Article:
Story highlights The four wounded in the shooting are in intensive care, an official says

 Authorities will be working through the night at the school, an official says

 The gun has been traced to the shooter's father, source says

 The shooter killed one person and wounded four others

 Jordan Luton was finishing his lunch in the cafeteria at Washington state's Marysville-Pilchuck High School on Friday when he heard it -- a loud bang.

 Then there was another. And another. And another. And another.

 What he saw was freshman Jaylen Fryberg go up to a table with students, "came up from behind ... and fired about six bullets into the backs of them," Luton told CNN. "They were his friends, so it wasn't just random."

 Some of the students began to run. Luton and others hit the ground, some hiding under tables.

 By the time it was over, two people -- the gunman and a female student -- were dead and four were wounded, according to authorities. Those wounded were all under the age of 18, they said.

 The shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Marysville police spokesman Robb Lamoureux told reporters.

 JUST WATCHED Student: There was blood everywhere Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Student: There was blood everywhere 01:11

 JUST WATCHED Students flee after reported shooting Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Students flee after reported shooting 02:15

 Two girls are in the intensive care unit at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, and two boys are in ICU at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Providence spokeswoman Erin Al-Wazan said.

 Three are "very critically ill" with "very serious" injuries, she said. One is in serious condition. One of the boys, age 14, suffered a jaw injury. The other, age 15, was critically injured in the head.

 Source: Gun traced to shooter's father

 The gun used in the shooting has been traced to Fryberg's father, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN. It is a "high capacity" weapon but did not have an extended magazine, the source said on condition of anonymity.

 The source said investigators are searching the family home.

 A Beretta .40-caliber handgun is believed to have been used, a federal law enforcement source told CNN.

 Why did this happen? That's the question being asked as investigators combed the school late Friday for clues and interviewed students who witnessed the shooting.

 Investigators were expected to work through the night at the school, which has been closed through next week.

 While authorities have not detailed what occurred inside or identified the shooter, students offered up accounts that painted a terrifying, chaotic picture.

 The shooting began during an early lunch break at the school of about 2,500 students that sits in the heart of Marysville, a small city bisected by the major thoroughfare connecting the region with Vancouver, British Columbia.

 Authorities got a 911 phone call at 10:39 a.m. (1:39 p.m. ET) from someone inside the school, which is north of Seattle and Everett, Lamoureux said.

 'People started screaming'

 Luton was sitting two tables away when the shooting began.

 Fryberg appeared to target one table, where there were about 10 students sitting. "I'm pretty sure he shot at specific people because they were pretty good friends with him," Luton said.

 "He put some bullets in the back of the students," he said. "He turned and looked at me and my girlfriend ... and kind of gave us a smirk."

 The shooter continued firing as he left the cafeteria, Luton said.

 "I have no idea what his motive was because yesterday at football practice, he was all fine, talking .... having a good time," he said. "And then today, just horrible. I don't know what went through his head or what caused him to do it."

 By all accounts, Fryberg was a popular student. Just a week ago, he had been named as the high school's freshman homecoming prince, according to a YouTube video of the ceremony and accounts provided by students to CNN.

 Fryberg's multiple social media accounts depict him frequently hunting and using rifles. Those accounts say he was a Native American and a member of the Tulalip tribe.

 Luton could not confirm reports that Fryberg had been bullied. But two weeks ago, according to Luton, Fryberg got into a fight after somebody said "something racist" to him.

 'Run, get out of here'

 Freshman Rachel Heichel was sitting at a table about 60 feet away from Fryberg.

 When the shots started, she turned around and saw the shooter standing there.

 "When I saw him, I was like 'Oh my God, that's Jaylen.' I would have never expected it would have been him, out of all people," she said.

 "It was really heartbreaking for me to see that. I saw him with the a gun in his hand, shooting."

 She never heard Fryberg say anything.

 "All I heard was people screaming, 'Run, get out of here. Let's go,'" Heichel said.

 At first, they thought it was a fire drill

 A student locked down inside a classroom told CNN by phone that students initially thought it was a fire drill until teachers told everyone to run into classrooms because there was a shooting.

 A student who says he was in the cafeteria when the shooting began told CNN he called the police, and then gave his phone to a teacher.

 The student described a chaotic and bloody scene, saying blood was "everywhere."

 Another student, identified as Austin Taylor, told CNN Seattle affiliate KING that he had just finished eating when he saw the shooter.

 "He was just sitting there. Everyone was talking. All of the sudden, I see him stand up, pull something out of his pocket," he said.

 "At first, I thought it was just someone making a really loud noise ...like a big loud pop ... until I heard four more after that. And I saw three kids just fall from the table."

 Austin said he ducked under a table. When the shooting stopped, he said he looked out and saw the shooter was trying to reload.

 "When that happened, I just ran in the opposite direction, and I was out of there as fast as I could," he said. ||||| October 24, 2014 at 11:06 AM

 UPDATED STORY AND ADDITIONAL COVERAGE AT 10:30 P.M. FRIDAY: Popular student’s deadly attack stuns school and community

 EARLIER POST

 Two students are dead after one of them opened fire Friday morning in the Marysville-Pilchuck High School cafeteria before turning the gun on himself, authorities said.

 Police said a girl was killed and two other girls and two boys were wounded in the 10:45 a.m. shooting. Several students identified the shooter as freshman Jaylen Fryberg, recently named the school’s homecoming prince.

 Zach Yarbrough, a junior, said he saw the shooter “extend his arm across a round table and fire his gun three to four times.” He watched the shootings but didn’t see what happened afterward because he “was already out of the cafeteria.”

 Four young people — two boys and two girls — were taken by ambulance to Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett.

 Both girls who are at Providence with gunshot wounds to the head are now out of surgery and in a critical care unit. Both were ID’d by family members with the help of police, but families asked not to release their names. Doctors will monitor brain activity overnight, and there was no immediate prognosis, said Dr. Joanne Roberts, chief medical officer for Providence.

 Friday afternoon, teary-eyed teens and adults who said they were family and friends of one of the victims huddled in a hallway near a main entrance to the hospital. Some made calls on their cellphones, but most stood quietly near one another.

 Another victim, Andrew Fryberg, a 15-year-old cousin of Jaylen, had surgery at Providence then was transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

 The fourth, 14-year-old Nate Hatch, was shot in the jaw and was also transferred to Harborview. He was out of surgery and in serious condition Friday afternoon. He also is a cousin of Fryberg.

 “His family is coming to grips with what happened,” a hospital spokeswoman said.

 Jarron Webb, 15, said the shooter was angry about a romantic relationship he was involved in, and that the girl was one of the people shot. He said he believes one of the victims was his friend since kindergarten.

 Freshmen Brandon Carr, 15, and Kobe Baumann, 14, said they were just outside the cafeteria when the shooting happened.

 “We started hearing these loud banging noises, like someone hitting a trash can,” Carr said. They heard screaming and yelling.

 “Once I knew it was gunshots, we just booked it,” Carr said.

 They eventually joined about two dozen kids inside a classroom with police and FBI. Police told them to stay in there. “Everybody in the classroom was just freaking out crying,” Carr said. Eventually, they were told they could leave, and were loaded onto buses.

 Carr said he knew Fryberg and that both were on the freshman football team. He said that Thursday at practice, Fryberg was in good spirits.

 “He was all happy, dancing around and listening to music. I don’t know what happened today,” Carr said.

 Baumann said he was in fourth-period English class with Fryberg right before the shooting, and that he seemed kind of nervous.

 “He sits right up in the front. He got called on, but he just kept his head down and didn’t really say anything.”

 Students reported pandemonium in the lunchroom after the shooting, with dozens rushing for doors and then jumping a fence to escape.

 Freshman Austin Wright said every exit in the lunchroom was jammed with kids escaping gunfire. “I heard three gunshots and I ran.”

 Richard Young, who knows the Fryberg family and has a son at the high school, said he’s heard community members describe Jaylen as “a really good kid.”

 “He was well-liked,” Young said. “It’s just a big shock to everybody.”

 Fryberg’s postings on Twitter are full of angst, with his most recent posting on Thursday morning saying, “It won’t last…. It’ll never last….”

 “I should have listened…. You were right,” he wrote in another message earlier in the week.

 Other images on social media showed him joyful, playing sports and spending time with his girlfriend. One image shows him proudly holding the antler of a deer, with a hunting rifle next to him.

 Jaylen comes from a family that is prominent in the Tulalip Tribes. His grandfather is director of fish and wildlife at the tribe.

 “Anytime something happens to one of our kids, it affects everyone,” tribal communications director Niki Cleary said. “Everybody will be dealing with this for a long time.”

 As residents gathered at the Don Hatch Youth Center on the reservation, one Tulalip resident said many members heard the last name on the news and immediately knew who the broadcasters were talking about. By process of elimination, they realized it was Jaylen.

 “We’re all one family,” he said. “You never imagine it’s going to happen here.”

 A crisis team is providing counseling services at the center. Anyone in the area is welcome to come, behavioral health executive director Diane Henry said.

 “We’ll be here as long as we’re needed,” Henry said.

