Write an article based on this summary:

– Is Justin Bieber's short-lived redemption tour already over? A Mexican official tells the AP Bieber and his entourage were asked to leave the Mayan archaeological site of Tulum after the singer apparently tried to climb onto the ruins on Thursday. Visitors can climb some pre-Hispanic pyramids in Mexico, but officials rope off or place 'no entry' signs on some ruins that are considered vulnerable or unstable. Per the CBC, the ruins Bieber tried to climb were clearly cordoned off, and he and his security team got into a "shouting match" with staff after Bieber was asked to stop, culminating in Bieber "pulling down his underpants." Per the Sun, Biebs was drunk at the time.

FILE - In this Nov. 7, 2015 file photo, Justin Bieber arrives at the Cannes festival palace in Cannes, southeastern France. A Mexican official the Canadian pop star and his entourage were asked to leave... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In this Nov. 7, 2015 file photo, Justin Bieber arrives at the Cannes festival palace in Cannes, southeastern France. A Mexican official the Canadian pop star and his entourage were asked to leave... (Associated Press)

 MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican official says Canadian pop star Justin Bieber and his entourage were asked to leave the Mayan archaeological site of Tulum after he apparently tried to climb onto the ruins.

 The official of the National Institute of Anthropology and History spoke on condition of anonymity because he or she was not authorized to be quoted by name.

 Bieber was visiting the seaside ruins on Thursday when the incident occurred.

 The official could not specify which of the site's structures Bieber allegedly had climbed, but said he was "asked to leave."

 Visitors can climb some pre-Hispanic pyramids in Mexico, but officials rope off or place 'no entry' signs on some ruins that are considered vulnerable or unstable.

 Bieber has been involved in several incidents in Latin America in recent years. ||||| 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. |||||


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 Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. ||||| A Jefferson Parish judge on Tuesday (Aug. 7) ruled there was probable cause to hold Shantel Parria Wagner on the charge of second-degree murder for the shooting death of her husband, Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office Sgt. Troy Smith.

 Magistrate Commissioner Paul Schneider also reduced Wagner's bond from $500,000 - his customary starting point for second-degree murder bonds - to $300,000.

 Schneider ordered that should Wagner make bond, she must be fitted with a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and confined to home at all times except for medical appointments.

 The ruling marked the end of an unusually long, two-day hearing in commissioner's court during which Sheriff's Office investigators said the physical evidence doesn't support Wagner's various stories to investigators that her husband committed suicide by a gunshot to the head. Prosecutors also accused Wagner admitting guilt.

 "There is one witness who said (Wagner) said she shot her husband," Assistant District Attorney Kellie Rish said. "She confessed to shooting her husband. I want to make sure the court is very clear about what that witness said."

 But Wagner's defense attorneys, Leo Palazzo and Wiley Beevers, said Wagner has always been consistent in her statement that Smith shot himself. Smith was suffering from PTSD, was depressed, had financial and relationship troubles and had threatened to kill himself just the day before in a text message, according to Palazzo.

 And defense attorneys point out that the Sheriff's Office admits Wagner's DNA was not found on the gun used in the shooting.

 "How do you shoot somebody without touching the gun?" Beevers asked after the hearing.

 Smith, 44, an instructor at the Sheriff's Office training academy and a former member of the New Orleans Police Department, died June 24, one week after Wagner called 911 to report that he tried to commit suicide inside their Waggaman home on Father's Day.

 Sheriff's Office detectives arrested Wagner on July 11, noting that forensic evidence and interviews led authorities to determine that Smith's injury wasn't self-inflicted.

 Dr. Dana Trosclair, the forensic pathologist who conducted Smith's autopsy, took the stand Tuesday. But Trosclair and coroner's office attorney Chuck Credo told the court she could not yet provide an official opinion on whether Smith's death was a homicide or a suicide because the final autopsy report was not complete, according to court records. Toxicology samples are still being tested.

 Palazzo, who employed Wagner as a paralegal at his Gretna law firm, did have Trosclair identify the location of Smith's entry wound, the "parietal scalp, right above the right ear," she said. The exit wound was on the "vertex" or top of the scalp.

 Trosclair described the trajectory as right to left, slightly front to back and upward.

 Chief Deputy Tim Scanlan, commander of the Sheriff's Office Crime Lab, also took the stand Tuesday. He testified that his technicians are in the preliminary stages of reconstructing the shooting.

 Beevers pressed Scanlan with questions about bullet trajectory and whether he could he sure a hole found in the ceiling of the couple's home was made by a projectile fired at the time of Smith's shooting.

 Scanlan conceded that Wagner's DNA was not found on the gun recovered at the shooting scene. But he also testified that the totality of evidence is inconsistent with Smith shooting himself.

 Palazzo passionately argued that the state did not prove probable cause to hold Wagner on a murder charge. None of the evidence presented during the hearing prove Wagner shot her husband, he said.

 In the end, Schneider agreed with Rish that Wagner's multiple inconsistent statements and the alleged confession to a witness rises to the level of probable cause.

 Although Schneider lowered Wagner's bond, Palazzo said the family will not be able to meet the $300,000 amount and called her prosecution political.

 "It is an absolute tragedy," he said. ||||| Shantel Wagner tells the 911 dispatcher that her husband has shot himself. (Source: JPSO)

 Following is a transcript of the 911 call made by Shantel Wagner the night her husband, JPSO Sgt. Troy Smith, died.

 Wagner: He's a police officer sir.

 Dispatcher: 12 chameleon (sp?) lane in Waggaman?

 Wagner: Yes please send somebody now.

 Wagner: No... no...

 Dispatcher: Ma'am? ma'am?

 Wagner: Yes sir?

 Dispatcher: OK ma'am I need you to go up to him. I need you to tell me if he's still breathing.

 Wagner: He's breathing but he's barely breathing sir. He's bleeding everywhere.

 Dispatcher: Is he conscious? Is he able to say anything?

 Wagner: No sir, he shot himself in the head.

 Dispatcher: I'm going to stay on the line with you for a bit ma'am. I need you to tell me what your name is.

 Wagner: My name is Shantel. And he is a police officer sir.

 Dispatcher: He's a police officer?

 Wagner: Yes. His name is Troy Smith. He's with JP.

 Dispatcher: Where is the gun ma'am?

 Wagner: The gun is on the bed.

 Dispatcher: Your home is a house, not an apartment, correct?

 Wagner: It's a house. The dispatchers, everybody out here knows where we live

 Dispatcher: What agency is he with ma'am?

 Wagner: He's with JP.

 Dispatcher: With JP?

 Wagner: Yes. JPSO.

 Dispatcher: Which grouping ma'am?

 Wagner: He's at the academy sir.

 Dispatcher: Ma’am can I get your phone number? Ma'am is there anyone else in the house?

 Wagner: No, please...(crying)

 Dispatcher: Ma'am I've sent the police a while ago. They're on their way.

 (Crying)

 Dispatcher: Ma'am, ma'am is he still breathing?

 Wagner: Yeah....(crying)

 Dispatcher: He is?

 Wagner: Yes.

 Dispatcher: How's his breathing ma'am?

 Wagner: He's breathing, but he's unconscious.

 Dispatcher: But how is his breathing? Is it heavy, labored, low, shallow?

 Wagner: Heavy and labored… No start breathing, please breathe. Please. Please. (crying) Please... I hear the ambulance or the cops or somebody. I just don't see them yet.

 Dispatcher: OK, ma'am. Is the door unlocked?

 Wagner: Yes it's open. Breathe. Breathe. (crying) Oh my God. …Alright I saw one unit pull up. I'm gonna go grab them.

 Dispatcher: OK ma'am. Go speak with them.

 Copyright 2018 WVUE. All rights reserved ||||| The wife of a Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputy has been arrested and booked with second-degree murder in his death.

 Shantel Wagner, 35, of Waggaman, is accused of killing Sgt. Troy Smith, an instructor and hostage negotiator with the department, according to the Sheriff's Office.

 UPDATE: Wife's arrest supports friends' skepticism that Sgt. Troy Smith took his own life

 Wagner called 911 on Father's Day, June 17, around 11:25 p.m. and reported Smith had tried to commit suicide in the bedroom of their Camellia Lane home, according to Lt. Jason Rivarde, spokesman for the department.

 Smith remained hospitalized for about a week before succumbing to his injuries. He was 44 years old.

 But detectives determined through forensic evidence and interviews that Smith's injury wasn't self-inflicted, Rivarde said. Jefferson Parish Coroner Dr. Gerry Cvitanovich declined to comment about the case on Wednesday.

 Detectives obtained a warrant for Wagner's arrest and took her into custody around 1 a.m. Wednesday at a home in the 4900 block of Jean Lafitte Boulevard in Lafitte, Rivarde said.

 Smith and Wagner married on Nov. 16, 2016, according to court records.

 Smith joined the New Orleans Police Department in 1995 and worked as a bomb technician and a member of the SWAT team. Smith joined JPSO in November 2013 as an instructor at the department's training academy, according to Rivarde.

 NOPD Capt. Michael Glasser said those within NOPD who worked with Smith were "devastated" to hear of the shooting and subsequent death a few weeks ago, when they were unaware of the circumstances.

 "Now that (murder allegations have) become evident, we're even more devastated," added Glasser, the president of the Police Association of New Orleans.

 Smith's NOPD colleagues were sorry to see him leave the department, Glasser said, but happy he returned to law enforcement in the neighboring agency.

 "Troy was extremely competent and extremely well thought of," Glasser said.

