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50 Cent Sues Taco Bell for Big Change | (Jul 24, 2008 10:27 AM CDT) Rapper 50 Cent is suing Taco Bell for $4 million over a guerrilla ad campaign, reports E! Online. The fast food giant wrote Fiddy, suggesting he change his name to 79, 89, or 99 Cent for a price promotion. By releasing the letter to the media, he claims Taco Bell unfairly traded on his brand, diluting the value of his good name. |
Herman Cain Returns, With 9-9-9 Bus Tour | (Jan 5, 2012 7:05 AM) He’s baaaaack. Ripping a page directly out of Sarah Palin’s playbook, Herman Cain is launching a quasi-campaign tour in a bus with a giant picture of his face on the side, he announced yesterday in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News. Cain says the road trip is part of his new Solutions Revolution movement, in which he’ll barnstorm for his various policy ideas. First up? You guessed it: 9-9-9. The thing that didn’t happen in Iowa … is not enough is discussed about solutions, Cain said. We’re gonna make the solutions the star. He intends to pressure congressional candidates to pledge support for 9-9-9, and his other policy solutions, before the election. Cain also said that he’d endorse a GOP presidential contender if they totally endorse 9-9-9, his energy plan, and his sound money plan. What about 8-8-8? Hannity quipped. 8-8-8 wouldn’t work, Cain said, Not enough money! More at CainConnections.com. |
Wonderbra Debuts 3D Billboard | (Sep 14, 2010 2:00 PM CDT) There's probably a joke about 3D vs. DDD somewhere in here: Wonderbra's latest advertising campaign is, yes, a 3D billboard in London. Makes sense, since the company is a tireless seeker of new ways to make breasts look larger, writes Tim Nudd on Adweek. Of course, you'll need to be wearing 3D glasses to get the full effect—but even viewed without 3D glasses, it's eye-catching enough that road-safety experts are worried it will cause accidents. See the ad here. |
Report: 1K US Spies Helping Brazil Monitor Olympics | (Aug 5, 2016 9:24 AM CDT) There may be more US spies than Zika-carrying mosquitoes in Rio over the next couple of weeks, per a highly classified intelligence report seen by NBC News. With the blessing of Brazil's government, some 1,000 espionage experts—about 350 of them onsite in Rio—are positioned and ready to protect the Olympics and its spectators. Although there's no known (or disclosed) plot against the sports competition, all 17 US intelligence agencies have taken on the task, in conjunction with their Brazilian counterparts, to identify and disrupt potential threats, says a spokesman for National Intelligence Director James Clapper. The US force is said to include analysts and members of law enforcement, as well as more than a dozen special-ops commandos from the Navy and Marine Corps. Olympic Watch has been a massive operation months in the making, with the FBI, CIA, NSA, and Secret Service, among others, all playing a part. Efforts include everything from monitoring surveillance satellites and social media to assisting with background checks on the more than 10,000 athletes descending on Brazil's second-largest city. The American military has an especially personal reason to keep a tab on things, per a senior US intel official: Athletes from each of the military branches are competing in the games. We have actual equities involved, the official says. The Independent last month looked at what it calls Brazil's pre-9/11 world, reporting that the country has little experience with the kind of international terrorism that has touched the US and Europe. |
8M Poor People Still Not Covered by ObamaCare | (Oct 3, 2013 9:45 AM CDT) The new health-care exchanges set up under ObamaCare are now a reality, but a New York Times analysis finds a problem with the rollout of the Affordable Care Act that goes beyond software glitches. About 8 million working poor people who need health insurance still can't get it, with black people and single mothers accounting for most of them. The problem is that they live in one of the 26 states that chose not to expand its Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act. The upshot is that these 8 million are stuck between people with slightly higher incomes who will qualify for federal subsidies on the new health exchanges that went live this week, and those who are poor enough to qualify for Medicaid in its current form, which has income ceilings as low as $11 a day in some states, write Sabrina Tavernise and Robert Gebeloff. Click for the full story, in which civil rights advocates say the real issue at play is race. |
Richard Gere Ends 11-Year Marriage | (Sep 25, 2013 8:50 AM CDT) Richard Gere is splitting with his wife of 11 years, sources tell Page Six. Gere, 64, and Carey Lowell, 52, are reportedly separated and planning to divorce; they haven't been photographed together since last year, and Page Six last fall reported that Gere had been spotted flirting with another woman. One source says the couple drifted apart because Gere, a Buddhist, likes quiet and solitude while Lowell enjoys being ... in the limelight. Another says they've been spending time apart for quite some time. They were together for seven years before marrying, and they have a son together (Homer is 13, according to the Huffington Post); sources aren't sure when they'll file for divorce. Their 12,000-square-foot North Haven home (that's in the Hamptons) was put on the market just two months ago for $65 million; they also have a home in Bedford, NY. |
Big Asteroid 2005 YU55 Will Fly By Earth in November | (May 5, 2011 3:53 PM CDT) A massive space rock will fly by Earth in November, and astronomers already are jazzed about getting a rare close-up view, reports Universe Today. The asteroid, named 2005 YU55, is about the size of an aircraft carrier and will come within about 200,000 miles of Earth on November 8, notes Space.com. Asteroids of this size have come as close before, but scientists have never been as technologically prepared to zoom in as they are now. This type of asteroid is thought to be representative of the primordial materials from which our solar system was formed, says a NASA scientist. This flyby will be an excellent opportunity to test how we study, document, and quantify which asteroids would be most appropriate for a future human mission. And don't worry: It poses no threat of an Earth collision over, at the very least, the next 100 years. Click to read about another nearby asteroid. |
Run 1 Mile While Chugging 4 Beers—Just Don't Vomit | (Dec 3, 2014 7:00 PM) If you've already conquered mud runs and you're able to guzzle down a Heineken in eight seconds or less, there's an adventure-racing category you might want to look into: the beer mile. This quirky quaff-and-run doesn't sound terribly demanding at first: Run 1 mile. Of course, there's a catch: You have to chug a 12-ounce beer every lap (for a total of four) without vomiting; if you lose your lager on the track, you have to do a penalty lap or be disqualified, the New York Times explains. More than 150 runners were competing today in the first world championship devoted to this imbibing endeavor in Austin, Texas, with competitors vying to beat the current beer-mile world record of 4:57 set by James The Beast Nielsen. Contenders can quaff any beer, as long as it contains at least 5% alcohol (according to Beermile.com, the most popular running brews are Bud, PBR, and Miller High Life). Jim Finlayson, a 42-year-old runner from British Columbia, tells the Times he trains for the sport—which is believed to have been started in either Canada, Indonesia, or US colleges in the '80s, Beermile.com notes—by setting an alarm for the middle of the night, then gulping down a bedside container of carbonated water as fast as he can when it goes off; he'll also hold his breath for 60 seconds, then drink a pint before gasping for oxygen. The races are often held in the dark to flout local open-container rules and also—inexplicably, the Times notes—in cold weather. Don't feel bad if this all sounds dreadfully horrible to you: Lance Armstrong dropped out after just one lap in a qualifying run, saying, That was not what I expected, as per the Times. (At least running with beer will probably produce less spillage than if you ran with coffee.) |
Obama Advisers Rip Mac Plan to Expel Russia From G-8 | (Jul 9, 2008 6:00 PM CDT) John McCain is off-base in his suggestion Russia should be booted from the Group of 8, two former Clinton cabinet officials—and current Obama advisers—write in the Los Angeles Times. Sure, Moscow has departed from democracy, Madeline Albright and William Perry allow, but the US stands a better chance of changing the nation's ways if it's not hung up on symbolism and protocol. The Republican does not say what this would accomplish other than dramatizing, for a moment, our disappointment with Russia's domestic policies, they write. The US needs to work with Russia on terrorism, containing Iran and securing nukes, and ending Moscow’s exposure to the influence of the world’s leading democracies is definitely not the answer. |
Police Search Mumbai for 4 Men Plotting Holiday Attack | (Dec 24, 2010 7:02 AM) Four terrorists have entered India and are planning to attack Mumbai over the holidays, say authorities, who have issued a terror alert for the city. Police last night said they believe the four belong to Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group blamed for the November 2008 attacks. Today, police set up checkpoints along major roads in the city, put additional men on patrol duty at public places, and released computer photographs of the four suspects, reports the AP. The four men are planning violent attacks that are going to cause destruction, said a police commissioner. The four have recently arrived in Mumbai. We believe the threat is serious. |
Cops: 14-Year-Old Robbed Bank Outside Cleveland | (Nov 18, 2015 7:00 PM) Authorities in Ohio say a 14-year-old boy wearing a backpack used a note to rob a bank in suburban Cleveland last month. Police in the city of Euclid say the Cleveland teen was arrested Monday and is being charged in juvenile court. They say they quickly identified the boy and that they're searching for an accomplice. The boy's name hasn't been released. Authorities aren't saying how much was stolen in the Oct. 30 robbery of a Citizens Bank branch. |
Lion King Star, 11, Dies of Cancer | (Nov 3, 2010 2:23 AM CDT) A young girl with a giant voice who won an open audition for a role in the Broadway production of The Lion King has died of leukemia at the age of 11. Shannon Tavarez spent seven months performing in the show before she was diagnosed in April. Thousands of people, including rapper 50 Cent, volunteered to donate bone marrow to help in her battle for health, but no match for the 6th-grader was ever found, ABC News reports. Her mixed Hispanic and African-American background made it harder to find a match. Tavarez competed against thousands of hopefuls to win the role of Young Nala. She was fearless, as a performer and as a young woman, the production stage manager for The Lion King tells the New York Times. She was never intimidated and she was constantly happy. After she was diagnosed, all she talked about was when she could come back. |
Sex Probe Balloons to 38 Victims at Air Force Base | (Jul 27, 2012 12:06 AM CDT) A sex assault and harassment probe at a Texas Air Force base has been expanded to 15 instructors, and the number of possible victims is now up to 38. There may be others as we continue the investigation at the Lackland base in San Antonio, said an Air Force spokesman. We’ve always known this is just the tip of the iceberg, said the founder of a group that supports sexual trauma victims in the military. In all likelihood we are just beginning to document how horrible this problem really is. A military jury last week sentenced former instructor Staff Sgt. Luis Walker to 20 years in prison for the rape of one trainee and sexual assault of several others. The counts against Walker were the most severe so far in the probe. Four other instructors currently face court martial charges concerning sex and recruits. To date, the Air Force has permanently removed 36 instructors for reasons including misconduct, failure to meet standards, and medical issues, reports the San Antonio Express. We have said from the outset of these investigations that we will investigate every lead, and we don’t know who or how many instances of unprofessional conduct may turn up, said an Air Force spokesman. All Air Force recruits go through basic training at Lackland. The base has some 500 instructors, most of them male, for 35,000 recruits annually. One in five of the trainees are female, notes AP. |
