headline
stringlengths 12
127
| news
stringlengths 127
3.02k
|
|---|---|
Palin Ties Iraq to 9/11 Attacks | (Sep 12, 2008 8:13 AM CDT) In her speech yesterday to Iraq-bound troops in Alaska—a brigade that includes her oldest son, Track—Palin linked the war in Iraq with the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Washington Post reports, making a connection the Bush administration has long since stopped making. She said the soldiers' mission is to defend the innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans. While the view that Saddam Hussein had helped the terrorists plan the 9/ll attacks was once promoted by the Bush administration, the White House and the president himself have since rejected the claim. But insurgents allied with al-Qaeda now operating in Iraq have taken root there since the US invasion, the Post notes. |
Militants Kill 80 Soldiers in Yemen | (Mar 5, 2012 10:04 AM) Al-Qaeda-linked militants attacked an army base in southern Yemen, setting off a pair of car bombs and killing 80 soldiers yesterday in an hours-long battle. At least 20 militants were also killed in what became one of the bloodiest battles the country has seen in years, the Wall Street Journal reports. Militants captured some 50 troops and the majority of the base's weapons. It was just the latest in a series of violence by Islamist militants since new President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi was sworn in two weeks ago. |
Man Stabs Woman, Her 3 Girls at French Alps Resort | (Jul 19, 2016 5:35 PM CDT) Authorities in southern France have detained a Moroccan man they said stabbed a woman and her three daughters Tuesday at an Alps resort, the AP reports. Jean-Marc Duprat, a deputy mayor for the town of Laragne-Monteglin in the Hautes-Alpes region, says the mother and her girls, aged 8, 12, and 14, were vacationing at a nearby resort when a man from a neighboring apartment attacked them Tuesday morning as they ate their breakfast. All four are expected to recover. Duprat initially said the man was upset that the girls were wearing shorts and T-shirts. He later said that did not appear to be the case and that the attacker's motive was not known. Raphael Balland, prosecutor for the region, said the attacker, who was on vacation with his wife and children, was brandishing a 3-inch folding knife. The youngest girl, who was the most gravely wounded, was out of danger following surgery. Laragne-Monteglin is 110 miles northwest of Nice, where a Tunisian man killed 84 people on July 14 by driving a truck through a holiday crowd on Bastille Day. The July 14 carnage has deeply upset a country still reeling from the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, which killed 130 people and a separate January 2015 Paris attack that targeted journalists at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and Jews at a kosher supermarket. |
Bomb Kills 15 at Pakistan Funeral | (Mar 11, 2012 5:29 AM CDT) A suicide bomber attacked a funeral attended by an anti-Taliban politician in northwest Pakistan today, killing at least 15 mourners and wounding 30 others, police said. The politician, Khush Dil Khan, escaped unhurt in the blast on the outskirts of Peshawar. Islamist militants are fighting a vicious war against Pakistani security forces in and around Peshawar, which lies close to border regions with Afghanistan where extremists hold sway. Many hundreds have been killed over the last few years. Police officer Abid Rehman said the attacker managed to get inside the compound where funeral prayers were being held in Badhber village. He said several of the wounded people were in critical condition. We are devastated, said Zahir Khan, 32, weeping while lying in a hospital bed. His elder brother died in the attack. He said they were chatting when the bomb went off. I never knew I was going to lose my brother forever. |
Cantor Has Up to $15K Bet on Government Default | (Jun 28, 2011 9:16 AM CDT) As Eric Cantor last week negotiated an increase in the federal debt ceiling, he had between $1,000 and $15,000 invested in a fund that aggressively shorts US bonds, according to his latest financial disclosure statement. If Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling and the US defaults, the value of that investment would skyrocket—in fact, it’s already up 3.3% since Cantor walked away from negotiations on Thursday, Jonathan Easley of Salon writes. The investment makes up a relatively small part of the millionaire congressman’s assets, and a spokesman stresses that Cantor also holds a lot of Treasury bonds. But the investment still represents an unseemly conflict of interest, one Motley Fool writer says. We can only guess how much he understands about what’s in his portfolio, but you’d think a politician would know better. It looks bad. |
GM Shares Jump 8% in Wall Street Return | (Nov 18, 2010 9:02 AM) And, they're off! General Motors stock jumped from the initial IPO price of $33 per share to $35.80 after GM Chief Executive Dan Akerson rang the opening bell this morning, returning the icon of American manufacturing to life as a publicly traded company. The Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 120 points in early morning trading, reports the AP. The Wall Street Journal notes that investors and analysts will be following today's IPO carefully: If shares pop more than the typical 10% to 20%, GM and the US may have charged too little. Click here for more on how much GM is expected to pay back, and what the IPO will do to the government's stake. |
Married 41 Years, Profs Turn Sex 101 Into an Institution | (Aug 2, 2009 12:25 PM CDT) For more than 20 years, John and Janice Baldwin have instructed students at UC Santa Barbara about sex, love, and everything in between, while implicitly offering their own 41-year-old marriage as a positive example, the LA Times reports. Their Sociology of Human Sexuality is one of the most popular classes at UCSB, owing not only to college students’ inexorable interest in sex, but to the Baldwins' deft and sensitive handling. We are not trying to teach them to be like us, John Baldwin insists. But we are going to be talking about relationships, and a lot of them want relationships. They want to find somebody special, so we are little hope signals. The Baldwins’ frank and fact-oriented approach is appreciated by students like Adam Milholland, 21, who said his high school sex-ed class focused on abstinence: This class teaches you stuff that is important to your life, Milholland says. |
Dow Up 50 on Stimulus Deal | (Feb 11, 2009 3:21 PM) Stocks posted mild gains today, MarketWatch reports. The indices had fallen to losses but headed up again after Harry Reid announced that the Senate had reached an agreement on the stimulus package. Beleaguered banks Citigroup and Bank of America were both up 8% after yesterday’s sell-off. The Dow rose 50.65 points to settle at 7,939.53. The Nasdaq closed up 5.77 points at 1,530.50, and the S&P 500 gained 6.58 points to close at 834.77. |
China Arrests 500 Over Mayan Apocalypse Rumors | (Dec 17, 2012 9:21 AM) In the US, we mostly laugh off the Mayan-predicted apocalypse that will probably eradicate us all in a few days. But in China, it's serious business. Authorities there have now arrested more than 500 members of the banned Christian Almighty God cult for allegedly spreading doomsday prophesies, the AP reports. Police also seized leaflets, DVDs, books, and other materials warning of the impending apocalypse. The cult believes that the sun will not shine and electricity will not work for three days beginning on December 21, the state-run Xinhua news service reported. Then again, perhaps China has good reason to try to clamp down on the rumors; according to another report, such prophesies were a motivating factor in the knife attack on 23 children at an elementary school on Friday. The suspected slasher, identified as Min Yongjun, had been strongly psychologically affected by rumors of the upcoming end of the world, Xinhua reported. If you are similarly being psychologically affected, we urge you to calm down and read this or this. |
Naval Academy Charges 3 Footballers in Rape Case | (Jun 20, 2013 8:24 AM CDT) The US Naval Academy yesterday charged three midshipmen—all current or former football players—with sexually assaulting a female student at an off-campus house in Annapolis in April 2012. The academy said in a news release that the male midshipmen are being charged with two violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. One charge involves rape, sexual assault, or other sexual misconduct. The other is for making a false official statement. The case has brought renewed focus to how the nation's military academies handle reports of sexual assaults. Even if this case is successfully prosecuted, the larger problem remains, the woman's lawyer, Susan Burke, said in a statement. Rape cases in the military are controlled by untrained and biased commanders whose career interests may be served by covering up incidents like this one. The woman reported the allegations to Navy criminal investigators and was disciplined for drinking while the athletes, one of whom discouraged her from cooperating, were permitted to continue playing, Burke has said. Two of the students were football players this past season, but they are not on the team anymore. Another is still on the team, but he has been suspended pending the outcome of the case. |
Man Spends 29 Years in Jail ... for Looking Like Rapist | (May 14, 2015 2:29 AM CDT) Michael Kenneth McAlister was freed Wednesday after spending about half his life in prison for having the wrong face at the wrong time. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe granted a full pardon to the 58-year-old after a serial rapist who bears a very strong resemblance to McAlister—side-by-side mugshots can be seen here—confessed to the 1986 attempted rape McAlister was convicted of, the Washington Post reports. McAlister had already completed his sentence, but he faced indefinite commitment to a mental institution after being deemed at risk of re-offending because he refused to admit his guilt, reports the New York Daily News. He was convicted after he was identified from a photo lineup by the victim, who only saw part of her attacker's face when she pulled his mask up. There was no DNA linking McAlister to the attempted rape and kidnapping in a Richmond, Va., apartment complex laundry room. Prosecutors and police voiced doubts about his conviction more than 20 years ago after it emerged that serial rapist Norman Bruce Derr was a suspect in laundry room rapes in the area. Derr, who is already serving five life sentences, confessed under a grant of immunity. McAlister tells the Post he hopes Derr can deal with his issues as best he can. He says he feels sorry for what the victim had to go through. It wasn't her fault, and I don't hold any hard feelings at all toward her, he tells the Post. This is what I asked for. To live to see Mike out and free, his 81-year-old mother told the Richmond Times-Dispatch as he left prison. (The story of another man wrongly imprisoned for 23 years has a tragic ending.) |
US Health Care Spending Tops Record $2T | (Jan 9, 2008 4:40 AM) US health-care spending in 2006 increased 6.7% to a record $2.1 trillion—an average of $7,000 for every person in America. Medicare spending jumped 19%, its fastest growth rate in 25 years, according to the latest government statistics published yesterday in the journal Health Affairs. The Medicare boost was due largely to shifting 6.2 million low-income seniors from Medicaid drug programs to a subsidized Medicare prescription plan. Health-care spending grew faster than the economy by 0.6%, and the price of medical services continued to rise faster than wages. It accounted for 16% of the nation's economy. The cost of health care continues to be a real and pressing concern,'' said a Medicare administrator. Two Democratic lawmakers said the latest statistics cry out for some kind of national health-care reform. |
Bernie Madoff's Only Surviving Son Dead at 48 | (Sep 3, 2014 10:55 AM CDT) Bernie Madoff's son Andrew died this morning of cancer at age 48, his lawyer tells CNBC. Andrew Madoff has lost his courageous battle against mantle cell lymphoma, the lawyer says, per Reuters. He died peacefully at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on September 3, 2014, surrounded by his loving family. Andrew Madoff was Bernie's only surviving son after his brother, Mark, committed suicide in 2010. The two said they knew nothing of their father's Ponzi scheme; neither ever faced criminal charges in the case, Reuters notes. |
