– China is demanding that Canada free Meng Wanzhou immediately or pay a "heavy price," but the Huawei CFO and her lawyers are trying to make a case for release that isn't based on threats, according to court documents released Sunday. In a bail application, Meng states that she suffers from hypertension and was treated in a hospital after she was detained Dec. 1, reports Reuters. The court documents state that Meng's family gave assurances that she would remain in Vancouver, where they own two homes, if she was granted bail while fighting proceedings to extradite her to the US. She was detained at the request of US authorities, who accuse her of violating sanctions on Iran. Meng says she has longstanding ties to Vancouver and still spends at least a few weeks there every year. Court documents note that Meng would surrender her travel documents if granted bail. "The applicant cannot board an airplane without a passport, and the only country to which she could flee via car is the very country that seeks to extradite her," the bail application states. The court documents describe the US fraud case against Meng, which involve her "control" of an entity called Skycom, which allegedly broke sanctions between 2007 and 2013, as resting "wholly on her reliance on a PowerPoint presentation prepared by others," Global News reports. Canadian prosecutors are arguing that Meng is a flight risk with "virtually inexhaustible resources." The hearing resumes Monday. (The Meng arrest could throw a wrench in US-China trade talks.)

Expand this summary.

Newly released court documents from the bail hearing for Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou offer a closer look at the executive’s connection to Vancouver and her possible coming legal defence.

 Meng was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 1 at the request of U.S. authorities, who want her extradited to face fraud charges related to alleged violations of sanctions against Iran.

 She remains in custody in Vancouver pending the outcome of her bail hearing.

 READ MORE: Exclusive: Police called to attempted break in at Vancouver property owned by Huawei CFO

 Vancouver connection

 Global News combed through hundreds of pages of documents released this weekend, including affidavits filed by both Meng and her husband Xiaozong Liu.

 The affidavits reveal the couple owns two homes in Vancouver.

 One home is at 4005 West 28th Ave., purchased in 2009 and valued at $5.6 million in 2017, and one is at 1603 Matthews St., purchased in 2016 and valued at $16.3 million in 2017, which they claim is currently under renovation for the family’s use.

 WATCH: Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou seeks bail citing health concerns

 The filings reveal the mother of four seeks to live at the 28th Avenue home if granted bail, and say her husband, daughter and extended family would move to the city to live with her. They also offer the homes’ equity as collateral against bail.

 The documents also speak to Meng and her family’s 15-year connection to Vancouver.

 The documents reveal two of her children attended school in the city between 2009 and 2012 while her husband completed a master’s degree there.

 READ MORE: Canada set for ‘penalty box’ with China over arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou: former diplomat

 “Even after the children stopped attending school in Vancouver, my husband and younger children spent many weeks, sometimes months, here during the summer,” states Meng’s affidavit.

 “Since approximately 2010, my in-laws typically stay at our home in Vancouver for multiple months in the summer … I always try to spend at least 2-3 weeks in Vancouver every summer.”

 Coming legal strategy

 While Meng’s case has not even completed its bail hearing phase, never mind extradition proceedings, the court filings hint at Meng and Huawei’s legal strategy ahead of a potential U.S. court case.

 The submission summarizes the U.S. goverment’s case as alleging that Huawei “effectively ‘controlled’ an entity called Skycom” until about 2014, and that it had operated in violation of sanctions against Iran at some point between 2007 and 2013, while defrauding U.S. banks by misrepresenting its relationship with the smaller company.

 The submission highlights a specific date upon which fraud is alleged to have occurred, Sept. 3, 2013, in which Meng gave a PowerPoint presentation to an unnamed financial institution.

 WATCH: Who is Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s CFO?

 In it, Meng is alleged to have misrepresented Huawei’s ownership and control of Skycom and its compliance with U.S. laws.

 The slide in question refers to the fact that Huawei was once a shareholder in Skycom, and that Meng sat on the company’s board “to ensure trade compliance.”

 It is alleged that “because the applicant used the word “I” in the presentation, she must have had personal knowledge of the factual accuracy of her statements,” states the document.

 “As a review of the document itself reveals, the presentation from which the U.S. authorities select excerpts indeed emphasizes Huawei’s extensive compliance programs and its efforts to comply with the complex and dynamic applicable legal regimes in the many counties it operates.”

 WATCH: BC cancels trade mission to China

 The submission further argues that even if Huawei was in violation of sanctions — which it does not concede — there is no evidence Meng was aware of it.

 “The case against the Applicant seems to rest wholly on her reliance on a PowerPoint presentation prepared by others,” it states.

 READ MORE: Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou wanted for fraud in U.S., court hears

 The submission, along with affidavits supplied by Huawei’s U.S. lawyer Bryan Harrison, also detail Huawei’s history of legal interactions with U.S. government regulators and auditors.

 WATCH: Huawei CFO’s family owns homes in Vancouver

 Meng’s bail submission refers to a report from KPMG in Huawei’s 2017 Annual Report which details the company’s “enterprise-wide commitment to compliance,” and which “lists the company’s related parties and major subsidiaries, and that list includes neither Skycom nor the entity that purchased it.”

 Harrison’s affidavit also details a series of interactions between Huawei and the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Export Enforcement (OEE) between 2013 and 2016.

 READ MORE: B.C. trade mission to end trip early, foregoing China visit, amid Huawei CFO arrest

 Harrison submits that in 2014 the OEE found no violations, that in 2016 Huawei confirmed to the OEE that it had been meeting annually with U.S. government officials between 2009 and 2014 to discuss sanctions compliance efforts, and that in 2010 and 2014 it retained U.S.-based auditors to ensure that compliance.

 Harrison’s submission also argues that there have been no lawsuits filed against Huawei by any of the financial institutions it is alleged to have defrauded or indictments against the company itself by U.S. governments.

 WATCH: U.S. wants Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou to face fraud charges

 Bail proceedings

 Meng’s bail proceedings are set to resume on Monday in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.

 Meng’s defence has submitted that she does not pose a flight risk, owing in large part to her connection to the city, along with a moral obligation to see the case through that is laid out in her affidavit.

 “My father founded Huawei and I would never do anything that would cause the company reputational damage,” the document reads.

 “I believe that breaching my bail conditions would cause such damage.”

 Crown prosecutors dispute that position, arguing that Meng has no meaningful connection to the jurisdiction, virtually inexhaustible resources and is a citizen of a country with no extradition treaty with Canada and the U.S. ||||| TORONTO/BEIJING (Reuters) - The CFO of China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] argued that she should be released on bail while awaiting an extradition hearing, citing her longstanding ties to Canada, properties she owns in Vancouver and fears for her health while incarcerated, court documents showed on Sunday.

 FILE PHOTO: Meng Wanzhou, Executive Board Director of the Chinese technology giant Huawei, attends a session of the VTB Capital Investment Forum "Russia Calling!" in Moscow, Russia October 2, 2014. Picture taken October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Alexander Bibik

 Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou is fighting to be released on bail after she was arrested on Dec. 1 in Vancouver at the request of the United States. She is also fighting the extradition request, and China has protested her arrest to U.S. and Canadian officials.

 Meng, 46, faces U.S. accusations that she misled multinational banks about Huawei’s control of a company operating in Iran. This deception put the banks at risk of violating U.S. sanctions and incurring severe penalties, according to court documents seen by Reuters. U.S. officials allege that Huawei was trying to use the banks to move money out of Iran.

 China has demanded her immediate release. The arrest has roiled global markets as investors worried it could torpedo attempts to thaw trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.

 U.S. stock futures fell 0.71 percent in early Asia trading, extending their negative tone from Friday.

 In a sworn affidavit, Meng, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, said she is innocent and will contest the allegations at trial in the United States if she is surrendered there.

 Meng said she was taken to a hospital for treatment for hypertension after being detained. She cited hypertension in a bail application seeking her release pending an extradition hearing. She also noted that she owns two homes in Vancouver worth millions of dollars each.

 BACK IN THE COURT

 Her family assured the court she would remain in Vancouver if she was granted bail, according to the court documents. Her husband said he plans to bring the couple’s daughter to Vancouver to attend school during the proceedings. Meng will be back in the court for a bail hearing on Monday.

 Huawei, the world’s biggest supplier of telecoms network equipment and second biggest smartphone seller, did not offer an immediate comment on the court documents. The company, a market leader across many countries in Europe, Asia and Africa, previously said it has complied with all applicable rules.

 Earlier on Sunday, China’s foreign ministry summoned the U.S. ambassador to lodge a “strong protest” over the arrest, and said the United States should withdraw its arrest warrant.

 Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng told U.S. ambassador Terry Branstad the United States had made an “unreasonable demand” on Canada to detain Meng while she was passing through Vancouver, China’s Foreign Ministry said.

 “The actions of the U.S. seriously violated the lawful and legitimate rights of the Chinese citizen, and by their nature were extremely nasty,” Le told Branstad.

 China urged the United States to withdraw the arrest warrant, Le added. “China will respond further depending on U.S. actions,” he said, without elaborating.

 On Saturday, Le warned the Canadian ambassador there would be severe consequences if it did not immediately release Meng. There was no immediate reaction from Canada. On Friday, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters Canada’s relationship with China was important, and the country’s ambassador in Beijing has assured the Chinese consular access will be provided to Meng.

 THE CASE

 The United States has been looking since at least 2016 into whether Huawei shipped U.S.-origin products to Iran and other countries in violation of U.S. export and sanctions laws, Reuters reported in April.

 The U.S. case against Meng involves Skycom Tech Co. Ltd, which Huawei has described as one of its “major local partners” in Iran. Huawei used Skycom’s Tehran office to provide mobile network equipment to several major telecommunications companies in Iran, people familiar with the company’s operations have told Reuters.