 At a noon news conference, Marysville Police Cmdr. Robb Lamoureux called the scene an active investigation and said police officers were going door-to-door to ensure that the campus was safe. They were leaving tape to mark the doors of rooms that had been cleared. Officers were finding students and staff members hiding alone or in small groups.

 “We are confident that there was only one shooter and that the shooter is dead,” Lamoureux said.

 Some of the school’s 1,200 students were evacuated, walking out and across the fields with their hands up. Others were told to stay inside classrooms.

 Sophomore Arlene Cortez, 16, says she locked herself in a classroom with other students for about 45 minutes before police came in.

 Some were bused to the nearby Shoultes Gospel Hall, where they are being accounted for. Lamoureux urged parents and family members of students to stay away from the scene, saying authorities would provide information on a location for them to be reunited with students.

 At the church, tearful parents and students were being reunited, and hugging.

 “I never thought I would be standing here after a school shooting,” said Heather Parker, whose son, Corbin, is a senior. “He’s pretty shook up. He just said ‘I’m OK.’ He was trying to calm me down.”

 Adam Holston, 14, a freshman, was just leaving the lunchroom when the gunfire broke out. “Everyone just started running. I could hear the gunshots and my heart was racing and we didn’t know what was going on.”

 Some ran out to the parking lot, some to the field.

 “Someone opened a door and we all ran into classrooms and just stayed there.”

 Jery Holston had two children in the school communicating with him by cellphone. They were both OK. Adam is a freshman; Kayleigh is a senior.

 Holston said Adam called him this morning yelling, “Dad, dad, hurry, someone is shooting. Please come.” He said his son ran and hid outside in the field by the stadium.

 Jery was in Stanwood at the time. “I probably did a hundred miles per hour to get there. I didn’t stop for anything. My heart went into my stomach. As a father, this has been my fear since my kids have been in school, that something like this would happen.”

 Ayn Dietrich-Williams, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Seattle, said agents were in Marysville to offer assistance.

 All classes have been canceled through next week, and activities and sports through at least the weekend.

 Marysville is among three school districts recently chosen to share a $10 million federal grant for improved student mental-health services, which have been identified as a pressing need. Administrators were working on plans for the money just as news came about the shooting Friday morning.

 “We’re stunned,” just stunned,” said Jodi Runyon, assistant to Marysville superintendent Becky Berg.

 Jerry Jenkins, who supervises Marysville and several other districts for the Puget Sound Educational Service District, said, “The tragedy that happened in Marysville could have happened anywhere. We used to have a much greater social safety net. Marysville has been willing to sit down and work with mental health providers to get mental health services to kids who need it, even though that is not a school’s traditional role.”

 This story includes information from Times staff reporters Jennifer Sullivan, Christine Clarridge, Mike Baker, Leah Todd, Lewis Kamb, Coral Garnick, Paige Cornwell, Dan Beekman and Jim Brunner, Times researcher Miyoko Wolf and assistant metro editor John de Leon.

 Photos: Scenes from the Marysville-Pilchuck High School shooting |||||Summary:

– A shooter who opened fire in a high school near Seattle is dead, police say. He reportedly shot other students at Marysville-Pilchuck High School before taking his own life, but the details are still firming up. The Seattle Times reports that one of his victims is dead and that four other students are injured. A student at the school says the gunman, reportedly a freshman, walked up to a table in the cafeteria with four to six people and opened fire. Police say they are confident the gunman acted alone, reports CNN. A lockdown at the school, located in Washington state's Marysville, was being lifted. “Everyone just started running," recalls 14-year-old Adam Holston. "I could hear the gunshots, and my heart was racing and we didn’t know what was going on.”


Here is a news article: Video

 To watch the video, press the play button in the bottom-left corner of the image.

 MASHHAD, Iran

 My 1,700-mile road trip across Iran began with a giddy paean to America, reinforcing my view that at the grass-roots level, this may be the most pro-American nation in the Middle East.

 “We love America!” gushed a former military commando, now a clothing seller, my first evening in the spiritual center of Mashhad. He was so carried away that I thought he might hug me, and although he acknowledged that his business was suffering greatly from Western sanctions, he said he blamed his own leaders.

 “I can’t blame America,” he said. “I love America too much.”

 That was far from a universal view. I encountered many Iranians — especially in the countryside — who strongly support the Iranian authorities and resent what they see as American government bullying. But while Iranians are far from monolithic, one feature was ubiquitous: the warmth of Iranians when they discovered I was American.

 We passed occasional “Death to America” signs, but our trip was slowed by hospitality, for Iranians kept giving us presents or inviting us into their homes. And in the security line to board a flight from Tehran to Mashhad, a Revolutionary Guard said genially, “We’re not supposed to let batteries through, but we’ll make an exception for you since you’re a foreigner.”

 The Iranian government gave me a very rare journalist visa, along with permission to drive unescorted across the country on a government-approved route from Mashhad in the east to Tabriz in the west, and back to Tehran. I interviewed people at random along the way, and as far as I could tell I was not tailed.

 Advertisement Continue reading the main story

 Compared with my last visit, in 2004, people seem more discontented — mainly because of economic difficulties caused in part by Western sanctions. Those sanctions are causing bitter pain, yet a surprising number of Iranians seem to largely blame their own leaders for the woes.

 Another difference from my last visit: People are more scared now. Iranians feel fairly free to gripe about their leaders, even within earshot of others, yet since the 2009 crackdown there has been a red line: anything approaching activism, including public criticism. One blogger is serving a 15-year prison sentence, and Iranians have been jailed just for giving interviews to foreign journalists. As a result, Iranians are more wary now of being quoted or shown in videos.

 Photo

 “Please don’t use the video,” implored a young man living near the Caspian Sea, after I interviewed him. “I want to have a future.”

 One businessman was scathing about the government when we were speaking casually. “We have a terrible economy, all because of our president,” he said. Once we pulled out notebook and video camera, however, he began to praise the government. With the camera turned away again, I asked him why he had switched 180 degrees.

 “It is not possible to tell the truth in Iran,” he said, shrugging.

 It is very difficult to gauge public opinion in an authoritarian country, but it’s clear that there are many government supporters, especially among farmers and less educated workers.

 “Iranian people are happy with their leaders,” Monad Omidvar, a 38-year-old farm laborer, told me as he played marbles with his friends beside the road near Mashhad. He has a ninth-grade education, and his only source of news is the government media.

 When I asked about human rights activists and members of the Bahai faith who are in prison, he shook his head skeptically. “I don’t think that in our country innocent people go to jail,” he said. “They must have done something.”

 At the other end of the country, a shopkeeper — also with limited education, also reliant on government television for news — told me that “all the nation backs the leader.”

 Advertisement Continue reading the main story

 Yet more common were those like the businessman in Adidas sandals and Ray-Ban sunglasses who scoffed, “The Iranian revolution was a mistake.” Or the separatist in Tabriz who has given up on Iran and wants the northwest of the country to join Azerbaijan. Or the man at a roadside rest stop who sharply criticized America for bullying Iran, but added, “our leaders have lost their marbles.” Or the woman who has abandoned prayer and religious fasting, explaining, “The biggest factor that has turned people against Islam is this government.”

 Indeed, I think that the expressions of love for America reflect, in part, the intuitive embrace by many Iranians of whatever the state media condemn.

 To me, Iran feels like other authoritarian countries I covered before they toppled. My guess is that the demise of the system is a matter of time — unless there’s a war between Iran and the West, perhaps ignited by Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. That, I sense, would provoke a nationalist backlash and rescue the ayatollahs. More on what I found on my journey in forthcoming columns. ||||| Preview of a Journey Across Iran: Op-Ed Columnist Nicholas D. Kristof gives a first look at his road trip through Iran, as he talks to ordinary Iranians about their lives, their government and the United States.

 To watch the video, press the play button in the bottom-left corner of the image.

 MASHHAD, Iran

 My 1,700-mile road trip across Iran began with a giddy paean to America, reinforcing my view that at the grass-roots level, this may be the most pro-American nation in the Middle East.

 “We love America!” gushed a former military commando, now a clothing seller, my first evening in the spiritual center of Mashhad. He was so carried away that I thought he might hug me, and although he acknowledged that his business was suffering greatly from Western sanctions, he said he blamed his own leaders.

 “I can’t blame America,” he said. “I love America too much.”

 That was far from a universal view. I encountered many Iranians — especially in the countryside — who strongly support the Iranian authorities and resent what they see as American government bullying. But while Iranians are far from monolithic, one feature was ubiquitous: the warmth of Iranians when they discovered I was American.

 We passed occasional “Death to America” signs, but our trip was slowed by hospitality, for Iranians kept giving us presents or inviting us into their homes. And in the security line to board a flight from Tehran to Mashhad, a Revolutionary Guard said genially, “We’re not supposed to let batteries through, but we’ll make an exception for you since you’re a foreigner.”

 The Iranian government gave me a very rare journalist visa, along with permission to drive unescorted across the country on a government-approved route from Mashhad in the east to Tabriz in the west, and back to Tehran. I interviewed people at random along the way, and as far as I could tell I was not tailed.

 Compared with my last visit, in 2004, people seem more discontented — mainly because of economic difficulties caused in part by Western sanctions. Those sanctions are causing bitter pain, yet a surprising number of Iranians seem to largely blame their own leaders for the woes.

