Article:

[Editor’s note: This item has been updated since it was originally posted to address the question concerning the victim’s last name.]

 The Tarrant County Medical Examiner says the woman thrown from The Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas Friday night died of “multiple traumatic injuries due to [a] fall from roller coaster.”

 Her time of death is listed as 7 p.m. And the coroner officially lists the manner of death as “accident.”

 The coroner names the 52-year-old Dallas woman as Rosa Ayala-Goana. Her family told our reporters that her name was Rosy Esparza. The Tarrant County ME’s office has confirmed that her husband’s last name is Esparza.

 She turned 52 on June 28.

 As we reported, the Texas Giant will remain closed until Six Flags finishes its investigation, which could last months. Gerstlauer Amusement Rides, the German firm that manufactured the Giant’s cars, is sending investigators to Arlington this week to assist with the inquiry. Arlington police will leave the investigation to Six Flags and Gerstlauer officials.

 Six Flags’ Chairman Jim Reid-Anderson said Monday morning the amusement park operator will have no further comment on the incident until after Six Flags and Gerstlauer’s investigations are finished.

 Said Reid-Anderson in a morning conference call with analysts, “We’ve been here throughout the weekend to support our team as we work through this tragic event. Utilizing both internal and external experts we are investigating the cause of the accident, and until that process is complete with have no additional information to share with you about the incident. The ride has been closed. And you can rest assured that it will remain closed until we are certain that it is safe to ride.

 “Our deepest sympathy goes out to the family and we are providing them support as best as we can. We ask that you keep the guest’s family in your prayers.” ||||| Nearly a dozen people reported being injured in the last five years while riding the Texas roller coaster where a woman fell to her death last week, though the most serious injuries appear to be a concussion and muscles strains due to jostling, state records show.

 The Texas Giant roller coaster ride sits idle in the foreground as people take in another ride a the Six Flags Over Texas park Saturday, July 20, 2013, in Arlington, Texas. Investigators will try to determine... (Associated Press)

 The Texas Giant roller coaster ride sits idle in the background as people take in another roller coaster ride at the Six Flags Over Texas park Saturday, July 20, 2013, in Arlington, Texas. Investigators... (Associated Press)

 Six Flags Over Texas reported 14 injuries involving the Texas Giant roller coaster between April 2008 and April 2013, according to Texas Department of Insurance records. Three happened before or after the ride, such as tripping on the steps leading to the ride.

 Department spokesman Jerry Hagins said the ride was currently closed and wouldn't reopen until the department sees a new safety inspection report.

 Amusement park safety analyst Ken Martin noted that such injuries are self-reported, so it's hard to gauge their accuracy. He also said such numbers don't include "near-misses."

 "The numbers that we hear about are typically the tip of the iceberg," he said.

 Rosa Ayala-Goana fell while riding the roller coaster Friday at the Six Flags amusement park. A witness told local media that Ayala-Goana expressed concern moments before the 14-story ride began that the safety bar had not completely engaged.

 The Tarrant County medical examiner's office confirmed Monday that the 52-year-old suffered "multiple traumatic injuries" in the fall.

 A man who identified himself as Ayala-Goana's son declined comment.

 Walter Reiss, an amusement park ride safety inspector, said fatal accidents on roller coasters "are very unusual and infrequent." He added, "Most times that you have death accidents, it was something either ignorant or human error."

 Six Flags Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Jim Reid-Anderson said the company was using "both internal and external experts" to investigate the accident, but he offered no details during a conference call to discuss the company's earnings.

 In an email to The Associated Press, Six Flags spokeswoman Sharon Parker said the company "will not release any details pertaining to the investigation until it is complete."

 The Texas Giant first opened in 1990 as an all-wooden coaster but underwent a $10 million renovation in 2010 to install steel-hybrid rails before reopening in 2011. The coaster, which can carry as many as 24 riders, has a drop of 79 degrees and a bank of 95 degrees.

 Reiss speculated that either Ayala-Goana managed to slip out from behind a locked mechanism or that the harness mechanism failed and it opened.

 "At the end of the day, it comes down to whether or not the person fits," he added. "If the harness locks normally, without forcing it, it's OK. And the final say is up to the ride operator to tell you, `I'm sorry, you can't ride.'"

 The roller coaster was issued its most recent safety permit in February and was in compliance with state regulations that require an annual inspection by a qualified engineer, according to state records.

 The Dallas Morning News has reported that officials with the roller coaster's German-based car manufacturer, Gerstlauer Amusement Rides, were set to come to inspect the ride. The company could not be reached late Monday by phone, and an email was not immediately returned.

 Don Hankins, who inspected the roller coaster in February, did not return a call to The Associated Press.

 Meanwhile, Six Flags has temporarily closed the Iron Rattler roller coaster at its Six Flags Fiesta Texas. Park spokeswoman Sydne Purvis said it's a precautionary move until the Texas Giant investigation is completed. Both roller coasters are wooden structures with steel rails.

 ___

 Associated Press writers Betsy Blaney in Lubbock and Uriel J. Garcia and Nomaan Merchant in Dallas contributed to this report. |||||
What is a summary?

– Injury, it seems, is nothing new on and around the Six Flags roller coaster where a woman died last week. Between April 2008 and April 2013, the park reported 14 injuries tied to the Texas Giant, though three occurred before or after patrons rode it, the AP reports. The gravest injuries were apparently concussions and strained muscles—but with the park reporting the data itself, "The numbers that we hear about are typically the tip of the iceberg," says a safety analyst. And while fatal roller coaster accidents are rare, "Most times that you have death accidents, it was something either ignorant or human error," adds a safety inspector for amusement parks. Meanwhile, the coroner says Friday's victim received "multiple traumatic injuries" in her fall, the Dallas Morning News reports. Her name, officials say, was Rosa Ayala-Goana, not Rosy Esparza, as her family had said; Esparza is her husband's last name. Amid word that there may have been a problem with her harness, the inspector notes: "At the end of the day, it comes down to whether or not the person fits ... If the harness locks normally, without forcing it, it's OK. And the final say is up to the ride operator to tell you, 'I'm sorry, you can't ride.'"


Vice President Pence spoke at the Capitol on Friday, where the late Sen. John McCain John Sidney McCainOvernight Defense: McCain honored in Capitol ceremony | Mattis extends border deployment | Trump to embark on four-country trip after midterms Congress gives McCain the highest honor Poll: More Dems approve of McCain than Republicans after his death MORE (R-Ariz.) is lying in state.

 “The president asked me to be here on behalf of a grateful nation to pay a debt of honor and respect to a man who served our country throughout his life, in uniform and in public office,” said Pence, who was representing President Trump Donald John TrumpCalifornia lawmakers pass stiffest net neutrality law in US Trump criticizes ABC/WaPo poll that found support for impeachment Trump hails unions, touts trade moves in Labor Day message MORE, who was not in attendance.

 “As President Trump said yesterday, we respect his service to the country,” he added.

 ADVERTISEMENT

 Before his death, McCain requested Trump not attend his funeral. The two had a combative relationship, with Trump often publicly criticizing McCain and McCain frequently opposing Trump's policies.

 Pence praised McCain’s service during the Vietnam War, during which he was captured and tortured after refusing early release.

 “Americans marveled at the iron will of John McCain. But captivity did not diminish John’s sense of calling, or his commitment to mission,” he said.

 After serving in the Navy, McCain represented Arizona in Congress, first in the House, from 1983 to 1987, and later in the Senate, beginning in 1987.

 “In every generation, there are those who put country first, who prize service ahead of self, who summon idealism from a cynical age,” Pence added.

 McCain died Saturday after being diagnosed last year with an aggressive form of brain cancer. He is survived by his mother, wife and seven children. He was 81 years old. ||||| The flag-draped casket of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is carried up the steps of the U.S. Capitol, Friday, Aug. 31, 2018, in Washington. (Photo by John McDonnell/The Washington Post via AP, Pool) (Associated Press)

 The flag-draped casket of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is carried up the steps of the U.S. Capitol, Friday, Aug. 31, 2018, in Washington. (Photo by John McDonnell/The Washington Post via AP, Pool) (Associated Press)

 WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans lined up for blocks outside the U.S. Capitol Thursday to say goodbye to John McCain as officials, relatives and friends paid their tributes inside to the Vietnam hero and longtime senator lying in state under the majestic dome.

 Earlier, Vice President Mike Pence, lawmakers and guests paid tribute at an emotional ceremony surrounding McCain's casket in the vast rotunda.

 A light rain fell as McCain's casket was carried into the Capitol by members of America's military services. His family watched from the steps.

 "It is only right that today, near the end of his long journey, John lies here, in this great hall, under the mighty dome, like other American heroes before him," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. "We thank God for giving this country John McCain."

 House Speaker Paul Ryan called McCain "one of the bravest souls our nation has produced."

 McCain, a former Navy aviator, really did "talk like a sailor," Ryan said, drawing smiles from the crowd. "But you see, with John, it wasn't feigned disagreement. The man didn't feign anything. He just relished the fight."

 Pence said he didn't always agree with McCain, but said McCain's support for limited government, tax reform and the military "surely left our nation more prosperous and more secure."

 McCain "served his country honorably," Pence said, adding that President Donald Trump "respected his service to the country."

 Trump, who has mocked McCain for being captured during the Vietnam War, was asked to stay away from the Capitol service, people close to the White House and the McCain family said.

 The ceremony was the first of two days of services in Washington honoring the Arizona senator, who served in Congress for 35 years.

