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'Say Yes to the Dress' Bride Judge Says 'No' to Blocking Episode 'Say Yes to the Dress' Bride: Judge Says 'No' To Lawsuit An attorney for the show’s production company admitted in court Thursday, “This is not he first time this issue has come up.” But Jon Hollis, Half Yard Production’s lawyer, said Godino was told “point blank it’s going to air in the spring and we … don’t control the broadcast company.” TLC attorney Theodore Tsekerides said it couldn’t be pulled because, “we have no full episode in the can.” Godino’s lawyer Frank Taddeo, said his client spent $20,000 for her dream dress — and wasn’t compensated by the show.

– If you were invited to Alexandra Godino's May wedding, tune into TLC at 9pm Friday night and you can get a sneak peek of the bridal gown she'll be wearing. That's the issue at the heart of a lawsuit Godino filed against the network, in which she attempted to force TLC to delay airing the episode of Say Yes to the Dress in which she appears. ("Not showing the world my gown before the wedding is very important," her suit says, per Page Six.) But a Manhattan judge refused Thursday, meaning Godino's dress will be unveiled publicly before she walks down the aisle. It all started back in September, when Godino, who is from Las Vegas and getting married in California, was approached at New York's Kleinfeld Bridal by producers who told her the bride they were supposed to be filming never showed up, and asked her if she was interested in filling in, the New York Daily News reports. Godino, 26, says she first made the producers promise they wouldn't air the episode until after her wedding, a promise that her lawyer says was witnessed by her mom and her fiance, professional hockey player Jeff May. But Godino signed a waiver that included no restrictions about when the show could air, so the judge ruled against her despite acknowledging that airing the episode Friday "could take away from the pageantry of the wedding." Pageantry indeed: The dress to which Godino said yes reportedly cost $40,000 and is "one of the most important aspects of [her] entire wedding," per the suit. As for her not wanting her fiance to see dress in advance, TMZ reports that the judge asked her lawyer if Godino could just ask him not to watch the episode. The bride-to-be plans to sue the show for damages.

GOP lawmakers fear presidential firings of Mueller, Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsWe can end the shutdown with billion — Trump and Democrats already agree on border security Nadler sends Whitaker questions on possible contacts with Trump over Mueller probe Graham angers Dems by digging into Clinton, Obama controversies MORE or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Rod Jay RosensteinBarr’s first task as AG: Look at former FBI leaders’ conduct 5 myths about William Barr William Barr's only 'flaw' is that he was nominated by Trump MORE would cause chaos in Washington and dim Republican hopes of holding their congressional majorities. The articles that provoked Mr. Trump’s anger in December — which were published by Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and Reuters — said one of Mr. Mueller’s subpoenas had targeted Mr. Trump’s and his family’s banking records at Deutsche Bank. The comments suggest the White House may be looking for legal arguments to back a decision to fire Mueller.

– President Trump tried to fire Robert Mueller in December, which is the second known time the president has attempted to get rid of the special counsel, according to the New York Times. which cites interviews with eight White House officials and other people close to Trump. The sources say Trump demanded the firing because he was enraged by media reports that Mueller had crossed his "red line" and subpoenaed Deutsche Bank seeking records on the financial dealings of the Trump family. The insiders say that Trump backed down after lawyers contacted Mueller's team and determined that the reports were what the president would describe as "FAKE NEWS." The Times reported earlier this year that the chief White House lawyer refused Trump's order to fire Mueller last June. The Times report heightened worries that Trump will fire Mueller out of anger at Monday's raid on the offices of Michael Cohen, his personal lawyer. After the raid—the result of an investigation Mueller passed to the Manhattan US attorney—Trump said it was a "disgrace" and told reporters he hadn't made up his mind yet about firing Mueller, CNN reports. Republicans, who fear firing Mueller could cause chaos, have been trying to talk him down, though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell say he doesn't see a need to pass legislation to protect him from being removed, the Hill reports. "I don't think that’s going to happen, and that remains my view," McConnell said Tuesday. "It's still my view that Mueller should be allowed to finish his job. I think that's the view of most people in Congress."

– The days of the white-throated snapping turtle (Elseya albagula) appear to be numbered, according to the Australian government, which has recently declared them critically endangered. If that isn't attention-grabbing enough, consider that the animal prompted a biologist to talk like this: "These turtles breathe out of their ass, which is super awesome." That's James Cook University researcher Jason Schaffer, who's spent eight years studying the turtles in a habitat where dams, agriculture, and predation are making it increasingly difficult for them to survive, reports Scientific American. One of Australia's largest freshwater turtle species—which can live to be 100—white-throated snapping turtles do indeed possess an unusual skill: cloacal respiration, by which they extract oxygen from water via their backsides, reports James Cook University. Thanks to dams, though, water is becoming too sluggish for this kind of breathing, bringing the reptiles to the surface, where they're vulnerable to predators, and restricting them from traveling to find mates. And their eggs take seven months to hatch, which is plenty of time to be eaten or trampled. "Almost nothing is surviving," Schaffer says. "There is nothing coming up to replace them. Pretty soon we'll blink and there will be no more left." (It turns out turtle shells predate dinosaurs.)

A sniper with Canada's elite special forces in Iraq has shattered the world record for the longest confirmed kill shot in military history at a staggering distance of 3,540 metres. A member of Canada’s Joint Task Force 2—part of the U.S.-led coalition that is taking the fight to ISIS in Iraq—made the kill during an operation that took place within the last month in Iraq, sources told The Globe and Mail. The bullet traveled 3,450 meters—over two miles—and took less than 10 seconds to reach its target: a fighter for the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) in Iraq. JOHN D MCHUGH/AFP/Getty “The shot in question actually disrupted a Daesh [ISIS] attack on Iraqi sources,” a military source told The Globe and Mail . “Instead of dropping a bomb that could potentially kill civilians in the area, it is a very precise application of force and because it was so far away, the bad guys didn’t have a clue what was happening.” Read more: 'Brutal' ISIS has destroyed the historic Grand al-Nuri Mosque in Mosul, which stood for eight centuries Canada has been involved in the war against ISIS since 2014. Story continues below advertisement The Trudeau government pulled CF-18 fighter jets out of Iraq in 2016 but expanded the military mission, which will see the number of Canadian special forces trainers climb to 207 from 69 in an assist, train and advise mission. For operational security reasons, sources would not reveal the names of the elite Canadian sniper and his partner, nor the location where the action took place. Firing from such a distance, the shooter would have had to account for wind; the round dropping as it was fired from a higher location; and even the curvature of the earth.

– A Canadian sniper in Iraq appears to have taken a shot for the ages. The Globe and Mail reports that a still-unidentified member of the nation's elite forces killed an Islamic State militant from a distance of 3,540 meters, which translates to a little more than 2 miles. If the account is verified—and it was apparently documented on video—it would best the previous longest kill made by a British sniper in 2009 of 2,475 meters. The gunman used a McMillan TAC-50, which Newsweek notes is the standard rifle among Canada's well-regarded snipers, and took the shot from a high-rise building in an unspecified locale in Iraq. The Globe and Mail spoke to multiple military sources who knew about the shot. “It is at the distance where you have to account not just for the ballistics of the round, which change over time and distance, you have to adjust for wind, and the wind would be swirling,” one expert tells the Globe and Mail. In fact, at that distance, the shooter would also have to account for the curvature of the earth, he adds. One military source says the sniper "disrupted a Daesh (ISIS) attack on Iraqi security forces." Canadian forces in Iraq have been assisting Kurdish fighters battling ISIS, enough so that ISIS has called for retaliatory attacks in Canada.

Honorees Stevie Nicks, John McVie, Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood perform onstage during MusiCares Person of the Year honoring Fleetwood Mac at Radio City Music Hall on January 26, 2018 in New York City. The band had secretly parted ways with Lindsey Buckingham, the longtime guitarist and voice behind many of their most enduring songs. I mean I have a solo career, and I love my solo career, and I'm the boss. "And I'm gonna have the most fun I can and I'm gonna stop complaining. This is what we do.” Related Broken Chain: A History of Fleetwood Mac Firings and Departures Lindsey Buckingham's firing is just the latest in a decades-long game of musical chairs for the Hall of Fame band So instead, they invited Mike Campbell, the former guitarist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Crowded House frontman Neil Finn and spent a few days workshopping tunes from their vast catalog to see if this new lineup had the right chemistry. Nobody in the group is quite willing to say Buckingham was “fired,” but they don’t completely object to the term. “Words like ‘fired’ are ugly references as far as I’m concerned,” says Fleetwood. Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images "It became just a huge impasse and hit a brick wall, where we decided that we had to part company," Fleetwood said. To that purpose, we made a decision that we could not go on with him. "Majority rules in term of what we need to do as a band and go forward" - Mick Fleetwood Buckingham’s ousting marks the latest messy chapter in the ongoing 50-year Fleetwood Mac story – or, as drummer Mick Fleetwood tells it, business as usual. When key early members like Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer left the group in the early 1970s, Fleetwood got right on the phone and recruited new ones. It happened to be his 68th birthday. “I was sitting in my yard by my pool contemplating my future without my partner [Tom Petty], which was going to be a dark place in a lot of ways,” he says. “ I said, ‘Give me a day to think it over.’ The more I thought about it, the more I though it could be great. I’ve known Stevie for years and we’ve always been very creative together.” Related Rob Sheffield on Why the Latest Fleetwood Mac Breakup Is Peak Mac The band's firing of Lindsey Buckingham might be the most quintessential chapter yet in the band's epic saga of dysfunction Not long after getting a commitment from Campbell, Fleetwood called up Finn at his New Zealand home. They also had 16 years of successful road work without Christine McVie when she left in 1998. She came back for the 2015 On With The Show tour, and last year recorded an album with Buckingham that they supported with a long tour that wrapped up just five months ago. “I had a great time with him on the road and making that record,” she says. “I was surprised to hear the news because it happened after I went back to London that the decision was made. "The essence of the band was great, and fun, and the three voices sound really good together," McVie said.

– Two weeks after his exit from Fleetwood Mac was revealed, Lindsey Buckingham remains mum about the cause. Not his former band members. Stevie Nicks tells Rolling Stone the split came after Buckingham proposed pushing back the band's upcoming North American tour, which kicks off Oct. 3. "We were supposed to go into rehearsal in June and he wanted to put it off until November [2019]," six months after the tour is to wrap up, Nicks says. Drummer Mick Fleetwood tells CBS News he doesn't use the word "fired" because it's "ugly," but "as a band we needed to move on." In a first since 1975, the tour will feature songs from the band's full catalog, per Rolling Stone, which has the full list of dates.

– A recent meeting of county emergency medical services workers in South Carolina ended in tears—and, on Monday, with the resignation of an official who spoke at that meeting and mentioned suicide as an option if they didn't like the way things were on the job. Per WSOC-TV and WIS, about 100 Richland County EMS workers had assembled to register complaints about work conditions, and Assistant County Administrator Kevin Bronson apparently wasn't having any of their grievances. "So I'm looking through this list with 50 different problems, and if it's really that bad you can just kill yourself or leave," Bronson reportedly said, according to one of the people who was in the room. One employee tells WSOC that the room "erupted in emotion," with people "crying" and "yelling," partly because a deputy on staff had recently been lost to suicide. After the meeting, the EMS workers banded together with other EMS workers across the state, as well as local firefighters and retired law enforcement members, to protest Bronson's words. Per WIS, the head of an EMS crisis management group called Bronson's remarks "absolutely appalling," "insensitive," "unprofessional," and "childish," especially to a group of workers "who deal with death and crisis situations every day." Per Quorum Columbia, Bronson tried to apologize Friday in an email, noting he'd lost someone close to him to suicide, but he submitted his resignation Monday, acknowledging the "horrible and terrible thing" he'd said. Meanwhile, an ex-paramedic tells WACH he's talking with County Council members to try and improve conditions for the "overworked" and "underpaid" EMS employees. (A woman who texted her boyfriend to kill himself just got 15 months in jail.)

– Steve Jobs is taking a medical leave of absence, and we should all just ... let him be absent, writes the guy who's spent the better part of the last few years tweaking the Apple guru. None other than Fake Steve Jobs, aka Dan Lyons, has put his blog on hiatus effective immediately, and takes to the Daily Beast to call for those "filthy hacks" out there to "leave Steve alone." Lyons knows it's unlikely to happen: "They will rationalize the prying story by saying that Apple is a public company and investors need—nay, deserve—this information. Well, bullshit." "Don't go around claiming that your handful of shares gives you the right to pry into the private life of a sick man." If you want to know more about cancer, visit your local library, writes Lyons. And if investors really can't live with the uncertainty, "sell your shares and thank Steve Jobs for the ridiculous profits you've made." But Lyons won't be snooping around: Like Apple employees who "don’t know what’s wrong with their boss" and are "just feeling awful"—but are bound to be hounded by the media about their boss' condition all the same—"Today, I'm feeling awful, too."

The decisions Thursday, along with doubt that has suffused Florida’s death penalty for most of this year, stemmed from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in January striking down the state’s death sentencing scheme as unconstitutional. The justices said that the January decision will not apply retroactively to death sentences finalized before a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving capital sentences in Arizona. That case involved Timothy Lee Hurst, a Pensacola man convicted of murdering his boss at a Popeyes Fried Chicken restaurant in 1998 with a box cutter, then putting her body in a freezer. (Florida Department of Corrections) (Florida Department of Corrections) That ruling made it clear that Florida needed to rework its death penalty statute to bring it in line with other states that handled those cases, specifically by requiring that juries — not judges —make the key findings required to impose a death sentence. That could lead to resentencing for potentially more than 200 inmates, according to the Florida Supreme Court’s estimate, a number that would exceed the entire death row populations in most states. [Florida’s death penalty was deemed unconstitutional, so lawmakers rewrote it — and it was struck down again] In its new rulings Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court does not question the constitutionality of the death penalty. Inmates eligible to try to seek new sentences will not all obtain them, nor are all guaranteed to have new penalty phases, the same ruling notes. It was not immediately clear the exact number of inmates who would be eligible for a resentencing hearing under the rulings Thursday, but the Florida Supreme Court estimated in one of its rulings that a little more than half of the state’s death row had sentences finalized after the Ring decision in 2002. The Florida Legislature rewrote the death penalty statute last winter, giving juries more authority, and Gov. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Florida lawmakers quickly revamped the state’s law in March to better adhere to the Supreme Court’s ruling and try to resume executions, but the Florida Supreme Court struck down the new law in October, saying that it was unconstitutional because juries were not required to be unanimous about sentences. "Florida's capital sentencing statute has essentially been unconstitutional since Ring in 2002," the court wrote in one of Thursday's rulings, that of John F. Mosley, a Jacksonville-area man given the death penalty for placing his infant son in a plastic bag in 2004 and allowing him to suffocate. (Mosley was also sentenced to life in prison for killing his girlfriend in the same episode.) Perry, who retires from the court later this month, also concurred in part and dissented in part, arguing that Mosley’s death sentence should be vacated and automatically changed to a life sentence. As such, today's Florida Supreme Court ruling is one of the most concretely consequential death penalty opinions in 40 years. That's because, in 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a ruling — Ring v. Arizona — that generally said the same thing to the state of Arizona that the high court said to Florida in the Hurst decision 14 years later: Juries — not judges — must decide whether the death penalty is appropriate. The most likely exceptions, he said, were those who chose to have a judge — not a jury — handle the penalty phase of their trials and those whose juries voted 12-0 in favor of the death penalty.

– Eleven months after the US Supreme Court declared Florida's death penalty to be unconstitutional, the state supreme court ruled that more than 200 inmates on Florida's death row may have the right to new sentencing, the Orlando Sentinel reports. According to the Washington Post, that means more than half of Florida's massive death row population could potentially avoid execution. Last January, the US Supreme Court found Florida's death penalty violated the Sixth Amendment because it gave judges too much power, and juries too little, in deciding whether the guilty party lives or dies. It had told Arizona essentially the same thing way back in 2002. So on Thursday, the Florida supreme court ruled that the 55% of death row inmates who received their sentences after 2002 have the right to seek new sentencing trials. According to the ruling, no guilty verdicts will be changed and no one will be let out of prison prior to their new sentencing. The ruling also does the opposite for the half of death row inmates sentenced before 2002, the Miami Herald reports. They will not be allowed to seek new sentencing, meaning executions can start again in Florida for the first time since the US Supreme Court's ruling. A number of Florida supreme court justices had argued that the US Supreme Court's ruling should apply to all death row inmates, but they were outnumbered.

UPDATE: William Daniels spoke to ABC after word got that the Boy Meets World actor foiled a burglary attempt on his Los Angeles home. A 91-year-old actor known for his role on the popular TV series "Boy Meets World" foiled an attempted burglary at his home in the San Fernando Valley, authorities said.William Daniels, who portrayed the teacher George Feeny on the 1990s show, was at his house with his 89-year-old wife, Bonnie Bartlett, Saturday evening when the incident began.Shortly before 9:30 p.m., the would-be intruder forced open a back door, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed Tuesday. Daniels acted quickly, turning on the lights in the house, which reportedly scared off the intruder. "Luckily, Mr. Daniels was able to frighten away the person and the LAPD quickly responded," Daniels' representative confirmed in a statement. Mr Daniels thanks all his fans for their concern.” Friedle, who played “Fee-hee-hee-hee-nay’s” pesky next-door neighbor Eric Matthews, reacted on social media shortly after the news came to light. “I struggled with an intruder, took him to the ground, I beat him up and he ran away with bruises all over him,” Daniels quipped. “Would you like to print that? A rep for Daniels, 91, confirmed to EW in a statement that he was at home with wife Bonnie Bartlett in California’s San Fernando Valley on Saturday night when a potential intruder tried to break in. Boy Meets World actor Will Friedle knows all too well, you “don’t ever mess with Mr. Feeny.” The actor, writing that on Twitter Tuesday, was responding to a report from ABC7 Eyewitness News about his sitcom costar, William Daniels, the actor behind Mr. George Feeny, thwarting a home robbery attempt. "Don't ever mess with Mr. Feeny!