 In December 2012, Reuters reported that documents showed Skycom had tried to sell embargoed Hewlett-Packard computer equipment in 2010 to Iran’s largest mobile-phone operator. Reuters later reported that Skycom had much closer ties to Huawei and Meng than previously known.

 In Canadian court papers made public on Friday, an investigation by U.S. authorities found Huawei operated Skycom as an “unofficial subsidiary” to conduct business in Iran.

 Huawei said its Iran operations were “in strict compliance with applicable laws, regulations and sanctions” of the United Nations, United States and European Union, according to Canadian court documents released on Sunday.

 U.S. officials allege that Meng and other Huawei representatives misled financial institutions about Huawei’s control of Skycom, so the Chinese company could gain access to the international banking system. As a result, an unidentified financial institution cleared more than $100 million worth of transactions related to Skycom through the U.S. between 2010 and 2014, the court papers said.

 On Thursday, Reuters identified HSBC Holdings Plc as one of the banks involved in the Meng case and, citing sources, reported that the probe included possible bank fraud.

 Companies are barred from using the U.S. financial system to funnel goods and services to sanctioned entities.

 U.S. Senator Marco Rubio said on Sunday he would “100 percent absolutely” introduce a measure in the new Congress that would ban Chinese telecom companies from doing business in the United States.

 FILE PHOTO: Meng Wanzhou, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's chief financial officer (CFO), is seen in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters December 6, 2018. Huawei/Handout via REUTERS

 “We have to understand Chinese companies are not like American companies. OK. We can’t even get Apple to crack an iPhone for us in a terrorist investigation,” he told CBS “Face the Nation.”

 “When the Chinese ask a telecom company, we want you to turn over all the data you’ve gathered in the country you’re operating in, they will do it. No court order. Nothing like that. They will just do it. They have to. We need to understand that.”

 Rubio was a strong critic of China’s ZTE Corp, which pleaded guilty in 2017 to violating U.S. laws that restrict the sale of American-made technology to Iran. |||||


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 Sir Roger Bannister, the first person to run a mile in under four minutes, has died at the age of 88.

 His time of three minutes 59.4 seconds, set at Iffley Road sports ground in Oxford on 6 May 1954, stood as a record for just 46 days but his place in athletics history was assured.

 Bannister also won gold over the same distance at the 1954 Commonwealth Games and later became a leading neurologist.

 He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2011.

 A statement from his family said: "Sir Roger Bannister, died peacefully in Oxford on 3 March, aged 88, surrounded by his family who were as loved by him, as he was loved by them.

 "He banked his treasure in the hearts of his friends."

 IAAF president Lord Coe, who ran a mile world record of 3:47.33 in 1981, said: "This is a day of intense sadness both for our nation and for all of us in athletics.

 "There is not a single athlete of my generation who was not inspired by Roger and his achievements both on and off the track."

 Bannister viewed running as something to be done in his spare time away from the demands of his medical studies at the University of Oxford, but that did not prevent him reaching the biggest stages in the sport.

 He was considered for the British team at the 1948 London Olympics - just two years after taking up running as a 17-year-old - but did earn a place in the team at the 1952 Games in Helsinki, where he set a new British record en route to fourth in the 1500 metres final.

 Bannister, who used his medical knowledge to devise his own training regime and investigate the mechanical aspects of running, turned his sights on becoming the first person to run inside four minutes for the mile after the Olympics and twice went close to achieving his goal in 1953.

 American Wes Santee and Australia's John Landy were also targeting the record when Bannister finally achieved the feat in the spring of 1954.

 The organisers of the London Marathon paid tribute to Bannister with a picture of him alongside pacesetters Chris Chataway (right) and Chris Brasher when he broke the mile world record

 Bannister was helped in his achievement by Sir Christopher Chataway - who beat Bannister to the inaugural BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award later that year - and Chris Brasher, who acted as pacesetters.

 Brasher, who went on to co-found the London Marathon, died in 2003 after a short illness and Chataway died from cancer in 2014.

 Australian John Landy bettered Bannister's record the following month with a time of 3:57.9.

 The men's mark has tumbled over the years, with Britons Sebastian Coe, Steve Ovett and Steve Cram each holding the record at least once in the 1980s.

 The current mile world record is held by Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj, who ran a time of 3:43.13 seconds in Rome on 7 July 1999.

 At the end of 1954, Bannister retired from athletics to pursue his medical studies full-time and later became a consultant neurologist.

 Media playback is not supported on this device Archive: Bannister reflects on his famous achievement

 He continued to run to keep fit until he broke his ankle in a car accident in 1975, the same year he was knighted.

 He revealed he had the neurological disorder Parkinson's disease in a BBC interview in 2014.

 "I have seen, and looked after, patients with so many neurological and other disorders that I am not surprised I have acquired an illness," he said at the time.

 "It's in the nature of things, there's a gentle irony to it." |||||

– Britain's Roger Bannister, the first runner to break the 4-minute barrier in the mile, has died at age 88. Bannister's family said in a statement that he died peacefully on Saturday in Oxford. On a windy late afternoon in Oxford on May 6, 1954, Bannister ran four laps on a cinder track in 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds to crack the mythical 4-minute mile—a feat many had thought humanly impossible, reports the AP. "There is not a single athlete of my generation who was not inspired by Roger and his achievements both on and off the track," said Lord Sebastian Coe, the holder of a 3:47:33 mile he ran in 1981. Indeed, Bannister's record stood for just 46 days, but as the BBC puts it, "his place in athletics history was assured." A medical student who went on to have a long and distinguished career as a neurologist, Bannister viewed running as more of a hobby, but used his medical knowledge to inform his training and break down the mechanics of running. A few months after his record in 1954, Bannister beat Australian rival John Landy in the "Miracle Mile" or "Mile of the Century" at the Empire Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, as both men ran under 4 minutes.


News article:

Are you affected by the flooding? Please share your images with CNN iReport if you can do so safely.

 (CNN) The ferocious Blanco River surged into the Perez family's vacation home, blowing the door off its frame.

 "Oh no!" Sarah Perez cried from the second floor.

 The torrent of brown water filled the Texas house, creating a whirlpool of chairs and tables.

 "It turned the living room into a gigantic washing machine," Ernie Perez said.

 His wife wondered aloud whether she should call 911.

 "911 is not going to be able to get to us," he replied.

 The Blanco River gushed into Sarah and Ernie Perez's vacation home in Wimberley, Texas.

 Fortunately for the Perez family, firefighters were already in that part of Wimberley, Texas, to check on an elderly neighbor.

 "We see flashing lights in the distance. We saw a fire crew with two trucks and a boat," Ernie Perez said. "My brother whistles and gets their attention."

 The rescue Saturday night was like a movie, he said, with boats, lines and emergency workers ferrying his family into the dark.

 The Perez family managed to survive, but many did not.

 At least 37 people have died in the severe weather over the past five days, from either tornadoes or flooding brought on by epic rainfall. Those deaths include 17 in Texas, 14 in northern Mexico and six in Oklahoma.

 Nine people remain missing in Texas.

 And it's not over yet.

 More downpours, possible flooding on the way

 Houston, one of the hardest-hit cities in the flooding, could see more storms for at least the next five days, the National Weather Service said.

 JUST WATCHED Race to find survivors after Texas flood Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Race to find survivors after Texas flood 02:38

 What's worse: Areas farther north, including Dallas, could get another 2 to 4 inches of rain through Sunday, and parts of eastern Oklahoma will get deluged with 4 to 6 inches of rain. That means runoff could rush downstream to Houston, inundating parts of the city once again.

 Southwest of Houston, officials in Wharton, Texas, called for a voluntary evacuation on the western side of the city Wednesday as forecasters warned that the Colorado River was likely to rise above flood stage by Thursday.

 Many homes on Wharton's west side are already flooded with up to 3 feet of water, the National Weather Service said.

 In Parker County, west of Fort Worth, authorities issued a voluntary evacuation order for 250 homes along the Brazos River, which is expected to crest 3 feet above flood stage in the coming days.

 And in flood-stricken Hays County, where eight people remain missing, officials are bracing for more havoc.

 "We're very vulnerable right now," Hays County Commissioner Will Conley said. "If we were to receive a small amount of rain, we could be right back into an emergency situation."

 Tornado hits oil rig

 In the Texas Panhandle, another storm Wednesday night spawned a tornado that hit an oil rig, Julie Boydston of the Hemphill County Sheriff's Office said.

 Three people were injured, but bad weather has made it difficult to get them to hospitals.

 "We had tornadoes dropping everywhere," Boydston said. "Ambulances (are) driving through the mud."

 More bodies found

 While the mammoth flooding from this week slowly subsides, the death toll continues to rise.

 JUST WATCHED Rescuers risk their lives to save flood victims Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Rescuers risk their lives to save flood victims 03:53

 On Wednesday, crews found a boy's body on the banks of the Blanco River, Hays County officials said.

 The body of Michelle Carey Charba was identified Wednesday, police said.

 Charba was last seen near the Blanco River, as were her husband, son and parents -- all of whom remain missing, Kellye Burke, a friend of Charba's, said at a press conference Thursday.

 In Houston, after using water pumps, crews found a 31-year-old man in a car parked along an entrance ramp to U.S. 59, the city said.

 That marked the sixth death in Houston, where one person is still missing.

 In nearby Fort Bend County, deputies found a body Wednesday believed to be a 73-year-old woman who'd been missing since she failed to show up to work at a convenience store Monday night.

 The next day, her daughter spotted her car submerged in a creek. The body was found 50 yards from that spot, Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office spokesman Bob Haenel said.

