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“Let it be an arms race … we will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all,” President-elect Donald Trump told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe." | AP Photo Trump threatens to upend U.S. nuclear weapons policy 'We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all,' Trump says.

 In a series of impromptu statements about nuclear weapons, Donald Trump is threatening to upend longstanding U.S. nonproliferation policy, even as his advisers contradict him and muddy his intentions.

 The president-elect had alarmed and perplexed some experts and others in Washington when he pronounced, without offering more details, via Twitter on Thursday that the U.S. “must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.”

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 He further escalated his call on Friday, telling the MSNBC program “Morning Joe” that he is fine with the country taking part in an “arms race” if it puts the U.S. in a stronger position against foreign adversaries.

 “Let it be an arms race … we will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all,” Trump said in an off-air conversation on Friday.

 After the remark was reported on MSNBC, though, incoming Trump press secretary Sean Spicer pushed back and insisted that the remarks came from a “private conversation” with “Morning Joe” host Mika Brzezinski. While he told the “Today” Show’s Matt Lauer that “there is not going to be” an arms race, he told CNN that Trump is not going to “take anything off the table,” either.

 It remains unclear where the president-elect stands, but given longstanding bipartisan support for preventing nuclear escalation, if followed through Trump’s statements would represent an extraordinary shift in how the U.S. approaches the role of weapons of mass destruction in its own defenses and throughout the world. President Barack Obama has advanced a vision of “America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.”

 At first, after his Thursday tweet, Trump’s own supporters had tried to downplay what it meant. It was unclear, for example, whether Trump was advocating the U.S. increasing the size of its nuclear arsenal, which would be a major change, or if he was speaking of modernizing it. Such a suggestion would be in line with ongoing efforts and not necessarily controversial.

 Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s former campaign manager who was recently named incoming counselor to the president, told an irate Rachel Maddow on Thursday night that Trump may have meant the latter. Regardless, Conway insisted during the heated exchange on MSNBC, the tweet did not necessarily represent a policy change, but Trump “talking about keeping us safe and secure.”

 “There are a lot of people hiding under the bed right now because it doesn’t seem like he knows what he’s talking about on this issue,” Maddow said.

 “That’s not fair,” Conway responded, later adding, “He’s not making policy on Twitter. … Again, perhaps he is also echoing what President Obama himself has tried to do here, which is get upgrades to our nuclear systems.”

 Jason Miller, a Trump spokesman, had also said on Thursday that the president-elect was talking about expanding nonproliferation efforts, not stoking an arms race.

 "President-elect Trump was referring to the threat of nuclear proliferation and the critical need to prevent it — particularly to and among terrorist organizations and unstable and rogue regimes," Miller said in a statement. "He has also emphasized the need to improve and modernize our deterrent capability as a vital way to pursue peace through strength.”

 Trump’s comments Friday, of course, seemed to directly contradict that.

 The controversy started after Russian President Vladimir Putin called on his country to “strengthen” its nuclear forces. “We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defense systems,” he said earlier this week, according to multiple news reports.

 But Putin at an annual news conference on Friday said Russia has no interest in a nuclear arms race and seemed to normalize Trump’s statements, calling his tweet unsurprising.

 “Of course the U.S. has more missiles, submarines and aircraft carriers, but what we say is that we are stronger than any aggressor, and this is the case,” Putin said, adding, “As for Donald Trump, there is nothing new about it, during his elections campaign he said the U.S. needs to bolster its nuclear capabilities and its armed forces in general.”

 During the election season, Trump made contradictory statements about nuclear proliferation. He suggested that some countries — including Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia — should be allowed to develop them, despite efforts to prevent more countries from doing so. But he also told The New York Times in March that “it’s a very scary nuclear world.”

 “Biggest problem, to me, in the world, is nuclear, and proliferation,” Trump said at the time.

 Trump’s more recent comments about expanding America’s nuclear capability go against decades of policy to reduce the stockpile of nuclear warheads and could potentially violate an arms control treaty with Russia. The U.S. has a stockpile of roughly 4,500 nuclear warheads and nearly 1,500 deployed warheads (Russia’s armaments are nearly identical, as both nations account for more than 90 percent of the world’s nuclear warheads).

 The U.S. and Russia are due to meet nuclear reduction targets by February 2018 under the New START Treaty, which can be extended for another five years in 2021.

 Experts remain confused and in some cases unnerved by the nature of Trump’s foray into the nuclear weapons discussion. On Thursday, John Tierney, a former Democratic congressman and current executive director of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, presented Trump’s tweet as perilous.

 “It is dangerous for the President-elect to use just 140 characters and announce a major change in U.S. nuclear weapons policy, which is nuanced, complex, and affects every single person on this planet,” he said in a statement, warning that an expansion threatens a nuclear arms race.

 “The potential consequences of changing U.S. nuclear weapons policy so drastically are simply unimaginable,” he warned. “Current plans already call for spending $1 trillion over the next three decades to modernize and maintain the U.S. nuclear arsenal, which the Pentagon has expressed concern about being able to afford. The President-elect will have to explain why any increase is necessary both financially and strategically.”

 Joseph Cirincione, the president of the global security foundation Ploughshares Fund and a nuclear weapons expert, called Trump's actions “bizarre, unprecedented and completely out of bounds behavior for a president-elect.”

 Incoming presidents usually wait until they take office to make pronouncements on a topic like nuclear policy, Cirincione said. Beyond that, he said he is alarmed by the cavalier attitude Trump seems to have toward as enormously sensitive an issue as weapons of mass destruction. While Trump might see Twitter as a means to convey strength to his constituents at home, Cirincione said, “the rest of the world is watching,” and other countries could respond with actions of their own.

 “You can’t use Twitter to make nuclear policy,” Cirincione said. “Look, you should at least wait until you’re president. But this is why — this kind of view that he’s breaking with convention, he wants to shake things up, I understand that, but not on nuclear policy. There are reasons why people spend days crafting the language of nuclear policy.”

 “These things can be very complicated,” he continued, “and every word matters.” ||||| This is probably not the first day on the job that Sean Spicer imagined it would be.

 Already he has done a merry-go-round of morning show appearances since it was announced Thursday that he will serve as our nation’s next White House Press Secretary, set to take office with the Trump administration next month. However, his first day is off to an, uhh, let’s call it interesting start; during an off-air conversation this morning with Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC, the President-elect surprisingly said of nuclear proliferation, “Let it be an arms race, we will outmatch them at every pass. And outlast them all.”

 Spicer a half hour later told TODAY’s Matt Lauer, “There is not going to be” an arms race, forced to clarify Trump’s comments that the MSNBC morning show reported on earlier in the day.

 Then, remarkably, an hour later on CNN’s New Day, Spicer shrugged off the Brzezinski report altogether; during his interview with Alisyn Camerota, Spicer sheepishly admitted, “That was a private conversation. I was not privy to that.” He promptly shifted the focus of his response, telling the CNN anchor, “He is somebody who gets things done,” discussing the recent conversations over Carrier jobs in Indianapolis.

 What’s unclear is if Trump’s comments to Brzezinski, then, were ever intended to be reported on, or if they were — as Spicer alleged on New Day — just a private comment made over the phone. Although Spicer himself appeared on Morning Joe earlier in the day, during a commercial break he spoke on the phone with Mr. President-elect who was then handed over to Brzezinski. It was then that he reportedly made his comment, “Let it be an arms race,” which the MSNBC anchor promptly reported on as breaking news when the show came back on air. Morning Joe ran “BREAKING NEWS” chyrons about the ‘arms race’ admission throughout the rest of the program.

 We have reached out to MSNBC for comment. Watch Spicer’s comment to CNN above.

 UPDATE 9:22 a.m. EST: A MSNBC spokesperson has confirmed to Mediaite that Trump’s comments to Brzezinski were reportable.

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 Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com ||||| TRUMP: Well you see, I don’t know that, you know, when I talk about unpredictability, I’m not sure that we should be talking about me – On the assumption that I’m doing well, which I am, and that I may be in that position, I’m not sure that I would want to be talking about that. You understand what I mean by that, David. We’re so open, we’re so, “Oh I wouldn’t do this, I wouldn’t do that, I would do this, I would do that.” And it’s not so much with Merkel, but it’s certainly with other countries. You know, that really, where there’s, where there’s a different kind of relationship, and a much worse relationship than with Germany. So, you know there’s so, there’s such predictability with our country. We go and we send 50 soldiers over to the Middle East and President Obama gets up and announces that we’re sending 50 soldiers to the Middle East. Fifty very special soldiers. And they now have a target on their back, and everything we do, we announce, instead of winning, and announcing when it’s all over. There’s such, total predictability of this country, and it’s one of the reasons we do so poorly. You know, I’d rather not say that. I would like to see what they’re doing. Because you know, many countries, I can’t say Germany, but many countries are spying on us. I think that was a great disservice done by Edward Snowden. That I can tell you.

 How to Defeat ISIS

 HABERMAN: Mr. Trump, you have talked about your plans to defeat ISIS, and how you would approach it. Would you be willing to stop buying oil from the Saudis if they’re unwilling to go in and help?

 SANGER: On the ground?