– An elderly alum of Boy Meets World foiled an intruder Saturday night, illuminating the suspect both literally and (hopefully) metaphorically. Entertainment Weekly reports that William Daniels, 91, who played Mr. Feeny on the hit sitcom, was at the San Fernando Valley, Calif., home he shares with his wife, 89-year-old actress Bonnie Bartlett, when someone tried to break in through the back door. KABC notes Daniels had a quick reaction that scared the suspect away: He turned on the lights. "Luckily, Mr. Daniels was able to frighten away the person and the LAPD quickly responded," the actor's rep said in a statement, per USA Today, adding that both Daniels and his wife are OK. Police don't think they were specifically targeted. Daniels' BMW co-star Will Friedle had just one thing to say on Twitter about his former colleague's crime-busting skills: "Don't ever mess with Mr. Feeny!" ("Topanga" took issue with comments on her weight after her wedding.)

The sting known as Mexican Operation Diablo Express took place all of Friday as numerous law enforcement agencies converged onto Lukeville, Arizona, which sits on the border with Mexico. Homeland Security Investigations, a unit of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, helped Mexican authorities nab 24 alleged members of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico's biggest drug-trafficking organizations, who were operating around Sonoyta, Mexico, and the U.S. border, spokeswoman Gillian M. Christensen said. "The targeted Sinaloa cell has been responsible for the importation of millions of pounds of illegal drugs, including marijuana, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine, into the United States from Mexico during its existence. The organization is also responsible for the smuggling of millions of dollars in U.S. currency, along with weapons, into Mexico," Christensen said in a statement. It also netted "assault-type weapons" and hundreds of pounds of narcotics, said spokeswoman Gillian M. Christensen of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

– American and Mexican authorities cooperated in a daylong cross-border raid that resulted in the arrest of 24 alleged high-level members of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's Sinaloa drug cartel, reports the AP. The sting known as Mexican Operation Diablo Express took place all of Friday as numerous law enforcement agencies converged onto Lukeville, Ariz., which sits on the Mexican border. Homeland Security Investigations, a unit of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, helped Mexican authorities nab the cartel members, who were operating around Sonoyta, Mexico, and the US border, ICE rep Gillian Christensen said. The DEA, FBI, Customs and Border Protection, and Arizona state and local agencies were on hand. "This operation was conducted with utmost secrecy to maintain the element of surprise and to ensure the safety of the Mexican law enforcement officers executing it," Christensen said, per CNN. ICE helped Mexican federal police into the US to keep them safe during the operation, Christensen said. The sting also netted the seizure of several assault-type weapons and hundreds of pounds of drugs. "ICE applauds the government of Mexico for their bold action in taking down this criminal organization and for their continued pressure on the Sinaloa Cartel throughout Mexico," Christensen said. The arrests are the latest blow to the Sinaloa Cartel after the arrest of El Chapo on Jan. 8. The 24 people arrested Friday have not been identified. They are in the custody of Mexican authorities, and the US will seek extradition.

A man sustained back injuries when he fell into Descent into Limbo by Sir Anish Kapoor, left, at Serralves museum in Porto HORACIO VILLALOBOS/CORBIS/GETTY IMAGES All artists want their work to leave a mark on the viewer, but an installation by the British sculptor Sir Anish Kapoor has left one man needing hospital treatment. Advertisement Though the Descent Into Limbo installation was reportedly surrounded with warning signs and staffers warning visitors not to get too close, there was no barrier around it. A representative of the museum told the Art Newspaper on Friday that there are plans to reopen the installation “in a few days.” On the artist’s website, the work, which was first created for documenta IX in 1992, is described as a “cubed building with a dark hole in the floor.

– The "dizzying experience" of peering down into an "endless chasm in space" made a visitor to Portugal's Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art especially woozy, reports Artnet, and now the 60-year-old man is recuperating from his injuries. Last week, the Italian in Porto was checking out Chicago "Bean" creator Anish Kapoor's "Descent Into Limbo"—an installation that features a concrete room with what appears to be a deep black hole in the middle—when an incident happened involving the "bottomless pit." The Art Newspaper says it's not clear whether the visitor plummeted into the hole or fell next to it, and the museum press officer's curt message didn't clarify things: "An accident happened. Now this installation is temporarily closed." Luckily for the hapless visitor, the hole isn't actually unfathomable: It's just 8 feet deep, with the sides painted black to make it appear deeper than it really is. The fall into or near the "void" happened despite security and signs cautioning visitors about the exhibit. In the injured party's defense, Gizmodo points out the hole "appears to have no depth at all … like a real-life version of a 'Looney Tunes' cartoon." On Friday, a museum rep said the apparently disoriented tourist has already left the hospital; the London Times reports he suffered back injuries. Meanwhile the exhibit will be open again for viewing (but hopefully not stumbling over) "in a few days," the rep noted. (This 90-year-old ruined a work of art, had an unusual reaction.)

The Association of American Publishers reports that in the first quarter of 2013, overall e-book sales in the U.S. trade market grew by just 5 percent over where they were in the same period in 2012. Nielsen attributes this slowdown to the lack of a star performing title in children’s and young adult publishing in 2013 to replicate the success that Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy enjoyed last year. It predicts that ebooks will overtake sales of print books in 2014, with total sales expected to rise to 47 million units. Pin Share 3 31 Shares The AAP has put out a new press release today with some tidbits on the the state of the US book market. This reported that the days of double or even triple digit growth for the market might now be gone, with ebook sales growing by only 5% to $393.6 million in the first quarter of 2013. Nielsen’s data for the UK market mirrors recent statistics published by the Association of American Publishers in early July. As ebook sales look set to take just under half of the total fiction market in the UK and more than a fifth (22%) of the overall UK book market, according to recent Bowker Market Research, it is only natural that the rate of growth would slow.

– The e-book boom looks to be finished, writes Nicholas Carr at the Rough Type blog. He picks up on stats from the Association of American Publishers that show just a 5% increase in sales in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the previous year. That's "anemic," he writes, and continues the trend of rapidly declining sales growth from 2012. E-books are still hurting print books, whose sales fell about 5% in the first quarter, but the digital versions seem to be settling in at about the 25% mark of total book sales. "In spite of the spectacular growth of e-books in 2008 to 2011, we all know that eventually the ride would come to a stop as the growth of e-book market share slowed," writes Nate Hoffelder at the Digital Reader. "I didn’t expect it to happen so quickly." Lots of reasons might be at play, but Carr wonders whether the drop is being helped along by the switch to multitasking tablets instead of devices (like the original Kindle) dedicated solely to reading. "Are tablets less conducive to book buying and reading than e-readers were?" Meanwhile, the numbers are worse worldwide: Nielsen Research says e-book sales actually declined in the first quarter—the first time that's happened, reports Publishing Technology.

Today only fragments of the original handle survive. NEWS: Stonehenge Intricate Treasures Made by Children Evidence of “anti-demonic” funerary practices, with sickles placed around the throats of the deceased possibly to ward off demons, has been found in a 400-year-old cemetery in Poland. DCI “In four of these burials the sickles were placed on the bodies of the dead with the cutting edge tightly against the throat, while the fifth was located on the pelvis,” Marek Polcyn, a visiting scholar at Lakehead University in Canada, and Elzbieta Gajda, of the Muzeum Ziemi Czarnkowskiej, wrote in the current issue of the journal Antiquity. The skeletons with the sickles around the throat were those of an adult male who died between 35–44 years of age, two adult females who died around 30–39 years of age, and an adolescent female who at around 14–19 years old. Among those graves were four skeletons with sickles placed at their throats, and a fifth skeleton with a sickle placed over its hips. A stone was placed directly on top of the throat, while a coin was found in her toothless mouth. But Polcyn and Gajda argue these burials should be rather interpreted as “anti-demonic.” They noted the sickle burials have none of the characteristics of so-called anti-vampiric practices. But also, the sickle graves were afforded funerary privileges that weren't usually extended to "vampires" buried elsewhere: They were given Christian burials in sacred ground alongside other members of the community, and their corpses do not appear to have been desecrated or mutilated. The sickle burials were found at Drawsko cemetery, a site in northeastern Poland that dates from the 17th to the 18th centuries.

– Want to keep a demon-skeleton from haunting your rural settlement? Just bury it with a sickle at its throat. That's what researchers are saying about four skeletons from the 17th and 18th centuries found buried with iron sickles around their necks in a Polish cemetery, Discovery reports. Writing in Antiquity, Marek Polcyn and Elzbieta Gajda say the skeletons—two adult females, an adult male, and an adolescent female excavated with over 250 human remains starting in 2008—may have been feared as possible demons in Drawsko, northwestern Poland. The sickles "may have been a measure to prevent the demonized soul threatening the living, or could have been a reference to biblical symbolism in an attempt to prevent the soul from becoming demonized," the authors write. They dismiss the theory that the villagers feared vampirism, saying the burials were conventionally Christian, with heads pointing west, and the graves don't seem desecrated. Perhaps the burials followed the folk belief that a person with a "bad death" (like drowning, suicide, or death during childbirth) was prone to being inhabited by one of fourteen demons. Such beliefs persisted alongside Slavic pagan faith and Christianity in Poland at the time, Live Science reports. Interestingly, a fifth skeleton had the sickle around her hips, a stone at her neck, and a coin in her mouth. "Coins were placed in the mouth to favor the deceased's passage into the afterlife," one expert says. "The sickle and the stone would have prevent[ed] the dead from returning." (Read about self-identified vampires who have "a real fear.")

/ Updated By Chuck Todd, Mark Murray and Carrie Dann First Read is your briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter. Savidge spoke to Jerry Moore on Friday morning, one day after an explosive Washinton Post report detailed allegations that the Republican Senate candidate from Alabama pursued sexual relationships with several teens when they were between the ages of 14 and 18 and he was in his thirties, including an alleged sexual encounter with the 14-year-old, who would not have been at the age of legal consent under Alabama law.

– If the allegations against Roy Moore lead to a Democrat winning Alabama's US Senate race next month, it could "reshape Washington's political landscape," NBC News reports. The Republican majority in the Senate would go down to 51-49, which leaves Democrats a much more likely path to flipping things in 2018. To get control of the Senate, they'd need to keep all their vulnerable seats and add Arizona and Nevada, where NBC estimates they have at least a 50% chance of victory. And even before the 2018 elections, the GOP tax plan could be in trouble—the slimmer Republicans' margin of control in the Senate, the harder they have to work to get senators like Rand Paul, Bob Corker, and Susan Collins on board since they can only afford to lose one GOP vote. For now, it doesn't seem Moore—accused of molesting a 14-year-old when he was 32, among other things—is planning to withdraw so another Republican can run in his place; it's unclear whether he'd even be able to withdraw at this late date. Alabama's state auditor defended Moore Thursday by comparing his situation to that of Mary and Joseph, a Biblical couple with a big age difference who "became parents of Jesus." In the Washington Post, Aaron Blake calls Jim Zeigler's words "the worst defense" of Moore so far. If Moore did what he's accused of, it was illegal, hands down—not just "unusual" as Zeigler calls it. Blake notes that evangelical leaders are also slamming Zeigler's remarks. Another Jesus comparison: Roy Moore's brother says the politician is being persecuted like Christ was, CNN reports. Jerry Moore also said he's very concerned about the effect all this will have on their 91-year-old mother.

This article is over 7 years old Danica May Camacho, a girl born in Philippine capital Manila, is chosen by UN to symbolically mark global population milestone The world's seven billionth baby has been born in a packed government-run hospital in the Philippines. Weighing 2.5kg (5.5lb), Danica May Camacho was chosen by the United Nations to be one of several children around the world who will symbolically represent the global population milestone. The person chosen by the UN as the world's symbolic six billionth person, Adnan Mevic, is now 12 years old. "We saw Kofi Annan as almost like a godfather to him," Adnan's father, Jasminko, told the Guardian. It is thought that this could be one reason why the UN has decided not to name a seven billionth child.

– The world’s 7 billionth baby has been born, and a number of infants are vying for the title. The UN has chosen Danica May Camacho—born in Manila, Philippines, just before midnight—as its symbolic No. 7 billion, the Guardian reports. UN officials offered Danica’s family a cake to celebrate, while other supporters gave the family a scholarship for her schooling. In India, kids' rights activists Plan International have chosen a girl named Nargis, born today in the country’s most populous state, to represent No. 7 billion. She was chosen to call attention to widespread, illegal sex-selective abortions of female fetuses, Plan International said. Some 250 villagers attended a hospital event celebrating her birth, which included a street play celebrating girls, the BBC reports. But the Guardian spoke to former milestone babies who say that once the hoopla passed, they felt discarded by the UN. "We saw Kofi Annan as almost like a godfather to him," says the father of 12-year-old Adnan Nevic of Bosnia Herzogovina, the sixth billionth baby. Says Adnan, "He held me up when I was two days old but since then we have heard nothing from them."

I don’t think Donald Trump should be allowed within a 1,000 miles of our shore.” Trump has threatened to cancel over 700 million pounds of planned investments in golf courses in Scotland if he is banned. The Home Office says she does not use these powers lightly, only "if she considers their presence in the UK to be non-conducive to the public good" or if they are people who "seek to harm our society and who do not share our basic values". What Cameron thinks Image copyright AP In a rare intervention in US politics, Prime Minister David Cameron labelled Trump's comments "stupid and wrong" but said he did not support a ban, saying the tycoon would "unite us all against him" if he visited the UK. LONDON - MPs on Monday debated a petition to ban U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump from Britain over remarks on Muslims, but while describing his comments as “crazy” and “offensive”, most said the ban would go against free speech.

– British lawmakers on Monday will stage an interesting debate: whether to bar Donald Trump from entering the country as a matter of principle. The move comes after more than 500,000 people in the UK signed a petition calling for the ban because of Trump's idea to temporarily ban Muslims from coming to the US. No vote will follow the debate, reports Reuters, making this more an airing of views. Interior minister Theresa May is the only one who can issue such a ban, and the Guardian reports that it doesn't look likely. Still, it should be lively. "What I will be doing today is asking that Theresa May exercise constancy in her approach to people who preach hatred," says Scottish National Party lawmaker Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh. But Labour lawmaker Paul Flynn think it's misguided—not that he sounds like a Trump fan. "Sadly a ban would perversely help him in America, and that is where opinion matters," he says. "It would probably give him a halo of victimhood as a martyr and perversely that will attract more support for him." No tweets so far from Trump about Monday's debate, though he has previously threatened to yank $1 billion in investments in golf courses in Scotland if he is banned. The BBC has a Q&A on the controversy, and it's aimed squarely at UK readers, given the very first question: "Who is Donald Trump?"

Fight against terrorist group on course for Obama to stop using legal authority given by Congress to wage war, says lawyer The US is heading for a "tipping point" beyond which it should no longer pursue al-Qaida terrorists by military means, one of the Obama administration's most senior lawyers has said. The comments by Jeh Johnson, the Pentagon's general counsel, come as the Obama administration has begun an effort to clarify the rules and constraints on its counterterrorism operations, including such things as drone attacks.

– Al-Qaeda may still view itself as America's No. 1 enemy, but the Pentagon has a different, ego-deflating assessment. The way things are going, the terror group soon won't qualify as an official adversary of the military, the Pentagon's top lawyer said in a speech at London's Oxford University last night, reports the Guardian. Two key points by Jeh Johnson, who, incidentally, is thought to be a top contender for attorney general when Eric Holder steps down in about a year: "I do believe that on the present course there will come a tipping point, a tipping point at which so many of the leaders and operatives of al-Qaeda and its affiliates have been killed or captured, and the group is no longer able to attempt or launch a strategic attack against the United States, such that al-Qaeda as we know it, the organization that our Congress authorized the military to pursue in 2001, has been effectively destroyed." "At that point we must be able to say to ourselves that our efforts should no longer be considered an armed conflict against al-Qaeda and its associated forces, rather a counter-terrorism effort against individuals who are the scattered remains of al-Qaeda … for which the law enforcement and intelligence resources of our government are principally responsible." The military would play a more limited role, stepping in when necessary. The speech is part of the administration's long-range efforts to clarify its counterterror rules, explains the Wall Street Journal, which susses out a tangible possibility: Remaining detainees at Gitmo are held under the 2001 Authority for the Use of Military Force against al-Qaeda. If that decree is no longer in effect a few years down the road, it presents an avenue for the release of prisoners and closure of the detention facility.

DENVER—Now that measures legalizing some recreational marijuana for adults use have won approval in Colorado and Washington, state regulators and lawmakers must decide how to navigate federal opposition as they implement voters' desires. Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said, despite his opposition to legalization, he would work with the state legislature to implement the new law — which he doubted the federal government would allow to stand. Proponents of Amendment 64, the measure voters approved with nearly 55 percent support on Tuesday, said they were optimistic the federal government would “respect the will of Colorado voters.” And the Colorado U.S. attorney — the top federal prosecutor in the state — remained largely mum on how the conflict would play out. No state since the beginning of marijuana prohibition has rolled back restrictions on cannabis to the extent Colorado now has. As soon as the laws are certified, it will be legal under Colorado and Washington law for adults 21 years and older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana. “They can’t arrest you for it, and they can’t seize it,” Mr. Stamper said. Until then, all non-medical marijuana possession and cultivation in Colorado remain a crime. The first recreational marijuana stores would likely not open until 2014, said Brian Vicente, one of Amendment 64’s proponents.

– Colorado and Washington state are now chill with citizens having a little pot—but the drug is still very much illegal in Uncle Sam's eyes, leaving states to chart a difficult path. When it comes to medical marijuana, the feds have tended to crack down on large operations and leave small, personal growers alone; that track record may offer a model for enforcement under the new laws. For its part, the federal Drug Enforcement Agency says its stance "remains unchanged," the New York Times notes. But “I don’t see DEA agents sweeping in ... and enforcing drug laws that were previously enforced by local agencies,” says a former Seattle police chief. "It would be extremely poor politics. The will of the people has been expressed.” The new law could bring in $180 million in taxes and savings over three years, says a Colorado group: "We want to be a model for the rest of the country on how to do this right." Washington advocates similarly say pot shops could bring in $500 million to $600 million in taxes annually. But thorny issues remain, including how to establish bank accounts for a business that's federally banned, the Wall Street Journal notes. "This will be a complicated process, but we intend to follow through," says Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who the Denver Post reports has been in touch with US Attorney General Eric Holder regarding federal policy. "That said, federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don't break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly."

