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At Newsline 9 we're always on the lookout for the next news story. Our sources are wide and varied. A recent obituary posted on social media caught our eye and we knew we had to share her story with you. It's of a remarkable Milwaukee woman who is being remembered for her life devoted to others.Mary Agnes Mullaney, better known as "Pink" was born in Milwaukee in 1927. She passed away earlier this week."She was an amazing woman. A very gentle, kind person," said longtime friend Ann Kenwood.Survived by her six children and 17 grandchildren, her family knew a normal obituary just wouldn't work for an extraordinary woman."We wanted something that showed who she was," explained daughter Maryanne "We said, how can we be like her and carry her pinkness across."The following are excerpts from the colorful death announcement."Go to church with a chicken sandwich in your purse. Give the chicken sandwich to your homeless friend after mass." "Go to a nursing home. Kiss everyone.""Invite new friends to thanksgiving dinner. Bonus points if they're from another country," read Maryanne from the obituary. "Never say mean things about anybody; they're poor souls to pray for."Days after Pink's death, in a small room tucked away from hundreds of visitors at Feerick Funeral Home, her family reflects."We'd go to the grocery store with her and before she'd get out of the car we'd say, promise you won't stop and talk to everybody and kiss every baby. I can't make that promise she would say," explained her daughter Meg.It's because Pink's life was devoted to others."From the Northshore doctor to the homeless person they were all equal in my mother's eyes," said Maryanne.The obituary explains it best, "allow the homeless to keep warm in your car while you are mass," it reads. "Take magazines you've already read to your doctors office for others to enjoy. But do not tear off the mailing label." "Because if someone wants to contact me that be nice.""She really reached out to people and they reached back," said Meg.If Pink didn't see you on the street, or meet you in the grocery line, chances are she wrote to you."She would see a dress with a person's name on it, or a flier and she'd write to them," said longtime friend Stan Kenwood.In fact, there were thousands of letters. Some of them were for fun, others serious. One of those letters Kenwood says he'll never let go of."We need a lot more people like her," he said.That was the essence of "Pink"."The life that she lived should be an example to others," said Maryanne.So now family, friends, even total strangers gather to remember. Because in the words of the obituary, "those who have taken her lessons to heart will continue to ensure that a cold drink will be left out for the overheated garbage collector and mail carrier."People will choose to believe the best about people, no matter what.We are sorry we didn't have the chance to introduce you to Pink while she was with us. We want to make sure that doesn't happen again. We've been inspired by her story to return a special Newsline 9 series, "Someone You Should Know."This is where you come in. Is your neighbor, friend, or family member doing something the community should know about? Let us know so we can spread the word. If you know someone we should all know, send us an email to someone@waow.com Link to obituary: http://www.feerickfuneralhome.com/notices.php?id=1036 ||||| The death of a loved one is undoubtedly the hardest thing we face in our short, ridiculous years on Earth. The simple fact that someone isn’t coming back is perhaps the most difficult part of the grieving process, and one that can only be tempered by time. In the end, all we can do is cherish our memories of the person who has gone before us, and learn a few lessons from a life well lived.

 Newspaper obituaries are rarely the place to impart such lessons, but every now and then they can be used for much more than simply stating the facts of a person’s life. Take the obituary for Mary A. “Pink” Mullaney, an 85-year-old Wisconsin woman who passed away September 1. Her obituary begins with “If you’re about to throw away an old pair of pantyhose, stop,” and only gets more amazing—and oddly inspirational—from there. Here are a few of our favorite lessons contained in this warm, affectionate, and funny look back on woman who was clearly adored and loved by her family:

 • “Never throw away old pantyhose. Use the old ones to tie gutters, child-proof cabinets, tie toilet flappers, or hang Christmas ornaments.” • “If a possum takes up residence in your shed, grab a barbecue brush to coax him out. If he doesn’t leave, brush him for twenty minutes and let him stay.” • “Go to church with a chicken sandwich in your purse. Cry at the consecration, every time. Give the chicken sandwich to your homeless friend after mass.” • “Put picky-eating children in the box at the bottom of the laundry chute, tell them they are hungry lions in a cage, and feed them veggies through the slats.” • “Believe the hitchhiker you pick up who says he is a landscaper and his name is ‘Peat Moss.’” • “Take magazines you’ve already read to your doctors’ office for others to enjoy. Do not tear off the mailing label, ‘Because if someone wants to contact me, that would be nice.’”

 The full obit—which, again, will be the best thing you read all day—can be found here. [h/t Ted Perry] |||||

– The AV Club loves the obituary for an 85-year-old woman in Wisconsin named Mary "Pink" Mullaney. Why? Maybe because her family filled it with lessons imparted by Mullaney in life, including, “Never throw away old pantyhose. Use the old ones to tie gutters, child-proof cabinets, tie toilet flappers, or hang Christmas ornaments.” Explains Mullaney's daughter to WAOW: "We said, 'How can we be like her and carry her pinkness across?'" Some other gems: "Go to a nursing home and kiss everyone." "Put picky-eating children in the box at the bottom of the laundry chute, tell them they are hungry lions in a cage, and feed them veggies through the slats." "Never say mean things about anybody; they are 'poor souls to pray for.'" "Make the car dance by lightly tapping the brakes to the beat of the song on the radio." "If a possum takes up residence in your shed, grab a barbecue brush to coax him out. If he doesn't leave, brush him for twenty minutes and let him stay." Read the full obituary here. Or read a moving, self-written obit from a Seattle writer.


Article:
JOHN WAYNE: THE LAST COWBOY

 (Because of he recent heart surgery, John Wayne has been under doctor's orders not to do interviews for the next three months. He made an exception for Jim Bacon, his friend of 30 years. "He knows I have enough on him to hang him" jokes Bacon.)

 "I guess I'm just too goddamned tough to die." That's the Duke talking - John Wayne. And he's right. There must be a few other 71-year olds around who have licked the Big C. But offhand I can't think of one who has licked the Big C and the Big H in 14 years.

 When the Duke had open-heart surgery this spring in Boston to replace a defective valve, surgeons were amazed at the durability of the screen's greatest legend. They should have known better. For the John Wayne you see on the screen is the same John Wayne you see in the flesh. There is only one, thank God. None of his friends could cope with more.

 Duke's last stay in the hospital scared his family and even scared him a little. Pilar, his estranged wife third wife, wanted a reconciliation, but as Duke say's, "You can never go back".

 The screen's most famous cowboy discovered the problem in his artery in a strange way. He had been having respiratory trouble ever since losing a lung to cancer in 1964. "Then all of the sudden I found I was losing my voice," he explains. "I didn't know until a doctor told me there is an artery that goes from your heart to your vocal cords. Now, that scared me. What the hell is an actor going to do when he loses his voice? That's how I make my living."

 As his fans know, nothing ever scared John Wayne. But this was different. "I didn't fight anybody and say, 'Don't take me to the hospital,' but I was scared at losing my voice." he admits. (Duke not only talks for the camera, he speaks his mind loudly and clearly on many occasions, whether he has an audience or not).

 After his operation, I asked Duke if he could still take a belt of Scotch. "I guess I could if I wanted to." he said, "But I've been taking it easy since I came back from Boston. One of these days, I'll lift a few."

 When that happens, watch out. Duke can out drink anyone in Hollywood. Always could and always will. I remember the baptism of his son John Ethan at St. Cyril's Church in Encino, California, around 1 pm on a Sunday afternoon some 16 years ago. When I left Duke's Encino home after the baptism party, it was 8:00 am the next day - and the host was still singing with the mariachi band in his living room. Everybody, including half the musicians, had dropped by the way side, but Duke was still going until noontime at least.

 Incidents like these have helped make Wayne one of the most colorful movie legends since the heyday of silent stars Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. Wayne's 150-odd movies, in a career spanning 50 years, have grossed a half-billion dollars or more. As a result, the people around him begin to panic when he gets sick.

 At the time of his cancer operation, the press releases from his producers said that John Wayne was in Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles for treatment of an old leg injury resulting from a fall on his yacht. I must confess, I believed it. Tough guys like Duke never get sick. They just get drunk and fall down. Unsuspecting, I dropped by the hospital one afternoon to visit, but was told by a nurse, "Mr. Wayne is having no visitors." "Let that son of a bitch come in," I heard that familiar voice bellow from his room. I had barely sat down next to his bed when he blurted out, "Well, I licked the Big C."

 Then he went into detail about how his habitual six packs of cigarettes a day had resulted in a lung tumor the size of a baseball. Surgeons had no alternative but to remove the entire lung. Duke always had a cigarette cough, and one night, while he was recuperating, he started hacking so violently that his stitches burst. That alone might have killed him. But he snapped back.

 At the hospital, Duke apologized for the phony press releases. "Those bastards who make pictures only think of the box office. They figure Duke Wayne with cancer isn't a good image. I was too doped up at the time to argue with them, but I'm telling you the truth now. You know I never lie."