 Another difference from my last visit: People are more scared now. Iranians feel fairly free to gripe about their leaders, even within earshot of others, yet since the 2009 crackdown there has been a red line: anything approaching activism, including public criticism. One blogger is serving a 15-year prison sentence, and Iranians have been jailed just for giving interviews to foreign journalists. As a result, Iranians are more wary now of being quoted or shown in videos.

 “Please don’t use the video,” implored a young man living near the Caspian Sea, after I interviewed him. “I want to have a future.”

 One businessman was scathing about the government when we were speaking casually. “We have a terrible economy, all because of our president,” he said. Once we pulled out notebook and video camera, however, he began to praise the government. With the camera turned away again, I asked him why he had switched 180 degrees.

 “It is not possible to tell the truth in Iran,” he said, shrugging.

 It is very difficult to gauge public opinion in an authoritarian country, but it’s clear that there are many government supporters, especially among farmers and less educated workers.

 “Iranian people are happy with their leaders,” Monad Omidvar, a 38-year-old farm laborer, told me as he played marbles with his friends beside the road near Mashhad. He has a ninth-grade education, and his only source of news is the government media.

 When I asked about human rights activists and members of the Bahai faith who are in prison, he shook his head skeptically. “I don’t think that in our country innocent people go to jail,” he said. “They must have done something.”

 At the other end of the country, a shopkeeper — also with limited education, also reliant on government television for news — told me that “all the nation backs the leader.”

 Yet more common were those like the businessman in Adidas sandals and Ray-Ban sunglasses who scoffed, “The Iranian revolution was a mistake.” Or the separatist in Tabriz who has given up on Iran and wants the northwest of the country to join Azerbaijan. Or the man at a roadside rest stop who sharply criticized America for bullying Iran, but added, “our leaders have lost their marbles.” Or the woman who has abandoned prayer and religious fasting, explaining, “The biggest factor that has turned people against Islam is this government.”

 Indeed, I think that the expressions of love for America reflect, in part, the intuitive embrace by many Iranians of whatever the state media condemn.

 To me, Iran feels like other authoritarian countries I covered before they toppled. My guess is that the demise of the system is a matter of time — unless there’s a war between Iran and the West, perhaps ignited by Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. That, I sense, would provoke a nationalist backlash and rescue the ayatollahs. More on what I found on my journey in forthcoming columns. |||||
A summary of this is?

– It's been eight years since Nicholas Kristof last visited Iran, and this time around, people "seem more discontented," he writes in the New York Times. Kristof blames that on economic troubles—and while Western sanctions are partially to blame, a "surprising number of Iranians" hold their own government accountable. Indeed, many are comfortable complaining privately about their leaders. "The biggest factor that has turned people against Islam is this government," said one woman. Despite the anti-government sentiment, Iranians in general now seem "more scared" of activism and don't want to be quoted on their views. "It is not possible to tell the truth in Iran," said one interviewee. And while there are "Death to America" signs to be seen, Kristof argues that "at the grass-roots level, this may be the most pro-American nation in the Middle East." Click here for Kristof's full article, in which he writes of the "warmth" people showed him when they learned he was American.


President Donald Trump was apparently eager to forge a friendship with fellow world leader Emmanuel Macron amid a state visit on Tuesday — but two headline-making moments seemed more awkward than amiable.

 First, some people on Twitter poked fun of Trump after he grabbed the French president’s hand — and then continued holding it while leading him away from reporters outside the White House.

 Get push notifications with news, features, and more.

 “That Trump-Macron hand grab thing just now was super weird,” CNN’s Chris Cillizza observed on Twitter. “Can someone please GIF it for me?”

 Another Twitter user jokingly added “light hand-holding” to the Trump-Macron state-visit schedule, in between bilateral meetings and state dinner.

 Donald Trump (left) and Emmanuel Macron Kleponis-Pool/Getty

 Watch Trump yank Macron away like he’s a kid on a mission to eat some ice cream. pic.twitter.com/tGrDAsakAR — Scott Dworkin (@funder) April 24, 2018

 That Trump-Macron hand grab thing just now was super weird.

 Can someone please GIF it for me? — Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) April 24, 2018

 Trump-Macron Schedule:

 1) Bilateral meetings

 2) Light hand holding

 3) State dinner pic.twitter.com/NPVCVFJap7 — Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) April 24, 2018

 The moment came on the heels’ of yet another awkward hand-holding episode between Trump and wife Melania — prompting comments that no one seems to want to hold Trump’s hand today.

 Neither Melania nor Macron want to hold Trump's hand. https://t.co/Q5aC1xayaA — Jim Cassidy (@JimCassidy48) April 24, 2018

 That’s cause Trump needs to hold someone’s hand and I guess Macron is it since Melania already has hand checked him today. — Erika Outlaw (@OutlawErika) April 24, 2018

 Later, in the Oval Office, Trump struck an uncomfortable note once again when he joked that he was brushing dandruff off Macron’s shoulder.

 “They’re all saying what a great relationship we have, and they’re actually correct,” Trump said to Macron and reporters gathered in the Oval Office. “We do have a very special relationship. In fact, I’ll get that little piece of dandruff off — we have to make him perfect. He is perfect.”

 He then turned to Macron and brushed his shoulder as photographers clicked away.

 Emmanuel Macron (left) and Donald Trump LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty

 Emmanuel Macron (left) and Donald Trump Chris Kleponis/POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

 Some people on Twitter called the moment a diplomatic “power move.”

 A tweet from a parody Trump account joked: “I wasn’t able to overpower #France President #Macron with my macho handshake,so my next power move was pretending to pick dandruff off his suit & telling the press I did it to make him ‘perfect’!”

 I wasn’t able to overpower #France President #Macron with my macho handshake,so my next power move was pretending to pick dandruff off his suit & telling the press I did it to make him “perfect”!#America MUST be so PROUD of #Trump diplomacy!#Spanky#TrumpCult#TrumpCrimeFamily — Donald J. Trump (@Trumptweets2020) April 24, 2018

 HOLY SHIT. TRUMP JUST SAID HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH MACRON IS SO GOOD THAT HE BRUSHED OFF DANDRUFF FROM HIS COAT IN FRONT OF THE CAMERAS. DIPLOMATIC POWER MOVE. pic.twitter.com/IIeNVCKLKS — David Mack (@davidmackau) April 24, 2018

 A lot of people were confident the move was intended to belittle Macron.

 Trump picking 'Dandruff' off Macron: Power play. An insult. A bald old man jealously grooming a full haired young man. Weird?

 Never witnessed anything remotely close happening when global powers meet. I’m sure the French are embarrassed & outraged! 😂 pic.twitter.com/bpTppgiJTr — Jigme (@JigmeUgen) April 24, 2018

 Trump trying to play bully and tough guy. #BarrelsOfMoney

 It was their money.

 Trying to embarrass Macron over the 'brushing off dandruff' stunt.

 WTF? — 2018 Vote Dems! Our Lives Depend on Our Votes! (@AlasscanIsBack) April 24, 2018

 Trump touches Macron without permission & manages to insult him about his dandruff? Unbelievably crass. https://t.co/noPKy9qFTO — Patty (@2havefun72) April 24, 2018

 I just saw #Preisdent #Trump , a man who tapes his tie to his shirt publicly act like he had to remove "dandruff" from the suite of the stylish #French President Macron Life is a cartoon. — Jason DeWall (@JasonDeWall) April 24, 2018

 No, this isn’t an SNL skit, it’s Trump telling Macron he has dandruff on his suit and wiping it off pic.twitter.com/uJd33tRvYv — Roland Scahill (@rolandscahill) April 24, 2018

 Trump wipes off dandruff from Macron's shoulder: "We have to make him perfect." You can pass this for SNL, but it is real life. pic.twitter.com/C7ZZlZAdDa — #Thinker 🌀 (@areta) April 24, 2018

 And a couple tweeters had to remind themselves that yes, this was really happening — and not on Saturday Night Live. ||||| Roses are red/

 Violets are blue/

 Melania does not like to hold Donald's hand/

 These are things we know to be true.

 Did you like my poem? It's all just my way of telling you that thing of when Donald-tries-to-hold-Melania's-hand-and-she-really-didn't-want-him-to-and-also-a-million-cameras-were-on-them happened again.

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 That moment when your wife resists holding your hand... PRICELESS. 🤣🤣 @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/hDpPddTv5C — BetsyBits (@BetsyBits) April 24, 2018

 This time, the incomplete hand hold took place on the White House South Lawn during a military welcome ceremony with French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte.

 As you can see, Trump goes for it several times over the course of an extremely tense 13 seconds before ultimately making it happen.

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 As a reminder, Melania has yet to publicly acknowledge anything having to do with Stormy Daniels, the porn star who allegedly had an affair with the President shortly after the First Lady was pregnant with their only child together.

 And, uh, yeah. That's about it.

 Follow Tess on Twitter. ||||| President Trump stopped in the middle Oval Office comments alongside French President Emmanuel Macron to brush what Mr. Trump said was a "little piece of dandruff" off Macron's suit.