The special counsel is also looking into whether an obstruction of justice occurred as part of the investigations into Russian meddling and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. In just over a year, the special counsel has issued more than a dozen indictments, against Russians accused of working to affect the 2016 election as well as former Trump campaign officials, such as former campaign chief Paul Manafort. “So it’s unlikely you’re going to persuade me that the special prosecutor has unlimited powers.” Judge Ellis is right to be skeptical. The president maintained in both tweets that he has done "nothing wrong."

– President Trump kicked off his Monday morning with a series of tweets about tariffs, the economy, and the "witch hunt" against him. The two receiving this most attention: This: "The appointment of the Special Councel [sic] is totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL! Despite that, we play the game because I, unlike the Democrats, have done nothing wrong!" And this: "As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong? In the meantime, the never ending Witch Hunt, led by 13 very Angry and Conflicted Democrats (& others) continues into the mid-terms!" Regarding the constitutionality of the Mueller probe, the American Prospect tackled that very subject in a May 30 piece, detailing at length why "the special counsel’s work is firmly grounded in precedent." It's in part a counter-opinion to a May 13 Wall Street Journal op-ed written by Federalist Society chair Steven Calabresi that asserted the probe "crosses the legal line." As for the issue of whether Trump could pardon himself, it was a hot topic this weekend following a NYT report on a 20-page letter written by Trump's lawyers that touched on the subject; Rudy Giuliani addressed it too. CNBC chimes in, citing a Justice Department memo written in advance of President Richard Nixon's 1974 resignation, the first line of which reads, "Under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case, the President cannot pardon himself."

At least nine people were killed and 12 wounded in the early-morning explosion near the front gate of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force base at Jalalabad airport in eastern Afghanistan, according to Gen. Abdulla Hazim Stanikzai, the provincial police chief. The Taliban claimed that the shooter was one of their sympathizers and that an accomplice had helped him get into the compound to kill the Americans in retaliation for the Quran burnings. NATO forces spokesman Capt. The early Monday explosion comes after six days of deadly protests in Afghanistan over the disposal of Qurans and other Islamic texts in a burn pit last week at a U.S. military base north of the capital. More than 30 people have been killed in protests and related attacks since the incident came to light this past Tuesday, including four U.S. soldiers. A manhunt was under way for the main suspect in the shooting _ an Afghan man who worked as a driver for an office on the same floor as the advisers who were killed, Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said.

– At least nine people were killed and 12 injured when a suicide car bomber struck an airport in eastern Afghanistan this morning. The blast killed six civilians, two airport guards, and an Afghan soldier at Jalalabad airport, which is used for both civilian and military flights, the AP reports. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, calling it revenge for the burning of Korans at a US base last week. At least 39 people, including four US troops, have been killed in protests over the Korans. The Taliban also claimed responsibility for another, less deadly, attack, CNN reports. The group claimed it was responsible for the poisoning of food at a military base near the Pakistan border. A NATO spokesman says contaminated food was found at Forward Operating Base Torkham after a tip-off, but nobody got sick. "The dining facility was shut down and we brought in environmental health, who found traces of chlorine bleach in the coffee and fruit," he says. "Soldiers are now eating pre-prepared rations and no one was affected. There is a full investigation that is narrowing down who was responsible."

A manager and bartender at the restaurant last night said it’s standard practice to call cops when a customer can’t pay.

– An Italian lawyer spent Monday night in a New York City jail because he didn't have his wallet when his $208 bill arrived at a swanky steak restaurant. Both the New York Post ("Mama Mia!") and the Daily News ("Crime Rib") love the tale. Graziano Graziussi says he offered to leave his iPhone as collateral and suggested the restaurant send a bus boy with him to retrieve his money, but the staff at Smith & Wollensky—and soon the NYPD—weren't having it. “I found it completely unreasonable to call the police when I was coming up with possible solutions,” he tells the Post. “I wasn’t going to run away. I was there, I had just forgotten my wallet." A judge released him the next morning and dismissed the dine-and-dash charges after he promised to pay up next week, reports the Honest Cooking blog.

The proposed new design of the fence incorporates "anti-climb features" and "intrusion detection technology," a Secret Service spokeswoman said in a statement. The Secret Service is awaiting the approval of the National Planning Commission for moving ahead with the proposal, and said their goal is for the project to be green-lit by 2018.

– If you build it, they won't come. That's what the Secret Service is hoping its new plan to raise the White House fence by 5 feet will mean, the latest effort, after a lot of red tape, to stop people from trying to jump it, NBC Washington reports. Per an agency report and a Secret Service statement cited by CNN, anticipated construction on the "taller, stronger" fence would begin in 2018, lengthening the fence from 6 feet to 11 feet 7 inches and adding a new concrete "footing" and "foundation," as well as other "anti-climb features" and "intrusion detection technology." "The current fence simply is not adequate for a modern era," a Secret Service official said in the recorded brief. "[We] have now a society that tends to want to jump over the fence and onto the 18 acres." Donald Trump was one of the first to react to the news, the Hill reports. The "presumptive" GOP nominee put up a Facebook post that read: "President Obama understands that you build strong, tall, beautiful walls to keep people out who don't belong. People who get permission can enter the White House LEGALLY!" (There've been quite a few fence-jumpers over the past few years.)

Jan. 1, 2015, 11:43 PM GMT / Updated Jan. 2, 2015, 4:40 PM GMT Two men were arrested after one of them allegedly shot two West Virginia police officers during a traffic stop in Lewisburg Thursday — and then were found to be transporting two dead bodies in their vehicle, authorities said. The suspects are reportedly a father and son from Texas, with the father being the shooter, according to NBC affiliate WVVA. The two Lewisburg officers pulled over an SUV around 4 p.m. Thursday on a highway outside of the city, Lt. Michael Baylous of the West Virginia State Police said in a press release. The officers were shot after they pulled over a sport-utility vehicle with stolen license plates at 4 p.m. on Interstate 64, and a red Chevrolet pickup truck that was following that car pulled over as well, police said. As the officers were conducting the stop, the driver of the truck shot at them with a handgun, wounding both officers, Baylous said. The two Lewisburg officers and the suspected shooter were being treated for injuries that were not life-threatening, Donna Hinkle, administrator of the Greenbrier County 911 center, told the AP. One of the officers returned fire and wounded the driver of the SUV, Eric Campbell, in the leg. During a search, authorities found two recently deceased bodies under a mattress in the bed of the truck, according to the news release. State Police did not immediately identify the victims, but North Carolina's Granville County Sheriff Brindell B. Wilkins Jr. told Raleigh TV station WRAL that the bodies were those of Jerome Faulkner, 73, and his wife, Dora Faulkner, 62. The sheriff told the station that the two suspects burst into the Faulkners' home near Oak Hill on Thursday morning, set the house on fire and took the couple and their SUV. The two suspects will be arrested on charges of malicious assault and attempted murder of a police officer in Greenbrier County, according to the news release.

– After an SUV and a pickup truck were pulled over at a traffic stop outside of Lewisburg, West Virginia, yesterday, the driver of the truck opened fire on police before fleeing the scene and investigators soon discovered why: The bodies of a North Carolina couple whose house burned down yesterday morning were under a mattress in the back of the truck, reports WDBJ7. Two officers—one of whom graduated from the police academy just two weeks ago—were injured in the shootout but they are both expected to survive. One officer was hit in the ribs but was wearing a protective vest, while the other was grazed by a bullet, reports NBC. The SUV driver fled and hid during the shootout but soon turned himself in; the pickup driver, who was wounded in the leg, was captured about 90 minutes later in woods off Interstate 64, the AP reports. The suspects are from Texas and claim to be father and son, say police, who stopped the SUV after spotting stolen North Carolina plates. The victims found in the back of the truck have been identified as Jerome Faulkner, 73 and his wife, Dora Faulkner, 62. Police, who haven't found any connection between the couple and the suspects, believe the men set their home on fire before stealing their pickup truck, reports WNCN. It's not clear if the couple were killed during the initial attack or some time later.

There’s a lesson here: If you’re a so-called treasure hunter, or a person who’s accidentally stumbled upon something of archaeological significance, stop what you’re doing and call in the experts.

– The hand is a bit smaller than that of an adult and made from roughly a pound of bronze. What it was used for has perplexed archaeologists since it was found in Switzerland last October. At an estimated 3,500 years old, National Geographic calls it "Europe's earliest metal body part"—though it subsequently narrows that to "the earliest metal representation" of one. As Gizmodo explains, archaeologists don't believe someone wore the hand but, rather, that an internal socket allowed it to be affixed atop a stick or pole. It was unearthed by metal detector-armed treasure hunters searching around Lake Biel in what archaeologists later discovered was a grave in extreme disrepair. It held the bones of a middle-aged man, along with items that included a bronze pin and one of the bronze hand's fingers. Because the hand was taken from the scene in a less-than-scientific way, any knowledge that could be gleaned about its use based on how it might have been arranged with the buried man's body has been lost to history. That's left Andrea Schaer of the Bern Archaeological Service with only speculations: "It must have been placed on something, but we don’t know what"—National Geographic suggests "it could have adorned a statue, been mounted on a stick and wielded like a scepter, or even worn as a prosthetic as part of a ritual." A press release notes "its gold ornament suggests that it is an emblem of power, a distinctive sign of the social elite, even of a deity." Gizmodo reports on a weird twist: a criminal investigation is underway based on authorities' belief that some items may have been stolen from the grave. (A metal detector unearthed treasure tied to King Bluetooth.)

This marks the second quarter of above-trend growth for Trump, after the economy expanded at a annualized pace of 3.1 percent in the spring, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday.

– The US economy, helped by strong business investment, grew at a solid annual rate of 3% in the third quarter. It marks the first time in three years that growth has hit that mark for two consecutive quarters, per the AP. The Commerce Department says the July-September advance in the gross domestic product—the country's total output of goods and services—followed a 3.1% rise in the second quarter. It was the strongest two-quarter showing since back-to-back gains of 4.6% and 5.2% in the second and third quarters of 2014. The economy accelerated this summer despite the impact of hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which many private economists believe shaved at least one-half percentage point off growth. The Wall Street Journal sees the growth as "particularly impressive" because of those storms, having forecast something closer to 2.7%. The Washington Post, meanwhile, calls the report a victory for President Trump, as the figure met his goal. "The challenge for Trump will be to get faster growth for an entire year," writes Heather Long.

Twitter.com/bellvisuals The word of the week in Washington got a full-blown public display on Saturday night as an artist projected it on the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. Video footage shows that an artist projected the word “SHITHOLE” surrounded by a stream of animated poop emojis onto the wall of the hotel. The president, in a discussion last week on immigration policy, used "shithole" to refer to certain countries from which large-scale immigration was undesirable, according to people present at the meeting. The pictures appear on the Twitter feed of Robin Bell, who has previously projected wording critical of the president onto the hotel. This is not the first time Bell has made politically charged projections onto Trump’s hotel in Washington. ADVERTISEMENT “Pay Trump bribes here,” “emoluments welcome” and “we are all responsible to stand up and end white supremacy” were also projected onto the building. In a long profile of Bell last year, the Washington Post’s David Montgomery described him as a “hit-and-run editorial writer.” At the time, Montgomery noted that “Bell’s projections now come regularly enough that during especially volatile news cycles, it’s like sensing mayhem in Gotham and looking out for a bat signal.”

– President Trump's controversial pet phrase came home to roost in a way on Saturday night, when someone projected "SHITHOLE" onto the front of Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC. Per Slate, the display went thusly: "Not a D.C. resident?/Need a place to stay?/Try our shithole/This place is a shithole." That was followed by "SHITHOLE" over the entrance, combined with poop emojis. The projection appears to be the work of Robin Bell, reports the Washington Post, who has pulled similar anti-Trump stunts in the past. Footage of the projection appeared on Bell's Twitter feed; he told the Post that it was up for about 40 minutes Saturday night. (You can see it here.) In further fallout on Saturday, the Hill notes that the entire 55-nation African Union demanded Trump apologize.

Gingrich is being considered as a possible running mate by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Washington (CNN) President Barack Obama on Friday issued a thinly veiled rebuke of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's call for the U.S. to test every person with a Muslim background to see if they believe in Sharia law and deport those who do. "Let me be as blunt and direct as I can be: Western civilization is in a war. Gingrich is calling the attack in Nice, France, which killed at least 80 people, "the fault of Western elites who lack the guts to do what is right, to do what is necessary, and to tell us the truth, and that starts with Barack Obama." __ 11:45 p.m. Hillary Clinton says Americans stand "in strong solidarity with the people of France," after a truck attack in Nice, France, adding, "We will not be intimidated." The Democratic presidential candidate says the U.S. and France will never let terrorists undermine democratic values. The third step is, let me be very clear, you have to monitor the mosques. Tebow says he'll focus his time instead on helping children through his foundation. The comments by Gingrich -- who was a finalist to be Donald Trump's running mate before the real estate mogul tapped Indiana Gov. Mike Pence on Thursday -- are similar to ones made by Trump himself last fall , when he called for surveillance of "certain mosques" to counter terrorist threats. Earlier Thursday, the former House speaker told The Associated Press that he expects to hear from Trump shortly after 1 p.m. about whether he's been chosen. The former House speaker acknowledged it appeared the Indiana governor was the choice, but said, "I've not been officially told." Gingrich's original comments came on Thursday night during an interview on Fox News, hours after a truck rampaged through a Bastille Day celebration in Nice.

– Newt Gingrich managed to out-Trump Donald Trump in the wake of Thursday night's horrific attack in Nice, calling for nothing less than the ideological testing of all Muslims in the US and the expulsion of those who don't pass muster. "Let me be as blunt and direct as I can be. Western civilization is in a war. We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background, and if they believe in Sharia, they should be deported," Gingrich told Fox News' Sean Hannity, per CNN. "Sharia is incompatible with Western civilization. Modern Muslims who have given up Sharia, glad to have them as citizens." Gingrich added that Muslims should also have their mosques and online activities monitored. Gingrich went on to blame the attack on President Obama, saying it was "the fault of Western elites who lack the guts to do what is right, to do what is necessary, and to tell us the truth, and that starts with Barack Obama," the AP reports. He predicted that Obama will give a press conference "in which he'll explain that the problem is too many trucks." Gingrich, who had been in the running to become Trump's VP choice, told Hannity that it now appears that Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has gotten the nod, "but I've not been officially told yet." Trump, who spoke to Fox's Bill O'Reilly, didn't go as far as Gingrich, but he said as president, he would ask Congress to declare war on global terrorism, reports the New York Times. "If you look at it, this is war. Coming from all different parts," he said. "And frankly it's war, and we're dealing with people without uniforms." (Trump has delayed his VP announcement, which had been scheduled for Friday morning.)

– Levi Johnston is running for mayor of Wasilla, so it seems logical to ask him about his political platform. Just one problem … he doesn’t have one. “What can you do that no one else can do? Why should they vote for you?” Whoopi Goldberg asked him yesterday on The View. “At this point in time, I couldn’t tell you,” came the response, garnering a chorus of sad “Oh, Levi” moans from the co-hosts. “I said I was running for mayor, what, a month ago?” Johnston defended himself. He went on to explain, at least, his motivation for running, Zap2It reports: “Wasilla's a great place, I just want to keep it that way for my son.” But perhaps this whole thing will work in his favor, writes Peter Gilstrap on E!: “Think about it … hunky Levi actually got all five of the View queens to feel sorry for him because he's too dumb to lie. Good God, this whole thing just might work.” To watch more of the interview ("Qualifications for mayor? There really are none."), click here.

Hawking's ashes are to be interred June 15 at the London church between the graves of Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.

– The family of the late British physicist Stephen Hawking has opened a lottery for 1,000 tickets for a service of thanksgiving in his honor at Westminster Abbey. Hawking's ashes are to be interred June 15 at the London church between the graves of Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. The cosmologist's account of the mysteries of space, time, and black holes in A Brief History of Time won him international acclaim. In a nod to the public, Hawking's foundation will select 1,000 applicants at random to attend, the AP reports. The abbey will be open for free afterward for the public to pay their respects at his grave. Ticket applications can be made until May 15 by visiting www.stephenhawkinginterment.com. (Hawking, who died March 14, was explicit about what he wanted on his tombstone.)

Now, 51-year-old film-maker Leon Giesen believes he has cracked the code and has already staged three excavations in the town of Mittenwald, in Bavaria, guided by Bormann's markings. The Führer supposedly intended for the document to reach Nazi party accountant Franz Xaver Schwarz in Munich; instead, Schwarz was arrested. The theory was first developed by the Dutch writer Karl Hammer Kaatee last year, when he published scans of decades-old sheet music that was allegedly marked-up by Bormann. The Mystery of Mittenwald But filmmaker Giesen now believes he's solved the mystery, maintaining that the line added to the score that reads "Wo Matthias die Saiten Streichelt" ("where Matthew plucks strings") is a reference to Mittenwald and its famous son Matthias Klotz, who founded the town's violinmaking tradition. Moreover, he contends that the score contains a schematic diagram of the train tracks that ran through Mittenwald in the 1940s, and that the rune and fragmented sentence "Enden der Tanz" ("end the dance") at the end of the score means the treasure can be found at the former site of the buffer stops. The initial drillings were reportedly fruitful: diggers found "anomalous" metals, Giesen told Der Spiegel. "[It] cold be a treasure chest," admitted Jürgen Proske, a local historian and amateur archaeologist, "but it could just be a manhole cover."