 1,400 structures in Houston damaged

 In addition to hundreds of stranded vehicles, some 1,400 structures in Houston suffered severe damage as waters crept up.

 JUST WATCHED Wall of water demolished parts of Texas Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Wall of water demolished parts of Texas 02:47

 Saundra Brown recalled her daughter waking her early Sunday with news that "the bayou was rising."

 As the family rolled up their rug, someone knocked on the door asking for shelter after getting stranded in a vehicle. Soon, it became apparent nobody was going anywhere.

 "We just told everybody, 'Get on the couches,' " Brown said. "Then we put the family on the dining room table. (We moved to) the counters next. And if it was going to rise more, we'd go on the roof."

 Six hours later, it was finally safe to get their feet back on the soaked ground. The days since have been spent bunking with friends and cleaning up.

 "It wasn't fun," Brown said. "We're lucky to have a big support structure." ||||| AUSTIN, Texas Hundreds of people fled areas near Texas rivers that overflowed their banks on Thursday as the state reeled from severe storms this week that killed at least 16 people, flooded cities and set a record for the wettest month.

 The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch on Thursday stretching from south of San Antonio to Dallas, through Oklahoma, where severe weather this week killed an additional six people, and into Kansas. Thunderstorms pelted large parts of the affected region on Thursday.

 The city of Wharton, about 60 miles (100 km) southwest of Houston, issued a voluntary evacuation notice for about 300 homes along the Colorado River, where water began spilling over the banks on Thursday afternoon and was expected to rise through Friday.

 The Brazos River has flooded about 30 miles (50 km) west of Fort Worth and is expected to crest on Thursday evening. Hundreds left their homes on Wednesday as the waterway began breaching its banks, Parker County officials said.

 State climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon said on Thursday the average rainfall across the state was 7.54 inches (19 cm) in May, breaking the record of 6.66 inches (17 cm) set in June 2004, according to records that date to 1895.

 "It has been ridiculous," Nielsen-Gammon said.

 The body of a boy was recovered on Wednesday near the central city of San Marcos, Hays County officials said. The boy, who has not been identified, was thought to have been swept away in Blanco River floods that ripped houses off their foundations, county officials said.

 There were eight people missing in the county after the flooding, which started on Monday.

 The new storms could hinder rescue workers who have been searching for days for those washed away in floods along the Blanco River.

 "We are not expecting another surge of the river but it is going to shift debris piles," Kharley Smith, the county's emergency management coordinator, told a news conference.

 President Barack Obama has pledged federal support and said the U.S. government had been working with local officials.

 "They appear to have the assets they need at this stage to respond, but there’s going to be a lot of rebuilding," Obama said in Miami on Thursday during a tour of the National Hurricane Center.

 There was no damage estimate available for Texas, which has a $1.4 trillion-a-year economy and is the country's leading domestic source of energy.

 (Additional reporting by Jim Forsyth in San Antonio and Roberta Rampton in Miami; Editing by Eric Walsh and Peter Cooney) ||||| Play Facebook

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 Scores of people were rescued from flash flooding in central Texas early Friday, as emergency responders throughout the state struggled to cope with another round of storms during the wettest May on record.

 In Dallas alone, more than 200 people — all believed to be in cars — were rescued from flooding in the city overnight, according to the Dallas Office of Emergency Management. Nearly 7 inches of rain fell on the city, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths, assistant emergency management coordinator Kevin Oden told NBC News.

 Full coverage from NBC Dallas-Fort Worth

 Waterlogged highways and roads around Dallas became parking lots through the morning for drivers trying to get to work. The local Red Cross delivered Girl Scout Cookies and water to stranded drivers, reported NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.

 Officials have been closely watching rising rivers and creeks in Texas after heavy rains last weekend. At least 27 people have died and 13 went missing in flooding across the state this week. Another victim was identified Friday as Jack Howard Alter, 87, who disappeared in Houston following an attempted water rescue by emergency responders.

 The latest flooding alerts have been widespread, extending nearly 800 miles from southern Texas to central Missouri, according to The Weather Channel.

 Tarik Hawkins, a 30-year-old who works for a Dallas freight company, said he became stranded while trying to drive to work.

 Flash #flood emergency from Garland to Allen Texas until 7:15 am CDT. Travel has become impossible in many areas. pic.twitter.com/QeDUL1Yp05 — The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) May 29, 2015

 Speaking to NBC News from the side of the road, Hawkins said it had taken him two hours to drive about a mile and described the situation on the road as "very chaotic."

 He added: "It's extremely dangerous out there. I drive a Mustang and in some areas the water has been coming up to the hood. The people who have tried to drive through have become stuck, so there are tow trucks and fire trucks rescuing people.

 "I've never seen anything like this before. I have seen some severe weather, but this extremely dangerous."

 5 cars submerged in water on Northwest Hwy at Harry Hines Blvd. @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/tO0ZWugiO9 — Ellen Bryan (@EllenBryanNBC5) May 29, 2015

 Tow-truck driver Robert Levtzow, was stranded on a flooded Dallas street after responding to a police call.

 "I was trying to put in reverse to get out and it died off and the water started rising immediately," he told The Weather Channel. "I was scared, didn’t know really what to do [so] I called my wife immediately."

 Israel Ramos, 32, a tower inspector at a communications company in Dallas, said there was 3 inches of water inside his home and the street outside resembled "a river."

 He said his neighbor called the police after seeing an SUV floating down the street with a person trapped inside. "They had to be rescued by the fire department," he said.

 Officials in Johnson County, about 54 miles south of Dallas, said they had evacuated about 12 people caught in flooding overnight — including some rescued from "homes inundated with water."

 Other incidents involved vehicles and authorities instructed residents to stay off the roads for their own safety.

 Johnson County emergency management coordinator Jamie Moore told NBC News that 45 roads had been closed in the area by 3:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. ET). About an hour earlier, his agency tweeted that "rescue requests continue to flow in."

 Serious flooding ongoing from Johnson into SE Tarrant & Dallas Co. Very dangerous situation! #dfwwx pic.twitter.com/idmjzZ5z31 — NWS Fort Worth (@NWSFortWorth) May 29, 2015

 In the Austin suburb of Volente, emergency workers recovered a houseboat with 16 people aboard that went adrift in the record floodwaters. There were no injuries, fire officials said.

 Flood warnings were issued for 21 communities and flash flood warnings for six, including western Dallas, according to NBC Dallas Fort-Worth. Hail, tornadoes and thunderstorms also remained a possibility.

 About 6,700 people in Dallas County were without power as of 10 a.m. local time, with another 1,000 customers in the dark in Collin County, 1,600 in Tarrant County and 181 in Denton County.

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 The hardest-hit area on Thursday night was the corridor running from Laredo on the border with Mexico up through Dallas and over into Oklahoma City, according to The Weather Channel's Michael Palmer.

 Palmer added that the past month had been the wettest May since records began in the late 1800s.

 There has been enough rain across #Texas during May to cover the entire state nearly 8 inches deep. That's over 35 trillion gallons! #txwx — NWS Fort Worth (@NWSFortWorth) May 29, 2015

 More than 100 flights were canceled or delayed going in and out of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Friday, according to FlightAware.com.

 Dallas officials warned commuters to be extremely cautious while driving.

 "If you see water on the roadway even if you think it is 1 inch don’t attempt to drive through it ... if there are barricades up on the road, they're there for a reason," Oden told NBC News. ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. |||||
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– An Anheuser-Busch brewery in Georgia began filling its cans with something other than beer late Wednesday night to help those affected by flooding in Texas and Oklahoma. "Right now our production line is running emergency drinking water," the Cartersville brewery manager told NBC News. The brewery—one of 12 Anheuser-Busch operates in the US—has directed about 2,000 cases of 24 cans to the battered states. It's not exactly a novel move for the brewery, which partners with the American Red Cross to produce emergency water a few times each year. "There are a lot of folks in need," a Red Cross rep says. And their ranks could swell: CNN reports battered Houston could be in for five more days of storms, and up to 6 inches is expected in some areas of Oklahoma through Sunday. Flood and flash flood warnings were issued yesterday for more than 20 communities, including the Dallas area, where up to 6 inches overnight caused major flash floods; more than 100 flights in and out of Dallas-Fort Worth were canceled yesterday and today. Some 50 miles south in Johnson County, a dozen people had to be rescued overnight, in some cases from "homes inundated with water," NBC News reports. Reuters reports this month has been the wettest May on record in Texas, with the average rainfall hitting 7.54 inches to beat June 2004's 6.66 inches. The bit of good to come from the bad: As of Tuesday, only 5% of Texas was experiencing drought conditions, per the US Drought Monitor; one year ago, that figure was 71%.


In the days since two deadly bombs and the separate shootings that followed brought Boston to a standstill, the region's Muslim community has loudly condemned the violence and distanced itself from the suspects.

 The reasons behind the explosions at the Boston Marathon Monday and the shootings in Cambridge and Watertown, Mass., Friday, which resulted in four deaths and more than 170 injuries, are still unknown. Investigators are working to uncover whether the suspects, Chechen-American Muslim brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, were lone assailants or trained by a terrorist organization. It also is unclear whether their possible motives were related to politics, religion or, as some reports have suggested, struggles assimilating after immigrating to the United States nearly a decade ago.

 But after 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's capture late Friday night, less than a day after his 26-year-old brother died in Friday's shootout, Muslim communities now face a vexing question: Do they accept the men as Muslims despite the allegations against them? If so, will they give Tamerlan Tsarnaev an Islamic burial?

 Fearing retaliation, dozens of mosques and Islamic groups have distanced themselves from the brothers after friends and family described them as Muslims, and social media accounts registered in their names indicated they were interested in Islamic Chechen insurgency groups.

 Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of the two, has been described as more attuned to radical Islamic movements in recent years. Federal authorities are investigating a six-month trip he took in 2012 to Chechnya and Dagestan, Muslim-majority regions in Russia's north Caucasus with militant separatist movements.

 "I would not be willing to do a funeral for him," said Imam Talal Eid of the Islamic Institute of Boston, a community services organization that frequently arranges funeral prayers and burials in the region. "This is a person who deliberately killed people. There is no room for him as a Muslim. He already left the fold of Islam by doing that. In the Quran it says those who will kill innocent people, they will dwell in the hellfire."

 Imam Suhaib Webb of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, the city's largest mosque, said he had not been contacted about a burial. A smaller mosque in Cambridge with the same owners, but a separate administration, the Islamic Society of Boston, confirmed in a statement Saturday that the suspects occasionally attended prayers there. But a representative from the Cambridge mosque said in an email it has had "no contacts or discussion" about a funeral.

 "He should be buried according to the religious tradition he adheres to. His case is with God. We can judge him as best we can according to the savage and insane actions he has done, but in the end, his soul is going to be brought before God," said Webb. "I don't think I could ethically lead a prayer for him, but I would not stop people from praying upon him."

 Islamic tradition dictates that the body of the deceased is tended to as soon as possible after death, preferably before sunset, with a ritual washing. The washing is often done by family members of the same-sex or a spouse, and is followed by shrouding in a white cloth, funeral prayer gathering and burial. Boston has at least two washing facilities for Islamic rites -- one at a general funeral home Watertown where Eid helps facilitate Islamic funeral services, and one at Al-Marhama, an organization that shares space with Webb's mosque.

 "We have not discussed it," a representative from Al-Marhama said regarding a funeral for Tsarnaev.

 In the U.S., few Islamic cemeteries exist, but Muslims often buy sections of cemeteries to reserve for Islamic burials. There are at least four such sections in Boston-area cemeteries, said Eid.

 Tamerlan Tsarnaev died at a hospital after he was critically injured early Friday morning in Watertown, Mass., the city west of Boston where his younger brother was arrested while hiding in a backyard later that night. His body was turned over to the law enforcement for forensic experts, medical examiners and investigators seeking more details about his death and his actions.

 It's unclear where the body is currently. A message left with the Massachusett's Medical Examiner's office was not returned, but experts in forensics and high-profile investigations say its release should be imminent if it hasn't happened already.

 "If it's not ready for release now, it is probably going to be released as early as tomorrow," said Joseph Scott Morgan, a professor of criminal justice and forensics at North Georgia College and State University. "Evidence on bodies is very fragile, and people tend to go through the examination very quickly ... [looking for] trace evidence, blast evidence, relevant residue left behind from explosives or anything relative to trauma."

 "In Boston, they deal with a large Muslim community, it's not something they have no experience with. Most medical examiner's offices in diverse communities will have clergy on call if they need to take special considerations when doing their work," said Morgan. "But the interests of the state trump everything else in this case."

 The next-of-kin to take custody of Tamerlan Tsarnaev's body would be his wife, Katherine Russell, who grew up in North Kingstown, R.I. Russell is the mother of Tsarnaev's 3-year-old daughter, Zahara, and reportedly converted after meeting Tsarnaev while at Suffolk University in Boston. Her parents released a statement this week saying they were "sickened by the knowledge of the horror (Tamerlan) has inflicted." The Russells did not respond to a voicemail asking about a funeral.

 "Nobody has asked me, nobody has called me," said a man who answered the phone at Masjid Al-Hoda in Kingston, a Muslim community center about a 20-minute drive southwest of the Russell home.

 Abdula Hameed, the imam of Masjid Al-Kareem in Providence, said he wasn't sure if the mosque would be open to a funeral. "I'd have to talk to our board members," he said.

 Imam Ikram ul Haq, of Masjid Al-Islam North Smithfield, is listed as a contact for funeral prayer requests on the Rhode Island Council for Muslim Advancement website. He said he has not received a funeral request and questioned if the suspects would be seen as truly Muslim considering the accusations against them.

 "We have to confirm if (Tamerlan) was a Muslim. If that was confirmed through reliable sources, that he lived a Muslim and died as one, then we (would be allowed) to do a funeral for that person," said ul Haq, emphasizing that he did not support the killings in Boston.

 Anzor Tsarnaev, the father of the suspects who has said they were framed, told CNN on Saturday that he would travel to the U.S. from his home in Makhachkala, Dagestan, but did not say if his plans included a funeral.

 Even if a mosque steps forward to conduct a funeral for Tsarnaev, Webb said that Islamic law still could place restrictions on the service.

 "In fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), for somebody who has committed a major atrocity, it is recommended that the imam does not pray over him, but that someone else does. It's meant to somehow symbolize that there is some grieving with the victims of the person's actions," he said.

 "In Islam, if someone is alive and has committed a crime, their opportunity to repent is open until they die," said Webb, referring to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is being treated at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. "We hope this man would be guided first of all to help the investigation and seek the forgiveness of family members and all people he has harmed." ||||| Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is telling authorities he and his brother, Tamerlan, learned how to make bombs from Al Qaeda's online magazine, which recommends using fireworks. Officials say Tamerlan bought fireworks in New Hampshire before the bombing. NBC's Jeff Rossen reports.

 The brothers suspected in the Boston Marathon bombings may have been headed for New York to party after the attack, the New York police commissioner said Wednesday.

 “There was some information that they may have been intent on coming to New York, but not to continue doing what they’re doing,” Kelly told reporters at police headquarters. “The information that we received said something about a party, or having a party.”

 A man authorities say was carjacked by the brothers has told investigators he believes one of the brothers said “Manhattan” before he escaped, but investigators have cautioned that it may have been a language mixup because the brothers were speaking with Russian dialects.

 The surviving brother has told investigators that the pair acted alone, were inspired by an al Qaeda propaganda magazine, and plotted the bombing to defend Islam after the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, federal law enforcement officials told NBC News.

 Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed early Friday after a shootout with police in the Boston suburbs. His younger brother and alleged accomplice, Dzhokhar, is in fair condition at a Boston hospital. The brothers killed a campus patrol officer and carjacked an SUV before the shootout, authorities have said.

 Homemade explosives and one semi-automatic handgun believed to belong to the brothers were recovered by investigators, officials said. The gun’s serial number was obliterated, but Massachusetts state police were working to reveal the number.

 Cambridge police, meanwhile, released a booking photo of Tamerlan Tsarnaev from a 2009 domestic violence arrest during which he was accused of assaulting his girlfriend.

 In a closed-door session on Wednesday, members of the House Intelligence Committee were briefed by the FBI and other federal agencies on the ongoing investigation. Among the issues discussed is what federal authorities knew about Tamerlan Tsarnaev's trip to Russia as well as a timeline on his radicalization.

 Also, according to an interview with Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Mich., the ranking member on the committee, it was learned that the device used to trigger the explosives was a remote control for a toy, not a cellphone as thought earlier.

 Nine days after the twin blasts near the marathon finish line, authorities early Wednesday reopened the section of Boylston Street in central Boston where the first bomb went off.

 The site of the explosion has been paved with fresh cement and is surrounded by orange construction cones but opened to foot traffic. People stopped to pay respects and take photos.

 “The people of Boston are strong like cement. Strong people. They get together when it’s needed,” said Robert Bibias, a city masonry worker who early Wednesday cemented over what had been a blood-stained crime scene.

 Thousands of people, including police from all over the country, gathered at the baseball stadium of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a memorial service for Sean Collier, the campus patrol officer who authorities said was shot to death by the Tsarnaev brothers before the carjacking and shootout.

 With police snipers holding positions atop nearby buildings, Vice President Joe Biden called the perpetrators of the marathon bombing “twisted, perverted, cowardly, knockoff jihadis.”

 “The irony is, we read about these events, we experience them, but the truth is, on every frontier, terrorism as a weapon is losing,” he said. “It is not gaining adherents.”

 Tamerlan Tsarnaev is seen in a booking photo from a 2009 arrest in Cambridge, Mass.

 The vice president went on: “We will not hunker down. We will not be intimidated.”

 His wife, Dr. Jill Biden, visited Boylston Street on Wednesday.

 Private funerals were held Tuesday for Collier and for Martin Richard, the 8-year-old boy killed near the finish line. Two other people were killed at the marathon, and more than 200 were injured, including 39 who were still hospitalized Wednesday.

 In Russia, the brothers’ aunt said that a Boston-area mosque has refused to hold a funeral for Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

 American authorities have told the family that they can have Tsarnaev’s body, and an uncle approached the mosque to request a burial and funeral but was declined, said the aunt, Patimat Suleimanova.

 She said that she did not know the name of the mosque but that it was one the family attended. A mosque in Cambridge, Mass., has said that Tsarnaev attended and occasionally caused disruptions and that mosque leaders threatened to kick him out.

 A spokesman for the Cambridge mosque, Yusufi Vali, said the mosque had not heard from the family.

 “There were some reports out there that we had rejected his burial, and — or the family had reached out to us, rather. And to our knowledge, you know, the family has not reached out to us,” he said on the MSNBC program “Andrea Mitchell Reports.”

 The mosque, run by the Islamic Society of Boston, has also said that congregants have been questioned by the FBI. The mosque did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday from NBC News.

 Earlier this week, Imam Talal Eid of the Islamic Institute of Boston, a separate institution, told The Huffington Post: “I would not be willing to do a funeral for him. This is a person who deliberately killed people. There is no room for him as a Muslim.”

 NBC News' Adrienne Mong, Alastair Jamieson, Bill Dedman and Matthew DeLuca contributed to this report.