 When my exclusive story broke around the world, public reaction was tremendous. Thousands of cancer victims and their relatives wrote to the actor. All the letters said the same thing - that Duke's fight against the dread disease had given them so much hope.

 Some 14 years later, when the star entered Massachusetts General Hospital, the same scenario was repeated. The original press stories said Duke had respiratory trouble, pneumonia, bronchitis - you name it. Then, at Duke's insistence, the public learned the truth: He had undergone open-heart surgery. These days, four assistants work around-the-clock to open more then 100,000 pieces of fan mail to Wayne, Many from victims of heart disease. They will be happy to know that Duke's voice is back to normal. The defective valve was replaced by one from a pig. "Now not only can I talk," says Duke, "but I go around saying 'oink, oink.'"

 Duke has such a strong constitution that he's already back in excellent health, though on doctor's orders he is taking it easy for a few more weeks. Every morning he rises at around 6:30 and strolls for a mile or two around his Newport Beach, Calif. neighborhood, doing a mile in about in about 20 minutes. One recent weekend, he took his yacht - a converted mine-sweeper he calls "The Wild Goose" - on a trip across the channel to Catalina. He was at the helm during most of the trip and did some fishing too.

 Fishing has long been a hobby. Once he and his son Patrick caught what they later discovered was the biggest Mahi-Mahi (That's Hawaiian for Dolphin) on record. They weighed it, but it never made the record books. Duke, with his tremendous appetite, had eaten part of the fish by the time the boat docked. "Hell, we knew it was big, but we didn't know it was the biggest," he shrugs. "It tasted great."

 After his enforced convalescence is over, Duke plans to start working with scriptwriters on a new movie. It's the story of a contemporary family with Wayne as the patriarch. "It could take place in the 30's or the 40's or now, but damn - it's funny." he insists. The movie, from an unpublished novel, is called Beau John.

 As a friend of Duke's who has read the galley proofs says that if the movie is as good as the novel, it could net a second Oscar for Wayne. His first was for his performance as Sheriff Rooster Cogburn in the 1969 movie True Grit.

 "We'll probably shoot the picture this fall if we get the script ready in time." Duke says. "It is not a western, although it could go that way. There's no patriarchal story that won't fit into a western background.

 Wayne has always believed in the western as an art form, and even compares the genre to Homer's "The Land" and "The Odyssey". Certainly no one has done more then John Wayne - the last cowboy- to make it so. A list of his films from Stagecoach to The Shootist is in itself a history of the American film western. His family and friends are sure there will be more westerns in the old cowboy's future.

 John Wayne may be tough, but he's not too tough to indulge in a little sentiment. He admits the outpouring of good wishes sent by fans concerned about his illness "made me cry."

 Yet he is tough enough to insist that nothing will keep him down long. "I'm a greedy old man." he says bluntly. "Life's been good to me, and I want some more of it."

 By James Bacon ||||| Focused crawls are collections of frequently-updated webcrawl data from narrow (as opposed to broad or wide) web crawls, often focused on a single domain or subdomain. |||||Summary:

– Making a movie isn't always all fun and games. Pixable rounds up nine film locations that were extremely hazardous for cast and crew: The Conqueror, St. George, Utah: The 1956 John Wayne flick was filmed near a government nuclear test site in Nevada. Nearly 100 cast and crew members ultimately got some form of cancer, including Wayne (though he attributed his cancer to his six-pack-a-day smoking habit). Noah's Ark, Chatsworth, Calif.: The 1982 short film used so much water for the flooding scene the set actually flooded and people were injured. Thirty-five ambulances responded to the emergency. Roar, Acton, Calif.: While making the 1981 movie about a family living among wild animals, cast and crew members (including Melanie Griffith) were actually mauled by wild animals. The Exorcist, New York, NY: The set was so cold (sometimes below zero) that snow sometimes built up on set and sweat froze on cast and crew members during filming of the 1973 movie. The African Queen, Belgian Congo, Africa: Most of the 1951 film's cast and crew got dysentery from drinking the local water—but not Humphrey Bogart or John Huston, because they mostly drank whiskey. Click for the complete list.


– Having tried out mid-range ballistic missiles in recent weeks, North Korea said today it may conduct a "new form" of nuclear test, the New York Times reports. Pyongyang officials didn't clarify, but the US and its allies have long thought North Korea wants to build small, sophisticated nuclear devices that can ride piggyback on its new missiles. A spokesman for South Korea's foreign ministry said North Korea "will have to pay a price" if it ignores international concerns and carries out the test. For its part, North Korea accused the UN of "turning a blind eye" to "US madcap nuclear war exercises" while denouncing North Korea's, Reuters reports. North Korea also said it wants the ability to hit medium- and long-range targets "with a variety of striking power." Tensions between North and South Korea eased last month, when elderly people separated by the Korean War were allowed short reunions, but the North has since returned to harsh rhetoric—and a paper by a nuclear expert cited the "disquieting possibility" that North Korea is building a network of tunnels to carry out regular nuclear tests with highly enriched uranium.

Expand this summary.

North Korea leader Kim Jong Un presides over a meeting of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang March 17, 2014.

 SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea threatened on Sunday to conduct what it called "a new form of nuclear test", raising the level of rhetoric after members of the United Nations Security Council condemned the North's recent ballistic missile launch.

 "It is absolutely intolerable that the U.N. Security Council, turning a blind eye to the U.S. madcap nuclear war exercises, 'denounced' the Korean People's Army (KPA)'s self-defensive rocket launching drills and called them a 'violation of resolutions' and a 'threat to international peace and security' and is set to take an 'appropriate step'," the North's foreign ministry said in a statement on the official KCNA news agency.

 The statement said KPA drills to counter the U.S. will involve "more diversified nuclear deterrence" that will be used for hitting medium- and long-range targets "with a variety of striking power".

 "We would not rule out a new form of nuclear test for bolstering up our nuclear deterrence," the North's statement said, without giving any indication of what that might entail.

 After Pyongyang fired two medium-range Rodong ballistic missiles into the sea off the east coast of the Korean peninsula on Wednesday, the 15-member Security Council on Thursday condemned the launches violating U.N. resolutions.

 North Korea's first firing in four years of mid-range missiles that can reach Japan followed a series of short-range rocket launches over the past two months.

 In defiance of U.N. resolutions, North Korea conducted its third nuclear test in February 2013 and declared it had made progress in securing a functioning atomic arsenal.

 It is widely believed the North does not have the capacity to deliver a nuclear strike on the mainland United States.

 (Reporting by Narae Kim; Editing by Richard Borsuk) ||||| In recent weeks, a number of news outlets have reported that North Korea may be readying for another nuclear weapons explosion at its test site. The stories resulted from a remark by the South Korean Minister of Defense, who told lawmakers in Seoul that North Korea had finished preparations for another test at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site—although he added that no test was imminent.

 The Minister’s statement matches closely the reports that have appeared at 38 North—one in October 2013 noting the presence of new tunnel entrances, followed by reports in December 2013 and February 2014 showing a significant acceleration in excavation of one of the new sites. (North Korea appears to be digging into the same mountain on the north side of its test site—usually called the West Portal area—where it conducted its 2009 and 2013 nuclear tests, while stopping excavation at another mountain south of the site—the South Portal—where digging is either done or on hold.)

 We generally think of North Korea as digging tunnels and then conducting a single test in each tunnel in 2006, 2009, and 2013. The pattern of excavation at Punggye-ri, however, raises a disquieting possibility. What if North Korea’s recent excavations are not for new tunnels that will be used only once, but represent an effort to transform the mountains north and south of the site into complexes that could allow it to conduct multiple tests—two or more—in drifts off a single main tunnel with multiple entrances.

 If and when North Korea has a steady supply of fissile material in the form of highly enriched uranium from facilities at Yongbyon (and who knows where else) as well as a steady but smaller supply of plutonium from its reactivated five megawatt reactor, might the North prepare to conduct nuclear explosions on a much more regular basis?

 After North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006 under a mountain to the east of the test complex, Pyongyang began digging a tunnel under a different mountain to the north, referred to as the West Portal. After its second nuclear test in 2009, the North Koreans began digging a tunnel into a third mountain to the south of the site—but there was a surprise. North Korea’s third nuclear test occurred under the same mountain to the north as the 2009 detonation. Now, imagery reveals a new entrance again at the northern mountain, while the tunnels or tunnel complex under the southern mountain appear complete.

 It is possible that each entrance into the West Portal is for a separate tunnel that runs parallel to the others. But an alternate hypothesis suggested by patterns of US, Russian and Chinese underground nuclear testing is that, rather than parallel tunnels, North Korea may be conducting tests in drifts that branch off a main tunnel. This is how those three countries conducted underground nuclear tests. Here are diagrams from “P-tunnel” at the Nevada Test Site (now known as the Nevada National Security site).[1]

 P-tunnel, for example, had two entrances, as well as a ventilation drift and a machine shop, to service what is really a nuclear testing complex where multiple explosions could be conducted. Russia and China, too, conducted multiple tests using drifts off the same main tunnel. Instead of looking like Figure A, North Korea’s tunneling might look more like Figure B. (The diagrams are purely notional, based on P-tunnel’s geometry.)