– It's quite the fanciful story: Nazis buried diamonds and 100 gold bars in a Bavarian town during World War II, in a spot whose location was encoded into an annotated piece of sheet music by Adolf Hitler's private secretary. That score, to Gottfried Federlein's "March Impromptu," was posted online in December by stumped Dutch journalist Karl Hammer, reports der Spiegel. Now, a 51-year-old fellow Dutchman who spent nine months poring over what NBC News describes as "letters, figures, and lyrics" added to the score thinks he has an answer—or, at least, a "very good theory." Leon Giesen spotted a distinct capital "M," which seemed familiar to him: An image of a Berlin train station had contained the same letter. He now believes the "M" stands for Mittenwald, where Nazi barracks once stood, and that the phrase Enden der Tanz, or "end the dance," refers to one of the rail line's buffer stops, reports the Guardian. If you're doubtful, there's also this: Giesen thinks an added lyric (wo Matthias die Saiten streichelt, "where Matthew plucks strings") refers to 17th-century violin builder Matthias Klotz, who hailed from that same town. Giesen got the go-ahead to drill three holes in Mittenwald, and says his "geophysical survey" revealed an "anomaly" in the earth. Next up: Raise more money for a full excavation, which is no small task. "If there are boxes with valuable items below the surface they could be booby-trapped, so we need to bring in specialists and meet all safety requirements first." (More treasure-related news: Jewels have been found atop the French Alps.)

The 16-year-old Taiwanese exchange student and her host family were hiking near Old Faithful Geyser on Friday afternoon when they came across a bison grazing, according to a news release from the National Park Service. When the teen turned her back to the bison to have her picture taken, the bison took a few steps and "gored her," the National Park Service reported. The National Park Service says the unidentified girl's injuries were serious but not life-threatening. The National Park Service calls bison "unpredictable and dangerous" and says visitors should stay at least 25 yards away. "Visitors are reminded that Yellowstone wildlife is wild," the National Park Service said in a news release.

– A 16-year-old Taiwanese exchange student got a little too close to a bison while sightseeing with her host family at Yellowstone National Park, reports CBS News, and was gored by the animal. The National Park Service says the girl was between three and six feet from the bison on Friday near Old Faithful when she turned her back to pose for a picture; the animal turned and gored her, causing serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Bison are "unpredictable and dangerous," says the Park Service, per ABC News; "Visitors are reminded that Yellowstone wildlife is wild. Wildlife should not be approached, no matter how tame or calm they appear."

Production firm admits health and safety breaches over incident that saw actor pinned by door while filming The Force Awakens Harrison Ford could have been killed when he was crushed by a hydraulic door on the set of the Millennium Falcon spaceship while filming the most recent Star Wars film, a court has heard. Ford was reprising his role as Han Solo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens in June 2014 when he was knocked to the ground and crushed beneath the heavy door of the Millennium Falcon while filming at Pinewood Studios in London. Foodles Production Ltd. has accepted it failed to protect actors and staff,” Britain’s Health and Safety Executive said in a statement. The 71-year-old actor sustained severe injuries from the accident, including a broken left leg, after he walked on to the set not believing it to be live. Ford, then 71, was airlifted to a hospital in Oxfordshire for treatment. Someone pressed a button that caused the door to close on him with what health and safety regulators say was a force comparable to the weight of a small car. Ford said: “Now we had lots of money and technology and so they built a fucking great hydraulic door which closed at light speed and somebody said, ‘Ooh I wonder what this is?’ “And the door came down and hit me on my left hip because I was turned to my right. A spokesman said: “The British film industry has a world-renowned reputation for making exceptional films. Managing on-set risks in a sensible and proportionate way for all actors and staff – regardless of their celebrity status – is vital to protecting both on-screen and off-screen talent, as well as protecting the reputation of the industry.” Ford joked about the accident on a British talk show last December, blaming his injury on modern-day technology.

– Harrison Ford got crushed by a hydraulic door and pinned to the ground while filming Star Wars: The Force Awakens in London, and though he recovered in time to finish the movie, a court heard this week that he could have been killed in the incident, the Guardian reports. Ford walked onto the Millennium Falcon set in June 2014 not knowing it was live, and as he passed underneath the door—which weighs as much as a small car—it "came down and hit me on my left hip because I was turned to my right," Ford explained to talk show host Jonathan Ross in December. "And then it flung my left leg up and it dislocated my ankle and as it drove me down to the floor, my legs slapped on the ramp up to the Millennium Falcon and broke both bones in my left leg." It's not clear exactly how the incident happened, but someone was operating the door at the time. Variety says that "someone pressed a button that caused the door to close on him." Per Ford in December, "They built a f---ing great hydraulic door which closed at light speed and somebody said, ‘Ooh I wonder what this is?’" Foodles Production, the company responsible, pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety regulations, and during court proceedings, a prosecutor said the breaches caused a "risk of death" and that Ford could have died had the emergency stop not been pressed in time. The defense acknowledged that the production company was pleading guilty, but denied the level of risk that was said to be involved.

Several Russian news outlets are reporting that Russian scientists have successfully drilled to Antarctica's Lake Vostok, a massive liquid lake cut off from daylight for 14 million years and buried beneath 2 miles (3.7 kilometers) of ice. Sampling the waters of Lake Vostok could reveal clues about the evolution of life on Earth and may yield entirely unknown forms of life. According to the Russian newswire RIA Novosti, scientists from Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in St Petersburg drilled through the 3,768 metres of ice above Lake Vostok to reach the surface of the lake on Sunday. Possible cold-loving life Lake Vostok, about the size of Lake Ontario, is the largest lake on the icy continent. Scientists believe the lake could be home to cold-loving microbial life adapted to living in total darkness. Two other nations are mounting projects to drill into ancient Antarctic lakes hidden beneath miles of ice, and with drill technology that can fetch liquid water samples for analysis in the space of days. The British are positioned to start drilling at Antarctica's Lake Ellsworth in autumn 2012, and an American team hopes to begin drilling to the Whillans Ice Stream, a network of subglacial waterways, in January 2013.

– Russian scientists have successfully drilled through more than two miles of ice to reach a "lost world" under Antarctica, according to a Russian newswire. Lake Vostok has been sealed off for some 15 million years. While some fear it has been contaminated by kerosene and other materials used by the Russian team, scientists hope it will yield exceptionally hardy life forms that have evolved in isolation from everything else on Earth, the Guardian reports. The expedition could "transform the way we do science in Antarctica and provide us with an entirely new view of what exists under the vast Antarctic ice sheet," a veteran Antarctic researcher tells LiveScience. The Russian team only has a few days before brutal cold will force them to leave the research station, and any analysis of lake samples will have to wait until later this year. American and British teams are also working to obtain samples from the lakes under Antarctica, of which Vostok—the size of Lake Ontario but only discovered in the '90s—is the biggest.

By looking at the patterns of cancer within families, researchers found that women had a higher risk of ovarian cancer if their paternal grandmothers were afflicted by the disease. Author summary Our article uses the largest familial study of ovarian cancer to argue that there exists an ovarian cancer susceptibility gene on the X-chromosome acting independently of BRCA1 and BRCA2. This observation implies that there may be many cases of seemingly sporadic ovarian cancer that are actually inherited; for example, only daughters who inherit risk from their fathers. Ovarian cancers linked to genes inherited from the father (and paternal grandmother) had an earlier age-of-onset than ones linked to maternal genes, and were also associated with higher rates of prostate cancer in fathers and sons. To leverage the deep pedigree data in this study, we reasoned that, if the disease allele passes through the father’s side of the family, it could be inferred by disease in a woman’s father’s mother. Image copyright Getty Images US scientists believe they have identified a new gene mutation that can raise the risk of ovarian cancer, and is passed from father to daughter. "A family with three daughters who all have ovarian cancer is more likely to be driven by inherited X mutations than by BRCA mutations," said Kevin Eng, a professor of oncology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York. If the affected woman carries the X-linked gene through her father, her sisters must also be carriers. Families are also classified by disease pattern: families manifesting only ovarian cancer are termed “site-specific ovary” families and families with a number of breast cancers as well as ovarian cancers are “breast and ovary” families.

– Sons inherit a baldness gene from their moms, and now scientists are pointing to another parent-child link on the opposite side. Per the BBC, fathers can pass down a gene mutation to their daughters that can raise the risk of ovarian cancer, per a study published Thursday in Plos Genetics. The 30-year study of nearly 3,500 grandmother/granddaughter pairs culled from the Familial Ovarian Cancer Registry found that women had a spiked risk of ovarian cancer if their grandmothers on their fathers' side had had the disease. The mutation, which was found to be distinct from the BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations that are inherited from both parents, was also tied to a higher rate of prostate cancer in both the fathers and their sons, per News.com.au. To work out their experiment, researchers pulled 186 women with ovarian cancer and sequenced their X chromosomes. What they found was women whose paternal grandmothers suffered from the disease had double the risk of developing the cancer than those whose maternal grandmothers had had it. Daughters get a total of one X chromosome from their dads, and on that chromosome is where the possibly mutated MAGEC3 gene lies. Women can receive the gene from their moms as well—but since their fathers are only giving them one X chromosome, if the gene is mutated, the daughters are sure to receive it, per Newsweek. Women with this mutated gene also seemed to get ovarian cancer nearly seven years earlier than they would have without the mutated gene. That means if sisters within one family get ovarian cancer, all paths may lead back to Dad. "A family with three daughters who all have ovarian cancer is more likely to be driven by inherited X mutations than by BRCA mutations," study co-author Kevin Eng says. (Scientists hope a blood test may one day catch ovarian cancer early.)

President condemns ‘gutless’ source of piece revealing opposition within administration and claims paper must hand writer over Donald Trump has called for the New York Times to reveal the identity of a senior administration official who the paper says is the author of a column revealing they are part of a “resistance” against the president’s “worst inclinations”. Trump called for the source to be revealed in tweets on Wednesday evening, with one asking starkly: “TREASON?” Trump aide's anonymous op-ed reveals 'resistance' inside administration Read more Then in a follow up tweet, he insisted: “If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once.” Later he tweeted: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) I’m draining the Swamp, and the Swamp is trying to fight back. Arguably one of the most stunning such firsts, at least in the media landscape, arrived on Wednesday afternoon, when The New York Times published an op-ed submitted by an anonymous “senior official” titled “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration.” This official not only confirmed the West Wing chaos so often described in White House reporting, but also informed readers that concerned White House staffers are working on a stealth plan to protect the republic from Trump’s erratic behavior as commander in chief, in what read like a mixture of a cry for help, a patriotic warning, a professional exculpation, and a sign that the inmates know they are banging around in a tortured asylum. The article was strewn with eye-popping, stomach-churning confessions such as: “The dilemma . Jim Dao, the editor who oversees op-eds for the Times, told CNN that “several days ago” the official “contacted me through an intermediary.” Bennet told me there was a rigorous vetting process, and that his team took seriously the precautions to protect the identity of the official about whom America’s political and media establishment is now engaged in a feverish guessing game. Stelter said Dao had told him that there were only a "very small number of people within the Times who know this person's identity” and that a number of special precautions had been made to keep it protected. is that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations,” and: “from the White House to executive branch departments and agencies, senior officials will privately admit their daily disbelief at the commander in chief’s comments and actions.” Finally, the author invoked a fear of the 25th Amendment, which my colleague Gabriel Sherman reported on last year. The White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, accused the author of choosing to “deceive” the president by remaining in the administration. “He is not putting country first, but putting himself and his ego ahead of the will of the American people,” she said. “The coward should do the right thing and resign.” Sanders also called on the New York Times to "issue an apology" for publishing the piece, calling it a "pathetic, reckless and selfish op-ed". He offered that it had already been in the works before similar claims about a White House in crisis began leaking out of Bob Woodward’s forthcoming Trump tell-all, Fear.

– "TREASON?" tweeted President Trump after the New York Times published an op-ed from an anonymous administration official who described his leadership style as "impetuous" and "adversarial" and spoke of a "resistance" inside a deeply unstable administration. In a follow-up tweet, the president told the newspaper to reveal the author's identity, if it wasn't a "phony source," the Guardian reports. "If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once," Trump said, adding: "I'm draining the Swamp, and the Swamp is trying to fight back. Don’t worry, we will win!" More: "I don't like them." Speaking at a meeting of sheriffs from around the country Wednesday afternoon, Trump described both the source and the Times as "failing," CBS reports. "When you tell me about some anonymous source within the administration, probably who is failing and probably here for all the wrong reasons—and the New York Times is failing—if I weren't here, I believe the New York Times probably wouldn't even exist," he said. They don't like Donald Trump and I don't like them," he said of the Times. People "stunned" within the Times. The Times' newsroom is separate from its opinion department, and sources tell Vanity Fair that people within the paper were "totally stunned" to read the "cry for help" from inside the administration. "It’s a parlor game. Everybody's trying to figure out who it is, including the Washington bureau," one senior journalist says. "It feels like a crazy moment."

I’m not sure how one labels a book pornographic without actually reading it, of course. I know that I’ll have to grapple with ideas I don’t agree with, even ideas that I find immoral. Do these students think that four panels depicting partial nudity or sex between women will make them gay? Worthwhile ideas and values can withstand exposure to other ideas and values. That is what college is really about. If the book explored the same themes without sexual images or erotic language, I would have read it. Cultural pluralism will lose its value if students aren’t allowed to follow their beliefs, even if they are conservative. I don’t believe my position will limit my exposure to essential lessons in history, philosophy or literature.

– Some Duke freshmen made headlines this week for refusing to read a graphic novel assigned to them. In the Washington Post yesterday, one of them provided a fuller explanation of the stance against Alison Bechdel's Fun Home. "The book includes cartoon drawings of a woman masturbating and multiple women engaging in oral sex," writes Brian Grasso, a Christian who considers the images pornographic. Grasso says he's not opposed to reading about ideas and beliefs opposed to his own—and fully expects to do so at Duke—but having to look at pictures is a whole different matter. "I think there is an important distinction between images and written words," he writes. "If the book explored the same themes without sexual images or erotic language, I would have read it." In his view, the images violate the "sacredness of sex." Grasso writes that he knows his is a minority view, but "cultural pluralism will lose its value if students aren't allowed to follow their beliefs, even if they are conservative." At Quartz, however, SUNY Brockport instructor Amber Humphrey writes that education "obliges us to read, hear, and see things that we might not otherwise encounter." If these students aren't prepared to do that, maybe Duke should show them the door. "Let them reapply when they are ready to face the danger presented by a comic book." (Click to read her full column, or Grasso's full column.)

– The list may not have the same cachet as the Forbes list of richest Americans, but it's an interesting look at an often overlooked aspect of US wealth. The Land Report is out with its annual list of the 100 largest private landholders in America, and sitting on top is a man who made his fortune in the telecom business. Liberty Media Chairman John Malone has 2.2 million acres across the US, spread across several states from coast to coast. The Washington Post highlights a rich-are-getting-richer component of the list: In 2007, the 100 biggest landowners collectively had 27 million acres. In 2017, that total is 40.2 million acres, roughly the equivalent of New England, without Vermont. The Post sees the growing interest in land acquisition as a more stable investment for investors who don't want to be at the mercy of the stock market. The top 10 follow.

Tokelau declared a state of emergency late on Monday, following a similar move in neighbouring Tuvalu, where water is already being rationed. Parts of Samoa are starting to ration water. David Hebblethwaite, a water conservation expert with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, said Tuvalu had experienced low rainfall for the past three years and there had been no precipitation at all for seven months. Climate scientists say it's part of a cyclical Pacific weather pattern known as La Nina _ and they predict the coming months will bring no relief, with the pattern expected to continue. On the three main atolls that make up isolated Tokelau, the 1,400 residents ran out of fresh water altogether last week and are relying on a seven-day supply of bottled water that was sent Saturday from Samoa, Suveinakama said. The New Zealand government this week flew a defense force C-130 plane to Tuvalu stocked with Red Cross supplies of bottled water and desalination machines.

– Some island groups in the South Pacific, already in danger of being swamped by rising seas, have run out of fresh water. Tuvalu and Tokelau have declared states of emergency because of the water crisis, caused by six months of low or no rainfall and by groundwater becoming contaminated with seawater, the BBC reports. New Zealand's air force has rushed bottled water and desalination machines to the areas most in need. In Tuvalu, a nation of atolls that is home to around 11,000 people, the situation is "quite dire," a Red Cross team leader says. The crisis is spreading, with Samoa now rationing water, and experts believe that because of La Niña, the region won't see any rainfall until at least until the end of the year. The water crisis is expected to trickle down into food shortages, and sanitation and public health problems, the AP reports, and officials say the future of the island nations is looking increasingly uncertain.

A large national Norwegian study shows that workaholism frequently co-occurs with ADHD, OCD, anxiety, and depression. As the line between excessive enthusiasm and a genuine addiction is difficult to define, scholars have typically used specific criteria to define the border between addictive and non-addictive behavior [10]. Because previous workaholism scales did not cover these addiction components, the seven-item Bergen Work Addiction Scale (BWAS) was specifically developed in order to assess this behavior using the same criteria as other addictions [13]. In line with previous research, 7.8 per cent of the current sample classified as workaholics, which is close to an estimate (8.3 per cent) found in a (and, to date, only) nationally representative study conducted by Dr. Andreassen and colleagues in 2014. Given these findings, it is expected that younger, well-educated workers, in self-employed and private sector, with managerial responsibilities and higher income will report higher scores on the Bergen Work Addiction Scale in the present study (Hypothesis 1). Researchers at the University of Bergen in Norway have examined the associations between workaholism and psychiatric disorders among 16,426 working adults. Firstly, the present authors argue that the inattentive nature of individuals with ADHD causes them to spend time beyond the typical working day (i.e., evenings and weekends) to accomplish what is done by their fellow employees within normal working hours (i.e., the compensation hypothesis). Furthermore, it is known that workaholism (in some instances) develops as an attempt to reduce uncomfortable feelings of anxiety and depression.