 Smith had also worked as a civilian contractor with the Department of Defense and was a 1st Lieutenant in the Mississippi State Guard.

 He was a member of the guard's 3rd Brigade and served as the group's Operations Training Officer, according to Lt. Russ Jones, spokesman for the Mississippi State Guard.

 Smith was named Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year in 2017 for both the Guard and the State Guard Association of the United States.

 "We saw in Lt. Smith the same level of dedication and loyalty he displayed with his police work. He was a good soldier," Jones said in a statement released Wednesday.

 Stay with NOLA.com for more on this story.

 Emily Lane contributed to this story. ||||| Wife of slain JPSO deputy to remain in custody; bond reduced to $300K

 A woman accused of killing her husband, a Jefferson Parish sheriff's deputy, will remain in custody unless she can post bond.

 Shantel Wagner, the wife of slain Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office Sgt. Troy Smith, returned to court Tuesday for another hearing in her case.

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 Wagner maintains her late husband committed suicide, but investigators accuse her of murder in the shooting reported in June on Father's Day.

 Breaking: Bond for Shantel Wagner is $500k, Judge REDUCES it to $300k with home incarceration and GPS monitoring. @wdsu — Travers Mackel (@TraversWDSU) August 7, 2018

 WDSU reporter Travers Mackel said a judge found probable cause to hold Wagner until she's indicted or on trial. She was arrested on a second-degree murder charge.

 Wagner's lawyer was able to reduce Wagner's bond from $500,000 to $300,000. She will be ordered to home incarceration and GPS monitoring if she posts bond, Mackel tweeted.

 Tuesday's developments come after several new details came to light Monday, during the first day of the hearing. For the first time since his death in June, what was heard on a 911 call was released this week.

 "My husband just shot himself in the head," Wagner told a 911 dispatcher.

 DA: Every single statement that Shantel Wagner has made does not conform with the physical evidence. @wdsu — Travers Mackel (@TraversWDSU) August 7, 2018

 Wagner can be heard sobbing on the tape.

 Leo Palazzo, Wagner's lawyer, said his client is not a killer. But investigators said that's not true. They said Monday that Wagner changed her story 16 times and even claim she told a witness that she shot Smith.

 Wagner remains jailed, and if convicted, faces a mandatory life sentence.

 Keep up with local news, weather and current events with the WDSU app here. Sign up for our email newsletters to get breaking news right in your inbox. Click here to sign up!

 AlertMe |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office Sgt. Troy Smith is dead. The question is whether it was by his own hand or his wife's. A judge on Tuesday determined there was sufficient probable cause to hold Smith's wife, Shantel Parria Wagner, in connection with his June 24 death. The timeline in the case begins one week prior, on Father's Day, when Wagner called 911 saying her husband had shot himself in the head. Wagner is at times crying and near-hysterical in audio of the call posted by Fox 8. The Times-Picayune reports Smith was hospitalized until his death the following week. Wagner's lawyer says Smith, 44, suffered from depression and PTSD, was dealing with financial strain, and texted a suicide threat the day before he was shot. But investigators say the evidence suggests the fatal gunshot wound Smith suffered wasn't self-inflicted. The autopsy report hasn't been finished, however, so the pathologist who handled the autopsy wouldn't deem it a homicide or suicide on the stand, though the Advocate reports she did say Smith exhibited no gunpowder burns or abrasions. The head of the Sheriff's Office Crime Lab testified the "totality of evidence," as the Times-Picayune puts it, isn't in line with a suicide—though he also acknowledged Wagner's DNA was not present on the gun found at the scene. But the judge said inconsistencies in Wagner's story—WDSU reports prosecutors say she altered her story 16 times—and a witness who alleges Wagner copped to the murder amounted to probable cause. Her bond has been set at $300,000.


After months of waiting for Donald Trump’s decline, Republican insiders now concede the poll leader could take two of the first four early voting states, though they caution his hold on Iowa is weak.

 That’s according to the POLITICO Caucus, our weekly poll of the top strategists, operatives and activists in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.

 Story Continued Below

 For this Thanksgiving holiday week, POLITICO analyzed seven months-worth of responses to our weekly benchmark question: Who would win your state if the voting were today? The result offers a snapshot of the current state of primary play — with Trump, Cruz, and Rubio grappling for wins in the early states — and chronicles Republicans’ slow acceptance of the real estate mogul as a contender with staying power.

 Roughly three-in-four GOP insiders in New Hampshire and South Carolina, many of whom have been repeatedly and consistently skeptical of Trump’s chances, now say he would win their states if their primaries were held today.

 “For the first time, I think the Trump phenomenon is becoming real,” a South Carolina Republican said.

 “I do not think the media or the party establishment have a real grasp on how deep the anger and frustration is around the country,” that insider said when most recently surveyed last week. “After what have been ‘missteps’ by Trump in comparison of previous elections, he seems to have only strengthened. I still do not know if he can sustain it into the New Year — but after the Paris attacks, his stance on illegal immigration and unverified people coming into our nation has real impact.”

 But his hold on Iowa and Nevada is more tenuous, according to insiders who note those states’ caucuses require significant organizational muscle to produce a win.

 GOP insiders now have Cruz nudging Trump out of the lead in Iowa. That prediction came even before a Quinnipiac University poll this week showed the Texan running neck and neck with Trump. Neurosurgeon Ben Carson was the only other candidate to register significantly on this question. It’s the first time Cruz has led on this measure — after months of Trump and, briefly, Carson in front.

 “I remain skeptical that Donald Trump's organization could turn out enough supporters today to win, and Ben Carson is fading on growing concerns that he's simply not up for the job,” said an Iowa Republican. “Cruz has been building — and continues to build — a solid organization. I'm not saying it won't change, although I've thought for some time now that Ted Cruz will win the Iowa caucuses — but this is the first week I'd put him on top in Iowa.”

 Still, the third of Iowa insiders who said Trump would win insisted he has built the campaign infrastructure to turn out his voters, even if they aren’t traditional caucus-goers. “Trump still has the best ground game and organization in the state,” one insider said.

 In Nevada, insiders were divided between Trump and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who has an organization in the state built somewhat on his appeal among Mormon voters, who made up about a quarter of the electorate, according to entrance polls. Rubio has consistently polled second in Nevada among GOP insiders since The POLITICO Caucus expanded there in early October.

 “[Rubio] continues to have the best structure in the state that will actually turn people out on caucus day,” said one Nevada Republican.

 Trump wasn’t always in such a dominating position. Before Trump entered the race in June, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who ended his campaign in September, was the odds-on favorite in neighboring Iowa: In weekly surveys from mid-April through the end of June, Walker was picked as the winner of the Iowa caucuses by more than 70 percent of Republican insiders. In New Hampshire, Bush was picked by two-thirds of insiders over the same time period.

 The Caucus expanded to South Carolina and Nevada in early October — well after Trump’s surge to the top of the polls. But results have consistently shown Trump stronger in South Carolina — more than three-in-five insiders in October said he would win there at the time — than in Nevada, where only a plurality, about 45 percent, picked Trump.

 Democrats: Clinton reasserts commanding advantage over Sanders

 Hillary Clinton has stymied Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ summer surge, according to Democratic insiders in the same four early states surveyed by POLITICO. Insiders said overwhelmingly in all four states that Clinton would win if the caucuses or primaries were held today.

 While members of The POLITICO Caucus have always leaned more toward Clinton than the public opinion polls, Sanders had closed the gap — especially in New Hampshire — over the summer. In late June and early July, roughly a quarter of New Hampshire Caucus members said Sanders would win the first-in-the-nation primary there if it were held that day.

 But now only a handful of insiders say Sanders would win today in their states. “Hillary's organization in Nevada is large and very competent in its work preparing for our caucus,” said one Democrat. “Bernie might actually be more popular among active Democrats.”

 A small fraction of insiders said the fervor of Sanders’ supporters will carry the day. “Sanders has a lot of working class support,” said an Iowa Democrat. “The proof of his support, though, will be evident at the precinct caucuses.”

 Back in New Hampshire, where Sanders had posted his strongest leads in the polls, Democratic insiders are convinced Clinton has halted Sanders’ ascent.

 “Sanders has lost momentum,” said one Democratic insider. “The race has become about more than income inequality, and his more limited focus/message — in contrast to Clinton's breadth and depth — has become a weakness. Also, as voters get more engaged and serious, the electability factor is also starting to become more important, helping Clinton [and] hurting Sanders.”

 Another Democrat in New Hampshire was even more blunt, writing simply: “It is so over.” ||||| WASHINGTON U.S. presidential hopeful Donald Trump's support among Republicans has dropped 12 points in less than a week, marking the real estate mogul's biggest decline since he vaulted to the top of the field in July, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

 Trump was the favorite of 31 percent of Republicans in a rolling poll in the five days ended on Nov. 27. That was down from a peak of 43 percent registered on Nov. 22.

 The dip follows criticism of Trump for comments he made in the aftermath of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 people and wounded hundreds more.

 Following the attacks, Trump told an NBC News reporter that he would support requiring all Muslims within the United States to be registered to a special database, which his critics have likened to the mandatory registration of Jews in Nazi Germany.

 Trump has also been criticized for flailing his arms and distorting his speech as he mocked a New York Times reporter, Serge Kovaleski, who is disabled.

 Trump mocked the reporter as he defended his unsubstantiated assertion that during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, he watched on television as "thousands and thousands" of people in New Jersey cheered while the World Trade Center fell.