3 Days of Drone Strikes Kill 27 in Pakistan | (Jun 4, 2012 5:45 AM CDT) Three US drone strikes have killed 27 people in Pakistan since Saturday, including 15 today, as tension between the countries continues to rise. Today's strike, in northwest Pakistan, was aimed at a militant stronghold in North Waziristan's tribal region; attacks on Saturday and Sunday struck South Waziristan, Reuters reports. The attacks come amid a feud over NATO supply routes through Pakistan to Afghanistan, which the US wants reopened after Islamabad closed them last year. |
Incomes Under $400K May Dodge Brunt of Tax Hike | (Feb 28, 2009 12:13 PM) If your income is in the $200,000-400,000 range, and you’ve been fretting over Barack Obama’s proposed tax hikes, relax; odds are decent you won’t wind up paying more. Obama’s plan does indeed jack up the rates on those tax brackets, but for many those increases won’t take their federal taxes above the Alternative Minimum Tax level they’ve been paying for years, the New York Times reports. Those in the upper income echelons must calculate both their normal federal taxes, and their AMT, then pay whichever is higher. For the modestly wealthy, the AMT will likely remain higher, or extremely close. The tax hike will really hit those making much more. Especially hard hit will be the Wall Street honchos who’ve been paying the 15% capital gains tax on most of their income. They’ll now have to pay new 39.6% standard rate. |
Kid on 911 Call: 'Daddy Went Past a Red Light' | (Jun 2, 2016 7:06 AM CDT) Michael Richardson says he was heading to the car wash with his son in Quincy, Mass., on Saturday when he turned right on a red light. I told him to stop, but he didn't listen, says 6-year-old Robbie, who knows a red light makes you stop. His dad tried to explain that turning right on a red light is sometimes allowed, but Robbie promised to call the police when they got home, reports the Boston Globe. He wasn't joking. I know how to call the police, he tells the Globe. Easy peasy. While his parents were outside, he dialed 911, telling the operator, Um, Daddy went past a red light. The operator eventually asked to talk to Robbie's dad, who was so shocked that he couldn't properly remember his son's age. He then apologized for allegedly running the light and for his son calling in a non-emergency. Police say no ticket was issued to Richardson, per CBS News. And after his parents explained he should only call 911 in an emergency, Robbie says he won't make the same mistake again. When my daddy goes past a red light again, I'll call the eye doctor so he can fix his eyes, he says. |
Unemployment Ticks Up to 7.6% | (Jun 7, 2013 7:49 AM CDT) The unemployment rate ticked up a notch in May: It had been expected to remain at 7.5%, but instead went up to 7.6%, the Wall Street Journal reports. But, the AP notes, that's because more people are looking for work, which is a good thing. And while 169,000 new jobs were expected to have been created, today's jobs report revealed the very slightly sunnier number of 175,000. The Journal journos' take seems to be: not great, but also not terrible. And perhaps a bit anticlimactic, considering CNBC earlier reported this could be the most important jobs report in years, one that could shape market expectations for months and even clarify the Fed's next policy move. (But CNBC did note it could just reaffirm the status quo.) The AP thinks the Fed will continue its bond purchases based on these numbers. More less-than-exciting news: The jobs added in April and March were revised downward by 12,000. |
How to Become a Pundit on $7,500 a Day | (Jul 5, 2009 7:31 PM CDT) Socrates and his ilk were deep thinkers, but modern-day pundits had better look good, think in sound bites, and be ready to spend $7,500 per day in training to get on TV, CBS News reports. We coach people to look their best and sound their best any time they're on TV, says TJ Walker, pundit trainer. His keys to success: Don't look up, don't lean back, and never say something as if it's just your opinion. One analyst who looked at 30,000 pundit predictions found a negative correlation between how telegenic you are and how accurate you are. Commentator JP Freire says Americans aren't doe-eyed idiots who believe pundits, anyway, but one neurological study differs, showing that people's brains go blank when an expert speaks. Says one doctor: My advice is to have confidence in your own decision-making, and use it. Yes, absolutely use it. |
141 Staffers Make $100K at White House | (Jul 1, 2011 5:11 PM CDT) Budget crisis or not, it pays to work at the White House. Of the 454 employees who work at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, 141 bring home six-figure salaries, according to the annual report released by the White House. Twenty-one make the top salary of $172,200, reports the National Journal. They include spokesman Jay Carney, speechwriter Jon Favreau, adviser Valerie Jarrett, and chief of staff Bill Daley. President Obama is not included in the document since it only spotlights employees, but he earns $400,000 annually. Check out what everyone else makes here. |
It's Straight to Work for No. 44 | (Jan 21, 2009 10:31 AM) Barack Obama kicked off day one as president by entering the Oval Office at 8:35am, later, notes the Christian Science Monitor, than his predecessor typically did—though perhaps not that late considering his night of parties stretched until 1am. Obama spent 10 minutes alone, reading a note in an envelope marked: To: #44, From: #43. For more photos from Obama's first day on the job, click the image to the left. |
1 Womb, 2 Fetuses, 2 Weeks Apart: Here's How | (Sep 28, 2009 11:55 AM CDT) Forget that 19-pound Indonesian baby. The real miracle pregnancy is Arkansas born and bred: Julia Grovenburg, who this month managed to get pregnant not once, but twice. That’s right: two conceptions, one two weeks after the other, to be enjoyed—cherished, endured, served—concomitantly. There are only 10 recorded cases of the phenomenon, called superfetation. Time takes a look at how it works. Superfetation occurs when a woman continues to ovulate after conception and a fertilized egg manages to attach itself to the already pregnant womb’s lining. This is, of course, very rare, as the hormones spawned by the primary pregnancy generally stop ovulation, and the pregnant womb’s lining is generally too thick for a new egg to attach. Nobody has any idea how it happens, but things should turn out well for Grovenburg—with the extra pregnancy so close on the heels of the first, she will likely just have one slightly premature baby. |
Yes, the $1,100 Earbuds Sound Pretty Awesome | (Sep 1, 2009 6:11 PM CDT) Sure, the new JH Audio JH13PRO custom earbuds cost $1,100, Jackson Lynch writes in Wired, but you get what you pay for. The three sets of twin drivers funnel fantastically detailed sound directly to your cochleae, Lynch writes. The proprietary drivers—two for the highs, two for the midrange and two for the lows—deliver nearly spotless sound. The JH13s are terribly expensive, Lynch concedes, but they also make for the most luxurious listening this side of heaven. He put the earbuds through a wide range of musical formats, and they delivered fantastic sound separation with uncompromising booming bass, rattling mids, and crystalline highs. In short, the headphones are arguably the best-sounding personal audio earbuds we've yet listened to. |
Afghan War Killed 2 Kids a Day in 2010 | (Feb 9, 2011 1:11 PM) Nearly 740 kids—an average of about two a day—were killed in the Afghanistan war last year, says a watchdog group. About two-thirds of those deaths were blamed on insurgents—or armed opposition groups in the language of the report—with 17% blamed on US and NATO forces. The kids were among the record-high 2,421 Afghan civilians killed in war-related violence in 2010, reports Reuters. The number of deaths among kids is actually down from 1,050 in 2009, but the independent Afghanistan Rights Monitor says it's still inexcusable. Children were highly vulnerable to the harms of war but little was done by the combatant sides, particularly by the AOGs, to ensure child safety and security during military and security incidents. All this comes against the backdrop of an escalating air war, notes Wired. |
2 Probes Launched Into Bear Stearns Deal | (Mar 27, 2008 4:40 AM CDT) The controversial acquisition of Bear Stearns by rival JP Morgan Chase, aided by billions of dollars of government credit, is about to become one of the most scrutinized deals in Wall Street history. Two separate Senate investigations will soon be under way, one by the Banking Committee and another by the Finance Committee, reports the New York Times. The tone of the investigations already threatens to be testy. The Finance Committee chair vowed his panel will probe just how the government decided to front $30 billion in taxpayer dollars for the Bear Stearns deal. The chairman of the the Banking Committee has called on government architects of the deal to testify next week. |
59 Vehicle Pile-Up Shuts Highway | (Jan 12, 2009 5:07 AM) A New Hampshire highway was shut down yesterday when 59 vehicles, including three buses and two tractor trailers, piled into one another in a snowstorm. Interstate 93 was closed for several hours as 100 injured people were treated at the scene, reports the Manchester Union Leader. Some 15 people were hospitalized, several with fractures, but there were no life-threatening injuries. All of a sudden, cars were just stopping in front of us, said one driver. We put our brakes on, skid, were hit and turned sideways in the road. They just kept coming. It was like 'bang, bang, bang.' I told the kids to stay put and to keep their seat belts on. |
Dow Hits 12K | (Jan 26, 2011 9:30 AM) The Dow Jones industrial average is surpassing 12,000 as investors shrug off weak earnings results and focus on President Obama's call to overhaul corporate taxes. The average climbed to 12,006 early today. The last time it closed above 12,000 was June 19, 2008. Obama said he wanted to close corporate tax loopholes and use the additional revenue to lower corporate tax rates for the first time in 25 years. That offset weak earnings results from Boeing Co., Xerox Corp. and Eastman Kodak Co. |
Teen's HIV in Check for 12 Years Without Drugs | (Jul 20, 2015 5:30 PM CDT) An 18-year-old French teen born with the AIDS virus has had her infection under control and nearly undetectable despite stopping treatment 12 years ago—an unprecedented remission, doctors are reporting. The teen might have some form of natural resistance to HIV that hasn't yet been discovered. But her case revives hope that early, aggressive treatment can limit how strongly the virus takes hold, and perhaps in rare cases, let people control it without lifelong drugs. A few years ago, doctors reported a similar case: a Mississippi girl who kept HIV in check for 27 months without treatment. But then her virus rebounded, dashing hopes that early treatment might have cured her. At least a dozen adults have had remissions for a median of 10 years after stopping HIV medicines, but the new French case is said to be the first long-lasting one that started in childhood. The case was described today at an International AIDS Society conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Dr. Asier Saez-Cirion of the Pasteur Institute in Paris. The teen lives in the Paris area and her identity was not revealed. This is an exciting story, but it is unknown if the remission will last, says Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, a scientist at the Pasteur Institute and a co-discoverer of HIV. Another doctor tells the Guardian that the teen has been in virological remission for so long because she received a combination of antiretrovirals very soon after infection. |