 On Saturday, McCain's procession will pause by the Vietnam Memorial and head for Washington National Cathedral for a formal funeral service. At McCain's request, two former presidents — Democrat Barack Obama and Republican George W. Bush — will speak.

 McCain's funeral puts him back in the spotlight a few miles from Trump's doorstep, in the city where the senator, who died last Saturday days short of his 82nd birthday, worked and collected friends and enemies — some in both camps at different times. The procession was highlighting what McCain found important, some of which contrast with Trump's style and priorities.

 Other officials represented the administration in Trump's hard-to-miss absence. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein were among those in attendance, along with members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

 Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and actor Warren Beatty were among those pausing at McCain's casket.

 McCain chose a Russian dissident as a pallbearer, though Trump has professed repeatedly his affinity and admiration for Russian President, Vladimir Putin — praise that came amid special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

 The procession's pause at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where McCain's widow, Cindy, is expected to lay a wreath, will highlight McCain's military service and his more than five years as a prisoner of war.

 Trump obtained deferments during the Vietnam War for his college education and then for bone spurs in his heels. Trump on Friday was expected to leave Washington in early afternoon, to head to North Carolina for an event on retirement security about the same time the public will start filing past McCain's casket.

 The McCain farewell began Wednesday and Thursday in Arizona, where he and Cindy McCain raised their family. Former Vice President Joe Biden and others provided a preview of the tributes to come.

 None of the speakers at the North Phoenix Baptist Church on Thursday uttered Trump's name. But Biden, who is considering challenging Trump in 2020, made what some saw as a veiled reference to the president. He talked about McCain's character and how he parted company with those who "lacked the basic values of decency and respect, knowing this project is bigger than yourself."

 Biden said McCain "could not stand the abuse of power wherever he saw it, in whatever form, in whatever country."

 Biden advised McCain's friends and family to remember snapshots of him, such as a glance or a touch. "Or when you saw the pure joy the moment he was about to take the stage on the Senate floor and start a fight. God, he loved it."

 At the end of the nearly 90-minute ceremony, McCain's casket was wheeled out of the church to "My Way," in tribute to a politician known for following his own path.

 Trump and his wife, Melania, danced to the same song at the new president's inauguration in 2017.

 ___

 Associated Press writers Juliet Linderman and Lisa Mascaro in Washington, and Anita Snow, Jacques Billeaud and Terry Tang in Phoenix contributed to this report.

 ___

 Follow Kellman on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/APLaurieKellman |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Much of Washington, DC, came to a halt on Friday to honor the late John McCain, whose casket is now lying in state in the US Capitol. Among those to speak was Vice President Mike Pence, who stood in for President Trump. “The president asked me to be here on behalf of a grateful nation to pay a debt of honor and respect to a man who served our country throughout his life, in uniform and in public office,” said Pence. “As President Trump said yesterday, we respect his service to the country." Before McCain died, the former Arizona senator asked that Trump not attend his funeral, notes the Hill. "It is only right that today, near the end of his long journey, John lies here, in this great hall, under the mighty dome, like other American heroes before him," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, per the AP. House Speaker Paul Ryan called McCain "one of the bravest souls our nation has produced," even if he did "talk like a sailor." On Saturday, McCain's casket will be taken to Washington National Cathedral for a formal funeral, and it will pause at the Vietnam Memorial along the way. McCain is just the 31st American to lie in state in the Capitol. (Trump defended his White House's handling of McCain's death.)


The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act bans companies from paying foreign officials to get more business. The law has recently been targeted by lobbyists — including an arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce with ties to Wal-Mart — who criticize it as too broad and bad for business.

 The Times investigation found that Wal-Mart de Mexico paid more than $24 million in bribes to win construction permits. When a whistleblower alerted top Wal-Mart executives in 2005, they launched an investigation that found evidence of the bribery but then shut down the inquiry. The company failed to report any of the information to law enforcement at the time, the Times story said.

 The revelations threaten to blemish the cleaned-up image Wal-Mart has carefully put together in recent years after facing criticism that it paid workers too little and put mom-and-pop stores out of business.

 As officials in recent years have stepped up their enforcement of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Chamber has been pushing for the law to be scaled back.

 The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, an arm of the Chamber that has been a leader in criticizing the law, listed two Wal-Mart executives as board members in its 2010 tax form: Jeff Gearhart, Wal-Mart’s general counsel, and Thomas Hyde, a former Wal-Mart corporate secretary who stepped down in August 2010.

 Hyde was among the company executives who received initial reports of the alleged bribery in 2005, according to the Times story.

 “We take compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) very seriously and are committed to having a strong and effective global anti-corruption program in every country in which we operate,” David Tovar, Wal-Mart’s vice president of corporate communications, said in a statement Saturday. “Many of the alleged activities in The New York Times article are more than six years old. If these allegations are true, it is not a reflection of who we are or what we stand for.”

 A spokesman for Justice Department declined to comment. The people who confirmed the department’s investigation spoke on the condition of anonymity because the probe is ongoing.

 Wal-Mart’s shares slid nearly 5 percent Monday, and the company faced more questions about how much it knew about the corruption and why it did not tell authorities. Reps. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) and Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) sent a letter to Wal-Mart chief executive Michael Duke requesting an in-person meeting about the bribery allegations.

 Labor critics again raised alarms about the company’s practices.

 “The reported cover-up by Walmart executives at the highest levels exposes a core truth: Walmart cannot be taken at its word,” Joe Hansen, international president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, said in statement.

 One in five Wal-Mart stores is in Mexico. Wal-Mart de Mexico is the company’s largest foreign subsidiary.

 Staff writer Tom Hamburger contributed to this report. ||||| Stock Chart for Wal-Mart de Mexico SAB de CV (WALMEXV)

 Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) is the subject of a U.S. Justice Department criminal investigation into allegations of bribery in its Mexican subsidiary, according to a person familiar with the probe.

 The Justice Department is investigating potential criminal charges under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, according to the person familiar with the probe who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about it. Wal-Mart is conducting its own review of allegations that its representatives paid local officials in Mexico to get stores opened faster in the early 2000s.

 The investigations by the government and the company may prompt executive departures and U.S. penalties if it reveals senior managers didn’t take strong enough action, governance specialists said. The probes also may slow Wal-Mart’s expansion in Mexico and other markets.

 “The penalties paid by companies in settling these types of FCPA investigations have grown significantly larger in recent years,” said Jeffrey Lehtman, a Washington-based partner with the law firm of Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP. “Depending on the facts uncovered, companies like Wal-Mart can expect the penalties to be incredibly high.”

 The bribery allegations were described in an April 21 New York Times story. In a December 2011 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Wal-Mart said it was examining whether it was in compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, without saying what region or time period was in question.

 “It is an open question as to whether Wal-Mart’s prior disclosure would have allowed investors to understand the magnitude of potential exposure,” said Lehtman, whose firm handles Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases.

 ‘Anti-Corruption Program’

 Alisa Finelli, a Justice Department spokeswoman, declined to comment. John Nester, an SEC spokesman, declined to comment earlier yesterday on whether the agency plans to investigate the Wal-Mart allegations.

 The company said in an April 21 statement that it has met voluntarily with the Justice Department and the SEC to discuss the case. The company is also enhancing its audit procedures and internal controls to escalate to management possible violations of the bribery law.

 Jeff Gearhart, the company’s general counsel and corporate secretary, told employees in an April 21 memo that the alleged violations “occurred more than six years ago” and are “not a reflection of who we are or what we stand for.”

 In a separate note sent to employees yesterday, Chief Executive Officer Mike Duke said Wal-Mart is conducting an “aggressive investigation” and “will not tolerate violations anywhere or at any level of the company.” David Tovar, a company spokesman, confirmed the authenticity of both documents.

 Mexican Expansion

 The expansion of Wal-Mart de Mexico, mainly in the last decade, left the world’s largest retailer with about 20 percent of its stores in Mexico, out of more than 10,000 worldwide. Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart’s sales rose about 6 percent last year to $447 billion. Wal-Mart has more than doubled the number of stores in Mexico to 2,088 since 2008.

 The investigation may slow Wal-Mart’s growth in the country if authorities there feel pressure to show more scrutiny of its permits, Robert Carroll, an analyst at UBS AG in New York, said yesterday in a report.

 Wal-Mart de Mexico, which is 69 percent owned by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., fell 12 percent yesterday to 37.89 pesos in Mexico City, the biggest decline since May 4, 1998. The parent company’s shares slid 4.7 percent to $59.54 at the close in New York, the biggest drop since Aug. 10.

 Conference Call

 Walmex’s first-quarter net income rose 4.5 percent to 4.71 billion pesos ($357 million) from 4.5 billion a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Sales climbed 14 percent to 96.9 billion pesos, missing the average estimate of 99.7 billion pesos of five analysts polled by Bloomberg.

 Walmex CEO Scot Rank and Chief Financial Officer Rafael Matute didn’t mention the corruption investigation yesterday on a seven-minute conference call to discuss first-quarter results. As usual, the company didn’t take questions from analysts or investors on the quarterly call.

 Settlements involving the corrupt practices act are typically 1 percent to 2 percent of sales, and that would be about $4.5 billion per 1 percentage point of sales for Wal-Mart, Carroll said. FCPA investigations take 2 years to 6 years to settle, he said. The largest such settlement ever was $1.6 billion paid by Siemens AG (SIE) in 2008, he said.