 "We have a very special relationship, in fact I'll get that little piece of dandruff off," the president said, according to pool reporters present in the room. "We have to make him perfect -- he is perfect."

 Seemingly caught off guard at first by the gesture, Macron soon smiled and laughed at the interaction.

 Tuesday marks Macron's second day of meetings at the White House, as the two discuss everything from the Iran nuclear deal, to the Paris climate accord, to trade issues. The two held Oval Office and Cabinet meetings Tuesday morning, a joint press conference Tuesday afternoon, and will dine at the first state dinner Mr. Trump has held since taking office. On Monday, the two visited Mount Vernon, the nearby home of America's first president, George Washington.

 "I like him a lot," Mr. Trump said during the press conference with Macron, after a long handshake.

 Reuters

 Mr. Trump made some newsworthy comments Tuesday as the two met. Mr. Trump said North Korea wants to meet "very soon," and said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been "very honorable, from everything we're seeing."

 Mr. Trump has said he hopes the meeting over North Korea's nuclear program to happen by early June, but has also said he will back out of the meeting, or "leave" in the middle of the meeting, if it isn't successful. ||||| First Lady Melania Trump had another awkward hand-holding moment with husband Donald Trump on Tuesday as the first couple welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, to the White House for the Trump administration’s first state visit.

 In footage captured by MSNBC and later dissected by Twitter users, Trump appears to make a subtle effort to hold his wife’s hand, first extending his pinky finger and then gently giving her hand a little shake before she finally places her hand his.

 This isn’t the first time Mrs. Trump has appeared reluctant to hold her husband’s hand. In May, the first lady was caught on camera clearly swatting away her husband’s hand during a trip to Tel Aviv, Israel. Then in February, as the first lady and president departed the White House for a trip to Ohio, Trump once again tried but failed to make hand-to-hand contact with his wife.

 On Tuesday, Twitter took note of the Trumps’ latest awkward hand-holding moment.

 That moment when your wife resists holding your hand… PRICELESS. 🤣🤣 @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/hDpPddTv5C — BetsyBits (@BetsyBits) April 24, 2018

 Trump attempts to hold Melania's hand at President Emmanuel Macron's arrival at the South Lawn: pic.twitter.com/NlBlcdZ29s — Braxton (@braxtonryn) April 24, 2018

 Look at poor #Melania right hand trying to tell #Trump that he didn’t dig deep enough. — Sam (@SamMusaed) April 24, 2018

 Trump's attempt to hold Melania's hand is EVERYTHING: pic.twitter.com/t7yqNGpJym — Braxton (@braxtonryn) April 24, 2018

 Poor Melania, she loomed like she was holding back tears under her hat as she held Trump's hand — Daring Reporter (@DaringReporter) April 24, 2018

 “Look at poor #Melania right hand trying to tell #Trump that he didn’t dig deep enough,” one tweeter joked.

 “Poor Melania, she looked like she was holding back tears under her hat as she held Trump’s hand,” said another.

 The first lady’s white, wide-brimmed hat was also lighting up Twitter on Tuesday.

 JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty

 The striking accessory stole the show as Mrs. Trump and French First Lady Brigitte Macron — both in white skirt suits — joined their husbands on the White House South Lawn for a military welcome ceremony. The first lady’s white suit is from the Michael Kors Collection and costs $2,195, according to CNN. The outlet said the hat was also from the Michael Kors Collection hat, but a new pool report says it seems that “Michael Kors is not taking credit for the hat.”

 On Twitter, people compared the first lady’s hat look to those worn by Beyoncé in her “Formation” music video, Jude Law in The Young Pope and Kerry Washington in Scandal.

 Melania with the Young Pope hat pic.twitter.com/PqwI4bqO9A — Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) April 24, 2018

 How did Melania get Fanucci's hat? pic.twitter.com/ZFZJwazkYm — Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) April 24, 2018

 Is Melania Trump’s white hat a symbol of morality like Olivia Pope’s? pic.twitter.com/JZRHL7iuOi — KOlive (@kmomonahan) April 24, 2018

 Others noticed that while Brigitte Macron managed to expertly kiss both of her fellow first lady’s cheeks beneath the wide brim, President Trump had trouble making contact and settled on air kisses instead.

 Hats off to Brigitte Macron, who just managed a flawless French two-cheek kiss under and around Melania Trump's enormous flat-brim hat. Which is gorgeous. — Anne Rumsey Gearan (@agearan) April 24, 2018

 President Trump Kisses Melania Hat Gets in the Way April 24, 2018 Live Satellite News: https://t.co/bvKsFxG5PK via @YouTube — LiveSatelliteNews (@LiveSatNews) April 24, 2018

 Melania's relationship tips: wear a wide-brimmed hat and your husband will never be able to kiss you pic.twitter.com/eVhzFFEulD — shannon carlin (@new_girl_friday) April 24, 2018

 Joked one Twitter user: “Melania’s relationship tips: wear a wide-brimmed hat and your husband will never be able to kiss you.” ||||| In Washington today, two people who definitely like each other and regularly interact in real life attempted, with limited success, to hold each other's hands in front of cameras.

 “I know I’ve been an absentee dad and a horrible husband - including flagrant affairs while you were pregnant - but let’s just hold hands at this event...” pic.twitter.com/gLDCs40iCk — Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) April 24, 2018

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 Captured on MSNBC's coverage of French president Emmanuel Macron's visit to the White House by Shannon Watts on Twitter, the video shows the American president apparently attempting to signal his wife that he wanted to grasp her hand by repeatedly tapping her brusquely, much like regular people who have regular person experiences all the time.

 Michael Cohen's second most problematic client first brushed his claw against the first lady's hand, a gesture of romance so overwhelming that she ignored it, opting to stare directly forward with the force of someone who is just doing her job and doesn't need to be distracted. He then tried to tap her with his index finger like a middle schooler on a first date at a screening of Avengers: Infinity War, testing the waters to see if this was a good moment for some butter-fingered hand-holding. It was not.

 The first lady, in a wide-brimmed white hat like Olivia Pope except the exact opposite, did not get the message, so the president resorted to lightly worming his pinkie finger into her palm like an unsubtle Russian bot showing up in your timeline bearing a conspiracy theory and a donation link.

 Regular person stuff. Getty Images

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 Apparently the third time was the charm, as the first lady's immobile hand was successfully grasped by the president's in a show of national and connubial unity that captured the heart of the nation.

 The president, of course, is known for his unsettling relationship with his hands, having engaged in a hand-shaking battles in the past. Among the contestants:

 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe

 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau;

 French president Emmanuel Macron

 More recently, he has resorted to simply holding hands, as seen here with British Prime Minister Theresa May.

 Getty Images

 And earlier today, with Macron.

 LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images

 When reached for comment, body language experts called the president's hand habits, "a heartbreakingly beautiful extension of his romantic businessman soul" and "just about as unsettling as literally everything else." |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– One of the moments getting the most attention from President Trump's press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron Tuesday had to do with ... dandruff. "We have a very special relationship, in fact I'll get that little piece of dandruff off," Trump said while learning over to brush something off Macron's suit. "We have to make him perfect—he is perfect." CBS News reports that Macron seemed at first "caught off guard," but then smiled and laughed. More details from the joint news conference, which took place during Macron's second day of meetings at the White House: Another weird move: Live MSNBC footage caught Trump apparently attempting to hold the First Lady's hand, and Melania Trump apparently not being into it at all. People calls the whole thing "awkward" and rounds up amused Twitter reactions, while Elle says it's "absolute agony" to watch and rounds up images of Trump's other awkward hand-holding encounters. Cosmopolitan calls it "without a doubt the most uncomfortable Donald/Melania hand-holding moment of all time," noting it took Trump 13 seconds before finally managing to grasp his wife's hand in his, and the Cut reminisces about the other times Trump has failed at holding hands with his wife. Hand-holding success: Trump had more success grabbing—and holding onto—Macron's hand, but that moment was also widely hailed as awkward, People reports, rounding up reactions.


News article:

Story highlights The tweets have since been deleted

 This isn't the first time this has happened with park accounts

 Washington (CNN) The Badlands National Park official account tweeted statistics about climate change on Tuesday that could contradict how President Donald Trump's administration may want to present it.

 The tweets were up for a few hours before they were deleted.

 "Today, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is higher than at any time in the last 650,000 years. #climate," one of the tweets read.

 In a statement, the National Park Service blamed "a former employee who was not currently authorized to use the park's account" for the tweets, which the NPS said they deleted of their own accord.

 "The park was not told to remove the tweets but chose to do so when they realized that their account had been compromised. At this time, National Park Service social media managers are encouraged to continue the use of Twitter to post information relating to public safety and park information, with the exception of content related to national policy issues," the National Park Service statement said.

 Read More ||||| Tweet with a location

 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– As President Trump puts "gag orders" on federal agencies, including the EPA and USDA, pockets of defiance are appearing. On Tuesday, someone running the Twitter account for South Dakota's Badlands National Park—part of the National Park Service—started tweeting facts about climate change, Vanity Fair reports. Those facts included, "Burning one gallon of gasoline puts nearly 20lbs of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere" and, "Today, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is higher than an any time in the last 650,000 years." The tweets were later deleted but can be viewed here. CNN reports the facts may have run afoul of what the Trump administration wants people to believe about climate change, which the president has previously called a "hoax." The Democratic National Committee responded to the deletion of Badlands National Parks' tweets by saying "Putin would be proud." Meanwhile, the park's Twitter followers ballooned from 7,000 to 70,000 while it was tweeting about climate change.