Cops: 70-Year-Old Robs Bank to Get Out of Living With Wife | (Sep 7, 2016 1:19 PM CDT) Home life not going so well? Just rob a bank and get yourself relocated to jail. That's what a 70-year-old Kansas man allegedly did Friday, the Kansas City Star reports. Police say Lawrence John Ripple walked into Kansas City's Bank of Labor and gave the teller a note reading, I have a gun, give me money. But after getting almost $3,000 from the teller, police say, Ripple sat down in the bank lobby and told a bank security guard, I'm the guy you're looking for. The guard took the money and held Ripple there until police arrived. Later, while being questioned, Ripple allegedly explained to investigators that he'd had a fight with his wife and that he no longer wanted to be in that situation. Ripple wrote out his demand note in front of his wife … and told her he’d rather be in jail than at home, an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit. Ripple was charged with bank robbery in court Tuesday, the AP reports. He was initially taken to the Wyandotte County Detention Center, but the Washington Post reports that a judge hindered his grand scheme on Wednesday by releasing him on his own recognizance. (This attempted bank robbery couldn't have gone much worse.) |
Downing Pint of Vodka in 4 Seconds Kills Brit | (Sep 30, 2010 3:20 AM CDT) A British electrician's assistant was killed by booze after downing a pint of vodka in 4 seconds, an inquest was told yesterday. He also had traces of mephedrone, a then-legal substance that creates feelings of euphoria, but the coroner said alcohol alone caused the death of Richard Davies, 29, reports the BBC. His blood alcohol level was 5.5 times the maximum limit for drivers. I did try to take the glass off him, a friend testified. But he turned his back on me, pushed me away, and drank it all. |
Fraudster Cheats Alan Grayson Out of $18M | (Dec 10, 2013 9:06 AM) Florida Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson—one of the richest people in Congress—was a victim of fraud that cost him $18 million, court documents show. On Friday, William Dean Chapman was sentenced to 12 years in prison over the scheme, which cost 120 investors some $35 million. After investors provided their stocks as loan collateral, Chapman would pass up to 90% of the stock's value to them. Customers could keep the money if the stocks did poorly, but if they did well, they were required to pay the money back, along with interest, the AP reports. At that point, Chapman would, in theory, return the stocks to the investor. Instead, however, he sold the stocks, which fueled a luxury lifestyle. If stocks ended up doing well, Chapman's company, Alexander Capital Markets, couldn't meet its obligations. Grayson's stocks soared, according to court papers; a portfolio of $9.35 million climbed to $23 million over the course of 2007. Because the return on (Grayson's) commodities investments were so astronomical, ACM could not meet its obligations under the loan agreements, wrote a defense lawyer. But if they had not sold the collateral, it all would have worked, says Grayson, who previously won $34 million in a lawsuit over a separate fraud case, the AP notes. |
20 Rescued From Aerial Cable Car— After 17 Hours | (Aug 13, 2011 2:38 PM CDT) No matter how bad your night was, 20 tourists in Germany have you beat. They spent it crammed into a mountain cable car that got stuck at 330 feet. All were finally plucked to safety today—after 17 hours—by helicopters at Tegelberg Mountain, reports AP. The car got jammed yesterday near the famed Neuschwanstein Castle when two paragliders flew into the cables. (They're OK, too.) High winds prevented an immediate rescue. A second cable car also got stuck at a lower height, but those passengers were brought down with safety ropes yesterday. |
Chihuahua at Center of $29M Estate Battle | (Jun 17, 2010 10:36 AM CDT) A dying heiress leaves her $8.3 million mansion and a $3 million trust fund to her chihuahua, so little Conchita can continue to live in the diamond-wearing, spa-going manner to which she is accustomed. Sounds like just another tale of the eccentric rich, right? But Gail Posner's son thinks her household staff—who were left a total of $26 million, while he received just $1 million—are behind the will, which she changed in 2008, and he’s suing to revoke it. Posner, who died in March, arranged for some staff to continue living rent-free in the mansion, provided they care for Conchita and other pets. But son Bret Carr—who had a sometimes troubled relationship with his mother—thinks the staff drugged Posner and persuaded her to change her will, then convinced her to start promoting Conchita as an extravagantly spoiled dog in order to explain why she was eventually left so much money. The Wall Street Journal has more on Carr’s case and his family’s grim history. |
61 Dead in India Train Crash | (Jul 19, 2010 4:20 AM CDT) A train crash powerful enough to thrust the roof of one of its cars into a bridge above the tracks has killed 61 people in India. Another 120 were injured after the express train hit a standing train early today at a station in the town of Sainthia, about 125 miles north of Calcutta, reports the BBC. Police are looking into the possibility that faulty signaling was behind the crash, though the AP notes that they have not ruled out sabotage. The accident, which destroyed a luggage car and two passenger cars reserved for those with the cheapest tickets, marks West Bengal's second major rail calamity this year. |
Joan Rivers Dead at 81 | (Sep 4, 2014 2:09 PM CDT) Joan Rivers is dead at age 81, daughter Melissa announced today. The comedian passed peacefully surrounded by family and close friends, said the statement. (Read it in full here.) As the Daily News recounts, the news comes after Rivers stopped breathing during a routine throat procedure on Aug. 28 and ended up on life support at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. She never recovered. My mother’s greatest joy in life was to make people laugh, wrote Melissa. Although that is difficult to do right now, I know her final wish would be that we return to laughing too. The AP has a comprehensive obituary of Rivers' life, including a low point in the mid-1980s when husband Edgar Rosenberg committed suicide after her Fox show was canceled. It also recounts how Johnny Carson helped launch her career— God, you're funny, he told her on his show in 1965—but then stopped speaking with her years later when she launched a competing talk show. Meanwhile, the clinic that performed the Aug. 28 throat procedure is now under review by state authorities, and the New York City Medical Examiner's Office will conduct its own investigation into the comedian's death, reports TMZ. |
Giuliani 'Thinking About' 2010 Run for NY Gov | (Jun 29, 2009 3:15 PM CDT) Rudy Giuliani today got one step closer to maybe announcing a run for New York governor in 2010, the Daily News reports. The former NYC mayor and Republican presidential candidate explained his position to CNN. I’m thinking about it, he said. I don’t know if I’m at the point of seriously considering it. It’s a little too early. The state GOP has apparently given Giuliani a deadline of early fall to decide. A survey shows Giuliani faring well against current Gov. David Patterson in a general election, Politico adds—52%-34%. But if state attorney general Andrew Cuomo was the Democratic nominee, the study finds, Giuliani would fall 51%-39%. |
American Idol Alum Dead at 35 | (Aug 3, 2014 10:12 AM CDT) Michael Johns, the Australian singer who appeared on the seventh season of American Idol, has died at the age of 35, reports the Hollywood Reporter. Johns was voted off the show in what the AP calls an eighth-round stunner in 2008, having never finished in the show's bottom three; Simon Cowell called him a white soul singer. Johns' family lamented their lost wonderful husband, son, brother, uncle, and friend; Fox, meanwhile, saluted him as an incredible talent who will truly be missed. The cause of death is believed to be a blood clot in his ankle, notes the Reporter. |
US Pilots Tried Kamikaze Attack on United 93 | (Sep 9, 2011 12:07 PM CDT) Heather Lucky Penney was a rookie who’d just finished F-16 training on September 11, 2001, but when the attacks hit, she was one of two pilots who took to the air to defend Washington from United 93. There was just one problem: They didn’t have any ammo or weapons. Except, that is, for their own planes. We wouldn’t be shooting it down, she tells the Washington Post. We’d be ramming the aircraft. I would essentially be a kamikaze pilot. Back then, the DC Air National Guard had no procedure for scrambling jets; the Pentagon was focused on external threats. That morning, the Guard’s F-16s were all loaded with dummy training bullets, and would take a critical hour to reload. Lucky, you’re coming with me, her Colonel told her. I’m going for the cockpit. Without hesitating she replied, I’ll take the tail. They took off expecting to die—but United 93’s passengers brought the plane down for them. I genuinely believed that was going to be the last time I took off, she recalls. If we did it right, this would be it. |
'Tis the Season to ... Pinch $1.84B Worth of Stuff? | (Dec 23, 2011 3:57 PM) In the four weeks before Christmas, shoppers will steal an estimated $1.84 billion in merchandise—a 6% spike over the same timeframe last year, according to a survey of retailers around the globe. The bump in shoplifting may be explained by dipping wages and high unemployment, reports the AP. It also doesn't help that teeming, chaotic shopping centers staffed with harried clerks make it easier for thieves to filch products. It's really a question of need versus greed, says one retail expert. People will rationalize what they are stealing: 'Oh, I'm feeling the economy. I lost my job.' Experts also indicate that people shoplift in December for reasons unrelated to personal finances, such as thrill-seeking or to relieve boredom or depression, which can flare up during the holidays. An estimated one in 11 Americans shoplift, and 70% would describe their crime as spontaneous. |
Meet US' Most Efficient Car: 118MPG | (Jun 6, 2012 11:18 AM CDT) The 2013 Honda Fit EV is the most efficient car sold on these shores, according to the EPA—and it's been awarded the highest fuel efficiency equivalency rating ever, at 118 MPGe. That figure beats Mitsubishi's iMiEV, at 112 MPGe, as well as the Ford Focus Electric, which gets 105 MPGe, Wired reports. For every 100 miles, the Fit uses just 29 kWh of electricity, which would run the average driver about $500 a year. Thanks to a more powerful charger, Fit EV takes just three hours to charge if you plug it in when a low battery warning appears. In city and highway tests, the EPA finds that the car has an 82-mile range; that bests both the iMiEV and the Nissan Leaf. The Honda hits some California and Oregon markets this year, and the East Coast in early 2013. It'll run you about $36,625, or $399 a month on a three-year lease. |
In Twist, Dad Admits He Accidentally Shot Girl, 4 | (Apr 17, 2016 1:07 PM CDT) The parent of a 4-year-old girl who was killed in a Philadelphia neighborhood has confessed to accidentally shooting her, police said. Authorities were unsure whether the man, who has not been identified, is her father or stepfather, but said he told police it was him Saturday night. The child was originally believed to have been fatally shot by her young brother. Investigators said the girl was shot in the face by the parent in a home in the Kensington neighborhood shortly before 2:30pm Saturday. Emergency medical personnel pronounced her dead at the scene. Police previously said the girl was shot by her 5-year-old sibling and were searching for the child's father or stepfather, who was believed to have owned the gun used. But the man turned himself in Saturday night and ultimately said he, not the other child, was responsible, Sgt. Eric Gripp said Sunday. After investigation, (he) admitted to accidentally shooting the victim, and stated that the sibling had nothing to do with it, Gripp said. He said charges were pending. A neighbor said the girl's mother was quite protective, rarely letting her children out to play for fear of violence in a neighborhood in which shootings and drugs were a constant concern. She would say, No, I'm not bringing these kids out with this trouble, Louise Sawyer told the Philadelphia Inquirer. Crystal Dougherty, who said she was a friend of the family, said the little girl who died was sweet and loved Barbie dolls and coloring. She was just an outgoing little girl, she said. |