 Still, Trump is not the only front-runner to slide in the latest survey.

 Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has seen his poll numbers drift downward and now trails Trump by more than half, with just 15 percent of Republicans polled saying they would vote for him in the same Nov. 27 poll. As recently as late October, Carson trailed Trump by only six points.

 Following Carson, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Texas Senator Ted Cruz are tied for third place, with more than 8 percent each.

 Following Rubio and Cruz was former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, with 7 percent.

 The five-day rolling average sample size ranged from 464 to 347 respondents between Nov. 22 and Nov. 27, with a credibility interval of 5.2 to 6.1 percentage points.

 For more on the 2016 U.S. presidential race and to learn about the undecided voters who determine elections, visit the Reuters website. (here)

 (Editing by Caren Bohan and Andrew Hay) |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Donald Trump's antics last week, including attacks on a disabled reporter and questionable recollections of 9/11, may have been the last straw for some supporters, the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll suggests. The poll put his support at 31% for the week ending on Nov. 27, down from 43% a week earlier, marking Trump's biggest poll drop since he became the front-runner in July, though Ben Carson isn't closing the gap: His numbers have also dropped and he is now a distant second at 15%, according to the poll, with Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz tied for third at 8% apiece and Jeb Bush fifth at 7%. But even with the latest fall, Trump's staying power has surprised Republican insiders, who now admit that he could win early voting states including Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. "I do not think the media or the party establishment have a real grasp on how deep the anger and frustration is around the country," a South Carolina Republican tells Politico. "I still do not know if he can sustain it into the New Year—but after the Paris attacks, his stance on illegal immigration and unverified people coming into our nation has real impact." (Four GOP rivals are getting equal time from NBC for Trump's Saturday Night Live appearance.)


Article:
THURSDAY, Aug. 18, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Unsafe use of contact lenses -- such as sleeping with them in place or using the same pair for too long -- is triggering serious eye injuries for many Americans, a new report finds.

 In fact, eye damage occurred in nearly 20 percent of contact lens-related eye infections reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over 10 years, researchers say.

 "Improper wear and care of contact lenses can cause eye infections that sometimes lead to serious, long-term damage," Michael Beach, who directs the Healthy Water Program at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an agency news release.

 One eye specialist believes many Americans don't take contact lens hygiene seriously enough.

 "There is a serious health crisis with contact lens-related eye injuries," said Dr. Mark Fromer, an ophthalmologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "Unfortunately, many of the 41 million contact lens users in the United States do not think of a contact lens as a medical device they are placing on the surface of their eye."

 In the study, CDC researchers analyzed nearly 1,100 cases of eye infections related to use of contact lens that were reported to the FDA between 2005 and 2015.

 According to the researchers, nearly 1 in 5 patients had either a scarred cornea, required a corneal transplant or had other types of eye damage because of the infection.

 More than 10 percent of the patients had to go to a hospital ER or urgent care clinic for immediate treatment.

 "While people who get serious eye infections represent a small percentage of those who wear contacts, they serve as a reminder for all contact lens wearers to take simple steps to prevent infections," said study author Dr. Jennifer Cope. She's a medical epidemiologist in CDC's Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch.

 Even when lens-related eye infections are minor, they can still be painful and disruptive.

 For example, patients may have to make daily visits to an eye doctor or use eye drops every hour to treat the infection, Cope's team said. ||||| Contact lens wearers must be vigilant in taking proper care of their lenses in order to prevent infections, the CDC warns in a new report.

 About 41 million Americans wear contact lenses. While they are a safe and effective alternative to glasses, contact lenses can lead to serious problems if not handled properly.

 In fact, the CDC reports that nearly one in five lens-related eye infections reported to a federal database involved a patient who experienced eye damage.

 “Contact lenses are a safe and effective form of vision correction when worn and cared for as recommended,” said Michael Beach, Ph.D., director of CDC’s Healthy Water Program, in a statement. “However, improper wear and care of contact lenses can cause eye infections that sometimes lead to serious, long-term damage.”

 For the report, researchers reviewed more than 1,000 contact lens-related infections reported to the FDA between 2005 and 2015.

 The infections included patients who had a scarred cornea, needed a corneal transplant, or otherwise suffered a reduction in vision.

 More than 10 percent of the incidents involved a visit to an emergency department or urgent care clinic. The researchers point out that even minor damage can be painful and disrupt daily life. For example, many of the reports describe the patients needing to make daily visits to an eye doctor or hourly administration of eye drops to treat the infection.

 Furthermore, the report found that more than one in four of the reports mentioned easily avoidable behaviors that increase the risk of infection, such as wearing lenses while sleeping and wearing them longer than recommended.

 Experts urge that proper contact lens care is paramount to maintaining good eye health.

 “While patients, especially younger patients, are really excited about being fitted with contact lenses, I stress to them that contact lenses are medical devices that have to be properly fitted, evaluated and that they must adhere to proper contact lens care,” said Dr. Andrea Thau of the American Optometric Association (AOA). “If they don’t follow my guidance, they can end up with serious eye problems.” Thau was not involved in the CDC study.

 The AOA recommends the following tips to safely wear and care for contact lenses.

 Visit your eye doctor every year. Annual in-person eye examines determine whether or not your prescription changed and evaluate eye and overall health. An optometrist can diagnose eye diseases (such as glaucoma diabetes strokes

 Buy your contact lenses from a trusted source. Contact lenses and lens care products are medical devices regulated by the FDA, yet some online retailers sell them without prescriptions and sometimes ship contact lenses of the wrong prescription. Poorly fitted contact lenses can cause significant damage to the eye’s function, which could lead to irreversible sight loss.

 Don’t panic if your lens is “lost” in your eye. Sometimes rubbing your eyes can cause a contact to move around, but it is not possible for it to get lost behind your eye due to a membrane — the conjunctiva — that covers the eye and the inside of the eyelids. If the lens has moved and is not visible, stay calm and instill a few drops of saline solution to moisten the eye, look away from where you feel the lens and lift your eyelid. When you see the lens, use the tip of your finger to remove the lens. If this happens repeatedly, make an appointment with your eye doctor to check the fit of your lenses.

 Don’t ever share contacts. Sharing contacts means sharing germs and bacteria, which increases the risk of infection and complications. Additionally, friend’s contacts may not be the right size or fit for your eyes leading to serious problems.

 Never use tap water to clean and rinse lenses. Contact solutions remove mucus, secretions, films or deposits that can build up during use and lead to bacterial growth if not removed properly. Use the disinfecting solution that your doctor prescribed each night to keep contacts clean and safe. When you find yourself at a last-minute overnight stay and don’t have your solution, don’t rely on tap water as it contains bacteria and other microorganisms that have been proven to cause serious eye infections.

 Keep your lens case clean. After you insert your reusable, disinfected contact lenses, rinse your case with solution, and store it upside down and open to dry fully. Every three months, toss your old case and replace it with a fresh, new one.

 No matter how tired you are, do not sleep in your contacts. While some lenses are approved for continuous overnight use, sleeping in lenses does increase the risk of an eye infection. If you regularly fall asleep with your lenses in, talk to your optometrist during your next appointment about extended wear contact lenses. ||||| This website is archived for historical purposes and is no longer being maintained or updated.

 Press Release Embargoed Until: Thursday, August 18, 2016, 1:00 p.m. ET

 Contact: Eye Wise: Contact Lenses 101

 Entire infographic

 Nearly 1 in 5 contact lens-related eye infections reported to a federal database involved a patient who experienced eye damage, according to a report published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

 The infections, submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Medical Device Report Database, included patients who had a scarred cornea, needed a corneal transplant, or otherwise suffered a reduction in vision. These contact lens-related eye infections can lead to long-lasting eye damage but are often preventable.

 “Contact lenses are a safe and effective form of vision correction when worn and cared for as recommended,” said Michael Beach, Ph.D., director of CDC’s Healthy Water Program. “However, improper wear and care of contact lenses can cause eye infections that sometimes lead to serious, long-term damage.”

 Contact lens manufacturers, eye care providers, and patients can report adverse events related to contact lens use to the FDA, which regulates contact lenses as medical devices. The report reviewed 1,075 contact lens-related infections reported to FDA between 2005 and 2015.

 More than 10 percent of the reports indicated that the patient went to an emergency department or urgent care clinic for immediate care. Whether eye infections are minor or lead to long-lasting damage, they can be painful and disrupt daily life. For instance, the reports describe patients’ daily visits to an eye doctor or hourly administration of eye drops to treat the infection.

 The MMWR was released in advance of Contact Lens Health Week, which runs August 22-26 and promotes healthy wear and care practices that can help contact lens wearers reduce their chances of getting an eye infection. Contact lens wearers can help prevent infections by properly using lenses and supplies and following directions on the lens labels. More than 1 out of 4 reports of infections mentioned easily avoidable behaviors that increase the chance of getting an eye infection, such as wearing contact lenses while sleeping and wearing them longer than recommended.

 “Around 41 million people in the United States wear contact lenses and benefit from the improved vision and comfort they provide,” said Jennifer Cope, M.D., M.P.H., medical epidemiologist in CDC’s Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch. “While people who get serious eye infections represent a small percentage of those who wear contacts, they serve as a reminder for all contact lens wearers to take simple steps to prevent infections.”

 The findings in this report highlight the need for contact lens wearers to take good care of their lenses to help prevent contact lens-related eye infections.