Detroit Woman, 101, Evicted From Home of 58 Years | (Sep 14, 2011 9:44 AM CDT) A particularly sad foreclosure story out of Detroit: Texana Hollis has been evicted from her home of the past 58 years ... at the age of 101. As if that's not depressing enough, Hollis and her late husband owned the home outright—but in 2003, Hollis' son persuaded her to sign it over to a reverse-mortgage company for $32,000. That money was supposed to help make home repairs, but Warren Hollis also bought a car and $5,000 worth of other things, WXYZ reports. Hollis was evicted after her 65-year-old son failed to pay property taxes to maintain the mortgage, the AP adds. (Update: HUD officials are giving Hollis her house back. I kept it from her because I didn't want to worry her, says Warren Hollis, who also disregarded eviction notices. I was just so sure it wasn't going to happen. But it did happen Monday, and Hollis' belongings were placed outside as she was forced to leave by court officers who left the wheelchair-bound woman sitting on the sidewalk. That night, she was taken to a hospital for severe anxiety and disorientation; she also suffers from high blood pressure and heart trouble. An official notes that the Hollises took out an adjustable-rate mortgage in 2002 and owed $80,000. Neighbors, a nonprofit organization, and even county officials indicate they will try to help. |
'Gangnam Style' Hits No. 1 in UK | (Oct 1, 2012 10:03 AM CDT) Gangnam Style, the wildly popular hit from South Korean rapper PSY, has made it to No. 1 on the UK charts, Sky News reports. It could also become the most-viewed YouTube video of all time, with more than 336 million views as of today. For some perspective, Australia's News Network reports that the current most-viewed video is Justin Bieber's Baby, which has racked up 783 million views since February 2010. Gangnam Style has only been up three months. Not surprisingly, the catchy viral hit has spawned a series of spin-off videos, including a kinda creepy one spotted by Gawker in which the music has been removed, and of course, a version entirely in Klingon. |
Asteroid Could Come Within 11K Miles of Earth Next Month | (Feb 5, 2016 6:40 PM) An asteroid could pass very close—cosmically speaking—to the Earth next month. Asteroid 2013 TX68 is scheduled to pass us by on March 5, coming as close as 11,000 miles (or a little more than the distance between Seattle and South Africa), CBS News reports. However it could also be as far away as 9 million miles. According to Gizmodo, the asteroid's most likely path puts it at a distance of 1 million miles from Earth. Amateur astronomers should be at the ready anyway, as a flyby at the closer end of the asteroid's range would make it visible with a telescope. The asteroid, which was discovered in October 2013, passed by Earth two years ago at a distance of 1.3 million miles. Even though it's predicted to possibly come closer this time around, NASA states there is no chance it will hit the Earth. According to a press release, there is a one in 250 million chance it will collide with the planet during another flyby in 2017, though NASA says that probability is too small to be of any real concern. And at only 100-feet in diameter, our atmosphere would likely break it up before it made contact. Though that would still cause an air burst twice as powerful as the one caused by a meteor that broke up over Chelyabinsk, Russia, three years ago. |
Giants Go Up 3-0 in Series | (Oct 27, 2012 10:34 PM CDT) San Francisco moved to within one win of the championship by shutting down the Detroit Tigers once again tonight and taking a 3-0 lead in the World Series. The Giants won 2-0 for the second consecutive night, this time as the away team. Detroit just can't seem to get a clutch hit and has yet to even lead in the Series. San Francisco can clinch as early as tomorrow night. Bleacher Report has more on the game and the Series here. |
Police Reopen Investigation Into 1975 Officer Slaying | (Nov 3, 2015 6:02 PM) Late last month, the Long Beach Police Department reopened the investigation into a 28-year-old officer gunned down in front of his house in 1975, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reports. Not only that, but the department is offering a $50,000 reward for any information that helps solve the case, according to the Los Angeles Times. CBS Los Angeles reports police decided to reopen the case into Franke Lewis' slaying after new information arose and held a news conference Tuesday to announce the reward. Lewis, a father of two, had only been on the force two years when he got home early one December morning to see someone attacking a man who was sleeping in his car in front of Lewis' house, the Times reports. Lewis went to investigate and was shot by the attacker, who made off with Lewis' badge and gun. Lewis died in his wife's arms. According to the Press-Telegram, the man who was sleeping in his car that day 40 years ago credits Lewis with saving his life. |
$90M Noah's Ark Attraction Gets Opening Date | (Nov 13, 2015 9:29 AM) Construction of a Noah's Ark attraction in northern Kentucky is sailing along, and the builders say it will open next year. Answers in Genesis, the Christian ministry leading the project, announced Thursday that the attraction will open to visitors July 7. The massive, 510-foot-long wooden boat is the $90 million first phase of a planned religious theme park. Answers in Genesis founder Ken Ham says work on the bow and stern will begin soon, and that the end result will be the most authentic and realistic reconstruction of Noah's Ark in the world. The state had awarded an $18 million tourism tax incentive to the project before withdrawing it last year over concerns about religious indoctrination. The ark's builders are suing in federal court to get the incentive back. But the election of a Republican governor who will take office in 2016 could render the lawsuit moot. Gov.-elect Matt Bevin could drop the court defense and move to place the ark project back in the state tax-rebate program; Bevin has said he supports tax rebates for the project. Answers in Genesis has attracted headlines and controversy for promoting a view that Old Testament stories are true and the Earth is just 6,000 years old. Science educators, including TV star Bill Nye, have criticized the ark project, saying it could divert young people away from taking an interest in science. Nye debated Ham at a widely seen online event last year. Nye said if Noah's Ark had actually been built, it would have been destroyed by the sea. |
17-Hour Erection Sends Man to Hospital | (Oct 7, 2014 11:54 AM CDT) Last Friday, Jason Garnett greeted a new day, as many men do, with an erection. But 17 hours later, doctors were stabbing the British man's penis with needles in order to end his member's persistent salute, UPI reports. The 23-year-old North Yorkshire man didn't worry when his erection stuck around the morning after a night of love-making, reports Northern Echo. He changed his tune around lunch time and tried to tame it with an ice bath and a jog, but after a stiff eight hours, he finally asked his roommate for help. You should have seen the look on his face … he was in hysterics at first, but then he realized how serious the situation was, Garnett says, according to Huffington Post. Garnett's erection wasn't a blessing, but a serious medical condition called priapism. The rare malady has nothing to do with arousal or desire and can cause permanent damage if left untreated, reports News.com.au. The most embarrassing day of Garnett's life got worse when doctors drew two pints of blood from his penis and injected it 24 times with erection-reducing meds. Seeing them stab my penis with a needle was … like something out of a horror film. The pain was a 10 out of 10, he says. Garnett says his penis now looks like it's been through a war. It's all a bit black and blue. (Read about a woman whose medication caused unwelcome orgasms.) |
5-Year-Old Drummer Wows YouTube | (Jan 14, 2010 11:30 AM) The latest sensation getting the Internet’s attention: Jonah Rocks, a 5-year-old drummer whose YouTube videos will likely blow your mind. BuzzFeed and the Huffington Post are both pointing to his website. Check out a few of his videos in the gallery. |
China Gives Dissident Liu 11 Years in Prison | (Dec 24, 2009 9:00 PM) A Chinese court sentenced prominent dissident Liu Xiaobo to 11 years in jail today on subversion charges after he called for sweeping political reforms and an end to Communist Party dominance. Liu sentencing comes despite international appeals for his release, which China sternly rejected as interference in its internal affairs. Liu was the co-author of an unusually direct appeal for political liberalization in China called Charter 08. He was detained just before it was released last December. More than 300 people, including some of China's top intellectuals, signed it. |
Spam, Curse of Web, Turns 30 | (May 3, 2008 11:06 AM CDT) Spam turns 30 today, but don't break out the champagne just yet: The junk e-mail is as healthy as ever, frustrating tech experts desperate to blow out its candles. It all started on May 3, 1978, with a pitch for a new computer on a government-run precursor to the Internet. Even then, the reaction was fierce, the Washington Post says. This is a clear and flagrant abuse of the directory! wrote an early spam victim. Despite Bill Gates’ prediction of spam-free email by now, at least 80% of it is spam, InformationWeek reports. One historian fears users will communicate only through sites like Facebook to avoid the nuisance, saying the end of unrestricted email would be a real shame. |
Trump Sweeps All 5 States | (Apr 26, 2016 7:03 PM CDT) Donald Trump is having a big night, as expected. Five states voted Tuesday, and CNN called Connecticut, Maryland, and Pennsylvania for Trump as soon as the polls closed at 8 Eastern—and then Rhode Island and Delaware about 30 minutes later. The only real suspense will be how the delegate count shakes out for him, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich. A total of 172 were up for grabs, and Trump entered the night 392 short of his magic number to clinch, reports AP. The big wild card is Pennsylvania; it has 71 delegates at stake, but Trump as the winner is automatically entitled to only 17 under the state's unusual loophole primary rules. The rest are unbound and can vote how they wish at the convention. |
iPhone 6 Pics, Videos Leak From China | (Sep 8, 2014 4:24 PM CDT) Photos and videos purporting to show the new iPhone 6 are flowing out of China and look pretty darn real. Geek.com has a video translated from Chinese of a new iPhone that's described as lighter than the 5s, with a slightly curved 4.7 screen, speedy processor, protruding camera, and a health app. ZDNet, which has photos and short videos of the phone, reports that it comes with Touch ID to unlock the screen. BGR says nearly 20 videos have been smuggled out of China in all. But no word yet on possible near field communication, wireless charging, or a 5.5 -display version. Apple plans to reveal its new devices (including an iWatch?) tomorrow. |
32 Teen Moms Rescued From Nigerian 'Baby Factory' | (Jun 3, 2011 1:11 PM CDT) Nigerian police have rescued 32 pregnant girls aged 15 to 17 from what they termed a baby factory in the southern city of Aba. Police allege that the women who went to the Cross Foundation clinic were forced to sell their babies for around $170 to $190. The hospital’s owner, Dr. Hyacinth Orikara, would then allegedly either sell them off for use in occult rituals or as slaves, or put them up for adoption illegally. Orikara denies the allegations, saying he runs a clinic to help teens with unwanted pregnancies, according to local sources cited by the New York Daily News. But such baby factories are common across West Africa, the newspaper notes. According to Unicef, at least 10 children are sold daily in Nigeria alone, adds the BBC. |
Vatican Gets First Overhaul in 25 Years | (Feb 24, 2014 2:20 PM) Pope Francis today announced the first major shake-up in 25 years to what the AP terms the Vatican's outdated and inefficient bureaucracy, in a move designed to bring outside experts into the murky world of Vatican finances. Reuters reports that Francis used a Motu Proprio—a document meaning by his own initiative —to make the immediate changes, chief among them the creation of a department to oversee the Vatican's finances. The Secretariat for the Economy will have Australian Cardinal George Pell, 72, at its helm. Reuters describes Pell as a key proponent of financial transparency ; the AP has him as a sharp critic of current Vatican governance. The Secretariat will prepare the Holy See and Vatican City State's annual budgets, and will report to both the pope and a new 15-member economy council comprised of eight cardinals and, notably, seven lay experts with strong professional financial experience who will, among other things, analyze reports on the economic-administrative activities of the Holy See. Per the Vatican, an auditor-general will also be appointed who will have the authority to conduct audits of any agency of the Holy See and Vatican City State at any time. Per the AP, it's the most significant overhaul of the Vatican's internal organization since Pope John Paul II in 1988 issued the apostolic constitution, Pastor Bonus, the blueprint for the Holy See's various congregations, pontifical councils, and offices. |