– Spending late nights at the office and missing a kid's piano recital or three might be a sign of a deeper psychiatric problem, according to a study published last week in PLOS One. Researches found workaholism was statistically linked with anxiety, depression, OCD, and ADHD. “Workaholics scored higher on all the psychiatric symptoms than non-workaholics," researcher Cecilie Schou Andreassen says in a press release. Researchers found 32.7% of workaholics had ADHD versus 12.7% of non-workaholics; 25.6% had OCD versus 8.7% of non-workaholics; 33.8% had anxiety versus 11.9% of non-workaholics; and 8.9% had depression versus 2.6% of non-workaholics. Without further research, the nature of the relationship between workaholism and common psychiatric conditions is unclear. But Schou Andreassen notes, “Taking work to the extreme may be a sign of deeper psychological or emotional issues." Researchers found 7.8% of the nearly 16,500 adults studied were workaholics, which they determined with a series of seven statements participants could rank, including, “You think of how you can free up more time to work” and “You become stressed if you are prohibited from working.” But not everyone is convinced. “Any human behavior can be turned into a disease,” a professor at Liverpool University tells the Financial Times. “It’s this tendency to pathologize the usual messy realities of life, of which work is one.” (Here's why we shouldn't have to find meaning in work.)

Just incase that wasn't indulgent enough, the sandwich is also served with "a skillet of lobster mac." "Looking at how ridiculously extravagant some of these items are, $100 might actually be a steal on this thing, since there are so many different components to this," Ciechna said. View Full Caption Huge Galdones STREETERVILLE — The Ritz-Carlton Hotel's restaurant and bar, deca, is offering a limited-edition menu item this month that befits the hotel's ritzy reputation: the "Zillion Dollar Grilled Cheese," a $100 sandwich that features gold-plated 40-year-old cheddar. The Zillion Dollar Grilled Cheese sandwich, available at the restaurant at 160 E. Pearson St, is made with artisanal sourdough bread coated with Laudemio Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi extra-virgin olive oil, which retails for more than $30 a bottle. Layered between the bread is thinly sliced black Iberico ham, sourced from pigs living primarily in the south of Spain, allowed to roam free in the pasture eating acorns until they are of proper size. The meat is salted and air-dried for six weeks, then cured for a minimum of 12 months — usually closer to 18 months, said Eric Ciechna, a host at the restaurant. The ham slices are smothered in melting 40-year aged Wisconsin cheddar infused with 24K gold flakes, taking the grilled cheese to the next level of decadence. Following are the Ellis Family Farms heirloom tomatoes, lightly drizzled with 100-year-old aged balsamic vinegar, and Oregon perigord white truffle aioli. Other ingredients include heirloom tomatoes from the Ellis Family Farm in Benton Harbor, Mich., Hudson Valley Foie Gras, which costs about $60 per pound, and a sunny-side-up duck egg. For more information and reservations, call deca at (312) 573-5160.

– Like grilled cheese? Got $100 to burn? Chicago's Deca Restaurant + Bar has got just the sandwich for you, notes Eater. It's the "Zillion Dollar Grilled Cheese" with ingredients that include 40-year aged Wisconsin cheddar infused with 24-carat gold flakes and black Iberico ham from pigs that feasted on acorns in the pastures of southern Spain, explains DNA Info. And then, of course, there's the foie gras, white truffle aioli, and the side of lobster mac and cheese. It's only available this month, which happens to be National Grilled Cheese Month.

“Pray for me,” the caption says, repeated in eight other languages. The photo, posted with the handle @franciscus, shows Francis kneeling with his head bowed in prayer. View Sample Sign Up Now Systrom met with Pope Francis at the Vatican last month to discuss the unifying power of images, giving him a curated book of Instagram photos during the visit. “Watching Pope Francis post his first photo to Instagram today was an incredible moment. @franciscus, welcome to the Instagram community! Your messages of humility, compassion and mercy will leave a lasting mark,” Instagram CEO and co-founder Kevin Systrom posted on Instagram on Saturday.

– Pope Francis officially joined the Instagram generation on Saturday, and he's already bringing a unique voice to the social media platform—in that his first post wasn't a cat video, photo of food, or selfie. Instead, His Holiness—or @franciscus, as he's now known on Instagram—posted a picture of himself praying along with the phrase "pray for me" in nine languages. CNN reports the Pope had 100,000 Instagram followers within an hour of launching his account. His first post had more than 65,000 likes and nearly 12,000 comments in the first three hours. Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom, who met with the Pope last month, called the Pope's first Instagram post "an incredible moment" and said his "messages of humility, compassion and mercy will leave a lasting mark," according to Time. A Vatican spokesperson says the Pope joining Instagram is a "particularly smart move" because it's quickly becoming more popular in Catholic-heavy countries like Italy, Mexico, and Brazil. Pope Francis has embraced social media during his three years in the position. He actually announced his first Instagram post on Twitter, were he has nearly 9 million followers. "I am beginning a new journey, on Instagram, to walk with you along the path of mercy and the tenderness of God," the Pope tweeted. But for anyone worried the Pope will soon be too distracted by filter options to get any work done, CNN points out someone else does his social media for him.

— Shane McMahon (@shanemcmahon) July 19, 2017 A small helicopter carrying the son of WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon made an emergency landing in the waters off of Gilgo Beach Wednesday morning.The FAA says the Robinson R-44 helicopter with two aboard landed on its pontoon skids about a half mile off the coast just before 10:30 a.m. The Robinson R44II-type helicopter, which is registered to a company in White Plains, was en route to Westhampton when it went down around 10:30 a.m. after taking off from Westchester County Airport. A commercial flight headed into JFK Airport heard the call and radioed to the FAA.Emergency responders, including two lifeguards, picked up the two and ferried them safety to shore. "It's very unsettling when all the sudden you have something happen," McMahon said. You hear a bang and saying you are going to do an emergency landing in the water, so yes very unnerving,” he said. “[He] was super calm, which made me super calm and we landed perfectly,” McMahon said. “We heard some noise, and it became very clear to me that I could no longer continue to fly the helicopter, so I decided to make an auto-rotational landing on the water,” Mario Regtien said. “We ran up and grabbed the kayaks and paddled out to see what was going on, we knew it was out of the ordinary.” I'd like to thank the man upstairs for looking out this morning & thanks to pilot Mario, Suffolk Co. Marine Bureau & Fire Island Coast Guard — Shane McMahon (@shanemcmahon) July 19, 2017 McMahon gave a “big kudos” to the lifeguards. Suffolk County police said the two men were wearing life jackets and were uninjured. Great Job by NYPD Aviation & SCUBA with assisting in the rescue of two people from a Helicopter accident in v/o Tobay Beach in Nassau County pic.twitter.com/nREf3mWz7p — NYPD Special Ops (@NYPDSpecialops) July 19, 2017 The NYPD also assisted in the rescue.

– Shane McMahon was rescued from the waters off a New York beach Wednesday morning after the helicopter he was riding in performed a diving elbow drop into the ocean. WABC reports the son of WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon was taking the helicopter to visit his family when something went wrong. Pilot Mario Regtien guided the Robinson R-44 helicopter into a controlled crash off Gilgo Beach. Neither man was injured. McMahon calls the crash "very unnerving" but credited Regtien for how he handled the situation. "Mario was super calm, which made me super calm. And we landed perfectly," he says. According to CBS New York, nearby lifeguards saw the helicopter crash and paddled kayaks out to help McMahon and Regtien ahead of the Coast Guard's arrival.

President Donald Trump... (Associated Press) NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump has panned Saturday Night Live's season premiere but tweeted praise for Kanye West, who closed the show with a pro-Trump message. “There’s so many times I talked to a white person about this and they’re like, ‘How can you like Trump, he’s racist?’ Well, if I was concerned about racism I would have moved out of America a long time ago,” West said to the crowd at Studio 8H in New York, eliciting several claps and a number of boos. Trump tweeted Sunday that he didn't watch the show — it's "no longer funny" and "is just a political ad for the Dems." He added: "Word is that Kanye West, who put on a MAGA hat after the show (despite being told 'no'), was great. He’s leading the charge!"

– Kanye West's Saturday Night Live performance drew both praise and criticism after the vocally pro-Trump rapper appeared onstage in a "Make America Great Again" hat over the weekend. However, he reportedly made another statement regarding the president during his appearance, one that was cut from the show's final broadcast. Per the New York Post, West was booed by the audience as he ranted during closing credits that Democrats want to keep black Americans on welfare. He then addressed his well-known support of President Trump. "I talk to like a white person about this and they say, ‘How could you like Trump? He’s racist.’" West said. "Well, if I was concerned about racism I would’ve moved out of America a long time ago.” Per the Hollywood Reporter, West also briefly suggested a 2020 run could be in his future. In the audience was former SNL cast member Chris Rock, who recorded West's statement on video and cringed audibly from behind the camera as West spoke. Among West's supporters was none other than the president himself, who tweeted Sunday that he doesn't watch the show ("a political ad for the Dems") but that he heard about West's hat. "Word is that Kanye West, who put on a MAGA hat after the show (despite being told 'no'), was great," Trump wrote, per the AP. "He's leading the charge!" Among the topics tackled earlier in the Adam Driver-hosted premiere were the Kavanaugh testimony and show writer Pete Davidson's engagement to singer Ariana Grande.

According to the Italian newspaper, Corriere Fiorentino, the snap heard around the art world took place when an unnamed 55-year-old Missouri man visiting the city’s Museo dell'Opera del Duomo held his hand up against the outstretched palm of a statue of the Virgin Mary by the 15th-century sculptor Giovanni d'Ambrogio. Whether he was comparing hand spans or giving the statue a high five is unclear but the end result was that the pinky finger of the statue’s right hand was broken off. The tourist is said to have apologised for damaging the priceless artwork, but could still receive a large fine for his careless behaviour. Timothy Verdun, the head of the museum and coincidentally an American himself, condemned the tourist’s behaviour, saying: “In a globalized world like ours, the fundamental rules for visiting a museum have been forgotten, that is, ‘Do not touch the works’”.

– A clumsy tourist from Missouri is in for plenty of finger-wagging from the art world after accidentally snapping a digit off a 600-year-old statue in a museum in Florence, Italy. The 55-year-old was holding his hand against the statue's palm when a finger snapped off, NBC reports. The man apologized but may still be hit with a heavy fine for damaging the work by medieval sculptor Giovanni d'Ambrogio. The museum's director—an American himself—blasted the tourist's behavior, saying "in a globalized world like ours, the fundamental rules for visiting a museum have been forgotten, that is, 'Do not touch the works,'" the Independent reports. But this is nothing new for the statue: The little finger snapped off by the tourist was itself a plaster replacement for the original marble finger, which was broken off many years ago.

http://timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_prison-5.jpg Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes. WILKES-BARRE — Two people died Monday evening inside the Luzerne County Correctional Facility — an inmate and a prison guard — according to Luzerne County Manager David Pedri. The two died after a brief altercation that took place at about 6:25 p.m., Pedri said at a news conference late Monday night. Pedri identified the inmate as Timothy Gilliam, 27. Pedri said he believed Gilliam had been incarcerated for failing to register under Megan’s Law, for sex offenders. Pedri said the name of the prison guard was not being released at the request of his family. “This guard went to work today believing that he would be coming home,” Pedri said. “And, sadly that didn’t happen.” He called the incident a “sad and tragic.” “We will do everything in our power to ensure an incident like this never happens again,” he said. According to Pedri, who declined to comment on the specifics of the incident, the matter was under investigation by the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office and Pennsylvania State Police. When asked about Mark Rockovich, the new correctional division head, Pedri said Monday was his first day on the job. Luzerne County Councilman Tim McGinley, who was on site shortly after the incident occurred, said any suspect death would be of concern to the county, noting that the county spends $30 million on the facility annually. Michele Rohrbaugh, whose son Michael is an inmate on the fifth floor of the facility, came for a visit at about 7 p.m. and was told by prison staff that there would be no visit because the prison was on lockdown. Rohrbaugh stood outside of the prison for over three hours, hoping to hear her son was safe. After the press conference, she made her way from council chambers visibly relieved. “It wasn’t him,” she said. “It wasn’t my son.” Rohrbaugh said she recently had heard that gang activity at the prison was on the rise. She also said she was concerned with her son’s safety. Some prison guards have been complaining for months about security and safety concerns at the main prison, located on Water Street. Prison officials have been wrestling with an increase in inmate assaults and fighting — problems that have been blamed on a rise in inmates who are addicted to drugs, battling mental health issues and involved in gangs. The main prison has been at or over its 505-inmate capacity in recent years. In April, county officials investigated the hospitalization of a prison inmate for a serious cut above his right ear down into his neck. Prison officials said they suspected the man was assaulted by another inmate, but the inmate continues to maintain he cut himself when he fell off the top metal bunk bed in his cell, officials said as recently as last week. One guard, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Monday night that he and many of his colleagues blame Pedri and prison deputy Warden James Larson for not taking their safety concerns seriously. Larson has been acting as correctional services division head since April 1, following the March resignation of prior prison overseer J. Allen Nesbitt in March. The county council unanimously voted last week to confirm Pedri’s nomination of Rockovich as the new correctional division head. Rockovich, who has worked at the prison since 1991, assured the council he will address problems at the facility, including work release. Federal authorities recently charged former prison employee Louis Elmy with extortion and possession of a firearm in furtherance of selling crack cocaine. Prosecutors said Elmy, while acting in his official role as a prison work-release counselor, extorted money and other items of value from work release inmates in exchange for giving them special privileges and unauthorized furloughs. The resolution appointing Rockovich was to take effect six days after adoption, which means Monday was his first day in the new position. County Councilman Eugene Kelleher in March questioned delays in repairing malfunctioning security cameras at the prison and other safety concerns raised by at least 10 past and present staffers who had contacted him. The aging facility has more nooks and crannies than a modern prison because it is five stories. “I’m really concerned about security at the prison for employees,” Kelleher said at the time. The administration said it was addressing the cameras. Editors Note: This article has been edited to reflect the correct identity of the deceased inmate.

– A correctional officer and an inmate are dead following an altercation at a Pennsylvania prison. It happened Monday night at Luzerne County Correctional Facility in Wilkes-Barre, which is currently on lockdown, the AP reports. Luzerne County Manager David Pedri tells the Times Leader that the dead inmate is 27-year-old Tracy Gilliam, who he believes was in prison for failing to register as a sex offender. Pedri says the guard's family has asked for his name not to be released. "This guard went to work today believing that he would be coming home," he says. "And sadly, that didn't happen." Pedri says authorities will do all they can to make sure a "sad and tragic" incident like this doesn't happen again. State police and the county DA are investigating.

4 years ago (CNN) - Anthony Weiner, the embattled New York City mayoral candidate who admitted this week to sending raunchy chats to a young woman last summer, estimated Thursday he had online relationships with three different women after his 2011 resignation from Congress. Weiner has resisted calls from his rivals to withdraw from the race for New York City mayor, saying the decision of whether he's trustworthy enough for the job should be up to voters. Sources: Huma Abedin considered leaving Weiner last fall Weiner resists calls to withdraw as woman who received messages is identified Why Anthony Weiner's problem is ours, too

– Have New Yorkers had enough? In a Marist poll last month, Anthony Weiner claimed frontrunner status in the race for New York City mayor by 5 points over Christine Quinn. This week's revelations have caused a 14-point swing: She's now in front with 25% to his 16%, reports Marist. Two others are tied for third, just 2 points back of Weiner. And another comeback looks daunting: Most respondents (55%) now have an unfavorable opinion of Weiner. On top of that, Weiner admits that the woman who came forward this week isn't the only recipient of his lewd texts since he resigned from Congress in 2011, reports CNN. He seems to have lost track, however: "I don't believe I had any more than three," he said, when pressed for an answer during a news conference. And the overall number, pre- and post-resignation? "It's not dozens and dozens. It's six to 10, I suppose, but I can't tell you absolutely what people are going to consider inappropriate or not."

On Wednesday, Web-traffic watcher comScore Inc. estimated Google+ has had 20 million unique visitors since its launch, including five million visitors from the U.S. A Google spokeswoman declined comment. ComScore, whose estimates are based on a "global measurement panel" of two million Internet users, similar to the approach Nielsen uses to measure television ratings,doesn't have data on the number of minutes people spent on Google+. Integration With Other Services Over time, Google is expected to hook its existing services into the social backbone of Google+, allowing users to share Google Docs documents, YouTube videos, and more with the circles they've created on the social network. "I've never seen anything grow this quickly," said Andrew Lipsman, vice president of industry analysis at comScore. Google hasn't confirmed the numbers, but last week, Google CEO Larry Page said the service had more than 10 million users sharing 1 billion items per day.

– Google’s new social networking site, Google+, has gotten an impressive 20 million unique visitors in its first 3 weeks online; of those, 5 million are from the US. And that’s with access still limited only to those who have been invited by other members—and without any advertising yet through Google’s search engine or Gmail, the Wall Street Journal notes. “I've never seen anything grow this quickly,” says an analyst at comScore. The company hasn't confirmed the visitor numbers but said last week it had more than 10 million users. Meanwhile, privacy advocates who slammed Google’s earlier social system, Buzz, are more comfortable with the new service. Google+ makes it “easier to share with one group of your friends while retaining some measure of privacy with respect to your family, coworkers, or other groups of friends," notes one watchdog. Still, he warns, “Google+ won't be as good for protecting your privacy against Google.” So now that Google+ is off to a promising start, what next? PC World looks at the possibilities, which include reaching out to businesses and gamers.

– We now know what would happen if a drone traveled back in time to the Middle Ages. A talented knight—more precisely, a talented medieval reenactor—at Russia's Rusborg festival managed to down a drone with a throw of his spear. The drone was recording the event from about 20 feet in the air when the man emerged from a crowd, took aim, and let fly, sending the drone careening to the ground, per Inverse. Its operators, photographers from Lipetsk, say the drone had to be sent to Moscow for repairs, reports the Guardian. Luckily its footage of sword fights and half-naked rugby games was unharmed.

