay a hefty fine for exceeding China's strict "one-child" population control policy.

 The Shaanxi provincial government said in a statement that a preliminary probe had confirmed the case was "basically true", and the investigators have recommended action be taken against the perpetrators.

 "This is a serious violation of the National Population and Family Planning Commission's policies, jeopardises the population control work and has caused uneasiness in society," the provincial government said on its website.

 The government did not pinpoint exactly who the perpetrators were, but vowed to avoid a repeat of such a case, which it said was against regulations in effect since 2001 banning late-term abortions.

 Chinese web users have reacted in anger to the abortion, with one comparing it to acts perpetrated by "Japanese devils and Nazis", after photos online showed Feng lying on a hospital bed next to the blood-smeared body of her baby.

 A relative told AFP on Wednesday that Feng and her husband had opposed the termination.

 An official at the national family planning commission who declined to be named said earlier that the commission viewed the matter as "serious and important" and that the probe was being handled at the "top level".

 China has implemented its draconian family planning policy since the late 1970s in an effort to control a population that has grown to 1.3 billion people, the world's largest.

 Under the policy, urban families are generally allowed to have one child, while rural families can give birth to two children if the first is a girl. They have to pay a fine if they contravene the rules.

 Rights groups say that as a result of the policy, thousands of women have been forced by authorities to terminate their pregnancies.

 Blind activist Chen Guangcheng, who recently left China for the United States after fleeing house arrest, was once jailed after angering local officials for bringing to light hundreds of forced abortions.

 Official statistics show that since the start of the policy, the number of abortions peaked in 1983, with a total of 14.37 million terminations that year.

 The US said Monday it has expressed opposition to China's one-child policy after activists reported that a five-month-pregnant woman faces an imminent forced abortion in a separate case.

 "We make no secret that the United States strongly oppose all aspects of China's coercive birth limitation policies, including forced abortion and sterilisation, and we always raise these issues with the Chinese government," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

 Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved. More » ||||| Image caption China's birth control policy has drawn much criticism

 A photo showing a foetus whose mother was forced to have an abortion has shocked China web users.

 Feng Jiamei, from Shaanxi province, was made to undergo the procedure in the seventh month of pregnancy, local officials said after investigating.

 Ms Feng was forced into the abortion as she could not pay the fine for having a second child, US-based activists said.

 Rights groups say China's one-child policy has meant women being coerced into abortions, which Beijing denies.

 "Feng Jianmei's story demonstrates how the One-Child Policy continues to sanction violence against women every day," said Chai Ling of the US-based activist group All Girls Allowed.

 The group says it spoke to Ms Feng and her husband Deng Jiyuan after the incident. Mr Deng said his wife had been forcibly taken to hospital and restrained before the procedure.

 The BBC's Jon Sudworth in Shanghai says such allegations are nothing new in China, but what has made this one different is a widely circulated photo of the woman lying next to the baby's corpse.

 Media reports from China says Ms Feng has been traumatised by what has happened.

 Chinese law clearly prohibits abortions beyond six months.

 'Harmed image of family planning'

 Unnamed local officials in Zhenping county - where the incident took place - denied forcing Ms Feng to have the abortion, local media reports say.

 But a preliminary investigation by the Shaanxi Provincial Population and Family Planning Commission confirmed the forced abortion had taken place.

 Without naming Ms Feng, it said in a statement that the woman had been seven months pregnant.

 "Such practice has seriously violated the relevant policies set by national and provincial family planning commissions, which harmed the image of our family planning work, and caused extremely poor effects in society," said the statement.

 "Based on the findings, we have requested the local government to punish the relevant officers according to law," it said.

 Internet users expressed outrage.

 "This is what they say the Japanese devils and Nazis did. But it's happening in reality and it is by no means the only case... They [the officials] should be executed," one reader on news website netease.com said, according to the AFP news agency.

 Activist Chen Guangcheng, who was put under virtual house arrest for campaigning against forced abortions, fled China to the US last month. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– It's the kind of story you fervently hope is an Internet hoax: a picture of a bloody fetus next to a woman in a hospital bed makes the rounds online, supposedly offering proof that China forced her to have an abortion in her seventh month of pregnancy. But as the AFP reports, it's "basically true," or so admitted China today. Rights groups say Feng Jianmei, a woman in the northern Shaanxi province, was forced to end her pregnancy after she didn't pay a sizable fine for planning to have a second child. The BBC reports that the US-based All Girls Allowed spoke to Feng's husband, who told them she was forced to go to the hospital, and restrained once there. "This is a serious violation of the National Population and Family Planning Commission's policies, jeopardizes the population control work, and has caused uneasiness in society," the provincial government said in an online statement. It recommended that those behind the abortion, who have not been identified, be punished. Late-term abortions have been banned in China since 2001.