 Related:

 This story was originally published on |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Authorities are ready to release Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s body to his family, but family members—so far—have nowhere to hold the funeral. The Boston-area mosque the family attends declined a request to hold the suspected Boston bomber's burial and funeral there, Tsarnaev's aunt tells NBC News. And over the weekend, the leader of an organization that arranges Islamic burials and funerals in the Boston area told the Huffington Post, "I would not be willing to do a funeral for him." "This is a person who deliberately killed people," says the aforementioned leader. "There is no room for him as a Muslim. He already left the fold of Islam by doing that. In the Quran it says those who will kill innocent people, they will dwell in the hellfire." Dozens of other Islamic organizations and mosques have distanced themselves from the Tsarnaev brothers, but an imam from Boston's biggest mosque says that while he wouldn't feel ethically comfortable leading a prayer for Tamerlan, "I would not stop people from praying upon him."


Article:

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 This will NOT appear anywhere on Newser ||||| This handout image taken on Monday June 4, 2018, and released by Jean-David Schroeder on Friday June 8, 2018, shows Julien Schroeder, center, the chef of the Petite Venise restaurant in Colmar, eastern... (Associated Press)

 PARIS (AP) — There's no evidence of foul play or violence in celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain's death in a French hotel room, a French prosecutor said Saturday.

 The famed cook, writer and host of the CNN series "Parts Unknown" killed himself Friday in a luxury hotel in the ancient village of Kaysersberg, Christian de Rocquigny, the prosecutor of Colmar in France's eastern Alsace region, told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

 Rocquigny said there did not appear to be much planning in the television personality's suicide.

 "There is no element that makes us suspect that someone came into the room at any moment," he said, adding that a medical expert had concluded that there were no signs of violence on Bourdain's body.

 Rocquigny said toxicology tests were being carried on Bourdain's body, including urine tests, to see if the 61-year-old American took any medications or other drugs, in an effort to help his family understand if anything led him to kill himself.

 Olivier Nasti, the chef and owner of Le Chambard, the luxury hotel in Kaysersberg where Bourdain took his life, paid tribute to his colleague Saturday.

 "It is with great respect for the leader, the author, the TV entertainer, the visionary Anthony Bourdain that I express all my condolences to his family and to the anonymous people around the world who he made dream so much," Nasti said in a statement Saturday.

 "It is the whole family of French gastronomy that joins me, to renew our deep friendship to our bereaved American brothers," he added. |||||
What is a summary?

– Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain hanged himself in French hotel bathroom with bathrobe belt, French prosecutor Christian de Rocquigny tells the AP. Rocquigny, the prosecutor of Colmar in France's eastern Alsace region, also says there did not appear to be much planning in Bourdain's suicide, the AP reports. "There is no element that makes us suspect that someone came into the room at any moment," he says, adding that a medical expert had concluded that there were no signs of violence on Bourdain's body. Rocquigny says toxicology tests were being carried on Bourdain's body, including urine tests, to see if the 61-year-old American took any medications or other drugs, in an effort to help his family understand if anything led him to kill himself. (Bourdain's friends are mourning the loss.)


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 A 37-year-old caretaker has been mauled to death by a Bengal tiger in a zoo in Benidorm.

 The tragedy happened at about 5pm today when the female victim was inside the animal's cage at Terra Natura zoo.

 Local reports have suggested the woman may have left a door open in an "oversight" as she carried out her tasks.

 The emergency services, including the Red Cross and medics, were called out following reports to the police that a worker had been attacked by a tiger.

 However, on their arrival, they could see that the woman was already dead.

 The animal was anaesthetised so her body could be recovered.

 It is understood the victim had been in the same enclosure as the tiger when attacked and it had not escaped.

 The park was open at the time but sources say the cage was not in the public's view and was away from the main area so no visitor witnessed the attack.

 The woman lived in Benidorm but further details have not been released about her identity or her age.

 A spokesperson for the zoo said an investigation into the circumstances of the death is underway but is thought the woman came into direct contact with the tiger while cleaning the sanctuaries.

 Staff are said to be "appalled and deeply affected" by the tragic news.

 Terra Natura describes itself as a "new generation immersion park" where visitors, including thousands of Brits, can see wildlife in their enclosures through glass barriers.

 It therefore makes people feel as though they are actually in the same area as the animals whom they can watch and be "at one" with them.

 There are more than 1,500 animals of 200 different species with their natural habitat and vegetation authentically recreated.

 The zoo spokesperson said: "The entire staff of the park is appalled and deeply affected by the tragic news.

 "The accident occurred this afternoon about 17.00 p.m. in the shelter inside of the Asian Tigers, area where only has access the authorised personnel of the complex and that is not in view of the visitors.

 "For reasons that are investigating, the caretaker has come into direct contact with the animal while cleaning jobs in the inner sanctuaries.

 "Unfortunately, the paramedics have witnessed the death of the caregiver, who had been working for the park from eight years ago as a caretaker in cats and other species."

 The latest tragedy comes after a zoo was fined nearly half a million pounds after one of its employees was killed by a Sumatran tiger.

 Sarah McClay, 24, was pounced on in the keepers' corridor of the tiger house at South Lakes Safari Zoo in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria, on May 24, 2013.

 An earlier inquest into Sarah's death heard how defective bolts allowed male tiger Padang to "tear through" a gate and enter the keepers' corridor. ||||| This article is over 2 years old

 Animal euthanised after woman’s body found inside its enclosure at Spanish zoo

 A tiger has attacked and killed a zookeeper in its cage at a Spanish animal park.

 The discovery of the female keeper’s body was made at around 5pm at the Terra Natura park in the south-eastern coastal resort town of Benidorm.

 Fatal mauling of 'tiger whisperer' prompts investigation at Florida zoo Read more

 “The tiger was still in the cage with the 37-year-old keeper,” a Red Cross spokesman said.

 Zoo staff euthanised the tiger with sedative darts so that emergency workers could enter the enclosure. They pronounced the woman dead.

 Reports said the park was open at the time but that the attack was not witnessed by visitors.

 Police were investigating.

 The Terra Natura in Benidorm, which is in Spain’s Alicante province, promotes itself on its website as “a new generation” animal park, with a habitat area created for each of 200 species of animals.

 Its website describes the park as an “immersion zoo”, with more than 1,500 animals. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– A 37-year-old female zookeeper at a so-called "immersion zoo" in Spain was killed by a tiger, reports the AFP. The attack wasn't witnessed, but her body was discovered about 5pm Saturday at Terra Natura animal park. "The tiger was still in the cage with the 37-year-old keeper," says a Red Cross rep. The animal was sedated with darts so that rescuers could enter, but the unnamed keeper was pronounced dead at the scene. "The entire staff of the park is appalled and deeply affected by the tragic news," a zoo rep says, via the Mirror. It's possible that the woman, a veteran employee of eight years, left a gate open as she went about her duties, per local reports. Terra Natura touts itself as a "new generation immersion park," which separates animals from tourists only with a glass barrier so that, as the Mirror puts it, visitors "can watch and be 'at one' with" the animals.


Why Gibson Guitar Was Raided By The Justice Department

 i itoggle caption Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal/ZUMAPRESS.com Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal/ZUMAPRESS.com

 UPDATE: September 6, 2011 1:45 p.m.: Andrea Johnson, director of forest programs for the Environmental Investigation Agency, wrote to NPR to express concern over two points in this story. First, the word "verify" more accurately reflects the requirements placed on end users of endangered wood. The Lacey Act, Johnson wrote, "does not require any 'certification' at all per se. In the forestry world, 'certify' implies independent third-party certification, or government stamps, neither of which the US government recognizes as 'proof' of legality."

 Johnson also says she mis-spoke when she said that Gibson "was on the ground in Madagascar getting a tour to understand whether they could possibly source illegally from that country."

 "I used 'illegally' when I meant 'legally' in talking about the trip to Madagascar," she writes. "I didn't realize I'd done this until I was listening to the piece. I really wanted to be clear: the objective of that trip's organizers was to look into whether there were opportunities for 'good wood' sourcing, and in the end after seeing the risks, only Gibson continued to purchase."

 Last week federal marshals raided the Gibson Guitar Corporation in Tennessee. It wasn't the first time. The government appears to be preparing to charge the famous builder of instruments with trafficking in illegally obtained wood. It's a rare collision of music and environmental regulation.

 In the hottest part of an August Tennessee day last Thursday, Gibson Guitar CEO Henry Juszkiewicz stood out in the full sun for 30 minutes and vented to the press about the events of the day before.

 "We had a raid," he said, "with federal marshals that were armed, that came in, evacuated our factory, shut down production, sent our employees home and confiscated wood."

 The raids at two Nashville facilities and one in Memphis recalled a similar raid in Nashville in November 2009, when agents seized a shipment of ebony from Madagascar. They were enforcing the Lacey Act, a century-old endangered species law that was amended in 2008 to include plants as well as animals. But Juszkiewicz says the government won't tell him exactly how — or if — his company has violated that law.

 "We're in this really incredible situation. We have been implicated in wrongdoing and we haven't been charged with anything," he says. "Our business has been injured to millions of dollars. And we don't even have a court we can go to and say, 'Look, here's our position.'"

 The U.S. Justice Department won't comment about the case it's preparing, but a court motion filed in June asserts Gibson's Madagascar ebony was contraband. It quotes emails that seem to show Gibson taking steps to maintain a supply chain that's been connected to illegal timber harvests.

 Andrea Johnson, director of forest programs for the Environmental Investigation Agency in Washington, says the Lacey Act requires end users of endangered wood to certify the legality of their supply chain all the way to the trees. EIA's independent investigations have concluded that Gibson knowingly imported tainted wood.

