Summarize this article:

The art of the "big lie" is to repeat something often enough, and with a powerful enough megaphone, such that your distortions are not challenged. So it is with the Wall Street Journal's obsession with attacking and misrepresenting the multiple cases that I brought against both AIG and its former chairman and CEO, Hank Greenberg.

 At stake is much more than the particular cases at issue. By trying to rewrite the narrative of the economic cataclysm we have lived through, the deniers are attempting to challenge the common-sense conclusions that flow from an accurate understanding of history. They are desperately trying to protect a particularly rabid, and ultimately damaging, anti-regulatory philosophy that has dominated the past 30 years. They are trying to protect a broken and misguided understanding of how markets really function, a view now openly rejected even by such staunch free-market advocates as Judge Richard Posner and former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan. Acknowledging the propriety of any government prosecutions of corporate wrongdoing would make impossible their current effort to push back against even the government's minimal responses to the financial crisis.

 So, in view of the Journal's recent editorial, a few facts are in order: Greenberg was removed as CEO of AIG by his own board—of its own volition—after his refusal to answer questions about his involvement in fraudulent reinsurance contracts that his company had created. Five people were convicted by a jury in Connecticut in 2008 for their role in these frauds. The federal prosecutor, in his summation, called Greenberg an unindicted co-conspirator in the scheme. In New York, the judge who will hear the case based on these facts, brought by the state when I was attorney general, called the case "devastating" and referred to AIG as a "criminal enterprise." AIG as a corporate entity settled the case with my office in 2006 by restating its financial results and paying a fine of $1.6 billion. Shareholders are now awaiting judicial approval of an additional $750 million settlement to compensate them for damages they suffered from these accounting frauds.

 Advertisement

 Contrary to the claims of the Journal's editorial, the cases against Greenberg and AIG have been both proper and successful. More to the point, perhaps, they have been necessary to the vindication of justice and ethics in the marketplace.

 The Journal's editorial also seeks to disparage the cases my office brought against Marsh & McLennan for a range of financial and business crimes. The editorial notes that two of the cases against employees of the company were dismissed after the defendants had been convicted. The judge found that certain evidence that should have been turned over to the defense was not. (The cases were tried after my tenure as attorney general.) Unfortunately for the credibility of the Journal, the editorial fails to note the many employees of Marsh who have been convicted and sentenced to jail terms, or that Marsh's behavior was a blatant abuse of law and market power: price-fixing, bid-rigging, and kickbacks all designed to harm their customers and the market while Marsh and its employees pocketed the increased fees and kickbacks. Marsh as a company paid an $850 million fine to resolve the claims and brought in new leadership. At the time of the criminal conduct, Jeff Greenberg, Hank Greenberg's son, was the CEO of Marsh. He was forced to resign.

 What does it mean that supposedly thoughtful voices in the corporate world continue to deny the simple fact that irresponsible behavior should be addressed head on, and the rules of conduct altered sufficiently to permit a sound foundation for future economic growth?

 I fear that we have still not constructed a social contract or general understanding of the role of government in the marketplace that will bring things into balance—in terms of both individual behavior and collective responsibility. Maybe we are still living in the remaining hours of a fading regime, still addled by the warped perspective of too many who have done perhaps too well over the past decade or two. A case in point is Steve Schwarzman, the founder and CEO of Blackstone, a private equity firm. Schwarzman recently compared the attempt to tax the often astronomical fees earned by private equity managers as ordinary income—as they should be—to Hitler's invasion of Poland. This horrific statement, from someone who spent millions of dollars on his own birthday party, is an unfortunate reminder of the mind-set of at least some pockets of our corporate leadership. It is time for more enlightened voices in the corporate world to use their own megaphones.

 Like Slate on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

 Like Slate on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

 Like This Story ||||| Former New York governor Eliot Spitzer speaks at the Reuters Global Financial Regulation Summit 2010 in New York April 28, 2010.

 NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was hit with two libel lawsuits seeking $90 million by former Marsh & McLennan Cos executives over a column posted on Slate.com about an insurance bid-rigging scandal.

 The lawsuits arose from Spitzer's August 22, 2010, column, "They Still Don't Get It," advocating prosecution of corporate wrongdoers and defending his own enforcement activity against Marsh and insurer American International Group Inc.

 William Gilman, a former Marsh executive marketing director, and Edward McNenney, a former Marsh global placement director, contended that they were defamed by the column, which appeared thee months after a judge threw out their convictions on felony antitrust charges. Neither is named in the column.

 Slate.com is owned by Washington Post Co, and its parent Slate Group LLC is a defendant in both cases.

 Gilman filed his $60 million lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, while McNenney filed papers seeking $30 million with the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan. Both cases were filed on Friday and made public on Monday.

 Spitzer, in a phone interview, declined to comment after the first of the lawsuits, Gilman's, became public. Rima Calderon, a Washington Post spokeswoman, declined to comment.

 Gilman had worked at Marsh for 28 years and McNenney for 14 years when Spitzer, then New York's attorney general, in 2004 opened a probe into the company's practices -- including alleged kickbacks for steering of clients to favored insurers.

 Marsh, then the largest U.S. insurance broker, agreed in January 2005 to pay $850 million in a civil settlement with Spitzer, and eight insurance executives including Gilman and McNenney were indicted eight months later in the probe.

 Both men were found guilty in February 2008, but the presiding judge threw out that conviction in July 2010, citing new evidence. That case was dismissed in January. The other indicted executives either were acquitted or had their cases dismissed. Twenty-one others pleaded guilty.

 "SCAPEGOATS"

 In his complaint, Gilman said Spitzer defamed him in writing, stating that "Marsh's behavior was a blatant abuse of law and market power: price-fixing, bid-rigging and kickbacks all designed to harm their customers and the market while Marsh and its employees pocketed the increased fees and kickbacks."

 Gilman also said Spitzer defamed him in writing by stating that "many employees of Marsh" have been "convicted and sentenced to jail terms," when none had.

 Spitzer had written the column shortly after an editorial critical of him in The Wall Street Journal.

 "While Mr. Spitzer's statements do not refer to Mr. Gilman by name," Gilman's complaint said, "Mr. Gilman is readily identifiable as the subject of the defamatory comments."

 "Mr. Spitzer was well aware of his own allegations as attorney general and the resolution of those allegations in favor of Mr. Gilman and yet, recklessly disregarded these facts," the complaint said.

 Punitive damages account for half the amounts sought in each lawsuit. "I don't know what possessed him to make the statements that he made," Jeffrey Liddle, a lawyer for Gilman and McNenney, said in an interview, referring to Spitzer.

 In June, Gilman and McNenney accused Marsh in a separate lawsuit of colluding with Spitzer to make them "scapegoats" and avert potential criminal charges against the company. That case seeks to recover unpaid compensation and other damages.

 Last month, Time Warner Inc's CNN canceled Spitzer's low-rated television talk show "In the Arena," after less than one year on the air. [ID:nN1E7651A4] Spitzer resigned as New York's governor in March 2008 after a scandal in which it was revealed that he had hired a high-priced prostitute.

 The cases are Gilman v. Spitzer et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 11-05843; and McNenney v. Spitzer et al, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No. 109628/2011. The earlier lawsuit is Gilman et al v. Marsh & McLennan Cos et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 10-08158.

 (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Dave Zimmerman and Matthew Lewis) |||||

– Two former execs at an insurance firm that paid out $850 million to settle allegations of shady dealing brought by Eliot Spitzer in his days as a crusading attorney general are now suing the former governor for libel. The former Marsh & McLennan execs, who claim Spitzer libeled them in a recent column for Slate entitled "They Still Don't Get It," are seeking $90 million in damages, Reuters reports. Neither man is named in the column, which stated that Marsh's behavior was a "blatant abuse of law and market power." Spitzer then listed illegal acts that he wrote were "designed" to harm customers. Both men were indicted on dozens of charges following Spitzer's probe. They were found guilty on one count of restraint of trade and competition, but that conviction was later overturned.


Write an article based on this summary:

– Bad news, Louisiana. The state is the most violent in the country, according to a 24/7 Wall St. ranking, based on violent crimes, homicides, incarceration rates, the number of police officers per 100,000 residents, and estimated small-arms ownership. The top 10: Louisiana Alaska Tennessee Delaware Nevada Arkansas Missouri Florida South Carolina Arizona Click for the full list or the states with the most violent crimes.

Although the risk of deadly shootings appears to have escalated, violence in the United States is trending downward. In 1995, there were 685 violent incidents per 100,000 people nationwide. By 2014, the national violent crime rate had fallen to 366 violent crimes per 100,000 people. The United States is far from the most peaceful place on earth, however, and some states remain far more violent than others.

 24/7 Wall St. generated an index to rank the peacefulness of each U.S. state. States with high violent crime and homicide rates, as well as high estimated small arms ownership and high incarceration rates were identified as less peaceful, while states with lower incidences of these factors were more peaceful. According to our index, Maine is the most peaceful state, while Louisiana is the least peaceful.