 TRUMP: Oh yeah, sure. I would do that. The beautiful thing about oil is that, you know, we’re really getting close, because of fracking, and because of new technology, we’re really in a position that we weren’t in, you know, years ago, and the reason we’re in the Middle East is for oil. And all of a sudden we’re finding out that there’s less reason to be. Now, now, we’re in the Middle East for really defense, because we can’t allow them, I mean, look, I was against the war in Iraq. I thought it would destabilize the Middle East, and it has destabilized it, it’s totally destabilized the Middle East. The way Obama got out of the war was, you know, disgraceful, and idiotic. When he announced the date certain, they pulled back, and they said, “Oh, well.” As much as they don’t mind dying, they do mind dying. And they pulled back, and then, you know, it’s a, it was a terrible thing the way he announced that, and then he didn’t leave troops behind so that, you know, whatever there was of Iraq, which in my opinion wasn’t very much, because I think that, you know, the government was totally corrupt, and they put the wrong people in charge, and you know, that in its own way led to the formation of ISIS, because they weren’t given their due. But, I think that President Obama, the way he got out of that war was unbelievable. I think Hillary Clinton was catastrophic in those decisions, having to do with Libya and just about everything else. Every bad decision that you could make in the Middle East was made. And now if you look at it, if you would go back 15 years ago, and I’m not saying it was only Obama, It was Obama’s getting out, it was other people’s getting in, but you go back 15 years ago, and I say this, if our presidents would have just gone to the beach and enjoyed the ocean and the sun, we would’ve been much better off in the Middle East, than all of this tremendous death, destruction, and you know, monetary loss, it’s just incredible. ’Cause we’re further, we’re far worse off today than we were 15 years ago or 10 years ago in the Middle East. Far worse.

 SANGER: But I just want to make sure I understand your answer to Maggie’s question. So you said earlier this week that we should use air power but not send in ground forces. That had to be done by the regional Arab partners. We assume by that, you mean the Saudis, the U.A.E. and others from whom we might purchase oil or have alliances. I think Maggie’s question, if I understood it right, was if these countries are unwilling to send in ground troops against ISIS, and so far they have been, despite President Obama’s efforts to get them in, would you be willing to say, “We will stop buying oil from you, until you send ground troops?”

 TRUMP: There’s two answers to that. The answer is, probably yes, but I would also say this: We are not being reimbursed for our protection of many of the countries that you’ll be talking about, that, including Saudi Arabia. You know, Saudi Arabia, for a period of time, now the oil has gone down, but still the numbers are phenomenal, and the amount of money they have is phenomenal. But we protect countries, and take tremendous monetary hits on protecting countries. That would include Saudi Arabia, but it would include many other countries, as you know. We have, there’s a whole big list of them. We lose, everywhere. We lose monetarily, everywhere. And yet, without us, Saudi Arabia wouldn’t exist for very long. It would be, you know, a catastrophic failure without our protection. And I’m trying to figure out, why is it that we aren’t going in and saying, at a minimum, at a minimum it’s a two-part question, with respect to Maggie’s question. But why aren’t we going in and saying, “At a minimum, I’m sorry folks, but you have to, under no circumstances can we continue to do this.” You know, we needed, we needed oil desperately years ago. Today, because – again, because of the new technologies, and because of places that we never thought had oil, and they do have oil, and there’s a glut on the market, there’s a tremendous glut on the market, I mean you have ships out at sea that are loaded up and they don’t even know where to go dump it. But we don’t have that same pressure anymore, at all. And we shouldn’t have that for a long period of time, because there’s so many places. I mean, they’re closing wells all over the place. So, I would say this, I would say at a minimum, we have to be reimbursed, substantially reimbursed, I mean, to a point that’s far greater than what we’re being paid right now. Because we’re not being reimbursed for the kind of tremendous service that we’re performing by protecting various countries. Now Saudi Arabia’s one of them. I think if Saudi Arabia was without the cloak of American protection of our country’s, of U.S. protection, think of Saudi Arabia. I don’t think it would be around. It would be, whether it was internal or external, it wouldn’t be around for very long. And they’re a money machine, they’re a monetary machine, and yet they don’t reimburse us the way we should be reimbursed. So that’s a real problem. And frankly, I think it’s a real, in terms of bringing our country back, because our country’s a poor country. Our country is a debtor nation, we’re a debtor nation. I mean, we owe trillions of dollars to people that are buying our bonds, in the form of other countries. You look at China, where we owe them $1.7 trillion, you have Japan, $1.5 trillion. We’re a debtor nation. We can’t be a debtor nation. I don’t want to be a debtor nation. I want it to be the other way. One of the reasons we’re a debtor nation, we spend so much on the military, but the military isn’t for us. The military is to be policeman for other countries. And to watch over other countries. And there comes a point that, and many of these countries are tremendously rich countries. Not powerful countries, but – in some cases they are powerful – but rich countries.

 SANGER: One more along the lines of your ISIS strategy. You’ve seen the current strategy, which is, you’ve seen Secretary Kerry trying to seek a political accord between President Assad and the rebel forces, with Assad eventually leaving. And then the hope is to turn all those forces, including Russia and Iran, against ISIS. Is that the right way to do it? Do you have an alternative approach?

 TRUMP: Well, I thought the approach of fighting Assad and ISIS simultaneously was madness, and idiocy. They’re fighting each other and yet we’re fighting both of them. You know, we were fighting both of them. I think that our far bigger problem than Assad is ISIS, I’ve always felt that. Assad is, you know I’m not saying Assad is a good man, ’cause he’s not, but our far greater problem is not Assad, it’s ISIS. ||||| A Russian Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of some 11,000 kilometres (6,800 miles) and capable of carrying a warhead of up to one megaton, the equivalent of one million tons of TNT explosive (AFP Photo/DMITRY KOSTYUKOV)

 Moscow (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called for the country to reinforce its military nuclear potential and praised the army's performance in its Syria campaign.

 In a speech that recapped military activities in 2016, Putin said the army's preparedness has "considerably increased" and called for continued improvement that would ensure it can "neutralise any military threat".

 "We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defence systems," the Kremlin strongman said.

 "We must carefully monitor any changes in the balance of power and in the political-military situation in the world, especially along Russian borders, and quickly adapt plans for neutralising threats to our country."

 He said Russia's military had successfully demonstrated its capabilities in Syria, showcased its technology to potential arms buyers and helped the Syrian army make considerable advances.

 "The Syrian army received considerable support, thanks to which it carried out several successful operations against militants," he said.

 "The effective use of Russian weapons in Syria opens new possibilities for military-technical cooperation.

 "We must take maximum advantage of this. We know there is interest in modern Russian weapons from foreign partners."

 Russia began its bombing campaign in Syria in September 2015 in support of President Bashar al-Assad, with its special forces also operating on the ground in the country.

 Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the military had used "162 types of modern armaments during the military campaign in Syria," including its Sukhoi warplanes and MiG and Kamov helicopters.

 "They have shown to be highly effective," he said.

 - '35,000 fighters' -

 Shoigu produced figures for the entire campaign in Syria but did not mention any estimate of civilian casualties.

 Russian warplanes have "liquidated 725 training camps, 405 weapon factories and workshops, 1,500 pieces of terrorist equipment, and 35,000 fighters, including 204 field commanders," he said.

 The Russian airforce has conducted a total of 18,800 sorties and carried out 71,000 strikes since the start of its campaign, Shoigu said.

 "In general, the operation has allowed (us) to solve several geopolitical problems," he said.

 "We have considerably damaged international terrorist organisations in Syria, stopped their expansion... (and) prevented the breakup of Syria."

 Russia is prioritising its Asian partners including India and China for arms sales, he added.

 Shoigu said NATO activities along Russia's western borders have grown eight-fold over the past decade, forcing Moscow to send more warplanes to prevent breaches of Russian airspace.

 Next year, four additional S-400 anti-missile defence systems will be delivered to the army, and Russia will pay particular attention to its Western flank and the Arctic, he said.

 "First and foremost, we will continue to increase military capabilities... take measures to reinforce troops in the western, southwestern and Arctic strategic sectors," Shoigu said. |||||

– Donald Trump woke everyone from their pre-Christmas slumber Thursday with a tweet calling for a strengthened and expanded US nuclear arsenal. His tweet followed remarks made earlier by Vladimir Putin in which he called for his country's "need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces," per Yahoo. On Friday, Trump doubled down on his previous remarks during what Politico calls an "off-air conversation" on MSNBC's Morning Joe. "Let it be an arms race … we will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all," he said. (Politico notes some flip-flopping on nuclear issues, citing a March New York Times interview in which he said, "It's a very scary nuclear world. Biggest problem, to me, in the world, is nuclear, and proliferation.") Not in on his latest stance, apparently: his own team. Per a transcript posted by NBC's Katy Tur on Twitter, Trump's new White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told Rachel Maddow Thursday night "we're getting ahead of ourselves" when Maddow mentioned a "new nuclear arms race." And, per a tweet by CNN's David Wright, incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer insisted on Today Friday that "there is not going to be" an arms race and that "we will all be just fine." A short time later on CNN's New Day, Spicer said the remarks Trump made to Morning Joes' Mika Brzezinski "was a private conversation. I was not privy to that," per Mediaite. Daniel Dale of the Toronto Star wonders: "Is there any point of quoting clarifications from Trump spokespeople? They've proven to be unreliable interpreters of him." One person shrugging off arms race chatter: Putin, who said Friday Trump's tweet was "nothing new," per Politico.