 "Gibson clearly understood the risks involved," says Johnson. "Was on the ground in Madagascar getting a tour to understand whether they could possibly source illegally from that country. And made a decision in the end that they were going to source despite knowing that there was a ban on exports of ebony and rosewood."

 Gibson vigorously denies these allegations, maintaining that all of its purchases from Madagascar have complied with U.S. and Malagasy law. A company attorney says Gibson has presented documents to support that claim and that the recent raid seized legally obtained wood from India. He adds that the company stopped importing wood from Madagascar in 2009.

 Chris Martin, Chairman and CEO of the C.F. Martin Guitar Co. in Nazareth, Pa., says that when he first heard guitars built from Madagascar rosewood, he dreamed it might be the long-sought substitute for Brazilian rosewood, whose trade was banned in the 1990s due to over-harvest. Then the situation in Madagascar changed.

 "There was a coup," Martin says. "What we heard was the international community has come to the conclusion that the coup created an illegitimate government. That's when we said, 'Okay, we can not buy any more of this wood.'"

 And while some say the Lacey Act is burdensome, Martin supports it: "I think it's a wonderful thing. I think illegal logging is appalling. It should stop. And if this is what it takes unfortunately to stop unscrupulous operators, I'm all for it. It's tedious, but we're getting through it."

 Others in the guitar world aren't so upbeat. Attorney Ronald Bienstock says the Gibson raids have aroused the guitar builders he represents because the Lacey Act is retroactive. He says they're worried they might be forced to prove the provenance of wood they acquired decades ago.

 "There hasn't been that moment where people have quote tested the case. 'What is compliance? What is actual compliance? How have I complied?' We're lacking that."

 He's even warned clients to be wary of traveling abroad with old guitars, because the law says owners can be asked to account for every wooden part of their guitars when re-entering the U.S. The law also covers the trade in vintage instruments.

 Nashville's George Gruhn is one of the world's top dealers of old guitars, banjos and other rare stringed instruments. "It's a nightmare," he says. "I can't help it if they used Brazilian rosewood on almost every guitar made prior to 1970. I'm not contributing to cutting down Brazilian rosewood today."

 Gruhn acknowledges that the government has tried to create exemptions to cover vintage instruments. But he says they are rife with delays and to play it safe he's nearly eliminated the 40% of his business that used to deal with overseas buyers. "This is a new normal," says the EIA's Andrea Johnson. "And it takes getting used to."

 Johnson defends the Lacey Act and the government's efforts to enforce it. "Nobody here wants this law to founder on unintended consequences," she says. "Because ultimately everybody understands that the intent here is to reduce illegal logging and send a signal to the markets that you've got to be asking questions and sourcing wood in a responsible way."

 What constitutes that responsible way may only become clear when the government finally charges Gibson and the company gets the day in court it says it wants so badly. ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. |||||

Write a summary.

– Allegations of illegal wood imports prompted the Justice Department to raid Gibson Guitar facilities in Tennessee last week. NPR aired the complicated story involving the 100-year old Lacey Act, which prohibits imports of endangered species, including plants, into the US. No formal charges have been pressed, but it appears the issue lies with Gibson possibly importing banned Madagascar ebony. Gibson insists the wood confiscated by marshals was legally acquired rosewood from India. Adding some gusto to the story, right-leaning sites assert that Gibson rival CF Martin uses the same wood in some of its guitars, but the company was never investigated. The Landmark Report thinks that's fishy, given that Martin's CEO is a Democratic donor and Gibson's CEO is a GOP backer. Raising the octave even higher, it is possible Michelle Obama ran afoul of the Lacey Act when she presented France's Carla Bruni with a Gibson guitar that may have contained banned wood. However the story plays out, many are frustrated with the retroactive aspect of the law. "It's a nightmare," says a dealer. "I can't help it if they used Brazilian rosewood on almost every guitar made prior to 1970."


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 Several of Madonna's personal items, including the letter that ended the pop icon's relationship with rap legend Tupac Shakur, belong to an auction house and can be sold, a Manhattan judge ruled on Monday.

 The items were originally up for bid last year, but the singer filed a temporary restraining order against New York auction house Gotta Have Rock and Roll to halt the sale, according to Reuters.

 Madonna said in court documents that she was not aware until reading press reports that many of the items listed for auction, including the letter from her former boyfriend Shakur, were no longer in her possession, Reuters reported.

 This is a 1993 file photo of Tupac Shakur. AP file

 On Monday, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Gerald Lebovits ruled that Gotta Have Rock had the right to sell the items, including the letter which went for a starting bid of $100,000 in 2017.

 “We did substantial due diligence when we took all the Madonna items for auction. We were confident that Madonna had no claim whatsoever, and the judge clearly agreed with us,” said the co-owners of "Gotta Have Rock and Roll," Ed Kosinski & Pete Siegel.

 Other items that can now be auctioned include a pair of Madonna's panties, an old checkbook, a hairbrush,personal photos and another letter, in which she talked about singer Whitney Houston and actress Sharron Stone.

 The items will go back up for sale in July. NBC News was not immediately able to reach representatives for Madonna. ||||| Madonna has lost a legal battle to prevent the auction of personal items including a lock of her hair, her underwear and a breakup letter from former boyfriend, the late rapper Tupac Shakur.

 The singer won a temporary block of the auction of 22 pieces in July 2016, telling a New York City court that her celebrity status “does not obviate my right to maintain my privacy, including with regard to highly personal items�?.

 In a decision made public yesterday, judge Gerald Lebovits ruled that she had misdirected her legal action by targeting Darlene Lutz, the New York art collector who helped Madonna build a collection before the pair fell out.

 Lebovits sided with Lutz, who claimed that the pair’s disputes had been settled in a 2004 legal agreement. The judge questioned why Madonna had pursued Ms Lutz rather than her own assistants, who Madonna claimed gave her possessions to the dealer. Lutz’s lawyer, Judd Grossman, called the decision “a total win�?, saying: “Ms Lutz is now free to do with her property as she pleases without any continued interference by Madonna.�?

 Madonna is yet to comment on the ruling.

 Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘I never meant to hurt you’ ... Madonna and Tupac in March 1994. Photograph: Patrick McMullan/Getty

 Auction house Gotta Have Rock and Roll has said it would continue with the sale of the items in July. In a statement, the organisation said it had been confident about the case and undertaken “substantial due diligence�? before announcing the initial auction.

 Madonna and Tupac began dating in 1994. In the handwritten letter included in the auction, obtained by TMZ and dated 15 January 1995, the rapper says that his image would suffer from him dating a white woman. He expressed his discomfort with an interview in which the musician said: “I’m off to rehabilitate all the rappers and basketball players.�?

 Madonna and Grimes lay bare cost of creative freedom for female artists Read more

 “Can u understand that?�? he wrote. “For you to be seen with a black man wouldn’t in any way jeopardise your career. If anything it would make you seem that much more open & exciting. But for me at least in my previous perception I felt due to my ‘image’ I would be letting down half of the people who made me what I thought I was. I never meant to hurt you.�? The rapper died in 1996, aged 25, in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.

 The auction contains a second letter, sent from Madonna to “J�?, in which she describes Whitney Houston and Sharon Stone as “horribly mediocre�?. ||||| However, Ms. Lutz added, “She didn’t take the route that Beyoncé did” — a reference to the pop star’s exhaustive personal archiving system.

 Madonna’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The singer had previously said she did not know Ms. Lutz was in possession of the items until last year when the gossip site TMZ published the letter from Shakur.

 Dated Jan. 15, 1995, the letter was written during Shakur’s incarceration at New York’s Clinton Correctional Facility for sexual assault, the year before his shooting death at age 25 in September 1996. In the letter, he alludes to his reasons for ending a relationship with Madonna.

 “For you to be seen with a black man wouldn’t in any way jeopardize your career, if anything it would make you seem that much more open and exciting,” Shakur wrote. “But for me at least in my previous perception I felt due to my ‘image’ I would be letting down half of the people who made me what I thought I was.”

 A second letter in the lot was an unsent draft written by Madonna to another former boyfriend, the actor John Enos. In it Madonna described two of her rivals, Whitney Houston and Sharon Stone, as “horribly mediocre,” adding, “They’re always being held up as paragons of virtue and some sort of measuring stick to humiliate me.”

 Ms. Lutz said she came into possession of the items while frequently hanging around during that time in Madonna’s orbit, where she “tended to be a repository for a lot of stuff where people just thought: ‘Get rid of it.’” That included large piles fan mail that were often not examined at all, Ms. Lutz said. “I knew all of the assistants and stuff would get thrown in boxes and they would just go, ‘Hey, here’s some more.’” |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Bad news for Madonna: A judge on Monday said a New York auction house can go ahead and sell some of her personal stuff. Gotta Have Rock and Roll auctions got a hold of a pair of the singer's underwear, a letter Tupac Shakur wrote to her explaining why they had to break up, and other items of hers including a hairbrush, a checkbook, cassette tapes of unreleased recordings, a letter she wrote calling Whitney Houston and Sharon Stone "horribly mediocre," and photos. Madonna had obtained a temporary restraining order last year to halt the sale, saying she didn't know the items were no longer in her possession and believes someone took them from her home. But on Monday, a Manhattan judge ruled that the items belong to the auction house and the sale can go ahead, NBC News reports. The auction house says the sale will proceed in July. The Guardian and the New York Times explain that the judge found Madonna had targeted the wrong person in her legal action: Darlene Lutz, an art collector who helped Madonna build her collection before the two had a falling-out. Madonna claimed her assistants had given her things to Lutz, and the judge said Madonna should have targeted those assistants rather than Lutz. (Lutz herself once said that's how she came into the items, simply by collecting things that were otherwise going to be thrown out: "I knew all of the assistants and stuff would get thrown in boxes and they would just go, 'Hey, here’s some more.'") Lutz said she and the Material Girl had settled their disagreements in a 2004 legal agreement, and the judge sided with Lutz and found that that agreement prevented Madonna from suing. The judge also found that the statute of limitations to recover the items had passed. "Ms. Lutz is now free to do with her property as she pleases without any continued interference by Madonna," said Lutz's lawyer.