 If North Korea is not digging parallel tunnels, but is rather opening multiple entrances to the same main tunnel, then it is probably planning to conduct more than one additional test under the north mountain (West Portal), in addition to the two that have already been conducted there. The continuing excavation at the south mountain looks rather different in this light. If the South Portal is a tunnel complex, rather than simply two or three tunnels, North Korea might have plans to conduct more than two or three additional detonations in that area alone.

 If his hypothesis proves correct, it would represent a change in how we view North Korea’s nuclear weapons testing program. Tom Schelling once told me that, for North Korea’s first few nuclear explosions, the term “test” was perhaps less accurate than “demonstration.” Schelling’s insight was that North Korea’s nuclear explosions were political events to demonstrate capabilities or perhaps Pyongyang’s resolve, not technically-driven events intended to result in successively better capabilities. Of course, that is just one wonk’s opinion and it is difficult to discern the balance between the need to demonstrate and technical goals in Pyongyang’s calculus. But it is clear that the pace of testing to date appears to have been constrained—either by political pressure, a lack of fissile material or both.

 What would happen if North Korea were to acquire an ample supply of fissile material and political pressures were to subside? Pyongyang may soon have ample material if it does not already. And, although China may have pressured North Korea to refrain from nuclear tests in past years, its influence on Pyongyang seems to have waned. In November 2012, a Chinese delegation arrived in Pyongyang carrying “a letter from China’s new leader, Xi Jinping, which is said to have contained a simple message: Do not launch a ballistic missile.” KCNA released a picture of the Chinese handing over the letter. Then, the next day, KCNA announced the Unha launch.[2] Pyongyang also executed Beijing’s preferred interlocutor, Jang Song Thaek, for various crimes including selling “coal and other precious underground resources at random”—a veiled reference to his business dealings in China. As of right now, Beijing’s track record when it comes to pressuring Pyongyang isn’t so hot.

 If the North does step up its nuclear testing program, in the near-term, Pyongyang will probably seek to continue developing smaller nuclear weapons that can arm the country’s ballistic missiles. They claim to have developed a miniaturized device, but we do not know how small these weapons are. Perhaps further miniaturization is needed to arm more than Scud or Nodong missiles; certainly this is the case for longer-range delivery systems.

 Thermonuclear weapons—something the Chinese were able to achieve within six tests—are a worrisome possibility. But the good news is that Punggye-ri appears unsuitable for very large explosions above more than tens of kilotons in yield. This is because the mountains can only contain so much explosive power as well as the fact that a major cross-country railway runs relatively near to the test site, probably causing concern about the impact of large explosions on the rail tunnels. North Korea would probably need another test site to conduct very large nuclear tests in vertical boreholes—something we have yet to see.

 The bad news is that our current North Korea policy of malign neglect may be more costly than we imagine. The current rate of one nuclear test every three or four years is unpleasant, but manageable. We muster outrage over these tests long enough to send Pyongyang a sternly worded letter and maybe sanction some iPads, before returning to years-long periods of ignoring them. After all, historically, North Korea—perhaps constrained by a small stockpile of fissile material—couldn’t stage nuclear temper tantrums all that often.

 However, this may be about to change. North Korea may soon have access to regular amounts of fissile material if it doesn’t already and could be preparing Punggye-ri for a number of nuclear tests if the above analysis is correct. What if North Korea conducts a nuclear test, or even two, on an annual basis? Have we really considered the implications of an increase in the frequency of tests for our current policy of strategic patience? Have we prepared our allies for such a change? The answer is, of course, “No, we will cross that bridge when we come to it.”

 Jeffrey Lewis is Director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), Monterey Institute of International Studies. |||||


Here is a news article: The Spanish-language news channel Univision has located one of the women from the Dominican Republic who was allegedly hired by a doctor with ties to Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) to work as a prostitute.

 The 21-year-old woman and her family deny that she ever participated in prostitution. The woman, Yaneisi Fernandez, said she has never seen Menendez before, not even on television.

 (PHOTOS: Top congressional scandals)

 "I’ve never been to Casa de Campo, I’ve never participated in those activities, don’t know those people or that man," Fernandez said, according to a translation provided by Univision.

 Menendez came under fire last week when the office of Dr. Salomon Melgen, a Florida eye doctor with ties to the senator, was raided by the FBI. It was later learned that in January Menendez reimbursed Melgen for flights on his private jet to the Dominican Republic.

 In reports first published by the Daily Caller, Menendez was accused of patronizing prostitutes -- some underage -- while with Melgen at his private estate in an area known as Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republican. Fernandez 's mother told Univision that she is a college student and any suggestion her daughter was involved with the senator is a misunderstanding.

 Menendez has denied all of the allegations.

 Media outlets have been searching for the women who were identified as prostitutes in records released by the government watchdog group CREW. Fernandez was identified in those records. ||||| In a state with a colorful history, it takes a lot for a New Jersey politician to cross the line into political toxicity.

 Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez has found himself at the center of a growing controversy, with accusations swirling of a questionable friendship with a Florida eye surgeon being investigated for Medicare fraud, improper flights to the Dominican Republic and alleged patronizing of prostitutes — including underage girls — while in the Caribbean nation.

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 In some states, these allegations — and the fact the Senate Ethics Committee has joined federal investigators in looking into the explosive claims — would be enough to sink Menendez. But in New Jersey, that may not be enough to topple the Hudson County political boss, who runs the political machine for a part of Jersey known for being rough and tumble and who easily won reelection last year.

 (Also on POLITICO: Reid: 'Confidence' in Menendez)

 “Six years is a long time,” said Democratic former Sen. Robert Torricelli , who left the Senate a decade ago under his own ethics cloud. “I think Bob Menendez is a very tenacious person, and he has the advantage of six long years and a fairly forgiving political environment in New Jersey.

 “I wouldn’t be wasting time on a Bob Menendez political obituary,” he added.

 The prostitution allegations surrounding Menendez partially came to light before last November’s election, when he won with 58 percent of the vote. Menendez has fervently denied the allegations, and the Justice Department wasn’t publicly investigating the case at that time.

 Otherwise, Menendez has had a few good months: He was pictured with President Barack Obama and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as they toured the Jersey Shore after Hurricane Sandy; helped push through the Sandy relief spending package; and took over as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when Sen. John Kerry left to become secretary of state.

 He’s also the lead Democratic Hispanic voice on immigration reform in the Senate.

 Top Senate Democrats, including Majority Leader Harry Reid, are backing Menendez.

 “He was a leader in the House. He’s been a leader in the Senate. He’s chairman of that committee. He’ll do a wonderful job. And he’s also an integral part of what we do with immigration reform. So I have the utmost confidence in him,” Reid said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.

 “I have confidence he did nothing wrong, but that’s what investigations are all about,” Reid added.

 (PHOTOS: Top congressional scandals)

 Senior Democratic aides said that with Ethics Committee investigating the matter, party leaders like Reid have cover not to take any action against Menendez until that panel completes its review of the case. The Ethics Committee would step out of the way if Menendez becomes formally involved in a criminal probe by the Justice Department.

 Menendez’s aides would not comment on whether the senator has hired a defense attorney at this time or will set up a legal defense fund to help cover the costs of any ethics or criminal investigation. Marc Elias, a well-known Democratic lawyer, is advising Menendez on ethics issues but is not involved in the broader criminal case, multiple sources said.

 Menendez, who divorced his wife in 2005 and is still single, isn’t personally wealthy. He last week repaid the company of the Florida eye surgeon, Salomon Melgen, $58,500 to cover the cost of two 2010 flights that the senator now acknowledges were personal jaunts to the Dominican Republic.

 Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that Menendez intervened with state and Commerce Department officials on behalf of a Melgen-owned company trying to enforce a lucrative port-security contract with the Dominican government. |||||
A summary of this is?

– At least one of the women allegedly involved in the prostitution scandal swirling around Sen. Bob Menendez denies the whole thing, Politico reports. Yaneisi Fernandez was allegedly hired by Dr. Salomon Melgen, who has ties to Menendez, but she says she's never participated in prostitution and she's never seen Menendez in person or on TV, according to Univision. Menendez and Melgen have been accused of patronizing prostitutes, some underage, in the Dominican Republic. Despite the fact that the controversy continues to grow, Politico reports that Menendez could weather the storm. First of all, it takes a lot to sink a New Jersey politician, the site points out, particularly in Menendez's neck of the woods. Plus, he was easily re-elected last year. "I think Bob Menendez is a very tenacious person, and he has the advantage of six long years and a fairly forgiving political environment in New Jersey," a former senator says. "I wouldn’t be wasting time on a Bob Menendez political obituary."


Summarize this article:

President Trump asked then-FBI Director Comey in February to stop investigating ousted national security advisor Michael Flynn , a request that Comey then recorded in a memo, the NY Times reports .

 The quote, per Comey's memo: "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go."