Ohio Resuming Executions After 3-Year Moratorium | (Oct 3, 2016 1:32 PM CDT) Ohio plans to resume executions in January with a new three-drug combination after an unofficial three-year moratorium blamed on shortages of lethal drugs, an attorney representing the state told a federal judge Monday. Thomas Madden with the Ohio attorney general's office said the state will use the drugs midazolam, which puts the inmate to sleep; rocuronium bromide, which paralyzes the inmate; and potassium chloride, which stops the heart. He said the drugs are not compounded and are FDA approved. The US Supreme Court upheld the use of such a combination in a ruling last year regarding Oklahoma's execution protocols. Madden told Columbus federal Judge Edmund Sargus that a new execution policy will be announced at the end of the week. The AP was the only media outlet present at the court hearing. Attorneys representing death row inmates say they'll file a new challenge almost immediately. Ohio hasn't put anyone to death since January 2014, when Dennis McGuire repeatedly gasped and snorted during a 26-minute procedure using a never-before-tried two-drug combo. The state also used midazolam in McGuire's execution, making it disappointing that Ohio would again turn to that drug, said Allen Bohnert, a federal public defender representing several death row inmates. Monday's development opens the way for the execution of Ronald Phillips for the rape and murder of his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter in Akron in 1993. The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said it plans to proceed with the Phillips execution after filing the new execution protocol with the judge. Ohio has more than two dozen inmates with firm execution dates sitting on death row, with executions scheduled out as far as October 2019. |
Boy, 14, Arrested for Refusing to Go to School | (Sep 5, 2014 3:06 AM CDT) A 14-year-old boy in Florida really, really didn't want to go to school and was willing to accept the consequences: The St. Augustine teen was handcuffed and arrested after his mother called the cops, having first tried taking away his phone and disconnecting the Internet, reports the Smoking Gun. A police report states that the teen, who was still in his bedroom when cops arrived, told officers he wasn't going to school, and when he was informed that the only other option was jail, he said, Do what you gotta do. I'm not going to school. The teen and his mother had recently moved to Florida from New York, and he told officers that he wanted to go to school in New York, the police report states. |
If $100 Is Too Steep, Wait for the $75 Laptop | (Jan 10, 2008 3:30 AM) The former chief technology officer of the One Laptop Per Child program has formed a spin-out company that seeks to take the XO laptop a step further—and reduce the cost of the basic computer from $100 to $75. The new operation, Pixel Qi, will aim to develop a cheaper computer—as well as other low-power electronics—using much of the technology spawned by One Laptop, reports the New York Times . Critics accuse founder Mary Lou Jepsen of hijacking advances at her former operations for personal profit, but others praise her for creating something new from the foundering nonprofit. Pixel Qi will continue to work with One Laptop, gaining profit only from its dealings with commercial enterprises. |
Romney Already Looks Like a Candidate for 2012 | (Nov 13, 2008 7:25 PM) Mitt in 2012? Romney's stock is on the rise in the party, writes Alexander Mooney for CNN, and the former Massachusetts governor is showing all the signs that he's antsy to run again. For starters, he's currently schmoozing with the conservative elite on a Caribbean cruise, the same venue that first put Sarah Palin on the right's political radar. Romney himself disavows such talk, but several aides say they expect an another run. If the economy continues to flounder, there will be certainly be a draft Romney movement, predicts one conservative pundit. Mooney also notes that when Romney dropped out this year, he did so not in a hometown speech—the usual venue—but in a speech to grass-roots activists. He is now in a better position to garner more conservative support because of it, said the pundit. |
'10 Most Wanted' Fugitive Surrenders | (Mar 28, 2013 9:10 AM CDT) One of the FBI's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives spent just 13 days on the infamous list before turning himself in. Edwin Ernesto Rivera Gracias, 28, voluntarily returned from El Salvador to Colorado yesterday to face a first-degree murder charge, the AP reports. The FBI had offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to his arrest in the 2011 slaying of Richard Limon, 69. As ABC Denver reports, the plot he was allegedly involved in reads like the script for a made-for-TV movie: At the time of the murder, Rivera Gracias was dating Nena Moya, then 17, the daughter of Limon's wife, Tina Moya. Nena told Rivera Gracias that Limon had molested her and sexually assaulted her mother. The arrest warrant affidavit states Rivera Gracias wanted to kill him over the allegations; Tina Moya had also asked various people to kill him. Ultimately, the affidavit states, she convinced Rivera Gracias and her boyfriend to do the deed while she and her daughter, aware of what was going on, were nearby. Rivera Gracias is accused of wielding the knife that killed Limon; his body was found dumped near a guardrail on Lookout Mountain with a steak knife blade stuck in his chest. Tina Moya and her boyfriend pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and were sentenced to 36 and 48 years, respectively; Nena pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder and was handed a two-year sentence, to be served in a youth corrections facility. |
70 Arrested in Occupy SF Raid | (Dec 7, 2011 10:30 AM) Another Occupy encampment was cleared out early today, as police raided Occupy SF and arrested 70 people who had been camping at Justin Herman Plaza. Protesters at the 2-month-old encampment were given five minutes to leave shortly after 1am; most did, but 30 who did not were arrested. The other 40 arrests came when protesters who objected to the eviction blocked Market Street. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that a few clashes occurred, and two people allegedly threw a metal chair at a police officer. Meanwhile, the AP reports on the shift from Occupy Wall Street to Occupy Our Homes. As protesters are finding their public camping options increasingly limited, Occupiers are moving into foreclosed homes and properties. More than 25 cities saw Occupy Our Homes protests yesterday on behalf of evicted homeowners. It's pretty clear that the fight is against the banks, and the Occupy movement is about occupying spaces, says an organizer. So occupying a space that should belong to homeowners but belongs to the banks seems like the logical next step for the Occupy movement. |
Bar Fire in French City Kills 13 | (Aug 6, 2016 5:48 AM CDT) A fast-moving fire swept through a birthday party in the basement of a bar in the northwest French city of Rouen, killing at least 13 people and injuring six others, the AP reports. More than 80 firefighters battled the blaze after midnight Friday at the downtown bar in the city in Normandy, Rouen Mayor Yvon Robert said after the blaze was extinguished. The fire was totally accidental, Robert told Europe 1 radio, mentioning a possible gas explosion from the heat in a basement room doubtless too small for the number of people present. The local Paris-Normandie newspaper said the fire ignited in the basement of the Cuba Libre bar, which had been rented for a birthday celebration. The paper said the polystyrene ceiling was quickly ignited by candles on a birthday cake. The bar fire came as France is on maximum terror alert after two deadly attacks last month and was the second tragedy to hit Rouen in recent weeks. A priest was slain by two ISIS extremists in his church outside Rouen on July 26 and his funeral was held Tuesday in Rouen Cathedral. |
Gay Marriage Will Be Law of Land in 5 Years: Advocates | (Jun 27, 2013 7:43 AM CDT) When gay marriage advocates finish celebrating yesterday's Supreme Court rulings, a sobering bit of reality is bound to sink in: The nation now has a confusing patchwork of state and federal laws that often conflict with each other, reports the New York Times. Consider a gay couple that marries in one state and retires in another; or the couple whose marriage is recognized within their military base in Mississippi but not in Mississippi itself. One possible solution: The Human Rights Campaign vows to make gay marriage legal in all 50 states within five years, reports the Los Angeles Times. For now, the immediate game plan is to roll out campaigns in Illinois, New Jersey, Nevada, Oregon, and Hawaii in the coming months to try to increase the number of states where gay marriage is legal. But ultimately, it's a good bet that this is going back to the Supreme Court for a definitive ruing on whether gay marriage is a constitutional right, reports the Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, Congress may have to clarify rules to accommodate the DOMA decision, making sure that gay couples get their federal benefits. But at least one House conservative hopes to clarify things in the opposite direction: Tim Huelskamp plans to file a constitutional amendment within a week to reinstate DOMA, reports the Washington Post. President Obama, meanwhile, touched on the overall issue today in Africa, notes Poltico: It’s my personal belief—and I’m speaking now as a president [not] as a lawyer—if you’re married in Massachusetts and you move someplace else, you’re still married. But he cautioned that White House lawyers were still unraveling yesterday's decisions. |
Hostage Slain in Church; 2 Attackers Dead in France | (Jul 26, 2016 5:33 AM CDT) More misery in France: Two attackers took hostages inside a French church during morning Mass on Tuesday near the city of Rouen, killing an 86-year-old Catholic priest by slitting his throat before being shot and killed by police, reports AP. The Islamic State claimed responsibility. Another person inside the church in Normandy was seriously injured and is hovering between life and death, said Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet. Police managed to rescue the only three other people inside the church in the small northwestern town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, he told reporters. It was the first known attack inside a French church in recent times. A church was targeted last year, but the attack never was carried out. French President Francois Hollande, arriving on the scene, called it a vile terrorist attack and said it's one more sign that France is at war with the Islamic State, which has claimed a string of attacks on France. We must lead this war with all our means, he said, adding that he was calling a meeting on Wednesday of representatives of all religions. France is currently on high alert after an attack in Nice on Bastille Day—July 14—that killed 84 people and a string of deadly attacks last year claimed by the Islamic State group that killed 147 victims. A statement published by the ISIS-affiliated Amaq news agency said the attack was carried out by two soldiers of the Islamic State who acted in response to calls to target nations in the US-led coalition fighting in Iraq and Syria. |
Susan Boyle Sings for King, '99 CD Surfaces | (Apr 18, 2009 8:47 AM CDT) Susan Boyle and Britain's Got Talent judge Piers Morgan were reunited (remotely) on Larry King's show last night, where Morgan predicted a worldwide chart-topping CD within the year for the woman he called a Rocky Balboa. Morgan also apologized to the 48-year-old Scottish singer— We thought you were going to be a bit of a joke act, to be honest with you —and asked her to out dinner, which Boyle promptly accepted. Boyle sang a bit of Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On for King, earning an Amazing. That was just absolutely stunning, from Morgan. To sing that with no musical backing is unbelievable. You have the voice of an angel, Susan. Meanwhile an earlier recording of the jazzy blues ballad Cry Me a River, performed by Boyle in 1999 for a local charity CD, has already topped a million hits on YouTube. |