 Wal-Mart executives, including then-Chief Executive Officer and current board member Lee Scott, were made aware of the bribery allegations in 2005, the New York Times reported. So was Duke, the current CEO, who at the end of that year was just taking over international operations, the article said.

 Scott didn’t return a phone call to his home.

 Congressional Scrutiny

 Two top Democrats on congressional panels yesterday moved to start a probe and request a meeting with Wal-Mart executives.

 The Times report “raises serious questions about potential violations of United States law” and “about the actions of top company officials in the United States who reportedly tried to disregard substantial evidence of abuse,” Representatives Elijah Cummings of Maryland and Henry Waxman of California, wrote in a letter to Duke.

 Cummings is the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Waxman is the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

 Wal-Mart will face pressure from shareholders to take action against any executives who didn’t act fully on the bribery allegations sooner, said Charles Elson, director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware.

 ‘It’s Problematic’

 “If this is all true, it’s problematic,” Elson said in a telephone interview. “If any officer was significantly involved, their position has to be reviewed. You have to do the investigating and determine what did the CEO know and when.”

 The Times article said the bribes may have amounted to more than $24 million in payments.

 The Times identified executive Eduardo Castro-Wright as a central figure in the expansion of the alleged payments. Castro- Wright ran Wal-Mart de Mexico as CEO from 2003 to 2005 and was president and chief operating officer of the unit from 2001 to 2003. Some of the alleged bribery took place during that time, the newspaper reported.

 In a telephone interview, Tovar declined to discuss the future of Castro-Wright, who is now a Wal-Mart vice chairman scheduled to retire July 1.

 To contact the reporters on this story: David Welch in Detroit at dwelch12@bloomberg.net; Thom Weidlich in New York at tweidlich@bloomberg.net; Seth Stern in Washington at sstern14@bloomberg.net

 To contact the editors responsible for this story: Robin Ajello at rajello@bloomberg.net; Steven Komarow at skomarow1@bloomberg.net |||||

Write a summary.

– Walmart is under criminal investigation by the Department of Justice over allegations that it doled out millions in bribes to Mexican officials in order to grow its business there more quickly, sources tell Bloomberg and the Washington Post. The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act prohibits companies from paying foreign officials in an effort to increase business, and if Walmart is found to be in violation of FCPA, the company could face executive departures, slowed expansion in Mexico and other markets, and penalties that could be "incredibly high," says one lawyer. In a note to employees yesterday, Walmart CEO Mike Duke said the company is conducting its own "aggressive investigation" into the allegations; in an earlier statement, a VP had noted that "many of the alleged activities ... are more than six years old. If these allegations are true, it is not a reflection of who we are or what we stand for." The top Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee also moved yesterday to open a probe into the incident. Walmart shares dove after the allegations came to light.


Here is a news article: TOKYO — A crucial stage in the decades-long job of decommissioning Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant began Tuesday, with operators starting to dismantle huge protective covers from one of the reactors.

 The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station suffered meltdowns in three of its six reactors after a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit the country in March 2011. The disaster killed around 16,000 people, forced some 300,000 to evacuate their homes, and left a huge area of land unusable for decades.

 The plant's operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, installed six 136-foot covers over one of the reactors in October that year to stop radioactive materials escaping.

 Related: Thousands of Fukushima Nuke Refugees to Be Allowed Home

 The operator began on Tuesday to remove the first of these covers, an essential stage before they can extract the 292 spent fuel rods inside. They hope to remove all the covers by the end of next year, and begin extracting the fuel rods in 2020. ||||| TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan on Tuesday approved an increase in compensation payments for the Fukushima crisis to 7.07 trillion yen ($57.18 billion), as tens of thousands of evacuees remain in temporary housing more than four years after the disaster.

 Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), the operator of the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear station, will receive 950 billion yen more in public funds on top of the 6.125 trillion agreed earlier, the utility and the government said.

 The increase, agreed after a request by Tepco, adds to the bill for taxpayers for the disaster in March 2011, when three reactors melted down after an earthquake and tsunami, in the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986, destroying businesses and livelihoods.

 Tepco has face a stream of legal cases seeking compensation over the disaster.

 Electricity bills for Japanese households have also risen 25 percent since the catastrophe as the country resorted to importing more fossils fuels with the gradual shutdown of all nuclear reactors for safety checks and upgrades.

 Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government and Tepco, which was bailed out by taxpayers in 2012, are undertaking an unprecedented cleanup to lower radiation levels in towns closest to the plant, although some areas will likely remain off limits for decades.

 Inside the plant, Tepco has struggled to bring the situation under control and it is estimated removing the melted fuel from the wrecked reactors and cleaning up the site will cost tens of billions of dollars and take decades to complete.

 The government plans to revoke evacuation orders for most people forced from their homes by the disaster within two years as part of a plan to cap compensation payouts and speed up reconstruction.

 (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Aaron Sheldrick and Ed Davies) ||||| This video shows various measures against dust dispersion during the dismantling work of cover panels over Unit 1 reactor building. At Unit 1, rubble from the damaged building caused by the hydrogen explosion is still scattered and needs to be removed. Cover panels were placed over the rubble to prevent the dispersion of radioactive materials, but dismantling of the panels started in July 2015 to remove the rubble. Wall pannels will be taken down around September 2016.

 Watch the video here |||||
A summary of this is?

– It's going to take decades to completely decommission the Fukushima nuclear power plant, but a critical step in that process began in earnest today, reports NBC News. One of the six 136-foot covers draped over one of the plant's nuclear reactors to keep radioactive materials from seeping out is being painstakingly removed. Tepco officials say it will take till the end of 2016 to pry all six covers off, and till at least 2020 to remove the nearly 300 spent fuel rods lurking underneath. The project, which was supposed to commence last July, was previously postponed because of fears of radiation escaping. "For the safety of Fukushima's residents, we would like the work to proceed with extra care," says the chief of a group of monitors overseeing the project. The total cost and time for the entire decommissioning assignment: tens of billions of dollars over 30 years or so, NBC notes. Meanwhile, the Japanese government today approved an increase in compensation payments to Tepco to a total of $57.2 billion, Reuters reports. That's $7.7 billion added onto the $49.5 billion in taxpayer-funded aid that Tepco had previously been approved to receive. (Check out more details about the decommissioning project on Tepco's dedicated website.)


Article:
FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2016, file photo, Miley Cyrus talks with students while campaigning for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. Cyrus told... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2016, file photo, Miley Cyrus talks with students while campaigning for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. Cyrus told Billboard magazine for a story published online on May 3, 2017, that she’s “completely clean” after... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2016, file photo, Miley Cyrus talks with students while campaigning for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. Cyrus told Billboard magazine for a story published online on May 3, 2017, that she’s “completely clean” after... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2016, file photo, Miley Cyrus talks with students while campaigning for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. Cyrus told... (Associated Press)

 LOS ANGELES (AP) — Miley Cyrus says she's "completely clean" after giving up marijuana.

 Cyrus told Billboard magazine in an April interview published online Wednesday that she hadn't smoked marijuana in three weeks. She says that's the longest she's ever gone without it.

 Cyrus also opened up about her relationship with fiance Liam Hemsworth. She says they had to "refall for each other" after their 2013 breakup.

 The 24-year-old former Disney star also discussed her performance at the MTV Music Video Awards in 2013. A scantily clad Cyrus shocked audiences with a rump-shaking performance alongside Robin Thicke.

 But she says she wasn't looking for attention by twerking on stage and was surprised by the reaction.

 Cyrus is promoting an upcoming album. Its lead single, "Malibu," is set to be released on May 11. ||||| Well above California’s Pacific Coast Highway, just off a canyon road, sits a small house with a wooden porch painted in the colors of the Pride flag. The outside is decorated with frog planters, butterfly chairs, a hot-pink pig-shaped grill, sunflowers and daisies. This is Rainbow Land, the boho recording studio whose owner, Miley Cyrus, is on this sunny April afternoon sitting cross-legged in a swivel chair before a sound board, dressed way down with unruly long hair, cutoffs and a vintage tee that reads “Malibu” on the front.

 Cyrus -- who’s about to play me 10 songs off a new album that promises to (yet again) transform one of the most inimitable, unpredictable careers in recent pop history -- is somehow animated and serene at the same time. It’s clear from the way her words tumble forth that she’s breaking a months long self-imposed “media blackout” and eager to unpack her latest thinking on everything from her alienation from hip-hop to engaging with Donald Trump’s supporters.

 “This is crazy,” she says with her signature raspy-voiced charm, “but I haven’t smoked weed in three weeks!” Cyrus -- who’s sitting across from a lighted wall plaque that reads “It’s 4:20 Somewhere” -- elaborates on why she decided to quit “for a second”: “I like to surround myself with people that make me want to get better, more evolved, open. And I was noticing, it’s not the people that are stoned. I want to be super clear and sharp, because I know exactly where I want to be.”

 Where is that, exactly? It is, among other things, on her leafy Malibu compound that includes Rainbow Land. Cyrus, 24, shares the property with seven dogs, two pigs, two miniature horses and one Australian: fiance Liam Hemsworth, the actor with whom Cyrus reunited last year after a 2013 breakup. Hemsworth bought the property in 2014, but Cyrus moved in and has left her mark on it. (She also keeps a home with her mom, Tish, in Studio City.) In Malibu, when she’s not making music or doing two hours of Ashtanga yoga daily, Cyrus says she likes nothing better than walking her dogs or grocery shopping, where she’s generally unbothered. “I love talking to people, and I approach them in a normal, ‘Don’t treat me different, ’cause I’m not’ way. That’s what started this evolution for me, getting out of my Dead Petz phase,” she says, referring to her 2015 album, the tour for which featured her in a unicorn outfit with a strap-on phallus. “People stare at me anyway, but people stare at me a lot when I’m dressed as a fucking cat.”