 What's next: Per the NYT, Comey has memos from all of his interactions with Trump. House Oversight Chair Jason Chaffetz has requested them from the FBI, and Democrats are claiming obstruction of justice. ||||| The controversy over President Donald Trump's abrupt firing of FBI Director James Comey has threatened to slow or even stall Republicans’ policy agenda on Capitol Hill. Already facing Democratic opposition on some of their top priorities, Republicans insist the matter won't derail them but it's already proven to be a distraction at the very least.

 As the week began, Senate Republicans were focused on health care after the House narrowly passed its version of legislation to overhaul Obamacare. By Friday, health care, tax reform and other top GOP priorities had been shoved off the front-burner, at least momentarily, by the abrupt firing of Comey and new questions about the future of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

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 Comey’s ouster means that the Senate will have to confirm a new director to replace him, a process that has already shown signs of controversy as Democrats are demanding more answers about the timing of the firing and the FBI’s investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

 A host of Democrats have said that they won’t consider a new replacement to lead the FBI until a special counsel has been appointed to oversee that investigation, which Comey was leading.

 “Frankly we should hold off on the FBI director until we get this special prosecutor,” said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, indicating that he would try to slow down or block the confirmation of any FBI director.

 The bombshell that shook Washington this week has further strained a slow-moving Senate schedule that is void of any major legislative achievement. For the first months of this year, the upper chamber has been consumed with processing Trump's nominees — including the successful confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch — as well as GOP-backed Congressional Review Act measures to roll-back regulation from the Obama administration.

 The Senate has moved slowly, in part because of its rules, but also because Democrats have opposed the GOP's agenda.

 That's why one GOP senate aide sees little impact of the Comey firing. “The Democrats were already opposing everything all the time. Unless you are Spinal Tap you can’t really turn the opposition volume from 10 to 11,” the aide said.

 Senate Republicans began the Congressional year with a long to-do list, but it has been shrunk to accommodate the realities of governing in a partisan environment. They still, however, are working to pass a repeal of the Affordable Care Act and a reform of the tax system before the end of the fiscal year in September — two major pieces of legislation that don’t need the support of Republicans because of a budget mechanism Republicans plan on using.

 Democrats say that go-it-alone approach increases the prospects of any gridlock that grips the Senate.

 “I think we need to move ahead as much as possible to get things done for the American people. ... But trust is very, very difficult when the administration is trashing the oath of law,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told reporters this week.

 Democrats successfully held up a days’ worth of hearings on Capitol Hill Wednesday, the morning after Comey’s firing, which is just one example of how they can slow down the process on Capitol Hill.

 Republicans insist that little has changed. A group of 13 senators have been plotting a way forward on health care, holding two meetings this week and the entire Republican conference spent much of their time on the subject at two lunches.

 For instance, they held their regularly scheduled lunch on Wednesday that lasted for nearly an hour-and-a-half, focused on health care. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said the caucus discussed Comey for maybe “90 seconds” on the topic.

 Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn, who is leading the health care talks, predicted the Comey matter won’t detract from his work.

 “I actually think that Republicans and Democrats will be looking for exactly the same thing: a very well-qualified FBI director of unimpeachable integrity who can lead the FBI and continue the investigation into what the Russians were doing in our election. I don’t think it makes any difference for health care,” Alexander said.

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 But the reality is that the controversy has eaten into the rest of their work already. At their conference lunch on Thursday, which was supposed to again focus on health care, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., briefed his fellow Republicans on the conversation he had earlier in the day with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who the Trump administration said recommended Comey’s firing.

 Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V. and a member of the Intelligence Committee, said the Senate needs to move on to other business beyond Russia and Comey, but he noted that it is becoming more difficult.

 “We have to make sure we do a thorough job and leave no stone unturned… and go wherever the intelligence takes us,” he says.

 While Senate rules and the calendar make sudden distractions like the Comey firing more damaging to their broader policy agenda, at least one Republican operative it could prove beneficial.

 "It takes attention and fire away from an important policy effort," the operative said. "Having the focus and the fury over a personnel matter could make the policy items a little easier because it dials down the attention and scrutiny from the hard left."

 Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, said he was confident his work on health care would not be impeded by Comey's ouster.

 He then struggled to fight his way past a mob of reporters blocking the elevators as they questioned his Democratic colleagues. "Does anyone see the down button?" he said. |||||

– President Trump's controversies may be wearing thin on both sides of the aisle in the Senate. Two different outlets on Monday have posts with a similar theme: New York Times: "Senate Republicans, increasingly unnerved by President Trump’s volatility and unpopularity, are starting to show signs of breaking away from him as they try to forge a more traditional Republican agenda and protect their political fortunes." Senate Leader Mitch McConnell may still be a reliable Trump defender, but that appears to be changing among the rank and file, as seen in the public and private criticism of Trump in the aftermath of the James Comey firing. The story includes a quote from Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who says that among his GOP colleagues, "there is a lot less fear of him than there was just a month ago." Axios: It notes that Senate Republicans are going their own way on health care and the Russian investigation, and it predicts the same will happen on tax reform. Trump can't get leverage over his own party because Senate Republicans don't need him for the 2018 races, don't particularly like him, and no longer fear him, per the post. "Not long ago, Republicans worried about a Trump tweet fired their way. No more." NBC News and the Washington Post, meanwhile, have stories explaining how the Comey firing is the latest example of a surprise distraction taking away from the GOP agenda in the Senate, particularly on health care. "Anytime you have something else come along when you’re debating legislation, while you’re trying to iron out something, it can—it takes some of the momentum away," GOP Sen. Mike Lee said on Fox News Sunday. But, he added, "We’re going to get it done one way or another."


SYDNEY (AP) — Survivors of one of Australia's deadliest wildfires are to be awarded nearly 500 million Australian dollars ($470 million) in a class action settlement reached Tuesday, the largest such compensation in the nation's history.

 The fire, which killed 119 people, was the biggest in a series of blazes that tore through the southern Australian state of Victoria in 2009, leaving 173 people dead and destroying more than 2,000 homes in just over a single day.

 More than 5,000 people joined the class action against electricity provider SP AusNet, arguing the company was negligent because it hadn't maintained its power lines, which sparked the fire. The group also sued Utility Services Corporation Ltd., which SP AusNet hired to maintain the lines, and the Victorian government.

 On Tuesday, the defendants agreed to pay a total of AU$494.7 million. Attorney Andrew Watson, who represents the plaintiffs, said the settlement still needs final court approval. It will then take 12 to 18 months to distribute the payouts, he said.

 "No amount of money will ever compensate those who were affected by the fire for the losses they have suffered," Watson told reporters in Melbourne. "But this settlement of nearly $500 million represents a measure of justice and some real compensation that will ease the financial burden of their suffering."

 SP AusNet said in a statement that it had agreed to the settlement, but had not admitted liability. The company said the conductor that broke and sparked the fire had been damaged by lightning.

 "It has been a tough, grueling five years since the fire killed our son, left our daughter without her big brother and destroyed our home," lead plaintiff Carol Matthews said. "There is so much pain that is still very real, but today there is also a sense of justice." ||||| Image copyright AFP Image caption A total of 173 people died in the Black Saturday fires in Victoria, Australia

 Survivors of one of the worst bushfires in Australia have won a payout of almost A$500m ($470m), in the country's largest class action settlement.

 Some 10,000 plaintiffs sued a power company for negligence over the fire.

 The case centred on the most deadly blaze on Black Saturday, on 7 February 2009, when wildfires swept across several areas in the state of Victoria.

 This fire, in the Kilmore East area north of Melbourne, killed 119 people and destroyed more than 1,000 homes.

 A 2009 Royal Commission found that the fire began when an electricity line failed between two poles. Contact between the live conductor and a cable stay supporting the pole caused arcing that ignited vegetation, the report said.

 The plaintiffs accused SP AusNet of failing to adequately maintain its power lines.

 They also sued Utility Services Corporation Ltd, the line maintenance contractor, and the Department of Sustainability and Environment for inadequate prevention measures.

 The group were awarded a settlement of A$497.4m ($467m, £274m), of which SP AusNet will pay A$378.6m.

 The settlement represented "a measure of justice and some real compensation to help ease the financial burden of their suffering," lawyer for the plaintiffs Andrew Watson said.

 SP AusNet said the settlement came without an admission of liability by the company.

 "SP AusNet's position has been, and continues to be, that the conductor which broke and which initiated the fire was damaged by lightning, compromising its fail-safety design in a manner which was undetectable at the time," it said in a statement.

 "It is a tragedy that the conductor eventually failed on one of the worst days imaginable."

 A total of 173 people died in the Black Saturday fires. |||||

Write a summary.