 Three recommendations related to commonly reported and risky behaviors:

 Don’t sleep in contact lenses without discussing with your eye doctor. Sleeping in contact lenses increases the chance of an eye infection by 6 to 8 times. Don’t top off, or add new contact lens solution to old solution that has been sitting in the case. Adding new solution to used solution can lower germ-killing power. Replace your contact lenses as often as recommended by your eye doctor. People who do not replace their lenses as often as recommended have more complications and report more eye problems than those who follow the replacement recommendations.

 ###

 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES |||||Summary:

– Sleeping with contacts in or forgetting to swap in a new pair according to schedule may be the unintended result of a harried lifestyle, but it could also lead to long-term eye damage, a new CDC study reports. Researchers looked at 1,075 cases of eye infections reported to an FDA medical device database over a 10-year period ending in 2015, and of those infections, almost 20% of them ended up causing more serious eye injuries, a CDC release reports. Those injuries ranged from scarred corneas and cornea transplants to other forms of vision problems. And of those who reported infections, the issue was bad enough for more than 10% of them to go to the ER or an urgent-care clinic for treatment. Yet most people don't give a second thought to the perfunctory way in which they handle their contacts, a Lenox Hill Hospital ophthalmologist tells WebMD. "Unfortunately, many of the 41 million contact lens users in the United States do not think of a contact lens as a medical device they are placing on the surface of their eye," Dr. Mark Fromer says. In addition to replacing contacts as recommended, users should also follow other recommendations from the American Optometric Association to keep eyes healthy, per CBS News, including not sharing contacts with anyone, not using tap water to clean contacts, and no snoozing with them in, which the CDC says can raise the risk of an eye infection between six to eight times. (And then there are the eyeball-devouring amoebas.)


A bonfire set by demonstrators protesting a scheduled speaking appearance by Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos burns on Sproul Plaza on the University of California at Berkeley campus on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017, in Berkeley, Calif. The event was canceled out of safety concerns after protesters hurled smoke bombs, broke windows and started a bonfire. | AP Trump threatens to pull U.C. Berkeley funding after protests against Milo Yiannopoulos turn violent

 President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw federal funding from the University of California at Berkeley over its decision to cancel an event at which Breitbart News writer Milo Yiannopoulos, known for his provocative and often misogynistic stances, was scheduled to speak.

 “If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS?” Trump wrote on Twitter on Thursday morning.

 Story Continued Below

 The university opted to cancel Yiannopoulos’ speech roughly two hours before it was set to begin after a protest against his presence on the campus turned violent, CNN reported. The school blamed “150 masked agitators” with igniting the violence, which included Molotov cocktails and fireworks launched at police. Protesters also threw rocks at officers and smashed windows at the U.C. student center, where Yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak.

 Pulling funding is a threat that Trump has brandished regularly, both as a candidate and since being inaugurated as president. Perhaps most prominently, he has pledged to withdraw federal funding from so-called sanctuary cities, which do not turn over undocumented immigrants to the federal government for deportation.

 Yiannopoulos’ speeches are often met by protests. His stories are among the most provocative on Breitbart, with headlines including “Birth control makes women unattractive and crazy,” “Science proves it: Fat-shaming works” and “Gay rights have made us dumber, it's time to get back in the closet.”

 Brietbart is an alt-right news website that has expressed white nationalist sympathies.

 Last month, a man was shot at a campus demonstration opposing a Yiannopoulos speaking engagement at the University of Washington.

 At least some portion of Trump’s success as a candidate is owed to the alt-right movement to which he regularly played on the campaign trail. Breitbart has been a frequent publisher of flattering stories regarding the president, and the website’s former head, Steve Bannon, is the Trump administration’s chief strategist and senior counselor. ||||| President Trump Donald John TrumpTrump announces North Dakota rally for June 27 Kim Kardashian on running for office: ‘Never say never’ State Dept. warns Americans of terrorist threat at World Cup MORE early Thursday threatened to cut federal funding to the University of California, Berkeley after violent protests broke out on its campus Wednesday in response to a planned appearance by a far-right commentator.

 "If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view — NO FEDERAL FUNDS?" the president tweeted Thursday morning.

 If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2017

 Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) on Thursday released a statement calling the president's apparent threat an "abuse of power."

 “President Donald Trump cannot bully our university into silence. Simply put, President Trump’s empty threat to cut funding from UC Berkeley is an abuse of power," she said in the statement.

 "As a senior member of the education funding subcommittee, I will continue to stand up to President Trump’s overreach and defend the rights of our students and faculty.”

 A scheduled appearance by right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos was canceled Wednesday night, about two hours before the Breitbart editor was scheduled to speak.

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 The university said in a statement the violence was "instigated by a group of about 150 masked agitators who came onto campus and interrupted an otherwise non-violent protest," according to NPR.

 "This was a group of agitators who were masked up, throwing rocks, commercial grade fireworks and Molotov cocktails at officers," U.C. Berkeley Police Chief Margo Bennet told The Associated Press.

 More than 1,500 people had showed up to protest Yiannopoulos's appearance on campus.

 At least six people were injured, according to CNN.

 Yiannopoulos called what happened "an expression of political violence," according to CNN.

 "I'm just stunned that hundreds of people ... were so threatened by the idea that a conservative speaker might be persuasive, interesting, funny and might take some people with him, they have to shut it down at all costs," he said in a Facebook Live video.

 Updated 11:37 p.m ||||| President Donald Trump at a ceremony at the White House on Wednesday for the swearing-in ceremony of Rex Tillerson as secretary of state. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to pull federal funding from the University of California at Berkeley after the campus experienced violent protests over a planned speech from conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos.

 "If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS?" Trump wrote on Twitter on Thursday morning.

 Berkeley is the flagship campus of the public University of California system. UC Berkeley received $370 million in federal research funding in 2015-2016, according to the university's website.

 Yiannopoulos, an editor at the far-right website Breitbart News whom many identify with the alt-right, a white-nationalist movement, was set to appear as part of a book tour.

 The event was canceled after demonstrators threw smoke bombs and flares, The Associated Press and local media reported.

 UC Berkeley, notably, is considered the home of the Free Speech Movement of the 1960s.

 Protesters watching a bonfire Wednesday night on Sproul Plaza during a rally against the scheduled speaking appearance by Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos on the University of California at Berkeley campus. AP Photo/Ben Margot

 UC Berkeley issued this statement on the protests: "Amid violence, destruction of property and out of concern for public safety, the University of California Police Department determined that it was necessary to remove Milo Yiannopoulos from the campus and to cancel tonight's scheduled 8 p.m. performance. "The decision was made at about 6 p.m., two hours before the event, and officers read several dispersal announcements to the crowd of more than 1,500 protesters that had gathered outside of the Martin Luther King, Jr. ASUC venue. "We condemn in the strongest possible terms the violence and unlawful behavior that was on display and deeply regret that those tactics will now overshadow the efforts to engage in legitimate and lawful protest against the performer's presence and perspectives."

 Bryan Logan contributed reporting to this story.

 Editor's note: Milo Yiannopoulos has previously authored columns published by Business Insider. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– The UC Berkeley campus erupted in anger Wednesday night during a protest that turned violent against a scheduled speech by far-right Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos (the speech ended up being canceled). President Trump weighed in on the incident on Twitter, per the Hill, and it was clear from his message which side he planted his feet on. "If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS?" he tweeted early Thursday. Per Business Insider, the school received $370 million in research funding from the government in fiscal year 2015-16, according to the school's own stats. Politico notes that Trump has also threatened to pull federal funds from so-called sanctuary cities for immigrants.


News article:

Donald Trump's hopes of delivering a "big surprise" at the Republican National Convention are officially rained out.

 The real estate mogul had been excitedly promoting his scheduled contribution to this year's conservative confab, despite suggestions that his participation would simply amount to a bit where he'd fire an Obama impersonator.

 Tropical Storm Isaac had other plans however, as the threat of heavy rains and extreme winds forced the GOP's planning committee to postpone the RNC, shifting Monday's events and canceling others. Trump's act, slated to take place on Monday, wasn't spared the chopping block. Some Republicans are thankful, the Washington Post reports, though Trump spokesman Michael Cohen maintained that Trump's show would have been quite the spectacle.

 Trump was in Florida on Sunday to receive a "statesman of the year" award from the Sarasota GOP. At a reception dinner, he addressed the development and also continued on his birther tear.

 "They gave me a big role and I was looking forward –- I was actually going to Tampa right after this, right after this dinner, but now I probably will be going back to New York," Trump said, according to Politico. "I may come back but I’ll probably be going to New York after the dinner."

 Trump also spoke on another contribution he has provided to the political debate: His near-constant appeal to beliefs that President Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States, and that his long-form birth certificate is a forgery. Pressed by reporters on an incident last week in which GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney appeared to make a joke about the nagging conspiracy theory, Trump suggested it was no laughing matter.

 "Let’s just say this there’s a huge group of people that are not believers in what [Obama] did, what he said and where he came from," Trump said, going on to explain that his birther crusade may continue. "We’ll see what happens. Well see what happens over the coming weeks and months."

 Trump also encouraged Republicans to get nasty in the upcoming election against Obama.

 "I don't think the Republicans should be or can be, they can't afford to be politically correct and nice," he said. "You have to fight fire with fire. And if they don't do it, they're not going to have a good result."

 Also on HuffPost: ||||| Tampa, Florida (CNN) -- Monday was supposed to be Obama-bashing day to launch the Republican National Convention, and GOP organizers showed they were not going to let something like bad weather totally derail their agenda.