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There’s been a bunch of internet uproar (which to be fair translates to a low hum) over Gabourey Sidibe’s Elle cover. The magazine’s 25th-anniversary October issue features 25 women in their 20s who are really goin’ for it! Sidibe, Megan Fox, Lauren Conrad, and Amanda Seyfried get separate covers, and Gabby’s is the only one that’s framed close-up. People can’t handle it! Among the criticisms: She should do the same pose as everyone else. Her skin seems lighter. Her weave is bad. Sidibe’s inclusion “feels like a weird fetishization that borders on patronizing,” says Salon.

 I don’t see what the problem is here. Elle picked Gabourey Sidibe as a game-changer, so she is on one of the covers. Would people be less upset if Elle had put each of these four women into the same tiny dress and asked “Who’s wearin’ it best?” They constructed the Sidibe cover in a specific way so that she would look her best, and she looks beautiful. Is it really so jarring to see someone heavy on a magazine cover that people need to freak out over how it “should look” instead? This is how it looks.

 “We have four separate covers this month, and Gabby’s cover was not retouched any more or less than the others,” said Elle in a statement. “We had 25 cover-worthy subjects in our portfolio and we chose Gabby because of who she is….We shot this as a story of exuberant young women changing the world. If you take a look at the portfolio, each of the women were shot in different ways and for different reasons.”

 Fair enough?

 Annie on Twitter: @EWAnnieBarrett ||||| Gabourey Sidibe has landed her first fashion magazine cover, kind of. The 25-year-old ingenue is the solo cover for the October issue of Elle magazine. Starting next month, you can pick up a copy of Elle with Sidibe flashing her pearly whites and glamming it up for the cameras in an emerald green Tadashi Shoji dress.

 Except look closely, and you’ll notice there’s something off in Sidibe’s cover photo. Sidibe’s skin is noticeably lighter than usual. Elle clearly couldn’t handle Sidibe’s real skin color, and traded away her actual color for something dramatically lighter.

 It’s a common, tired practice, and the routine is well-practiced: beauty companies and fashion magazines regularly lighten women’s skin (and darken the faces of black men), pissed off consumers shout back, and sometimes an apology is issued. But come the next fall collection or election season, photo retouchers are inevitably back to trying to make women of color more attractive by lightening them, and darkening the skin of men of color to make them seem more dangerous and suspect. Color, still, is everything.

 And that’s just one thing Elle got wrong with its Sidibe cover. By cropping Sidibe’s cover photo so close, Elle may have been trying to hide her full-figured body—its own travesty—but they only made her seem bigger. Sidibe doesn’t get the standard female cover photo treatment: three-quarters of the woman’s body centered with strong margins of white space on either side of the woman. She gets a uniquely awkward cropped shot.

 And I’ll just say what I know you’re thinking: the weave Elle gave her is not doing Sidibe any favors. It’s the kind of unflattering and embarrassingly obvious weave that a fashion magazine should be ashamed to put on anyone. (And Elle’s done it to Beyonce in the past, too.)

 Landing a cover is a big deal for any star, more so for Sidibe, whose skin color and wise-cracking smarts and body type make her something of an obvious outsider in Hollywood. Sidibe’s also been famously snubbed by fashion magazines. She was reportedly passed over by Vogue, because she was too big. And in March, Sidibe was left off a Vanity Fair cover of nine young actresses for the magazine’s “Young Hollywood 2010!” spread. The women who made the cut were, you guessed it, all white.

 At the time, Access Hollywood asked her about how it felt to be sidelined in favor of five nearly identical pale white female actresses. Sidibe, with her characteristically tough mettle, shrugged it off:

 “Was I satisfied? Yeah, well… I mean, I come from a world where I’m not on covers and I’m not in magazines at all,” Gabourey said. “And so I was happy to be in the magazine. “At first I thought, ‘Hmm, should I be there?” she continued, about the cover shoot. “Then I very quickly got over it. I think if I were a part of that shoot I would have felt a little left out anyway.”

 And judging from October’s Elle, it may have been just as well that Sidibe was left off the Vanity Fair cover. The fashion industry clearly gets flummoxed by any woman whose body and skin color are outside American society’s narrow definitions of beauty. In 2007, Vogue also ran an unflattering photo of Jennifer Hudson when they gave her a cover. It’s illustrative of all the ways that when it comes to full-figured women of color, landing a fashion magazine cover isn’t always a compliment. Too bad for the fashion industry; it pays time and again for its racial faux pas with ridicule from the rest of the world. But unfortunately for us, fashion magazines don’t operate in a vacuum. If only the fashion and beauty industries were not a reflection of our culture and our society, our own ignorance. It’d be so much easier to make fun of.

 h/t Womanist Musings ||||| Airbrushing Controversy Surrounds Gabourey Sidibe Elle Cover

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 Elle magazine is denying accusations that it digitally lightened the skin of Oscar-nominated actress Gabourey Sidibe, who is appearing on one of the October issue's four celebrity covers.

 The controversy is the second magazine swirl Sidibe's name has been tied to in 2010. It was back in February that there was an outcry that the actress, at the time reveling in the Oscar buzz around 'Precious, had been left off of

 The 'Precious' actress appears on the cover in a draped emerald green gown and rocking long, straight locks, though her glowing skin does seem to be a few shades lighter than normal (See the photos above).

 So is the lighter skin a result of her makeup or the lighting used on set? Or did somebody get too eager with the Photoshop?

 Elle reportedly claims "nothing out of the ordinary" was done. Elle magazine is denying accusations that it digitally lightened the skin of Oscar-nominated actress Gabourey Sidibe, who is appearing on one of the October issue's four celebrity covers.The controversy is the second magazine swirl Sidibe's name has been tied to in 2010. It was back in February that there was an outcry that the actress, at the time reveling in the Oscar buzz around 'Precious, had been left off of Vanity Fair's Hollywood cover in what some called 'The White Issue. The Telegraph reports that the fashion magazine -- which last month featured Julia Roberts on its front -- is also being criticized for showing slim October cover girls Megan Fox Amanda Seyfried , and Lauren Conrad in full-length poses, while the plus-size Sidibe is only seen from the chest up, according to the paper.The 'Precious' actress appears on the cover in a draped emerald green gown and rocking long, straight locks, though her glowing skin does seem to be a few shades lighter than normal (See the photos above).So is the lighter skin a result of her makeup or the lighting used on set? Or did somebody get too eager with the Photoshop?Elle reportedly claims "nothing out of the ordinary" was done.

 http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,entry&id=681836&pid=681835&uts=1273243810 http://www.popeater.com/mm_track/popeater/movies/?s_channel=us.moviespop&s_account=aolpopeater,aolsvc&omni=1&ke=1 http://cdn.channel.aol.com/cs_feed_v1_6/csfeedwrapper.swf Hit or Miss Fashion? Christina Aguilera leaves her SoHo hotel looking very edgy, and possibly 'Evil,' as she heads to Radio City Music Hall. Bauer-Griffin Bauer-Griffin

 "We have four separate covers this month, and Gabby's cover was not retouched any more or less than the others," the 25-year-old magazine said in an official statement."We had 25 cover-worthy subjects in our portfolio and we chose Gabby because of who she is."We shot this as a story of exuberant young women changing the world. If you take a look at the portfolio, each of the women were shot in different ways and for different reasons."Hmmm... "more or less than the others"? Sounds fishy.It's not the first time accusations of skin lightening have been made. In 2008, L'Oréal received complaints that it had allegedly lightened Beyoncé's skin in a Feria ad. |||||

– Precious star Gabourey Sidibe is on the new cover of Elle, and her image has set off a tiff in the blogosphere on whether the magazine used digital retouching to "whiten" her. Here's Julianne Hing at ColorLines: "Elle clearly couldn’t handle Sidibe’s real skin color, and traded away her actual color for something dramatically lighter." (See PopEater for comparison photos.) The magazine is also taking criticism for posing her differently than other models (more of a face closeup than a body shot) in an apparent attempt to play down her weight. Elle says this is all crazy: "We have four separate covers this month, and Gabby's cover was not retouched any more or less than the others. ... If you take a look at the portfolio, each of the women were shot in different ways and for different reasons." At Entertainment Weekly, Annie Barrett thinks the criticism is overblown. Elle's explanation on retouching is sound. On the other point, "they constructed the Sidibe cover in a specific way so that she would look her best, and she looks beautiful. Is it really so jarring to see someone heavy on a magazine cover that people need to freak out over how it 'should look' instead? This is how it looks." For other retouching scandals, click here.


– A Haitian Red Cross official estimated today that 45,000 to 50,000 people perished in the shattering earthquake Tuesday, as President Obama pledged US support of $100 million for what he said is likely to be one of the biggest relief efforts in history. Desperately needed aid began arriving from around the world this morning, the Washington Post reports. An Air China plane carrying a Chinese search-and-rescue team, medics, and tons of food and medicine landed at Port-au-Prince airport before dawn, along with three French planes with aid and a mobile hospital, officials said. A British relief team arrived in neighboring Dominican Republic, the AP reports. Bodies lay everywhere in Port-au-Prince, as survivors, many severely injured, set up camps, salvaging mattresses, plastic chairs, bits of cardboard and food from the rubble. Others streamed on foot into the Haitian countryside, where wooden and cinderblock shacks showed little sign of damage, passing ambulances and UN trucks racing in the opposite direction. "This is much worse than a hurricane," said a doctor's assistant working at a makeshift triage center set up in a hotel parking lot. "There's no water. There's nothing. Thirsty people are going to die."