– Australian power company SP AusNet hasn't officially accepted responsibility for a wildfire that killed 119 people near Melbourne in early 2009—but it has agreed to pay $470 million to survivors in the biggest class-action settlement in the country's history. Some 10,000 plaintiffs accused the firm of negligence after investigators determined that the fire began when an electricity line failed between two poles, causing a live conductor to ignite vegetation, the BBC reports. The ensuing fire was one of several wildfires that killed a total of 173 people and destroyed more than 2,000 homes on February 7, 2009, which became known as Black Saturday. The company says the settlement, which still needs court approval, is not an admission of liability, the AP reports. "The conductor which broke and which initiated the fire was damaged by lightning, compromising its fail-safety design in a manner which was undetectable at the time," it said in a statement. "It is a tragedy that the conductor eventually failed on one of the worst days imaginable." A lawyer for the plaintiffs says the settlement will bring "a measure of justice and some real compensation to help ease the financial burden of their suffering." After the deadly fires, rescued koala Sam became a symbol of hope—though he died of chlamydia later that year.


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 Coincidence? We think not. You can see how it all comes together. It’s a good idea. We were asked to help to bring it to life - a remake of the Depeche Mode classic in various modern genres. The campaign is already buzzing with thousands of people all over the world requesting the release of full length tracks. Well....who knows...we just might.

 If you don’t like Depeche Mode you should seek medical advice. They are the truth. Take for instance the line: People are people. That is true. People are people. Only an alien would argue otherwise. And Volkswagen also means People’s Car. ||||| Photo: Courtesy Image 1 of / 54 Caption Close

 Image 1 of 54 Rashad Owens, the suspect in the SXSW wreck, is seen in an undated booking mug provided Friday, March 14, 2014.

 Rashad Owens, the suspect in the SXSW wreck, is seen in an undated booking mug provided Friday, March 14, 2014. Photo: Courtesy

 Image 2 of 54 Rashad Charjuan Owens of Killeen is seen in an undated booking mug provided March 13, 2014 by the Bell County Sheriff Department. Owens allegedly attempted to evade a police checkpoint in Austin early Thursday morning March 13, 2014, running through barricades at SXSW killing two people and injuring 23 others in the process. Rashad Charjuan Owens of Killeen is seen in an undated booking mug provided March 13, 2014 by the Bell County Sheriff Department. Owens allegedly attempted to evade a police checkpoint in Austin early Thursday ... more Photo: Courtesy Photo/Bell County Sheriff Department

 Image 3 of 54 Unidentified people are comforted after being struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people were confirmed dead at the scene after a car drove through temporary barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck a crowd of pedestrians.

 Unidentified people are comforted after being struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people were confirmed dead at the scene ... more Photo: Jay Janner, AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman/Statesman.com

 Image 4 of 54 People are treated after being struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people were confirmed dead at the scene after a car drove through temporary barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck a crowd of pedestrians. The condition of the victims shown is unknown.

 People are treated after being struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people were confirmed dead at the scene after a car drove through ... more Photo: Jay Janner, AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman/Statesman.com

 Image 5 of 54 Bystanders react after several people were struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, at SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people were confirmed dead at the scene after a car drove through temporary barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck a crowd of pedestrians.

 Bystanders react after several people were struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, at SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people were confirmed dead at the scene after a ... more Photo: Jay Janner, AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman/Statesman.com

 Image 6 of 54 Bystanders tend to a man who was struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people were confirmed dead at the scene after a car drove through temporary barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck a crowd of pedestrians. Bystanders tend to a man who was struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people were confirmed dead at the scene after a car drove through ... more Photo: Jay Janner, AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman/Statesman.com

 Image 7 of 54 A man is transported to an ambulance after being struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people were confirmed dead at the scene after a car drove through temporary barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck a crowd of pedestrians. A man is transported to an ambulance after being struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people were confirmed dead at the ... more Photo: Jay Janner, AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman/Statesman.com

 Image 8 of 54 A bystander and a police officer tend to a man who was struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, at SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say a man and woman have been killed after a suspected drunken driver fleeing from arrest crashed through barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck the pair and others on a crowded street. A bystander and a police officer tend to a man who was struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, at SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say a man and woman have been killed after ... more Photo: Jay Janner, AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman/Statesman.com

 Image 9 of 54 A man checks the condition of a man in the street after he was struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people have died after a car drove through temporary barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck a crowd of pedestrians.

 A man checks the condition of a man in the street after he was struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people have died after a ... more Photo: Jay Janner, AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman/Statesman.com

 Image 10 of 54 People perform CPR on a woman after she was struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, at SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Her condition is unknown. Police say two people have died after a car drove through temporary barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck a crowd of pedestrians.

 People perform CPR on a woman after she was struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, at SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Her condition is unknown. Police say two people have died ... more Photo: Jay Janner, AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman/Statesman.com

 Image 11 of 54 Investigators continue to work the scene on Red River where a man fleeing police drove through a closed street filled with pedestrians killing 2 and injuring 23 more during the SXSW Music Festival held in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, March 13, 2014. Investigators continue to work the scene on Red River where a man fleeing police drove through a closed street filled with pedestrians killing 2 and injuring 23 more during the SXSW Music Festival held in ... more Photo: Rodolfo Gonzalez, Associated Press

 Image 12 of 54 A patient is carried away after being struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people were confirmed dead at the scene after a car drove through temporary barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck a crowd of pedestrians. A patient is carried away after being struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people were confirmed dead at the scene after a ... more Photo: Jay Janner, AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman/Statesman.com

 Image 13 of 54 People walk away after the accident on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, that left two dead at SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say a man and woman have been killed after a suspected drunken driver fleeing from arrest crashed through barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck the pair and others on a crowded street.

 People walk away after the accident on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, that left two dead at SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say a man and woman have been killed after a suspected drunken ... more Photo: Jay Janner, AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman/Statesman.com

 Image 14 of 54 People perform CPR on a woman after she was struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, at SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say a man and woman have been killed after a suspected drunken driver fleeing from arrest crashed through barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck the pair and others on a crowded street.

 People perform CPR on a woman after she was struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, at SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say a man and woman have been killed after a suspected ... more Photo: Jay Janner, AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman/Statesman.com

 Image 15 of 54 The crowd scatters seconds after several pedestrians were struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people have died after a car drove through temporary barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck a crowd of pedestrians. The crowd scatters seconds after several pedestrians were struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people have died after a car ... more Photo: Jay Janner, AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman/Statesman.com

 Image 16 of 54 Bystanders assist first responders at the scene at SXSW festival in Austin, TX early Thursday morning March 13, 2014 where 2 people died and dozens more were injured after a hit and run. Police say a man and woman have been killed after a drunken driver fleeing from arrest crashed through barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck the pair and others on a crowded street. Bystanders assist first responders at the scene at SXSW festival in Austin, TX early Thursday morning March 13, 2014 where 2 people died and dozens more were injured after a hit and run. Police say a man and ... more Photo: Colin Kerrigan, Associated Press

 Image 17 of 54 People tend to those who were struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people have died after a car drove through temporary barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck a crowd of pedestrians. People tend to those who were struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people have died after a car drove through temporary ... more Photo: Jay Janner, AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman/Statesman.com

 Image 18 of 54 People tend to those who were struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people have died after a car drove through temporary barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck a crowd of pedestrians. People tend to those who were struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people have died after a car drove through temporary ... more Photo: Jay Janner, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

 Image 19 of 54 A man directs an ambulance to a man who was struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW, March 12, 2014. A man directs an ambulance to a man who was struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW, March 12, 2014. Photo: Jay Janner, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

 Image 20 of 54 A victim is carried away after being struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW, March 12, 2014. A victim is carried away after being struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW, March 12, 2014. Photo: Jay Janner, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

 Image 21 of 54 Dr. Christopher Ziebell, Director of the Emergency Unit for University Medical Center Brackenridge, briefs members of the media on the conditions of the patients that were injured in an early morning accident during the SXSW Music Festival held in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, March 13, 2014. A man fleeing from police drove his car through barricades and down a closed street crowded with pedestrians in downtown Austin killing 2 people and injuring 23 others.

 Dr. Christopher Ziebell, Director of the Emergency Unit for University Medical Center Brackenridge, briefs members of the media on the conditions of the patients that were injured in an early morning accident ... more Photo: Rodolfo Gonzalez, Associated Press

 Image 22 of 54 Bystanders and paramedics tend to a person who was struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, at SXSW on Wednesday, March 12, 2014. Police say a man and woman have been killed after a suspected drunken driver fleeing from arrest crashed through barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck the pair and others on a crowded street.

 Bystanders and paramedics tend to a person who was struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, at SXSW on Wednesday, March 12, 2014. Police say a man and woman have been killed after a ... more Photo: Jay Janner, Associated Press

 Image 23 of 54 A man helps another man who was struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, at SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people have died after a car drove through temporary barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck a crowd of pedestrians.