 In an interview with 24/7 Wall St., Dr. Nancy La Vigne, director of the Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center, made clear that states are not simply violent, or peaceful. Rather, they fall onto a continuum. This is partially due to the fact that the concentration of violence varies so much geographically, even within states.

 Click here to see America’s most violent (and peaceful) states.

 Click here to read our methodology.

 “Even within cities that tend to have higher crime rates and even within neighborhoods that are well known to have lots of violent crime, there are pockets of peaceful streets and pockets of violent ones,” La Vigne said.

 A slew of factors contribute to violence in a community. La Vigne noted that many factors are involved and anything from low incomes and the presence of 15 to 25 year old men to a combination of environmental conditions can help explain unrest in an area. “Vacant housing, burned out streetlights, [and] signs of disorder … can predict where crime might be more concentrated,” she said.

 In the vast majority of the nation’s more peaceful states, households earn higher incomes, while incomes tended to be much lower in more violent states. Of the 25 states on the top end of the peacefulness ranking, only five have poverty rates higher than the national rate of 15.5%. Of the more violent half of states, poverty rates tend to be higher.

 A perfectly peaceful community would have no need for weapons or law enforcement workers. Of course, some number of police officers are needed to keep the peace even in the least violent areas. Past a certain threshold, however, large enforcement operations are features of less peaceful states. The ratio of law enforcement employees to state residents exceeded the national proportion of 282 law enforcement workers per 100,000 Americans in eight of the 10 least peaceful states. On the other hand, all but two of the 10 most peaceful states had proportionately smaller police forces.

 The connection between law enforcement and peaceful society is not yet completely understood. Crime continued to drop in the United States during the most recent economic downturn, even as police spending dramatically fell. Also, whether more policing equals greater peace largely depends on what police are doing. La Vigne gave the example of aggressive stop-and-frisk tactics, which frequently alienate law-abiding citizens who might otherwise have aided in crime prevention. ||||| 10. Arizona

 > Violent crime rate: 399.9 per 100,000 (16th highest)

 > Murder and non-negligent manslaughter rate: 4.7 per 100,000 (20th highest)

 > Median household income: $50,068 (21st lowest)

 > June unemployment rate: 5.8% (9th highest)

 Arizona is the 10th least peaceful state in the nation. In addition to an above-average violent crime rate, the incidences of property crime, larceny, and motor vehicle theft in Arizona are each among the 10 highest compared with other states. So far this year, data collection and research group Gun Violence Archive has tracked four mass shootings in the state in which a total of 12 people were killed. Just seven other states have had a higher number of deaths from mass shootings.

 To contain such high levels of violence, Arizona needs to retain large law enforcement operations. For every 100,000 Arizona residents there are 339 law enforcement workers employed in the state. Also, 628 prisoners are held under state jurisdiction — the ninth and sixth highest numbers of all states.

 9. South Carolina

 > Violent crime rate: 497.7 per 100,000 (7th highest)

 > Murder and non-negligent manslaughter rate: 6.4 per 100,000 (4th highest)

 > Median household income: $45,238 (9th lowest)

 > June unemployment rate: 5.4% (15th highest)

 Over the last five years, crime dropped by 100 incidents per 100,000 South Carolina residents, one of the best improvements of any state. Still, in a given year, nearly 500 violent crimes are reported per 100,000 people in the state, the seventh highest violent crime rate. The violent crime rates in all six South Carolina metro areas tracked by the FBI are well above the national violent crime rate. In the Sumter area, there are 666 violent crimes per 100,000 metro residents, one of the highest rates in the country.

 The presence of firearms not only tends to increase the likelihood of violence, but also may reflect the fear of those who possess firearms for self defense. South Carolina’s gun ownership rate of 44.4% is well above the 29.1% of adults nationwide who say they live in a household with at least one firearm.

 8. Florida

 > Violent crime rate: 540.5 per 100,000 (5th highest)

 > Murder and non-negligent manslaughter rate: 5.8 per 100,000 (7th highest)

 > Median household income: $47,463 (12th lowest)

 > June unemployment rate: 4.7% (25th highest)

 So far this year, 16 mass shootings have been documented in Florida. While this is less than in California and Illinois, the 131 people injured and 67 killed in these incidents are by far the highest of any state. The 50 people killed in Orlando in June dwarfs the death toll from mass shootings in any state in recent memory.

 Florida was not an especially safe state even before the shootings. The latest violent crime rate pegs Florida in fifth place, with 541 violent crimes reported per 100,000 people. The incidences of robbery, aggravated assault, and property crime are also each fifth highest compared with other states.

 7. Missouri

 > Violent crime rate: 442.9 per 100,000 (11th highest)

 > Murder and non-negligent manslaughter rate: 6.6 per 100,000 (3rd highest)

 > Median household income: $48,363 (15th lowest)

 > June unemployment rate: 4.5% (23rd lowest)

 Missouri has one of the highest violent crime rates in the country and the third highest murder rate. The state’s two largest metropolitan areas — Kansas City and St. Louis — appear to be driving these figures up, with rates of 482 and 430 incidents per 100,000 people, respectively. Ferguson, Missouri was also recently at the center of the debate about police violence against black Americans after an officer shot unarmed 18 year old Michael Brown. In March 2015, in light of the shooting and protests, the Federal Department of Justice sued the city, citing serious flaws in its policing practices. The lawsuit was resolved in March, with Ferguson agreeing to reform its criminal justice system. There are 335 law enforcement officials in Missouri for every 100,000 residents, the 10th highest share in the country.

 6. Arkansas

 > Violent crime rate: 480.1 per 100,000 (9th highest)

 > Murder and non-negligent manslaughter rate: 5.6 per 100,000 (12th highest)

 > Median household income: $41,262 (3rd lowest)

 > June unemployment rate: 3.8% (13th lowest)

 A person who is either employed or actively seeking work is less likely to commit violent crimes than someone who is completely disengaged. In Arkansas, only 58.7% of the population participates in the labor force, one of the smallest shares of any U.S. state. A highly educated population also tends to be more peaceful. However, only 21.4% of Arkansas adults have a bachelor’s degree, a smaller share than in all but two other states.

 With relatively weak workforce engagement as well as low educational attainment rates, Arkansas has one of the highest violent crime rates in the country. There are 480 violent crimes for every 100,000 state residents a year in Arkansas, far more than the national rate of 366 incidents per 100,000 people. |||||


(Updated at 4:10 p.m.) The Arlington, Va. parking garage that played a pivotal role in the Watergate scandal is set to be demolished as part of a redevelopment.

 Monday Properties plans to tear down two aging office buildings, at 1401 Wilson Blvd and 1400 Key Blvd in the Rosslyn neighborhood, to make way for a new mixed use development. Before any construction can take place, however, the proposed redevelopment will go through Arlington’s site plan process, which usually takes 1-4 years.

 The parking garage below the buildings will be a casualty of the eventual redevelopment. Forty years ago, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward met a source dubbed “Deep Throat” — later revealed to be FBI official Mark Felt — in the garage, which was chosen because it was considered an “anonymous secure location.” The information Felt passed on to Woodward helped expose the Watergate scandal, which led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974.

 A permanent historical marker outside the garage, erected by Arlington County, marks the location. Monday Properties says it expects the marker to stay even after the garage is removed.

 “We obviously view the whole Watergate situation as a significant event in the history of our country,” said Monday Properties Chief Development Officer Tim Helmig. “It would be our hope that we preserve that plaque and incorporate it in our redevelopment.”

 The marker will likely be removed and stored during the redevelopment, said Cynthia Liccese-Torres, Acting Historic Preservation Program Coordinator for Arlington County.

 “Ideally we would want to put the marker back up again when the development is all finished,” she said.

 The garage, built in the early 1960s, is nearing the end of its useful life, Helmig noted. Nonetheless, he said the company is receptive to ideas for preserving some part of the garage’s history.

 “That will likely come into the discussion as part of the [site plan] process,” he said. “That’s exactly what the process is designed for.”

 Monday plans to replace the older buildings with a 32-story apartment or condo building and a 29-story office building. In total, the buildings will have 500,000 square feet of office space, 385,000 square feet of residential space, and 60,000 square feet of retail space, including a planned full-service grocery store, according to Helmig. About half of the land will be used as a public open space. (See photos, above.)

 So far, there’s no word on when Monday, which is still actively trying to find tenants for its massive 1812 N. Moore Street skyscraper in Rosslyn, would actually move forward with the demolition and subsequent construction, if and when it receives county approval.

 “There’s not really a set timeframe,” Helmig said. “We are really in the early stages. We have a lot of process and community input to go before our project comes to fruition.”

 “We’re excited about our application,” he added. “It certainly meets the goals and objectives of the Rosslyn Sector Plan.”