FBI Got 1K Tips a Year From NSA's Phone Program | (Jan 20, 2014 9:16 AM) In an effort to boost transparency, declassified documents on the NSA's phone program were released late Friday. And though the Wall Street Journal reports they were frequently repetitive and heavily redacted, they did contain some standout numbers: Specifically, that the NSA furnished the FBI with an average two tips a day in 2006. The next year, the NSA estimated that daily number rose to three, indicating a yearly total of more than 1,100; that pace continued until March 2009, at which time the references to the number of FBI tips in the documents end. The Journal notes that the documents, which were revealed following President Obama's speech on an NSA overhaul, don't discuss the tips' quality or what types of inquiries they may have resulted in. That speech put a number of key decisions on snooping in the hands of Congress. Lawmakers appear to largely oppose the government's widespread phone data collection, but several leaders of both parties support it, the Washington Times notes. A joint statement from intelligence committee chairs Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, and Rep. Mike Rogers of the GOP: We have carefully reviewed this program and have found it to be legal and effective. |
US Loses 524K Jobs; Unemployment Hits 7.2% | (Jan 9, 2009 8:04 AM) Employers cut 524,000 jobs in December, which, on the heels of November’s decline of 584,000, made 2008 the darkest year of job losses since the end of World War II, Bloomberg reports. Those numbers were in line with forecasts, but the jobless rate topped its forecast by rising to 7.2%, a 15-year high. We’re seeing pretty ugly numbers, said one economist. The recession is worsening. |
UN: We Could See 20K Ebola Cases | (Aug 28, 2014 7:11 AM CDT) Ebola cases in West Africa could multiply sixfold, affecting up to 20,000 as the virus continues to accelerate, the World Health Organization said today, per Reuters. Some 1,552 people have now died out of the 3,069 cases reported—though the actual number of cases could be four times that amount, the AP reports. More than 40% of the total number of cases have occurred within the past 21 days, the UN health agency said, noting an unprecedented number of health workers have been hit. The latest figures do not include cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a different strain of Ebola is wreaking havoc. Though the majority of cases in the outbreak are in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the BBC reports Nigeria has seen its sixth Ebola death, and the first outside the city of Lagos, in the oil hub of Port Harcourt. To help combat the spread, pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline notes it is working with the National Institutes of Health on a vaccine to treat Ebola and will begin human trials on healthy volunteers in the coming weeks. If effective, the company will provide 10,000 doses to WHO workers, Sky News reports. Meanwhile, the WHO has revealed a new plan to tackle the virus, which includes focusing on stopping transmission in capital cities and major ports. |
After 36 Years in Jail, Man's Charges Dropped | (Apr 23, 2015 9:48 AM CDT) A California man freed after serving 34 years of a life sentence for murder had the charges formally dismissed yesterday. Michael Hanline, 69, was the longest-serving wrongfully incarcerated inmate in California history, according to the California Innocence Project, whose lawyers worked for 15 years to free him. A Ventura County Superior Court judge dismissed the charges at prosecutors' request. Testing showed DNA at the crime scene didn't come from Hanline or his alleged accomplice. In addition, prosecutors withheld evidence that should have been disclosed to Hanline's lawyers. When I first got arrested, I figured it might take a year or two to get this all straightened around, but not 36, Hanline said; he was jailed for two years before his conviction. Hanline was charged with the 1978 killing of a friend, JT McGarry. Prosecutors said Hanline and an accomplice kidnapped McGarry, shot him, and dumped his body. In 1980, Hanline was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life. Hanline's conviction was overturned and he was freed on Nov. 24 after prosecutors told a judge doubts had been raised about the case, but he was still required to wear a GPS ankle bracelet and faced possible retrial. Hanline, who appeared outside court yesterday with his wife, Sandy, noted how the world has changed, referring to Buck Rogers gadgets such as cellphones. Gas isn't 32 cents and a pack of cigarettes isn't 30 cents, he said. Hanline is at least the third person in recent years to be freed from a California prison after serving long sentences for murder. |
44% of Teens Could Get a Gun | (Apr 19, 2012 11:46 AM CDT) Teenagers today are perilously familiar with guns. In a new survey from Teenage Research Unlimited, 44% said they could get a handgun if they wanted to, WBEZ reports. About a third of respondents also said that they personally knew someone who'd been shot, and 37% say they actively fear being shot themselves. About half of the 600 kids surveyed think the US would be safer without any handguns, compared to about 25% who said adults should be able to carry loaded guns in public. |
At 70, Woman Finds Out She's White | (Jun 25, 2015 12:53 PM CDT) Verda Byrd is, by her own description, a beautiful black woman who lived the full black experience while growing up in Kansas, per ABC News: She was raised by adoptive black parents, dated black men, and went to black churches and clubs. But in 2013, long after her parents' deaths, Byrd came across her unsealed adoption documents and made a life-altering find at the age of 70. On every single paper it said that I was white, she tells People—as were her biological parents, Earl and Daisy Beagle, and the other children they had. Byrd went into foster care at age 2 after Earl left the family and Daisy suffered a bad injury, and she was subsequently adopted, per People. Byrd says no one ever batted an eye at her skin color because her adoptive mom was a light-skinned black woman. Naturally, the realization she's not black was a shocker for Byrd, now 72—and for her husband of 36 years, Trancle, she tells People. [He] went to bed one night with a black woman and woke up the next morning with a white one, she says, but I still feel black and that's not going to change. … When you're dead and gone in the cemetery, the tombstone doesn't say what race you were. Three surviving white biological sisters with whom she's since reunited also don't care about her skin color, with one telling the magazine, She could have been purple as far as I care. It's just so fun to have her now in my life. And for those who may be tempted to draw comparisons between herself and Rachel Dolezal, Byrd has one thing to say. She upsets me so much because I don't understand why she or anyone needs to lie about their race or their ethnic group, she notes. I did not know I was born white. She knew it. (A New York Times columnist backs up Byrd's criticism about Dolezal.) |
Supplier Sells 3.5 Years of AR-15 Mags in 3 Days | (Dec 22, 2012 1:00 PM) More apparent fallout from the Connecticut shooting: Sales of AR-15 magazines are so through the roof that the world's biggest firearm supplier apologized this week for delays, Raw Story reports. It really has been unprecedented in the last 5 days, wrote a spokesman from Brownells on the AR15.com forum. In fact, 3.5 years' worth of magazines have sold over 72 hours for the AR-15, which is similar to the weapon used to murder 20 elementary school children in Newtown, Connecticut. We’re working like crazy to get these orders to you as quickly as possible, the spokesman added. (Meanwhile Dick's Sporting Goods has stopped selling some semiautomatic rifles, which are selling fast at Walmart. |
Separate FBI Raids Net 4 Alleged Spies | (Feb 11, 2008 4:00 PM) The FBI arrested a Defense Department employee and three others today on charges of spying for China, the Washington Post reports. The Virginia-based DoD weapons analyst and two accomplices in New Orleans were coincidentally busted on the same day as an ex-Boeing engineer in Southern California, Justice Department officials in Alexandria, Va., and Los Angeles said. The Virginia case primarily involves US arms sales to China and Taiwan; the three defendants face conspiracy charges. In the second case, the ex-Boeing engineer, 72, is up on charges of stealing trade secrets, mostly relating to the space program and including info about the space shuttle. The investigations demonstrate that foreign spying remains a serious threat in the post-Cold War world,'' said a prosecutor. |
Body of Hoarder Found in Home After 5-Day Search | (Mar 29, 2014 10:15 AM CDT) Police showed up at Skip Bynum's house in Dallas last Saturday after his friends reported that the 67-year-old was missing. It wasn't until Thursday that searchers finally found his body amid decades of junk he had hoarded over the years, reports MyFox Dallas. In fact, the piles were so high that authorities had to cut holes in the roof and get in through the attic. Still, it wasn't until police got a warrant to begin hauling out the clutter that Bynum was found. The cause of death isn't known yet. Neighbors say they knew Bynum had a problem but didn't feel the need to report it. I wasn’t going to go in and intervene and say, ‘Dude, go clean up your house,' one tells the Dallas Morning News. The city is going to decide in the next few days whether the house needs to be demolished, and neighbors already are bracing for an onslaught of rats if it comes down. One bright spot: A friend was able to rescue Bynum's chihuahua from the mess. |
Judge Tosses 1944 Conviction of Black 14-Year-Old | (Dec 17, 2014 4:11 PM) It took an all-white jury in South Carolina all of 10 minutes to convict 14-year-old George Stinney in the murder of two white girls in 1944, and the black teen was executed in the electric chair three months later. Today, a state judge exonerated him, reports WLTX. Judge Carmen Mullen said it was all but certain that police officers coerced the youth into confessing that he fatally beat 11-year-old Betty Binnicker and 7-year-old Mary Emma Thames in the town of Alcolu. Mullen called it a truly unfortunate episode in our history, reports the Guardian. In vacating Stinney's conviction, Mullen wrote that she wasn't ruling on his guilt or innocence but on the unfairness of his prosecution and trial. At a hearing in January on the case, Stinney's sister testified that he could not have killed the girls because he was with her that day. She and two other siblings were nonetheless run out of town after their brother's arrest, reports Reuters. Writes Mullen: I can think of no greater injustice than a violation of one's constitutional rights, which has been proven to me in this case by a preponderance of the evidence standard. |
Stocks End Mixed; Dow Up 25 | (Dec 19, 2008 3:45 PM) Stocks ended mixed today as a rally on the news of a White House bailout for the auto industry fizzled over concerns for the larger economy, MarketWatch reports. General Motors led advancing stocks with a 22.7% gain, and the Dow closed up 25.88 at 8,579.11. The Nasdaq gained 11.95, closing at 1,564.32, while the S&P 500 rose 2.60, to settle at 887.88. Financial stocks were hit hard by a wave of downgrades from S&P. Among the firms that had their credit ratings reduced were Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. Of those, only Goldman shares gained value. |