The remainder of the calendar’s models include Lucasfilm producer Kathleen Kennedy, Yoko Ono, writer Fran Lebowitz, executive Mellody Hobson, former supermodel Natalia Vodianova, philanthropist Agnes Gund, blogger Tavi Gevinson, and Iranian artist Shirin Neshat. The calendar isn’t for sale; as in past years, it’ll be gifted to 20,000 “VIPs, musicians, politicians, and royalty.” The nudity of Williams and Schumer stands in stark contrast to Pirelli’s usual M.O.

– Amy Schumer, posing in her undies with tummy folds? Serena Williams, similarly dressed while showing off her buff physique? The Pirelli Calendar—which usually shows skinny models and actresses in soft-core poses—is breaking from tradition this year by using photos of successful women across various fields, the Daily Beast reports. "The goal was to be very straightforward," says photographer Annie Leibovitz, who snapped the shots for the 43rd edition. "I wanted the pictures to show the women exactly as they are, with no pretense." Only Schumer and Williams (who were each criticized by body-shamers in recent months) are posing in the near-buff, notes Slate. Schumer tweeted about it this way: Beautiful, gross, strong, thin, fat, pretty, ugly, sexy, disgusting, flawless, woman. Thank you @annieleibovitz — Amy Schumer, November 30, 2015 Among others posing for Leibovitz are Ava DuVernay, director of Selma; Yao Chen, a Chinese goodwill ambassador to the UN; Kathleen Kennedy, Lucasfilm producer; Natalia Vodianova, ex-supermodel; Shirin Neshat, Iranian artist; and Yoko Ono. Seems Leibovitz chose her models: "Pirelli has always given free rein to the photographer," she tells the Guardian. "I think the company has wanted to shift for a few years and my mandate was that they wanted to see some change." So will the calendar revert to sexy poses next year? It's unclear, but Neshat tells the New York Times that "it would be a huge disappointment" if Pirelli chose to "abandon the idea of the women who define modern life, and go back to sexy girls who are too young to have accomplished anything." (Miley Cyrus recently did a nude photo shoot, too.)

Perhaps the leading GOP senator on foreign policy matters, John McCain (R-Ariz.), says he won’t walk out and that doing so would be disrespectful.

– President Obama will deliver his State of the Union address tonight, and every pundit out there has an opinion on how he should approach it. A sampling of the day's top unsolicited advice: "It may be tempting to list a series of measures Obama wants Congress to pass," but Obama should avoid a laundry list, warns historian Julian Zelizer at CNN. "The president should think big," perhaps using the speech, as FDR did in 1941, to "offer a vision" for America, or to take a bold gamble, as Abraham Lincoln did by supporting emancipation in 1862. Or he can simply be honest about today's challenges, as Gerald Ford was when he said the state of the union "is not good." Obama should invoke Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan by emphasizing "America's embrace of human and democratic rights, values that transcend parties and administrations," suggests Albert Hunt at Bloomberg. "Even Senator John McCain, in a grouchy mood, would applaud." "President Obama is apparently planning to give us yet another salvo in that left-right war," laments David Brooks in the New York Times. "But it would be great if Obama gave an imaginative speech that reframed things as present versus future." Somewhere along the line, America went from a forward-looking nation to a consumption-minded one. Smart investments in tomorrow could change that. Meanwhile, Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post has a more scientific look at what Obama should and shouldn't say, noting that in polls some policy ideas, like a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, became less popular when Obama's name was attached to them. Others, like banning assault weapons or ending the war in Afghanistan, got a boost from the association.

– The Trump administration was directly involved in an attempt to assassinate Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro—at least, that’s what Maduro claims (and not for the first time), the Guardian reports. "I have no doubt that the White House authorized the drone against Nicolás Maduro," he said, speaking in the third person during a Wednesday press conference, according to the Miami Herald, which notes that officials in the US often speak of the need for peaceful regime change in the South American country, "even as the threat of military intervention hangs in the air." The embattled Maduro says US National Security Adviser John Bolton is behind a range of plots to destabilize Venezuela. These include the aforementioned botched drone attack against Maduro in August and conspiring with "ultra-right locos" in Brazil to invade Venezuela.

– Residents of Los Angeles should be feeling more than empathy in the wake of Mexico City's 7.1 magnitude earthquake that left more than 200 dead Tuesday. They should also be experiencing fear, writes Mariel Garza at the Los Angeles Times. "Though of course my heart goes out to the people whose lives and homes were just ripped apart, and of course they will be in our collective prayers, what keeps me riveted to my Twitter feed and the videos therein is the sense that I’m glimpsing my own future," writes the LA resident. Experts say the city of 4 million is overdue for a big earthquake. But "it's easy to forget when the ground is still," Garza writes. "This was a sobering and graphic reminder." Garza was especially moved by videos showing whole buildings crumbling to dust or families huddled together as their house shakes. He says he'll be glued to coverage of the ongoing rescues and cleanup, searching for "clues and lessons" in the hope that "when it's LA's turn, I will be ready." But despite experts' predictions, not many Angelenos appear to be living in fear, even after LA was shaken by a 3.6 magnitude tremor and 2.0 magnitude aftershock on Monday, per the Times. The New York Times rounds up reactions of the relatively small tremor from celebrities, including musician Cray, who tweeted a photo that appeared to show a water bottle had fallen off a counter during the quake. "WE WILL REBUILD," she joked. (Click to read Garza's full column.)

A minor penumbral lunar eclipse will accompany the full moon tonight, and will be visible from Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and the Western Pacific. [Harvest Moon Lunar Eclipse Guide: When & How to See It] The Harvest Moon is the one that comes the closest to the autumnal equinox, so this year it falls in September, although occasionally this title can be bestowed upon the October full moon. The 2016 version of the Harvest Moon comes six days prior to the autumnal equinox, although it can occur as early as Sept. 8 (as it did in 2014) or as late as Oct. 7 (as happened in 1987). Many think that the Harvest Moon remains in the night sky longer than any of the other full moons seen during the year, but that is not so. What sets the Harvest Moon apart from other full moons is that it occurs at the climax of the harvest season, so farmers can work late into the night by the moon's light. This year, Earth’s shadow will again darken the moon, but in a more ethereal event known as a penumbral eclipse. At maximum (2:54 p.m. EDT, or 1854 GMT), 93 percent of the moon's diameter will be immersed in the Earth's penumbral shadow; the upper part of the moon will appear noticeably shaded.

– Skywatchers can witness a rare sight Friday night, though people in North America will have to settle for doing so via the Internet. The part everyone can see: It will be a full moon, and because this one falls closed to the fall equinox, it's called a harvest moon (the better for farmers of yore to harvest their crops, as legend has it). What's more, it coincides with a small lunar eclipse, though that part will be visible only in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, reports Space.com. Still, it will be the last harvest moon eclipse until 2024, reports National Geographic. During the show, only the upper part of the moon will be slightly shaded in what's known as a penumbral eclipse. Not in the viewing area? Watch it here.

Francis Lawrence, the director of the last three "Hunger Games" films, reunites with Lawrence for more adult fare but one likely to be remembered more for the outdoor junket photos of Lawrence in a thigh-slit dress in chilly London while her male co-creators wore coats. Craft and charm are part of what she brings to this role, as well as a serviceable accent, but it’s her absolute ease and certainty that carry you through “Red Sparrow.” She was born to screen stardom, and it’s a blast to see where it’s taking her. To make ends meet and take care of her ailing mother (Joely Richardson), Dominika is recruited by her Uncle Vanya (Matthias Schoenaerts), a major figure in the Russian intelligence service. Unlike in Bond movies, though, there are few self-aware winks in “Red Sparrow.” Working from Justin Haythe’s script, Mr. Lawrence folds in moments of levity (a delectably acid and funny Mary-Louise Parker stirs things up), but “Red Sparrow” mostly hews closer in grim vibe and viciousness to Bourne than to Bond.

– After a career-ending injury, Russian ballerina Dominika becomes a seductive spy in Red Sparrow, a Francis Lawrence-directed film based on Jason Matthews' novel. Starring Jennifer Lawrence, it's a bloody affair that might not be worth its 2.5-hour run time, based on what critics are saying. It had a 52% positive rating among critics, and a slightly higher one from audiences: Peter Howell doesn't recommend it. At the Toronto Star, he calls Red Sparrow "the anti-007" in which "the sex is rape by any name, the tech is ancient floppy disks and the fighting is artless and bloody." Additional drawbacks are an "overly plotted screenplay," and Lawrence's "dodgy" Russian accent, "which approaches parody," Howell writes. Overall, it's "a brutal, muddled and dispiriting watch." Manohla Dargis disagrees, applauding Lawrence's ability to "slip into a role as if sliding into another skin." She delivers "a serviceable accent," but it's "her absolute ease and certainty that carry you through Red Sparrow," a "preposterously entertaining" film, Dargis writes at the New York Times, pointing out how rare it is to see a female character be the victim and perpetrator of "startling" violence. "With Cold War tensions rising again in real life, Red Sparrow feels of this time in a cool way, but only Lawrence's spy is memorable in this so-so operation," writes Brian Truitt at USA Today. "There's so much good stuff"—Dominika is "a fascinating study" and Lawrence "fits the role like a new pair of pointe shoes"—"but it never jells in a satisfying way." The film is also too long and a "hard watch due to its brutality," Truitt writes. Lawrence "gives her all," but it's not enough for Mark Kennedy, either. "What really drives Dominika is never very clear" and she ends up "like a reflection of the film itself, getting flatter and more boring by the minute," he writes at the AP. He also criticizes the "muddled" story and "cartoon violence," perhaps best exhibited in a scene involving the peeling of skin. "That might be more fun than sitting though Red Sparrow," he writes.

However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is using incomplete and even false science in order to prohibit the manufacturing and sale of natural kratom.

– There's a little green leaf that relieves pain and helps people kick heroin, but is also addictive—so should it be legal? That's what lawmakers are trying to decide about kratom, a tree-like plant from Southeast Asia, the New York Times reports. The FDA has banned kratom imports while four states (Wyoming, Vermont, Tennessee, and Indiana) have made it illegal, but more kratom bars are emerging that serve the leaf in drink form, and powdered versions are available online and everywhere from convenience stores to gas stations. "It's a mind-altering substance, so people like me who are addicts and alcoholics, they think just because it's legal, it's fine," says Florida resident Dariya Pankova, who took kratom for heroin withdrawal. "It's a huge epidemic down here, and it’s causing a lot of relapses.” Long taken as a stimulant in countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia, kratom contains something called mitragynine that seems to cause "opiod-like effects," per Medscape. But kratom also has been linked to respiratory depression, seizures, and possibly suicide; makers of the herbal-liquid "feel good" supplement Vivazen recently removed kratom from its ingredients, Bevnet reports. Yet advocates like the American Kratom Association say the leaf helps wean people off dangerous drugs, and Reason argues that states' arguments against kratom (that it's an opioid or synthetic drug) are incorrect. "It all boils down to the interpretation of the law," says a drug official in Alabama, where one county banned all kratom products last month, ABC 3340 reports. "My district attorney interprets it [as] illegal because it hits the opiate receptor of the brain." (One country may give heroin addicts what they want: heroin.)

Story highlights Boko Haram overruns a Nigerian village in pickup trucks, shooting at men The insurgents douse houses with gasoline and set them on fire They round up women, girls and boys and kidnap them News takes days to get out, since telecommunications towers had been destroyed Boko Haram insurgents kidnapped at least 185 women and children, and killed 32 people in a raid in northeastern Nigeria this week, local officials and residents said. The Nigerian officials, who requested anonymity, said locals in the village of Gumsuri were still counting those abducted in the attack on Sunday in a remote, isolated area in the Borno state, adding that the figure, which included women and children, could pass 100. One of the local Nigerian officials said the Gumsuri had previously been protected against Boko Haram violence by a strong vigilante force, but that they were overpowered in Sunday's attack. The militants stormed the village from two directions, overwhelming local vigilantes who had repelled Boko Haram attacks over the course of the year, said Gumsuri resident Umar Ari, who trekked for four days to Maiduguri. ‎"They destroyed almost half the village and took away 185 women, girls and boys," Ari said.‎ Resident Modu Kalli said the militants fired heavy machine guns on the village and poured canisters of gasoline on houses before setting them on fire. Cameroon: At least 116 Boko Haram fighters killed Meanwhile, the Cameroon military says that it killed at least 116 Boko Haram fighters during a fight in northern Cameroon on Wednesday, near the border with northeastern Nigeria. One Cameroonian soldier was killed, and another was missing after the attack, according to a statement released by Badjeck. According to the army, the Boko Haram fighters destroyed a pick-up and a troop truck, as well as managing to capture another military truck. Boko Haram, which opposes Western education and has been waging an armed campaign against the government since 2009, has grown in power in the area, where Cameroon and Nigeria are linked by a bridge. In April, Boko Haram militants drew international condemnation when they kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls, many of whom they later said they sold into slavery.

– Boko Haram's latest raid in Nigeria has killed 32 people, and the militants have reportedly taken as many as 185 women and children hostage, CNN reports. News of the Sunday attack in Gumsuri, in the country's northeast, is coming out days later because of communication issues—the mobile network has "largely collapsed," Al Jazeera reports, and many roads are impassable. Telecommunications towers were taken out in past attacks. This time around, residents who fled to Borno State's capital, Maiduguri, told local officials what had happened. "They gathered the women and children and took them away in trucks after burning most of the village with petrol bombs," says one official. "They destroyed almost half the village," adds a resident. Another, describing the machine guns they fired and the gasoline they used to set houses on fire, says, "We lost everything in the attack. I escaped with nothing, save the clothes I have on me." Hundreds of residents are fleeing to Maiduguri, which has been nearly overrun with thousands of others who have fled other villages after attacks. Nigeria has also sentenced 54 soldiers to death for refusing to fight Boko Haram. Meanwhile, neighboring Cameroon says its troops repelled Boko Haram fighters who attacked an army base, killing 116 of the insurgents in its far north.

The director, James B. Comey, has written that he was informed of the development Thursday, and he sent a letter to legislators the next day letting them know that he thought the team should take “appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails.” Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's private email server was once again pushed into the limelight when FBI Director James B. Comey announced that he would resume looking into the case with less than two weeks before the election. [The Clinton email probe: Questions and answers] FBI agents investigating Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state knew early this month that messages recovered in a separate probe might be germane to their case, but they waited weeks before briefing the FBI director, according to people familiar with the case. Comey in July announced that he was recommending that the investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state be closed without charges. Comey wrote in his letter to Congress, “We don’t know the significance of this newly discovered collection of emails,” and federal law enforcement officials have said that investigators on the Clinton email team still had yet to thoroughly review them. (Photo: Andrew Theodorakis, Getty Images) Federal authorities have obtained a warrant to review a tranche of newly-discovered emails that could be related to the previously-closed investigation of Hillary Clinton’ handling of classified information, an official familiar with the matter said Sunday.

– The issue of newly discovered emails related to Hillary Clinton's use of a private server dominated headlines Sunday, though it remains unclear whether the emails themselves contain anything new or damaging because the FBI has yet to begin searching them. (They were found on the computer of Anthony Weiner, husband of Clinton aide Huma Abedin, during a separate investigation of him.) Some of the latest developments: The Justice Department and the FBI is seeking a warrant to conduct a full search of the Abedin emails, but the issue is tricky because the computer belongs to Weiner, not Abedin, explains CNN. The subpoena under which it was seized relates only to the allegations that he was sexting with an underage girl. When the search begins, it will take weeks because the laptop has a total of about 650,000 emails. It's not clear how many of those were sent to or from Clinton's private server, but that figure is probably in the "thousands," reports the Wall Street Journal. Some may be duplicates that already have been seen by the FBI. Meanwhile, talks also are under way with Abedin's lawyers to gain access to the emails, reports USA Today. Abedin has told people she has no idea how her emails ended up on her husband's computer, reports the Washington Post. Her lawyers didn't search it when they were turning over her emails to the State Department, because she was reportedly unaware they were on it. A separate Post story says FBI agents had known for weeks about the emails on Weiner's computer but delayed telling FBI chief James Comey for reasons that are unclear. The chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration thinks the FBI's Comey has run afoul of the Hatch Act, which bars the use of an official position to sway an election. Richard Painter filed a formal complaint with the Office of Special Counsel, and he explains his case in the New York Times. If Clinton wins the election, she'll be grateful to Comey for this move, argues Ryan Lizza in the New Yorker. Need to catch up? The Times has a Q&A here.

"If you're enamored by the story of Bonnie and Clyde, here it is." But she did not explain the many pictures of her with a machine gun in her hands and a long black cigar in her lips. Carver, who used to play as a child in Atlanta in the car where Bonnie and Clyde were killed, said interest remains high in the couple, who met in West Dallas in 1930. The letter, written in Bonnie Parker's neat cursive and signed by Clyde Barrow,... (Associated Press) BOSTON (AP) — Bonnie and Clyde made it quite clear how they felt about a former member of their gang in a letter they sent to him as he sat in the Dallas County Jail. Barrow and Hamilton were identified as the bandits. At about this time Barrow and Hamilton split after dispute over the affections of their redheaded feminine companion. He was a coward, they wrote, and they should have killed him when they had the chance. The museum is at the site of Bonnie and Clyde's last known meal. The lawmen who finally got Bonnie and Clyde resorted to an ambush, riddling their car with bullets on May 23, 1934, near Gibsland, La. Sheriff Corry related that Clyde Barrow had asked them: “Did you know who I was?” When the officer admitted he did not, Barrow replied: “It’s a good thing. As public opinion had turned against the couple after they killed two police officers in Grapevine, the pair cast Hamilton as a man who toted a gun only to "'show off' or else kidnap women and children." Barrow, who couldn't write well, had Parker pen a letter to Hamilton in which he called Hamilton's girlfriend a "prostitute sweetheart."