Summarize this article:

News Corp. says it will close its 168-year-old U.K. tabloid News of the World, a dramatic bid to cap a scandal centered on the paper's controversial reporting tactics in pursuit of racy scoops.

 News Of The World was known for years of hard-hitting investigations, exposure of wrongdoing, campaigning - and a hefty dose of celebrity gossip. Video courtesy of Sky News.

 The paper, which appears on Sundays, is accused of improperly intercepting voice mails of everyday people, including a 13-year-old murder victim, as well as those of celebrities.

 James Murdoch, News Corp.'s deputy chief operating officer, told staff Thursday that News Corp. had decided to close the tabloid because the allegations—if true—were "inhuman" and had no place in the company. He said the paper's reputation had been "sullied by behavior that was wrong."

 The paper is one of Britain's sauciest and most storied tabloids, and was a key building block in the global media empire created by News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch, who purchased it in 1969. News Corp. also owns The Wall Street Journal.

 News of the World became the U.K.'s best-selling Sunday paper with a righteous, no-holds-barred approach to taking down the rich and famous, from politicians to soccer stars. That style both appealed to the U.K.'s working class and titillated sophisticates who bought it as a guilty pleasure.

 View Slideshow Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Chief executive of News International, Rebekah Brooks.

 The paper has been under immense pressure for five years amid investigations into the use of private detectives to break into the mobile-phone voice mail of celebrities and political leaders.

 The public rebuke reached a new level this week with the allegation that, in 2002, the paper accessed the voice mail of an abducted 13-year-old girl who, it turned out, had been murdered. Other allegations then surfaced of hacking into phones tied to other child-murder victims, as well as the families of war dead and of victims of 2005 terrorist attacks in London.

 A person familiar with the matter said James Murdoch proposed the closure to his father earlier this week, and the idea was pursued immediately.

 "The News of the World is in the business of holding others to account," the younger Mr. Murdoch said. "But it failed when it came to itself." He said the final News of the World would be published Sunday.

 The controversy thrusts the younger Mr. Murdoch, believed to be a contender to eventually run News Corp., to the front and center of crisis management.

 A sense that the paper had betrayed its readership was evident in London on Thursday night. Kandice Kameka, an office manager who works near the paper's offices, said she bought the paper "depending on what was on the front page—how good the gossip was." But she added: "When I found out about the tapping with the murder victim I was just gobsmacked—I didn't want anything to do with it after that....They just have no respect for people."

 News of the World, Through the Years View Slideshow Getty Images A printer studied a front page proof in 1953. View Graphics Read All About It Key dates in the paper's past View Graphics

 The recent uproar has threatened one of the most important business transactions on News Corp.'s plate, its proposed buyout of the 60.9% of British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC that it doesn't already own.

 Before this week, the company was poised to finally receive regulatory approval for that proposal after an arduous 13-month effort; now that approval may be delayed, and it is unclear whether the deal itself will wind up as collateral damage in the News of the World scandal.

 Analysts said the closure of News of the World would have a trivial impact on News Corp.'s finances. The paper accounts for significantly less than half of News Corp.'s U.K. publishing operations, which are valued at about $1.3 billion, or 2.8% of News Corp.'s current market cap, according to a person familiar with the matter. News Corp. shares rose almost 2% on the Nasdaq Stock Market Thursday before finishing at $17.43, down four cents.

 Closing the paper by no means will shut down the scandal that has engulfed News Corp.'s U.K. newspaper operations. The company still faces a thicket of criminal investigations, civil lawsuits and new government and police probes that could take years to run their course.

 News Corp. said it would close its News of the World weekly tabloid after a phone-hacking scandal, with this coming Sunday's edition the newspaper's last.

 Executives of News Corp. believe more arrests are likely, according to people familiar with the matter. On Thursday night, the Guardian newspaper said Andy Coulson—a former News of the World editor who later became an aide to Prime Minister David Cameron—was told by police to present himself for arrest on Friday on suspicion of offenses related to phone hacking during his time as editor. Mr. Coulson didn't respond to a request for comment.

 The situation has led to calls for the resignation of Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News International, News Corp.'s U.K. newspaper unit, who so far has received the backing of the elder Mr. Murdoch as well as his son.

 Ms. Brooks was News of the World's editor until 2003, during the time of the alleged hacking of the murdered girl's phone. Since then, she has become one of the elder Mr. Murdoch's top lieutenants.

 The latest revelations unleashed a political storm that prompted Mr. Cameron—a friend of Ms. Brooks—to call for new investigations into the paper's reporting tactics, the failures of the police and British media practices in general. Late Thursday, Downing Street officials were quick to say Mr. Cameron had nothing to do with the move to shut the paper.

 Ed Miliband, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, said that Ms. Brooks should still step down. "I don't think News International can hope to start moving on and deal with these issues while she remains in place," he said.

 Ms. Brooks declined to comment through a spokeswoman.

 News Corp.'s move to close News of the World—which has an average circulation of 2.7 million, according to tracking organization ABC—brought sharp criticism from the U.K.'s National Union of Journalists. It is one of News Corp.'s four major U.K. newspaper titles, the others being the Sun, the Times and Sunday Times, but its circulation has been declining in recent years.

 Michelle Stanistreet, the union's deputy general secretary, said a handful of staffers from the tabloid's sister paper, the Sun, left work in solidarity with their News of the World colleagues on Thursday, but that no strikes were planned. She said the closure was an attempt to divert attention, and the younger Mr. Murdoch should have fired Ms. Brooks instead.

 News International said Thursday that some of the paper's 200 staff members may be laid off. But some may be transferred to other titles.

 News Corp. may not be without a Sunday tabloid in the U.K. for long: people familiar with the matter said it has considered adding a Sunday edition to the six-days-a-week Sun, which attracts a similar audience as News of the World. The company could also simply launch a new paper with a different name.

 "We don't know if this is anything more than a bit of PR management," said Tamsin Allen, a partner at law firm Bindmans LLP representing alleged phone-hack victims. "It's not really until we see heads rolling that we can be convinced that the company is taking this sufficiently seriously."

 The phone-hacking scandal dates back to 2005, when Prince William's staff first alerted authorities to the possibility that the News of the World had hacked phones connected to the prince, sparking a police inquiry.

 An initial police investigation into the newspaper resulted in two successful prosecutions that led to prison terms for the paper's royal-family correspondent, Clive Goodman, and Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator hired by the tabloid.

 Mr. Coulson, News of the World's editor at the time, resigned from his post in 2007, saying he took responsibility for the hacking that occurred on his watch but stating that he didn't know about it. The scandal reignited after new information surfaced in civil suits and the police reopened their criminal investigation.

 —Alistair MacDonald, Natalia Rachlin and Jessica E. Vascellaro contributed to this article.

 Write to Paul Sonne at paul.sonne@wsj.com, Cassell Bryan-Low at cassell.bryan-low@wsj.com and Russell Adams at russell.adams@wsj.com ||||| News Corp. says it will close its 168-year-old U.K. tabloid News of the World, a dramatic bid to cap a scandal centered on the paper's controversial reporting tactics in pursuit of racy scoops.

 The paper, which appears on Sundays, is accused of improperly intercepting voice mails of everyday people, including a 13-year-old murder victim, as well as those of celebrities.

 ... |||||

– Mired in an ever-deepening phone hacking scandal, Rupert Murdoch's 168-year-old News of the World will fold after Sunday's edition, reports the Wall Street Journal. "If recent allegations are true, it was inhuman, and has no place in our company," James Murdoch said in a statement announcing the closure of the vaunted British tabloid. The younger Murdoch said that the paper had now "voluntarily given evidence to police" of widespread wrongdoing, and that "those who acted wrongly will have to face the consequences."


Serbian EU integration process seems to inevitably go towards its total fiasco. This has of course been rather foreseeable for years, yet ‘EU integration’ was an ideological mantra, stubbornly... ||||| In a first-of-its kind arrangement, the editors of Russian news site Pravda have tentatively agreed to publish a column by Sen. John McCain that will attack the leadership of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The agreement comes one day after Putin criticized the United States in a widely-read column in The New York Times.

 "If John McCain wants to write something for us, he is welcome," Dmitry Sudakov, the English editor of Pravda tells The Cable. "Mr. McCain has been an active anti-Russian politician for many years already. We have been critical of his stance on Russia and international politics in our materials, but we would be only pleased to publish a story penned by such a prominent politician as John McCain."

 When The Cable reached the senator's office with the offer, McCain's communications director Brian Rogers responded within minutes. "On the record: Senator McCain would be glad to write something for Pravda, so we'll be reaching out to Dmitry with a submission."

 The beginning of this surprising arrangement all started last night when your trusty Cable guy watched an interview between McCain and CNN's Jake Tapper about Putin's latest op-ed. In a nod to Russia's restrictive press policies (Russia is ranked 148th out of 179 in the world for respecting press freedoms by Reporters Without Borders), McCain joked "I would love to have a commentary in Pravda."