 On May 11, fans and haters alike will get a dose of New Miley with “Malibu,” the first single off an as-yet-untitled album coming later this year. It’s a breezy love song about Hemsworth -- gimmick-free pop-rock unlike anything she has recorded before, whether as Hannah Montana, the punky Disney princess who scored three Billboard 200 No. 1s in the ’00s; or as herself, on 2013’s daring Bangerz (another No. 1); or the straight-to-SoundCloud experiment Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz. When Cyrus sings, “I never would’ve believed you if three years ago you told me I’d be here writing this song,” she could as easily be referring to her music as to her relationship.

 While Bangerz and Petz bore the unmistakable stamps of their respective collaborators, Mike Will Made-It and Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips, the new album will be Cyrus’ most DIY to date. She wrote the lyrics and melodies herself, and producer-writer Oren Yoel (who co-wrote the Bangerz track “Adore You,” which hit No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100) plays all the instruments. Cyrus wrote one song for Hillary Clinton and another for women in the workplace, but overall, the album’s less explicitly political than it is personal. That extends to the music, which adds an unprecedented dose of twang to a mix that includes quiet acoustic turns and epic pop. “This is Miley leaning into her roots more than I’ve ever heard,” says her father, country singer and actor Billy Ray Cyrus, who tells a story of Waylon Jennings teaching a young Miley guitar chords at the kitchen table. “For her, this is honest.” It’s also a showcase for her voice, one of the most expressive in music. “My main concern isn’t radio,” says Cyrus, whose “Wrecking Ball” spent three weeks at No. 1 in 2013. “I truly don’t even listen to it.”

 Cyrus was first inspired to reach beyond her circle of “outspoken liberals” and cultivate country fans and red staters in 2016, when she began as a coach on NBC’s stalwart talent competition The Voice. (She will rejoin for season 13 this fall.) “I like talking to people that don’t agree with me, but I don’t think I can do that in an aggressive way,” says Cyrus. “I don’t think those people are going to listen to me when I’m sitting there in nipple pasties, you know?”

 After Trump was elected president, Cyrus -- who first supported Bernie Sanders and, when she won the Democratic nomination, Clinton -- launched #HopefulHippies, an initiative of her Happy Hippie youth-activism nonprofit that encourages people to “turn emotion into action.” “I have to ask myself, ‘How am I going to create real change?’” she says, “and not just fucking preach to the choir anymore.” With the new album, Cyrus hopes to reach the other side of the aisle. “This record is a reflection of the fact that yes, I don’t give a fuck, but right now is not a time to not give a fuck about people,” she says. “I’m giving the world a hug and saying, ‘Hey, look. We’re good -- I love you.’ And I hope you can say you love me back.”

 Where exactly did you write “Malibu”?

 On the way to The Voice. I drive myself everywhere, but that day I decided to Uber, and I was trying not to sing out loud because someone else was in the car.

 People might call it sentimental.

 They’re going to talk about me if I come out of a restaurant with Liam. So why not put the power back in my relationship and say, “This is how I feel”?

 After you guys broke up, you said something like, “I’m so immersed in work, I can’t even think about it.”

 Yeah, but also ’cause I needed to change so much. And changing with someone else not changing like that is too hard. Suddenly you’re like, “I don’t recognize you anymore.” We had to refall for each other.

 The new album is pretty singer-songwriter-y, no?

 Yeah. But not granola. I don’t listen to Ed Sheeran and John Mayer and stuff.

 Did folk singer Melanie Safka [with whom Cyrus performed in 2015] influence you?

 She did, and I grew up with her. But I also love that new Kendrick [Lamar] song [“Humble”]: “Show me somethin’ natural like ass with some stretch marks.” I love that because it’s not “Come sit on my dick, suck on my cock.” I can’t listen to that anymore. That’s what pushed me out of the hip-hop scene a little. It was too much “Lamborghini, got my Rolex, got a girl on my cock” -- I am so not that.

 I was torn on whether I was going to work with certain producers that I really like. But I feel if we’re not on the same page politically ... My record is political, but the sound bite doesn’t stop there. Because you can write something beautiful and you know E! News will ruin our lives and say, “This is a political record.” Because then I’m the Dixie Chicks and I’m getting my album smashed in the streets, and that’s not what I want. I want to talk to people in a compassionate, understanding way -- which people aren’t doing.

 What appealed to you about The Voice?

 I’m down for hanging with Blake [Shelton]. I actually want to take advantage of the fact that he’s there, [because] his fans don’t really take me seriously as a country artist. One, I haven’t given them that music. But I’ve got a tattoo of Johnny Cash’s autograph that he gave me when I was a little girl that says, “I’m in your corner.” Dolly Parton is my fucking godmother. The fact that country music fans are scared of me, that hurts me. All the nipple pastie shit, that’s what I did because I felt it was part of my political movement, and that got me to where I am now. I’m evolving, and I surround myself with smart people that are evolved.

 But we’ve seen the way that Madonna and Lady Gaga get asked, “Is this just another costume? Another phase?”

 I think [Madonna and Gaga] are enlightened. I fucking hate it when people can’t adjust. I used to [resist changing]. But I haven’t smoked weed in three weeks, which is the longest I’ve ever [gone without it]. I’m not doing drugs, I’m not drinking, I’m completely clean right now! That was just something that I wanted to do.

 Is it hard to not smoke?

 It’s easy, dude. When I want something, it’s fucking easy for me. But if anyone told me not to smoke, I would have not done it. It’s because it was on my time. I know exactly where I am right now. I know what I want this record to be. And not in the sense of manipulation -- wanting something from my fans or the audience, like some slimy thing -- “How do I get attention?” I never thought about that. Dude, I was shocked that people gave a fuck about the [MTV Video Music Awards in 2013, when she performed with Robin Thicke] -- the twerking, the teddy bear. It’s a totally different time, and I don’t think that would freak people out anymore.

 Our perceptions of a lot of things are changing at lightning speed. Still, there’s an audience that’s maybe a little scared of you, those who might have a tendency to vilify the “other.”

 I was talking about this with my sister [Noah], who’s 17, and she’s doing music right now. She basically grew up in L.A. She’s never known anything different. She doesn’t even know she’s open-minded, it’s the only kind of mind she has ever known. It’s mind-boggling to me that there was even a controversy around me having black dancers. That became a thing, where people said I was taking advantage of black culture, and with Mike [WiLL Made-It] -- what the fuck? That wasn’t true. Those were the dancers I liked!

 When I met Pharrell [Williams], before “Blurred Lines,” before “Happy,” people wouldn’t take meetings with me because they said, “He hasn’t had a hit in 10 years.” They wanted to put me with the Dr. Lukes of the world, the Max Martins, and put me through the fucking assembly line, and I said, “No. This is someone who actually cares about me. This is someone I feel safe with.” I got completely shut out, and I had to just trust myself. What feels right to me feels right to my fans, because they know some dude in a suit didn’t tell me to do it. And by the way, I brought “Wrecking Ball” to Luke. No one put me in the room with Luke. I had done “Party in the U.S.A.” with him, and that’s just someone I thought could handle that sound. Did you ever get to come to a Bangerz show?

 Yeah, I did.

 I was crazy about making the tongue slide work. I was so embarrassed to be on the red carpet and so many of those fucking disgusting photographers would tell me to blow a kiss, and that’s not me! I don’t want to blow you a kiss. I didn’t know what to do with my face, so I stuck my tongue out, and it became a rebellious, punk-rock thing.

 The Dead Petz track “BB Talk,” which calls out a man for his “baby talking,” seems to reject a similar kind of gender standard.

 I wish it would’ve gotten some attention. No one saw the video! It was a real rant. Dating a musician [like me] is probably the worst thing ever, because you always end up having your shit in songs. It’s just inevitable. But I’m just that way. I’m a little bit boyish. But I can also be super femme and dress as a bunny rabbit. Who I’m with has nothing to do with sex -- I’m super open, pansexual, that’s just me.

 Do you want your dudes to be dudes?

 Not even. That really grosses me out. I always get in trouble for generalizing straight men, ’cause straight men can be my worst nightmare sometimes. And I’m with a straight dude. But he’s always like, “Well, don’t call me that!” I ask him sometimes, “Do you like being a boy?” And he’s like, “I don’t really think about it.” And that’s crazy to me, because I think about being a girl all the time. I’m always like, “It’s weird that I’m a girl, because I just don’t feel like a girl, and I don’t feel like a boy. I just feel like nothing.” So when someone’s too masculine, that really grosses me out.

 But then, girls really make me sad a lot of the time too, especially right now. I think fashion has taken us a little bit downhill. I can only speak for the years that I’ve been alive, but I don’t know if it has ever been so important to “fit in.” It’s not about standing out right now. Which is so weird, because it seems like for the really unique, smart kids in this generation, it’s all about standing out. I love seeing these kids on Instagram that dress fucking dope. This whole world right now is so divided, in the arts, fashion -- everything.

 The country is certainly very divided.

 I like the way I think right now. But don’t Trump supporters like the way they think? So I’ve also got to be open with the way I approach people with my opinions. That’s the only way to make real change. And it’s not because I want to sell records! I know now the ways that don’t work. Because I went really hard during the election. But at the end of the day, we lost. We won, but because the system is fucked up, we lost. I thought, “OK. I learned my lesson on this one.”