 A man helps another man who was struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, at SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people have died after a car drove through temporary ... more Photo: Jay Janner, Associated Press

 Image 24 of 54 Bystanders and a police officers move a person who was struck by a car on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, at SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say a man and woman have been killed after a suspected drunken driver fleeing from arrest crashed through barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck the pair and others on a crowded street. Bystanders and a police officers move a person who was struck by a car on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, at SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say a man and woman have been killed after a ... more Photo: Jay Janner, Associated Press

 Image 25 of 54 A man is transported to an ambulance after being struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people were confirmed dead at the scene after a car drove through temporary barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck a crowd of pedestrians. The condition of the man is unknown. A man is transported to an ambulance after being struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say two people were confirmed dead at the scene after a ... more Photo: Jay Janner, Associated Press

 Image 26 of 54 Bystanders and a paramedics tend to people who were struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, at SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say a man and woman have been killed after a suspected drunken driver fleeing from arrest crashed through barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck the pair and others on a crowded street. Bystanders and a paramedics tend to people who were struck by a vehicle on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, at SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say a man and woman have been killed after a ... more Photo: Jay Janner, Associated Press

 Image 27 of 54 People carry a person who was struck by a car on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, at SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say a man and woman have been killed after a suspected drunken driver fleeing from arrest crashed through barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck the pair and others on a crowded street.

 People carry a person who was struck by a car on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, at SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say a man and woman have been killed after a suspected drunken driver ... more Photo: Jay Janner, Associated Press

 Image 28 of 54 People carry a person who was struck by a car on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, on Wednesday, March 12, 2014. Police say a man and woman have been killed after a suspected drunken driver fleeing from arrest crashed through barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck the pair and others on a crowded street. People carry a person who was struck by a car on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, on Wednesday, March 12, 2014. Police say a man and woman have been killed after a suspected drunken driver fleeing ... more Photo: Jay Janner, Associated Press

 Image 29 of 54 Paramedics transport a person who was struck by a car on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, at SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say a man and woman have been killed after a suspected drunken driver fleeing from arrest crashed through barricades set up for the South By Southwest festival and struck the pair and others on a crowded street.

 Paramedics transport a person who was struck by a car on Red River Street in downtown Austin, Texas, at SXSW on Wednesday March 12, 2014. Police say a man and woman have been killed after a suspected drunken ... more Photo: Jay Janner, Associated Press

 Image 30 of 54 The scene on Red River on Wednesday night. The scene on Red River on Wednesday night.

 Image 31 of 54 The scene on Red River on Wednesday night. The scene on Red River on Wednesday night.

 Image 32 of 54 The scene on Red River on Wednesday night. The scene on Red River on Wednesday night.

 Image 33 of 54 A photo of the aftermath at 10th and Red River in Austin, Texas, after a suspected drunk driver barreled through a police barricade and into a crowded street. Two were killed, 23 were injured, five critically, in the incident. A photo of the aftermath at 10th and Red River in Austin, Texas, after a suspected drunk driver barreled through a police barricade and into a crowded street. Two were killed, 23 were injured, five critically, ... more Photo: Nolan Hicks/Express-News

 Image 34 of 54 People line up for shows outside the Mohawk Thursday March 13, 2014 in Austin, Tx., near the scene where at least 2 people were killed by a motorist fleeing police. People line up for shows outside the Mohawk Thursday March 13, 2014 in Austin, Tx., near the scene where at least 2 people were killed by a motorist fleeing police. Photo: Edward A. Ornelas, San Antonio Express-News

 Image 35 of 54 Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo answers questions from the media after a vigil at St. David's Episcopal Church, Thursday March 13, 2014 in Austin, Tx., for the victims of the South by Southwest crash. Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo answers questions from the media after a vigil at St. David's Episcopal Church, Thursday March 13, 2014 in Austin, Tx., for the victims of the South by Southwest crash. Photo: Edward A. Ornelas, San Antonio Express-News

 Image 36 of 54 People line up for shows outside the Mohawk Thursday March 13, 2014 in Austin, Tx., near the scene where 2 people were killed and 23 others injured early Thursday morning by a motorist fleeing police. People line up for shows outside the Mohawk Thursday March 13, 2014 in Austin, Tx., near the scene where 2 people were killed and 23 others injured early Thursday morning by a motorist fleeing police. Photo: Edward A. Ornelas, San Antonio Express-News

 Image 37 of 54 People line up for shows outside the Mohawk Thursday March 13, 2014 in Austin, Tx., near the scene where 2 people were killed and 23 others injured early Thursday morning by a motorist fleeing police. People line up for shows outside the Mohawk Thursday March 13, 2014 in Austin, Tx., near the scene where 2 people were killed and 23 others injured early Thursday morning by a motorist fleeing police. Photo: Edward A. Ornelas, San Antonio Express-News

 Image 38 of 54 People pray during a vigil at St. David's Episcopal Church, Thursday March 13, 2014 in Austin, Tx., for the victims of the South by Southwest crash. People pray during a vigil at St. David's Episcopal Church, Thursday March 13, 2014 in Austin, Tx., for the victims of the South by Southwest crash. Photo: Edward A. Ornelas, San Antonio Express-News

 Image 39 of 54 Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo (left) and St. David's Episcopal Church assistant priest Bob Gibble attend a vigil at St. David's Episcopal Church, Thursday March 13, 2014 in Austin, Tx., for the victims of the South by Southwest crash. Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo (left) and St. David's Episcopal Church assistant priest Bob Gibble attend a vigil at St. David's Episcopal Church, Thursday March 13, 2014 in Austin, Tx., for the victims of the ... more Photo: Edward A. Ornelas, San Antonio Express-News

 Image 40 of 54 Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo (left) hugs Kristin Day, who is attending South by Southwest, during a vigil at St. David's Episcopal Church, Thursday March 13, 2014 in Austin, Tx., for the victims of the South by Southwest crash. Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo (left) hugs Kristin Day, who is attending South by Southwest, during a vigil at St. David's Episcopal Church, Thursday March 13, 2014 in Austin, Tx., for the victims of the South ... more Photo: Edward A. Ornelas, San Antonio Express-News

 Image 41 of 54 Dozens attended a candlelight vigil at St. David's Episcopal Church in Austin for the victims of the South by Southwest crash for late afternoon Thursday, March 13, 2014. Dozens attended a candlelight vigil at St. David's Episcopal Church in Austin for the victims of the South by Southwest crash for late afternoon Thursday, March 13, 2014. Photo: Lorne Chan/San Antonio Express-News

 Image 42 of 54 Crime scene tape near the scene Thursday March 13, 2014, of the tragic accident when Rashad Charjuan Owens, 22, of Killeen, drove a vehicle past barricades and into a crowd of people at Red River and Ninth Streets in downtown Austin, Texas. The crash killed two people and injured 23 more.

 Crime scene tape near the scene Thursday March 13, 2014, of the tragic accident when Rashad Charjuan Owens, 22, of Killeen, drove a vehicle past barricades and into a crowd of people at Red River and Ninth ... more Photo: Laura Skelding, Associated Press

 Image 43 of 54 Flowers placed against a utility pole near the scene where 2 people were killed and 23 others injured when a motorist fleeing police drove his car through a crowd of pedestrians near Mohawks during SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, March 13, 2014. The driver, identified as Rashad Charjuan Owens, 21, of Killeen, was taken into custody will face capital murder charges. Flowers placed against a utility pole near the scene where 2 people were killed and 23 others injured when a motorist fleeing police drove his car through a crowd of pedestrians near Mohawks during SXSW Music ... more Photo: Rodolfo Gonzalez, Associated Press

 Image 44 of 54 Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo speaks Thursday March 13, 2014 in downtown Austin after two people were killed and more than 20 people were injured after a man in a car attempted to evade police at about 12:30 a.m. The driver of the vehicle sped down a barricaded portion Red River street where the South by Southwest Music Festival was taking place and hit more than 20 people in his car. A cyclist from the Netherlands was killed and a female riding on a moped was killed. The suspect, a black adult male, was tazed and apprehended and will face capital murder charges. Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo speaks Thursday March 13, 2014 in downtown Austin after two people were killed and more than 20 people were injured after a man in a car attempted to evade police at about 12:30 ... more Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

 Image 45 of 54 Austin mayor Lee Leffingwell (center, at lectern) speaks Thursday March 13, 2014 at a press conference in downtown Austin after two people were killed and more than 20 people were injured after a man in a car attempted to evade police at about 12:30 a.m. The driver of the vehicle sped down a barricaded portion Red River street where the South by Southwest Music Festival was taking place and hit more than 20 people in his car. A cyclist from the Netherlands was killed and a female riding on a moped was killed. The suspect, a black adult male, was tazed and apprehended and will face capital murder charges. Austin mayor Lee Leffingwell (center, at lectern) speaks Thursday March 13, 2014 at a press conference in downtown Austin after two people were killed and more than 20 people were injured after a man in a car ... more Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, San Antonio Express-News

 Image 46 of 54 Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo (center, at lectern) speaks Thursday March 13, at a press conference in downtown Austin after two people were killed and more than 20 people were injured after a man in a car attempted to evade police at about 12:30 a.m. The driver of the vehicle sped down a barricaded portion Red River street where the South by Southwest Music Festival was taking place and hit more than 20 people in his car. A cyclist from the Netherlands was killed and a female riding on a moped was killed. The suspect, a black adult male, was tazed and apprehended and will face capital murder charges. Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo (center, at lectern) speaks Thursday March 13, at a press conference in downtown Austin after two people were killed and more than 20 people were injured after a man in a car ... more Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, San Antonio Express-News