 While the full proceedings of the first day were canceled because of Tropical Storm Issac, effectively cutting the planned four-day convention to three, Republican officials kept up their efforts to frame President Barack Obama's leadership as a failure in terms of achievement, direction and substance.

 Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus gaveled the convention to order at 2 p.m. ET to cheers from several hundred delegates who showed up to witness the brief session that then went into recess until Tuesday.

 He pointed out a digital clock in the convention hall tabulating the amount of additional national debt accrued during the proceedings, telling the delegates and journalists, "We also wanted to draw your attention to the unprecedented fiscal recklessness of the Obama administration."

 The original schedule called for targeting Obama on the first day to set up the desired contrast with MItt Romney at the gathering that will formally nominate the former Massachusetts governor as the Republican candidate against the incumbent president in November. Despite the lost day, GOP officials said criticism of Obama's presidency would be a consistent theme throughout the week.

 "What we would want to do is define what President Obama has done over the last four years, how and why he's failed, and why his leadership has really failed the American people," said Russ Schriefer, a strategist for Romney's campaign. "Stagnant economy, increasing debt, you know, and more importantly, the disappointment that many Americans feel in President Obama that he just hasn't lived up to the promises of the past four years."

 Isaac could hinder GOP chance to define Romney at convention

 Schriefer acknowledged at the same time Monday that convention organizers were keeping a nervous eye on Tropical Storm Isaac. Forecast to reach hurricane strength, Isaac churned through the Gulf of Mexico on the same path as Hurricane Katrina, a storm that devastated New Orleans seven years ago this month.

 Full proceedings are now scheduled to begin Tuesday, when the convention's 2,200-plus delegates will adopt a conservative platform and endorse Romney and his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, as the GOP ticket. Romney will arrive in Tampa on Tuesday, his campaign said.

 "We are continuing to go ahead with our program with Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday," Schriefer said, adding that "we're gonna make sure that we monitor the storm as it proceeds and see what happens over the next few days."

 The concern is the perception of a celebratory convention atmosphere with colorful balloons and soaring rhetoric as a hurricane slams into the Gulf Coast, evoking memories of the havoc caused by Katrina and the ensuing criticism of the Republican administration's response.

 Did the RNC jump the gun by delaying convention?

 "Obviously, our first concern is for the people who are in the path of the storm," Schriefer said, describing "a wait-and-see attitude to see what happens with the storm."

 Romney has shown no inclination to further delay the proceedings that offer his best chance to define himself to Americans who, according to polls, think Obama is more in touch with their daily lives and needs.

 "Our sons are already in Tampa and they say it's terrific there, a lot of great friends," he told reporters in a brief exchange Monday, adding: "We're looking forward to a great convention."

 Delegates who found themselves with an open day attended state meetings and talked about travel challenges getting to Tampa, as well as packing for a possible hurricane.

 "I packed a flashlight! Never done that before," Cyndy Aafedt of North Dakota said. "I even went and bought batteries before I came."

 So far, the biggest casualty of the shortened schedule has been a planned appearance by Donald Trump. The real estate mogul and outspoken conservative was going to take part on Monday, but has scheduling conflicts the rest of the week, Schriefer said. He added it was still possible that Trump would show up before the convention ends Thursday night.

 Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, considered a rising conservative star in the Republican Party, also will not attend because of the storm bearing down on his state.

 Members of the Louisiana delegation in Tampa sounded torn over being away from loved ones under possible threat.

 "I think that for Louisiana people, we know that the political part of it is important, what we're here for, but it is hard to celebrate in some ways when you have your heart in a different place," delegate Adonica Duggen said.

 A more reclusive Republican backer, Nevada billionaire Sheldon Adelson, is expected to attend the convention, a source with knowledge of the plan told CNN. Adelson and his wife are expected to listen to many of the speeches, especially ones by Ann Romney on Tuesday night and Mitt Romney on Thursday night.

 Together, Sheldon and Miriam Adelson have given at least $36 million to various organizations and candidates this campaign season, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks the influence of money in politics.

 Adelson, a casino magnate and one of the nation's richest men, has told friends he is willing to spend up to $100 million this election season to make sure a Republican is elected to the White House and to support GOP congressional candidates.

 Such unlimited backing from private and corporate donors has helped Romney and Republicans gain a big fundraising advantage over Obama and Democrats.

 Has the tea party 'sold out' to the GOP?

 In a new ad on Monday, the liberal MoveOn.org's political wing attacked Romney for what the group claims is his focus on the rich. The 30-second spot, titled "Stepping on the Middle Class," features Romney and Ryan look-alikes stepping on people dressed as typical middle-class Americans -- firefighters, students, seniors and children -- as they walk across the convention floor to accept the GOP nomination.

 "The ad is aimed at conveying to voters how Romney and Ryan would raid the middle class to transfer wealth to the top 1%," the group said in a statement.

 While the CNN/ORC International Poll indicates a dead heat between Romney and Obama, the new numbers released Sunday show that likely voters believe Obama is more in touch with their needs.

 "The public gives Obama a big advantage over Romney on questions on caring about people and understanding their concerns," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland, adding that Romney's strong points in the minds of poll respondents are his managerial skills and having a clear plan to solve the country's problems.

 According to the poll, 53% of likely voters say Obama cares about the needs of people, with 39% feeling the same way about Romney. Obama leads by an equal margin when it comes to being in touch with the middle class, and six in 10 say Obama is in touch with the problems facing women today, with just over three in 10 feeling the same way about Romney.

 Romney has a 48%-44% margin over Obama on managing the government effectively and a 6-point advantage on having a clear plan for fixing the nation's problems. Both are within the survey's margin of error.

 No more niceness: Obama, Romney try to rain on each other's parade

 "The challenge facing Romney at the GOP convention is to build on those managerial strengths while at the same trying to convince average Americans that he is in touch with their problems. Obama's personal characteristics, for the moment, outshine Romney's," Holland said.

 On specific issues, the poll results show a similar dynamic: Obama is generally ahead on foreign policy and social issues while Romney is generally preferred on economic issues.

 According to the survey, likely voters prefer Obama's policies on gay and lesbian issues by 59%-33% and choose Obama over Romney on abortion by 53%-40%. The president also has a 51%-44% advantage over Romney on foreign policy and a 50%-43% margin on terrorism.

 The candidates were statistically even on the economy, with Romney's 50%-46% advantage within the survey's margin of error, and Romney holds a 10-point advantage on handling the federal deficit.

 Another new poll released Monday showed Romney and Obama neck-and-neck in Florida, a battleground state, and North Carolina, where the Democratic convention will take place next week.

 The CNN/Time Magazine/ORC poll had both races statistically even, with Obama's 50%-46% advantage in Florida and Romney's 48%-47% lead in North Carolina both within the margin of error.

 Republican organizers say the shortened convention schedule provides enough time for all the planned major speeches, though some will be shortened to fit the revised schedule.

 Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee in 2008 who had the first day of his nominating convention in Minneapolis shortened because of a hurricane then threatening the Gulf Coast, agreed that losing one night is manageable. However, McCain told NBC on Sunday, "It could be harmful if we lose more than that."

 Speakers guide to the RNC

 In a sign of how badly the party wants to hold the convention to showcase Romney, GOP officials have not ruled out extending it by a day to Friday if necessary, a Republican source told CNN.

 On Sunday talk shows, Republicans said the convention must focus on Romney's character and show how he can lead the nation to economic prosperity, which is the top issue with voters.

 "It's the vision of Mitt Romney versus the record of Barack Obama, and facts just are stubborn things," Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell told ABC, adding that "the middle class is hurting" and people want "results, not rhetoric."

 The Obama campaign, anticipating the Romney branding effort by Republicans, released a movie trailer-style video Sunday that previewed a "do-over" moment for Romney.

 In a statement accompanying the video, the Obama campaign said it is "presenting Americans with an epic cinematic preview of Mitt Romney's 'convention reinvention' -- the Do-Over moment that voters have grown to expect -- because they've seen this movie before."

 Responding to the video, Romney's campaign said Sunday the president was relying on "negative attacks" as a way to distract from his own record.

 However, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told ABC that Romney is vulnerable to being portrayed as a political opportunist because of the right-wing positions he adopted during the rugged primary campaign against conservatives such as Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich.

 "I suspect that they are not going to be able to Etch A Sketch their way out of this campaign," Villaraigosa, a Democrat, said in a reference to a Romney aide's comment earlier this year about resetting the campaign message. "They're not going to be able to put away all the things they said in the primary and all the things they have in their platform right now."

 Last week, controversial comments by conservative Republican Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri ignited a political firestorm about rape and abortion as the Romney team sought to build momentum up to the convention.

 Akin, who won Missouri's Republican Senate primary to challenge Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in November, told an interviewer that women have an undefined biological response to what he called "legitimate rape" that oftentimes prevents pregnancy.

 Rove slams Akin

 Romney and a full spectrum of GOP politicians, from the RNC to tea party groups, condemned Akin's comments and called for him to drop out of a race considered crucial to Republican hopes of winning a Senate majority.

 Akin apologized and called his remarks incorrect, but he has refused to end his Senate bid. The imbroglio has given new life to McCaskill, considered the most vulnerable Democratic senator running, and caused chagrin within the Republican establishment.

 Republican strategist Karl Rove kept up the criticism of Akin on Monday, telling a breakfast in Tampa hosted by Politico that Akin is a good man with a good heart who "said a really stupid, indefensible thing from which there is no recovery, and if he really cares about the values of conservatism and pro-life, he will not go down for defeat as the biggest loss by a Republican candidate for Senate in modern history."