 Did you have to go into The Voice right after Election Day?

 That next day, dude. I wanted to go to rehearsals. Liam was like, “Just don’t go. You’re not there. And you don’t know how everyone feels on that set.” Everyone’s from all different parts of the country, so he was like, “Don’t go and get into it with people right now.” Because clearly unity is what we need.

 You posted a tearful Instagram video the day after the election, and I tweeted, “Love you, Miley.” And so many alt-right dudes responded, “Are you just trying to fuck her?”

 That’s them sexualizing me, because they think that you couldn’t take me seriously. The first thing I got on my Instagram when I posted that was people saying, “You said you were going to move. When are you going to move?” It’s not time for me to leave now, dude. I’ve got to be here. I’ve got to glue this place back together, because I’m from Tennessee -- that state [went to] Donald Trump. I’m such a dreamer, and I know a lot of things that I’ve wanted to do people said weren’t possible. When I started Happy Hippie -- this is before Caitlyn Jenner transitioned, before this became something that is a part of the culture...

 Leelah Alcorn -- a 17-year-old transgender girl who committed suicide in December 2014 -- brought a new awareness to transgender issues.

 Yes. I was on a Christmas trip, and I was like, “How am I sitting here about to open presents and someone has taken their own life?” I started Happy Hippie because I never thought we would see this day where you have the Laverne Coxes of the world get not only trans roles, but female roles. And I realized the voice I had. That’s why I brought Jesse [Helt, a homeless man, to the 2014 VMAs], because it felt wrong for me to go and get an award, celebrating me getting naked and riding a fucking wrecking ball around for a day. I mean, what would I have said? “Thanks, uh... thanks to [“Wrecking Ball” video director] Terry Richardson”? That would have been so weird.

 Do you think you’ve managed to bring your politics into The Voice?

 By sitting there after the election in head-to-toe pink, while on the inside being a gender-neutral, sexually fluid person, hopefully that was saying something. I needed some sparkle in my life, to make me able to deal. Radiating love is something that is important to me -- hopefully, that is being political. |||||Summary:

– Miley Cyrus says she's "completely clean" after giving up marijuana, the AP reports. Cyrus told Billboard magazine in an April interview published online Wednesday that she hadn't smoked marijuana in three weeks. She says that's the longest she's ever gone without it. Cyrus also opened up about her relationship with fiance Liam Hemsworth. She says they had to "refall for each other" after their 2013 breakup. The 24-year-old former Disney star also discussed her performance at the MTV Music Video Awards in 2013. A scantily clad Cyrus shocked audiences with a rump-shaking performance alongside Robin Thicke. But she says she wasn't looking for attention by twerking on stage and was surprised by the reaction. Cyrus is promoting an upcoming album. Its lead single, "Malibu," is set to be released on May 11.


Write a summary based on this article:

A 12-year-old boy near Cleveland, Ohio, has reportedly seen a huge uptick in his lawn care business since he had the police called on him for cutting grass in a viral video last weekend.

 The boy, Reginald Fields, was seen in the video cutting local resident Lucille Holt’s grass when the police showed up.

 Holt, who said that it was the first time Fields had mowed her lawn, told The Hill that the yard does not have a clear property line and so the boy accidentally mowed her neighbor's property as well.

 ADVERTISEMENT

 That mistake prompted the neighbor to alert the Maple Heights Police Department, Lt. Joe Mocsiran told Fox News on Friday.

 "I guess I have a line where part of it is not my yard,” Holt said in the video she posted to Facebook on Saturday. “They called the police to tell the police that the kids were cutting their grass.”

 "They said I was cutting their grass. I didn't know it," Fields told ABC affiliate WEWS in Cleveland.

 Holt said that the neighbor had a history of calling the cops on her for seemingly innocuous incidents, like her children playing loudly in the snow.

 As of Friday afternoon, Holt’s video has garnered more than 184,000 views and over 700 shares on Facebook.

 Holt said she’s received hundreds of messages and calls from people who want to use Fields's lawn care business, called “Mr. Reggie’s Lawn Cutting Service.”

 “His business has really picked up,” Holt said, “to the point where somebody even inboxed me about doing him an online scheduling so that he won’t overbook people.”

 Holt said the young boy started the business last year in an effort to help his mom. His mother cares for his grandfather, whom Holt said uses a wheelchair. ||||| A resident in a Maple Heights, Ohio neighborhood called the police on a 12-year-old boy who is spending the summer mowing lawns.

 The boy, Reginald “Reggie” Fields, along with his siblings and cousins, were mowing a customer's lawn when Reggie accidently cut a different neighbor’s grass.

 MAINE FIREFIGHTER HELP MILITARY WIDOW, 97, ‘PROUDLY’ RAISE AMERICAN FLAG

 The mistake spurred that resident to call the Maple Heights Police Department, Lt. Joe Mocsiran confirmed to Fox News on Friday.

 "They said I was cutting their grass. I didn't know it," Reggie first told WEWS News 5.

 Mocsiran said no action was taken against Reggie.

 “A little kid is out there working hard -- heck no,” he said, explaining that it’s difficult to tell where one person’s lawn starts and another ends in the neighborhood where the incident occured.

 The situation prompted Lucille Holt, the customer whose lawn Reggie was mowing, to post a video to Facebook detailing the incident and documenting the children’s hard work.

 "I guess I have a line where part of it is not my yard. They called the police to tell the police that the kids were cutting their grass," Holt said in the video.

 “Who does that?" she asked. “I’m so angry right now, this is totally ridiculous.”

 As of Friday afternoon, the video had more than 50,000 views and 500 reactions.

 Holt’s video has caused a surge in Reggie’s business, WEWS News 5 reported, adding that people from across the city have now asked Reggie to mow their lawn.

 NORTH CAROLINA FIREFIGHTERS HELP FAMILY STRUGGLING TO FILL POOL BY USING FIRE HOSE

 "People are inboxing me like, 'how can I get in touch with these children? Where are they at? I got property I want these kids to cut,'" Holt said.

 The young boy, whose business is called “Mr. Reggie’s Lawn Cutting Service,” according to WEWS News 5, plans to use the money he earns this summer to buy new equipment to expand his business. ||||| A boy in Maple Heights is running his own business this summer cutting lawns and cleaning up yards.

 Reginald Fields, 12, is the owner of Mr. Reggie's Lawn Cutting Service. With several helping hands from his cousins, brothers and sisters, they are up with the sun every day working the neighborhood.

 That's what they were doing when someone called Maple Heights police on them.

 "They said I was cutting their grass. I didn't know it!" Reggie said.

 His customer, Lucille Holt, said she was confused when she saw police, but quickly learned the neighbors called to complain that the group cut a section of their property (about a foot where the two properties butt together) and were in their yard.

 "They said the kids cut their grass," Holt explained.

 Reggie Fields said the police said nothing to him and the kids. He finished the job and felt a little discouraged.

 "I was like, that's a shame. I didn't know," Reggie said.

 But that didn't last long.

 Lucille Holt created a Facebook post about what happened and ended up with thousands of views and hundreds of shares.

 "I guess I have a line where part of it is now my yard. They called the police to tell the police that the kids was cutting they grass," Holt said in the video.

 Now, Mr. Reggie is getting a lot of support for his new business from people who see the video and want to make sure he's never discouraged again.

 "People are inboxing me like, 'how can I get in touch with this children? Where are they at? I got property I want these kids to cut,'" Holt said.

 Reggie, his siblings and his cousins are getting calls from all over the city now.

 Reggie said he's trying to save the money he earns to buy new equipment and grow his business.

 "Just give me a call. I will be there. On time!" He said.

 As for the neighbor who called police, they called News 5 to say they saw the Facebook video, but didn't want to go on camera. |||||

– Mr. Reggie’s Lawn Cutting Service is booming—and it's all because of a viral video made after the cops were called on the company's namesake. That would be 12-year-old Reginald Fields, who WEWS explains runs a summer landscaping business in Maple Heights, Ohio, that cuts people's lawns and cleans up their yards, tapping into his siblings and cousins for help. Some trouble arose recently, however, when Fields was mowing the lawn of Lucille Holt and mistakenly ended up on a portion of Holt's neighbor's lawn where the two yards overlap. Instead of informing Reggie of the mistake, the neighbor instead called the cops, Lt. Joe Mocsiran from the Maple Heights Police Department confirmed to Fox News. Holt was outraged, and posted a video on Facebook showing the kids working hard in her yard, as well as the parked police car. She called the whole situation "ridiculous." "Who does that?" she says in the clip, before turning to one of the four children and telling him, "I'm so glad you're out here doing something positive." Mocsiran tells Fox no action was taken against the kids, and Reggie says the police never even talked to him or the other children. "[The neighbor] said I was cutting their grass," he tells WEWS. "I didn't know it." A silver lining in this story: Once Holt's video spread, Reggie—who Holt says started the business to raise extra money to help his mom, who cares for his disabled grandfather, per the Hill—started getting flooded with requests from other locals to tend to their lawns. Reggie says he'll invest whatever money he rakes in to buy more equipment for his business. "Just give me a call. I will be there. On time," he tells WEWS.


News article:

Done for good. Marc Anthony and Shannon de Lima confirmed that they're divorcing in a joint statement to Us Weekly on Sunday, December 18.

 “After much consideration, we have mutually and amicably decided to end our two-year marriage,” the couple said in the statement. “We ask for privacy during this difficult process, and no further comments will be made from either one of us about this personal matter.”