 Arlington County’s Site Plan Review Committee is scheduled to hold a meeting about the development proposal on Monday, Oct. 21. ||||| Enlarge Arlington County officials erected this marker outside 1401 Wilson Blvd., the parking… more

 In answer to many of your questions, yes, the Rosslyn parking garage where Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward secretly met FBI Associate Director Mark Felt, a.k.a. Deep Throat, during the Watergate investigation, is being targeted for demolition.

 I wrote an article last Thursday on Monday Properties and its plan to tear down a pair of aging office buildings, including 1401 Wilson Blvd., to make way for nearly 1 million square feet of commercial and residential space. As several of you asked me since then, the parking garage at 1401 Wilson, and spot 32D where Woodward and Felt exchanged notes on the Nixon administration, would be torn down to make way for one of the two new buildings.

 Enlarge Arlington County officials erected this marker outside 1401 Wilson Blvd., the parking… more

 Mind you, Monday only recently submitted its plans for the project and it will likely take some time for it to work through Arlington County's approval process. Monday Executive Vice President Tim Helmig said he does not expect to be able to start work at the site until 2016 or 2017. At the same time, Helmig said he appreciates the history of the site and will try to come up with a way to honor it appropriately.

 "We obviously think the location where Mr. Woodward and our friend Mark Felt met is certainly an integral part of a much broader historical event," Helmig said.

 Arlington County erected a historical marker outside the garage in 2011, and Helmig said Monday Properties will try to find a way to commemorate the internal spot of the deep-background meetings in the new development. But he said the garage is aging and would be difficult to preserve as part of a redevelopment.

 "The garage is at the end of its useful life, and with the redevelopment the configuration of the garage itself is going to change," he said.

 The location, of course, is a sort of mecca for many working journalists, the physical embodiment of how impactful reporting can be. Woodward gleaned information from Felt for Washington Post stories on Watergate that would help put an end to Richard Nixon's presidency. The notion was not lost on Washington Business Journal Managing Editor Rob Terry, who brought his son by the garage during a bring-your-child-to-work day and posted this entry in a blog:

 • 9:55 a.m.: Will’s hungry. Sensing a theme, I decide to run to the nearby Safeway to stock up for the day. I also take the opportunity to show him around Rosslyn a bit, including one of my favorite spots — parking space 32D in the Wilson Boulevard underground garage where Bob Woodward met with "Deep Throat," his secret source in the Watergate investigation. I try explaining to Will what’s historically important and inspiring about this location when you do what I do for a living. “But Dad, how can a parking space be famous?” he asks. “It’s complicated, buddy.'" Daniel J. Sernovitz covers commercial real estate. |||||

Write a summary.

– A little bit of American history looks to be destined for the rubble heap. A developer in Rosslyn, Virginia, has submitted plans to tear down the parking garage where "Deep Throat"—aka FBI agent Mark Felt—told his secrets to Bob Woodward, reports the ArlNow blog. Unless preservationists make a strong case, the garage will be turned to dust in 2016 or 2017, reports the Washington Business Journal. A historical marker already marks the site that launched the Watergate scandal, and developer Monday Properties says it will make sure that some kind of marker adorns the eventual new office building. It's just that "the garage is at the end of its useful life," says one of its execs. For the record, it was parking spot 32D that led to Nixon's downfall.


Here is a news article: “As cheesy as it sounds, it’s like the family that we’ve created on this show is so close knit, and it’s so emotional to say goodbye to spending every single day together and creating new adventures for these characters.” - Lena Dunham, “Hannah Horvath”

 “I hope people feel compassion for her. I think more people than we realize can relate to what she goes through, I just encourage people to feel the love. It’s a great Marnie season, I’m really happy about it.” - Allison Williams, “Marnie Michaels”

 “I’m going to miss getting to explore her more and refine it, and change her and watch her change.” - Jemima Kirke, “Jessa Johansson”

 “I think I’m going to miss her, more than I’m going to miss playing her, if that makes sense. She’s really the only part I’ve ever played that I’ve thought of as her own entity and I think it’s probably because I’ve spent so many years playing the same part. But I’m going to miss the fact that once the show goes to bed she goes to bed and she’s no longer a part of my life. And I think I’m just going to miss her presence in my life.” - Zosia Mamet, “Shoshanna Shapiro”

 “It was a very happy group. Even though there was a lot of controversy swirling around the show all the time the show itself was very calm and fun… I hope we’ve shown how some people evolve, and some people evolve less.” - Judd Apatow, GIRLS Executive Producer ||||| 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. ||||| Best of Youtube

 These are some of the classic Youtube videos from years back |||||
A summary of this is?

– In a move that seems fairly out of character, HBO is putting the first two episodes of Girls' third season—which just aired last night—on the HBO YouTube page, where anyone can watch them for free as of 10am today. Why? The show's audience is very active online, and "for us, this is an increasingly challenging demographic to reach with traditional means," HBO's VP of social media and marketing tells Mashable. The network is reaching out in other ways, too: It has Snapchat and Tumblr accounts for Girls and an Instagram video series featuring Lena Dunham sharing her character Hannah Horvath's opinions. On Twitter, cast and crew members will be live-tweeting the show starting with episode three, and on Facebook, emojis are used to recap what each character has gone through.


Article:

GENEVA U.N. human rights investigators have gathered testimony from casualties of Syria's civil war and medical staff indicating that rebel forces have used the nerve agent sarin, one of the lead investigators said on Sunday.

 The United Nations independent commission of inquiry on Syria has not yet seen evidence of government forces having used chemical weapons, which are banned under international law, said commission member Carla Del Ponte.

 "Our investigators have been in neighboring countries interviewing victims, doctors and field hospitals and, according to their report of last week which I have seen, there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated," Del Ponte said in an interview with Swiss-Italian television.

 "This was use on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities," she added, speaking in Italian.

 Del Ponte, a former Swiss attorney-general who also served as prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, gave no details as to when or where sarin may have been used.

 The Geneva-based inquiry into war crimes and other human rights violations is separate from an investigation of the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria instigated by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, which has since stalled.

 President Bashar al-Assad's government and the rebels accuse each another of carrying out three chemical weapon attacks, one near Aleppo and another near Damascus, both in March, and another in Homs in December.

 The civil war began with anti-government protests in March 2011. The conflict has now claimed an estimated 70,000 lives and forced 1.2 million Syrian refugees to flee.

 The United States has said it has "varying degrees of confidence" that sarin has been used by Syria's government on its people.

 President Barack Obama last year declared that the use or deployment of chemical weapons by Assad would cross a "red line".

 (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer) ||||| Syrian rebels shot down a military helicopter in the country's east, killing eight government troops on board a day after opposition forces entered a sprawling military air base in the north, activists said Monday.

 This citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows planes on the ground at the Kweiras military air base... (Associated Press)

 In the past months, rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad have frequently targeted military aircraft and air bases in an attempt to deprive his regime of a key weapon used to target opposition strongholds and reverse rebel gains in the 2-year-old conflict.

 The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Monday posted a video online showing several armed men standing in front of the wreckage. One of the fighters in the footage says it's a helicopter that the rebels shot down late Sunday in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, along Syria's border with Iraq.

 As the man speaks, the camera shifts to a pickup truck piled with bodies. The fighter is then heard saying that all of Assad's troops who were aboard the helicopter were killed in the downing. He says Islamic fighters of the Abu Bakr Sadiqq brigade brought down the helicopter as it was taking off from a nearby air base in the provincial capital of Deir el-Zour.

 The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, said eight troops were killed.

 On Sunday, rebels occupied parts of a military air base in northern Syria after days of fighting with government troops who were defending the sprawling facility near the border with Turkey for months, the Observatory said.

 Assad's warplanes were pounding rebel positions inside the Mannagh air base Monday as clashes between rebels and government forces raged on, the Observatory said, adding there was an unknown number of casualties on both sides.

 The day before, rebels moved deep into the air base despite fire from government warplanes, capturing a tank unit inside the base and killing the base's commander, Brig. Gen. Ali Salim Mahmoud, according to another activists group, the Aleppo Media Center.

 The fighting came hours after Israeli warplanes struck areas in and around the Syrian capital, setting off a series of explosions as they targeted a shipment of highly accurate, Iranian-made guided missiles believed to be bound for Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, officials and activists said.

 The attack, the second in three days and the third this year, signaled a sharp escalation of Israel's involvement in Syria's civil war. Syrian state media reported that Israeli missiles on Sunday struck a military and scientific research center near Damascus and caused casualties.

 The Syrian conflict started with largely peaceful protests against President Bashar Assad's regime in March 2011, but eventually turned into a civil war that has killed more than 70,000 people according to the United Nations.

 More than one million Syrians have fled their homes during the fighting and sought shelter in the neighboring countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Millions of others have been displaced inside Syria. ||||| Israeli public security minister Tzaji Hanegbi speaks at a news conference in Mexico City March 25, 2004. Hanegbi is in Mexico to speak with local and federal police chiefs.

 JERUSALEM Israel sought to persuade Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday that its recent air strikes around Damascus did not aim to weaken him in the face of a more than two-year-old rebellion.