– The cursive is Bonnie's; the signature, Clyde's. A four-page letter written by the duo in April 1934 is hitting the auction block in September, and it's a fiery one. It's addressed to one Raymond Hamilton, a one-time member of their gang who, at the time the letter was written, was behind bars in the Dallas County Jail. That he was there was a reflection of just how "yellow" he was, per the letter, as he didn't try to flee as he was captured. The Dallas Morning News reports the trio had a falling out over Hamilton's girlfriend (the "prostitute sweetheart" the letter refers to); the AP cites a disagreement over how to divvy up $4,000 they had taken from a Texas bank earlier that year. This after Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker famously rescued Hamilton and four others from a Texas prison farm in January 1934, per a New York Daily News article written that year. Hamilton was serving sentences totaling 262 years at the time. The lines are biting. "I should have killed you then I would have saved myself much bother and money looking for you," reads the letter, which Boston-based RR Auction says was likely dictated by Barrow to Parker, who had superior writing skills. It closes by telling Hamilton, "I hope this will serve the purpose of letting you know that you can never expect the least of sympathy or assistance from me. So long." But he may not have ever seen it. Sheriff Richard "Smoot" Schmid intercepted it and later publicized it; his family is now auctioning it off. The Morning News notes Barrow and Parker were killed the month after they wrote the letter. Hamilton's fate was no better: Death by electric chair in 1935. Read more from the letter, including a prescient line, here.

(Evan Vucci/AP) Federal prosecutors said they will not charge John W. Hinckley Jr. with murder in the shooting of President Ronald Reagan’s press secretary in a 1981 assassination attempt, even though a medical examiner concluded that James S. Brady’s death in August was caused by the old wounds. In a statement, prosecutors said their decision was based on “a review of applicable law, the history of the case, and the circumstances of Mr. Brady’s death.” Hinckley, now 59, was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the shooting of Reagan, Brady and two others and has spent the past three decades at St. Elizabeths psychiatric hospital in Southeast Washington. Prosecutors pointed out that any jury in a murder trial would be directed to consider that he was already found to be legally insane at the time of the incident and "the government would be precluded now from arguing that Hinckley was sane at the time he shot Mr. Brady. "

– Would-be Reagan assassin John Hinckley Jr. will not be charged with murder in last year's death of James Brady, the Washington Post reports. The notion had become a real possibility when a coroner ruled that Brady's death at age 73 was a homicide—the result of the bullets that struck him in the head back in 1981. Federal prosecutors decided they would have little chance of conviction considering that Hinckley was found to be not guilty by reason of insanity of all charges at the time, reports NBC News. "The decision was made following a review of applicable law, the history of the case, and the circumstances of Mr. Brady's death, including recently finalized autopsy findings," says a statement from the US Attorney's Office in Washington. The Brady family issued a statement saying it respected the decision. Hinckley remains institutionalized at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, though he gets to spend a lot of time on the outside.

The Virginia State Board of Elections has postponed plans for a name-drawing on Wednesday to decide the winner of a deadlocked House of Delegates race — and possibly which party controls the chamber — after one of the candidates announced plans for a court challenge over whether the election was really a tie. Democratic challenger Shelly Simonds said Tuesday that she would file a motion in Newport News Circuit Court on Wednesday, asking judges to reconsider their decision to count a disputed ballot as a vote for Republican incumbent David Yancey and declare the race a tie. Shelly Simonds' lawyers said Tuesday that they'll ask the court to reconsider its ruling after last week's recount. The Democrat in a tied race for a Virginia House seat that could affect which party controls the chamber says she'll ask a court to declare the tie invalid. If Simonds were declared the winner in the 94th District in Newport News, it would split control of the legislature 50-50. (AP/AP) The next day, a three-judge panel decided that a ballot that was declared ineligible during the recount should count for Yancey, tying the race at 11,608 votes apiece. If Simonds wins the seat, the House chamber will be split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, forcing the parties into a rare power-sharing arrangement. Attorney Ezra Reese said the court violated election law by counting a ballot for Republican Del.

– Shelly Simonds wants to stop her name from being written on a slip of paper and put inside an old film canister on Wednesday morning, and she's partially succeeded. The Democrat plans to ask a Virginia court to name her the winner of the 94th District Race on Wednesday; she had been declared the winner following a recount last Tuesday, with the 11,608-to-11,607 vote ending 17 years of Republican control in the Virginia House. But judges last Wednesday evened the count to 11,608 for both, and the race is now set to be determined by lot, with the aforementioned film canister and one containing the name of Republican rival/incumbent David Yancey put in a 180-year-old turquoise pitcher, reports the Washington Post. The Newport News Circuit Court is closed Tuesday for the holiday, so she'll file documents Wednesday arguing that election officials sidestepped proper procedure when they handed Yancey an additional vote. The AP reports election officials on Tuesday night decided to postpone the drawing as a result of her planned filing; they didn't specify a new date or time. When more than one candidate's bubble is filled in on a ballot, that ballot is supposed to be declared an "over vote" and discarded. But the 11,608th vote handed to Yancey came from a ballot in which both candidates' bubbles were filled in; Simonds' bubble had a slash mark through it. Her filing also calls out Yancey's decision to take issue with the ballot the day after the recount, which facilitated his "opportunistic end run" around recount law, she alleges, per the Virginia Pilot.

The organic produce market in the United States has grown quickly, up 12 percent last year, to $12.4 billion, compared with 2010, according to the Organic Trade Association. Organic meat has a smaller share of the American market, at $538 million last year, the trade group said. The findings seem unlikely to sway many fans of organic food. Advocates for organic farming said the Stanford researchers failed to appreciate the differences they did find between the two types of food — differences that validated the reasons people usually cite for buying organic. Organic produce, as expected, was much less likely to retain traces of pesticides. Organic chicken and pork were less likely to be contaminated by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. “Those are the big motivators for the organic consumer,” said Christine Bushway, the executive director of the trade association. The study also found that organic milk contained more omega-3 fatty acids, which are considered beneficial for the heart. “We feel organic food is living up to its promise,” said Sonya Lunder, a senior analyst with the Environmental Working Group, which publishes lists highlighting the fruits and vegetables with the lowest and highest amounts of pesticide residues. The Stanford researchers said that by providing an objective review of the current science of organic foods, their goal was to allow people to make informed choices. In the study — known as a meta-analysis, in which previous findings are aggregated but no new laboratory work is conducted — researchers combined data from 237 studies, examining a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and meats. For four years, they performed statistical analyses looking for signs of health benefits from adding organic foods to the diet. Photo The researchers did not use any outside financing for their research. “I really wanted us to have no perception of bias,” Dr. Bravata said. Advertisement Continue reading the main story One finding of the study was that organic produce, over all, contained higher levels of phosphorus than conventional produce. But because almost everyone gets adequate phosphorus from a wide variety of foods, they said, the higher levels in the organic produce are unlikely to confer any health benefit. The organic produce also contained more compounds known as phenols, believed to help prevent cancer, than conventional produce. While the difference was statistically significant, the size of the difference varied widely from study to study, and the data was based on the testing of small numbers of samples. “I interpret that result with caution,” Dr. Bravata said. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content , updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. Other variables, like ripeness, had a greater influence on nutrient content. Thus, a lush peach grown with the use of pesticides could easily contain more vitamins than an unripe organic one. The study’s conclusions about pesticides did seem likely to please organic food customers. Over all, the Stanford researchers concluded that 38 percent of conventional produce tested in the studies contained detectable residues, compared with 7 percent for the organic produce. (Even produce grown organically can be tainted by pesticides wafting over from a neighboring field or during processing and transport.) They also noted a couple of studies that showed that children who ate organic produce had fewer pesticide traces in their urine. The scientists sidestepped the debate over whether the current limits are too high. “Some of my patients take solace in knowing that the pesticide levels are below safety thresholds,” Dr. Bravata said. “Others have questioned whether these standards are sufficiently rigorous.” Similarly, organic meat contained considerably lower levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria than conventionally raised animals did, but bacteria, antibiotic-resistant or otherwise, would be killed during cooking. Dr. Bravata agreed that people bought organic food for a variety of reasons — concerns about the effects of pesticides on young children, the environmental impact of large-scale conventional farming and the potential public health threat if antibiotic-resistant bacterial genes jumped to human pathogens. “Those are perfectly valid,” she said. The analysis also did not take factors like taste into account. But if the choice were based mainly on the hope that organic foods would provide more nutrients, “I would say there is not robust evidence to choose one or the other,” Dr. Bravata said. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The argument that organic produce is more nutritious “has never been major driver” in why people choose to pay more, said Ms. Lunder, the Environmental Working Group analyst. Rather, the motivation is to reduce exposure to pesticides, especially for pregnant women and their young children. Organic food advocates point to, for example, three studies published last year, by scientists at Columbia University, the University of California, Berkeley, and Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. The studies identified pregnant women exposed to higher amounts of pesticides known as organophosphates and then followed their children for years. In elementary school, those children had, on average, I.Q.’s several points lower than those of their peers. Critics of the Stanford study also argue that lumping all organic foods into one analysis misses the greater benefits of certain foods. For example, a 2010 study by scientists at Washington State University did find that organic strawberries contained more vitamin C than conventional ones. Dr. Crystal Smith-Spangler, another member of the Stanford team, said that the strawberry study was erroneously left out but that she doubted it would have changed the conclusions when combined with 31 other studies that also measured vitamin C.

– There's no question that organic food is better for the planet, but there's no evidence that it's better for the person eating it, according to a new study. Scientists analyzed four decades of research, and found that organic meat and produce have no more nutritional value or other health benefits than conventional—and cheaper—foods, reports the New York Times. Much more pesticide residue was found in conventional fruits and vegetables, but only three of the 237 studies analyzed found residue above allowed limits. "When we began this project, we thought that there would likely be some findings that would support the superiority of organics over conventional food,” says the lead researcher. “I think we were definitely surprised." But organic food advocates say that some of the study's findings, including the higher levels of pesticide residue, validate consumers' decisions to buy organic, and note that the organic food movement started out as a way to help the environment, reports USA Today. "The health benefits really ended up being almost inadvertent, a nice fringe benefit" of sustainable farming, says a scientist at Consumers Union.

Robots are taking human jobs. But Bill Gates believes that governments should tax companies’ use of them, as a way to at least temporarily slow the spread of automation and to fund other types of employment. The Microsoft founder and world’s richest man said the revenue from a robot tax could help fund more health workers and people in elderly and child care, areas that are still expected to rely on humans. In a recent interview with Quartz, Gates said that a robot tax could finance jobs taking care of elderly people or working with kids in schools, for which needs are unmet and to which humans are particularly well suited. He argues that governments must oversee such programs rather than relying on businesses, in order to redirect the jobs to help people with lower incomes. The idea is not totally theoretical: EU lawmakers considered a proposal to tax robot owners to pay for training for workers who lose their jobs, though on Feb. 16 the legislators ultimately rejected it. “You ought to be willing to raise the tax level and even slow down the speed” of automation, Gates argues. That’s because the technology and business cases for replacing humans in a wide range of jobs are arriving simultaneously, and it’s important to be able to manage that displacement. “You cross the threshold of job replacement of certain activities all sort of at once,” Gates says, citing warehouse work and driving as some of the job categories that in the next 20 years will have robots doing them. You can watch Gates’ remarks in the video above. Below is a transcript, lightly edited for style and clarity. Quartz: What do you think of a robot tax? This is the idea that in order to generate funds for training of workers, in areas such as manufacturing, who are displaced by automation, one concrete thing that governments could do is tax the installation of a robot in a factory, for example. Bill Gates has called for a tax on robots to make up for lost taxes from workers whose jobs are destroyed by automation. Right now, the human worker who does, say, $50,000 worth of work in a factory, that income is taxed and you get income tax, social security tax, all those things. If a robot comes in to do the same thing, you’d think that we’d tax the robot at a similar level. And what the world wants is to take this opportunity to make all the goods and services we have today, and free up labor, let us do a better job of reaching out to the elderly, having smaller class sizes, helping kids with special needs. You know, all of those are things where human empathy and understanding are still very, very unique. And we still deal with an immense shortage of people to help out there. So if you can take the labor that used to do the thing automation replaces, and financially and training-wise and fulfillment-wise have that person go off and do these other things, then you’re net ahead. But you can’t just give up that income tax, because that’s part of how you’ve been funding that level of human workers. And so you could introduce a tax on robots… There are many ways to take that extra productivity and generate more taxes. Exactly how you’d do it, measure it, you know, it’s interesting for people to start talking about now. Some of it can come on the profits that are generated by the labor-saving efficiency there. Some of it can come directly in some type of robot tax. I don’t think the robot companies are going to be outraged that there might be a tax. It’s OK. Could you figure out a way to do it that didn’t dis-incentivize innovation? Well, at a time when people are saying that the arrival of that robot is a net loss because of displacement, you ought to be willing to raise the tax level and even slow down the speed of that adoption somewhat to figure out, “OK, what about the communities where this has a particularly big impact? Which transition programs have worked and what type of funding do those require?” You cross the threshold of job-replacement of certain activities all sort of at once. So, you know, warehouse work, driving, room cleanup, there’s quite a few things that are meaningful job categories that, certainly in the next 20 years, being thoughtful about that extra supply is a net benefit. It’s important to have the policies to go with that. People should be figuring it out. It is really bad if people overall have more fear about what innovation is going to do than they have enthusiasm. That means they won’t shape it for the positive things it can do. And, you know, taxation is certainly a better way to handle it than just banning some elements of it. But [innovation] appears in many forms, like self-order at a restaurant—what do you call that? There’s a Silicon Valley machine that can make hamburgers without human hands—seriously! No human hands touch the thing. [Laughs] And you’re more on the side that government should play an active role rather than rely on businesses to figure this out? Well, business can’t. If you want to do [something about] inequity, a lot of the excess labor is going to need to go help the people who have lower incomes. And so it means that you can amp up social services for old people and handicapped people and you can take the education sector and put more labor in there. Yes, some of it will go to, “Hey, we’ll be richer and people will buy more things.” But the inequity-solving part, absolutely government’s got a big role to play there. The nice thing about taxation though, is that it really separates the issue: “OK, so that gives you the resources, now how do you want to deploy it?”

– Job-stealing robots should be taxed the same as humans, Bill Gates says. "If a robot comes in to do the same thing, you’d think that we’d tax the robot at a similar level," the Microsoft founder tells Quartz. He says governments should tax companies that replace workers with machines and use that money to fund jobs that can only be performed by humans, such as caring for children and the elderly. In what is perhaps a surprising declaration for a man who built his fortune through innovation, the billionaire philanthropist contends the pace of automation in job-killing industries ought to be slowed, and taxes can help do that. "It is really bad if people overall have more fear about what innovation is going to do than they have enthusiasm," he says. While the European Parliament last week nixed a robot tax for now, notes the Telegraph, such a levy is being pushed by the French socialist candidate for president. But the idea of taxing machines is picking up steam even in the unlikely climes of Silicon Valley, which seems to favor the customers, not the industry, footing the bill, per the Financial Times. But the world's richest man doesn't think manufacturers would mind paying up. "I don’t think the robot companies are going to be outraged that there might be a tax," he says. "It’s OK." Skeptics took to Twitter, blaming Microsoft's own technology for lost human jobs. (Read the full interview here.)

Kevin Lewis said he, his brother and his uncle moved the ashes of his father, Richard W. Lewis, and brother, Richard “Trent” Lewis, from Steep Falls Cemetery in Standish to a family plot in Maple Hill Cemetery in Limington. Kevin Lewis tells the Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/1rd16sK) the men "just thought we had a right" to move family members. Lewis, 42 of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, his brother Travis Lewis, 37, of Hiram and their uncle Calvin Lewis, 71, of Limington have been issued a summons to appear in Bridgton District Court Nov. 18 on a charge of abuse of a corpse. STANDISH, Maine (AP) — Three men are charged with digging up the cremated remains of two relatives and moving them to another cemetery in Maine.

– Kevin Lewis thought it was no big deal when he and a couple of relatives unearthed the ashes of his father and brother in Standish, Maine, and reburied them about 10 miles down the road in Limington. "We just thought we had a right," Lewis tells the Portland Press Herald. Apparently, they didn't. Lewis, his brother Travis, and their uncle Calvin are now accused of abuse of a corpse after the deceased brother's former girlfriend clued police into the move, which happened last fall. The woman says she buried her ex-boyfriend's ashes when he died in 2007, as well as the ashes of his father, which had been sitting at a family member's house since his death in 2003. "We appreciated what this woman did," Lewis said, "but she didn't pay for my father’s funeral." He explains the family moved the ashes to a family plot because "it's where everybody else will be buried." The AP reports, however, the remains were returned to their original resting place earlier this month. The Lewises are due in court Nov. 18.

The body of Timothy Coggins, 23, was found on Oct. 9, 1983, in a grassy area near power lines in the community of Sunnyside, about 30 miles south of downtown Atlanta. He had been “brutally murdered” and his body had signs of trauma, the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. Timothy Coggins Spalding County Sheriff's Office Investigators spoke to people who knew Coggins, but the investigation went cold, Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix said at a news conference. “Thanks to the assistance of both local and statewide new media coverage, previously unknown witnesses stepped forward and when interviewed, many of the witnesses stated that they had been living with this information since Coggins' death but had been afraid to come forward until now or had not spoken of it until now,” Dix said. Five people, including two law enforcement officials, were arrested Friday by the Spalding County Sheriff’s Department in connection with a 1983 cold case. Frankie Gebhardt, 59, and Bill Moore Sr., 58, were charged with murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery and concealing a body. Gregory Huffman, a detention officer with the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office, was charged with obstruction and violation of oath of office. Dix said Milner Police Officer Lamar Bunn was charged with obstruction, and Spalding County Detention Officer Gregory Huffman was charged with violation of oath office. 0 Several arrests made in 1983 'racially-motivated' murder SPALDING COUNTY, Ga. - Investigators said two men got away with murder for more than three decades thanks, in part, to help from two law enforcement officers. “There is no doubt in the minds of all investigators involved that the crime was racially motivated and that if the crime happened today it would be prosecuted as a hate crime,” the Sheriff’s Office said. "We know that there's been tireless nights and we know that you guys have put in so many hours making sure that these people were brought to justice, so on behalf of them, we would definitely like to say 'thank you,'” said Coggins’ niece, Heather Coggins. “Even on my grandmother's deathbed she knew that justice would one day be served,” said Heather Coggins.