 A source previously told Us that the couple had decided to end their union earlier this year. “It just was not working and they didn’t have enough in common,” the insider said of the 48-year-old singer and the 28-year-old Venezuelan model.

 Jason Merritt/Getty Images

 The pair first began dating in 2012, just months after the Latin crooner and ex-wife Jennifer Lopez called it quits on their seven-year marriage. Anthony and de Lima wed in a romantic wedding ceremony in the Dominican Republic on November 11, 2014, after a brief break in 2013.

 In November, Anthony and Lopez, 47, surprised fans when they shared a smooch on stage at the 17th annual Latin Grammy Awards. And a second insider revealed that the kiss may have been for more than show, telling Us that Anthony is “still in love” with his ex and “is trying to get back together with her.”

 “As soon as he heard Jennifer split with Casper [Smart], he wanted out [of his marriage],” the source said. Lopez and Smart, 29, called off their relationship this past August after more than four years of dating.

 Still, the path to a possible reconciliation may not be so easy. In April, Lopez got candid with W magazine when she revealed that she knew her marriage to Anthony was doomed from the start.

 “When my marriage ended, it was not easy to find forgiveness,” the Shades of Blue actress said. “It wasn’t the dream that I had hoped for, and it would have been easier to fan the flames of resentment, disappointment and anger. But Marc is the father of my children, and that’s never going away. So I have to make things right. And that is, by far, the hardest work I do.”

 The former couple share 8-year-old twins Emme and Max.

 Want stories like these delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter!

  ||||| Marc Anthony and Shannon de Lima attend the Billboard Latin Music Awards at Bank United Center on April 28, 2016 in Miami.

 UPDATE: According to legal documents obtained by The Dirty, the "Vivir mi vida" singer filed for divorce from Shannon de Lima in a Florida court on Dec. 16.

 After weeks of uncorroborated rumors, Marc Anthony has officially announced that he’s splitting up with Shannon de Lima, his wife of two years.

 “After much consideration, we have mutually and amicably decided to end our two year marriage,” Anthony in a statement released Sunday (Dec. 18). “We ask for privacy during this difficult process, and no further comments will be made from either one of us about this personal matter.”

 Rumors about Anthony separating from de Lima surfaced following his Latin Grammy presentation with ex-wife Jennifer Lopez on Nov. 17, after which the two kissed on live television.

 At the time, however, Anthony did not confirm the rumors were true. While he is executive producing Lopez’s upcoming Spanish-language album, the two have no plans to get back together as a couple.

 Anthony and de Lima, a 28-year-old Venezuelan model, were married in 2014. They have no children together. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Marc Anthony has confirmed he's splitting from his wife of two years, 28-year-old model Shannon de Lima, reports Billboard. Rumors surfaced that the pair were done after Anthony, 48, shared an on-stage kiss with ex-wife Jennifer Lopez at the Latin Grammys in November, a few months after Lopez broke up with her boyfriend of four years, Casper Smart. Anthony and de Lima—who began dating months after Anthony and Lopez broke up in 2011, and wed in 2014—only say that they came to the decision "mutually and amicably" after "much consideration," reports Us Weekly.


Write an article based on this summary:

– Katherine Heigl suffered the worst opening weekend of her career as audiences forgot in droves to go see Unforgettable, but still managed to come out ahead of Christian Bale's latest, the apparently controversial The Promise. Per the Hollywood Reporter, Fate of the Furious again came out on top, with another $38.6 million on the heap. The Boss Baby continued to coo with another $12.75 million and second place, while Beauty and the Beast took third and $9.98 million, reports Box Office Mojo. Born in China zipped to No. 4 with $5.1 million. But the real debut disasters were Unforgettable with $4.8 million and seventh place, and The Promise with $4.1 million and ninth. Adding particular insult to Bale's injury was the $100 million price tag of his film; Unforgettable, meanwhile, cost a much more attainable $12 million to make, notes the Reporter. These are the biggest box-office disasters of all time.)

Some movies just don't draw the crowds. Unfortunately for the film studios, that means major losses when the movies they've produced bring in a worldwide gross significantly lower than it cost to make them. What are biggest film flops? Titles like Cowboys & Aliens, The Lone Ranger, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, and The Adventures of Pluto Nash. have all been huge box office busts.

 Movies have the ability to make us feel. They make us want to believe, be inspired, and live vicariously through the stories we see on screen. But often movies that studios bet on to make us feel some sort of connection fail... big time.

 These biggest film flops provide the kind of escapism that studios hope people seek in entertainment. But often times it is simply the wrong property, or the wrong mix of actors, and the movie falls flat and fails to draw an audience. Or, the movie’s budget is so large, it simply can not make back its money. These movies may vary in their genre but they are all equally terrible and failed to earn big at the box office.

 Source ||||| 'Unforgettable' marks a career worst for Katherine Heigl in opening to $4.8M, while Christian Bale-starrer 'The Promise' debuts to a paltry $4.1 million after costing $100 million to make.

 Universal's The Fate of the Furious left the competition in the dust at the North American box office, grossing $38.7 million in its second weekend for a 10-day domestic total of $163.6 million and $908.4 million globally.

 The action movie fell 61 percent in North America, a fairly good hold for the front-loaded franchise. Fate of the Furious is also doing massive business overseas, where it earned another $163.4 million for a foreign total of $744.8 million — led by China with an astounding $318 million.

 Back in the U.S., The Boss Baby placed No. 3 with $12.8 million for a domestic cume of $137 million and $358.1 million worldwide, followed by Beauty and the Beast with $10 million for a global total of $1.1 billion.

 Among the fresh crop of offerings, it was nothing short of a car crash, save for Disney's nature documentary Born in China. The doc earned $5.1 million from 1,508 theaters to place No. 4 and come in ahead of the other new films.

 Warner Bros.' female-centric thriller Unforgettable, starring Katherine Heigl, debuted to a mere $4.8 million from 2,417 locations, marking a career worst for Heigl for a nationwide opening. "It just didn't resonate with our intended audience," said Warner Bros. domestic distribution chief Jeff Goldstein.

 Helmed by veteran producer Denise Di Novi in her feature directorial debut, Unforgettable, placing No. 7, stars Heigl as a jilted woman whose jealousy of her ex-husband's new wife turns pathological. Rosario Dawson and Geoff Stults also star.

 If there's any solace, it is that the film only cost $12 million to make.

 The same can't be said for Armenian genocide drama The Promise, directed by Terry George and starring Christian Bale alongside Oscar Isaac. The big-budget movie bowed to $4.1 million from 2,251 theaters after costing a hefty $100 million to produce. The pic was fully financed by the late Kirk Kerkorian, who was of Armenian descent.

 Open Road is handling The Promise domestically. The filmmakers say the movie has succeeded in raising awareness about the Armenian genocide regardless of its box-office performance, and that a $20 million donation will help create The Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA School of Law.

 The two other new films, action-comedy Free Fire and sci-fi thriller Phoenix Forgotten, had smaller footprints than their brethren but still disappointed.

 Phoenix Forgotten, coming in at No. 11 with $2 million from 1,592 cinemas, tells the story of three teenagers who disappear after trying to solve the mystery behind the 1997 UFO phenomenon knows as the Phoenix Lights. Ridley Scott, Wes Ball, Courtney Solomon and Mark Canton produced the movie, with Cinelou distributing.

 British helmer Ben Wheatley's Free Fire, a send-up of vintage action movies, grossed $1 million from 1,070 theaters for indie distributor A24. The pic, placing No. 18, stars Brie Larson, Sharlto Copley, Armie Hammer, Cillian Murphy and Jack Reynor.

 Among other specialty fare, Fox Searchlight's Gifted crossed $10 million after earning another $4.5 million from 1,986 theaters.

 James Grey's The Lost City of Z expanded into a total of 614 theaters in its second weekend, earning $2.1 million to place No. 10. |||||


Article:
Worldwide Cost of living index 2014 report

 Complete the registration form opposite to download a copy of the Worldwide cost of living index 2014.

 The Worldwide Cost of Living is a twice yearly Economist Intelligence Unit survey that compares more than 400 individual prices across 160 products and services. These include food, drink, clothing, household supplies and personal care items, home rents, transport, utility bills, private schools, domestic help and recreational costs.

 The survey itself is a purpose-built internet tool designed to help human resources and finance managers calculate cost-of-living allowances and build compensation packages for expatriates and business travellers. The survey incorporates easy-to-understand comparative cost-of-living indices between cities. The survey allows for city-to-city comparisons, but for the purpose of this report all cities are compared to a base city of New York, which has an index set at 100. The survey has been carried out for more than 30 years.

 Download the report to find out which cities topped the list of the most expensive places to live and which are the cheapest.

 Purchase the full report now

 The Economist Intelligence Unit helps business leaders prepare for opportunity, empowering them to act with confidence when making strategic decisions. We are renowned for our comprehensive global coverage and use the best analytical minds to examine markets, countries and industries with a level of insight you cannot find elsewhere. Uncompromising integrity, relentless rigour and precise communication underpin everything we do. We are meticulous with every analysis, every study, every projection and every commentary that carries the EIU brand. Our reputation for trusted business intelligence depends on it. Crystallise your thinking and see greater possibilities with business intelligence from the EIU–the most assured way to prepare for opportunity. ||||| Singapore is now the most expensive city in the world, according to the latest study by the Economist Intelligence Unit. -- ST FILE PHOTO: DESMOND WEE

 Singapore is now the most expensive city in the world, according to the latest study by the Economist Intelligence Unit. This is mainly due to the strong Singapore dollar and the high cost of cars, utilities and clothes, the research firm said.