 Some conservatives, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, have defended Akin's decision to stay in the Missouri race, but Rove was unmoved.

 "I talk to some conservatives who say, 'It's not fair. We have to stand with him,'" Rove said. "Well, it is unfair. I get that. But it was also incredibly wrong, and there was no recovery from it. It would be one thing if it was some minor misstatement. But this was pseudo-science and morally incomprehensible."

 A further concern is that Akin's comments focused attention on the volatile abortion issue in the run-up to the convention, when the Romney campaign wanted to talk about the candidate's prescriptions for high unemployment and slow economic growth under Obama.

 Instead, Romney and Ryan, the conservative House Budget Committee chairman, have been asked repeatedly about differences between their personal views on whether abortion should be banned in all cases or permitted only for pregnancies from rape, incest or that threaten the life of the mother.

 Romney's Mormon faith supports the narrow exceptions, while Ryan -- a devout Catholic -- supports a blanket ban. The campaign has made clear the ticket supports Romney's stance, which also contrasts with the party platform that convention delegates are scheduled to vote on this week.

 In an interview with Fox broadcast on Sunday, Romney again answered questions on the Akin comments, saying "it obviously is being used by Democrats to try and cast a shadow on our entire party, and it's not."

 At the same time, Romney noted that Democrats are "wise enough to understand" that Akin's comments can hurt Republicans.

 Meanwhile, a new Romney ad Sunday continued his campaign's aggressive stance on another potentially vulnerable issue: Medicare.

 Romney on faith, family and private life

 Like previous Romney spots, the new ad includes a claim that, "As president, Barack Obama cut $700 billion from Medicare to pay for Obamacare," the 2010 health care reform law despised by Republicans.

 The claim cites a report from the Congressional Budget Office that shows repeal of the president's health care law would mean an additional $716 billion in spending on Medicare. However, it ignored the same report's finding that the additional spending would come from rising costs and inefficiencies that the health care law would have addressed, rather than restoring money cut from Medicare.

 The Obama campaign has called the Romney claim on Medicare false, citing the CBO report, and repeatedly attacked the Medicare reform plan proposed by Ryan that would partially privatize the government-run health care program for senior citizens. Democrats claim the Republican proposal would "end Medicare as we know it," while Ryan says his plan is the kind of reform necessary to ensure Medicare's long-term solvency.

 According to the poll results released Sunday, likely voters are evenly divided between the candidates on the Medicare issue.

 CNN's social media guide to the conventions

 CNN's Kevin Bohn, Paul Steinhauser, Dana Davidsen, Ashley Killough, Dana Bash, Deirdre Walsh, Halimah Abdullah, Martina Stewart and Mark Preston contributed to this report. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Republicans officially kicked off their convention today, but only officially. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus gaveled the convention to order before dozens of delegates in a mostly-empty hall today, the AP reports, but 10 minutes and a giant debt clock later he'd adjourned the proceedings thanks to Tropical Storm Isaac. Still, Republicans did their best to carry forward the day's agenda—namely bashing President Obama—in other ways, CNN reports. "What we would want to do is define what President Obama has done over the last four years, how and why he's failed," one strategist told reporters. Right now, Republicans still plan to go ahead with the remaining days of the convention, he said, weather permitting. But many Republicans are worried about the "optics" of celebrating Mitt Romney while the storm rages, Politico reports. Romney and Paul Ryan each said today that the focus should be on the storm's victims, first and foremost. Meanwhile, Donald Trump's hopes of dropping a "big surprise" on the convention are officially rained out, reports the Huffington Post.


News article:

Amid a national shortage of a critical medicine, US hospitals are hoarding vials, delaying surgeries, and turning away patients, The New York Times reports. The medicine in short supply: solutions of sodium bicarbonate—aka, baking soda.

 The simple drug is used in all sorts of treatments, from chemotherapies to those for organ failure. It can help correct the pH of blood and ease the pain of stitches. It is used in open-heart surgery, can help reverse poisonings, and is kept on emergency crash carts. But, however basic and life-saving, the drug has been in short supply since around February.

 The country’s two suppliers, Pfizer and Amphastar, ran low following an issue with one of Pfizer’s suppliers—the issue was undisclosed due to confidentiality agreements. Amphastar’s supplies took a hit with a spike in demand from desperate Pfizer customers. Both companies told the NYT that they don’t know when exactly supplies will be restored. They speculate that it will be no earlier than June or August.

 As hospitals and pharmacists struggle with the sodium bicarbonate shortage, experts note that it’s just the latest example of stocks of inexpensive, essential generic medicines hitting alarming lows. For example, there was a sodium bicarbonate scarcity in 2012 and a similarly alarming shortage of saline solution in 2014.

 Further Reading Dangerous shortage of essential antibiotics is all about $$ Experts blame the shortages on a combination of factors, including problems getting raw materials, issues with aging facilities where many old drugs are manufactured, and consolidation in the industry that reduces the number of potential suppliers. There’s also the concern that because generic drugs are unlikely to drive profits, drug companies may not make necessary investments to maintain supplies.

 But when there isn’t a steady supply, patients suffer. With the shortage of sodium bicarbonate, hospitals are postponing surgeries and chemotherapy treatments. A hospital in Mobile, Alabama, for example, postponed seven open-heart surgeries and sent one critically ill patient to another hospital due to the shortage.

 The Food and Drug Administration is working with Pfizer and Amphastar to try to mitigate the effects of the scarcity. A spokesperson for the agency said that it is “exploring all possible solutions to this critical shortage, including temporary importation, to help with this shortage until it’s resolved.”

 In recent years, the agency has been addressing the problem of shortages and has made progress. In 2011, there were 251 shortages, while there were only 23 in 2016. There are currently 50 drugs listed in short supply. ||||| PEORIA — A national shortage of a common drug is prompting hospitals to conserve their supply for only the most necessary applications.

 While The New York Times has reported that a shortage of sodium bicarbonate has forced some hospitals to delay chemotherapy treatments and operations or send patients across town, both OSF HealthCare and UnityPoint Health-Peoria say that in light of the shortage, the hospitals have been conservative with their supplies without resorting to such drastic measures.

 "Our supply has been trickling in, and we are maintaining critical operations," said Rhonda Georgieff, manager of pharmacy supply chain operations at OSF. "We are just experiencing major delays and back orders, or order that may come in only partially filled."

 While sodium bicarbonate solution is a simple drug — sodium bicarbonate in its solid form is known as baking soda — its use in medicine is more complicated than restocking at the local grocery store. The solution, delivered via IV, must be sterile and of certain chemical composition. Only two suppliers in the United States offer the drug, and one is having production issues and the other isn't able to absorb the increased demand.

 While the drug is simple, it's also critical to some hospital operations. It's used to lower the pH of blood that has become too acidic, in emergency and operating rooms, as an antidote to certain poisons, with certain types of chemo and to reduce pain, the Times reported.

 But it's limited availability may be due in part to its affordability. Manufacturers don't bother with generic forms of cheap drugs like sodium bicarbonate, Georgeiff said. Combine reduced profit incentive for U.S. manufacturers with increased oversight of overseas manufacturers, and shortages are bound to happen.

 Sodium bicarbonate is just one of dozens of drugs listed in shortage by the FDA and American Society of Hospital Pharmacists. Hospitals and pharmacies are well practiced in conserving medications in short supply, often without any noticeable change in operations as far as patients can tell.

 "We expect this situation to continue for another month. Hopefully, not longer," Georgieff said.

 Laura Nightengale is the Journal Star's health and lifestyle reporter. She can be reached at 686-3181 or lnightengale@pjstar.com. Follow her on Twitter @lauranight. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– The "simplest of drugs" is in short supply at hospitals around the country, causing crucial surgeries and other treatments to be reprioritized, and it's a cheap drug whose main ingredient may be found in your own pantry, the New York Times reports. That drug is sodium bicarbonate solution, aka baking soda, which is used in chemo regimens, as a poison antidote, and to help patients whose blood has veered into acidic ranges, among other uses. But the nation's two lone suppliers, Pfizer and Amphastar, are suddenly unable to give medical facilities what they need, causing those facilities to hoard what's left in their own cabinets. "Does the immediate need of a patient outweigh the expected need of a patient?" says the head pharmacist at a hospital in Mobile, Ala., calling it a "medical and ethical question that goes beyond anything I've had to experience before." Supply problems can arise when things go wrong at the factory level or when suppliers of the raw ingredients have issues, leaving hospital officials irritated at the short notice they receive about a dearth. Right now on the FDA website, there are dozens of drugs said to be "currently in shortage," many of them critical generic injectables. Some pharmacy officials even harbor suspicions that manufacturers aren't investing enough to ensure adequate supplies since, per Ars Technica, generic drugs aren't the moneymakers. Some hospitals have "compounding pharmacies" where they whip up their own generic drugs, but that doesn't solve the larger problem. "It is unbelievably frustrating," a University of Utah drug shortage expert tells the Times, which notes Pfizer and Amphastar can't guarantee more sodium bicarbonate supplies until at least June and maybe not until August in some cases. (The "cartels" some think control the market.)


News article:

Truck With 20 Tons Of Nutella And Chocolate Vanishes; Police Hunt For Semi's Sweets

 Enlarge this image toggle caption Allison Hare/Flickr Allison Hare/Flickr

 We now interrupt our regularly scheduled coverage to bring you this important public service announcement:

 "Anyone offered large quantities [of chocolate] via unconventional channels should report it to the police immediately."