 Officials say Israel is reluctant to take sides in Syria's civil war for fear its actions would boost Islamists who are even more hostile to Israel than the Assad family, which has maintained a stable stand off with the Jewish state for decades.

 But Israel has repeatedly warned it will not let Assad's ally Hezbollah receive hi-tech weaponry. Intelligence sources said Israel attacked Iranian-supplied missiles stored near the Syrian capital on Friday and Sunday that were awaiting transfer to Hezbollah guerrilla group in neighboring Lebanon.

 Syria accused Israel of belligerence meant to shore up the outgunned anti-Assad rebels - drawing a denial on Monday from veteran Israeli lawmaker Tzachi Hanegbi, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

 Interviewed on Israel Radio, Hanegbi said the Netanyahu government aimed to avoid "an increase in tension with Syria by making clear that if there is activity, it is only against Hezbollah, not against the Syrian regime".

 Hanegbi noted Israel had not formally acknowledged carrying out the raids in an effort to allow Assad to save face, adding that Netanyahu began a scheduled visit to China on Sunday to signal the sense of business as usual.

 "DIPLOMATIC CHANNELS"

 The Assad government has condemned the air strikes as tantamount to a "declaration of war" and threatened unspecified retaliation.

 But Hanegbi said Israel was ready for any development if the Syrians misinterpreted its messages and was ready "to respond harshly if indeed there is aggression against us".

 As a precaution, Israel deployed two of its five Iron Dome rocket interceptors near the Syrian and Lebanese fronts and grounded civilian aircraft in the area, although an Israeli military spokesman said the airspace would reopen on Monday.

 Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's biggest-selling newspaper, said the Netanyahu government had informed Assad through diplomatic channels that it did not intend to meddle in Syria's civil war.

 Israeli officials did not immediately confirm the report, but one suggested that such indirect contacts were not required.

 "Given the public remarks being made by senior Israeli figures to reassure Assad, it's pretty clear what the message is," the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

 Military analysts say Syria would be no match for Israel, a U.S. defense ally, in any confrontation. But Damascus, with its leverage over Hezbollah, could still consider proxy attacks through Lebanon, where Israel's conventional forces fought an inconclusive war against the Iranian-backed guerrillas in 2006.

 Tehran, which has long backed Assad, whose Alawite minority has religious ties to Shi'ite Islam, denied Israel's attack was on arms. Shi'ite Hezbollah did not comment.

 (Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Jon Boyle) ||||| FILE -- In this Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012 file photo, the Iron Dome defense system fires to intercept an incoming missiles from Gaza in the port town of Ashdod, Israel. Israel's military has deployed Iron... (Associated Press)

 This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows a general view of damaged buildings wrecked by an Israeli airstrike, in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, May 5, 2013. Israeli warplanes struck... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In this Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012 file photo, an Israeli Iron Dome missile is launched near the city of Be'er Sheva, southern Israel, to intercept a rocket fired from Gaza. Israel's military has... (Associated Press)

 This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows damaged buildings wrecked by an Israeli airstrike in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, May 5, 2013. Israeli warplanes struck areas in and around... (Associated Press)

 This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA shows a damaged building wrecked by an Israeli airstrike in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, May 5, 2013. Israeli warplanes struck areas in and around... (Associated Press)

 This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA shows a general view of damaged buildings wrecked by an Israeli airstrike, in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, May 5, 2013. Israeli warplanes struck... (Associated Press)

 In this image taken from video obtained from the Ugarit News, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, a Israeli airstrikes hit Damascus, Syria, early Sunday, May 5,... (Associated Press)

 In this image taken from video obtained from Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, smoke and fire fill the skyline over Damascus, Syria, early... (Associated Press)

 In this image taken from video obtained from the Ugarit News, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, smoke and fire fill the the skyline over Damascus, Syria, early... (Associated Press)

 In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, damaged buildings wrecked by an Israeli airstrike are seen in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, May 5, 2013. Israeli warplanes struck areas in and... (Associated Press)

 In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, damaged buildings wrecked by an Israeli airstrike are seen in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, May 5, 2013. Israeli warplanes struck areas in and... (Associated Press) |||||
What is a summary?

– Another game-changer? One of the United Nations' chief investigators says evidence is building that sarin gas was used in the Syrian conflict—but by rebels, not Bashar al-Assad's regime. "Our investigators have been in neighboring countries interviewing victims, doctors, and field hospitals" and "there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas," said Carla Del Ponte, a member of a panel probing alleged Syrian war crimes, Reuters reports. "This was use on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities," she adds. The war crimes inquiry commission Del Ponte is involved with is separate from the main UN probe into chemical weapons use in Syria. Each side accused the other of using chemical weapons during fighting in Aleppo in March, while Britain and France say they have evidence that regime forces used nerve agents in attacks on rebels. In other developments: Israeli airstrikes on targets inside Syria in recent days have killed at least 42 government soldiers, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights tells the AP. Israel today emphasized that the strikes were not meant to aid rebels, Reuters adds, but rather to block weapons from Hezbollah. The Israeli move renewed debate on whether the US should use airstrikes against the Assad regime, the New York Times reports. John McCain, who yesterday blasted President Obama's "red line" as being "written in disappearing ink," said the strikes show that Syria's air defense system may not be much of an obstacle. Opposition activists say rebel forces shot down a military helicopter last night, killing eight government troops, the AP reports. The regime's air power has long been a chief target of rebels and activists say rebels also attacked and occupied parts of an air base in the north of the country yesterday, killing the base's commander and capturing a tank unit.


– Yesterday saw Dennis Rodman participate in a super weird CNN interview, and the bizarre saga of Rodman in North Korea didn't end there. The former NBA player today sang "Happy Birthday" to "best friend" Kim Jong Un, the AP reports. The performance, before an exhibition game involving US and North Korean players, "started out as surreal," a tour guide tells Reuters. "Then people joined in and it sort of faded a bit, but it seemed pretty heartfelt from Rodman's side." As for Kim, he "appeared to smile, but he didn't appear to expect it." Other players didn't accompany Rodman in song, says former New York Knick Charles D. Smith. "We always tell Dennis that he can't sing. He is tone deaf," Smith notes. "He did it alone."

Expand this summary.

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Dennis Rodman sang "Happy Birthday" to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un before leading a squad of former NBA stars onto the court Wednesday at a Pyongyang stadium for a game Rodman said is part of his "basketball diplomacy" with the North that has been heavily criticized in the United States.

 Dennis Rodman waves to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, seated above in the stands, after singing Happy Birthday to Kim before an exhibition basketball game with U.S. and North Korean players at an indoor... (Associated Press)

 U.S. and North Korean basketball players raise their hands to the crowd after an exhibition game held at an indoor stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014. Former NBA star Dennis... (Associated Press)

 Dennis Rodman bows to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, seated above in the stands, before an exhibition basketball game with U.S. and North Korean players at an indoor stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea... (Associated Press)

 Dennis Rodman sings Happy Birthday to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, seated above in the stands, before an exhibition basketball game at an indoor stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea on Wednesday, Jan.... (Associated Press)

 Dennis Rodman sings Happy Birthday to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, seated above in the stands, before an exhibition basketball game with U.S. and North Korean players at an indoor stadium in Pyongyang,... (Associated Press)

 Dennis Rodman waves to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, seated above in the stands, after singing Happy Birthday to Kim before an exhibition basketball game with U.S. and North Korean players at an indoor... (Associated Press)

 Dennis Rodman bows to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, seated above in the stands, after singing Happy Birthday to Kim before an exhibition basketball game with U.S. and North Korean players at an indoor... (Associated Press)

 Rodman dedicated the game to his "best friend" Kim, who along with his wife and other senior officials and their wives watched from a special seating area. The capacity crowd of about 14,000 at the Pyongyang Indoor Stadium clapped loudly as Rodman sang a verse from the birthday song.

 Along with Rodman, the former NBA players included ex-All Stars Kenny Anderson, Cliff Robinson and Vin Baker. Also on the roster were Craig Hodges, Doug Christie, Charles D. Smith and four streetballers.

 Rodman said he was honored to be able to play the game in the North Korean capital, and called the event "historic." To keep it friendly, the Americans played against the North Koreans in the first half, but split up and merged teams for the second half.

 The game is a new milestone in Rodman's unusual relationship with Kim, who rarely meets with foreigners and remains a mystery to much of the outside world. Kim, who inherited power after the death of his father in late 2011, is believed to be in his early thirties, but his age has not been officially confirmed. Until recently, his birthday was also not widely known — though it was quietly observed elsewhere around the capital Wednesday.

 Members of Rodman's team, who average in their late 40s, said they came because they believed the game would be a good opportunity to create a human connection with the people of the isolated country. But some said they have been concerned by the negative reaction they have seen from the media and critics back home.

 "This was a test of faith. We stepped out into the unknown," said former New York Knicks player Charles D. Smith, who has played similar games in other countries and has acted as the team's spokesman to balance Rodman's famously outspoken character.