More 9/11 Cops Died of Cancer Than in 9/11 Attacks | (Aug 21, 2011 2:14 PM CDT) Since September 11, 2001, 45 NYPD officers have died of cancer. It may not seem like a huge number, until you consider that it’s nearly twice as many as the 23 who died in the 9/11 terror attacks—and that hundreds of other cops also have the disease. But even though, as one official says, we know with absolute certainty that our members were exposed to unprecedented levels of cancer-causing materials when they responded, doctors haven’t linked the cancer cases to Ground Zero—so the officers can’t be compensated under the Zadroga Law, the New York Daily News reports. Read the full article for stories from four of the officers. |
Levi Johnston Mans Up, Pays $21K in Back Child Support | (Mar 8, 2010 8:01 PM) Levi Johnston has complied with a judge’s order to pay overdue child support to Bristol Palin, with a lawyer for Johnston babymama/daughter of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin telling TMZ that a $21,561.12 check has indeed cleared. Asked where Johnston, 19 and coming off an appearance in Playgirl, got the scratch he owes Bristol Palin as she cares for their infant son, Tripp, his rep says, The money came out of his pocket. |
Search for 2 Mexico Cops Turns Up 42 Bodies | (Nov 26, 2013 1:50 AM) A search for two missing federal detectives in western Mexico has turned up 42 bodies and counting—but still no trace of the missing men. Many of the bodies found in almost two dozen mass graves over the last few weeks were bound and gagged and some showed signs of torture, the AP reports. The graves are in a region near the border between Jalisco and Michoacan states, site of a turf war between the Knights Templar and the New Generation drug cartels. Federal investigators were led to the graves by local police officers who admitted turning over the federal officers and other people to New Generation gunmen. Some 22 police officers have been detained. |
Guy Watching The Conjuring 2 Dies, Then Disappears | (Jun 19, 2016 2:38 PM CDT) A man's death at a screening of The Conjuring 2—and the subsequent disappearance of his body—didn't go unnoticed in southern India last week, the Times of India reports. The 65-year-old was watching the film at a movie house in the town of Tiruvannamalai on Thursday night when he suffered chest pains and passed out at the film's climax. The native of Andhra Pradesh was later pronounced dead at a hospital, where staff ordered the body taken to another hospital outside of town for postmortem. The person tasked with transporting the body, and the body itself, then vanished. Now social media is said to be pulsating with a fear of the supernatural, the Telegraph reports. Others sense hoaxes and marketing ploys. One Twitter-posted video purportedly shows a woman who got possessed while watching the film, though it seems the video was actually shot in 2013. And a man from Singapore, Damian Ng Yih Leong, posted on Facebook that after seeing The Conjuring 2 earlier this month he saw a cross drawn on a mirror in his hotel room. He and his companion got a new room, and when they returned to pick up items the next morning, the funny thing is that the cross that was drawn on the mirror was gone. Some on social media say it's all a clever viral marketing stunt, per Jakarta Coconuts, and coincidentally the film could use a boost after opening in first place and slipping to the No. 3 spot this weekend, Entertainment Weekly reports. (Elsewhere, Japan's tsunami has spawned ghost stories.) |
Boy, 3, Shoots Himself in Head, Dies | (Aug 19, 2013 2:02 PM CDT) A 3-year-old Michigan boy is dead after shooting himself in the head yesterday, police say. They received a 911 call the Detroit News describes as frantic around 4:15pm; Damon Holbrook was found in the front bedroom of his Dundee home. The owner of the handgun involved was arrested on charges of manslaughter and gross negligence. Police say the unidentified 30-year-old man was friends with Damon's father and lived at his house, as did Damon's 10-year-old sister and 5-year-old brother, who were upstairs when the boy shot himself. Police say the friend left the loaded gun on a closet floor, in an unlocked plastic case, and Damon was playing with it within five minutes of the friend arriving home from work. Damon's father posted about the tragedy on Facebook today, the Blade reports. Yesterday I lost my 3yrd son to a gun accident. We r all hoping to wake up from this nightmare. ... I have nothing wrong with guns it's with this country was built on. I will still support the Second Amendment, he wrote. All I ask is that everyone please, please safety first lock it up and put it out of reach of anyone that has no business being around a gun especially kids. |
Jeopardy!' Rarity: Final Question Wipes Out All 3 | (Jan 19, 2016 2:19 PM) Can you answer the question that not only stumped all three Jeopardy! contestants Monday night but resulted in the rarity of having no winner? Here it is, per Fox: A 1957 event led to the creation of a national historic site in this city, signed into law by a president whose library is now there too. All three contestants—two with $13,800 and one with $6,000—got it wrong after betting everything they had. So sorry folks, said Alex Trebek. The last time all three contestants were wiped out was a 2013 match during a teen tournament. Monday night's correct answer? Little Rock, Arkansas. Of course, observes arkansasonline. |
Dow Tumbles 360 to Open 2016 Market | (Jan 4, 2016 8:53 AM) It's a bleak start to the new year on Wall Street Monday morning: The Dow fell more than 360 points at the open after China's stock market suffered a huge plunge of its own. Chinese stocks fell 7%, spooking US investors worried about a global slowdown, reports the Wall Street Journal. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 were down similar percentages. The rout in China is placing pressure on markets more globally, although it remains to be seen how long the hit to market sentiment will persist, says a note at Investec, per MarketWatch. |
Siege at Somali Hotel Leaves at Least 17 Dead | (Mar 28, 2015 7:27 AM CDT) Somali troops today took full control of a hotel that extremist gunmen stormed and occupied for more than 12 hours following a suicide bombing. At least 17 people died and dozens were wounded. The gunfire has stopped and security agents have accessed the whole building, said senior police officer Capt. Mohamed Hussein. He had earlier said the gunmen were believed to have occupied the third and fourth floors of the the Maka Al-Mukarramah hotel in the capital Mogadishu. Hussein said security forces found four more bodies in the hotel today, plus nine dead yesterday. Four more people died in the hospital. There was no immediate indication of how many of the dead were attackers, all of whom were killed, according to Hussein. Al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-linked extremist group that has carried out many attacks in Somalia, claimed responsibility for the assault on the hotel, which is popular with Somali government officials and foreigners. Al-Shabab controlled much of Mogadishu between 2007 and 2011, but was pushed out of Somalia's capital and other major cities by African Union forces. |
Gumby Creator Dead at 88 | (Jan 9, 2010 8:37 AM) If you've got a heart, then not only is Gumby a part of you, but this news is a bummer. Art Clokey, the creator of the clay animation figure, has died in his sleep at age 88. Clokey and his wife invented Gumby—and his pony pal Pokey, too—in the 1950s, and the bendy green figure has remained a fixture since then, thanks to incarnations after his hit TV show as a popular children's toy, Eddie Murphy's old SNL impersonation, and a namesake movie. Clokey first came up with a Gumby for an experimental stop-motion movie set to a jazz tempo he showed to his school students, one of whom just happened to have a father who ran 20th Century Fox. A half-century later, Gumby has 134,000 friends on Facebook, notes the LA Times. |
Dow Gains 68 Despite Banks | (Jan 16, 2009 3:29 PM) US stocks clawed back to gains today amid turmoil in the financial sector and volatile price swings stemming from the expiration of January options contracts, MarketWatch reports. Although 100 points off its open at midday, the Dow finished with a gain of 68.73, to 8,281.22. The Nasdaq added 17.49, settling at 1,529.33, and the S&P 500 gained 6.38 to 850.12. Citigroup and Bank of America posted huge losses, but their stocks initially gained off the news they would receive additional bailout funds. The rally didn’t last: Citi closed down 8.6%, and BoA lost 13.7%. Financials were also rocked by a run on Barclays in the London Stock Exchange that sent the bank’s US shares tumbling 15.2%—though there wasn’t any concrete news to explain the original drop. |
Afghan Mullah Arrested for Marrying 6-Year-Old | (Aug 1, 2016 2:58 PM CDT) A case in Afghanistan has pitted a religious figure against the outraged parents of a 6-year-old girl, underscoring the ongoing problems surrounding child marriages there. Per Radio Free Europe, Sayed Mohammad Karim, a mullah in the Ghor province said to be in his 50s, was arrested last week and charged with stealing the young girl away and marrying her—allegations he denies. The girl was given to me as a gift and we were married so I could raise her, says Karim, who notes the girl's parents attended their wedding ceremony. But that's not what the parents are saying, per the deputy police commander of Ghor. We spoke to her parents and they strongly deny they attended the wedding, he says. [They] told me their daughter was kidnapped. Complicating things are the sticky rules governing child marriage in Afghanistan: The country's civil law says a girl has to be 16 to be legally married, but citizens may also follow Sharia law, which has been interpreted to allow children to be wed. These early marriages can pose dangerous health hazards for young girls: Human Rights Watch—which cites a 2010 mortality survey that says 53% of Afghan women ages 25 to 49 were wed by the age of 18—notes that early marriage means early pregnancies, which can cause injury and even death if their bodies aren't ready for childbirth or if they're in rural areas with sub-par medical care. But RFE notes that such gifts are common in the country's remotest regions—not only girls, but also cash, property, and livestock—to curry favor with local religious leaders. Perhaps the only bright spot in this story: Karim insists he didn't have sexual intercourse with the little girl, which a local doctor says appears to be true. But despite the doctor's assertion that the examination showed that the girl had endured no physical or psychological harm, the head of the Ghor women's affairs department says, per the Sun: This girl does not speak, but only repeats one thing: 'I am afraid of this man.' (A Nigerian child bride was accused of killing her husband with rat poison.) |
Melee in Boston's Theater District Leaves 7 Injured | (Sep 25, 2016 1:28 PM CDT) Authorities say seven people have been injured in an apparent fight in Boston's Theater District, the AP reports. The Boston Globe reports that Bernard O'Rourke, police superintendent of the bureau of field services, said officers responded to a report of a fight about 2:15am Sunday in the district, where bars and restaurants cater to nightlife crowds and had just closed. Police say people were stabbed with knives or bottles. Four of the victims were transported to receive medical treatment, while the other three walked into hospitals on their own, a police spokesman tells the Globe. Another police spokesman on Sunday afternoon told the AP the injuries appear to be non-life-threatening; earlier reports had said one person was critically injured. O'Rourke has said a suspect has been IDed—and per RT.com, that suspect was one of the wounded. Police are said to be seeking a second suspect. Emerson College, which has facilities in the area, alerted students to the incident in a Facebook post. The school has asked students to report any suspicious activity. (The accused attacker at a Minnesota mall was said to be the most assimilated kid in the neighborhood. ) |