 We trust you'll abide by those instructions from law enforcement in Germany, where more than 20 tons of chocolate treats have gone missing after thieves stole a refrigerated trailer packed with Nutella, Kinder Surprise eggs and other sweets.

 All told, police in Neustadt believe the confections stolen over the weekend could be worth upward of $80,000, according to German newspaper Deutsche Welle. And a "spokesman told local media the perpetrators would have needed a truck of their own, not just a car, to be able to tow such heavy cargo."

 As the newspaper notes, the chocolates weren't the only treats purloined in Germany this weekend: Another trailer, this one packed with 30 tons of fruit juice, disappeared from Wittenberg on Saturday.

 Now, it should be noted Germany is not the only place to suffer from brazen grand theft larder. Of course, there was that time Austrian police sniffed out — literally — more than 9 tons of stolen garlic stuffed into vans crossing the Hungarian border. Or, if you would prefer to go against the grain with a stateside story, there's always that guy who stole a bakery's delivery truck in New York City and started randomly passing out bread — all the while clad only in his underwear.

 And chocolate hasn't been safe in the U.S., either. Earlier this summer, NPR's Laurel Wamsley reported that two members of an alleged Russian crime syndicate were charged with arranging "the transport and sale of a whopping 10,000 pounds of 'stolen chocolate confections' to a government informant."

 For now, though, German police are hoping to spread the word about the Nutella theft. And if you should happen to come across more than 20 tons of chocolate lying around, the local police spokesman offered another helpful suggestion: "I wouldn't throw any of that away." ||||| "Anyone offered large quantities of chocolate via unconventional channels should report it to the police immediately," Neustadt police said in a statement.

 The stash of confectionery, worth between €50,000 and €70,000, was taken between Saturday evening and midday on Sunday.

 Police are unsure whether the theft had been planned or was opportunistic.

 They are also looking into into whether the case had any link with the theft of an empty trailer in Weimar, which was also stolen at the weekend.

 Just last week, there was another chocolate-related crime in Germany.

 Officers in Bad Oldesloe, in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, announced they were looking for the owner of 53g of chocolate, presumed to be stolen and dumped, found in the town. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Look, we crave chocolate as much as the next news site, but this is ridiculous. The Telegraph reports thieves in Germany made off with more than 22 tons of Nutella over the weekend. The Nutella—along with Kinder Surprise eggs and other sweet treats—was in a refrigerated trailer that was towed away by the thieves in the town of Neustadt. The entire haul is said to be worth somewhere between $58,000 and $82,000, and Neustadt police have a warning for sugar-loving residents: "Anyone offered large quantities of chocolate via unconventional channels should report it to the police immediately." NPR has more stories of thieves stealing improbably large amounts of food, including the pilfering of 9 tons of garlic and the exploits of a bread-redistributing, underwear-clad Robin Hood.


Father of three jailed after man hit on head with metal...

 Pictures were released today by the University of Leicester, showing two 1,000-year-old skeletons holding hands, which have been discovered.

 The pair of skeletons, which are centuries-old and holding hands have been uncovered at a ‘lost’ chapel by archaeologists.

 The Mercury reported last week that the remains, of a man and a woman, were found at the Chapel of St Morrell, an ancient site of pilgrimage in Hallaton.

 It is believed the pair holding hands are of a similar age.

 Related content Two 1,000-year-old skeletons holding hands found by archaeologists in Leicestershire

 Leading the project is professional archaeologist Vicky Score, of the University of Leicester, who works on the project during her holidays.

 She said carbon-dating on nine skeletons uncovered since the dig began had revealed them to be from the 14th century.

 “'We have seen similar skeletons before from Leicester where a couple has been buried together in a single grave. The main question we find ourselves asking is why were they buried up there?” she added.

 “There is a perfectly good church in Hallaton. This leads us to wonder if the chapel could have served as some sort of special place of burial at the time.”

 The dig, by Hallaton Fieldwork Group volunteers, has been taking place for two weeks a year for the past four years.

 As well as the touching skeletal union, the walls and tiled floor of the chapel as well as fragments of stone, wall plaster and led from the windows.

 A number of silver pennies dating between the 12th and 16th centuries were also been found on the site indicating when the chapel was in use.

 The team believe the chapel may have been an area of pilgrimage. Alternatively, the bodies might have been refused burial in the main church, perhaps because they were criminals, foreigners or sick.

 A total of 11 skeletons have been excavated so far, all orientated east-west in the Christian tradition and radiocarbon dated to the 14th century.

 Roman archaeology found beneath the medieval chapel suggests that the hilltop, which is the starting point for the Hare Pie Scramble and Bottle Kicking, has been a special place for over 2000 years.

 The skeletons have been removed to the university for further investigation.

 The chapel was located after research by local historian John Morrison.

 He said: “Antiquarians over the ages have referred to a chapel somewhere in Hallaton.

 “It was a case of piecing evidence together and then getting in geo-physicists to take images of the land from above to locate the spot for our dig.” ||||| Archaeologists with the University of Leicester uncovered remains of two skeletons holding hands believed to have been resting that way for at least 700 years.

 University of Leicester Archaeological Services has so far excavated 11 skeletons, dated to the 14th century by radiocarbon, under the "lost chapel of St. Morell," which overlooks the small village of Hallaton in Leicestershire, England.

 ULAS

 The archaeologists, who said there are likely to be more skeletons in the ground, were not certain why the people were buried there rather than in the main church in the village. They said it was possibly a special place of burial for pilgrims.

 ULAS

 Among the other skeletons was an older male apparently killed by a sharp implement, such as a pole axe, to the head, according to Vicki Score, project manager for University of Leicester Archaeological Services. A young male was buried in a pit with his legs raised to his chest, which archaeologists said was possibly the result of a disease, she said. ||||| Two ancient skeletons have been discovered in a 'lost' chapel by archaeologists, who say the couple were unearthed holding hands and have been for at least 700 years.

 The remains of a man and woman were found with fingers entwined at the Chapel of St Morrell, an ancient site of pilgrimage in Hallaton.

 The dig, by Hallaton Fieldwork Group volunteers, has been taking place over four years.

 Leading the project is archaeologist Vicky Score from the University of Leicester.

 Carbon-dating on the nine skeletons uncovered since the dig began had revealed them to be from the 14th century, she told the Leicester Mercury.

 It is believed the pair holding hands are of a similar age. The skeletons have been removed to the university for further investigation.

 Score said some of the nine skeletons had stones placed on top of their bodies. "This was a tradition popular in eastern Europe with the idea of keeping the dead down," she said.

 "What makes the discovery of the medieval chapel doubly exciting is to find the remains of a previous Roman building underneath it," she said.

 "It shows this ground has been used as a special sort of place by people for at least 2,000 years."

 The archaeologist was hoping it would eventually fill in the gap between the Roman and medieval periods. "We are missing about 500 years," she said. "We don't know what happened here during that time."

 The earliest mention of the chapel in Hallaton was in a will of 1532. The chapel was located after research by local historian John Morrison.

 He said: "Antiquarians over the ages have referred to a chapel somewhere in Hallaton."

 it's believed that Hallaton was a special site where the sick came to be cured. In 1622, a writer was noting that within living memory "multitudes came to Hallaton chapel to be cured".

 Historian William Burton mentions in 1641 that "Halloughton...a place of special holiness so as sick folks did use to flock thither to die."

 One skeleton found there, an older male was killed by a sharp implement such as a pole axe to the head, presumably in battle. Another young male was buried in a pit with his legs raised to his chest – possibly the result of a disease.

 The oldest embracing couple found so far date back around 3,000 years. Two ancient skeletons were found in each other's arms in a grave in the Turkish province of Diyarbakir.

 "The way they were buried signifies that they were lovers," archaeologist Halil Tekin told the Anatolia news agency. "An illness or even a crime of love may have been the cause of their deaths." |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Archaeologists in England digging at a 14th-century burial site made an unexpected discovery: A couple buried together holding hands had remained that way all this time, reports ABC News. The man and woman were found at the site of an ancient chapel in Hallaton, along with nine other skeletons, reports the Leicester Mercury. The couple appear to be the same age, but scientists plan further study to see whether they can determine the cause of death. They also hope to determine why the bodies were buried at this particular site, quite a distance away from a "perfectly good church in Hallaton," says a lead researcher from the University of Leicester. Leading theories are that the burial site was used for those who were either sick, criminals, or foreign pilgrims. One man at the site apparently died of a head wound, perhaps from a pole ax in battle, while another had his legs raised to his chest, possibly because of a disease of some kind. Researchers hope further work at the chapel can fill in a gap of about 500 years when not much is known about what went on in the region, reports the International Business Times. (Another recent archaeological discovery sheds light on the brutal way Richard III died.)


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MEXICO CITY (AP) — A species of snake that had been "lost" for almost 80 years has been re-discovered on a remote Mexican island.

 According to a study published in the PLOS ONE scientific journal, the Clarion nightsnake was found again on one of the Revillagigedo Islands, more than 400 miles (650 kilometers) off Mexico's Pacific coast.

 The original, and until recently the only, spotting of the species was made by American naturalist William Beebe in a 1936 visit to Clarion, one of the four Revillagigedo Islands. He returned with one snake preserved in a glass jar.

 Subsequent visits failed to find more nightsnakes, and no further sightings were reported over the years from the island, which is inhabited only by a small detachment of Mexican marines. The existing dead sample was assumed to be a labelling error and the snake was largely struck from taxonomic registries.