 Image 47 of 54 Roland Swenson (center, at lectern), Managing Director of the South by Southwest Music Festival, speaks Thursday March 13, at a press conference in downtown Austin after two people were killed and more than 20 people were injured after a man in a car attempted to evade police at about 12:30 a.m. The driver of the vehicle sped down a barricaded portion Red River street where the South by Southwest Music Festival was taking place and hit more than 20 people in his car. A cyclist from the Netherlands was killed and a female riding on a moped was killed. The suspect, a black adult male, was tazed and apprehended and will face capital murder charges. Roland Swenson (center, at lectern), Managing Director of the South by Southwest Music Festival, speaks Thursday March 13, at a press conference in downtown Austin after two people were killed and more than 20 ... more Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

 Image 48 of 54 This is the Shell station in downtown Austin at I-35 and 9th where an incident began that resulted in two deaths and more than 20 people being injured after a man in a car attempted to evade police at about 12:30 a.m. The driver of the vehicle sped down a barricaded portion Red River street where the South by Southwest Music Festival was taking place and hit more than 20 people in his car. A cyclist from the Netherlands was killed and a female riding on a moped was killed. The suspect, a black adult male, was tazed and apprehended and will face capital murder charges. This is the Shell station in downtown Austin at I-35 and 9th where an incident began that resulted in two deaths and more than 20 people being injured after a man in a car attempted to evade police at about ... more Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

 Image 49 of 54 This is the corner of 9th and Red River in downtown where a a motorist crashed through barriers that resulted in two deaths and more than 20 people being injured after a man in a car attempted to evade police at about 12:30 a.m. The driver of the vehicle sped down a barricaded portion Red River street where the South by Southwest Music Festival was taking place and hit more than 20 people in his car. A cyclist from the Netherlands was killed and a female riding on a moped was killed. The suspect, a black adult male, was tazed and apprehended and will face capital murder charges. This is the corner of 9th and Red River in downtown where a a motorist crashed through barriers that resulted in two deaths and more than 20 people being injured after a man in a car attempted to evade police ... more Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

 Image 50 of 54 This is the Mowhawk night club on Red River street in downtown where a a motorist crashed through barriers that resulted in two deaths and more than 20 people being injured after a man in a car attempted to evade police at about 12:30 a.m. The driver of the vehicle sped down a barricaded portion Red River street where the South by Southwest Music Festival was taking place and hit more than 20 people in his car. A cyclist from the Netherlands was killed and a female riding on a moped was killed. The suspect, a black adult male, was tazed and apprehended and will face capital murder charges. This is the Mowhawk night club on Red River street in downtown where a a motorist crashed through barriers that resulted in two deaths and more than 20 people being injured after a man in a car attempted to ... more Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

 Image 51 of 54 Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo addresses the media during a press conference about Thursday morning's tragic accident during SXSW when Rashad Charjuan Owens, 22, of Killeen, drove a vehicle past barricades and into a crowd of people at Red River and Ninth Streets in downtown Austin, Texas. The crash killed two people and injured 23 more. Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo addresses the media during a press conference about Thursday morning's tragic accident during SXSW when Rashad Charjuan Owens, 22, of Killeen, drove a vehicle past barricades ... more Photo: Laura Skelding, Associated Press

 Image 52 of 54 SXSW managing director Roland Swenson address the media during a news conference on Thursday, March 13, 2014 in Austin, Texas. Swenson said the festival will continue. A suspected drunken driver barreled through police barricades and drove down a crowded street at the South by Southwest festival early Thursday morning, killing two people and injuring 23 in an act authorities say was intentional. The driver struck multiple pedestrians at about 12:30 a.m. on a block filled with concertgoers, continued down the street and hit and killed a man from the Netherlands on a bicycle and a woman from Austin on a moped, Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said. SXSW managing director Roland Swenson address the media during a news conference on Thursday, March 13, 2014 in Austin, Texas. Swenson said the festival will continue. A suspected drunken driver barreled ... more Photo: Shweta Gulati, Associated Press

 Image 53 of 54 Austin Police Chief address the media during a news conference on Thursday, March 13, 2014 in Austin, Texas. A suspected drunken driver barreled through police barricades and drove down a crowded street at the South by Southwest festival early Thursday morning, killing two people and injuring 23 in an act authorities say was intentional. The driver struck multiple pedestrians at about 12:30 a.m. on a block filled with concertgoers, continued down the street and hit and killed a man from the Netherlands on a bicycle and a woman from Austin on a moped, Acevedo said. Austin Police Chief address the media during a news conference on Thursday, March 13, 2014 in Austin, Texas. A suspected drunken driver barreled through police barricades and drove down a crowded street at the ... more Photo: Shweta Gulati, Associated Press |||||

Write a summary.

– The driver accused of plowing into a crowd at the South by Southwest Festival, killing two and injuring 23 others, has been identified as 21-year-old Rashad Owens of Killeen, Texas, reports the Austin American-Statesman. Police say the tragedy began about 12:30am when an officer tried to pull over Owens for suspected drunken driving. Owens pulled into a gas station parking lot, then gunned it the wrong way down a one-way street, say police. He eventually turned onto Red River Street, crashed through a barricade and struck festivalgoers, say authorities. Killed were Steven Craenmehr, who was riding a bike, and an Austin woman who was riding a moped. She hasn't been identified. Craenmehr worked for Amsterdam's MassiveMusic. Because he is charged with capital murder, Owens faces the death penalty. “That vehicle was used as a weapon, and he will be charged with those crimes,” says Austin's police chief. Two people remain in critical condition with head injuries, and six others are still in the hospital with lesser injuries. A soldier at Fort Hood, meanwhile, has reported that his car was stolen, and it appears to be the vehicle driven by Owens, reports MySanAntonio.com. Owens himself is not a Fort Hood soldier. In 2011, he was charged with driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident in Fairbanks, Alaska, reports a separate American-Statesman story.


Here is a news article: It was another week in the life of Lindsey Graham (R-No Man's Land).

 On Monday, Sen. James Inhofe said his Republican colleague from South Carolina had "chosen to ignore" the American people and was making a deal with President Obama that would increase the "risk of terrorist activity."

 On Tuesday, the conservative Web site Redstate.com branded Graham a "RINO" (Republican in Name Only), not to mention a "cretin" and "a poster child for everything that is anathema to conservative Republicans."

 Wednesday, it was Glenn Beck's turn to pick on the senator. "You read his stuff, it's like reading Obama's campaign speech," the Fox News host said.

 Finally, on Thursday, Rep. Pete Hoekstra (Mich.), ranking Republican on the House intelligence committee, accused Graham and Obama in a New York Post op-ed of a "deal with the devil" and said Graham "hasn't thought this through."

 After a week like that, most of Graham's colleagues would feel as though they'd lost a tickle fight to Eric Massa. But Graham has heard it all before. "What drives my train," he told me when I reached him late in the week, "is not their approval; it's getting it right."

 The fact that such a sentiment makes Graham an oddball in the Republican Party, and to some extent Congress generally, says less about him than about his colleagues. For all his supposed heresies -- on climate change, judicial nominees, immigration and now his offer to help close the Guantanamo Bay prison -- Graham had a 2009 rating of 88 percent from the American Conservative Union and a lifetime rating of 90 percent.

 "The people that call me a RINO would call Ronald Reagan a RINO," he protested. "Reagan worked with Tip O'Neill to increase taxes to save Social Security." What's changed is that "purity is replacing principled compromise," he lamented, as ideology enforcers in both parties threaten primary challenges against those who stray.

 Though Graham doesn't have to face primary voters until 2014, his defiance of the GOP purity police is still courageous. His Republican colleagues in Congress, wetting their pants out of fear of the tea party movement, show no sign of joining him.

 But Graham's latest offer should still be taken seriously by Obama's White House, which needs a way to recover from its self-inflicted wounds over Gitmo. Obama goofed twice, missing his deadline for closing the prison and then making the ruinous choice to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a criminal trial in New York.

 This took an eight-year-old dispute to a new level of rage. On one side, there's now Liz Cheney's absurd accusation that Justice Department lawyers are al-Qaeda sympathizers. On the other side is the ACLU, which, in demanding civilian trials for 9/11 conspirators, ran an ad morphing Obama's face into George W. Bush's.

 Graham has provided Obama a way out of this standoff: Send KSM to a military tribunal in exchange for Congress abandoning legislation that would deny funding to close Gitmo. Next, the administration would work with Congress to create a "national security court," which would govern how other current and future terrorism suspects can be held in preventive detention.

 Bush and his unitary executive theory lawyers rejected this approach on grounds that it would interfere with presidential authority. Obama was open to the idea last year, before some on the left pushed back, opposing any legislation that would justify detention. But the ideological purists on both sides need to compromise. As Benjamin Wittes and his Brookings Institution colleagues point out, the system is a huge mess, with federal judges making up rules as they go along in a haphazard legal framework.