CD Sales Down 20% in 2008 | (Jan 1, 2009 7:00 PM) The music industry ends 2008 in familiar territory: Sales are down for the seventh time in eight years, the Wall Street Journal reports. CD purchases dropped by 20% to 360.6 million as labels continue to adapt to the digital revolution. Apple's iTunes store moved ahead of Wal-Mart to become the world's largest music retailer in 2008, the Journal notes. Factoring in digital downloads, albums sales fell 14% during the year. One especially disturbing trend is that the biggest decline in sales came during the last three months of the year, usually the strongest period. Bucking the trend with best-sellers this year were Lil Wayne, Coldplay, Kid Rock, and Taylor Swift. |
8th-Grade Boy, Female Teacher Go Missing | (Feb 24, 2009 7:09 AM) A male 8th-grader and a 22-year-old female teacher at his Holyoke, Mass., school have both been reported missing and are suspected of running off together, the Republican reports. Federal and local authorities are searching for them after the 15-year-old’s parents raised concerns about a relationship earlier this month, and they both disappeared this weekend. There is no direct suggestion of anything untoward, said the local mayor. The police are really trying to make heads and tails of this. Reports have suggested the two may be headed to Canada or Mexico. Investigators don’t think the boy is facing an immediate physical threat, the mayor said. |
CBO: Fiscal Cliff Will Bring 9.1% Unemployment | (Nov 8, 2012 7:06 PM) It's not so much a surprising conclusion as a reminder of what's at stake: The Congressional Budget Office warned today that a failure to head off the fiscal cliff at year's end will probably lead to a new recession next year along with a jump in the unemployment rate to 9.1%, reports Politico. The nonpartisan panel said the abrupt combination of tax hikes and spending cuts also would slow economic growth by .5% over the year, reports the Wall Street Journal. The report comes as House Republicans and the White House were suggesting they were ready to talk about a deal. And now comes the tricky part, as the Christian Science Monitor explains: While the CBO warned that doing nothing and plunging over the cliff is bad in the short term, it said those tax increases and spending cuts would help in the long run by reducing the deficit and the national debt. The ideal way forward, suggested in the CBO report and in other independent reviews, would be to change the cliff into a gradual slope, writes the Monitor's Mark Trumbull, one that avoids recession in the near-term but still leads down a path of deficit reduction. |
Italy: 3.7K Migrants Rescued in Single Day | (May 3, 2015 7:08 AM CDT) Ships rescued 3,690 migrants in just one day from smugglers' boats on the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coast, the Italian Coast Guard said today. The agency said 17 different rescue operations were carried out yesterday after smugglers took advantage of calm seas and warm weather to move the migrants out of Africa on motorized rubber dinghies and fishing boats. Some of the migrants were being brought today to ports in Sicily while others were expected to reach Calabria tomorrow, as temporary shelters for those rescued were reaching full capacity on the Mediterranean island. One week last month saw a greater death toll than the Titanic. While there was no issue with the weather, smugglers often use aging vessels that sometimes begin leaking shortly after leaving Libya. Boats are crammed with too many people as traffickers try to maximize earnings off the migrants, who pay hundreds of dollars for the passage between the Mediterranean's southern shore and Italy. It is not uncommon for thousands of migrants to be rescued over a day or two. The relentless flood of migrants is continuing this year after 170,000 were rescued at sea by Italy in 2014—a 277% increase over 2013. Italy has pressed the EU to do more to help it save the migrants, especially since many are asylum seekers hoping to reach relatives in northern Europe. Overall, a record 280,000 illegal border crossings were detected in the 28-nation EU last year, according to Frontex, Europe's border agency. |
Verizon to Buy Yahoo for $4.8B | (Jul 24, 2016 2:21 PM CDT) Verizon will acquire Yahoo—once valued at more than $125 billion—for $4.8 billion, a source tells the Wall Street Journal. An official announcement of the deal, which will end an auction process that began five months ago, is expected Monday. The WSJ calls the deal a remarkable fall for the Silicon Valley web pioneer, adding that it's an opportunity for Verizon to add to its growing digital and advertising business. Last week, Yahoo reported that its revenue for the April-June quarter was down 19% year-over-year, according to the AP, falling to $842 million from $1 billion in 2015. At that time, the AP speculated that selling Yahoo's operations would likely end the four-year reign of CEO Marissa Mayer. |
Woman Who Reinvented Soap Operas Dead at 93 | (Sep 29, 2016 1:45 PM CDT) Agnes Nixon, the woman who helped create the soap opera as we know it, is dead at age 93. Nixon rose to prominence during the '60s and '70s, and NPR describes her as one of the only powerful women in the entertainment industry during that era. Just like Nixon herself, two of her more famous creations were well-loved and and long-lived: All My Children ran for over four decades, while One Life To Live aired for 44 seasons. Both ended in 2011. Nixon was well-known for using her shows to draw attention to controversial social issues. Her plots addressed everything from cancer to abortion to homosexuality, issues often elided by many TV shows of the era. As the New York Times notes, Susan Lucci's character on All My Children was the first on TV to have a legal abortion—in 1973, just after Roe v. Wade. I wasn't trying to change the genre, I was just trying to write what I thought, what was interesting to me, Nixon told NPR in 2010. The Washington Post asserts that she quietly made soap operas relevant, noting that a story line she wrote about a Guiding Light character's uterine cancer in 1962 is considered the first health plot in a daytime drama. Alumni of her shows have responded to Nixon's death with an outpouring of love, support, and admiration, notes the Los Angeles Times, which rounds up examples of the tributes to the woman known as Amazing Agnes. Lucci, for instance, writes that she is devastated but forever grateful. Nixon died of pneumonia, a complication of her Parkinson's disease. |
Team USA Ends 86-Year Drought | (Feb 14, 2010 11:11 PM) US Olympian Johnny Spillane ended an 86-year drought that few Americans even knew existed. He took a silver in Nordic combined skiing, a mix of ski jumping and cross-country. After 86 years of trying we are actually legitimate, said US coach Tom Steitz. We are all going to sit around tonight and drink champagne and touch the medals. Two gold medals were noteworthy today. In the luge, Felix Loch, a 20-year-old German, sped safely down the shortened track at the Whistler Sliding Center and won in a four-heat time of 3 minutes, 13.085 seconds—only two days after a Georgian competitor was killed on the same stretch of ice. A few hours later, Alexandre Bilodeau became the first Canadian to ever win an Olympic gold medal on home soil. He won in the men's moguls. |
Day's Toll in Egypt: 3 Dead, 600 Injured | (Feb 2, 2011 6:22 PM) With the standoff in Tahrir Square continuing into the wee hours, the best estimates from the day's violence between anti-government protesters and pro-Mubarak forces have three people dead and more than 600 injured, reports AP. All of the violence took place as the military largely stood by and watched, and there's no sign things will be any different tomorrow. Responding to accusations—and plenty of circumstantial evidence—that the Mubarak government had unleashed thugs on protesters, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, If any of the violence is instigated by the government, it should stop immediately. He also kept up on the pressure on Mubarak to start his transition quickly, notes the New York Times. Now means yesterday, he said. There are reforms that need to be undertaken. There are opposition entities that need to be in the conversation. Click for more. |
$100 Oil Extinguishes Rally | (Feb 19, 2008 4:11 PM) After three-digit Dow gains, today's record surge in oil prices knocked out a broad rally, and the major indexes closed in the red. Analysts say the market won't be able to sustain a prolonged rally for some time. The rallies we're seeing now are just bounces, not a new trend, a strategist tells the Wall Street Journal. The Dow ended down 10.99 at 12,337.22, the Nasdaq 15.60 at 2,306.20, and the S&P 500 1.21 at 1,348.78. Oil set a record, toppping $100 a barrel, following an explosion at a Texas refinery yesterday and worries that OPEC may cut production at its March 5 meeting. Investors are starting to get nervous and selling riskier stocks, an asset manager told Blooomberg. Meanwhile, mixed news from Wal-Mart and OfficeMax made things even more complicated for investors. |
Family of Chimp Victim Sues for $50M | (Mar 17, 2009 3:35 PM CDT) Relatives of a woman mauled by a pet chimp are suing the primate's owner for $50 million, the New York Post reports today. The family of Charla Nash says Sandra Herold had no business owning a wild animal with violent propensities because she didn't have the skill or strength to keep it under control. The chimp, Travis, nearly killed Nash last month before Connecticut police fatally shot it. Nash remains sedated and may need a face transplant. |
GOP Blocks 2 Obama Picks, Sets Up Senate Fight | (Oct 31, 2013 7:11 PM CDT) Senate Republicans today blocked President Obama's picks for a powerful federal court and a housing regulatory agency, prompting Democrats to threaten curtailing the GOP's ability to derail nominations. Something has to change, and I hope we can make the changes necessary through cooperation, Harry Reid said after the votes. Republicans derailed the president's picks of Patricia Millett to become a judge on the US Court of Appeals in DC and Rep. Melvin Watt, D-NC, to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The Senate voted 55-38 to end the delays against Millett and 56-42 to end the blockade against Watt—falling shy each time of the 60 votes Democrats needed to prevail. The defeats immediately subjected Democratic leaders to pressure from liberal groups and newer Democratic senators to change Senate rules that let the minority party force the majority to muster 60 votes on controversial nominations, instead of a simple majority. No. 2 Senate GOP leader John Cornyn of Texas said he doubted Democrats would act on their threats. He said if Democrats change the rules and Republicans win the White House and Senate, then we could confirm another Scalia, another Thomas with 51 votes, a reference to conservative Supreme Court justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. So I think they need to think twice, and I think they understand that. |
Dow Dips 78 on Holiday Gloom | (Nov 30, 2015 3:20 PM) Early signs of softness in holiday spending sent retail stocks lower on the first day of trading after the Thanksgiving holiday. Macy's and Kohl's each fell 2% Monday, while Target fell 1%, more than the rest of the market. Health care stocks also took a tumble. Drugmakers Celgene and AbbVie each fell 3%. The Dow Jones industrial average gave up 78 points, or 0.4%, to 17,719. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost nine points, or 0.5%, to 2,080. The Nasdaq composite gave up 18 points, or 0.4%, to 5,108. Bond prices rose slightly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged down to 2.21%. |