 But Daniel Mulcahy, a researcher for the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, suspected it might still exist. He and Juan Martinez Gomez of Mexico's Ecology Institute set out to find it.

 Martinez Gomez, an expert on the Revillagigedo Islands, noted the islands change a lot from season to season, so they timed the expedition last May to replicate Beebe's steps as they looked for the snake, which blends in with the island's rock formations and is largely active at night. And they used Beebe's original field notes as a guide.

 "Basically, following those directions, we essentially put ourselves in his place," Martinez Gomez said.

 One of his graduate students, Juan Alberto Cervantes, was the first to spot one of the snakes for the first time since 1936.

 The researchers performed DNA analysis to establish the long, dark spotted snake as its own species and see where it had come from. The tests showed it is most closely related to snakes from Mexico's Sonora-Sinaloa coast more than 500 miles (800 kilometers) away. Martinez Gomez said the snake's ancestors may have made the trip from the mainland on a tree trunk felled by a storm and washed out to sea.

 The National Museum of Natural History said Mulcahy "uncovered the controversy surrounding the inclusion of this snake in the scientific record, and found that it appears to be the only species ever to be discarded due to a presumed locality error."

 Patricia Escalante, a biologist who curates bird collections at Mexico's National Autonomous University and who was not involved in the snake project, said the re-discovery of the Clarion nightsnake was "very interesting" and significant because of the fragility of island ecosystems.

 One inhabitant of the Revillagigedo Islands, the Socorro dove, went extinct in its natural habitat sometime in the 1970s. But live specimens had been taken off the islands in the 1920s, and their descendants were recently re-introduced to the islands. ||||| Image copyright Daniel Mulcahy Image caption The Clarion Nightsnake has a distinctive pattern of spots Photo: Daniel Mulcahy

 A lost species of snake that eluded scientists for nearly 80 years has been rediscovered in Mexico, a US museum says.

 The Clarion Nightsnake was found on the Pacific island of Clarion in Mexico by a researcher from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.

 The snake was first discovered in 1936 by naturalist William Beebe.

 Although never declared extinct, it was struck from the record after scientists were unable to rediscover it.

 The museum said that researcher Daniel Mulcahy, working with an expert from a Mexican institute, carried out an expedition to Clarion Island where their team identified 11 snakes matching Beebe's description.

 DNA tests confirmed that the Clarion Nightsnake was indeed genetically distinct from others found in mainland Mexico.

 The museum said the snake species is found exclusively on the island and could have remained unknown to science if not for the team's efforts. It is now recognised as a full species.

 "The rediscovery of the Clarion Nightsnake is an incredible story of how scientists rely on historical data and museum collections to solve modern-day mysteries about biodiversity in the world we live in," Mr Mulcahy said in a museum statement.

 "Proper identification is the first step toward conserving this snake, and we plan to continue monitoring this species to learn more about the role it plays in the delicate Clarion Island ecosystem." |||||

– The Clarion nightsnake is hard to spot, so hard to spot that for decades, the only sighting of the species native to one of Mexico's Revillagigedo Islands—the original sighting—was assumed to be a mistake. A joint US-Mexico team, however, managed to rediscover the species found by American naturalist William Beebe in 1936 by using his original field notes to retrace his steps and search for the nocturnal snake, which blends in with the island's rock formations, the AP reports. The expedition found 11 of the snakes, and DNA tests confirmed that the Clarion Island snake is a unique species, reports the BBC. The snake is related to snakes found on part of the Mexican coast more than 500 miles away, and researchers believe its ancestors may have arrived on a tree trunk washed out to sea long ago. Beebe returned from a visit to the island, located 400-plus miles off Mexico's Pacific coast, nearly 80 years ago with a snake preserved in a jar, but his sample had long been considered a labeling error and his find was largely struck from taxonomic registries. The National Museum of Natural History praised the team's work, describing the snake as the "only species ever to be discarded due to a presumed locality error." The rediscovery "is an incredible story of how scientists rely on historical data and museum collections to solve modern-day mysteries about biodiversity in the world we live in," the museum said in a statement.


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– The "you're fired" jokes already are flying fast and furious: Donald Trump has been picked to host a Republican debate in Iowa on Dec. 27, reports the New York Times. The forum is sponsored by the conservative media group Newsmax, and invitations went out to the candidates today. It takes place just a week before the Iowa caucuses. Newsmax chief Christopher Ruddy explains the choice: “Our readers and the grass roots really love Trump. They may not agree with him on everything, but they don’t see him as owned by the Washington establishment, the media establishment." Politico notes that given Trump's clout on the right—as evidenced by many of the candidates' visits to see him—it would be a tough invitation for any of the GOP hopefuls to decline.

Via Jeremy Peters, Donald Trump is set to be the moderator of a debate hosted by Newsmax, and airing on Ion Television, on Dec. 27 in Iowa:

 “Our readers and the grass roots really love Trump,” said Christopher Ruddy, chief executive of Newsmax Media. “They may not agree with him on everything, but they don’t see him as owned by the Washington establishment, the media establishment.” Continue Reading Mr. Trump’s role in the debate, which will be broadcast on the cable network Ion Television, is sure to be one of the more memorable moments in a primary season that has already delivered its fair share of circus-like spectacle.

 Trump adviser Michael Cohen confirmed it.

 Peters notes, correctly, that Trump carries influence with the party's conservative base. That's in no small measure because he was, as JMart memorably put it earlier this year, a neon stand-in for the type of candidate that GOP primary voters wanted — someone who would take the fight to President Barack Obama.

 The idea that Trump would end up being among the most impactful players on the GOP primary would have been inconceivable earlier this year. But the reality is that the candidates have, at various levels, parroted parts of his message — and most of them have tried courting him for his endorsement.

 It's unclear whether any candidates have actually agreed to take part in the forum, which will be hosted by a man best known for his reality TV show, "The Celebrity Apprentice." But given Trump's ability to command media attention, and his willingness to criticize if he disagrees with a candidate, candidates may feel compelled to attend. ||||| Itâ€™s officially a reality television Republican primary now.

 Donald Trump is pairing up with Newsmax, the conservative magazine and news Web site, to moderate a presidential debate in Des Moines on Dec. 27.

 “Our readers and the grass roots really love Trump,” said Christopher Ruddy, chief executive of Newsmax Media. “They may not agree with

 him on everything, but they don’t see him as owned by the Washington establishment, the media establishment.”

 Mr. Trumpâ€™s role in the debate, which will be broadcast on the cable network Ion Television, is sure to be one of the more memorable moments in a primary season that has already delivered its fair share of circus-like spectacle.

 Mr. Trumpâ€™s own flirtation with running for president this year seems almost quaint (whose birth certificate was he all worked up about?) compared with more recent distractions â€“ like allegations of adultery and sexual harassment, gaffes that seemed scripted from a late-night comedy show, and a six-figure line of credit at Tiffany & Co.

 But despite being derided by liberals â€“ President Obama likened Mr. Trump to a â€œcarnival barkerâ€? for his repeated assertions that the president was actually foreign-born â€“ the real estate mogul carries weight with a certain element of the conservative base. And that sway seems particularly strong with the Tea Party wing of the base, which will be a decisive factor in the early primaries that are likely to determine the nominee. The debate, which unlike many recent ones will not be limited to a specific topic like national security or the economy, is set to happen just a week before the Iowa caucuses.

 Newsmax sent candidates the invitation on Friday afternoon. It began, “We are pleased to cordially invite you to “The Newsmax Ion Television 2012 Presidential Debate,” moderated by a truly great American, Mr. Donald J. Trump.” Spokesmen for several candidates did not immediately respond to questions from The New York Times about whether they would accept.

 Though presidential candidates may initially balk at the idea of appearing in a debate where Mr. Trump â€“ with his bombast and The Hair â€“ is the one posing the questions, they may ultimately see it as an invitation they canâ€™t refuse. In fact many of the candidates have already met with him, some more publicly than others. Representative Michele Bachmann has sat down with Mr. Trump several times this year. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas had dinner with him at Jean Georges, the posh Manhattan restaurant. And Mitt Romney paid a visit but carefully avoided being photographed.

 And Newsmax is a powerful player itself. It has a broad reach into the conservative base, with monthly Web traffic second only to Fox News among sites with conservative-leaning audiences.

 Mr. Trump has been a popular attraction at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the annual gathering in Washington. He was such a successful presence in the eyes of Fox News executives that they added a special weekly segment to their morning show â€œFox and Friendsâ€? for him called â€œMondays With Trump.â€?

 Whether his professed presidential ambitions are genuine or merely a publicity stunt seems not to matter in terms of the news media attention Mr. Trump can command. His highly publicized flirtation with running this year coincided with a Trump-branded product that stood to benefit from all the attention â€“ a new season of his highly rated NBC show â€œCelebrity Apprentice.â€?

 The arc of his noncampaign was similar in 1987 and 1999 â€“ when Mr. Trump also said that he was considering running for president, episodes that are often forgotten.

 His book ”Trump: The Art of the Deal” was published in November 1987 and reached The New York Times best-seller list by December. But by the time the Republican National Convention rolled around in August 1988, he had opted out.

 ”Everybody wants me to do it,” he declared then. ”But I have no interest in doing it.”

 And in late 1999, just before his book ”The America We Deserve” went on sale, he began courting support as a candidate on the Reform Party ticket. He even toured the country with his girlfriend, Melania Knauss, now his wife. The outcome? You guessed it. |||||