Article:

While local and international efforts have significantly slowed the spread of Ebola in West Africa, AmeriCares continues to support treatment of Ebola patients and protect health workers on the front lines of the epidemic. In Liberia, AmeriCares is now focused on rebuilding and strengthening the health system to improve access to health care and help prevent future epidemics.

 Since the world’s largest Ebola outbreak began in early 2014, the virus has killed more than 11,100 people and infected more than 26,900. The disease has had a huge impact on health workers, infecting 869 and killing 507, including many doctors and nurses. The loss of so many health workers has been devastating to the region’s health care systems, which were already under-resourced and under-staffed, leaving people with malaria, typhoid, complicated childbirth and other illnesses without access to even basic care.

 From the Beginning

 AmeriCares first responded to the outbreak in April of 2014, with a focus on protecting health workers, expanding Ebola treatment capacity and restoring and improving health services.

 Within a year, AmeriCares had provided millions of critical protective supplies to more than 100 health facilities in the three most-affected countries, recruited medical staff for and supplied Ebola treatment units in Liberia, and begun a long-term response to the on-going health crisis in West Africa, including infection prevention and control training for health workers.

 Even as the epidemic ebbs, health workers in all three countries need critical support, including medicine, protective equipment and training.

 “As our work to completely contain Ebola continues in West Africa, there is an ongoing need for safety equipment along with prevention and treatment supplies,” said AmeriCares Vice President of Emergency Response Garrett Ingoglia, “Support for frontline health workers is critical in controlling the epidemic and strengthening the health care system going forward.”

 Brian Hoyer and Kla Williams – two of our team at Buchanan

 Programs and Plans in Three Countries

 In Liberia, AmeriCares established an office and warehouse in the capital city of Monrovia to efficiently distribute supplies to health facilities. AmeriCares Liberia team also manages our longer term commitment to build the capacity of the health care system to meet future health crises.

 At the height of the outbreak in September of 2014, AmeriCares recruited all of the physicians and nurses needed to staff the Ebola treatment unit (ETU) built by the U.S. Department of Defense in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, as part of a partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in coordination with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and funded by USAID. AmeriCares managed the facility and its staff of more than 180 health workers; the team revised safety protocols and maintained a constant state of readiness to isolate and treat Ebola patients, from construction at the height of the health emergency through the treatment center’s decommission after the outbreak had greatly diminished. In addition, AmeriCares provided all medical supplies needed to treat Ebola patients and protect staff at two other Ebola treatment centers managed by IOM in Liberia.

 Under direction of AmeriCares staff, health workers at the Buchanan ETU staff also provided other important health services to local communities. Doctors and health workers established mobile clinics that delivered care to families in isolated areas, a measles vaccination program, psychosocial support for schools, and important infection prevention and control training for health workers, teachers and other school personnel.

 As part of a longer term program to strengthen an already under-resourced health system weakened by years of civil war and devastated by Ebola, AmeriCares has begun an 18-month project to increase access and improve health services for mothers and newborns in Grand Bassa County. The work includes health facility upgrades, medical equipment and staff training at three health facilities – one hospital and two clinics.

 In Sierra Leone, we continue to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) to caregivers in interim care centers for children who have been exposed to Ebola and require temporary care outside the home for 21 days – some of whom have parents who are ill or have died from the disease. AmeriCares also provides reunification kits for these children when they leave the care centers that include food, clothing and personal care supplies to replace lost items and help ease a child’s transition back into the community.

 AmeriCares has also committed to providing 12 months of infection prevention and control training in Bonthe District for all health workers at Mattru Hospital and Bonthe Government Hospital. This health worker and patient-safety intervention will contribute to long-term health system strengthening that will prepare Sierra Leone for future infectious disease outbreaks.

 In Guinea, where the Ebola outbreak began in early 2014, AmeriCares continues to provide our partners with medical equipment and supplies. Our largest shipment to date – 40,000 lbs. of PPE – will be distributed to more than 180 health facilities. The shipment also contains more than 15,000 liters of bleach which will support ChildFund International, our partner in Guinea, working with health clinics, health posts and community health workers to maintain infection prevention and control standards and to rebuild community trust in the health care system.

 Three Ebola survivors from one community.

 Ongoing Shipments

 With the support of our corporate partners and donors, 47 shipments of medical aid have been delivered to more than 100 partners in West Africa to treat Ebola patients, provide protective gear for health workers and prevent further infections. To date, we have shipped over 7 million units of medicine and medical supplies, including 3.3 million units of protective equipment and 227,543 course treatments of medicine to partners in West Africa.

 Through our partnership with Cardinal Health, for example, we have sent multiple shipments of protective supplies, including surgical gloves, masks and isolation gowns, to the affected area with more shipments planned. In addition, AmeriCares has sent multiple shipments of Clorox®Regular-Bleach to our partners in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. Chlorine solutions made with bleach are essential for hand washing and preventing and controlling infection at local health centers.

 Early Response to the Crisis

 AmeriCares first response to the outbreak in April 2014 included the purchase and distribution of protective gear and medical supplies for health workers in West Africa as well as support for public messaging campaigns to spread awareness about the disease for which there is no proven cure. Overall, confirmed cases and fatalities have been reported in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria and Mali. Cases have also been reported in the U.S., Spain, Senegal and the United Kingdom.

 Read the story of a tiny survivor and her treatment ||||| Jenneh Kamera, a resident of the Liberian capital Monrovia, takes her family’s food rations home. Normally she sells chicken and frozen foods at the city market. But when her district became a quarantined zone, transport restrictions meant she could no longer get supplies for her market stall. (Copyright: WFP/Frances Kennedy)

 WFP is scaling up its response to the Ebola virus to provide assistance to around 1 million people affected by the outbreak in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, delivering food alongside the health response. WFP is also assisting the wider humanitarian community with logistics, helping other organisations to get aid workers and critical supplies into the affected areas. Donate here

 WFP has launched a regional emergency operation which will provide food assistance to around 1.3 million people in the three most affected countries: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Food is being distributed to people under medical quarantine, people under treatment, and their relatives. We are working alongside national governments, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners.

 WFP Scales Up Its Response To Ebola Outbreak In West Africa WFP is scaling up its response to Ebola virus outbreak, providing food assistance to more than 1 million people in West Africa. “The operation has been quite intense and we intend to scale it up as the need arises,” Etienne Christopher Saint-Jean, the WFP national logistics officer in Liberia, explained. “We intend to be very proactive instead of reactive to the situation.”

 The objective is to prevent a health crisis from becoming a food crisis. In the three countries, the food chain is threatened at many levels, starting with production. Farmers are leaving behind their crops and livestock as they seek areas they perceive as safer from exposure to the virus. Travel restrictions and displacements are likely to affect food prices.

 The bans on eating traditional protein sources, such as bush meat, may also have implications for the food security and nutrition of people in these communities. Some of the animals that people normally hunt for food, such as bats and apes, are known to be potential carriers of the Ebola virus.

 On the top of that, hundreds of households have already lost one or more of their members. The majority of Ebola victims fall within the 15-45 year bracket and are therefore frequently the main income providers. The reduction of household income coupled with the already observed food price rise will further deteriorate the food security situation.

 The Spread Of Ebola

 The current Ebola epidemic in West Africa began with an outbreak in Guinea in December 2013. It has since spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. It is the most severe outbreak since the discovery of the virus in 1976. Click to enlarge map.

 Food Assistance

 Here's what WFP is doing in the three most affected countries:

 Guinea: WFP began food distributions because of Ebola four months ago and has reached around 40,000 people (in Biffa, Fria, Télémélé, N’Zerekore, Macenta and Guekedo districts). Preparations are being made to gradually increase distributions to 350,000 people over a period of three months.

 Sierra Leone: WFP is reaching Ebola patients in health centres and affected households in the epicentres of Kenema and Kailahun as well as houses that are under quarantine in 12 out of 13 districts in Sierra Leone. Up to 400,000 people in Sierra Leone are targeted under the regional response for the next 3 months.

 Liberia: Between July 1 and Sept. 4, WFP delivered food to some 67,000 people at Ebola case management centres and in quarantined communities. The distributions have covered 10 of Liberia’s 15 counties, including the West Point slum community in the capital Monrovia and the Ebola epicentre of Foya District in Liberia’s northern Lofa County. The plan is to reach 449,000 people over a three-month period.

 Logistics

 Because of its expertise in logistics, WFP has been given the job of coordinating logistics for the entire humanitarian community involved in the Ebola response. This happens through the Logistics Cluster -- the group of humanitarian organisations that work together to ensure services like transport and storage work well during big emergencies. The Cluster has already provided support to UN agencies, NGOs and government authorities.

 WFP also manages the UN Humanitarian Response Depots (UNHRD), which store emergency supplies that can be transported within 48 hours. UNHRD has recently sent more than US$220, 000 worth of protective gear like gloves, masks and emergency health kits for the World Health Organisation (WHO), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and WFP from its depots in Ghana and Dubai.

 In addition, it manages the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS), which transports humanitarian workers and light cargo to emergencies around the world. UNHAS is currently operating in West Africa and has flown more than 100 passengers from organisations like WHO, UNICEF, MSF and WFP into and out of the Ebola-affected areas since Aug. 16. ||||| Recovering from the Ebola Crisis in West Africa

 In May 2015, more than a year since the deadly virus first surfaced in Liberia, the country was declared Ebola-free. The unprecedented outbreak claimed thousands of lives across West Africa.