'Almost Peerless' New Malware in Use Since 2008 | (Nov 24, 2014 7:47 AM) The same Symantec researchers who tracked down the Stuxnet worm four years ago have discovered another potent piece of malware, Re/code reports. The Trojan program is called Regin, and it offers a powerful framework for mass surveillance, Symantec says in a blog post that calls out a degree of technical competence rarely seen. Its capabilities suggest that a government is behind it, though which government isn't certain. The best clues we have are where the infections have occurred and where they have not, says a researcher. About half of the roughly 100 infections detected have been in Russia and Saudi Arabia, but the malware has also appeared in Europe, Mexico, India, and elsewhere in the Middle East. Neither the US nor China is known to have been infected. Those two countries, as well as Israel, would have the ability to make such malware, Re/code notes. Regin infections stretch back to 2008 (and possibly even 2006, a researcher tells Re/code); they occurred through 2011, after which it was abruptly withdrawn, per Symantec. A new version of the malware resurfaced from 2013 onwards. It targets systems running Windows, attacking in five stages and opening the systems for surveillance use: So far, Regin has been employed in spying operations against governments, infrastructure operators, businesses, researchers, and private individuals, Symantec says. It's not clear how Regin gets distributed, experts say. In the world of malware threats, only a few rare examples can truly be considered groundbreaking and almost peerless, says a company white paper. What we have seen in Regin is just such a class of malware. |
Camping: Oh, Wait. Rapture Is Actually Oct. 21 | (May 23, 2011 9:28 PM CDT) Harold Camping's new favorite phrase: Better late than never. The California preacher has an easy explanation for why the rapture never came to pass on Saturday: He was five months off. Doh! The actual rapture will be Oct. 21. He had originally said that was the day on which the planet would be consumed by a fireball. It turns out Saturday was an invisible judgment day in which a spiritual judgment took place, he said. But the timing and the structure is the same as it has always been, Camping added in a statement to the press tonight. We've always said May 21 was the day, but we didn't understand altogether the spiritual meaning, he explained. May 21 is the day that Christ came and put the world under judgment. He added that he felt so horrible when his doomsday prediction did not come true that he left home and took refuge in a motel with his wife. AP notes that this is the second time he hasn't gotten it right; Camping previously predicted the Apocalypse would come in 1994, but said it didn't happen then because of a mathematical error. (Click for the sad tale of a teen who died celebrating the non-rapture.) |
Stocks Close In on Big 2009 Gains | (Dec 31, 2009 8:00 AM) Stocks have rebounded mightily since the dark days of March, though analysts warn the dazzling recovery could make for a lackluster 2010, or even auger a double-dip recession or '30s-style yo-yoing markets. The good news first: Barring a disastrous close today, the Dow will be up around 61% since March lows, and 20% for the year, the best showing since 2003. The S&P and NASDAQ are also on track to have their best year since then. But history suggests caution may be in order for 2010, the Wall Street Journal notes. The big gain after a dizzying fall smacks of the 1930s and '70s, when stocks stagnated or even lost their value again. Even if that’s not the case, this rally was fueled by cheap deals and the realization that the financial system was not destined to totally melt down. And small investors are still wary of volatile bets. So don’t bet on 2010 just yet. |
World's Oldest Yoga Teacher Is 91 | (Dec 23, 2011 8:06 AM) Bernice Bates is 91 years old, but she’s probably more flexible than you. She’s been practicing yoga for half a century, and now teaches it once a week at the community center of a Florida retirement village, making her the Guinness World Records’ oldest yoga teacher. In one recent class, the nonagenarian brought her knee to her nose while lying on the floor, a pose that challenges many who are decades younger. The AP notes that there may be other yogis in the world who are older than Bates, but she was nominated to Guinness by her daughter and completed the extensive documentation process to win the title. She says her classes have helped other senior citizens, many of them decades younger than her, to feel whole again. Doctors note that yoga is helpful for seniors because it improves balance, which can prevent falls. Says one, the idea that just because you are older you have less of a range of motion, that is really not correct. |
Disney Moves to Trademark 'Seal Team 6' | (May 14, 2011 9:38 AM CDT) The name of the elite team that killed Osama bin Laden could soon be appearing on Disney snow globes if the company has its way. Disney submitted an application to trademark the name Seal Team 6 within 48 hours of the raid that killed bin Laden, Mediabistro reports. The trademark paperwork lists potential uses including gymnastic articles, toys, games, and even Christmas stockings and ornaments. The applications are currently pending and experts expect that they will be approved if regulators decide consumers won't be confused. No one is likely to believe Disney and the government have some type of formal affiliation, a trademark lawyer tells WKMG. Records show that game developer NovaLogic applied for the same trademark in 2004 but it was abandoned after two years. |
Is 21 Bad? Bet the Bank on It | (Mar 28, 2008 9:57 AM CDT) There’s a problem with 21, a movie based on a true story (and the book it inspired) about some MIT math nerds who set up an elaborate system to beat the house in Las Vegas. None of the main stars is remotely convincing as a smart person, writes Josh Bell of Las Vegas Weekly. And the storytelling is far from gangbusters, critics complain. The script gussies up what might have been an intriguing premise in a barrage of melodramatic clichés and an avalanche of visual effects and musical montages, writes Frank Swietek of One Guy's Opinion. In short, observes Kerry Lengel of the Arizona Republic: This movie has about as much dramatic tension as a bingo match. |
In Dizzying Crackdown, Turkey Detains 6K | (Jul 17, 2016 6:04 AM CDT) Turkey's justice minister says some 6,000 people have been detained in a government crackdown on alleged coup plotters and government opponents, reports the AP. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag says that the cleansing (operation) is continuing. The number could surpass 6,000. Bozdag also said he was confident that the United States would return Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen to Turkey. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed Gulen and his followers for the failed military coup on Friday night, but Gulen has denied any involvement in or knowledge. The US says it will look at any evidence Turkey has to offer against Gulen, and judge accordingly. Bozdag says the United States would weaken itself by protecting him, it would harm its reputation. I don't think that at this hour, the United States would protect someone who carried out this act against Turkey. The Turkish government has also issued dozens of arrest warrants for judges and prosecutors and detaining military officers. Already, three of the country's top generals have been detained, alongside hundreds of soldiers. The government has also dismissed nearly 3,000 judges and prosecutors from their posts, while investigators were preparing court cases to send conspirators to trial. The botched coup, which saw warplanes fly over key government installations and tanks roll up in major cities, ended hours later when loyal government forces including military and police regained control of the military and civilians took to the streets in support of Erdogan. At least 265 people were killed and over 1,400 were wounded. Government officials say at least 104 conspirators were killed. Still, the government crackdowns raised concerns over the future of democracy in Turkey, which has long prided itself on its democratic and secular traditions. Erdogan's survival has turned him into a sort of a mythical figure, said the director of the Turkish research program at The Washington Institute. It will allow him to crack down on liberty and freedom of association, assembly, expression and media in ways that we haven't seen before, he said. |
Transformers Extra Who Lost Part of Head Gets $18.5M | (May 24, 2012 11:25 AM CDT) A horrific accident on the Transformers 3 set left extra Gabriella Cedillo, then 24, without about a third of the top of her head, according to her attorney; now she has settled for $18.5 million. She will be taken care of. I wouldn't have resolved this case if I didn't think so, her attorney says. Cedillo was one of about 80 extras who were paid $25 to drive their own vehicles on a vacated street in Indiana on Sept. 1, 2010, when a cable pulling one of the stunt vehicles snapped, went through her windshield, and hit her head. Attorneys for the aspiring actress claimed a completely inadequate superficial weld had been applied in a failed effort to secure the bracket to the [stunt] car, and added that Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Studios didn't have a permit for fireworks or explosive devices. Her initial bills of $350,000 were not covered by the studios, though Cedillo's lawyers say the studios had originally agreed to pay, NBC Chicago reports. She sustained permanent brain impairment, does not remember the accident, and is currently undergoing rehabilitation therapy. |
AIG's Downfall, Part 2: 'Almost Free Money' | (Dec 30, 2008 2:20 PM) According to the computer models, credit default swaps almost couldn’t fail. They were the latest derivative contract in 1998, and AIG Financial Products decided to get on board, the Washington Post reports, in the second part of its series on the insurer’s self-destruction. When AIG struck its first default swap deal, no one realized it was a turning point that would doom the company; the computers said the deal was 99.85% safe. Credit default swaps are essentially insurance on debt, but they were never regulated as such. Instead, investors often used them to gamble on other people’s loans. Their very nature ran against everything Financial Products was founded on — they represented a hard-to-calculate risk that couldn’t be hedged. In retrospect, says the firm’s then-president, perhaps those deals should never have been done. |
GE Q4 Profit Climbs 15%; Stock Rebounds | (Jan 18, 2008 1:41 PM) GE profits rose 15% in the fourth quarter as overseas demand for jet engines and power turbines more than offset the weakness in the US economy, the company reported today. They've really been a beneficiary of the whole global growth story, an analyst told Bloomberg. GE stock was up 3.4% at midday; earlier, it rose 5.3%, its biggest gain in almost 5 years, erasing yesterday's 3.9% drop. CEO Jeffrey Immelt reiterated his $2.42-per-share 2008 profit forecast, telling investors not to sweat a US slowdown. Every place we went there's a need for power, there's a need for planes, he said. There's just no sign this global infrastructure boom is slowing at all. Profits at NBC Universal climbed 10% despite the writers strike as cable and film properties took up the slack. |
6 Steps to Reform Health Care Now: Kennedy | (May 4, 2009 10:45 AM CDT) This is the year to end an American tragedy and overhaul health care, Sen. Ted Kennedy writes in Politico. The Census Bureau said last year that 46 million Americans had no health insurance--and the economic crisis has added another 4 million to the ranks of the uninsured. It’s time to take advantage of a consensus among US leaders that reform is needed, the senator writes, offering 6 necessary steps. |
Jackson Burial Moved to Sept. 3 | (Aug 21, 2009 8:24 PM CDT) Michael Jackson will be buried Sept. 3, not Aug. 29 as first planned, his family announced today. No reason was given for the change in the burial date, which would have been the pop icon’s 51st birthday, People reports. Jackson, who died June 25, is to be entombed at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Calif. |
Pakistan Suicide Blast Kills 11 at Mosque Memorial | (Jul 7, 2008 3:37 AM CDT) A suicide bombing near Pakistan’s Red Mosque killed at least 11 and wounded more than 22, most of them police officers, the New York Times reports. Thousands were nearby yesterday to observe the anniversary of a showdown between militants and security forces which killed more than 100 people last year. The bomber dodged tight security, confirming government fears of another terrorist attack on the date. They wanted to send a clear message that they haven’t forgotten this event and are going to keep on hitting, said a former general. A bystander said it appeared that the bomber deliberately targeted the officers, noting that he saw seven to ten bodies lying on the ground. |