 "Singapore's rising price prominence has been steady rather than spectacular. The city-state was 18th most expensive ten years ago and has actually seen the cost of living compared with New York City decline over the last 12 months," it said in its report on Tuesday.

 "However, over the last decade a 40 per cent currency appreciation, coupled with solid price inflation, has consistently pushed Singapore up the ranking."

 The EIU Worldwide Cost of Living survey compares the cost of living in various cities around the world against that of New York. |||||Summary:

– Tokyo, rated the world's most expensive city last year by the Economist Intelligence Unit, has dropped out of the top five thanks to the soaring cost of living in other cities, including the new No. 1, Singapore. The city-state was sent to the top of the list by its strong currency and the sky-high cost of running a car, reports the BBC, which notes that Singapore is also the most expensive place in the world to buy clothes. Paris, Oslo, Zurich, and Sydney also made the top five out of 131 cities ranked, with Tokyo falling to sixth place. Researchers say Singapore's rise to the top from 18th most expensive a decade ago has been "steady rather than spectacular," the Straits Times reports. The cheapest cities included major Indian cities like Mumbai and New Delhi, as well as Damascus, Syria, where civil war has apparently caused prices to plunge.


Here is a news article: Marie Joseph went swimming in the pool at Lafayette Park Sunday with friends. Her body was found floating on the surface of the water Tuesday night.

 Police are now trying to determine how she died and if her body was in the water all that time.

 Teenagers who entered the poolside area at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Pool at Lafayette Park at 10 p.m. Tuesday called police to report a body floating there. The area was closed and locked at the time, and police are investigating how the teenagers got inside.

 The body has been positively identified as Joseph, Chief Daniel Racine said at a press conference held Wednesday afternoon.

 “There doesn’t appear to be anything suspicious about this as of right now,” District Attorney Sam Sutter said. “But the refrain you will be hearing from us, constantly, is that this is a matter under investigation.”

 Joseph, 36, of Fall River, had not been reported missing, Racine said, but friends and family had not seen her since Sunday.

 Investigators began looking for her after park personnel told them they found clothing, a cell phone and a Massachusetts identification card left behind at the pool when they closed for the night on Sunday.

 Detectives spoke with a 9-year-old boy, a neighbor to Joseph, who went to the pool with her and a group from the neighborhood Sunday afternoon.

 “He went down the pool slide with Marie acting as a chaperone,” Racine said. “She, unexpectedly, went down the slide behind him.”

 Joseph collided with him in the water, Racine said. The boy told detectives he did not see Joseph again after that collision.

 The water under the slide is 12 feet deep.

 Police now are trying to determine if Joseph drowned on Sunday, if her body remained in the water from Sunday to Tuesday and how, if she was in the water, she was not seen.

 The state Department of Conservation and Recreation owns and operates the pool, which opened for the season on Saturday. The pool was closed Wednesday, and environmental police officers posted outside the pool.

 The DCR announced Wednesday that all 30 of its deepwater pools will be closed during a review of the operational procedures over the next 24 to 48 hours.

 Edward Lambert Jr., the former Fall River mayor and current DCR commissioner, issued a statement Wednesday saying the pool's entire staff “has been placed on administrative leave.

 "On behalf of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, we express our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Marie Joseph," Lambert said. "We will continue to cooperate fully with local and state law enforcement during their ongoing investigation."

 The pool is surrounded by a 7-foot chain link fence. When a DCR pool is closed for the day, the pool staff order swimmers out of the water and perform a full inspection of the pool and the surrounding area before locking up the site for the night, DCR spokeswoman S.J. Port said. The search includes the bathrooms and changing areas.

 Additional questions about the incident were referred to the Fall River Police.

 The investigation is continuing, Racine said. Investigators are waiting for the results of an autopsy to determine the cause of death, Sutter said.

 “As of right now, so much is not determined,” Sutter said. “We do have a tragic death. It does appear it happened Sunday afternoon.

 “Other than that, we have few answers.”

 Email Kevin P. O’Connor at koconnor@heraldnews.com. ||||| The body of a 36-year-old woman was pulled from a state-run pool in Fall River Tuesday night, apparently after being in the water since Sunday, prompting the temporary closure of all state-operated deep-water pools in Massachusetts while officials investigate, authorities said.

 It was not clear yesterday if any swimmers noticed the woman’s body between Sunday and Tuesday. The Herald News, a local newspaper, ran a photo in Tuesday’s paper showing swimmers in the water on Monday.

 Law enforcement officials identified the woman as Marie Joseph of Fall River.

 Fall River police Lieutenant Roger LaFleur said in a statement that officers went to Vietnam Veterans Memorial Swimming Pool at Lafayette Park at about 10 p.m. Tuesday and pulled Joseph from the water. She was taken to a hospital where she was later pronounced dead.

 Edward M. Lambert Jr. — commissioner of the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, which operates the pool — said in a statement yesterday that all 30 of the agency’s deep-water pools will close for 24 to 48 hours while investigators review safety procedures.

 High temperatures around the state will range from the low 70s to the low 80s today and tomorrow, according to the National Weather Service in Taunton.

 Gregg Miliote, a spokesman for the Bristol district attorney’s office, said in a phone interview that people walking by the pool late Tuesday night spotted Joseph’s body floating in the water.

 Fall River Police Chief Daniel Racine said during a news conference yesterday that a 9-year-old boy that Joseph was watching at the pool on Sunday told police she had an accident on a water slide.

 The boy stated that “Marie unexpectedly slid down the slide landing on top of him,’’ Racine said.

 “He further stated he believed Marie went under the water and did not surface.’’

 Bristol District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter, who was also at the press conference yesterday, said: “We’re not certain about anything, other than the fact that we have a death and that this person was at the pool, and what took place with respect to the slide. Everything beyond that is absolutely under investigation.

 “We do have a tragic death,’’ Sutter said. “And it does appear [that] it took place Sunday afternoon at some point.’’

 He said the sequence of events after Joseph went underwater and did not resurface was unclear.

 “Exactly who the boy spoke to and what that person did and what happened next, this is the beginning stages of the investigation,’’ Sutter said.

 Miliote said Joseph’s death did not appear to be suspicious. The cause of death is unknown pending an autopsy by the state medical examiner.

 Phone numbers listed for Joseph were not in service yesterday. Numbers for her relatives could not be located.

 Lambert said the entire staff of the Veterans pool has been placed on administrative leave pending the review.

 He also expressed “deepest condolences’’ to Joseph’s friends and family.

 “We will continue to cooperate fully with local and state law enforcement during their ongoing investigation,’’ he said.

 Joseph D. Camara, a Fall River city councilor, said in a brief phone interview that while many residents use the pool regularly, a temporary closure during the review makes sense.

 “I think this is a very serious matter, and I certainly don’t want the pool to be open while the [authorities] are doing their investigation,’’ Camara said. “It’s just the way it’s going to be.’’

 Camara also said he felt badly for Joseph and her family.

 “It’s a tragic situation,’’ said Camara.

 B.J. Fisher — director of health and safety at the American Lifeguard Association, a Virginia-based training and certification agency for guards — said in a phone interview that finding a body in a pool days after a drowning is unusual but not unprecedented.

 “A lot of times what will come into play is . . . the turbidity of the water,’’ meaning that the water is not clear, making it impossible to see the bottom of the pool.

 He said he could not speak for the case in Fall River because he had not been aware of it.

 “The problem with drownings is that they’re silent,’’ Fisher said. “They can happen in a matter of seconds.’’

 Globe correspondent Katherine Landergan contributed to this report. Andersen can be reached at tandersen@globe.com.

 © Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company. |||||
A summary of this is?

– An inexplicable one from the Boston area: Police think a 36-year-old woman drowned in a public pool on Sunday and was not pulled from the water until Tuesday night, reports the Boston Globe. Nobody noticed the body in the interim, apparently. The victim is 36-year-old Marie Joseph, who went to the Fall River pool with a neighborhood group on Sunday, reports the local News Herald. A 9-year-old boy, her neighbor, tells police that Joseph went down a pool slide, landed on top of him, and went under. He never saw her surface. Somehow, Joseph's body was not spotted until Tuesday night, when passersby saw her floating in the water. The pool had been open on Monday, too. "We’re not certain about anything, other than the fact that we have a death and that this person was at the pool, and what took place with respect to the slide," says an assistant district attorney. "Everything beyond that is absolutely under investigation."


Article:
Meet Mark Block, Herman Cain's top adviser and the newest YouTube star of the 2012 presidential campaign.

 Block is the star of the video below, which was posted to Cain's account, and shows the former Wisconsin political operative reflecting on the campaign and puffing on a cigarette. It ends with a shot of Cain giving a sidelong smile to the camera as the song "I Am America" plays.

 “We’ve run a campaign like nobody’s ever seen," Block says in the video. "But then, America’s never seen a candidate like Herman Cain.”

 It took about 10 seconds for someone to scoop up the Twitter account @FakeMarkBlock and add this bio: "Herman Cain COS. Smoker. Post modern genius." ||||| “We’ve run a campaign like nobody’s ever seen,” says Mark Block, Herman Cain chief of staff and protagonist of his latest ad, which dropped today online. He may be right, because it has been quite a while, if ever, since we’ve seen an ad like this. A close up of Block speaking takes up most of the time, giving the impression that this is a normal campaign spot, until he concludes that “together we can do this. Together we can take this country back.” Then things get weird.