 After The Cable sent this transcript to Pravda, Sudakov bristled at the idea that his news site would be prevented from publishing a column by McCain.

 "I am convinced that we would not agree on many things that he would have to say in his column, but an article like that would obviously be published in English and then translated into Russian so that all our Russian readers could read what Mr. McCain has to say," he said. "In addition... we already have a U.S. politician who acts as a regular contributor to Pravda.Ru - Paul Craig Roberts, a former Senator, a man who used to be in the team of Ronald Reagan. So I believe that Mr. McCain is not aware of the real state of affairs in my country when he expresses his judgements of freedom of speech."

 Rogers chuckled at the suggestion that Paul Craig Roberts is a former senator (he's actually a former assistant secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy during the Reagan administration) and pointed to some of his anti-establishment views posted on his personal site. "He was never a senator," said Rogers. "If you look on his website, it's all pro-Putin stuff and how the United States is a criminal regime."

 When asked what the senator might write about, Rogers said the senator would have no trouble coming up with something for next week. "This is obviously a target-rich environment," he said. "There are a lot of issues that I'm sure Sen. McCain would want to address: Democracy and human rights in Russia and certainly the Putin regime's aiding and abetting of the Syrian regime, which has killed 100,000 of its own people."

 It's worth noting that this is not your grandfather's Pravda. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Pravda was temporarily shut down and a number of its journalists migrated to Pravda.ru, which is distinctly anti-Western but no longer an official organ for the Communist Party.

 Regardless, The Cable welcomes this next chapter in U.S-Russian relations and is happy to have played a small part in bringing it about. (And look: McCain didn't even need to hire a fancy public relations firm.)

 Update: The McCain camp e-mails Pravda and promises a submission by Wednesday at the latest. The story was also updated to reflect that Pravda.ru does not have a print edition: |||||

Write a summary.

– Vladimir Putin got to sound off against the US in a New York Times op-ep this week, so now a Russian news site is offering the same opportunity to John McCain. Joking about Putin's op-ed on CNN last week, McCain said, "I would love to have a commentary in Pravda." Foreign Policy asked Pravda for comment. "If John McCain wants to write something for us, he is welcome," says the English editor of the website Pravda.ru. "Mr. McCain has been an active anti-Russian politician for many years already. ... But we would be only pleased to publish a story penned by such a prominent politician as John McCain." McCain says he really would like to write something for Pravda, and will get in touch. But Slate suggests that McCain should actually check out the news outlet he has agreed to write for. There are two Pravdas: Pravda the newspaper, a Soviet-era relic which McCain probably remembers from the Cold War; and Pravda.ru, a tabloid news site that features headlines like "Russian children get gay love books from the West," and "SOS signal from UFO sows panic in Siberia." So ... not quite Russia's answer to the New York Times after all.


Write a summary based on this article:

A down syndrome baby abandoned by his mother in Armenia is being rushed back to New Zealand by his Kiwi dad.

 Leo Forrest was born on January 21 this year with down syndrome. His father was given an ultimatum by his mother - send him away or get a divorce.

 In Armenia, which borders Iran and Turkey in eastern Europe, it is common for families to abandon children born with physical or intellectual disabilities.

 Leo's Kiwi-born father, Samuel Forrest, is reportedly no longer welcome in his family home because he wants to keep his child.

 "The mother refused to even look at or touch Leo for fear of getting attached in a society where defects are not accepted and often bring shame on the family involved", according to a GoFundMe page set up for Mr Forrest.

 The fundraiser, to help the pair get back to New Zealand, has received astonishing support since Mr Forrest's story was picked up by news organisations across the world. In just two hours the tally jumped from $10,000 to $80,000.

 It now sits at more than $160,000 and at one point was increasing by around $1000 every minute.

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 "This really came out of the blue for me," Mr Forrest told USABC. "I don't have a lot, I have very little in fact. The goal is to raise enough for a year so I can get a part-time job so Leo doesn't have to be in daycare and I can help care for him. He's lost a lot in two weeks. It'd be different if he had his mommy."

 The Government has fast tracked citizenship and a passport for Leo, according to Mr Forrest's Facebook page. ||||| When Samuel Forrest of Armenia heard a baby crying from outside his wife's hospital room, he knew his life would change forever.

 Not only had he become a father, but he would soon receive some unexpected news about his newborn son.

 "This pediatrician walks out of the room with a little bundle -- that was Leo," Forrest said. "She had his face covered up and hospital authorities wouldn't let me see him or my wife. When the doctor came out, he said 'there’s a real problem with your son.'

 Forrest followed doctors and nurses into a room where he'd finally get to meet his baby.

 "When I walked into the room they all turned to me and said 'Leo has Down syndrome," he told ABC News. "I had a few moments of shock."

 After the news had sunk in, Forrest held Leo for the very first time.

 Courtesy Samuel Forrest

 "They took me in see him and I looked at this guy and I said, he's beautiful -- he's perfect and I'm absolutely keeping him."

 Soon Forrest walked into his wife's hospital room with Leo in his arms.

 Her reaction was unlike one he ever expected.

 "I got the ultimatum right then," he said. "She told me if I kept him then we would get a divorce."

 Attempts to reach the hospital for comment weren't immediately successful. The baby's mother, Ruzan Badalyan, told ABC News that she did have a child with Down syndrome and she has left her husband, who has the child, but she declined to elaborate.

 Forrest, who's from Auckland, New Zealand, said he was completely unaware of the hospital practices in Armenia when it came to children.

 "What happens when a baby like this is born here, they will tell you that you don’t have to keep them," he said. "My wife had already decided, so all of this was done behind my back."

 Courtesy Samuel Forrest

 Despite his wife's warnings, Forrest said he never had a doubt in his mind that he would hold onto his son.

 One week after his birth, Leo's mom filed for divorce.

 "It's not what I want," Forrest said. "I didn’t even have a chance to speak with her in privately about it."

 Forrest, who works as a freelance business contractor, has plans for he and Leo to move to his native country of New Zealand where he said they'll receive support from loved ones.

 In the meantime, he's enlisted for some help on his GoFundMe page titled "Bring Leo Home."

 "This really came out of the blue for me," he said. "I don’t have a lot, I have very little in fact. The goal is to raise enough for a year so I can get a part-time job so Leo doesn't have to be in daycare and I can help care for him. He's lost a lot in two weeks. It'd be different if he had his mommy."

 Forrest has recently been working with disability awareness groups to share his story in the hopes that parents will become better educated on children with special needs.

 "After what I've been through with Leo, I'm not going to sit back and watch babies be sent to orphanages," he said. "As a child with Down syndrome, that becomes somewhat of a label. If we can get around this label, we’ll see that they’re normal. They’re a little different from us, but they’re still normal.

 "They all have niches and I want to work hard to find out where Leo's special. This little guy is great." |||||

– When he discovered his newborn son had Down syndrome, a New Zealand man living in Armenia was horrified not by the condition, but by the assumption that he wouldn't want to keep little Leo. When the boy was born, "the doctor came out, he said, 'There's a real problem with your son,'" Samuel Forrest tells ABC. "They took me in to see him and I looked at this guy and I said, 'He's beautiful—he's perfect and I'm absolutely keeping him,'" he says. But his Armenian wife told him she would leave him if he didn't agree to put the boy up for adoption, and when he declined, she filed for divorce a week after the boy was born on Jan. 21. "When a baby like this is born here, they will tell you that you don't have to keep them," Forrest says. "My wife had already decided, so all of this was done behind my back." The wife confirmed to ABC that she had a baby with Down syndrome and has left her husband, but she declined to discuss details. Forrest, a freelance business contractor, started a GoFundMe page for help taking Leo to live in New Zealand and has had an overwhelming response, TVNZ reports. With a $60,000 target, he has now raised more than $200,000 and plans to use the extra funds to support programs that help abandoned children in Armenia and families with disabled children. (A woman who asked for a few birthday cards for her son with Down syndrome received truckloads of responses.)


Write an article based on this summary:

– For the first time in its nearly 50-year history, Sesame Street will have a homeless Muppet character. Lily, a character first introduced as a hungry, impoverished little girl in 2011, is now involved in a storyline involving her family becoming homeless and having to stay with friends, CNN reports. For now, she appears in online clips rather than televised episodes of the show. The show launched the storyline as homelessness is increasing across the US; one report released last year estimates that about one in 20 children under the age of 6 experienced homelessness in 2014-15. "When Lily was first launched, she came out as part of the food insecurity initiative. So she's not brand-new, but this seemed like a really perfect extension of her story, so that we could use her to help children identify with," says a Sesame Workshop exec, who adds that another goal is to educate teachers, caregivers, and other children about issues affecting kids, helping them to empathize and to end the stigma around certain issues. "Now we don't have our own place to live, and sometimes I wonder if we'll ever have our own home," Lily says in one clip to Elmo, who reassures her that her friends will always be there for her, per USA Today. A press release about Lily links to resources parents and others can use with their kids. (Last year, Sesame Street introduced the first Muppet with autism.)