 Smith said he was gratified to see the North Korean crowd enjoy the game, but he added that he had mixed emotions about the two-hour event.

 "Emotionally, I don't know what to feel," he told The Associated Press afterward. "I'm indifferent. I'm not totally overjoyed."

 Smith said he and the other players did not join Rodman in singing the birthday song.

 "We always tell Dennis that he can't sing. He is tone deaf," Smith said. "He did it alone."

 Rodman is the highest-profile American to meet Kim. He has carefully avoided getting involved in overtly political activities, saying that he is not a statesman and instead is seeking only to build cultural connections with the North through basketball that may help improve relations between Pyongyang and Washington.

 That has not stopped many in the United States — including members of Congress, the NBA and human rights groups — from calling his visits to North Korea ill-advised and naive.

 In particular, Rodman has been slammed for not using his influence with Kim to help free Kenneth Bae, an American missionary in poor health who is being confined in the North for "anti-state" crimes. ||||| SEOUL Former U.S. basketball star Dennis Rodman led an auditorium of North Koreans in singing "Happy Birthday" to their leader on Wednesday, a day after he sparked controversy by appearing to suggest a Korean-American was to blame for his captivity in North Korea.

 Rodman brought a team of fellow former National Basketball Association stars to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, to mark the birthday of leader Kim Jong Un with an exhibition game. The birthday is believed to have been on Wednesday though that has not been confirmed.

 "It started out as surreal, then people joined in and it sort of faded a bit, but it seemed pretty heartfelt from Rodman's side," Simon Cockerell, a tour guide who watched the game in Pyongyang, said of Rodman's birthday singing.

 "It was unexpected, and probably unplanned," he said. "Kim Jong Un appeared to smile, but he didn't appear to expect it."

 Cockerell, whose company Koryo Tours took a group of tourists to the game, said the audience had stood and cheered Kim for up to six minutes when he appeared with his wife.

 "Dennis Rodman gave a charmingly shambolic speech where he thanked Kim Jong Un and his wife for showing up, along with the other players for being brave enough to come with him and join in his 'engagement effort'."

 This was Rodman's fourth trip to Pyongyang. On previous visits he spent time dining as a guest of Kim, with whom he says he has a genuine friendship.

 The visit come weeks after the execution of Kim's uncle, Jang Song Thaek, who until then was one of the most powerful figures. South Korean President Park Geun-hye has described events in North Korea as a "reign of terror".

 Rodman has said he would not interfere in North Korea's politics but he raised an outcry at home when, in a television interview on Tuesday, he appeared to suggest that Korean-American missionary Kenneth Bae was to blame for his captivity.

 During an interview with CNN about his trip, Rodman seemed to say Bae, held in North Korea since November 2012 and convicted in May on charges of crimes against the state, was responsible for his situation.

 "If you understand what Kenneth Bae did ... Do you understand what he did in this country? Why is he held captive in this country?" Rodman said, declining to respond to questions to clarify what he meant.

 Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a periodic troubleshooter on North Korean issues, told CNN on Wednesday Rodman's comments were damaging and said North Koreans were clearly using him to get a message to the United States.

 "I think what's most reprehensible is his implication that Kenneth Bae, an American detained on very spurious charges who deserves to come home, might be guilty," said Richardson, who was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the 1990s.

 "Obviously, Rodman was briefed by the North Koreans. They see him as their link to the United States because they don't want to talk to us," he said.

 Bae's sister, Terri Chung, said her family was outraged by Rodman's comments and he could do a lot of good by using his access to the North Korea leader to advocate on Bae's behalf, rather than "hurl outrageous accusations" at her brother.

 "He is playing games with my brother's life," Chung said in a statement. "There is no diplomacy, only games, and at my brother's expense."

 "He is clearly uninformed about Kenneth's case, and he is certainly not in any position to pass judgment," Chung said, adding that Bae never had hostile intentions against the state.

 BAE "AILING"

 Asked about Rodman's comments, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters: "I'm not going to dignify that outburst with a response," emphasizing that the trip was private travel not endorsed by the U.S. government.

 "I'm simply going to say that we remain gravely concerned about Kenneth Bae's health, and continue to urge DPRK authorities to grant his amnesty and immediate release on humanitarian grounds," Carney said.

 Bae, 45, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for state subversion in North Korea. He was detained in 2012 as he led a tour group through the north of the country. North Korea's Supreme Court said he used his tourism business to form groups aimed at overthrowing the government.

 Following a visit to her son in October, Bae's mother, Myunghee Bae, said her son was "alone and ailing".

 A devout Christian, Bae has acknowledged he conducted religious services in North Korea, which has long been hostile to Westerners advocating religious causes.

 U.S. Representative Eliot Engel, the leading Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, criticized Rodman and the other Americans for what he called an ill-advised trip.

 "As North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un continues to starve and oppress his citizens, it is unthinkable that a few fading celebrities would use such an opportunity to reward his brutal regime," he said.

 (Reporting by James Pearson in Seoul, Doina Chiacu, Roberta Rampton, Patricia Zengerle in Washington, Eric Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Stephen Powell) |||||


– Sleeping more than eight hours a night? That may be too much of a good thing, because you're more likely to suffer a stroke, according to a study out of the University of Cambridge. Researchers analyzed the sleep patterns of nearly 10,000 people ages 42 to 81 in the UK, and they report in the journal Neurology that based on nearly a decade of follow-up and 346 reported strokes, older adults who sleep more than eight hours a night are 46% more likely to suffer a stroke than adults who slept six to eight hours. That risk is actually four times greater when people went from sleeping for less than six hours at the beginning of the study to more than 8 as the years passed, per a Eureka Alert press release. The researchers adjusted for several factors, including age and sex, and their findings were strikingly consistent with what they found in a review of the combined data of 11 similar studies spanning 560,000 people in seven countries. But in terms of age and sex, the Los Angeles Times notes the following: The link between the risk and sleep length was a little stronger for women, and the increased stroke risk was only seen in those eight-plus-hours sleepers who were 63 or older. The researchers caution that it remains unclear whether longer sleep duration is a symptom or cause of stroke risk. Says one, "With further research, we may find that excessive sleep proves to be an early indicator of increased stroke risk." (Experts have just revealed how much sleep you should be averaging a night based on your age.)

Expand this summary.

People who sleep for more than eight hours a day have an increased risk of stroke, according to a study by the University of Cambridge - and this risk doubles for older people who persistently sleep longer than average. However, the researchers say it is unclear why this association exists and call for further research to explore the link.

 Previous studies have already suggested a possible association between sleep and risk of stroke, but today's study, published in the journal Neurology, is the first to provide detailed information about the British population and to examine the relationship between a change in sleep duration over time and subsequent stroke risk.

 Researchers from the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the University of Cambridge followed just under 10,000 people aged 42-81 years of age from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC)-Norfolk cohort over 9.5 years. During 1998-2000 and then again four years later, they asked the cohort how many hours on average they slept in a day and whether they generally slept well.

 Almost seven out of ten participants reported sleeping between six and eight hours a day, whilst one in ten reported sleeping for over eight hours a day. Participants who slept for less than six hours or more than eight hours were more likely to be older, women and less active.

 Over the almost ten year period of the study, 346 participants suffered a stroke, either non-fatal or fatal stroke. After adjusting for various factors including age and sex, the researchers found that people who slept longer than eight hours a day were at a 46% greater risk of stroke than average. People who slept less than six hours a day were at an 18% increased risk, but the small number of people falling in this category meant the association was not statistically significant.

 Participants who reported persistently long sleep - in other words, they reported sleeping over eight hours when asked at both points of the study - were at double the risk of stroke compared to those with persistently average sleep duration (between six and eight hours a day). This risk was even greater for those whose reported sleep increased from short to long over the four years - their risk was close to four times that of people who maintained an average sleep duration.

 In addition to studying the EPIC-Norfolk cohort, the researchers carried out a study of combined data from 11 other studies related to identify the association between sleep duration and patterns of stroke risk. Their final analysis, including 560,000 participants from seven countries, supported the findings from the EPIC-Norfolk cohort study.

 Yue Leng, PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge, says: "It's apparent both from our own participants and the wealth of international data that there's a link between sleeping longer than average and a greater risk of stroke. What is far less clear, however, is the direction of this link, whether longer sleep is a symptom, an early marker or a cause of cardiovascular problems."

 While older people have less work and fewer social demands and therefore often have the option of sleeping longer, previous research has shown that in fact, they tend to sleep on average for shorter periods.

 The researchers say it is unclear yet why the link between sleep and stroke risk should exist. Lack of sleep has been linked with factors such as disrupted metabolism and raised levels of the 'stress hormone' cortisol, all of which may lead to higher blood pressure and increased stroke risk. However, the current study suggests that the association between longer sleep duration and higher risk of stroke was independent of normal risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

 Professor Kay-Tee Khaw, senior author on the study, adds: "We need to understand the reasons behind the link between sleep and stroke risk. What is happening in the body that causes this link? With further research, we may find that excessive sleep proves to be an early indicator of increased stroke risk, particularly among older people."