 The end of the sentence prompts the beginning of a dramatic song with a woman proclaiming “I AM AMERICA” (it’s a song we’ve heard before, by Krista Branch), and, for some reason, serves a cue for Block to reveal in slow motion that he is smoking a cigarette. He takes a breath and blows nicotine into the camera while Branch sings the chorus of her song. A profile of Herman Cain then fades into view, concluding one of the most bizarre 5-10 second chunks of film in some time.

 RELATED: This Happened: Herman Cain Sings Pizza Ode To Tune Of John Lennon’s Imagine

 Of course, everything Block previously had to say fades almost immediately from memory as he reveals this new riddle. Why is he smoking– a more or less unpopular practice, particularly for millennials– in this ad? The only answer the audience gets is that he is smoking because “I am America, once voice, united we stand,” or something. Is this ad secretly not pro-Herman Cain, but actually anti-Mike Bloomberg? Who knows, but it will definitely be a water cooler topic for the next few days.

 Watch the new Herman Cain ad below:

 Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com ||||| no he cain't Five Theories About the Bizarre New Herman Cain Campaign Ad [Updated]

 We've gotten used to being baffled by Herman Cain on an almost daily basis, but a new ad his campaign released last night really takes things to a new level. Coinciding with a new New York Times/CBS News poll that shows Cain still leading the GOP field  25 percent to 21 percent over Mitt Romney  the 56-second ad is simply one of the strangest you'll ever see. It consists mostly of Cain's unknown, mustachioed chief of staff, Mark Block, staring straight into the camera and saying patriotic, optimistic things about the Cain candidacy. The real weirdness, though, takes place in the ad's final fifteen seconds. First, Block takes a long, slow drag of a cigarette as a painfully cheesy tea party anthem begins to play. Then we see a close-up of Cain turning to the camera and very slowly breaking into a smile. In the words of one YouTube commenter who we're not going to try to top, "I imagine Herman Cain is closing the curtains behind him at that shady motel, turning slowly, and making that creepy smile at a scared prostitute on the bed."

 The whole ad is odd, but it's the cigarette that has most people talking. So let's think about why it might have been included. Here are five theories, in order of least plausible to most plausible.

 5. Over at Salon, Steve Kornacki suggests that the "smoking shot ... could represent Cain’s defiant response to recent media scrutiny of his three-year run in the late 1990s as the head of the National Restaurant Association, during which time he aligned the lobbying group with the tobacco industry." Maybe! But that's a pretty obscure reference, and Cain doesn't tend to obsess about the media as much as some other GOP politicians.

 4. The smoking scene was another way to signal that Cain is not your normal, focus-grouped, politically correct politician. His chief of staff will smoke a cigarette like he's a rogue cop in a film noir, and he doesn't care if the anti-tobacco groups or the liberal nanny-staters whine about it.

 3. Herman Cain is trying to appeal to people like Mark Block. He's white, he has a mustache, he has a Midwestern accent, and yes, he smokes cigarettes. In short, he looks and sounds like someone from the SNL Da Bears sketches. And he believes in Herman Cain. Come on in, working class Republicans  the water's fine!

 2. The smoking scene guaranteed that the ad would become viral. The Cain campaign knew that the mainstream media would throw a hissy fit over the inclusion of cigarette in a campaign ad, and they were 100 percent correct! Look  we're talking about it right now!

 1. All of the previous theories assume that the Cain campaign  by which we mean Cain, Block, and, we don't know, maybe that random accountant in Cleveland that helped Cain craft the 9-9-9 plan?  made conscious, deliberate decisions about the content of the ad. But maybe that's giving them too much credit. Cain hadn't even thought about his position on abortion until a few days ago  how hard could he have thought about the cigarette scene in his web ad? He probably just thought it looked cool.

 Update: The Smoking Man, Mark Block, told Fox News this afternoon that there was no deeper meaning to the smoking scene (ding ,ding, ding, Theory Number One!):

 “The message behind the ad was to are supporters that we’re on a roll. We’re excited about what’s happening. There was no subliminal message. In fact, I personally would encourage people not to smoke. It’s just that I’m a smoker. A lot of the people on the staff said ‘Just let Block be Block."

 However, he soon added:

 “I tell you, you walk into a veteran’s bar in Iowa and they’re sitting around smoking and you know we are resonating with them. I’m not the only one that smokes in America for God’s sake." ||||| Topics: 2012 Elections, Opening Shot

 Sometime last night, Herman Cain’s latest campaign video exploded onto the Web, and immediately the debate began: What the hell was that?

 Titled “Now is the time for action!” the 56-second spot, which doesn’t seem designed to air as a paid television ad, features Mark Block, who is Cain’s campaign manager, offering a series of broad platitudes about how “Herman will put ‘united’ back in ‘United States of America’” and how “together we can take our country back.”

 The decision to use Block, who seems slightly uncomfortable in front of the camera and whose name and face are unrecognizable to virtually every Republican primary voter, is curious, but what makes the video so bizarre is what happens when he finishes speaking: With an aggressive soundtrack rising in the background, Block raises a cigarette to his mouth, takes a drag, and puffs out a cloud of smoke. Watch it for yourself:

 The intent of the smoking shot is unclear, but it could represent Cain’s defiant response to recent media scrutiny of his three-year run in the late 1990s as the head of the National Restaurant Association, during which time he aligned the lobbying group with the tobacco industry. As the New York Times reported in a profile of Cain that ran over the weekend:

 Under Mr. Cain’s leadership, the restaurant association opposed higher taxes on cigarettes and the use of federal money to prosecute cigarette makers for fraud — positions that Matt Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said had little to do with the restaurant business. And Mr. Cain argued vociferously that the decision about whether to go smoke-free was the province of individual restaurant owners, not the government. “The restaurant industry literally became the alter ego of the tobacco industry during that period of time,” Mr. Myers said in an interview. The restaurant association relied heavily on R. J. Reynolds for financial support, records show. Mr. Meyne, the Reynolds senior director of public affairs, served on the restaurant group’s board, and Mr. Cain served on the board of Nabisco, which had earlier merged with Reynolds.

 There will be those who claim the video represents savvy political marketing. After all, it was an instant viral sensation, with reporters, pundits and political professionals furiously passing it around on Twitter, and it will surely be replayed and dissected by all of the cable news channels today. Certainly, this is how Cain’s campaign is trying to spin it, telling NBC News last night that they’re pleased with the attention it’s receiving. In this sense, it’s a direct descendant of the “demon sheep” Web video that Carly Fiorina released during her campaign for the GOP Senate nomination in California last year; it was widely ridiculed, but Fiorina did end up winning the primary. It’s also not the first time that Cain has released an unconventional campaign video. There was, for instance, this from late August: But back then, Cain was barely registering in the polls and the adage that any publicity is good publicity truly applied. Now, though, he’s running near the top of the GOP field nationally and in Iowa. His main challenge no longer involves attracting attention; he’s suddenly getting more of it than he knows what to do with. Instead, he needs to overcome the profound skepticism of opinion-shaping Republican leaders over his seriousness and staying power as a national candidate. But pushing out a video that reeks of amateurism seems almost guaranteed to reinforce their doubts. This is consistent with how Cain has handled the spotlight since surging to the front of the pack two weeks ago. In a nationally televised debate, he offered an incoherent defense of his 9-9-9 tax plan when his rivals ganged up on him, then faded into the background for the rest of the night. A few days later, he caused a stir by seemingly arguing in favor of abortion rights, an inexplicable self-inflicted wound for a candidate who has cultivated support from culturally conservative Christians. And he may have made matters worse over the weekend by alienating a key gathering of social conservatives in Iowa. Christian Heinze, who tracks the GOP race for the Hill, perfectly captured how the last week has gone for Cain in a series of screen shots from Fox News, where Cain appeared four times in recent days to “clarify” problematic statements. Now he’s gotten into a war of words with Karl Rove, who recently declared that Cain is creating an image of “not being up to the task” of running for president. And, of course, Cain’s utter lack of a meaningful campaign footprint in any early primary and caucus states continues to invite the impression that he’s mainly interested in selling books and becoming a political celebrity — not actually winning. If that’s what he’s trying to do, of course, then “Now is the time for action!” really is a brilliant video. But if the rap on Cain is wrong and he actually is trying to win the GOP nomination, then it’s just the latest in a long lone of baffling and utterly counterproductive moves.

 Continue Reading

 Close |||||Summary:

– Herman Cain's new campaign video is generating lots of attention, but not because of 9-9-9 or 9-0-9 or anything remotely related to policy. It's all about a cigarette: The video (it's in the gallery at left) features chief of staff Mark Block praising his boss for about half a minute. Then the camera moves in for a slow close-up of Block smoking a cigarette and exhaling, which fades into a profile of Cain. All in all, it's "one of the most bizarre 5- (to) 10- second chunks of film in some time," writes Frances Martel at Mediaite. What gives? At Salon, Steve Kornacki suggests it might be Cain's defiant response to a New York Times article that noted he buddied up to the tobacco industry when he led the National Restaurant Association. (But if Cain is actually serious about winning the nomination, it's a "baffling" video, adds Kornacki. Read his full post.) One thing is clear, however: "Block is the newest YouTube star of the 2012 presidential campaign," writes Alexander Burns at Politico. He's even got a fake Twitter site now. And real Mark Block isn't a fan. Click for more theories on why the cigarette shot was included.