(CNN) For the first time, a resident of "Sesame Street" is experiencing homelessness -- and the hope is that her story can help sweep the clouds away for the growing number of young children in the United States without homes to call their own.

 Lily, a 7-year-old bright pink Muppet, was introduced to the world in 2011. She was originally described as being food-insecure because her family lacked consistent access to food.

 Now, "Lily is the first Muppet we've created whose storyline includes that she is experiencing homelessness," said Sherrie Westin, president of global impact and philanthropy for Sesame Workshop , formerly Children's Television Workshop, which is the nonprofit behind "Sesame Street."

 In new online videos, stories and resources, Sesame Workshop has expanded Lily's storyline to include that her family has lost their home and now must stay with friends. This homelessness initiative launched Wednesday as part of Sesame Workshop's Sesame Street in Communities program.

 "When Lily was first launched, she came out as part of the food insecurity initiative. So she's not brand new, but this seemed like a really perfect extension of her story, so that we could use her to help children identify with," Westin said. "With any of our initiatives, our hope is that we're not only reaching the children who can identify with that Muppet but that we're also helping others to have greater empathy and understanding of the issue."

 Although her journey with homelessness will not appear in televised episodes of "Sesame Street" at this point, she will be in separate videos and materials in the initiative.

 "The goal is really to give service providers, parents, teachers tools in order to address homelessness with children, in order to talk about it and raise awareness of the issue from a child's perspective and also to help children experiencing homelessness feel less alone," Westin said.

 "I think we tend to think of homelessness as an adult issue and don't always look at it through the lens of a child, and we realize that Sesame has a unique ability to do that, to look at tough issues with the lens of a child," she said.

 'Humanizing the experience of homelessness'

 A report released last year by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development revealed that homelessness is increasing across the country, with 553,742 people nationwide homeless on a single night in 2017, an increase of 0.7% from the previous year.

 JUST WATCHED What in the World: A solution to homelessness Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH What in the World: A solution to homelessness 03:27

 About 1 in 20 children younger than 6 experienced homelessness in 2014 to 2015, according to a report released last year by the US Administration for Children and Families

 During the 2013-14 school year, more than 1.3 million homeless children and youth were enrolled in public schools, according to the US Department of Education

 However, in general, the exact number of homeless youth in America remains a mystery.

 "Numbers are always trouble," said Megan Hustings, interim director of the National Coalition for the Homeless

 The number of young people who have experienced homelessness varies depending on age, time frame and how homelessness is defined, but between 500,000 and 2.8 million youth are thought to be homeless within the United States each year, according to the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs

 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street Photos: The stars of Sesame Street Julia, a new autistic muppet character, will join the cast of "Sesame Street" in April. The character was first introduced during the new Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children Hide Caption 1 of 21 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street Sesame Street's original star Big Bird has led the show since its first episode in 1969. The 8-foot Muppet often doesn't understand what's going on but sets the tone for the show by never hesitating to find out. Hide Caption 2 of 21 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street "Sesame Street's" Muppet characters were originally intended to be support for the human cast, but test audiences responded so warmly to Bert and Ernie's sketches that the producers put Muppets in starring roles. The comic duo have been two of the show's most popular characters ever since. Hide Caption 3 of 21 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street Sonia Manzano played shop owner Maria for nearly 45 years before retiring in July. She also worked as a writer for the show. Hide Caption 4 of 21 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street Alan Muraoka is the owner of Hooper's Store. He also works as a performer on Broadway. Hide Caption 5 of 21 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street Alison Bartlett O'Reilly took the role of Gina, an assistant at Hooper's Store and babysitter for Elmo and Zoe. She joined the ensemble in 1987. Hide Caption 6 of 21 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street Bob McGrath was one of the first four human cast members on Sesame Street. He is known for his music and singalongs, although Bob can also tell a good story or two. Hide Caption 7 of 21 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street Christopher Knowings helps out at Hooper's Store. He was cast in 2006. Hide Caption 8 of 21 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street Emilio Delgado, who plays Luis, was the first human cast member. When something needs to be fixed, he is the man to call. Hide Caption 9 of 21 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street Ismael Cruz Cordova is a new addition as Armando. He's best known for his role in the CBS drama "The Good Wife." Hide Caption 10 of 21 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street Loretta Long has played Susan since the show's beginning. When Big Bird needed comforting, Susan was there to help, and she is known for her maternal instincts. Hide Caption 11 of 21 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street Nitya Vidyasagar joined "Sesame Street" as Leela. The recent addition has a background in theater performance. Hide Caption 12 of 21 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street Roscoe Orman has played Gordon, husband to Susan, since Sesame Street began. Orman's real-life son Miles joined the cast in season 17 as Gordon's son, solidifying Orman's role as a kind and caring father. Hide Caption 13 of 21 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street The Muppet Show made him a star, but Kermit the Frog had begun winning younger fans on "Sesame Street," explaining to kids that "It's Not Easy Bein' Green" for the first time in 1970. Hide Caption 14 of 21 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street Fifteen years passed between the premiere of "Sesame Street" and Elmo getting his big break in 1984. But since then, the furry red monster with the high-pitched voice has gone on to become arguably the show's most popular Muppet. Hide Caption 15 of 21 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street "Om nom nom nom" -- Cookie Monster's voracious appetite for his favorite chocolate chip treats have endeared him to viewers since "Sesame Street's" first season. He's even managed to fit in teaching some important lessons: Thanks to him, generations of kids have grown up knowing that "C" is for cookie. Hide Caption 16 of 21 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street A bad-tempered green monster who loves "anything dirty or dingy or dusty" and lives in a trash can: perhaps not an obvious choice for a children's TV hero. Yet Oscar the Grouch, whose ambition is to be as miserable as possible, has failed to ruin viewers moods, bringing humor and fun to the Street. Hide Caption 17 of 21 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street Zoe broke into "Sesame Street's" largely male Muppet cast in 1994, becoming the show's stand-out female character. As she appears to be about the same age as Elmo, the two often spend time together. They are understood to be best friends. Hide Caption 18 of 21 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street Nothing can interrupt the Count when he's counting. Whether counting from one to 10 or up to a billion (as he did in 2013 to celebrate "Sesame Street's" 1 billion YouTube views), the Count is happiest with numbers. He can now count over 40 years of appearances on "Sesame Street" since his debut in 1972. Hide Caption 19 of 21 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street Is Grover the coolest Muppet on "Sesame Street"? He certainly thinks he is and describes himself as a "cute, furry little monster." Grover is one of the favorite creations of "Sesame Street" puppeteer Frank Oz, who said his generous personality and distinctive way of pronouncing each word "came about organically" when he brought the Muppet to the Street in 1970. Hide Caption 20 of 21 Photos: The stars of Sesame Street For many years, the adults on "Sesame Street" didn't believe that Mr. Snuffleupagus was real. The gigantic Muppet had an uncanny way of disappearing just before adult characters arrived, and many assumed he was Big Bird's imaginary friend. The very real Muppet is one of the Street's most cultured residents, revealing a love of ballet, opera and art since his first appearance in 1971. Hide Caption 21 of 21

 Lily's story as a Muppet serves as an example of how homelessness has become a growing issue in America, said Hustings, who has no relationship with Sesame Workshop.

 "It's like, wow, we've gotten to this point where this era of homelessness has become so common and so entrenched that it begs a character on 'Sesame Street' to help children understand what they're seeing in their communities," Hustings said.

 "But we know that 'Sesame Street' is coming from a place of education and really wants to build awareness and understanding of all of our community members, despite differences, which is really amazing," she said.

 Highlighting Lily's experiences with homelessness can positively impact the way children today think about homelessness and people in poverty, said Rashmita Mistry, a professor of education at the University of California, Los Angeles , who is not involved in Sesame Workshop.

 "Young children quickly develop ideas about the homeless based on what they see, observe and hear. And, unfortunately, their perceptions lead them to form negative impressions about the homeless," Mistry said.

 "Humanizing the experience of homelessness is especially important because families with young children and school-age children make up a sizable proportion of the homeless population, especially so in urban communities where there's high cost of housing, a tight housing market and limited rent control along with low and non-sustainable wages," she said. "Homelessness is also a much more varied experience than living on the streets and -- as defined by the Department of Education -- includes living in a car, a motel, a shelter and doubling up with friends. Yet this is a group we often do not talk about."

 Other Muppets making a difference

 Since "Sesame Street" launched in 1969 , it has established a reputation for inclusion with its characters.

 JUST WATCHED Meet 'Sesame Street's' muppet with autism Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Meet 'Sesame Street's' muppet with autism 00:52

 Just last year, the "Sesame Street" show introduced a resident named Julia, who has autism

 Julia was already popular in digital form when Sesame Workshop launched its nationwide initiative " Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children " in 2015, which offers resources for families on how to talk about autism and support the autism community.

 In 2002, "Sesame Street" in South Africa, called " Takalani Sesame ," introduced Kami , the world's first Muppet with HIV.

 Get CNN Health's weekly newsletter Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team.

 Kami, the 5-year-old yellow Muppet, is often shown laughing, playing and linking arms with her friends. Her storyline provides basic knowledge of HIV and destigmatization and teaches children how to cope with loss.