 ###

 The study was supported by the Medical Research Council and Cancer Research UK. ||||| Methods: The prospective study included 9,692 stroke-free participants aged 42–81 years from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer–Norfolk cohort. Participants reported sleep duration in 1998–2000 and 2002–2004, and all stroke cases were recorded until March 31, 2009. For the meta-analysis, we searched Ovid Medline, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library for prospective studies published until May 2014, and pooled effect estimates using a weighted random-effect model.

 Results: After 9.5 years of follow-up, 346 cases of stroke occurred. Long sleep was significantly associated with an increased risk of stroke (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.46 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08, 1.98]) after adjustment for all covariates. The association remained robust among those without preexisting diseases and those who reported sleeping well. The association for short sleep was smaller (and not statistically significant) (HR = 1.18 [95% CI 0.91, 1.53]). There was a higher stroke risk among those who reported persistently long sleep or a substantial increase in sleep duration over time, compared to those reporting persistently average sleep. These were compatible with the pooled HRs from an updated meta-analysis, which were 1.15 (1.07, 1.24) and 1.45 (1.30, 1.62) for short and long sleep duration, respectively. ||||| There’s no way to diagnose a stroke before it happens, but researchers say they’ve identified a clue to help doctors predict who’s at risk – the amount of sleep they get at night.

 Older adults who said they slept more than eight hours were 46% more likely to suffer strokes in the next decade than adults who slept for six to eight hours, according to an analysis published Wednesday in the journal Neurology. Even worse, the stroke risk for people who went from sleeping less than six hours to sleeping more than eight hours was nearly four times greater than for people who consistently got six to eight hours of ZZZZs.

 The findings may help clarify the fuzzy relationship between sleep and stroke. A variety of studies have considered the issue, but the results have been inconsistent.

 So researchers from the University of Cambridge and the University of Warwick in England looked for answers in a cancer study. They used data on 9,692 people from Norfolk, England, who participated in the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer. All of them were between the ages of 40 and 79 when they enrolled in the study in the 1990s, and they were tracked for an average of 9.5 years.

 Between 1998 and 2000, and again between 2002 and 2004, the study volunteers were asked how many hours they slept at night and whether they tended to sleep well. Researchers also collected a host of demographic and medical information, including their age, education, smoking and drinking habits, body mass index, blood pressure and family history of stroke.

 Among the 9,692 volunteers, 346 suffered at least one stroke during the years they were tracked (including 67 strokes that were fatal). But these strokes weren’t evenly distributed among all of the volunteers. After controlling for other factors that might affect stroke risk, they found that “long” sleepers (those who slept more than eight hours a night) were at significantly higher risk than “average” sleepers (those who slept for six to eight hours a night).

 People deemed “short” sleepers (those who slept for less than six hours at night) also seemed to be more susceptible to a stroke. Their risk was 18% greater than for average sleepers, but the difference was small enough that it could have been due to chance.

 Upon closer inspection, the researchers noticed some intriguing patterns. The relationship between sleep duration and stroke risk was somewhat stronger for women than for men. It was also stronger for strokes that were fatal, according to the study.

 When the study participants were examined according to age, the researchers found that sleeping for more than eight hours a night increased stroke risk only for people who were at least 63 years old. On the flip side, they found that sleeping for less than six hours a night heightened stroke risk for younger people more than for older people.

 Finally, they discovered that “short” sleepers were more at risk for an ischemic stroke (the kind caused by a clot that blocks blood flow to the brain) while “long” sleepers were more at risk for a hemorrhagic stroke (the kind caused by a ruptured blood vessel bleeds into the brain).

 The research team also conducted a meta-analysis that combined their results with those of 11 previously published studies. Altogether, the analysis included nearly 560,000 people from seven countries who suffered a total of more than 8,000 strokes.

 In the meta-analysis, “short” sleep was associated with a 15% increased risk of stroke and “long” sleep was linked with a 45% greater risk. Those results validated their findings, the researchers wrote.

 Still unclear is whether sleeping too much or too little can actually cause a stroke, or whether the biological processes that lead to a stroke also happen to influence sleep. Other studies have linked long sleep times to cardiac problems like atrial fibrillation, atherosclerosis and other conditions that may make a stroke more likely. But scientists will have to conduct experiments to get a better idea of how sleep and strokes are related, the study authors wrote.

 In the meantime, it would behoove doctors to inquire about their patients’ sleep habits – and if their older patients report long sleeping times, they should consider it a warning sign for a stroke, the researchers wrote.

 That conclusion was echoed by a neurologist and a sleep researcher in an editorial that accompanied the study.

 “Long sleep duration could therefore be a harbinger of stoke through its association with potent cardiovascular risk factors,” wrote Dr. Alberto Ramos of the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine and James Gangwisch of Columbia University. “Lengthening sleep duration could portend strokes and serve as an early warning sign, suggesting the need for further diagnostic testing or for taking precautionary measures.”

 For more medical news, follow me on Twitter @LATkarenkaplan and "like" Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook. |||||


Write an article based on this summary:

– Snowfall in Siberia during October has proved to be a remarkably accurate indication of how cold winters in the US will be, according to meteorologist Judah Cohen—and it looks like this winter could be a doozy. Siberia experienced record snowfall and its worst blizzard in 10 years this October, meaning the "Arctic Oscillation" pattern could once again cause the polar vortex to put the US' Northeast in a deep freeze, reports USA Today. But Cohen, an Atmospheric and Environmental Research scientist who describes himself as a "weather weenie," says the very strong El Nino pattern has made this year more complicated than most and for now, he predicts mild weather in the short term. "The snow cover is the most efficient reflector of sunlight out into space, so more snow cover creates dense air masses that stay close to the ground," Cohen told the Boston Globe earlier this year while explaining why such an immense amount of snow had fallen on the city, and how Siberian snow predicted it. University of Albany polar vortex expert Andrea Lang tells the Albany Times Union that while mild weather may lie ahead until around Christmas this year, the vortex is currently stronger than usual, which raises the risk of it becoming weaker than usual later in the season, sending fiercely cold weather south. (The Old Farmer's Almanac says the coming winter will be incredibly cold, while the NOAA believes it could be balmier than usual in a lot of places.)

Polar vortex may help winter come in like a lamb, go out like a lion Irregularity in polar winds may create warm start, cold end to winter

 Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Image 1 of 1 Andrea Lang, an assistant professor of atmospheric and environmental science at the University of Albany, studies the polar vortex. She said the vortex, which pens in Arctic cold, is strong now, but could weaken later this winter. less Andrea Lang, an assistant professor of atmospheric and environmental science at the University of Albany, studies the polar vortex. She said the vortex, which pens in Arctic cold, is strong now, but could ... more Polar vortex may help winter come in like a lamb, go out like a lion 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

 Albany

 The polar vortex that brought strong winters to the Capital Region the last two years is showing signs that while winter won't come early this season, it might grow fierce enough later to keep the groundhog in his den, according to a national expert based in the University at Albany.

 Now stronger than average, the vortex — made up of high-speed, high-altitude winds that spin around the North Pole each winter — should keep Arctic cold penned in through the start of the Christmas season or so, according to Andrea Lang, an assistant professor of atmospheric and environmental science who studies the vortex.

 As Weather Channel buffs may already know, there are such vortexes above the planet's two polar regions; faster winds form a tighter circle, acting as a kind of fence to hold in extreme cold from flowing southward. While the polar vortex became a common term during the harsh winter of 2013-14, the science behind the vortex has its beginnings in the 1940s.

 Retreating sea ice around the North Pole seems to be causing that vortex to weaken and loosen its shape, which the last two winters allowed extreme cold to plunge much farther south in the Northeast, including the Capital Region, while places untouched by the vortex, like Alaska, saw record heat and little snow.

 More Information Watch University at Albany climate expert Andrea Lang talk about the polar vortex on the Weather Channel online at: http://bit.ly/1l2rtjk http://bit.ly/1k2WL9L

 A warmer winter matches up with national long-range weather forecasts, which credit a stronger El Nino warming effect in the Pacific Ocean. But Lang said a stronger-than-average polar vortex at the start of winter has a greater chance to grow increasingly unstable as the season progresses, making it more likely that the vortex could become more misshapen, sending late blasts of cold air and snow to some southerly regions.

 The vortex is usually at its weakest — and thus prone to wander — from late December through February. "There is a statistical likelihood that the vortex could become more volatile later in the winter," Lang said. "We will keep watching it."

 But whatever the vortex does this season, consumers should remain snug in their homes without facing costly heating bills — prices for propane, heating oil and natural gas are near record lows and inventories are overflowing.

 In New York, about a quarter-million homeowners, primarily in rural areas, heat with propane. Two years ago, a vortex-driven cold snap coincided with a nationwide propane shortage and rising prices, which added about $100 million to the heating bills in the state.