Expand this summary.

An injured child sits on the sidewalk in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010. The powerful earthquake that hit Haiti on Tuesday flattened the president's palace, the cathedral, hospitals,... (Associated Press)

 Turning pickup trucks into ambulances and doors into stretchers, Haitians were frantically struggling to save those injured in this week's earthquake as desperately needed aid from around the world began arriving Thursday.

 An Air China plane carrying a Chinese search-and-rescue team, medics and tons of food and medicine landed at Port-au-Prince airport before dawn, along with three French planes with aid and a mobile hospital, officials said. A British relief team arrived in neighboring Dominican Republic.

 The U.S. and other nations said they were sending food, water, medical supplies to assist the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation, where the international Red Cross estimated 3 million people _ a third of the population _ may need emergency relief.

 In the streets of the capital, survivors set up camps amid piles of salvaged goods, including food being scavenged from the rubble.

 "This is much worse than a hurricane," said Jimitre Coquillon, a doctor's assistant working at a makeshift triage center set up in a hotel parking lot. "There's no water. There's nothing. Thirsty people are going to die."

 If there were any organized efforts to distribute food or water, they were not visible Wednesday.

 The aid group Doctors Without Borders treated wounded at two hospitals that withstood the quake and set up tent clinics elsewhere to replace its damaged facilities. Cuba, which already had hundreds of doctors in Haiti, treated injured in field hospitals.

 President Barack Obama promised an all-out rescue and humanitarian effort including the military and civilian emergency teams from across the U.S. The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson was expected to arrive off the coast Thursday and the Navy said the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan had been ordered to sail as soon as possible with a 2,000-member Marine unit.

 "We have to be there for them in their hour of need," Obama said.

 A U.S. military assessment team was the first to arrive, to determine Haiti's needs.

 French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the French three planes that touched down Thursday are to evacuate around 60 injured people to hospitals in the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe. He told France Inter radio two additional French relief planes are on their way.

 There was no estimate on how many people were killed by Tuesday's magnitude-7 quake. Haitian President Rene Preval said the toll could be in the thousands. Leading Sen. Youri Latortue told The Associated Press the number could be 500,000, but conceded that nobody really knew.

 "Let's say that it's too early to give a number," Preval said told CNN.

 Survivors used sledgehammers and their bare hands to try to find victims in the rubble. In Petionville, next to the capital, people dug through a collapsed shopping center, tossing aside mattresses and office supplies. More than a dozen cars were entombed, including a U.N. truck.

 Nearby, about 200 survivors, including many children, huddled in a theater parking lot using sheets to rig makeshift tents and shield themselves from the sun in 90-degree heat.

 Police officers carried the injured in their pickup trucks. Wisnel Occilus, a 24-year-old student, was wedged between two other survivors in a truck bed headed to a police station. He was in an English class when the magnitude-7 quake struck at 4:53 p.m. and the building collapsed.

 "The professor is dead. Some of the students are dead, too," said Occilus, who suspected he had several broken bones. "Everything hurts."

 Other survivors carried injured to hospitals in wheelbarrows and on stretchers fashioned from doors.

 Bodies lay everywhere in Port-au-Prince: tiny children next to schools, women in rubble-strewn streets with stunned expressions frozen on their faces, men hidden beneath plastic tarps and cotton sheets.

 Balancing suitcases and belongings on their heads, people streamed on foot into the Haitian countryside, where wooden and cinderblock shacks showed little sign of damage. Ambulances and U.N. trucks raced in the opposite direction, toward Port-au-Prince.

 Calls from victims seeking help from emergency services weren't getting through because systems that connect different phone networks were not working, said officials from a telecommunications provider in Haiti.

 Calls were being placed sometimes 15 to 20 times from the same phone, which was "painful to watch," said Jyoti Mahurkar-Thombre, Alcatel-Lucent's general manager of wireless voice.

 About 3,000 police and international peacekeepers cleared debris, directed traffic and maintained security in the capital. But law enforcement was stretched thin even before the quake and would be ill-equipped to deal with major unrest. The U.N.'s 9,000-member peacekeeping force sent patrols across the capital's streets while securing the airport, port and main buildings.

 Looting began immediately after the quake, with people seen carrying food from collapsed buildings. Inmates were reported to have escaped from the damaged main prison in Port au Prince, said Elisabeth Byrs, a U.N. humanitarian spokeswoman in Geneva.

 It was unclear whether the U.S. ground troops heading this way would be used for security operations as well as humanitarian efforts.

 Port-au-Prince's ruined buildings fell on both the poor and the prominent: The body of Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot, 63, was found in the ruins of his office, said the Rev. Pierre Le Beller at Miot's order, the Saint Jacques Missionary Center in Landivisiau, France.

 Haitian Senate President Kelly Bastien was rescued from the collapsed Parliament building and taken to a hospital in the neighboring Dominican Republic. The president of Haiti's Citibank was also among the survivors being treated there, said Rafael Sanchez Espanol, director of the Homs Hospital in Santiago.

 A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter evacuated four critically injured U.S. Embassy staff to the hospital at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the military has been detaining suspected terrorists.

 The U.S. Embassy had no confirmed reports of deaths among the estimated 40,000 to 45,000 Americans who live in Haiti, but many were struggling to find a way out of the country.

 The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday it has launched a Web site to help Haitians find loved ones missing in the quake.

 Robert Zimmerman, deputy head of the group's tracing unit, said people in Haiti and abroad can use the site to register the names of missing relatives.

 As dusk fell Wednesday, thousands of people gathered on blankets outside the crumpled presidential palace, including hundreds of women who waved their hands and sang hymns in a joyful, even defiant tone.

 Ricardo Dervil, 29, said he decided to join the crowd because he was worried about aftershocks and was tired of seeing dead bodies.

 "I was listening to the radio and they were saying to stay away from buildings," he said. "All I was doing was walking the street and seeing dead people."

 ___

 Associated Press contributors to this story: Jonathan Katz and Jennifer Kay in Port-au-Prince; Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations; Frank Jordans and Bradley S. Klapper in Geneva; Matthew Lee and Julie Pace in Washington; Jamey Keaton in Paris; Tales Azzoni in Sao Paulo; Alicia Chang in Los Angeles, and Andrea Rodriguez in Havana. ||||| PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI -- Desperate Haitians clawed at the rubble of their ruined capital for a second day Thursday, retrieving their dead and rescuing the living, as an international armada of ships and aircraft struggled to provide food, water, medicine and shelter.

 Forty-eight hours after much of the impoverished Caribbean nation was devastated by an earthquake, it was mainly the people of this shattered city, working with bare hands and simple tools, who pulled at slabs of concrete and blocks of debris to get at those still trapped.

 The dead and injured were pushed through the streets in wheelbarrows. At the overwhelmed central hospital, anguished patients lay in a weedy parking lot on gurneys fashioned from wooden doors. Calls for help went unanswered, and no doctors were in sight.

 Even as a 90,000-ton American nuclear aircraft carrier was expected Friday, and transport planes arrived from as far away as China and Belgium, the first shipments of aid were just starting to reach the stunned nation.

 There were scant signs of help from the Haitian government, itself scattered by the 7.0-magnitude earthquake Tuesday evening. The streets were filled with beleaguered residents milling about, left with no jobs, no instructions on what to do, and no place to buy food or to take the injured. Many said they felt totally alone and saw no evidence that relief was on the way, as their mournful pleas began to give way to anger.

 "The government is mute," a dismayed young Haitian said while he hurried past a body left on a traffic median. "They do nothing."

 Further hampering relief efforts, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily stopped all private and humanitarian flights from the United States to Haiti's clogged airports for slightly more than five hours on Thursday, allowing only military planes, at the request of the Haitian government, a U.S. official said. Nine planes from the United States were already in the air when FAA issued the order, the official said. They could not land in Haiti.

 Despite the arrival of some aid and rescue teams on Thursday, Port-au-Prince remained a haunted place of destruction, with many of its pastel buildings collapsed into death traps.

 A Haitian Red Cross official said the quake may have killed as many as 50,000 people.

 Across the sprawling city, makeshift citizen rescue crews squirmed through openings in the debris and past bodies to search for survivors. The living cried with joy when they were extricated. The dead were stacked on streets and sidewalks, some victims covered with blankets or cardboard, or bound in winding sheets.

 Many of the deceased remained in the rubble, with an arm protruding here, a leg there.

 In a collapsed school, the body of a student was slumped over what appeared to be a desk -- her dark-blue jumper and pink blouse covered in white dust. |||||


Oracle Team USA pulled off one of the most impressive comebacks in sailing history, as skipper James Spithill and his crew flew across the San Francisco Bay and secured the America's Cup in a winner-take-all race in the best-of-17 series.

 #OracleTeamUSA win 34th America's Cup. Great effort by both teams. Absolutely epic #cupbattle on San Francisco Bay! pic.twitter.com/1K2d4I0yN0 — America's Cup (@americascup) September 25, 2013

 Just a week ago, Emirates Team New Zealand led this competition 8-1 and needed just one more win to take the cup.