 Samaritan’s Purse responded aggressively in Liberia, where we have had a country office for more than a decade, through our Ebola Community Protection Program. Now that the virus has been contained, our office is starting programming to help the country recover.

 Currently, Liberians are struggling with trauma and a lack of trust in the health care system. To help rebuild the system, we finished a project that we started before the Ebola outbreak—ELWA hospital reconstruction.

 Communities that handled Ebola well had leaders who believed that the virus was real. Samaritan’s Purse hopes to connect with community leaders through a leadership training to help more of them effectively handle similar situations in the future.

 We will also reengage with churches and at-risk people to encourage them and children to provide health messaging. This will begin by training our Samaritan’s Purse staff members in counseling so that they can communicate well with the people they serve.

 During the height of the outbreak, Samaritan's Purse provided hygiene training along with infection prevention and control kits to affected communities. The ministry also offered home-based caregiver training and materials. We constructed four community care centers that provided supportive treatment as an interim step before going to an Ebola treatment unit. To support these various efforts, we airlifted nearly 200 tons of relief supplies to Liberia.

 Through a massive public education campaign, which included thousands of church leaders, we provided potentially life-saving information to more than 1 million people, directly or indirectly, through a variety of events and media. ||||| International Medical Corps’ Emergency Response Teams are on the ground in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guiena and Mali providing both lifesaving treatment and training.

 Our teams are operating four Ebola treatment centers and implementing training programs to equip frontline healthcare workers with the skills needed to stop this outbreak at the source. Through the efforts of Emergency Response Team members like Dr. Pranav Shetty as well as volunteer nurse Kelly Suter, among thousands of other First Responders, International Medical Corps will provide access to treatment for 1.5 million people in West Africa.

 To date our Bong County Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) in Liberia has discharged 78 survivors. Nurse Suter gave a firsthand account of just one survivor, baby Josephine.

 Over a week ago Korto - an Ebola survivor- and her three-month-old daughter, Josephine, came to the unit by ambulance. Josephine had developed vomiting, diarrhea and a fever hours after Korto was discharged from the confirmed unit of the ETU. Josephine tested positive for Ebola and grew weak and dehydrated quickly. Each time an IV had to be restarted, she fought a little less. Eventually, we had to hold her down and shave half of her beautiful head of hair to place a scalp IV. While not a difficult or uncommon task when caring for babies, that moment carried with it a sense of defeat. Korto had to leave the room and the medical staff were visibly grieved by the task required of them. Despite all, Josephine continued to deteriorate- her tiny little whimpers being heard less and less from the low risk side of the fence. After days of expecting Josephine to pass away, her symptoms suddenly began to disappear. Josephine gradually regained her strength and is now completely symptom free. Her blood tests are almost negative, her cheeks have filled back out and she loves to be carried around by staff in full personal protective equipment. Though not official until her blood test is completely negative - she is the youngest survivor of Ebola to date.

 * Baby Josephine did test completely negative at four-months-old and was discharged from our Bong County ETU along with her mother Korto.

 Read more about our Ebola response ||||| UNICEF Mobilizes to Fight Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo

 In May 2018, the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) announced an outbreak of Ebola in the Northwestern Equateur Province. At first, the outbreak appeared to be confined to remote areas, but soon cases were confirmed in Mbandaka, a city of nearly 1.2 million people, heightening the risks of a more rapid spread of this highly contagious disease.

 UNICEF and partners responded immediately, dispatching community health workers and shipping supplies, and installing handwashing stations at schools among other measures to improve water quality, sanitation and hygiene, all critical for Ebola prevention.

 Early response was initially successful, quelling the outbreak in 11 weeks, but Ebola was reported in eastern DRC in August. By early January 2019, the country's conflict-ridden North Kivu and Ituri provinces has become the epicenter of the second deadliest and second largest Ebola epidemic in history. More than 600 probable Ebola cases have been reported, one-third of them children, with 368 deaths and 207 recoveries. Children are at a higher risk of dying from the disease than adults. One in ten Ebola cases is under the age of 5.

 What is Ebola?

 According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans. The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.

 How does Ebola spread?

 Human-to-human transmission of EVD comes from direct contact with the blood and other bodily fluids of those infected. The virus is relatively robust and can survive until transmission on materials contaminated with those fluids, such as bedding and clothing.

 Can Ebola be cured or treated?

 The average EVD case fatality rate is around 50%. Case fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in past outbreaks. Symptoms include fever, severe headache and in some cases, hemorrhaging. Treatment includes giving intravenous fluids (IV), balancing electrolytes (body salts) and maintaining oxygen status and blood pressure. Early intervention can significantly improve the chances of a patient's survival.

 Is there an Ebola vaccine?

 Yes. WHO is coordinating with the DRC Ministry of Health, Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), UNICEF and other partners to vaccinate those who are at high risk of infection in the affected health zones. UNICEF will play a leading role in providing information to the communities affected by the outbreak.

 How was Ebola discovered?

 Ebola was first discovered in 1976 in former Zaire, or what is now the DRC, near the Ebola River. Dr. Peter Piot of Belgium and his colleagues were the first to identify Ebola.

 Who is most at risk for getting Ebola?

 For most people, the risk of getting Ebola is low. The risk increases if you travel to Africa or visit or work in areas where Ebola virus outbreaks have occurred.

 How UNICEF Is Helping

 UNICEF played a major role in responding to previous outbreaks, including the epidemic in West Africa in 2014–2016, the deadliest outbreak ever, which killed more than 11,000 people. As part of its emergency response, UNICEF delivered more than 8,000 metric tons of critical medical supplies and worked with local communities, religious leaders and traditional healers to raise awareness of safe health practices. The West African outbreak, which spread from Guinea to Sierra Leone and Liberia, was a complicated, harrowing emergency that resulted in more cases and more deaths than all previous outbreaks combined. As the crisis abated, UNICEF helped the survivors heal, especially the children who were directly affected.

 Learn more about UNICEF's work to protect children and their families in the DRC from Ebola. ||||| From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is active around the world and looking for your help. There are numerous ways you can be involved with the Red Cross Red Crescent.

 From volunteering to sharing support online to financially contributing, our work is fueled by your support.

 Ways to get involved

 Remember, our work starts locally so it's often best to begin by learning more about your local Red Cross or Red Crescent. |||||
What is a summary?

– Hand-wringing isn't going to help stop the world's Ebola outbreak, but money might. The New York Times offers a list of groups trying to keep the disease in check in West Africa and elsewhere, along with links for those interested in donating: Doctors Without Borders: Ways to help here. International Medical Corps: Go here. UNICEF: Go here. Save the Children: Go here. International Red Cross: Go here. World Food Program: Go here. Samaritan's Purse: Go here. Partners in Health: Go here. Americares: Go here. An NBC cameraman is the latest American to contract the disease.


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A slight change in the program.

 With the North Koreans deciding just a month before the start of the Winter Games to send a delegation, there was little time to adjust the opening ceremony. Five hours before the start of the show, Song Seung-whan, a South Korean actor and popular theatrical producer who served as director, said that he had only tinkered with one segment to reflect North Korea’s presence. (He would not offer any spoiler alerts.)

 Looking relaxed in a black turtleneck sweater and jeans, Mr. Song said that his biggest concern in the run-up to the ceremony was the cold. “We had to develop many contingency plans just in case the weather went bad,” he said. A few days ago, when temperatures plunged below zero degrees Fahrenheit, dancers were given spikes for their shoes to ensure that they could dance in icy conditions. Mr. Song said that engineers were also concerned that the hundreds of electronic devices being deployed for the ceremony might not work in the freezing temperatures, but “we tested them at the rehearsal, and they were fine.”

 As it turns out, the weather on Friday night was practically balmy, expected to fall only to about 28 degrees.

 Mr. Song said he struggled to keep the show, which features 1,300 performers and another 700 volunteers in one scene, within a “very limited budget.” He declined to say what that budget was, but noted with a laugh: “It was far less than Beijing.”

 Thomas Bach, gold medalist, opened the Games.

 Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, made his appearance. As always, he was introduced as a “gold medal winner” (he won a fencing medal in 1976).

 Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, was also in attendance, together with the North’s ceremonial head of state, Kim Yong-nam. President Moon Jae-in of South Korea shook hands with Ms. Kim briefly. ||||| The opening ceremony Parade of Nations at the Winter Olympics is never quite as thrilling as the Summer Olympics. With freezing temperatures, organizers can’t get too creative as keeping warm is pretty important. It was so important for Team USA that the Ralph Lauren designed heated jackets for the Olympians.

 But still, some countries stood out during Friday’s events.

 Countries with awesomely dressed flagbearers

 1. Sweden

 2. Mexico

 3. Tonga

 Countries with outfits I’d buy at Nordstrom

 1. Belarus

 2. Iran

 Jamaica and Bermuda are from countries way too warm to put up with below-freezing temperatures, but they did it and looked good.

 1. Jamaica

 2. Bermuda |||||

– Well that was fun. Team USA made a splash at the opening ceremonies of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea on Friday, marching in the Parade of Nations to "Gangnam Style," the 2012 hit from Korean artist PSY. (See a clip here.) Though several other countries walked to the same tune, American athletes stood out in other ways. For one, USA's 242 athletes make up the largest contingent "for any country at any Winter Games," reports the New York Times. For another, they wore what some thought were "horrible" gloves. Despite the cold, the athletes hardly needed them since their Ralph Lauren jackets were heated, per USA Today, which shows off photos of other athletes who stood out. (Kim Jong Un's sister is there.)