 "Inventories of propane are at record highs. We have 100 million barrels waiting for winter, where normally we would have 50 million to 60 million," said Tucker Perkins, chief of business development for the Washington, D.C.-based Propane Education & Research Council.

 State energy officials are also predicting that home heating bills should be lower for people who heat with propane (down 18 percent from last year), heating oil (down 25 percent) and natural gas (down 10 percent).

 According to a report this week by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the average home propane bill — which in 2013-14 was more than $4,300 — should be about $3,300 this year. For heating oil, the decline would be from $3,500 to about $2,300. For natural gas, the average bill for the period should drop from about $1,030 to about $930.

 Propane users should breathe easy for the next few years, said Perkins. Supplies of propane, a byproduct of natural gas, are increasing, largely due to natural gas hydrofracking in Pennsylvania, Ohio and other states.

 Since 2008, propane production in Eastern states has gone up more than 600 percent, about 10 times the rate of propane production overall, according to a report this week from the U.S. Department of Energy.

 "For New York, we have more propane coming from the Marcellus Shale (in Pennsylvania). Now, we have a large supply, and flat demand," said Perkins. "Prices are down this year, and we expect prices to remain flat the next four to five years, which should give people who use propane some comfort." He encouraged homeowners to start the season with full propane tanks and have a dealer lined up through the winter to ensure timely deliveries.

 bnearing@timesunion.com • 518-454-5094 ||||| Lane Turner/Globe Staff

 LEXINGTON — Judah Cohen is positively giddy that we got hammered this winter. He loved the idea of a snowfall record, but more than that he loves being right.

 “I’m really happy,” he says with a grin, sitting in his small, neat office dominated by a huge computer screen that seems in constant motion as he pulls up this weather map or that satellite image. “I thought we did a very good job predicting it.” In fact, his forecast proved better than that of the federal government.

 Cohen, 52, a self-described “weather weenie,” is director of seasonal forecasting for Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER), a Lexington weather-consulting company that counts NASA among its clients. Local weather enthusiasts might recognize him as Harvey Leonard’s go-to guy for long-range forecasts on WCVB-TV (Channel 5).

 Advertisement

 And Cohen isn’t at all sure that we’re through with winter yet — or rather, that winter is through with us. “The possibility of more snow will continue for at least the next two weeks,” he says.

 Get The Weekender in your inbox: The Globe's top picks for what to see and do each weekend, in Boston and beyond. Sign Up Thank you for signing up! Sign up for more newsletters here

 Perhaps Cohen’s biggest claim to fame comes from the fact that he and his team’s seasonal forecasts of “temperature and precipitation anomalies” have been right 75 percent of the time, a rate that tops those of the major government weather centers, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal government’s main weather forecaster. (In fact, Cohen and his team, who have been making predictions for 15 years, bestedNOAA this winter.)

 “In the scientific literature our model remains the most accurate to date,” he says.

 Cohen’s meteorological prescience is not the only thing that sets him apart. His reliance on the snow cover in Siberia to predict wintry outcomes in America and Europe is unique.

 Each October, Cohen looks at the amount and the rate of snowfall in Siberia that month to determine how snowy the eastern United States and Europe will be come winter. “The snow cover is the most efficient reflector of sunlight out into space, so more snow cover creates dense air masses that stay close to the ground,” he says. That cold, dense air spreads over the North Pole into North America and westward into Europe.

 Advertisement

 Cohen proceeds to go into more detail than the average human can stand, or understand, with terms like “The Aleutian Low” and “The Siberian High”. But for him and us, the bottom line is that this past October was Siberia’s second most extensive snowfall on record, and Cohen knew the implications for Boston and other East Coast cities.

 In a nutshell, that’s the way Cohen works. His analysis embraces multitudes of facts and figures, but his forecasts describe big-picture trends. Like the Farmers’ Almanac, you may ask. Not exactly, he laughs. “The Farmers’ Almanac is not scientifically credible and should only be viewed for entertainment value.”

 Cohen, by the way, has never been been to Siberia. His research, largely funded by the National Science Foundation, is all computer-based. “The closest I got was Moscow,” he says. He went when the Russian government wanted a winter forecast for 2007-08.

 Cohen grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., and attended Columbia University, where he earned a PhD in atmospheric science. He has loved snow since he can remember, and his office bookshelf is crammed with titles such as, “Blizzard! The Great Storm of ’88,” “Snow and Climate,” and “The North Atlantic Oscillation.”

 At 52, the father of three teenagers still takes childlike pleasure in the white stuff. “I have a hard time sleeping during snowstorms,” he admits. “It’s a passion. People say, ‘Yeah, I used to love it, and then I grew up.’ I guess I never grew up.”

 Advertisement

 Cohen has been at AER since 1998, after finishing a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT, where he advises graduate students in the civil and environmental engineering department. Though he’s very proud of this winter’s prediction, he wasn’t as happy with last year’s. “I predicted it would be mild, but it was a cold, snowy winter,” he says. “It’s the only time I’ve had a miss.”

 ‘It’ll be an active and interesting winter. We’re predicting above normal precipitation for right along the East Coast. So a wet winter. But I’m especially bullish over the possibility of an above-normal snowfall.’

 For the past four years, Leonard has hosted Cohen twice a year for his long-term outlooks: in the fall for the winter forecast, and in the spring for the summer forecast. On Nov. 25, before Boston had any snow, here’s what Cohen told Leonard: “It’ll be an active and interesting winter. We’re predicting above normal precipitation for right along the East Coast. So a wet winter. But I’m especially bullish over the possibility of an above-normal snowfall.”

 The rest, as they say, is history.

 Cohen’s thoughts these days are turning to summer; specifically, the forecast he’ll make on WCVB-TV before Memorial Day. Summer is always easier than winter.

 “We’ve always been right,” he says. “And right now, we’re forecasting a warmer-than-normal summer.” He pulls up a map that is so red it practically glows. “There’s a robust, bullish signal for June, July, and August.”

 Pushed for specifics, he’ll only say: “We’re predicting a one-degree warmer temperature for the three-month average, but it’s still early.”

 Just after he tapes Leonard’s show in May, Cohen is headed to Ireland on a Fulbright Scholarship where he and faculty at the University of Limerick will provide weather information to farmers in Europe.

 Despite his stellar track record, Cohen knows that long-term climate predictions are tough calls. “I do climate,” he explains. “Weather is what you get. Climate is what you expect.” His is a difficult field with a “very low bar for success,” he says.

 Still, he laughs as he describes how friends constantly bug him for weather advice — “I get asked all the time” — and when he’s wrong, “I hear about it forever.”

 Bella English can be reached at english@globe.com |||||


Article:
Pending trial of Charlo Greene raises questions about the war on drugs and could have broader legal implications as more states move towards legalization

 Reporter who quit on air to fight for pot legalization faces decades in prison

 Update | 29 September 2016: The most recent charges against Charlo Greene in her marijuana case include six more offenses than the original indictment, according to a spokeswoman for the Alaska attorney general’s office. Instead of eight counts for a total of 24 years in prison, she is facing 14 offenses for a possible 54 years.

 Reached by phone on Thursday, Greene said she was unaware that she was facing a sentence twice as harsh as the original indictment filed against her last year.

 Original | 28 September 2016 : Charlo Greene did not plan to curse on live television, but on 22 September 2014, the words came pouring out.

 Then a reporter for KTVA, a station in Alaska, Greene ended her segment on marijuana by revealing that she was a proponent of legalization – and was the owner of the Alaska Cannabis Club, the subject of her news report.

 “Fuck it, I quit,” she said, before abruptly walking off camera. The 26-year-old’s stunt shocked her colleagues and made her a viral sensation overnight.

 TV reporter uses F-word as she quits to fight for marijuana legalisation | Media Monkey Read more

 Greene quickly became a full-time cannabis advocate, working to help Alaskans access pot after the state became the third in the US to legalize recreational pot in November 2014.

 But despite the voter-approved initiative, Alaska has not helped her start a legitimate marijuana operation. On the contrary, the state launched a series of undercover operations and raids at her club, ultimately charging her with eight serious criminal offenses of “misconduct involving a controlled substance”.

 If convicted, she could face 24 years behind bars.

 “It’s almost dizzying when you try to make sense of it,” Greene said in an exclusive interview with the Guardian about her upcoming trial. “It could literally cost me the rest of my adult life.”

 The 28-year-old’s case – which she has called a “modern day lynching” – has raised a number of questions about the ongoing war on drugs and could have broader law enforcement implications as more US states move to legalize cannabis and regulate it like alcohol.

 While reporters across the globe rushed to interview the activist after her comical on-air resignation, the Anchorage woman has struggled to get people to pay attention to her prosecution. Advocates say the charges against Greene, who is black, are particularly alarming given the government’s history of disproportionately targeting people of color for minor marijuana offenses with tough-on-crime policies that fueled mass incarceration.