 Ezra Shaw/Getty Images Team Oracle USA skipper Jimmy Spithill.

 At that point, it was unfathomable that the Cup would advance this far, especially considering the stiff penalties that Oracle faced. However, Spithill put his crew to work, and the determined group ran off a long string of victories.

 A good number of those wins came after Team USA opened up big leads against Team New Zealand. However, that trend did not hold over the last two races. Emirates had a slight edge after a fast start during the last race—one that increased as Oracle hit a wave and took a plunge in the water:

 TIM At mark 1, max spd NZL 44.4 kts = 51.1 mph = 82.2 kph; USA 44.3 kts — America's Cup Racing (@americascupLIVE) September 25, 2013

 Shortly thereafter, USA split the race in a near mirror-image of Tuesday's second contest.

 New Zealand had a slight edge as the two boats crossed the first time, but it was clear that Oracle had more speed than the Emirates catamaran. By the time these two crossed the second time, USA had pulled ahead by a small margin.

 Almost dead even!! #OracleTeamUSA has the right of way on the cross and take back the lead!!!!! Fly, boys FLY!! #cupbattle — ORACLE TEAM USA (@OracleTeamUSA) September 25, 2013

 At that point, Oracle began to pull away.

 Emirates desperately tried tacking in an effort to pull closer to the Americans, with little success. USA's speed was simply too much for them to handle.

 Something clicked with Oracle midway through this competition, as the team had its catamaran up on the foils more and more as the race progressed. While strategy and skills played a big role in the eventual outcome, the fact that USA had the faster boat proved to be the difference.

 This all came to the dismay of New Zealand Prime Minister John Key:

 Understandably, things were a little more jovial on the other side.

 GIF via USA Today

 At the conclusion of the race, team owner and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison quickly boarded the boat to celebrate with his crew. And, according to Forbes, he skipped an Oracle conference to do so.

 Not only did his team complete an amazing comeback, but it did so in a thrilling America's Cup. It was Ellison's vision that helped bring these catamarans to the competition, providing great entertainment that will surely be a boon to the sport. ||||| Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, center right, gestures after Oracle Team USA won the 18th race of the America's Cup sailing event against Emirates Team New Zealand, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013, in San Francisco.... (Associated Press)

 Skipper Jimmy Spithill and Oracle Team USA won the America's Cup on Wednesday with one of the greatest comebacks in sports history.

 Spithill steered Oracle's space-age, 72-foot catamaran to its eighth straight victory, speeding past Dean Barker and Emirates Team New Zealand in the winner-take-all Race 19 on San Francisco Bay to keep the oldest trophy in international sports in the United States.

 All but defeated a week ago, the 34-year-old Australian and his international crew twice rallied from seven-point deficits to win 9-8. Owned by software billionaire Larry Ellison, Oracle Team USA was docked two points for illegally modifying boats in warmup regattas and had to win 11 races to keep the Auld Mug.

 After almost dunking its chances when it buried its bows in a wave shortly after the start, Oracle showed its incredible speed when it reeled in the Kiwis while zigzagging toward the Golden Gate Bridge on the windward third leg.

 As Oracle worked to keep its lead, tactician Ben Ainslie, a four-time Olympic gold medalist from Britain, implored his mates by saying, "This is it. This is it. Working your (rears) off."

 There were hugs and handshakes after Spithill steered the fast cat across the finish line off America's Cup Park on Piers 27-29. Ellison hopped on board and the crew sprayed him with champagne.

 Spithill refused to let his team fold after the penalties were announced four days before racing started and led an almost unimaginable rally.

 How big a win was this?

 In sailing terms, it was the equivalent of the Boston Red Sox sweeping the final four games of the 2004 ALCS over the New York Yankees, the only 3-0 comeback in major league history. It's also comparable to the Philadelphia Flyers overcoming a 0-3 deficit to beat the Boston Bruins in the 2010 NHL playoffs. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– The US team won the America's Cup in sailing today, and this is pretty much all you need to know about how huge of a comeback it was: It's a best-of-17 series, and Oracle Team USA trailed 8-1 just last week. Do the math, and you'll see why AP calls the victory by skipper Jimmy Spithill's crew over the New Zealand boat "one of the greatest comebacks in sports history." Spithill steered Oracle's space-age, 72-foot catamaran to eight straight wins on San Francisco Bay to keep the oldest trophy in international sports in the US. Sailing fans can head to Bleacher Report for more details and reaction.


The Obamas purchased the Kalorama mansion they’d been renting. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

 Looks like former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama are putting down deeper roots in Washington: After renting a Kalorama home for their post-White House stint, the couple have purchased the eight-bedroom, nine-and-a-half-bath home for $8.1 million, according to property records.

 The Obamas have said they plan to remain in D.C. while their younger daughter, Sasha, finishes high school at Sidwell Friends. After leaving the executive mansion in January, the family settled into a rental home owned by Bill Clinton press secretary Joe Lockhart and his wife, Giovanna Gray Lockhart, an 8,200-square-foot home that was built in 1921 and renovated in 2011.

 The Obamas still own a Georgian-style home in the Hyde Park neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, the city that will house the Obama presidential library.

 Spokesman Kevin Lewis, in a statement, said the purchase just made sense for the family: “Given that President and Mrs. Obama will be in Washington for at least another two and a half years, it made sense for them to buy a home rather than continuing to rent property.”

 1 of 8 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × A look inside the Obamas’ Kalorama home View Photos The neighborhood also is home to President Trump’s daughter Ivanka and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Caption The neighborhood also is home to President Trump’s daughter Ivanka and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, are renting the $5.9 million residence that features eight bedrooms and nine-and-a-half bathrooms. The 8,200-square-foot home was built in 1921 and renovated in 2011. Courtesy of the McFadden Group Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.

 D.C. records show that Lockhart sold the home for $8.1 million to Homefront Holdings LLC, which is controlled by the Obamas. The deed transfer was recorded on Wednesday. Lockhart bought the home in 2014 for $5.295 million, records show.

 The $8.1 million purchase price makes the Obamas’ new home the second-most expensive in the Kalorama neighborhood, behind the $23 million that Jeffrey P. Bezos, the Amazon founder and owner of The Washington Post, paid for the former Textile Museum.

 The Obamas have called the swanky Washington neighborhood (where neighbors include Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner) their home, but it’s really functioned more like a home base for the globe-trotting family. The former first couple traveled to French Polynesia for an extended vacation after leaving the White House and also vacationed in Tuscany. ||||| The Obama family has officially bought a piece of D.C. property.

 Former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama purchased the Kalorama home they’ve been renting since they left the White House in January.

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 In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, spokesperson Kevin Lewis explained: “Given that President and Mrs. Obama will be in Washington for at least another two and a half years, it made sense for them to buy a home rather than continuing to rent property.”

 The Obamas have said they plan to remain in the capital while their 15-year-old daughter Sasha finishes high school at Sidwell Friends in Washington.

 RELATED VIDEO: This Is How Much It Would Cost to Paint the White House (And More Crazy Facts)

 The couple bought the 8200-square-foot eight-bedroom, 9½-bath mansion for $8.1 million, according to the Washington Post. Photos of the upstairs residence were published in a spread in Architectural Digest last December.

 The residence was previously owned by Joe Lockhart, the former White House Press Secretary under President Bill Clinton. (Lockhart moved to New York City last year to take a job with the NFL).

 The Obamas will continue to be neighbors with Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, who live a few blocks away. |||||

Write a summary.

– It's not the White House, but Barack and Michelle Obama clearly aren't too disappointed with their new Washington, DC, home: After renting it for several months, they've opted to buy it, reports People. The Obamas purchased the 8,200-square-foot home in the Kalorama neighborhood this week for $8.1 million, snatching it up from NFL executive Joe Lockhart, who bought it for $5.3 million in 2014, reports the Washington Post. Since the family plans to stay in Washington until Sasha, 15, finishes high school, "it made sense for them to buy a home rather than continuing to rent property," a rep says.


– The UN has unfrozen $1.5 billion in frozen Libyan assets to be used as humanitarian aid as it called on both sides of the conflict to avoid revenge killings, the BBC reports. The money had been seized by the US in the spring. It won’t go straight to the rebels, notes the New York Times: Instead, the US and international agencies will direct it toward humanitarian efforts. The head of the Transitional National Council pledged to “favor the countries which helped us” in accordance with “the support which they gave us.” With about half the Council in Tripoli, the city is largely in rebel hands—but fighting has continued, including reports of summary killings by both rebels and loyalists. Meanwhile, rebels have met opposition in their struggle to reach Moammar Gadhafi’s hometown, Sirte, which British planes bombed last night, hammering what Britain called a “large headquarters bunker,” CNN reports. Meanwhile, an empty hospital in the Abu Salim area—which has seen vicious fighting—held dozens of decomposing bodies, notes CBS News.

Expand this summary.

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- As fighting continued Friday in much of Libya, regional organizations underscored the need to plan carefully and move quickly to speed the transition from crisis to democracy.

 In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he had talked with heads of the organizations, which included the League of Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the African Union and the European Union.

 "All agreed that the crisis in Libya has entered a new and decisive phase," he said. "All agreed, as well, on the importance of a smooth transition."

 That transition must be based on inclusiveness, reconciliation and national unity, he said.