Malala Portrait Sells for $103K; Money Going to Nigeria Girls | (May 14, 2014 6:38 PM CDT) A British artist's portrait of Malala Yousafzai—the Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban for campaigning for girls' education—sold for $102,500 at auction today at Christie's. Sale proceeds will go to the Malala Fund charity, and the fund said the money would in turn be given to Nigerian nonprofits that focus on education for women and girls in the wake of the kidnapping of more than 300 schoolgirls in that country. Jonathan Yeo painted Yousafzai in 2013 after she started attending a school in Birmingham, England, where she now lives. |
Tot, 3, Shoots Boy, 5, to Death | (Dec 26, 2011 1:33 AM) A 3-year-old Colorado toddler has shot and killed a 5-year-old friend, according to police. An adult who brought the gun into the home where the shooting occurred has been arrested on charges of child abuse resulting in death and criminal negligence. Adam Laham, 23, was not related to either of the boys, but was visiting the home from Kansas along with several other adults, reports ABC News. A member of the family living in the home had photos of guns posted on his Facebook page, KMGH-TV in Denver discovered. Shortly after the shooting, he posted: One second changes everything, forever. |
Town Reels as 4 Teens Found Murdered in 2 Weeks | (Oct 2, 2016 11:29 PM CDT) September was an awful month for the town of Brentwood, New York. On Sept. 13, two teenage girls were found murdered, their bodies dumped near an elementary school. A week later, authorities discovered the skeletal remains of two male teenagers who had been missing for months. In both cases, authorities had a ready suspect: MS-13, a gang connected to Los Angeles and El Salvador, the New York Times reports. The group is prominent in Brentwood, where 68% of the population identifies as Latino or Hispanic and more than 17,000 residents are Salvadoran. While residents say the gang has caused trouble and fought with rivals in the past, the violence has recently turned toward schoolchildren. According to the AP, all four victims attended the same high school. School officials say gang violence rarely manifests inside the school itself, but administrators admit that they know of several students who may be affiliated. But they also say they cannot ban students suspected of being in gangs from attending school. That’s state and federal law that they are entitled to an education, the principal of one of Brentwood's two public high schools says. Many parents in the community aren't satisfied with this explanation, especially as violence is becoming increasingly visible in their communities. One gang member has been arrested in connection to the recent murders, though a motive is not yet clear. |
$100 Bet on Syracuse Win Could Pay $100K | (Mar 28, 2016 7:49 AM CDT) In an incredible run that SB Nation says doesn't make sense and Sports Illustrated labels improbable, Syracuse beat No. 1 seed Virginia 68-62 on Sunday, the AP reports—making the Orange the first No. 10 seed to make it to the Final Four. And one bettor is now making a Las Vegas bookie sweat, as ESPN puts it, holding a ticket purchased for $100 on Jan. 13 (when odds against 'Cuse were 1,000-to-1) that could be worth $100,100 if Syracuse goes all the way. The same gambler bought two other Go, Syracuse! tickets from Westgate SuperBook when the team dropped to 500-to-1 odds. All three tickets are now for sale for $6,069 on a secondary-market site—which may be a smart move, as a Westgate VP says he can't recall a 1,000-to-1 wager ever cashing out in his 20-plus years in the business. (Could this Buddhist monk be holding the big ticket? |
Romney: 47% Remark 'Completely Wrong' | (Oct 5, 2012 12:58 AM CDT) President Obama didn't bring up Mitt Romney's 47% remarks during their debate Wednesday night, so the response Romney had waiting went to Fox's Sean Hannity instead. Clearly in a campaign with hundreds if not thousands of speeches and question-and-answer sessions, now and then you're going to say something that doesn't come out right, Romney said when asked what he would have said to Obama. In this case, I said something that's just completely wrong. Romney stressed that he cares about the 100%, Politico reports. I absolutely believe, however, that my life has shown that I care about 100% and that’s been demonstrated throughout my life, Romney told Hannity. And this whole campaign is about the 100%. When I become president it will be about helping the 100%. Romney was secretly recorded at a fundraiser in May saying 47% of Americans are dependent on government and see themselves as victims, and pundits from both left and right were surprised when Obama didn't raise the subject during the debate. |
Madoff Lawyer: 12 Years Is Enough | (Jun 23, 2009 11:02 AM CDT) Bernard Madoff’s lawyer says his client shouldn’t be jailed for life for his $65 billion Ponzi scheme, Reuters reports, urging the sentencing judge in a letter not to heed calls from victims for mob vengeance. A 12-year sentence would be enough, though 15-20 years wouldn’t be disproportionately punishing his client, writes Ira Sorkin. It is the duty of the court to set aside the emotion and hysteria attendant to this case and render a sentence that is just and proportionate, Sorkin writes. The lawyer points to Madoff’s age, his voluntary surrender and non-violent nature, CNNMoney adds. Madoff will speak to the shame he has felt and to the pain he has caused at his sentencing hearing Monday. |
Dow Ends Day Down 48 | (Oct 21, 2015 3:24 PM CDT) Stocks are closing lower after an early rally faded. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 48 points, 0.3%, to 17,168 Wednesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 11 points, or 0.6%, to 2,018. The Nasdaq composite fell 40 points, or 0.8%, to 4,840. Energy stocks fell the most Wednesday as the price of oil tumbled 2% to $45 a barrel. Yahoo slumped 5% after reporting a sharp drop in a closely watched measure of revenue. Not all the earnings news was bad. General Motors rose 6% after reporting earnings that beat analysts' forecasts. Boeing rose 2%. Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.03%. |
US Jobless Rate Rises to 5.7%, 4-Year High | (Aug 1, 2008 9:17 AM CDT) The unemployment rate in the US climbed to a 4-year high of 5.7% in July as employers cut 51,000 jobs, dashing the hopes of an influx of young people looking for summer work. Payroll cuts weren't as deep as the 72,000 predicted by economists, however, and job losses for both May and June were found to be smaller than previously reported. July's reductions marked the seventh straight month in which employers eliminated jobs; the economy has lost a total of 463,00 jobs so far this year. The latest snapshot showed that a lack of credit has stunted employers' expansion plans and willingness to hire. Fallout from the housing slump and high energy prices also are weighing on employers. |
4-Year-Old's Big Find in Texas: a Dinosaur | (Apr 9, 2015 11:00 AM CDT) Imagine being a 4-year-old boy who loves dinosaurs, digging in the dirt, and spending time with your dad. For Wylie Brys, those three passions intertwined for the best day ever last September when he made an astounding discovery behind a shopping center in Mansfield, Texas: the fossil of what scientists believe could be a 100-million-year-old dino, the Dallas Morning News reports. Scientists from Southern Methodist University helped extract the fossil this week, seven months after Wylie's find, and they think it could be that of a land-dwelling nodosaur, a pony-sized creature that one SMU researcher tells the newspaper was like an armored beach [ball] that floated out to sea. Quite rare to find a dinosaur in this area, another SMU scientist adds. We were finding some fish vertebrae in the hillside, and then Wiley walked a little ways ahead of me and came back with a piece of bone, dad Tim Brys tells NBC 5 of his son's fateful find. And I paused and was like, 'OK, where did you find this?' It took all this time since to get paperwork in place for the dig, which was facilitated by the Dallas Zoo, where Brys works. The fossils were placed into a burlap-and-plaster protective wrap and will be taken to SMU, where they'll undergo a months-long cleaning process before researchers can start to more fully scrutinize them. And if Brys and Wylie—who has since turned 5, as per the Washington Post—hadn't gone on their dad-and-son dig last fall? It would have been buried and never been discovered in our lifetime, an SMU scientist tells the Dallas Morning News. (A dino found in Venezuela apparently survived a horrific extinction.) |
Wall Street Rakes in $1B in Fees on AIG Breakup | (Aug 6, 2009 7:18 AM CDT) The crumbling of AIG forced taxpayers to take on 80% of the company, but breaking the insurance giant up is turning out to be a bonanza for lawyers and banks. The Wall Street Journal calculates that firms will pull in $1 billion in fees from AIG and the Fed—one of the biggest paydays ever, four times larger than the breakup of AT&T. Among the biggest beneficiaries is Morgan Stanley, which stands to make as much as $250 million. Morgan Stanley is billing $4 million upfront plus $2.5 million a quarter for basic advisory services, and banks such as Goldman Sachs and Bank of America have also billed $75 million to the largely public-owned insurer. AIG has been preparing two IPOs for subsidiaries and, once they go public, may have to sell off its remaining stakes to pay the government—which will generate tens of millions in further fees. |
Brooklyn Dad to Bury 7 'Angels' in Israel | (Mar 23, 2015 2:56 AM CDT) The bodies of seven siblings who died in a house fire are headed to Israel for burial, a day after their sobbing father told mourners in his ultra-Orthodox Jewish community how much joy they had brought him. They were so pure, Gabriel Sassoon said yesterday of his children during a eulogy. My wife, she came out fighting. Flames engulfed the family's home in Brooklyn early Saturday, likely after a hot plate left on a kitchen counter set off the fire that trapped the children and badly injured their mother and another sibling, investigators say. The tragedy had some neighborhood Jews reconsidering the practice of keeping hot plates on for the Sabbath, a common modern method of obeying tradition prohibiting use of fire on the holy day. My children were unbelievable. They were the best, Sassoon said at their funerals, calling them angels. Authorities identified the victims as girls Eliane, 16; Rivkah, 11; and Sara, 6; and boys David, 12; Yeshua, 10; Moshe, 8; and Yaakob, 5. At the time of the fire, Sassoon—a religious education instructor—was in Manhattan at a Shabbaton, an educational retreat. After the funeral, SUVs took the bodies of the children, accompanied by their father, to John F. Kennedy International Airport for a flight to Israel, where they had lived until around a year and a half ago. Sassoon's wife and surviving 14-year-old daughter are still in critical condition on respirators. |
Lee Leads Phillies to 11-0 Game 3 Win | (Oct 19, 2009 3:03 AM CDT) Cliff Lee dominated the Dodgers and Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth provided the big swings early as the Philadelphia Phillies cruised past Los Angeles 11-0 last night for a 2-1 lead in the NL championship series. Lee provided another brilliant playoff start, striking out 10 and allowing only three hits in eight innings. Cliff Lee, what can I say about him? He was absolutely outstanding, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. Howard hustled for a triple, Werth homered and the Phillies led 6-0 by the second inning. Howard made two headfirst dives during the romp—the big slugger has an RBI in all seven of Philadelphia's playoff games this year, a record streak in a single postseason. The AL 's reigning Cy Young Award winner faced just two batters over the minimum. Lee gave up a pair of singles to Manny Ramirez and one to Ronnie Belliard. |