Richardson Dead at 45 | (Mar 19, 2009 12:12 AM CDT) Natasha Richardson, a gifted and precocious heiress to acting royalty whose career highlights included the film Patty Hearst and a Tony-winning performance in a stage revival of Cabaret, died yesterday at age 45 after suffering a head injury during a ski lesson. It was a sudden and horrifying loss for her family and friends, and for the film and theater communities. Liam Neeson, his sons (Micheal, 13, and Daniel, 12), and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha, said a family statement. They ask for privacy during this very difficult time. Descended from at least three generations of actors—her mother is Vanessa Redgrave—Richardson was a proper Londoner who came to love the noise of New York, an elegant blonde with lively eyes, a bright smile, and a hearty laugh. She met Neeson when they made their Broadway debuts in 1993. |
G20 Leaders Close to Deal | (Apr 2, 2009 6:19 AM CDT) G20 leaders have nearly completed an agreement to confront the global financial crisis, reports the Times of London. Gordon Brown opened the summit by saying that the draft communique already prepared reflected a high degree of consensus between us. The British PM said that the leaders needed to focus today on global financial regulation—which France and Germany said again last night must be beefed up if they are to sign the deal. According to the BBC, the final communique should announce an increase of $500 billion for the International Monetary Fund to help struggling economies. There will also be a statement about limiting executive pay, although fixing numbers to that may be unlikely. Anti-protectionist measures will also be included, and the G20 may agree to name and shame countries that violate free trade rules. |
Journo Escapes After 5 Months in Captivity | (Mar 12, 2013 8:12 AM CDT) A Ukrainian journalist who was kidnapped in Syria on Oct. 9, reportedly by rebels, managed to escape yesterday, she tells RIA Novosti. I took a terrible risk, as I had to walk across an area leading on to minefields, Ankhar Kochneva says. I walked and walked, and the first person I met was the one I needed. I met normal people who helped me to get to the army's side. She says she was held by the Free Syrian Army for a $50 million ransom. I thought they would have killed me eventually and would say that it was the army who did it, she notes, per CNN. So I made a decision to escape. The kidnappers' living conditions are poor and my conditions were even worse, she recounts, adding that she expects to undergo lengthy medical treatment as a result of her captivity. She describes losing 66 pounds and being kept in a room with a broken window all winter. Kochneva voiced support for the regime against the rebels, CNN notes. Everyone shouts that Syria is doing something wrong, but I'm sorry, what should it do? What would, for example, Germany do if someone would destroy its railway, kidnap its people, and ask money for them, kill them? ... The world has gone blind. |
Prince William's 3rd Anniversary Gift to Kate: $6K Watch | (Apr 29, 2014 10:29 AM CDT) It may feel like you've been hearing about Prince William and wife Kate for a thousand years, but they've only been married for three, as of today. And she got quite an anniversary gift, the Daily Mail reports: Wills gave her a Cartier watch that cost upward of $6,000; it's embedded with a sapphire, to match Kate's engagement ring. He reportedly gave it to her before they set off on their three-week tour of Australia and New Zealand, and Kate wore it every day they were gone. The watch has another link to Princess Diana (who, of course, was the first owner of Kate's ring): Di also wore a Cartier watch, and once had one engraved for William for his birthday. Oh, and then of course there's the fact that the queen is encouraging Kate to build up her own collection of Cartier items, the Mail notes. As for how the royal couple is celebrating their anniversary, officials say they're doing so privately, according to the Daily Beast; the Mirror says they're expected to spend time with Kate's family. They were apart on their second anniversary, with William on duty as an RAF pilot. |
Irony Alert: Romney May End Up With 47% of Votes | (Nov 21, 2012 7:22 AM) Mitt Romney's favorite percentage may come back to haunt him. Votes have only been completely tallied in 10 states thus far, and it's looking more and more like Romney will finish with just under 47.5% of the vote, writes Greg Sargent for the Washington Post. When rounded, that would put the final tally at 51% to 47%, a poetic if painful echo of his infamous 47% comment. That conclusion isn't a certain one yet, but as of yesterday morning, new votes from Maryland dropped Romney to 47.56%, and a hefty number of additional votes from New York and California could send that figure down a bit more. Sargent thinks it would be a fitting end to the Romney political saga. He writes, If Romney’s described electorate—the job creators and the makers of America who were supposed to be enraged at all the moochers and the takers—ends up totaling 47%, we will have come full circle. |
97 Bodies Found Crammed Into Prehistoric House | (Jul 27, 2015 5:25 PM CDT) You wouldn't expect to find 97 ancient bodies crammed inside a 5,000-year-old house—but that's exactly what researchers discovered at the Hamin Mangha site in northeastern China, LiveScience reports. The remains of middle-aged adults, young adults, and juveniles were found in various states, with some charred and deformed, perhaps indicating that a fire in the small house caused roof beams to fall on them. But how did bodies get there in the first place? Perhaps it was a prehistoric disaster like an epidemic, say Jilin University anthropologists who analyzed the bodies. Ancient humans put remains into the house successively and stacked [them] centrally, according to a summary of their work at the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. Plus the victims' ages are close to those of bodies from an ancient mass burial in the Miaozigou region, prompting speculation that an epidemic wiped out populations and left survivors little time to conduct proper burials. On the floor, numerous human skeletons are disorderly scattered, reads another report on the Hamin Mangha discovery, in Chinese Archaeology. The skeletons in the northwest are relatively complete, while those in the east often [have] only skulls, with limb bones scarcely remaining. But in the south, limb bones were discovered in a mess, forming two or three layers. The report adds that Hamin Mangha is the largest and best-preserved prehistoric settlement site found to date in northeast China. (See why a 4,000-year-old home found in Ohio is very significant. ) |
ECB Makes Massive $639B Loan to Banks | (Dec 21, 2011 10:25 AM) The European Central Bank loaned a massive $639 billion to 523 banks for an exceptionally long period of three years to steady a financial system that is under pressure from the euro zone debt crisis. It is the biggest ECB infusion of credit into the banking system in the 13-year history of the euro. The ECB is trying to make sure that banks have enough ready cash so they can keep on lending to businesses. Otherwise, a credit crunch could choke off growth and spread the debt crisis to the wider economy through the banks. Markets rose modestly on the amount of the loans, which was far more than the $391 billion expected. The ECB has served as lender of last resort for banks when they cannot borrow elsewhere. But the credit infusion only treats one of the worst symptoms of the debt crisis. It does not remove the reason investors will not lend to banks—their thin levels of capital reserves against potential losses. The ECB loans also do not do much to reduce heavy levels of government debt. There was some speculation that banks could borrow money cheap from the ECB operation and buy higher-yielding government bonds. But many analysts think it is unlikely they will increase their exposure to government bonds amid fears of default. Many banks have cut their holdings of debt from governments that are in financial trouble. |
Crash Kills 4 Carter Relatives | (Aug 22, 2008 7:35 PM CDT) Four British relatives of actress Helena Bonham Carter died this week in a safari bus crash, the London Times reports. The minibus punctured a tire and overturned 6 hours outside of Johannesburg, South Africa, killing Carter's cousin Fiona Bonham Carter, 51, and three relatives including Fiona's mother. The Oscar-nominated actress could not be reached for comment. |
Home Prices Take Steepest Tumble Since 2000 | (Jun 24, 2008 10:42 AM CDT) US home prices tumbled in April at the fastest rate since the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index started keeping track in 2000, with all 20 metropolitan areas surveyed posting annual declines for the first time. The index fell by 15.3% in April versus a year ago, according to today's report. Prices nationwide are at levels not seen since August 2004. No surveyed city stayed above water, according to the Case-Shiller index. The last holdout, Charlotte, NC, finally succumbed to the national housing downturn, with prices there slipping 0.1% from a year ago. Las Vegas and Miami both continue to post the largest declines, falling 26.8% and 26.7%, respectively. |
Ring Was Hidden at Auschwitz for More Than 70 Years | (May 19, 2016 4:03 AM CDT) The owner of a gold ring and necklace found at Auschwitz was almost certainly murdered by the Nazis, but she hid her valuables so well that they weren't found by her killers—or by anybody else for another 70 years. The Auschwitz Museum says curators discovered the items in an enamel mug with a double bottom. The mug, one of 12,000 pieces of kitchenware in the museum's collection at the former extermination camp, had begun to fall apart with age and employees discovered its secret during maintenance work, the BBC reports. Tests revealed that the pieces, which had hallmarks featuring the head of a knight with the number three on the right side, were made in Poland between 1921 and 1931. Museum director Dr. Piotr Cywinski says the Nazis, who murdered more than 1 million Jews at the camp, told people being rounded up and sent to Auschwitz that they were being deported for resettlement—a lie that ensured they brought their valuables with them in the small amount of luggage they were allowed. The fact that victims went to great lengths to hide their valuables shows they knew they would be robbed, he says, but on the other hand, it shows that the Jewish families constantly had a ray of hope. The museum says the jewelry will remain in its collection—there's little chance of identifying the owner—displayed in a way that shows how it had been hidden. (An Auschwitz survivor wasn't allowed to testify at a guard's trial.) |
New Orleans' $15B Levees Nearly Done | (Aug 24, 2010 2:17 PM CDT) Five years and $15 billion later, the US Army Corps of Engineers is just about done with a massive ring of protection designed to protect New Orleans from another Katrina. It's a 350-mile network of levees and flood walls that is by all accounts a massive improvement over the previous patchwork system. ( We’re not even in the same universe anymore, says one project engineer.) But as the New York Times explains, plenty of skeptics remain. Do I trust them? No, says one Jefferson Parish resident. How can I trust somebody who makes that big of an error? And a Berkeley professor who's an expert on levee failures says the new system may indeed offer protection from a once-in-100-years flood, but as Katrina proved, that's not even close to what is needed. |
Seahawks Beat Packers 14-12 in Replacement Ref Mayhem | (Sep 25, 2012 3:45 AM CDT) We wuz robbed by crazy replacement refs, the Green Bay Packers were thinking last night when a bewildering end of the game call left them scratching their heads. Seattle beat the Packers 14-12. But MD Jennings was certain he had intercepted a late-game pass, and even had the ball clutched to his chest. But it was no go. I was very shocked, Jennings said. But, the refs got the last say, so it is what it is. The confusing final minutes of the game occurred when Seahawk Russell Wilson threw a disputed 24-yard touchdown pass toward Golden Tate in the corner of the end zone as the clock expired. Tate shoved Green Bay's Sam Shields out of the way, then wrestled on the ground with Jennings for possession. One referee raised his arms to signal touchdown while another official waved his arms, apparently signaling a touchback, by way of an interception, notes the Huffington Post. (Or was he signaling that the clock had already run out, as one announcer speculated? It was finally ruled a touchdown on the field, but confusion still reigned. After a long review referee Wayne Elliott finally came out to announce that the ruling on the field stands. It was nearly 10 minutes before the teams were brought back for the extra point. The game is going to further fuel debate about the replacement officials after a wild weekend of disputed calls. Don't ask me a question about the officials, Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy told AP. I've never seen anything like that in all my years in football. ESPN play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico agreed. This is the most bizarre sequence you'll ever see at the end of the game, he said. |