 "Fighting goes on in many parts of the country," Ban said. "There is an urgent need to put an end to the conflict and restore order and stability. All agreed that, if the Libyan authorities request, we should be prepared to help develop police capacity, bearing in mind that the country is awash with small arms."

 The effect of the fighting has been profound, he said. "There are widespread shortages of fuel, food and medical supplies. Reports on the ground suggest that the water supply to the capital and surrounding region may be in danger, putting several million people or more at risk."

 Friday's meeting participants agreed that the international community "must come together with an effective, well-coordinated program of action," Ban said.

 Over the longer term, they emphasized early support for elections, transitional justice and policing, and help in social-economic recovery, rule of law and institution-building, Ban added.

 He called Thursday's action by the Security Council in unfreezing $1.5 billion in Libyan assets "a welcome step" but said Friday's participants agreed that more must be done to ensure a stable transition of power.

 Despite the continuing fighting, Moammar Gadhafi's grip on power has slipped, said Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest, on Martha's Vineyard with the vacationing President Barack Obama.

 "It is evident that there is momentum on the side of the rebels as they continue to make advances and as they continue in their efforts to set up a new government in Libya," he said.

 Asked about the whereabouts of Libyan leader Gadhafi, he said, "Right now, as I've been saying the past few days, right now there is no evidence to indicate that Gadhafi has left Libya."

 Earnest called on Gadhafi "to relinquish power once and for all," turn himself in and be held accountable.

 The comments came as opposition and NATO forces took aim Friday at the Gadhafi regime in Tripoli and Sirte as rebels worked to consolidate their power across the country.

 British warplanes pounded a "large headquarters bunker" overnight in Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte, the UK Defence Ministry said. Tornado aircraft fired a salvo of precision-guided missiles into the city, which is east of Tripoli on the central coast.

 Outside one Tripoli hospital, the smell of disinfectant was overwhelmed by the smell of rotting human flesh. Inside, dozens of bodies lay abandoned in a room. In other rooms lay more. Some were wearing military boots, some dressed in fatigues, some in civilian clothes. One man was overwhelmed with joy to discover his son among the wounded inside the hospital. But his joy was tempered by the fact that the son's wound -- a bullet to the chest -- could still prove fatal.

 In the heart of the capital, rebels began exploring the vast network of tunnels that run underneath Gadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound and much of the rest of the city. The thick-walled hallways -- wide enough for three people to walk abreast -- appeared to have been built to protect their occupants from bombing. But NATO's assault on the leader's compound was visible in one part of the tunnel, from which the sky was visible through a hole dug out by a bomb. Elsewhere in the bunker was a professionally equipped television studio.

 Other previously hidden areas were opened to public view. In Tripoli, a former U.S. airbase converted by Gadhafi into a military airport showed graphically that the longtime leader's military had begun to decay long before rebels picked up their guns against him in February: Long lines of helicopters and dust-laden jets once worth millions of dollars apiece sat rusting on the tarmac. This is also where Gadhafi parked his private jets. A tree sprouted from part of one runway.

 The opposition said its forces made gains late Thursday as it closed in on Sirte, and clashes flared Friday in that region, considered by fighters as a hot war zone.

 On Thursday, Tornado aircraft destroyed one of Gadhafi's few remaining long-range surface-to-air missile systems, near Al Watiyah, close to the Tunisian border, the ministry said.

 The ministry said Tornadoes and Typhoons destroyed a loyalist-held command-and-control site in the Tripoli area, also on Thursday. Britain is a participant in NATO's mission to enforce a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for the protection of Libyan people against Gadhafi regime forces.

 As for the airport, rebels said they controlled the facility but were struggling to secure an area east of it controlled by Gadhafi loyalists.

 The rebels said Gadhafi loyalists were indiscriminately shelling the airport from a civilian village east of the facility in an effort to repel the advance of rebel forces. Rebels said they were cautious in their response to the incoming fire because of concern over civilian casualties.

 An aircraft burned as loyalists resumed shelling the airport with mortars and Grad rockets, a CNN team that witnessed the attack said.

 A 17-year-old rebel said he hates war but feels forced to fight until the war ends. At that point, "I'm going to see my mother. I'm going to see my family," said Louis al-Zinatni. "I'm going to remove this gun from my hands. It's not for me."

 The reports of continuing fighting came amid world concerns over revenge killings by rebels and loyalists.

 Amnesty International has gathered accounts from survivors of abuse in Zawiya by pro-Gadhafi soldiers and rebel forces.

 Amnesty said it also uncovered evidence that pro-Gadhafi forces killed detainees at two military camps in Tripoli on Tuesday and Wednesday.

 Escaped detainees said loyalist forces had used grenades and gunfire on scores of prisoners at one camp, while guards at the other camp fatally shot five detainees. "Loyalist forces in Libya must immediately stop such killings of captives, and both sides must commit to ensuring no harm comes to prisoners in their custody," Amnesty International said.

 The InternationalCriminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Gadhafi alleging crimes against humanity.

 On the political front, the opposition National Transitional Council was moving its political base to Tripoli from its stronghold in Benghazi in eastern Libya.

 Libya's rebel leadership on Friday pleaded with the United States and other countries to unfreeze more money, saying the funds are vital to establish peace and stability in the nation.

 "Our friends throughout the world are talking about the procedures needed to bring back peace and stability," Mahmoud Jibril, a senior National TransitionalCouncil leader, said at an international conference in Turkey. "But we cannot do that unless we can fulfill our duties."

 Though the National Transitional Council has been recognized by 57 nations as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people, the Peace and Security Council of the African Union failed to follow suit at a meeting Friday.

 Nevertheless, the council issued a communique that urged the "formation of an inclusive transitional government."

 It called for the "establishment of a constitutional and legislative framework for the democratic transformation of Libya, as well as for support towards the organization of elections and the national reconciliation process."

 In Washington, a U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state, Aaron Snipe, said he was pleased that 20 countries on the African continent have recognized the National Transitional Council.

 "The international community has come out very much in one voice to support the aims and the purposes of the Libyan people," he said.

 CNN's Nic Robertson, Dan Rivers, Sara Sidner, Arwa Damon, Raja Razek, Jomana Karadsheh, Hada Messia, Barbara Starr, Chelsea J. Carter and Pam Benson contributed to this report. ||||| Libya rebels push on, bodies pile up

 (CBS/AP)

 TRIPOLI, Libya - Dozens of decomposing bodies were piled up Friday in an abandoned hospital in Tripoli, a grim testament to the chaos roiling the capital as Libyan rebels clash with forces still loyal to Muammar Qaddafi.

 The four-story hospital was in the Abu Salim neighborhood, which has seen some of the heaviest fighting this week, although the facility was empty and it could not be determined when the men had been killed. The floors were covered with shattered glass and bloodstains, and medical equipment was strewn about.

 One hospital room had 21 bodies lying on gurneys, while 20 others were in the hospital's courtyard next to the parking lot  all of them darker skinned than most Libyans, covered with blankets. Qaddafi had recruited fighters from sub-Saharan Africa.

 Battle rages on as rebels hunt Qaddafi

 Tunnels of Qaddafi's "underground city" revealed

 Complete coverage: Anger in the Arab World

 With Qaddafi still on the run and vowing to fight to the death, the rebels have struggled to take complete control of the Libya capital after sweeping into the city on Sunday. The fight in Abu Salim has been particularly bloody.

 Bursts of gunfire were heard coming from an area near the neighborhood before daybreak Friday. Smoke rose from the area but a rebel at the scene early Friday said the fighting in Abu Salim had ended by nightfall Thursday.

 Rebels hammered at least 10 buildings at Qaddafi's compound where loyalists were taking shelter Thursday. As anti-aircraft guns battered the buildings, there were huge explosions, and the air was clogged with smoke. At least three of the buildings burned.

 One rebel involved in the battle, Mohammed Karami, said Qaddafi loyalists had "heavy weaponry, maybe even a tank."

 CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen, reporting from less than a mile away, said the area had been contested for several days.

 "There's sniper fire around the area, it's hard to get in... We're told there are some bodies on the street," Petersen said.

 About 10 to 15 percent of the city is still held by Qaddafi forces, reporter Tom Popyk in Tripoli told CBS News Radio.

 "These are entrenched fighters, with snipers on the rooftops," in areas filled with industrial and government buildings, said Popyk. "So it's very, very hard to do anything except go in there and attack."

 Men believed to be Qaddafi supporters or fighters were left moaning and calling for water at a clinic attached to a fire station in Abu-Salim. Curious men from the neighborhood climbed stairs to look at the men, but none offered help.

 One of the wounded said he was from Niger and denied any links to Qaddafi. Asked why he was in Libya, he said, "I really don't know." He did not give his name.

 Qaddafi had recruited fighters from sub-Saharan Africa, and many others are in Libya as migrant workers. In the turmoil since the rebellion broke out, migrant workers from southern Africa have been harassed.

 Associated Press reporters flagged down a cab to take some of the wounded from the clinic to a hospital. The driver at first agreed, but men from the neighborhood intervened, saying the men would have to be interrogated before they could be moved.

 The opposition's interim government, meanwhile, moved forward with efforts to establish political control despite the continuing violence.

 The National Transitional Council announced it is moving from the country's second-largest city of Benghazi in the east to the Tripoli.