 At the time she was introduced, "one in seven children in South Africa was affected by HIV and AIDS. They were either infected themselves or had lost a parent," Westin said. "We created the first preschool curriculum, and in that, we created a character so that Kami would help destigmatize HIV and AIDS, to help break down that culture of silence." ||||| Sesame Workshop Launches Nationwide Initiative to Address the Impact of Homelessness Among America’s Youngest Children

 Sesame Workshop Launches Nationwide Initiative to Address the Impact of Homelessness Among America’s Youngest Children

 Sesame Street’s Muppet Lily to offer help, hope, and healing to families struggling to find a permanent place to live; new initiative featured on www.sesamestreeincommunities.org

 (New York, NY) December 12, 2018—Sesame Workshop, the non-profit educational organization behind Sesame Street, announced today a major new initiative to offer help and hope to the growing number of young children across the United States who are experiencing homelessness. The initiative engages children and families with the resilient and relatable Lily, a seven-year-old Muppet whose family is staying with friends on Sesame Street after losing their home. Lily is featured in new videos, storybooks, and interactive activities for families with children ages 2 to 6, in addition to materials for the professionals who serve them, such as teachers, social workers, and healthcare providers. Sesame launched the initiative, part of its Sesame Street in Communities program, to help mitigate the impact of the trauma and stigma that result from homelessness.

 The rate of young children who do not have a permanent place to live has been steadily growing. More than 2.5 million children are experiencing homelessness nationwide—and nearly half of those children, 1.2 million, are under the age of six. According to the Office of Head Start, there has been a 100 percent increase in enrollment of children experiencing homelessness in Head Start and Early Head Start programs over the past decade, with 2016-17 marking a record number.

 Through its new initiative, Sesame offers a variety of free, bilingual materials specifically developed to help children who are experiencing homelessness, which often involves an ongoing cycle of physical, emotional, and psychological distress. The resources were created in partnership with national experts on family homelessness and tested with both providers and parents. Lily was originally introduced in 2011, when her family was struggling with hunger. Unfortunately, Lily’s path is common for many children experiencing homelessness.

 “We know children experiencing homelessness are often caught up in a devastating cycle of trauma—the lack of affordable housing, poverty, domestic violence, or other trauma that caused them to lose their home, the trauma of actually losing their home, and the daily trauma of the uncertainty and insecurity of being homeless,” said Sherrie Westin, President of Global Impact and Philanthropy at Sesame Workshop. “We want to help disrupt that cycle by comforting children, empowering them, and giving them hope for the future. We want them to know that they are not alone and home is more than a house or an apartment—home is wherever the love lives.”

 By featuring Lily and her friends on Sesame Street, the resources are designed to show the experience from a child’s perspective, with Lily and her friends encouraging optimism, promoting understanding, and modeling simple coping strategies for children. The new resources include:

 “ Connect the Dots ” : Lily and Sofia play a game that helps Lily feel surrounded by love.

 : Lily and Sofia play a game that helps Lily feel surrounded by love. “ Rainbow Kind of Day ”: Lily, Elmo, and Sofia learn the benefits of talking about big feelings and asking for help.

 ”: Lily, Elmo, and Sofia learn the benefits of talking about big feelings and asking for help. “ Ribbons of Hope ”: After her family finds permanent housing, Lily demonstrates “survivor’s pride” and shares a coping strategy—and a special bracelet—with Elmo.

 ”: After her family finds permanent housing, Lily demonstrates “survivor’s pride” and shares a coping strategy—and a special bracelet—with Elmo. “Home Is…”: Elmo and Rosita meet some new friends who don’t have homes right now and learn about what the concept of “home” means to them.

 Activities and suggestions to help parents and providers give children a sense of continuity, routine, and predictability. The materials include interactive rhyming poems, coloring pages, storybooks, and helpful answers to children’s difficult questions. There are also resources that help promote engagement between caregivers and children, as well as ideas for comforting routines that parents can do with children anywhere.

 New professional development videos, articles, and strategies for providers (social workers, shelter staff, teachers, healthcare workers, and more) who play a crucial role in supporting children experiencing homelessness. The new resources aim to raise awareness and offer strategies for providers who can create a circle of care around children.

 Additionally, on December 13 at 4:00pm ET, Sesame Street in Communities will host an interactive conversation with a panel of expert providers to raise nationwide awareness about homelessness, its effects on children, and ways providers can help. Anyone can join the conversation on Facebook Live and YouTube.

 “Sesame Street’s new initiative on homelessness is nothing short of transformative for those of us working to create a sense of stability and hope for families experiencing homelessness,” said Barbara Duffield, member of Sesame Workshop’s advisory committee and Executive Director of SchoolHouse Connection, a national non-profit organization working to overcome homelessness through education. “At SchoolHouse Connection, we are eager to use the new materials to increase the identification of children who are homeless in early childhood and educational settings, to increase support for children in homeless services and housing programs, and to raise the visibility of family homelessness among policymakers at every level.”

 Sesame Street in Communities is a program to help community providers, parents, and caregivers give children a strong and healthy start. Sesame Street in Communities partners with community providers to reach parents and caregivers with free, easy-to-use resources on topics ranging from healthy eating and school readiness to tougher issues like trauma and grief. The materials, which include videos, storybooks, digital interactives, games, and professional development resources, are available for free—in English and Spanish—at www.sesamestreetincommunities.org.

 Sesame Workshop is implementing Sesame Street in Communities in Kansas City, MO and KS; Los Angeles, CA; Guilford County; NC; Transylvania County, NC; Memphis, TN; Leland and Indianola, MS, and, in 2019, Camden, NJ. Sesame Street in Communities aims to reach 4.5 million children under age 6 and their families; connect with more than 11,000 direct service providers; develop 200 national and local partnerships; and expand to at least 35 additional communities across the country.

 This initiative is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Joan Ganz Cooney Fund for Vulnerable Children.

 ABOUT SESAME WORKSHOP

 Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, the pioneering television show that has been reaching and teaching children since 1969. Today, Sesame Workshop is an innovative force for change, with a mission to help kids everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder. We’re active in more than 150 countries, serving vulnerable children through a wide range of media, formal education, and philanthropically-funded social impact programs, each grounded in rigorous research and tailored to the needs and cultures of the communities we serve. For more information, please visit www.sesameworkshop.org.

 ABOUT THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION

 For more than 45 years the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has worked to improve health and health care. We are working alongside others to build a national Culture of Health that provides everyone in America a fair and just opportunity for health and well-being. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or on Facebook at www.rwjf.org/facebook.

 ABOUT THE JOAN GANZ COONEY FUND FOR VULNERABLE CHILDREN

 The Joan Ganz Cooney Fund for Vulnerable Children was established in 2018 to support content development, training for service providers, research, and implementation for Sesame Street in Communities. Made possible by a generous gift from Joan Ganz Cooney’s late husband Peter G. Peterson, the fund honors Ms. Cooney’s pioneering work as Sesame Street’s co-founder by furthering Sesame Workshop’s commitment to helping children overcome challenges big and small.

 Press Contacts:

 Hallie Ruvin

 Hallie.Ruvin@sesame.org

 Abby Manishor

 amanishor@burness.com

 917-539-3308 ||||| 'Now we don't have our own place to live': 'Sesame Street' introduces first homeless character

 CLOSE Lily, the first homeless character on "Sesame Street," will teach kids a lesson of hope and love. USA TODAY

 Lily, the hot pink puppet with red hair, is the first character to be homeless on "Sesame Street."

 She was first introduced to the series in 2011 where she explained that her family was experiencing food insecurity – they didn't have enough to eat.

 In new online clips, the seven-year-old character explains that she is staying with friends on "Sesame Street" because her family has lost their home.

 "Now we don't have our own place to live, and sometimes I wonder if we'll ever have our own home," Lily expressed to Elmo.

 Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind "Sesame Street," is reintroducing Lily as the first homeless character on the show in order to provide hope for those children that are currently without a home of their own. The story line was created as a new initiative, and part of the Sesame Street in Communities program, to alleviate the stigma around homelessness.

 In the videos, Lily is also shown to be supported by Elmo who tells her "we got this" and that her friends will always be there for her.

 Sesame Street in Communities has also provided resources for parents and caregivers with free, bilingual resources and activities and suggestions that help mitigate the effects of homelessness in children. There are videos that show Lily being loved by her friends Elmo and Sofia and others that show other kids who don't have homes sharing what the idea of "home" means to them.

 One in 20 children younger than 6 years old in the United States experienced homelessness, according to a 2017 release of a 2014-15 report by the Administration for Children and Families, a division of the Department of Health & Human Services.

 “We know children experiencing homelessness are often caught up in a devastating cycle of trauma – the lack of affordable housing, poverty, domestic violence, or other trauma that caused them to lose their home, the trauma of actually losing their home, and the daily trauma of the uncertainty and insecurity of being homeless,” said Sherrie Westin, President of Global Impact and Philanthropy at Sesame Workshop in a press release. “We want to help disrupt that cycle by comforting children, empowering them, and giving them hope for the future. We want them to know that they are not alone and home is more than a house or an apartment – home is wherever the love lives.”

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