Divers Find 1468 Wreck That May Hold Millions in Coins | (May 6, 2015 7:47 AM CDT) An international team of divers has discovered a long-sought 15th-century shipwreck just south of the island of Jussarö in Finland. When the Hanneke Wrome sank in 1468 during heavy storms in the Baltic Sea on its way from Germany to Estonia, it was considered one of the biggest maritime disasters of its era—and not just because 200 passengers and crew went down with the vessel. The ship was also carrying coveted cargo, including 200 parcels of fabric, 1,200 barrels of honey, jewelry, and 10,000 gold coins thought to be worth more than $56 million today, reports Ancient Origins. The divers, led by renowned Finnish wreck researcher Rauno Koivusaari (who found the treasure ship Vrouw Maria in 1999), began looking for the Hanneke Wrome last year. They came across a vessel roughly 100 feet long that includes three decently-preserved sections—a keel, mast, and anchor—that were scattered in east-west direction, confirming the dynamic of the sinking during the eastern storm, Koivusaari tells Discovery News. Named after the ship's captain, the Hanneke Wrome was actually one of two ships caught in the same storm, though the other managed to reach the destination port in Tallinn, Estonia. While the divers have found a barrel lid, roof tiles, and a lead object, they have yet to uncover the gold coins, though Koivusaari appears confident they, too, are preserved. (Millions in silver have just been recovered from a WWII wreck.) |
For 2nd Straight Month, Romney Breaks $100M Mark | (Aug 6, 2012 6:50 AM CDT) Mitt Romney set a fundraising record when he broke the $100 million mark in June—and last month, he hauled in a very notable amount once again. His campaign and the Republican National Committee broke the $100 million mark for a second time, bringing in $101.3 million, Politico reports. That's not quite June's number—that was $106.1 million—but it will almost certainly keep him ahead of President Obama in terms of cash-on-hand. Romney's campaign, the RNC, and the Romney Victory Fund have a total of $185.9 million in cash reserves between them. No word on July fundraising numbers from Obama yet, but the Republicans beat the Democrats in May and June fundraising; last month, Obama and the Democratic National Committee raised $71 million. The president will get at least $2.5 million today at two fundraisers, USA Today notes; one of them is co-hosted by Hollywood bigwigs including Harvey Weinstein, Aaron Sorkin, and Anne Hathaway. |
15 Dead After Warplanes Hit Near Aleppo Hospital | (Nov 22, 2012 8:08 AM) Syrian warplanes flattened a building next to a hospital last night, killing at least 15 people and damaging one of the last remaining sources of medical help for civilians in Aleppo, activists said. Once a private clinic owned by a businessman loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, the Dar al-Shifa became a field hospital run by volunteer doctors, nurses, and aides united by their opposition to the regime and the need to give medical care to both civilians and rebels. The facility has taken at least six direct hits in recent months, mostly affecting the upper floors. The seven-story hospital is only about 400 meters from the frontline in a neighborhood that is heavily shelled every day. The warplanes turned the building adjacent to the hospital into a pile of rubble and sprayed shrapnel and debris into Dar al-Shifa itself, activists said. One activist tells the AP that at least 11 fighters were killed in the raid, in addition to a doctor, a young girl, and two children who were on the street. Meanwhile, rebels seized a key military base with artillery stockpiles in the country's east today after a three-week siege, strengthening their hold in an oil-rich strategic province bordering Iraq, activists said. |
2 Madoff Victims Sue SEC | (Oct 14, 2009 3:32 PM CDT) Two investors who lost a combined $2.4 million to Bernie Madoff’s ponzi scheme have sued the SEC for negligence. The lawsuit argues that the commission should reimburse the plaintiffs for their losses because it failed in its duty to protect investors. Regulators had countless opportunities to catch Madoff and botched all of them, it says. Instead of watching the backs of ... investors, the SEC—through its negligence—was effectively watching Bernie Madoff's back, says the plaintiffs' attorney, reports CNNMoney. Now it is time for the SEC to be held accountable and for the federal government to do what the law says it must do: compensate the victims for its negligence. |
Ammon Bundy Got $530K Loan From Government | (Jan 6, 2016 5:13 PM) It turns out Ammon Bundy, the leader of a group of armed anti-government protesters currently occupying a remote government building in Oregon, is a lot more forgiving of the federal government when it's directly helping him out. CNN reports Bundy took out a $530,000 loan from the Small Business Administration for his truck maintenance company in 2010. The loan guarantee he received is meant to aid small businesses which are unable to obtain financing in the private credit marketplace, according to Mother Jones. Bundy tells CNN the loan isn't hypocritical. I am not anti-government, he says. There is a role for government. Specifically, Bundy says the government's role is to protect the will and rights of the people, CNN reports. He says his six-figure loan is OK because it was an effort in assisting the people in using their rights. According to Mother Jones, the government estimates Bundy's loan could cost taxpayers $22,419. Records don't indicate if Bundy has repaid the loan. And NPR points out Bundy's family hasn't paid any of the more than $1 million it owes for grazing cattle on government land. Bundy and his supporters took over a building in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday. A statement released that day accuses the government of stealing land and resources from citizens. The statement did not mention the Small Business Administration and the taxpayer-funded assistance it provided to Ammon Bundy, writes Mother Jones. |
Hong Kong Is No. 1 in Trash | (Oct 26, 2010 6:06 PM CDT) Hong Kong is now the trash capital of the world, producing more waste per capita than any other place, reports Time. The 7 million residents produce 6.45 million tons per year for the honor. The city's waste-heavy ways include a dependence on take-out food, along with all those plastic containers and paper bags used to package it, writes Krista Mahr. The city recycles about half its waste but is forced to ship the remainder to three main landfills, which already take up huge amounts of precious land. Incineration, banned 13 years ago, is being discussed as a viable option, though residents are afraid of the effect on the already-polluted city's air quality. |
Typhoon Toll Hits 500 as Taiwanese Are Buried Alive | (Aug 14, 2009 2:28 AM CDT) Flooding and mudslides caused by Typhoon Morakot killed over 500 people in Taiwan, President Ma Ying-jeou said today in the country's first firm estimate of casualty figures. Some 400 people are believed to have been buried alive in a single village, the BBC reports. The military has now reopened a road into the worst-hit district, but officials believe nobody trapped since Monday's mudslides has survived. Thousands of Taiwanese troops have been moving into the affected areas on helicopter and by foot as part of a massive rescue operation to save thousands of stranded people. In one area, survivors had to be hauled 100 feet by cable over a raging river where a bridge had been washed out. Ma has come under heavy criticism for his response to the disaster, with many saying lives could have been saved if the rescue effort had been mobilized faster. |
60% of YouTube Channels May Lose Funding | (Nov 12, 2012 12:46 PM) YouTube channels are facing a reckoning: As it seeks to make the site more television-like, Google is launching a second round of investments in YouTube channels—but only 30% to 40% are likely to get a new installment of cash, an exec tells Advertising Age. At the moment, YouTube has 160 channels. But a year after beginning the funding process, the site now has a clearer sense of which ones are on the road to success. The new funding will be based on viewership hours, as opposed to number of views or how much cash a channel is generating, Fast Company notes. Our biggest objective was to kick-start the ecosystem, to bring in great creators, to deepen our relationships with advertisers and to grow viewership, says content exec Jamie Byrne, who's helming the process. If channels don't get funding, it's not the end: They can stick around, and YouTube bosses are hoping content makers will keep at it, AllThingsD reports. Channels that do get funding are looking at similar figures to those in the first round of investment: between $1 million and $5 million. It's a tough gig for the channel's producers, notes Ad Age: Before they start selling their own ads, they have to pay back YouTube's investment. |
Congress' Approval Rating Hits 39-Year Low | (Nov 13, 2013 10:40 AM) It is hard to get 91% of Americans to agree on anything, but this is nearing unanimous: Congress stinks. Gallup's latest poll pegs Congress' approval rating at 9%, the lowest mark in the 39-year history of Gallup. The number brings 2013's average to 14%, which would be an all-time annual low. It's worth noting that while the number is historically low for Gallup, it's right in line with the other numbers in Real Clear Politics' polling average, and far from the lowest any poll has recorded. An AP-GfK poll from the first week of the government shutdown came in with just a 5% approval rating. As we've noted in the past, this puts Congress somewhere south of torture and Paris Hilton. President Obama's numbers look delightful by comparison—Gallup gives him a 56% approval rating—but he did take some hits in the character departments. For the first time, less than half of Americans believe he's a strong and decisive leader, with the number dipping from 53% in September to 47% now. He's also dropped five points in the honest and trustworthy category, to 55%. |
Nevada Shifts Caucus to Jan. 14 | (Oct 6, 2011 4:22 AM CDT) Florida's decision to push its GOP primary back to Jan. 31 now looks likely to push the Republican nominating calendar into 2011. Nevada's Republican Party has announced that it plans to hold its caucus on Jan. 14, meaning New Hampshire is likely to shift its primary to even earlier, probably Jan. 3, and voters in Iowa will barely have had time to digest their Christmas turkey before the caucuses, the Hill reports. South Carolina has already shifted its primary to Jan. 21 to stay ahead of Florida. This is absolutely in the best interest of our state, the chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party said in a statement. We are in the process of creating a caucus that will energize Republicans throughout Nevada and the West, and allow us to play a major role in deciding who will carry the fight to unseat Barack Obama and his destructive policies. |
Facebook: You Can Message Zuck for $100 | (Jan 11, 2013 5:45 AM) Hey, Facebook users: Want to get in touch with Mark Zuckerberg himself? Well, you can, but it may cost you $100. Mashable finds that users who try to send the CEO a message may see two options: Send it to his other folder—a zone for less important messages—or send it directly to his inbox, and ante up a fee of one Benjamin. It looks like the options pop up only for those who aren't among Zuck's 16 million Facebook followers, Mashable notes. Facebook—which is, of course, on the hunt for revenue—says it's testing some extreme price points to see what works to filter spam. It last month started testing a $1 fee to message non-friends. |
Cops ID Mom of Girl Found in Cooler 22 Years Ago | (Oct 8, 2013 2:07 AM CDT) New York police have made a breakthrough in a case that horrified the city in the summer of 1991. Thanks to a tip and DNA evidence, they've identified and brought in for questioning the mother of the dead little girl who became known as Baby Hope, the New York Times reports. Highway workers found the toddler tied up in a plastic bag inside a cooler in Washington Heights. The girl, believed to have been between 3 and 5 years old, had been starved, sexually abused, beaten, and strangled, but was never reported missing. We have been able to identify the mother of Baby Hope as a result of, in my judgement, outstanding detective work, Ray Kelly said. The mother has been cooperating. Police haven't arrested her and wouldn't identify her, though sources said she was originally from Mexico and had lived in Queens. After interviewing her, police at last know the girl's name, though they haven't released that, either. The breakthrough follows a fresh push this summer to solve the case, in which police offered a $12,000 reward for information. A woman responded, saying she may have spoken to Baby Hope's sister. (Another recent cold case breakthrough: Police say an elderly couple killed their spouses and children decades ago.) |