 It will take some courage for Obama to defy his liberal base -- but nothing like the courage Graham will need to take on the Republican purity enforcers. "I'd be glad to argue with my colleagues in the Republican Party about the problems with Guantanamo Bay," he boasted.

 That's the sort of talk that won Graham censures from GOP leadership in two South Carolina counties. He reasons that he "could stay in this job forever" by telling GOP primary voters what they want to hear. But he took a different route. "I'm not job-scared," he told me, because it has come to the point where "fear stops you from acting in the best interests of the country."

 Of course, Graham wouldn't mind some company in his heresy. "I'd encourage my colleagues to do what's rational and not act out of fear," he said. Most Republicans are too job-scared to join him, but there's still hope for Obama.

 The writer will be online to chat with readers at 1 p.m. on Monday. Submit your questions and comments before or during the discussion. ||||| TERRORISM

 Senator offers a deal to shift 9/11 trials

 A Republican senator is offering the White House a deal on terrorism trials.

 Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) said that if President Obama agrees to try alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four accused henchmen in military tribunals, he will press fellow Republicans to vote to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

 Graham, interviewed Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation," said reversing a plan by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to try the suspected terrorists in a civilian court in New York would be seen by the public as an act of leadership.

 The White House is reviewing Holder's plan, and no new recommendation has been presented to the president. A decision is not expected for several weeks.

 Beyond Mohammed's case, Graham also said a new legal framework is needed to deal with the most dangerous detainees at the U.S. military prison.

 "We need a legal system that gives due process to the detainee but also understands they didn't rob a liquor store," he said.

 Closing Guantanamo Bay was a key promise Obama made when he took office, but it remains unfulfilled as he battles pressure from both sides of the political aisle.

 In a full-page ad in Sunday's New York Times, the American Civil Liberties Union said that if Obama does not back Holder, he will be extending the policies of the George W. Bush administration. The ad shows an image of Obama on the left and in subsequent panels moving to the right, the image morphs into a portrayal of Bush, who set up Guantanamo Bay for suspected terrorists.

 "As president, Barack Obama must decide whether to keep his solemn promise to restore our Constitution and due process, or ignore his vow and continue the Bush-Cheney policies," the ad states.

 -- Associated Press |||||
A summary of this is?

– After offering a Gitmo compromise to President Obama, Lindsey Graham got called everything from a "cretin" to someone making a "deal with the devil" this week by his fellow Republicans. That's just business as usual for Graham, whose designation may as well be "R-No Man's Land," writes Dana Milbank. Graham seems genuinely concerned with getting things right than with blindly sticking to some ideological purity test, and that, sadly, makes him an "oddball" on Capitol Hill. "Though Graham doesn't have to face primary voters until 2014, his defiance of the GOP purity police is still courageous," writes Milbank in the Washington Post. "His Republican colleagues in Congress, wetting their pants out of fear of the tea party movement, show no sign of joining him."


Here is a news article: Luxury goods sector Tiffany blames Trump protests for hitting sales at flagship jewellers Luxury jeweller suggests ‘recent election-related activity’ at Trump Tower has been putting customers off in New York People walk in front of the Tiffany store this month after the street it is on had been closed to pedestrians by police. Photograph: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

 Donald Trump’s successful campaign to become US president has claimed one of its first economic victims after luxury jeweller Tiffany blamed protests at Trump Tower for hitting sales at its flagship store.

 Many of the demonstrations before and after the election have centred on the president-elect’s skyscraper in midtown Manhattan, located on the same block as the jewellery store on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street.

 The site, described by the luxury goods company as “simply the most famous store there is”, is a tourist attraction almost as much as a retail outlet, mainly because of the enduring image of Audrey Hepburn’s alfresco dining and window shopping in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

 While sightseers have never appeared to scare away customers, political protesters might be viewed differently by Tiffany’s moneyed clients, at least according to a carefully worded results statement to Wall Street on Tuesday.

 “With respect to the impact of recent election-related activity near the company’s New York flagship store, management has noted some adverse effect on traffic in that store and a continuation of sales softness relative to prior year and to the company’s other US stores this year,” the company said.

 Facebook Twitter Pinterest A protest outside Trump Tower on 12 November. Tiffany’s results do not cover the post-election period. Photograph: Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images

 “That store represented less than 10% of worldwide net sales for the three and nine-month periods ended 31 October 2016, as well as for each quarter in fiscal 2015. The company cannot provide any assurance that sales in that store will not be negatively affected by this activity in the fourth quarter or in any future period.”

 The results take in the three months to the end of October, so do not include the final days before the election, nor the 8 November result, which led to further protests at the site.

 Tiffany said worldwide net sales rose by 1% to $949m (£761m) and comparable store sales fell by 2% over the period.

 Its chief executive, Frederic Cumenal, remained cautious about the company’s prospects following a mixed year, with low bonuses for Wall Street bankers and weaker spending from foreign tourists.

 “We are encouraged by some early signs of improvement in sales trends, but we clearly need more positive data over time before this can be considered an inflection point,” he said. ||||| Tiffany & Co (TIF.N) reported its first rise in sales in two years as more people shopped in its stores in Japan and China, and the upscale jeweler said sales in the United States declined at their slowest quarterly pace this year.

 The company's shares rose as much as 8 percent on Tuesday, their highest in 15 months.

 However, the luxury retailer - whose flagship store is next to the Trump Tower in New York - said it could not guarantee that sales in the current quarter would not be affected by protests and stepped-up security in the area since the election.

 While traffic has slowed at Tiffany's 5th Avenue store, it accounts for "less than 10 percent" of net sales, Tiffany said.

 The company said Japanese shoppers bought more at home and in the United States, in the third quarter ended Oct. 31, as the yen strengthened against the dollar.

 Net sales increased 1.2 percent to $949.3 million, beating the average analysts' estimate of $923.7 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

 "The 1 percent uplift is modest, but it is far better than the string of poor numbers the company has been posting for well over a year," said Neil Saunders, chief executive of research firm Conlumino.

 "That said, the figures do not show that all the problems at Tiffany have been resolved."

 Tiffany has been struggling to bring back wealthy American shoppers to its stores and woo hard-to-please millennials who are turning to cheaper and hipper brands such Denmark's Pandora A/S (PNDORA.CO) and online jeweler Blue Nile.

 In response, Tiffany has launched new silver products priced below $500 and has also aggressively marketed its diamond engagement rings.

 The strategy appears to be working. The company said on Tuesday that fashion jewelry performed well in the quarter, helped by higher sales of gold bracelets from its "Tiffany T" collection.

 TRUMP TOWER TROUBLES

 Tiffany, however, said sales at its stores open at least a year fell 2 percent in the quarter. Analysts on average had expected a 2.8 percent decline, according to research firm Consensus Metrix.

 While the company reaffirmed its full-year forecast of a decline in sales and adjusted earnings per share, it said it would remain cautious about how the Trump protests might impact sales over the coming weeks.

 While protests have eased in the neighborhood, the Tiffany store is still caught up in the Trump Tower security cordon.

 Amy Jones, a 22-year-old tourist from Liverpool, England, related to Reuters last week how she was able to buy a ring quickly from Tiffany because there were so few shoppers there, "probably because of all the madness surrounding Trump."

 Fifth Avenue hosts some of the biggest names in luxury retailing, including Gucci, Prada and Armani.

 Edward Jones analyst Brian Yarbrough, however, said the problem was short term in nature and wouldn't hurt holiday season sales much.

 Tiffany said third-quarter sales in China rose by "double-digits" while those in the United States, Canada and Latin America declined at the slowest pace in five quarters.

 Net income rose 4.5 percent to $95.1 million, or 76 cents per share. Analysts on average had expected a profit of 67 cents per share.

 The company's shares had risen about 7 percent this year, through Monday's close.

 (Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Melissa Fares and Steve Holland in New York; Editing by Ted Kerr and Sayantani Ghosh) |||||
A summary of this is?

– Having the president-elect as a neighbor isn't all sunshine and roses, according to Tiffany, which appears to partly blame Donald Trump for its poor US sales over the last three months. Tiffany actually saw a 1% boost in worldwide sales to $949.3 million in Q3—the company's first positive in two years—thanks to a strong performance in Japan and China, per Reuters. But US sales fell 2% compared to the same period last year. In explaining the figures, Tiffany notes its flagship store happens to sit on the same block as Trump Tower, where protesters gathered both before and after the election, per the Guardian. "With respect to the impact of recent election-related activity near the company's New York flagship store, management has noted some adverse effect on traffic in that store and a continuation of sales softness relative to prior year and to the company's other US stores this year," the company says. In other words, protesters scared away customers from what Tiffany calls "simply the most famous store there is." However, Q3 ended on Oct. 31, more than a week before the largest protests outside Trump Tower followed Trump's election win. With that in mind, Tiffany notes such adverse effects could continue in Q4 and beyond.