 A minister in the rebel government said Qaddafi's capture is not a prerequisite for setting up a new administration in the capital.

 "We can start rebuilding our country," Finance Minister Ali Tarhouni of the NTC told a news conference late Thursday. "He (Qaddafi) is the one who is basically in the sewer, moving from one sewer to another."

 "I have a final message for everyone who is still carrying arms against the revolution," he said, "to let go of their arms and go back to their homes, and we promise not to take revenge against them."

 Even with his regime in tatters, Qaddafi has tried to rally his followers to kill the rebels who waged war for six months to bring down Libya's ruler of 42 years.

 "Don't leave Tripoli for the rats. Fight them, and kill them," Qaddafi said in a new audio message broadcast on Al-Ouroba TV, a Syria-based satellite station.

 Outside Bab al-Aziziya, Qaddafi's main military compound that was captured on Tuesday, was another grim scene, one that suggested execution-style killings of civilians.

 About two dozen bodies  some with their hands bound by plastic ties and with bullet wounds to the head  lay scattered on grassy lots in an area where Qaddafi sympathizers had camped out for months.

 The identities of the dead were unclear, but they were in all likelihood activists who had set up an impromptu tent city in solidarity with Qaddafi in defiance of the NATO bombing campaign.

 Five or six bodies were in a tent erected on a roundabout. One of the dead still had an IV in his arm, and another body was completely charred, his legs missing. The body of a doctor, in his green hospital gown, was found dumped in the canal.

 It was unclear who was responsible for the killings. ||||| Media caption The BBC's John Simpson reports on the 'last crimes' of the Gaddafi regime

 The United Nations has called on all sides in the Libyan conflict to take steps to ensure there are no acts of violence and revenge.

 It comes as reports emerge of abuses and alleged summary killings by both rebels and troops loyal to Col Gaddafi.

 The UN has also agreed to release $1.5bn (£1bn) in Libyan assets - which had been frozen under sanctions - to help with immediate humanitarian needs.

 Fighting has continued in Tripoli, which is now largely in rebel control.

 Thursday saw gunfights erupting in the city's Abu Salim district, one of the few remaining Gaddafi holdouts in the capital.

 At the scene The rebels are building up their forces to attack Sirte. I spoke to one of their officers who said there would be another day at least of getting things into position. There are, they believe, about 1,500 Gaddafi loyalists on the road between Ras Lanouf and Bin Jawad, and they have to clear them out of the way before they can get to Sirte. Another officer told me he thought there was a deliberate delaying tactic, putting those Gaddafi forces on that road in order to better prepare the defences of Sirte. Certainly we saw a lot of tanks being moved up yesterday [Thursday] and digging in for this smaller battle before they get to Sirte itself - they think that will take three or four days. Col Gaddafi was born in the desert, in a tent near what was then the tiny fishing village of Sirte. When he came to power, 42 years ago, he started building it up, almost as a rival capital to Tripoli. The African Union was founded there, which Col Gaddafi has always thought of as his foremost achievement. He poured money into Sirte, with the result that it remains very loyal to him. Watch Paul Wood's report on the road to Sirte

 The rebels have also been attempting to reach Col Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte but have been met with fierce resistance. There were reports that Nato planes carried out air strikes on the city overnight.

 Late on Thursday, the National Transitional Council (NTC) said it had now moved its political base from the rebel stronghold Benghazi to the capital.

 According to a rebel spokesman, half the NTC leadership is now in Tripoli. But the BBC's Jon Leyne, in Benghazi, says NTC chairman Mustafa Abdul-Jalil and other senior officials are waiting for the situation in Tripoli to stabilise before they move.

 The urgent process of restoring essential services and supplies, Libya's future effectively, is largely on hold until Col Gaddafi is killed or captured, our correspondent says.

 Tortured and killed

 UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said it was difficult to confirm reports of summary killings and torture, but said such incidents would be investigated by the existing Commission of Inquiry on Libya.

 "We urge all those in positions of authority in Libya, including field commanders, to take active steps to ensure that no crimes, or acts of revenge, are committed," he told Reuters.

 The UN has previously said some military action in Libya could amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity.

 Earlier this week, the NTC's chairman, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, urged rebels not to engage in revenge attacks against pro-Gaddafi fighters, threatening to resign if his warning was not heeded.

 The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes visited a hospital in the Mitiga district of Tripoli which had received the bodies of 17 rebel fighters.

 Doctors said the group had been prisoners of Gaddafi troops in Tripoli and were tortured and killed as the rebels seized the capital earlier this week.

 Dr Hoez Zaitan, a British medic working at the hospital, said about half the bodies had bullet wounds to the back of the head while others had disfiguring injuries to their limbs and hands.

 He said the bodies had been examined for possible evidence to be used at a war crimes tribunal.

 Meanwhile, the bodies of at least a dozen pro-Gaddafi fighters - two of whom had their hands tied behind their backs - were found on a roundabout in the centre of Tripoli.

 There were reports that one body had an intravenous drip in the arm, and that others were badly burned.

 Amnesty International says it has "powerful testimonies" of abuses by both sides in the coastal town of Zawiya, including allegations of violence by rebels against African migrant workers accused of being mercenaries.

 On Thursday evening, the UN reached an agreement to release $1.5bn in Libyan assets after the motion was modified to remove a reference to the NTC.

 South Africa had stalled the move, raising among its concerns that giving money to the NTC indicated officially acknowledging it as Libya's leaders - something it and the African Union have yet to do. |||||


News article:

An epic tale of three women who happened to witness a stranger attempt to drug another stranger begins with, “GUESS WHO STOPPED A RAPE LAST NIGHT?! THESE GALS!”

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 The incident allegedly took place at Santa Monica’s FIG restaurant on Thursday. When I called FIG to corroborate a viral Facebook post, the woman who answered said firmly that yes, it was all true, before putting me on hold. When she came back on she said she was not at liberty to discuss what I assume is still a pending investigation. So let’s take the story as it is told on social media by a woman named Sonia Ulrich.

 Monica, Marla, and I were at Fig at the Fairmont for their delicious happy hour (“Fig at 5.” Treat yourself). I was going on about something and saw Monica staring behind and making a funny face. I stopped. “What’s going on?” After a few second she said “That guy just put something in her drink.”

 The ladies discussed the best course of action and decided to warn this strange woman that not all was as it should be with her date. Sonia lingered in the bathroom waiting for her until she left her stall:

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 “Hey! Um, this is kind of weird, but, uh, we saw the guy you were with put something in your drink.” “Oh My God.” She said. Shocked, kind of numb, so I babbled “Yeah, my girlfriend said she saw him put something in your drink and we had to say something. Woman to woman...you know. We had to say something. How well do you know that guy?” I was expecting to hear “We just met,” but I got: “He’s one of my best friends.”

 The girl returned to her table, which is a measure of steeliness I don’t think I’d be capable of. My impulse would be to rush back and insist he drink my glass of wine and basically reenact the final scene of Hamlet. Meanwhile, Marla was speaking with a server, who notified the manager. Monica described more about what she’d seen to her friends:

 “He pulled her glass toward him, kind of awkwardly, then he took out a little black vial. He opened it up and dropped something in. Then he tried to play it cool, like checking his phone and hiding the vial in his hand and then trying to bring it back down slyly.” He apparently saw Monica looking. Marla said she was just going to lean over to Monica and say “that guy is acting really creepy” when she saw Monica already looking. Witnessing.

 It only took a minute for the manager to walk to their table, see if everything was ok, allowed the girl to order a sparkling water. All super cool. He stopped by our table and said he couldn’t do much because he didn’t see it. But he did let security know. The poor woman had to sit through 40 more minutes, sitting across from “one of her best friends” knowing that he was trying to drug her. Marla noticed him several times chinking his glass to hers to get her to drink. She played it cool. Mostly, I believed, just stunned. The staff wanted to jump in and dump the glass, dump him, do something! I was going through fantasies of walking up and demanding he drink the tainted glass of wine. Eventually, they finished up dinner. There was a delay getting their bill “The computer is down” is what the waiter kept saying to him. Then, in walks Santa Monica PD. They say “Come with us” and he doesn’t protest. Doesn’t ask why. Doesn’t seem surprised.

 Because of the ladies’ quick response and the restaurant’s belief and support, they were able to immediately review the tapes and catch the man putting an unknown substance in his “friend’s” wine glass. It turned out her car was parked in his apartment building and they’d driven in his vehicle to the restaurant, adding an even more chilling detail to this premeditated attack.

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 Sonia Ulrich winds up her long post with gratitude to the FIG, and by saying that after the man was led away by police, other customers approached the women to tell their own stories of similar incidents where no one was there to look out:

 “It happened to my sister...I’m glad I was there to take her home.” “It happened to my roommate at a producer’s party. He’s still messed up from it.” “It happened to me. At a backyard barbecue.” “It happened to me. At a bar I worked at.” “Some Heroes don’t wear capes. Thank you. It happened to me. Thank you.” So thank you, everyone at Fig and Fairmont in Santa Monica for keeping this guy from harming someone. And thank you in advance to everyone who sees this and shares this and reminds each other that yes, you SHOULD say something. Even if it’s awkward or weird or just uncertain if anything can be done. Know that YOU did something. And that it helped.

 I could also tell a story like this. Thanks for saying something, gals.