'Rockefeller' Sentenced to 4-5 Years | (Jun 12, 2009 2:01 PM CDT) A German man who called himself Clark Rockefeller and spun fantastic stories about himself during 3 decades in the US was sentenced today to 4 to 5 years for kidnapping his 7-year-old daughter. Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter was convicted of parental kidnapping today for taking the girl during a supervised visit and of assault for injuries suffered by the social worker who was with them. |
Cruise Ship Runs Aground, 3 Bodies Found | (Jan 14, 2012 5:24 AM) At least three people were killed as a luxury cruise ship carrying about 4,200 ran aground off the coast of Italy last night, report AP and the AFP. The 950-foot-long cruise ship hit a reef near the small island of Giglio near Tuscany around 8pm, opening a 160-feet gash in the hull. The captain tried to sail the ship into shallower waters to make it easier for passengers to escape on lifeboats, but became stuck on a sandbar about 18 miles from the coast. Three bodies have been recovered, though unconfirmed reports say others had died. As the listing of the ship worsened, many passengers were not able to use the ship's lifeboats and had to be rescued by helicopter or by rescue ships. It was like a scene from the Titanic, said one passenger. Because Giglio has a population of only 1,500, evacuees filled the small island's schools, hotels, and a church, and the mayor called on everyone with a roof to help house survivors. |
How the House's No. 2 Plans to Save the GOP | (Oct 27, 2014 11:25 AM CDT) Eric Cantor's replacement as House majority leader has a warning for Republicans: The party needs to make big changes, fast, if it wants to win the White House in 2016. If we don't capture the House stronger, and the Senate, and prove we could govern, there won't be a Republican president in 2016, Kevin McCarthy tells donors. And he's already planning some big changes to the way the party is run, Politico reports. In the federal government, we're a century behind, he says. We're dealing with a rotary phone. Politico paints a picture of a man more focused on reorganization than policy. The ideas are great, he says, but what stops the ideas from becoming law? Some of the archaic things we do. He wants, for example, to look more to the long term: Congress should make budgets every two years rather than yearly, he says, and the Congressional Budget Office should consider policies' effects over 20 years, not 10. Meanwhile, he wants to work harder to forge agreement within his fractious party, and he wants to present voters with a clear and unified House-Senate plan (even if he's been called baffling as a speaker). From the very first day after the election, we should be laying out to the American public what the expectations are, he adds. But all this will be tough, he says, if Democrats hold on to the Senate—where he sees a 75% chance of Republican victory. |
50 Cent Battles Desert Gangsters in Video Game | (Mar 26, 2008 4:40 PM CDT) 50 Cent has a new video game coming out in the fall in which he battles international gangsters in desert warfare, MTV News reports. Blood in the Sand follows the hop-hop star's Bulletproof of 2005, though it's not being pitched as a sequel. Details of the game’s plot are on tight lockdown, but Vivendi says that unlike Bulletproof —a fictional extension of 50’s criminal past— Blood will have the rapper fighting crime syndicates. I would say it's inspired by Three Kings meets Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, said a Vivendi producer, who credited 50 Cent with pushing the creators to develop exotic locations and a complex storyline. Players can choose between several of 50’s real-life sidekicks as second players, including Tony Yayo, Whoo Kid, and Lloyd Banks. |
Google Unearths 3D Ancient Rome | (Nov 13, 2008 7:07 AM) Google Earth is providing users the opportunity to surf the streets of Ancient Rome via a 3D virtual reconstruction of the city as it was in the 4th century. Users can enter the Forum, stand in the sands of the Colosseum, or swoop over any of 6,700 buildings of old Rome, reports the BBC. The creators used as a guide Plastico di Roma Antica, an official archaeological model of the city housed in Rome's Museum of Roman Civilization. Whether you are a student taking ancient history, a historian who spends your life researching ancient civilizations, or just a history buff, this will help everyone learn more about ancient Rome, said Google's Earth 3D production manager. |
Nissan's Leaf: 99MPG (!?) | (Nov 22, 2010 5:08 PM) So the Nissan Leaf's efficiency technically isn't measured in gallons, but the feds say it's running at the equivalent of 99 mpg, reports the AP—106 city and 92 highway. The EPA says the Leaf can go about 73 miles on a full charge (that's down from Nissan's estimates of 100 miles) and run an average $561 a year in electricity. |
Holiday Blasts Kill 19 Iraqis Near Shia Sites | (Oct 2, 2008 7:55 AM CDT) Suicide bombers targeted Shia worshipers as they left morning prayers today at two Baghdad mosques, killing 19 people and injuring 50, police say. In a separate attack, gunmen fatally shot six people as they traveled in a minibus 60 miles north of Baghdad. Attacks on Shia civilians are widely associated with Sunni extremists hoping to reignite sectarian conflict. The bombings in Baghdad occurred as worshipers celebrated the holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. In the deadliest attack, a suicide car bomber in a white Mercedes sedan detonated his explosives 20 yards from a mosque in southeastern Baghdad after being stopped by Iraqi soldiers. He killed 14 and injured 28. |
Woman's Stolen '67 Mustang Returns Home After 28 Years | (Dec 25, 2014 10:35 AM) Lynda Alsip got an unexpected Christmas present this year: the 1967 Ford Mustang she had stolen from her 28 years ago. Alsip had last seen her first car, purchased for $800 in 1985, at her apartment complex in Salinas, Calif., before it vanished in 1986 while she was out with friends, the Salinas Californian reports. It turns out that it didn't go far. A man who says he purchased it from storage in 1991 kept it in his garage in Salinas and did some work on it before attempting to register it with the DMV. The California Highway Patrol soon traced it to Alsip's mother. When an officer called asking Alsip if her car had been stolen, I said, 'Oh my God, you found my green '67 Mustang!' Alsip was reunited with the car on Monday after officers decked it out with a bright red bow. It is sort of a Christmas miracle, and we are really happy to give her her car back, an officer tells NBC Bay Area. Alsip says her husband and son will work on getting the Mustang running again, but it's an amazing blessing, she says. I couldn't ask for a better Christmas present. She's already made one small adjustment: She's added the personalized plates she bought years ago—reading LYNDA67 for the year she was born—which arrived after the car disappeared. Officials are investigating whether the man who had it all these years knew it was stolen, adds the Santa Cruz Sentinel. |
LA's Warm Streak Ends at 375 Days | (Dec 31, 2014 5:24 PM) It was 48-below in Daniel, Wyoming, before sunrise today, it snowed in Vegas, and the average temperature in the Lower 48 states was 14 degrees, making for the coldest December morning in 16 years, reports the Washington Post. But in the everything's-relative department, the Los Angeles Times points out a sort-of chilly weather milestone in downtown LA, too: Yesterday, the temperature didn't reach 60 degrees for the first time in 375 days. Best they could manage was 56. (Even in chillier locales, modern drivers don't need to warm up their cars in winter. |
Judge Tosses Out 9/11 Remains Case | (Jul 7, 2008 8:33 PM CDT) A lawsuit to have rubble from the Sept. 11 attacks given a proper burial was dismissed in a US court today, Reuters reports. Victims' families contend that the estimated 1.5 to 1.8 million tons of debris contain human remains, and must be removed from the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island. But a judge ruled that New York City had acted responsibly in the difficult and complicated task of disposing the rubble. Plaintiffs have no property right in an undifferentiated, unidentifiable mass of dirt that may or may not contain the remains of plaintiffs' loved ones, he said. The families wanted the city to create a cemetery for the dirt, which has been searched several times but may contain fragmentary remains. About 1,100 World Trade Center victims have never been recovered. |
It's Friday the 13th: Would You Take Flight 666 to HEL? | (Sep 13, 2013 12:04 PM CDT) Would you board flight 666 to HEL on Friday the 13th? For superstitious travelers, that might be tempting fate. But Finnair passengers on AY666 to Helsinki—which has the 3-letter designation HEL—don't seem too bothered. Today's flight is almost full. It has been quite a joke among the pilots says one Finnair veteran, who will fly the Airbus A320 from Copenhagen to Helsinki. I'm not a superstitious man. It's only a coincidence for me. The daily flight AY666 from Copenhagen to Helsinki falls on Friday the 13th twice in 2013. Some airlines, like Scandinavian Airlines, take superstitions seriously and don't have a row 13 on board. However, the negative connotations are a relatively new phenomenon for northern Europeans, and Finnair and other regional carriers like Norwegian and Estonian Air keep row 13. As one expert on comparative folklore points out, Less than 100 years ago, the number 13 did not have this sinister meaning; it's quite recent in the north. |
Leno Headed Back to 11:35; Conan to 12:05 | (Jan 7, 2010 3:24 PM) In a plan to boost NBC’s late-night ratings, Jay Leno would go back to his 11:35 time slot, while Conan O’Brien, who replaced Leno last year, will move to 12:05. TMZ first reported the Leno development earlier today, with the New York Times clearing up O’Brien’s destination. We remain committed to keeping Conan O’Brien on NBC, a source says, adding that O’Brien’s show will remain an hour long. |
Why 90% of Doctors Don't Recommend Their Job | (Apr 14, 2014 11:32 AM CDT) According to a survey last year, nine of 10 doctors wouldn't recommend their career to others; some 300 doctors commit suicide yearly. All that's not surprising, writes Daniela Drake at the Daily Beast: Simply put, being a doctor has become a miserable and humiliating undertaking, she notes. Indeed, many doctors feel that America has declared war on physicians—and both physicians and patients are the losers. America's health care system is, in large part, to blame. It's expensive for doctors to process insurance forms, and that means they need to see more patients; the result is that the average face-to-face clinic visit lasts about 12 minutes. ObamaCare has now codified this broken system into law. On top of that, health industry bosses are obsessed with patient satisfaction data, though high scores have been linked to worse outcomes and higher costs. The primary care doctor doesn’t have the political power to say no to anything—so the 'to-do' list continues to lengthen, Drake writes. Meanwhile, the media constantly puts doctors in a negative light. For America’s health to be safeguarded, the well-being of America’s caretakers is going to have to start mattering to someone, she concludes. Click for Drake's full piece. |
House OKs 90% Tax on AIG Bonuses | (Mar 19, 2009 2:46 PM CDT) By a 328-93 vote, the House today approved a bill that would recover most of the bonus money awarded to executives of bailout-buoyed AIG by taxing it at 90%. The measure drew significant Republican support, and some Democrats made it clear the legislation is an attempt to persuade execs to return the payments voluntarily, the Washington Post reports. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle heaped scorn on the bonus recipients during spirited debate this morning, the New York Times adds. The people have said 'no. In fact, they said, ‘Hell no, and give us our money back,' shouted North Dakota Democrat Earl Pomeroy. The Senate now must consider its own version of the legislation. |