 It’s almost dizzying when you try to make sense of it. It could literally cost me the rest of my adult life Charlo Greene

 Greene, whose legal name is Charlene Egbe, said she first became interested in marijuana in college when she discovered that it was a much healthier alternative to alcohol. After working at news stations in Georgia, Tennessee and West Virginia, Greene returned to her hometown in Alaska to work for the CBS affiliate where she was assigned to cover crime and courts – and eventually marijuana.

 After meeting activists in Colorado and Washington, the first states to legalize recreational marijuana, Greene became passionate about its medicinal value.

 “It was something I had been taking for granted – that this could literally be changing these people’s lives.”

 Alaska has a complicated history of confusing and contradictory marijuana rules. The state was the first to legalize cannabis for in-home use in the 1970s and passed a formal medical law in 1998. Officials, however, never created a system for licensing medical dispensaries, meaning users had few legal options.

 “No one could ever agree on what the state of the law in Alaska actually was,” said Robert MacCoun, a Stanford law professor.

 But once weed became legal, Greene grew determined. She was particularly moved after meeting an older woman with a neurological disorder who was forced to buy marijuana on the streets – at one point leading her to be robbed at gunpoint.

 The reporter organized a private patients’ association, which soon became more than just a hobby. Eventually, she decided to use her media job to unveil her cannabis club.

 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Charlo Greene: ‘I saw all my siblings ... with these guns that my tax dollars paid for pointed at them for what was now legal.’ Photograph: Nathaniel Wilder for the Guardian

 “I just spoke from my heart for the first time,” Greene recalled, noting that the infamous “fuck it” line was unplanned.

 The 2014 measure – which legalized the manufacture, sale and possession of marijuana – went into effect in February 2015. The state, however, had not yet finalized its regulations for retail operations and in the interim, the Alaska Cannabis Club allowed people to purchase “memberships” – supplying marijuana when members made “donations”.

 Detectives immediately targeted the operation, with six undercover purchases and two raids in a five-month period, records show.

 “The fact that they were watching us for so long, I kind of felt violated,” said Jennifer Egbe, Greene’s 26-year-old sister, who helped out at the club. “I was really just heartbroken. I never assumed it would go this far.”

 The raids, which brought armed officers to their property, were especially stressful for Greene, who was worried police might shoot one of her four siblings at the club.

 “I saw all my siblings ... with these guns that my tax dollars paid for pointed at them for what was now legal.”

 Court records show that Greene was not directly involved in any of the undercover transactions, but state prosecutors solely charged her, noting that the club was registered under her name.

 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Charlo Greene shares a joint with Peter Lomonaco at the Alaska Cannabis Club. Photograph: Mark Thiessen/AP

 Greene pleaded not guilty, and a trial is expected in the coming months.

 The state attorney general’s office declined to comment.

 Cynthia Franklin, director of the state’s alcohol and marijuana control office, said that Greene’s club and two other businesses are facing consequences for launching before regulations were in place.

 “These people got ahead and said, ‘We’re not going to wait.’”

 Alaska’s weed industry is only getting off the ground now. The state has approved a total of 83 licenses – only 17 of which are for retail businesses, and they haven’t yet opened, Franklin said.

 Greene doesn’t have a lot of vocal supporters in Alaska, even among pro-marijuana activists.

 Tim Hinterberger, who chaired the 2014 legalization campaign, said, “The vast majority of people who are interested in growing or selling … have followed all of the timelines and have been waiting patiently.”

 But even if Greene’s club was premature, critics said she should’ve been issued a fine or citation in line with the punishment for selling alcohol without a liquor license.

 “This is a substance that we’ve decided can be safely consumed by adults,” said Tamar Todd, director of the office of legal affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance.

 While experts say it’s very unlikely Green will ultimately face decades in prison, the activist struggles not to worry about how incarceration could destroy her life.

 “It casts a cloud over every laugh and every triumph and everything that I’m building and looking forward to.” ||||| Although reporter turned marijuana advocate Charlo Greene launched into infamy a couple of years ago when she said “Fuck it, I quit” during her final newscast on Alaska’s KTVA, very few people are aware that she is currently at risk of being sent to prison for the next two decades for “misconduct involving a controlled substance.”

 Calling her case a “modern day lynching,” Greene, whose legal name is Charlene Egbe, recently expressed concern on her blog over the fact that the entire world seemed to join in to spread the word of her saying “fuck” on live television back in 2014, but very few have stepped up to lend any support for the criminal case hanging over her head due to her cannabis club debacle.

 “More than 100 million people around the world watched me quit,” Greene wrote. “And of the now 4,000 members of the Alaska Cannabis Club we’ve served to date, there was literally only one person [at the first court date] to support me.”

 Recreational marijuana was made legal in Alaska in 2014 after voters approved a ballot measure with overwhelming support. But despite the state’s new pot laws, which took effect on February 24, 2015, the Anchorage Police Department (APD) has acted as though it does not understand what it means to legalize weed—conducting two separate raids on Greene’s Alaska Cannabis Club in March and again in August of last year.

 Greene says all of the APD’s shakedown tactics went against the grain of the law.

 “The officers acted outside the scope of the warrant, conducting unlawful body searches on patients, threatening all patients and Club volunteers with arrest if they didn’t consent to taking mugshot-like photos on the scene, destroying cameras, seizing vehicles not included in the warrant and not leaving the lawfully required notice behind,” she wrote.

 Unfortunately, the raids have resulted in the 28-year-old being charged with 10 felonies and a number of misdemeanors associated with establishing the club. If Greene is convicted, she could spend the next 24 years of her life in a state penitentiary.

 The passing of Alaska’s 2014 marijuana law legalized the cultivation, possession and sale of cannabis, but the state has struggled to put together the regulations needed for the retail market. So, while marijuana has not been legal to purchase from pot shops, the “transfer of up to an ounce of pot” has been considered a perfectly legal transaction.

 Greene’s Alaska Cannabis Club used this concept by allowing people to purchase memberships and get their hands on complimentary marijuana when they made a donation. It was this business model that prompted investigators to target the club, sending in several undercover officers over the course of a few months to collect enough evidence to build a case.

 Although court records show that Greene was not directly involved with any of the transactions that prompted the raids, prosecutors have gone after her exclusively because they say the club and Charlo Greene are one in the same.

 On her blog, Greene, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, said the prosecutor lied to the grand jury about the business structure of the Alaska Cannabis Club to convince jurors the charges were justifiable. One juror questioned the district attorney by saying, “I don’t understand [defendant] can be held criminally accountable for actions where we don’t see her actions in any of the—in any transactions here.”

 But the district attorney assured the jurors that the club is a sole proprietorship.

 “The Alaska Cannabis Club is a sole proprietorship. It’s owned by one person. So there’s not corporate liability, the D.A. explained. “So that’s why you’ll notice the charging document is Charlene Egbe doing business as Alaska Cannabis Club. They are essentially one and the same…”

 Greene’s trial is scheduled to begin within the next few months. She hopes some salvation will emerge from the cannabis community and help bail her out of this unfortunate situation.

 “I need support now more than ever,” Greene told HIGH TIMES. “I dedicated my life to fighting for the cannabis plant and the people behind it. Now that I could lose the rest of my life because of cannabis, it feels like the people I fought for have abandoned me. I’ve never felt more alone.”

 All of HIGH TIMES’ Charlo Greene coverage:

 HIGH TIMES Interview: Charlo Greene

 ‘F**k It I Quit’ Reporter Charlo Greene Tells HIGH TIMES ‘I’m Just Living My Truth’

 Former News Anchor Charlo Greene Aims to Be the ‘Oprah of Pot’ with New Show

 Police Raid Club of ‘F**k It I Quit’ Reporter Turned Pot Activist

 And for all HIGH TIMES legalization news, click here. |||||Summary:

– Charlo Greene made headlines in 2014 when the then 26-year-old memorably quit her TV reporting gig on air while announcing her intention to push for the legalization of marijuana in Alaska: She said, "F--- it, I quit," before walking out of view. But as the Guardian reports, her ensuing off-screen plight has been largely ignored, even though she faces more than a half-century in prison. That's because Greene, whose legal name is Charlene Egbe, isn't just a cannabis advocate but the owner of the Alaska Cannabis Club, which she created on April 20, 2014, a full six months before Alaska voted to legalize the adult use of cannabis. In other words, she was receiving "donations" for marijuana through club "memberships" before it was legal to do so. Police raided the club twice and detectives made several undercover purchases, and though Greene wasn't directly involved in them, state prosecutors are charging her because the club is registered under her name. She's pleaded not guilty to charges of "misconduct involving a controlled substance," and the original indictment listed eight offenses that amounted to a possible 24 years in jail. The Guardian broke the news to Greene that six offenses have since been added, raising the total to 54 years. In the Weed Blog, Greene calls this a "modern-day lynching," and tells High Times that she hopes the cannabis community rallies behind her. "I need help more than ever," she says. "Now that I could lose the rest of my life because of cannabis, it feels like the people I fought for have abandoned me." (Alaskans can't smoke weed in public.)