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 Image via Facebook. ||||| Monica Kenyon, Sonia Ulrich and Marla Saltzer helped save a woman from being drugged by her date at a Santa Monica restaurant.

 Three Los Angeles-area women are being credited with saving a young woman they didn't know from being drugged by a date at a Santa Monica restaurant.Sonia Ulrich, Marla Saltzer and Monica Kenyon detailed their story on Facebook on Friday - with a meme in "Charlie's Angels" style poses, declaring "Don't roofie someone on our watch!" The post has already been shared more than 70,000 times.The three were at the Fig restaurant at the Fairmont Miramar hotel for happy hour on Thursday.As they were eating, drinking and having a good time, Kenyon's attention was drawn to a nearby table where two people appeared to be on a date. The young woman had excused herself to go to the bathroom.Kenyon said she could see the man fumbling with his date's glass at the table and reaching for something."I just stared at him and watched something fall from his hand into the glass below," she recalled in an interview with ABC7 Eyewitness News.The other women noticed Kenyon get a funny look on her face as she watched the apparent drugging unfold in front of her eyes."I said, I just saw that guy put something in her drink. We're all like, what do we do?" Kenyon said.Ulrich went to the bathroom to find the girl and warn her."I found her in there and I just said 'Hey I know this is weird, but we saw that guy you're with put something in your drink'."Ulrich asked her how well she knew the man."She said 'Oh my God. .... He's one of my best friends'."The two had worked together for more than a year, the woman told Ulrich.The woman on the date returned to the table and tried to act as if nothing had happened.In the meantime, the three women alerted the restaurant manager, who talked to security. They checked the video and confirmed the women's story.Soon, Santa Monica police had arrived and took the man away.The Santa Monica Police Department later confirmed that the man had been arrested with multiple vials of a clear substance on him that has not yet been identified.For the three women, besides being able to save the young woman, they said the reaction from people online, as well as that night at the restaurant, has been gratifying."The crazy thing, though, afterwards, is people from all over the dining room were coming over and thanking us," Ulrich said. "And they all had stories of it happened to them or their sister or their roommate.""That was the really amazing thing - how many people sincerely thanked us because they had a personal experience with this type of thing." ||||| See more of Sonia Ulrich on Facebook ||||| From every table In our section, from through out the restaurant, people came by to thank us for taking action.

 "It happened to my sister...I'm glad I was there to take her home."

 "It happened to my roommate at a producer's party. He's still messed up from it."

 "It happened to me. At a backyard barbecue."

 "It happened to me. At a bar I worked at."

 "Some Heroes don't wear capes. Thank you. It happened to me. Thank you."

 "Fuck yeah you guys! You fuckin rock!"

 At least 10 stories of being personally affected [by] someone like this. Something like this. Those were only the ones who knew what went down. I am sure there were tons more stories through out the restaurant and the hotel. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Three women dining out in Santa Monica, Calif., Thursday night apparently spotted a guy slip his table-mate a "roofie"-style drug—and rushed to prevent the woman from being raped, Jezebel reports. As Sonia Ulrich writes on Facebook, she and her friends Monica Kenyon and Marla Saltzer were enjoying happy hour at FIG restaurant when Kenyon saw the guy pull out a small black vial, hide it under his cell phone, and put something in his female companion's wine while she was in the restroom. "After a few 'Oh god. What do we do's,'" writes Ulrich, she went to the restroom and informed the woman. "Oh my god," the woman said, adding that "he's one of my best friends." As she explained, they worked together and had known each other for a year and a half. The woman returned to her table as Ulrich's pal Marla notified the manager, which led to a server walking over and the woman ordering sparkling water. "Marla noticed him several times chinking his glass to hers to get her to drink [the wine]," per Ulrich. "She played it cool." With the pair about to leave, Santa Monica PD showed up and arrested Michael Hsu, 24, on charges involving rape and drugging to commit rape, the Huffington Post reports. Restaurant video backed Ulrich's accusation, ABC News reports, and other women dining at FIG walked over to share their own horror stories. "It happened to my roommate," said one, while another said that "it happened to my sister." As one woman put it, "Some heroes don't wear capes. Thank you. It happened to me. Thank you."


Summarize this article:

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. ||||| Continue Reading Below Advertisement

 The larger snakes concentrate on the belly or back and give more of a kneading effect, while the smaller ones go off and explore other places like, oh, your face. Seriously, watch as the snakes slither across a guy's eyes at around 0:46 in this video, if you dare.

 Via Weirdnews.about.com

 Any judge would consider tickling her right now attempted murder.

 While the snakes are all nonvenomous, we certainly understand if this freaks you out instead of soothing you -- we can think of dozens of other animals that are more qualified to massage people. The elephant, by the way, isn't one of them.

 Via Doseng.org

 But nobody tell this girl.

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 In Thailand, elephants are trained to do a number of things, from playing soccer to using instruments to stepping on the backs of defenseless tourists, apparently. The Maesa Elephant Camp in Chiang Mai features elephants of the latter type: While you lay on your face, the elephant will place its foot on your back to "help ease your stress." Ninety percent of that stress, of course, comes from the fact that you just saw an approaching wild animal that is capable of crushing you like a slug.

 Sometimes the tourists are given the impression that a baby elephant will be doing the stepping, only for it to be switched to an adult one when it's too late to turn back. You know, for comic effect. Yeah, Thailand doesn't do "relaxing" very well. And that might just explain ... |||||

– Facials, mani-pedis, and massages are so passé for the insanely rich—or the insane and rich, Cracked reports. Here's the new normal among bizarre spa treatments: A plant farm in northern Israel offers the full-body snake massage for $70. Bigger snakes will knead the belly or back while smaller ones wiggle around your face. (Time offers a video.) The Chiang Mal Women's Correctional Institution in Thailand offers a massage—from a fully trained inmate. "In this case, 'happy ending' means nobody got murdered," quips Cracked. A wine spa in Japan allows you to swim in hot booze, tea, or coffee. The spa's website notes that green tea is an effective antioxidant, and Cleopatra bathed in wine. As for the coffee spa, it will "perk up your senses." Chinese "fire cupping" is said to alleviate many physical problems, including congestion, bad circulation, and menstrual pains. Only problem: It involves lighting fires inside glass bulbs and sticking them to your back. The result resembles a minefield of red bruises. For more spa freakiness, click here.


– A North Korean diplomat stationed in London vanished in mid-July, and Seoul is now explaining why: Thae Yong Ho has defected to South Korea, in what the BBC reports could be the "highest-ranking" defection North Korea has experienced. The New York Times calls Thae the "No. 2" official of the five stationed at North Korea's London embassy, and the Guardian reports it is the first such defection to have occurred since the embassy opened its doors 13 years ago. Thae and his family "are currently under government protection and relevant institutions are going ahead with necessary procedures as usual," said a South Korean unification ministry rep. The Guardian calls the defection a "coup" for global intelligence agencies, who may be able to gain insight into Kim Jong Un's regime. In London, Pyongyang had charged Thae with keeping tabs on defectors living there, and was also supposed to combat negative perceptions of the North.

Expand this summary.

SEOUL, South Korea — He enjoyed a bit of tennis at the local club. He indulged in curry at an Indian restaurant in the west London neighborhood where he lived. As the No. 2 North Korean diplomat in Britain, he chaperoned a brother of his country’s reclusive leader to an Eric Clapton concert last year.

 The diplomat, Thae Yong-ho, 55, seemed to embrace the trappings of a comfortable life in a capitalist capital thousands of miles from dreary North Korea, never hinting at disloyalty. He had lived in London for a decade, trusted because of his family’s impeccable legacy in North Korean history.

 So it was a shock on Wednesday when South Korea announced that Mr. Thae had betrayed his hermetic homeland by becoming the most senior North Korean official to defect in nearly two decades.

 How and when the diplomat had eluded his colleagues at the North Korean Embassy, who are required to monitor one another to thwart treason, was not clear. But a South Korean government spokesman, Jeong Joon-hee, said at a news conference that the diplomat had arrived recently in South Korea with his wife and family, proclaiming disillusionment with the increasingly isolated government of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. ||||| Image copyright Getty Images Image caption It is confirmed that Mr Thae (seen on the right in this file picture) is in South Korea

 A top North Korean diplomat who disappeared from the country's embassy in London has defected to South Korea, officials in Seoul have confirmed.

 Thae Yong-ho and his family are under the government's protection, a South Korean official said.

 Mr Thae was the ambassador's deputy and is thought to be the highest-ranking North Korean official ever to defect.

 His main mission in London had been to spread positive perceptions of the North Korean leadership.

 He had been due to return to Pyongyang with his wife and children.

 Mr Thae had come under pressure from his government to quash growing criticism of North Korea's human rights record, sources say.

 The BBC's diplomatic correspondent, James Robbins, says it now looks as if Mr Thae's heart may not have been in the task of defending North Korea.

 In the past, Mr Thae had argued the British were brainwashed by their ruling class into believing "shocking, terrifying" lies about North Korea under its leader Kim Jong-un.

 "If the people in this country, or in America, knew that there is a country in the world where there is a free education, free housing, free medical care, then they'd have second thoughts," he had said in one speech.

 South Korea spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said: "On his reasons for defection, Minister Thae cited disgust with Kim Jong-Un's regime, admiration for South Korea's free, democratic system and the future of his family." |||||