Bad Reviews Compel Dentist to Sue 5 Patients in 4 Years | (Jul 27, 2016 5:48 PM CDT) Yelp has just issued its third ever consumer alert, this one about a dentist in Manhattan who has sued five patients since 2012 for posting negative reviews, reports BuzFeed. Nima Dayani has asked for anywhere between $50,000 and $100,000 in damages, so Yelp is warning consumers that Dayani's business is issuing questionable legal threats against reviewers and that reviewers have a First Amendment right to express their opinions on Yelp. Dayani appears to have backed off the lawsuits where patients agreed to remove their negative reviews. In one pending court case, a woman accused him in her review of being unable to diagnose her problem after a two-hour-plus visit. Dayani says that's untrue and that such claims aren't just negative but defamatory. I got hurt. You will get hurt, he claims the woman told him by phone, because she had been scolded for being gone so long by her boss, reports the New York Daily News. Yelp issued its first alert in May after a Texas pet sitting company sued a customer who violated its gag clause, which prevented her from speaking ill of the business; a Florida moving and storage company was issued the second alert in June after it sued a customer for defamation. Buzzfeed reports that both cases are ongoing, and notes that the alerts are being rolled out while Congress considers two bills that could protect consumers from being sued for online reviews. (That pet sitter says its business is now a shell of its former success and is seeking $1 million in damages.) |
2 Satellites Collide: Space Station at 'Elevated' Risk | (Feb 11, 2009 6:50 PM) In a space first, two fully intact satellites have collided about 500 miles above Siberia, the Washington Post reports. Yesterday's collision—between a commercial satellite owned by the US company Iridium and a Russian one thought to be defunct—puts the International Space Station at a very small but elevated risk of being struck by debris. It also endangers about 20 other commercial satellites in the area. The space station is in a lower orbit, at about 220 miles above earth, and it may have to perform what NASA terms a debris avoidance maneuver, something it's done about a dozen times previously. It gets down to probabilities, said a NASA spokesman. Space being very big, these pieces of debris being very small, the odds are very high that they're not going to collide. |
13 Kids Among 19 Dead in Qatar Mall Blaze | (May 29, 2012 2:00 AM CDT) Thirteen children and four teachers were among at least 19 people killed when a fire broke out in a shopping mall in the Qatari capital of Doha yesterday. The victims were trapped inside a nursery in the upscale mall, where the fire is believed to have started, reports the BBC. Firefighters had to break through a roof in an attempt to reach the trapped children after a staircase collapsed, and two of them died in the rescue effort. The seven girls and six boys who died included four Spanish children, a 3-year-old French child, and 2-year-old triplets from New Zealand. Some sprinklers and fire alarms failed to work, and some floor plans turned out to be incorrect, hindering rescue efforts, said officials. Survivors describe the evacuation of the mall as chaotic, and say fire alarms were barely audible. Qatar's interior ministry says an investigation is under way, Reuters reports. |
Senate OKs Bill With $63B for Ongoing Wars | (Dec 12, 2014 5:17 PM) Congress today sent President Obama a massive defense policy bill that endorses his stepped-up military campaign of air strikes and training of Iraqis and moderate Syrian rebels in the war against Islamic State militants. The Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill that authorizes funds for basic military operations, including construction of new ships, aircraft, and weapons as well as a 1% pay raise for the troops. The vote was 89-11. A coalition of defense hawks and Western state Republicans overcame objections by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and several other GOP senators, who were furious that unrelated provisions to designate 250,000 acres of new, federally protected wilderness were added to the popular legislation dedicated to military operations. The measure would authorize the training and equipping of moderate Syrian rebels battling the extremists, a mandate that lasts for two years. It also would provide $5 billion to train Iraqis to counter the militants who brutally rule large sections of Iraq and Syria. American air power had changed the momentum on the ground somewhat and given moderates in the region an opportunity to regroup, but ISIS cannot be defeated without an opposing force to take the fight to it on the ground, said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Armed Services Committee. To do that, our Arab and Muslim partners must be in the lead. The bill would provide the core funding of $521.3 billion for the military and $63.7 billion for overseas operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Click to see what it does with terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay. |
Barbara Walters Names Steve Jobs Most Fascinating Person of 2011 | (Dec 15, 2011 7:55 AM) For the first time ever, Barbara Walters’ Most Fascinating Person of the Year is no longer alive: She chose Steve Jobs. Walters had already selected the Apple founder when he announced his retirement from the company, but never got the chance to sit down with him for the interview. It seemed appropriate to break the show’s rule that every fascinating person must be living, Walters said last night, because rules were made to be broken—and that’s certainly how Steve Jobs lived his life. Another interesting entry on the list that was not initially reported: Herman Cain. In an amusing portion of his interview picked up by the Daily Beast, he told Walters he would like to be defense secretary. Fortunately, he acknowledged that he was speaking totally, totally hypothetical, because he just might have a few foreign policy issues. The Daily Beast notes that Walters looked stunned and replied, What? Click for the rest of Walters' Top 10. |
2 Kabul Guards Give Lives, Save Mall in Bombing | (Feb 14, 2011 12:14 PM) No shoppers or clerks were hurt in a suicide bombing at an Afghanistan mall today—thanks to the heroic efforts of a pair of security guards. When the bomber set off a metal-detector alarm, they opened fire, and the bomber quickly set off his explosives, witnesses told the New York Times. The three men were the only ones killed, though two bystanders were wounded. The police will not sacrifice themselves for you, but the security guards gave their lives, said a shop manager. The Afghan National Police arrived soon after the attack, and NATO troops were sent as observers, the Times notes, now that Kabul’s security is in Afghan hands. American Special Forces soldiers arrived last and inspected the area. Meanwhile today, the head of the NATO training mission cited an incredible transformation among the country's 117,000 police officers over the past 15 months, including vast improvements in literacy: 86% of them can now read at a first-grade level. |
At $5B in Profits, One Client May Have Out-Madoffed Madoff | (Jun 23, 2009 4:01 PM CDT) At least one person looks to have benefited more from Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme than Bernie Madoff, ProPublica reports. Jeffry Picower, a secretive philanthropist and investor in medical technologies, is on the books as having withdrawn some $5.1 billion in returns from 1995 to 2008, well beyond his original investment. Records show some fishy numbers in Picower’s accounts, and the Madoff trustee has filed a lawsuit against him. While the suit vaguely alleges that Picower knew or should have known about the scam, the numbers speak volumes. For years, Picower made quarterly withdrawals conveniently adding up to round numbers like $250 million, but it’s the rate of return that’s otherworldly. One year, an account earned 950%; 550% was not uncommon. Picower’s charitable foundation conveniently folded just after the scheme came to light. |
12-Year-Old Boy Stops Cancer Treatment | (Feb 25, 2012 4:40 PM) Five years of surgery, chemo, and rehabilitation have convinced a 12-year-old cancer patient to halt his treatments, ABC News reports. Alex Rodriguez of Shelbyville, Tenn., chose hospice care at home with his family over going to Texas for experimental treatments. He is a very courageous young man to have a very mature adult outlook on life, a doctor says. It’s amazing as a 12-year old he is really able to face the opportunities and challenges that he has in his remaining time. One of Alex's last wishes was to visit the Coca Cola factory in Atlanta, Georgia—which he did yesterday. A businessman paid for his limo, and residents hung blue support ribbons on mail boxes and street lamps. Alex was stricken with cancer at age 7, underwent surgery and learned to walk again with metal devices in his spine. When the cancer came back, Alex chose home over hospital. We don’t know what kind of time frame we’re in, a minister says. According to Alex's grandmother, He’s always happy and he doesn’t like to talk about his cancer. It makes him sad and he wants to be happy. |
Reebok to Refund $25M for Bogus Toning Shoes | (Sep 28, 2011 2:10 PM CDT) Reebok has agreed to dole out up to $25 million in refunds for people who bought its EasyTone and RunTone shoes, in the mistaken belief that they’d actually help them tone their lower body as advertised. The move settles an FTC complaint that Reebok’s various claims about the shoe’s benefits—like that it would lead to 11% greater strength in hamstring muscles—weren’t backed up by science, the Chicago Tribune reports. Marketing campaigns, no matter how clever, sexy or funny, must start and must stick with product claims that are substantiated, the FTC’s director of consumer protection wrote in the complaint. The settlement bars Reebok from making any further claims about the shoe’s efficacy unless it has scientific evidence to back them up. Duped customers can go to ftc.gov/reebok to apply for a refund. |
3 Dead in Belgian Nursery School Attack | (Jan 23, 2009 6:51 AM) An unknown man wielding a knife at a Belgian nursery school killed at least 2 children and one adult today, the BBC reports. A dozen or more were said to be injured in the attack northwest of Brussels. The attacker, wearing black-and-white face paint, fled by bicycle, says the Times of London. The children have been evacuated and police have arrived; some reports say the man has been arrested. Ten, 15, 20 are injured, I don't know, an emergency worker told Reuters. |
Pentagon Plans Afghan Surge of 20,000 | (Nov 22, 2008 2:24 AM) US commanders are drawing up plans to send an extra 20,000 troops to Afghanistan over the next 12 to 18 months, Reuters reports. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the surge will help reverse the rising violence in the country and safeguard elections planned for next fall. Commanders say the current NATO force in southern Afghanistan is overwhelmed by the growing Taliban insurgency. Barack Obama has said he wants more troops in Afghanistan and plans to urge other countries to send in reinforcements. Britain and Canada complain that they are already doing a disproportionate amount of the fighting, however, and say Obama should be knocking on the doors of the NATO allies that insist on keeping their troops in quieter parts of the country. |
Obama Wants Power to Merge 6 Trade Agencies | (Jan 13, 2012 8:39 AM) President Obama will today announce a plan to mash together six federal agencies—including the Commerce Department—in an effort to simplify the government's sprawling regulatory bureaucracy. Obama can't actually make the move without Congressional approval, however, so he intends to ask Congress for a special reorganizational power—last held by Ronald Reagan—that would allow him to propose mergers and guarantee him an up-or-down vote on each merger from Congress within 90 days. The Wall Street Journal reports that some lawmakers may be wary of granting the Obama this fast-track authority, as they wouldn't be permitted to amend any of his proposals. The plan would merge Commerce with the Small Business Administration, the Office of the US Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the Trade and Development Agency. Obama first proposed this reorganization almost a year ago, but got hung up on various obstacles and details. Not least among those: The still unresolved question of what to do with the Census Bureau and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, current Commerce entities unrelated to trade or business. |
15 Charged in Gang Rape of Mom, 14-Year-Old Daughter | (Jul 31, 2016 10:21 AM CDT) Police in northern India say they have detained 15 suspects after a 35-year-old mother and her teenage daughter were gang-raped off a busy highway, reports the AP. Police say the nearly three-hour attack took place Friday night near the town of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh state after a gang of men threw an iron rod at the car they and four family members were traveling in, reports the Times of India. When the driver got out to check for damage, the men attacked, separating the woman and her daughter from their male relatives. After the attack, the men left the family with their car stranded in a swampy field. They managed to reach help on Saturday morning, per the Times. Senior local police official Daljeet Choudhary said Sunday that several police teams were at work to ensure that the attackers were identified quickly. The family was also robbed of money, jewelry, and their cellphones. The attack is the latest incident of sexual violence to shock India, a still-deeply patriarchal nation of 1.3 billion people. |
Man Charged With Holding, Raping Teen for 6 Months | (Feb 9, 2010 5:30 AM) A Buffalo man is charged with holding a 13-year-old runaway in his home for six months, and raping her more than 100 times. Michael J. Abdallah, 26, is jailed on charges of second-degree rape, unlawful imprisonment, and custodial interference. The case came to light after police questioned Abdallah about a burn on his 1-year-old son. Abdallah pointed them toward the 13-year-old, whom he said watched child. Police then discovered the relationship, NBC reports. |
FedEx Reports $241M Loss on Fuel Costs, Soft Economy | (Jun 18, 2008 8:32 AM CDT) Surging fuel costs, softening demand, and retail operation charges—including the cost of renaming its FedEx Kinko’s stores FedEx Office—sent FedEx Corp. to a fourth-quarter loss of $241 million, or 78 cents a share, compared to profits of $610 million or $1.96 a year ago, reports the Wall Street Journal. Revenue rose 8%. Earnings were below analysts' estimates, and the company predicted a very difficult'' environment well into next year. |
Kony 2012 Sequel Released | (Apr 5, 2012 10:13 AM CDT) The sequel to viral video sensation Kony 2012 is here, and it's lacking a pretty big component of the first video: Jason Russell. Russell, the Invisible Children co-founder who narrated the first video, was hospitalized after an outburst in San Diego last month. As a result of his absence, the AP notes, Kony 2012: Part II is also lacking the unique narrative from a child's eyes structure of the first video, in which Russell's son Gavin plays a large role. Part II is also significantly shorter than the first video about the African warlord, Mashable notes. Even so, Julie Watson writes, the sequel includes the same slick, inspiring shots as the original of a young global community mobilizing into action. It's traditional—albeit hip, and it also addresses criticisms of the Invisible Children nonprofit. Will it have the same impact? The fact is, the story has developed in so many odd ways with all the controversy, and the sequel can't really promise the bang of that first video—which is informing people of something they did not know before, says one pop culture expert. Now we're getting into the details, which is never that thrilling. |
Paltrow Saved a Life on 9/11 | (Aug 18, 2011 12:29 PM CDT) Gwyneth Paltrow: actress, singer, chef, gangsta rapper, and ... unlikely 9/11 hero? For one woman, yes. On the Morton Report, Lara Lundstrom Clarke recounts her chance encounter with the actress on the morning of September 11, 2001. Lundstrom Clarke was jaywalking across 7th street to catch her train when a Mercedes SUV nearly ran her down. After it screeched to a halt, Lundstrom Clarke looked in and noticed the driver: Paltrow, who lived down the street. Lundstrom Clarke made it to the subway station unscathed, but her near-death experience had caused her to miss her train. At that time I was annoyed at everything that had made me late that day, including Gwyneth Paltrow, she says. Of course, that changed as she exited the subway to see the first plane hit the World Trade Center, where she worked on the 77th floor. She has since written a letter of thanks to Paltrow—who, through her publicist, confirms the story to People. (She is deeply moved by the tale, her rep notes.) |
Dear Ryan: Elton John writes letter 20 years after his death from AIDS | (Apr 23, 2010 1:01 PM CDT) Elton John addresses a posthumous letter to AIDS victim Ryan White in Sunday's Washington Post, a tribute to the friend who changed my life as well as the lives of millions living with HIV on the 20th anniversary of his death. A young boy with a terrible disease, you were the epitome of grace. You never blamed anyone for the illness that ravaged your body or the torment and stigma you endured. The singer thanks White for starting a national conversation about AIDS and for raising both awareness and compassion. I wish you could know how much the world has changed since 1990, and how much you changed it. Although much medical progress has been made, the disease still ravages. It would anger you that your government is still not doing enough to help vulnerable people, writes John. I pledge to not rest until we achieve the compassion for which you so bravely and beautifully fought. |
Dow Rises 204, Back Over 10,000 | (Nov 5, 2009 3:15 PM) Stocks rallied, pushing the Dow above 10,000 in its best one-day point gain since July. A decline in weekly jobless claims and good news from Cisco led the way, reports the Wall Street Journal. |
Southwest Adds $10 Fee to Board Early | (Sep 2, 2009 4:40 PM CDT) Southwest Airlines doesn’t assign seats, but now it will start charging for the privilege of finding the best one, the Dallas Morning News reports. For an extra $10, the new EarlyBird Check-in allows passengers to board first, or at least right after the Business Select and Rapid Rewards A-List customers. Southwest is trying to build a customer base with its no hidden fees policy—it's losing out on millions by not charging baggage fees, for example—and says it won't charge a fee for a previously free service. As a result, it's creating fees for new services—such as the EarlyBird Check-in and another that allows customers to carry a small pet in the passenger cabin. |
A 1941 Army Base Lynching Remains Unsolved | (Sep 9, 2016 1:05 PM CDT) On the morning of Feb. 12, 1941, Army Pvt. Felix Hall went to his job at a sawmill near Fort Benning where he was stationed. After his shift ended, he told friends he was going to the Post Exchange, the only place on the segregated Georgia base where a black man could order a hot meal. He never made it. Hall’s body was found on March 28 hanging from a tree in woods a short walk from the center of the post. Citing never-before-seen documents, Alexa Mills at the Washington Post reports that the lynching—the only one believed to have happened at a military base during that era—was never fully investigated. The FBI and the War Department failed to obtain or ignored important information. Although a military doctor ruled the death a homicide, authorities said the 19-year-old may have committed suicide. Outraged, the NAACP demanded a proper investigation. Nobody was ever charged and the case went cold until 2014, when students at Northeastern University began digging. Hall was known to boldly converse and flirt across the color line—a dangerous act for an African-American at that time. Rumors spread on base that his lynching was punishment for having his eyes on a white woman. On the day he died, Hall was last seen alive walking through a poor white neighborhood. Two suspects emerged, both military men who were never charged. The FBI never followed up on statements by Hall’s friends that his white boss at the sawmill had threatened to kill him. No word from the FBI whether it would reopen the case, though a spokeswoman said the bureau is committed… to aggressively investigate these types of allegations and bring justice for the victims and their families. Read the full article here. |
UN Releases $1.5B in Frozen Libya Assets | (Aug 26, 2011 11:08 AM CDT) The UN has unfrozen $1.5 billion in frozen Libyan assets to be used as humanitarian aid as it called on both sides of the conflict to avoid revenge killings, the BBC reports. The money had been seized by the US in the spring. It won’t go straight to the rebels, notes the New York Times: Instead, the US and international agencies will direct it toward humanitarian efforts. The head of the Transitional National Council pledged to favor the countries which helped us in accordance with the support which they gave us. With about half the Council in Tripoli, the city is largely in rebel hands—but fighting has continued, including reports of summary killings by both rebels and loyalists. Meanwhile, rebels have met opposition in their struggle to reach Moammar Gadhafi’s hometown, Sirte, which British planes bombed last night, hammering what Britain called a large headquarters bunker, CNN reports. Meanwhile, an empty hospital in the Abu Salim area—which has seen vicious fighting—held dozens of decomposing bodies, notes CBS News. |
Dog Helps Save Woman Stuck 3 Days in Alaska Cold | (Dec 13, 2013 7:52 AM) A woman is lucky to be alive in Alaska after surviving three nights of temperatures that sank as low as minus 20 degrees—and she has Elvis to thank. Vivian Mayo, 57, was found severely hypothermic early Wednesday, huddled beneath the burned-out hulk of her snowmobile with her small, brown dog Elvis. The dog really did help save her life, says an Alaska State Trooper spokeswoman, explaining that the pet likely helped her preserve her body heat. Mayo had been staying at a cabin near Denali National Park with her husband, Scott Mayo, 61, but grew worried when he had gone to check on a trap line Saturday and hadn't returned by Sunday, reports the AP. Hoping to return to her home in Cantwell to get help, Mayo set out on her snowmobile Sunday but only made it about a mile before the machine broke down. Unable to walk back to the cabin due to mobility issues, Mayo withstood the dangerous temperatures for three days until the arrival of rescuers—who were alerted by family members when the couple didn't return home as expected Tuesday night. An airplane and helicopter search later discovered Scott Mayo a few miles from the cabin, where he'd built a fire and was reported in good condition, despite nearly four nights out in the cold. It's unclear how Vivian ignited her snowmobile. Both had been released from a hospital as of yesterday. |
Small Donors Gave 48% of Obama's 2011 Donations | (Feb 9, 2012 3:01 PM) President Obama continues to be successful raising money through small donations—and this time around, he's outpacing his campaign from four years ago. Last year, almost half of the money raised by the president's re-election campaign came from donors who gave $200 or less in total, a new report from the Campaign Finance Institute shows. In 2007, by comparison, just 22% of the $96.7 million he raised came from donations of $200 or less. In total, Obama raised $56.7 million from small donors last year, compared to the $38.1 million small donors contributed to all of his Republican opponents combined. Obama started out relying more heavily on wealthy donors in 2007, but the CFI notes that that changed in the fourth quarter, when small donations jumped up and remained at higher levels throughout 2008. Last year, the $56.7 million Obama raised from small donors was actually more than the total amount of $56.3 million that Mitt Romney raised, the Washington Post notes, and just 9% of Romney's funds raised came from small donors. Other GOP candidates did better, however: Nearly half of the money raised by Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul came from small donors. |
For 1st Time in 15 Years, World Goes Easier on the Booze | (May 13, 2016 4:36 PM CDT) So much for the conventional wisdom that—as CNN puts it— people tend to drink in good times and bad. According to market research firm Euromonitor International, global alcohol consumption fell by 0.7% in 2015. It's the first time people are drinking less alcohol since Euromonitor started tracking that stat in 2001—and likely even before that. The Telegraph reports the world drank 1.7 billion fewer liters of alcohol in 2015 than it did in 2014. In a remarkable show of moderation, we only managed to put away 248 billion liters total last year. Experts blame the drop in alcohol consumption on slumping economies across the globe, according to the Week. China, the biggest alcohol consumer in the world, drank 3.5% less booze in 2015. Major drops were also seen in Russia (8%) and the Ukraine (17%). In terms of specific alcohols, rum and vodka had the worst 2015. Not even beer was safe, as consumption dropped 1.3%. But it wasn't all bad news. People actually drank more English gin, Irish and Japanese whiskey, and dark beer last year. And cider consumption rose 4.5%. It is no coincidence that those also happen to be the segments gaining further momentum with the ever-important millennial demographic, Euromonitor's senior alcoholic drinks analyst says. Experts expect alcohol consumption to rebound in 2016, so get out and party hard this weekend. |