– Five white people—including two law enforcement officers—were arrested Friday in Georgia in connection with the murder of a black man 34 years ago, NBC News reports. Timothy Coggins was 23 when his body was found in a grassy area 30 miles south of downtown Atlanta in 1983. Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix says Coggins was "brutally murdered." According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dix says suspects at the time threatened and intimidated possible witnesses, and the case was never solved. "It worried everybody to death, but we never could find out what was going on, so life just continued," a friend of Coggins tells WSB. The case was reopened in March after new evidence turned up, and the original witnesses—afraid to come forward at the time—were re-interviewed. It's unclear what the new evidence was. Bill Moore, 58, and Frankie Gebhardt, 59, were charged with murder, aggravated assault, and more. Gregory Huffman, 47, was charged with obstruction and violation of oath of office. He was fired as a detention officer with the sheriff's office following his arrest. Lamar Bunn, a police officer in a nearby town, was charged with obstruction. His mother, Sandra Bunn, was also charged with obstruction. Dix says investigators believe the murder was "racially motivated" and would be considered a hate crime today. "It was meant to send a message and it was brutal," he says. Officials say more arrests are possible. "We have always wanted justice, held out for justice, and knew that we would have justice," the victim's niece, Heather Coggins, says.

The Iraqi-born British architect died in a Miami hospital after suffering a heart attack, a representative for Zaha Hadid Architects confirmed with Business Insider. Zaha Hadid has died aged 65. Hadid, the only female member of the elite tribe of so-called “starchitects,” celebrities of the profession, was the winner of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize and was the first woman to receive the Royal Institute of British Architects Gold Medal. AP Photo/Carlos Osorio The Broad Art Museum in Michigan “She had contracted bronchitis earlier this week and suffered a sudden heart attack while being treated in hospital,” her firm, Zaha Hadid Architects, said in a statement. Click through to see how her style has evolved over time, and remember the artist through the body of work she has left behind all over the world. Nevertheless, in a field that has often disregarded women and championed men, Hadid’s career was a beacon to many female architects. Hadid designed everything from a metro station in Saudi Arabia to the aquatics center for the 2012 London Olympics to a city center in downtown Belgrade— all in her signature flowing style.

– Zaha Hadid, the literally and metaphorically groundbreaking architect who reshaped the design landscape with what the New York Times describes as "buildings of extravagant sculptural invention, spectacles of curving, swooping, unprecedented forms," died at the age of 65 in Miami on Thursday. Hadid had been taken to a local hospital for bronchitis earlier this week and suffered a sudden heart attack while she was being treated there, per a statement from her London office. Known as the "Queen of Curves" for her "signature flowing style," Business Insider notes, she was the only female architect to ascend to the ranks of what Quartz labels as her profession's elite "starchitects" group. The Iraqi-born Brit was known for her designs for, among others, the London Aquatic Center (a 2012 Olympics venue), China's Guangzhou Opera House, and Cincinnati's Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art. Hadid was the first woman to ever take home the Pritzker Prize, the architecture world's highest honor, and was also the first woman to receive Britain's esteemed RIBA Gold Medal. The Times points out that Hadid's designs were often not the most practical (nor the cheapest): Her plans for the 2020 Olympics' main venue in Tokyo had to be ditched after anticipated costs blew up to around $2.5 billion, more than double the original estimate. But she came up during a time when architects morphed into celebrities, and she was one of the hottest and most imaginative of them all, cranking out such complicated theoretical designs in the beginning of her career that they were never able to be brought to fruition. "Each new project is more audacious than the last and the sources of her originality seem endless," the Pritzker jury wrote upon awarding her its prize in 2004. (Check out pics of her most well-known works at Business Insider and Quartz.)

Story highlights Conservative activists at the Values Voters Summit in Washington booed Donald Trump Friday after he called Marco Rubio a "clown" Rubio and Trump have been fighting all week, trading insults on-air and on Twitter Washington (CNN) Donald Trump drew boos from religious conservatives Friday after he called Marco Rubio a "clown" and attacked him on immigration. Rubio, by contrast, tagged Trump as “touchy and insecure” and over “exposed,” a much more TV-and-internet-friendly hit that hints at questions about Trump’s masculinity. For good measure, Jeb even threw in a Reagan reference. But then a reporter asked him about Mr. Rubio. “He doesn’t show up to vote for one thing,” said Mr. Trump, uncorking his now-familiar attack on Mr. Rubio’s record of absenteeism from Senate votes. Trump also seemed to let on that Rubio is getting under his skin in an interview today in which he called the Florida Senator a “baby.” This came after Rubio tagged Trump as a “touchy and insecure guy” who has been “exposed a little bit over the last seven days.” Rubio was responding to an earlier Trump broadside in which the Donald described him as a “kid” and a “lightweight.” And Trump has also attacked Rubio by pointing out that he “sweats more than any young person I’ve ever seen in my life,” whatever that is supposed to tell us.

– At a summit yesterday, Donald Trump discovered a big difference between Marco Rubio and some of the other people he has bad-mouthed: A lot of conservatives like him. The crowd at the Family Research Council's Values Voters Summit booed after Trump called the senator as a "clown," although Trump, who went on to describe Rubio as "weak on immigration," later claimed the boos were actually cheers, NBC reports. Trump's comments followed a week of back-and-forth between the pair, with Rubio calling Trump "very touchy and insecure guy" and Trump describing his 44-year-old rival as an "overly ambitious," excessively sweaty, "kid" who "shouldn't be running in this race," reports CNN. After the summit comment, Rubio retorted that Trump "had a tough week" and a "really bad debate," reports the New York Times, which notes that Trump has attacked Rubio's bank balance and even his hair. But Rubio is rising in the polls and unlike Jeb Bush, the target of many Trump attacks over the summer, it looks like the senator has a good instinct for Internet-driven political culture, and "knows how to get under the reality TV master's skin," writes Greg Sargent at the Washington Post. The Times notes that when a reporter asked Trump about John Boehner's resignation yesterday, he didn't have much to say, but when asked about Rubio, he criticized his absenteeism record in the Senate and called him a "baby." (Trump was also booed by a crowd waiting for Pope Francis.)

The founders of the dating app Tinder, along with current executives and some of its employees, have filed a lawsuit against IAC/InterActiveCorp... (Associated Press) NEW YORK (AP) — The founders of the dating app Tinder, along with current executives and some of its employees, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against IAC/InterActiveCorp and its Match Group subsidiary for allegedly bilking them by manipulating financial information to create a lowball estimate of Tinder's value. The founders of the dating app Tinder, along with current executives and some of its employees, have filed a lawsuit against IAC/InterActiveCorp and its Match Group subsidiary for allegedly manipulating financial information,... (Associated Press) FILE - This Oct. 26, 2009 file photo shows the IAC building in New York. The dispute centers on an analysis of Tinder done in 2017 by Wall Street banks to set a value for stock options received by Sean Rad, a Tinder co-founder, and other early employees. IAC issued a statement calling the suit "meritless" and saying it would "vigorously defend" itself against it. The statement said that Rad and other former executives who left the company a year or more ago "may not like the fact that Tinder has experienced enormous success following their respective departures, but sour grapes alone do not a lawsuit make." IAC overall, which is controlled by media magnate Barry Diller and which also includes brands such as Angie's List and The Daily Beast in addition to the services that make up Match, has a market cap of about $16 billion. "That's not relevant to the fact that this company made promises to all the Tinder employees, including Justin, and reneged on those promises and overlooked the contracts they had with us," Rad said.

– The co-founders of the dating app Tinder, along with eight other current and former executives, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against IAC/InterActiveCorp and its Match Group subsidiary for allegedly bilking them by manipulating financial information to create a lowball estimate of Tinder's value, the AP reports. They are seeking at least $2 billion in the lawsuit against Match and IAC, which is controlled by media mogul Barry Diller. IAC and Match Group, of which Tinder is now part, called the allegations in the lawsuit "meritless." The lawsuit claims that there were written contracts between IAC and Match and Tinder employees, including founders Sean Rad, Justin Mateen, and Jonathan Badeen. The contracts required Tinder be valued on specific dates in 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2021 and that the workers be allowed to exercise their stock options and sell them to IAC and Match. The lawsuit alleges New York-based IAC and Match instead created false financial information, delayed new products, and used other tactics to try to keep Tinder's valuation low. Per CNN, the dispute centers around a 2017 analysis that valued Tinder at $3 billion, the same valuation that had been set two years prior, despite the fact that both revenue and subscribers had increased in that time; the suit says the 2017 valuation, which was done to set a value for stock options received by Rad and other early employees, should have been higher. Tinder was then merged into Match Group, which the lawsuit says was a pretext to extinguish Tinder employees' stock options. "They lied about the financial performance. They manipulated financial data, and essentially stole billions of dollars by not paying us what they contractually owe us," Rad tells CNN. In a statement, IAC and Match Group said Rad, Mateen, and other former execs "may not like the fact that Tinder has experienced enormous success following their respective departures, but sour grapes alone do not a lawsuit make." See CNN for much more on the ins and outs of the suit, which also includes allegations of sexual harassment and groping against Tinder's former CEO.

The Portsmouth Herald reports (http://bit.ly/2uBKn8X ) Greg Ward initially thought he had snagged an albino lobster when he examined his catch off the coast Monday where New Hampshire borders Maine. Ward initially thought he had snagged an albino lobster... (Associated Press) A rare blue lobster caught by local lobsterman, Greg Ward, is on display at the Seacoast Science Center in Rye, N.H., on Tuesday, July 18, 2017. Ward says the lobster is unlike anything he's ever seen. Usually, the stronger lobsters are usually the reddish brown color but this one still had a hard shell.” Ward gave the lobster to Seacoast Science Center in Rye to examine and put on display. He said the odds of catching an albino lobster are roughly one in a hundred million. Every time we get a call about an albino lobster, I get a little skeptical just because they are so rare.” Royer said Ward’s lobster will eventually go on display in Seacoast Science Center’s “exotic” lobster tank as soon as it gets adjusted to the center’s tanks and water.

– A New Hampshire lobsterman has joined an elite club after catching a rare blue lobster, the AP reports. The Portsmouth Herald reports Greg Ward initially thought he had snagged an albino lobster when he examined his catch off the coast Monday where New Hampshire borders Maine. The Rye lobsterman quickly realized his hard-shell lobster was a unique blue and cream color. The oft-cited odds of catching a blue lobster are 1 in 2 million. But no one knows for sure. Ward says the lobster is unlike anything he's ever seen. He gave the rare crustacean to the Seacoast Science Center in Rye to study and put on display. Center aquarist Rob Royer says Ward's blue lobster will go on display in the "exotic" lobster tank once it acclimates to the water.

Mexican prosecutors are investigating how Carballido was elected mayor of a village in southern Mexico after being certified as dead. In this June 4, 2013 photo, Lenin Carballido poses for a portrait during his campaign in Oaxaca, Mexico. Mexican prosecutors are investigating how Carballido certified as dead was elected mayor of a... (Associated Press) Authorities say relatives of Lenin Carballido used a death certificate showing that he died of a diabetic coma in 2010 to convince police to drop an arrest warrant against him for allegedly participating in a 2004 gang rape. Last Sunday, nearly three years after he was officially declared dead, Carballido was narrowly elected mayor of San Agustin Amatengo, a small town in Mexico’s Oaxaca state. Carballido’s resurrection occurred this year when he ran as a local candidate for Mexico’s leftist Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), beating his opponent Sunday by a margin of 11 votes, 515 to 504. (Luis Alberto Hernandez/AP) Isidoro Yescas, a state election official in Oaxaca, said investigators were seeking to obtain an official copy of Carballido’s death certificate, which would leave him unfit for office. For a dead man, Lenin Carballido apparently ran a pretty good campaign.

– A zombie mayor would make for one hell of a headline (not to mention a movie), but the newly elected leader of a small town in Mexico isn't dead in real life—just on paper. According to Mexican newspaper Reforma, Lenin Carballido faked his own death in 2010 due to police charges for allegedly participating in a gang rape, the AP and Washington Post report. He successfully obtained an official coroner’s certificate, and the charges were dropped. Carballido then resurrected himself this year to run for local government in San Agustin Amatengo, Oaxaca. The Oaxaca state prosecutors' office says the statute of limitations has not run out on the crime he was originally charged with, and it plans to revive the case and arrest him. "The state attorney general's office will investigate and bring charges, even if the suspect is recognized by electoral authorities as a municipal authority," it says, per the AP. Carballido's party, the Democratic Revolutionary Party, says it wasn't aware their candidate was legally dead. "He fooled the prosecutors' office, he fooled the office of records, he fooled electoral officials," says the PRD's state leader. "If all this is true, he cannot take office as mayor."

Last orca whale bred at SeaWorld born in San Antonio In this image provided by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment orca Takara helps guide her newborn to the water's surface at SeaWorld San Antonio, Wednesday, April 19, 2017, in San Antonio. The company based in Orlando, Fla., announced the birth Wednesday. (Chris Gotshall/SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment via AP) less In this image provided by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment orca Takara helps guide her newborn to the water's surface at SeaWorld San Antonio, Wednesday, April 19, 2017, in San Antonio. The mother, 25-year-old Takara, was already pregnant last year when SeaWorld said it stopped the breeding program. SeaWorld’s chief zoological officer, Chris Dold said veterinarians at the San Antonio park told him the calf was born normally — tail first — after about an hour and a half of smooth labor.

– Officials at SeaWorld say the last killer whale has been born in captivity at one of its parks—in San Antonio. The orca's birth Wednesday afternoon comes in the wake of a 2016 decision by the Florida-based company to stop breeding killer whales. SeaWorld didn't immediately name the calf because the park's veterinarians have not yet determined whether it is male or female. The mother, 25-year-old Takara, was already pregnant last year when SeaWorld stopped the breeding program. The gestation period for orcas is about 18 months. SeaWorld says the mother had a smooth delivery and both appear healthy. SeaWorld's chief zoological officer, Chris Dold, tells the AP that the birth was one of those "extraordinary moments." SeaWorld says the calf—one of a couple of dozen orcas that will remain in the company's parks for decades to come—represents the last chance for visitors and researchers to witness the growth and maturation of a young orca outside its natural setting, the San Antonio Express-Tribune reports. There are two male orcas at the San Antonio park and SeaWorld thinks Kyuquot is the father, but it will carry out tests to make sure. (Blackfish orca Tilikum sired 14 calves before his death this year.)

– The Boston Celtics got a scare when they were told of a bomb threat on their private flight to Oklahoma City. The Boston Globe reports the plane landed safely around 5:00pm at Will Rogers World Airport, where players were told to leave their bags and proceed to their hotel. The FBI's Oklahoma City field office said late Saturday that a thorough search of the aircraft "did not locate an explosive device" and that the agency is investigating the incident, reports the AP. The Boston Globe says only a few team executives were aware of the threat during the flight and that others in the party were informed upon landing in Oklahoma City, where the Celtics face the Thunder on Sunday. The team departed for Oklahoma City from Bedford, Mass.

– Former American Idol champ Fantasia Barrino is hospitalized after overdosing on a combination of aspirin and a sleep aid, but her manager says her life isn't in danger. Fantasia had been distraught and "overwhelmed by the lawsuit and the media attention" related to her affair with the married Antwaun Cook. The North Carolina police report called it a suicide attempt, reports TMZ. "Fantasia believed Mr. Cook when he told her he was not happy in his marriage and his heart was not in it," read the manager's statement. But now she is "heartbroken and is sorry for any pain she may have caused." Fantasia won Idol in 2004 and has had mixed success since. Her third album is due out later this month, notes AP.

- Former tennis player John McEnroe tried to explain his statement that fellow tennis player Serena Williams would be ranked "like 700 in the world" if she had to play on the men's circuit, on June 27. But McEnroe often seemed unsure of exactly what to say, leading to a number of rambling sentences and a suggestion that he didn’t want to “upset her” because he didn’t want “anything to go wrong with Serena[’s pregnancy].” WATCH: John McEnroe apparently thinks Serena Williams is a hysterical woman who may fall apart because of his comments and go into labor pic.twitter.com/qaDq2Wcejt — Yashar Ali (@yashar) June 27, 2017 Williams herself eventually criticized McEnroe over Twitter, asking him to “please keep [her] out of [his] statements.” When asked on “CBS This Morning” if he would like to apologize, however, McEnroe replied, “Uh, no.” He then said that “tennis [is] unlike other sports ― they’re always asking about how women” would fare against him. McEnroe’s initial comments came as he was responding to a question from NPR about why he doesn’t call Williams the greatest tennis player, period. McEnroe had said, during an interview on NPR’s “Weekend Edition Sunday” over the weekend, that “if [Williams] played the men’s circuit, she’d be, like, 700 in the world.” The retired player’s comment led to intense anger. Garcia-Navarro: Some wouldn’t qualify it, some would say she’s the best player in the world. I do, but the reality of what would happen would be I think something that perhaps it’d be a little higher, perhaps it’d be a little lower.” McEnroe’s assessment of Williams’s rank among her male counterparts differs from one he gave in the past.

– John McEnroe refused to apologize Tuesday after claiming that Serena Williams would only be ranked 700th or so if she played against men rather than women, Time reports. McEnroe induced a wave of ire, including some from Williams herself, after making the comment Sunday on NPR. On Tuesday he told CBS This Morning he "didn't know it would create a controversy" but wouldn't be apologizing. According to HuffPost, McEnroe said he didn't want to "upset" Williams and cause "anything to go wrong" with her pregnancy. While McEnroe apparently isn't sorry for his comments about Williams, he said he is sorry tennis players are constantly asked to rank each other. He said people are "always asking about how women" would do playing against him. In a joking re-ranking of history's greatest tennis players, McEnroe put Williams fifth overall, asking, "You happy now?" He said he would rank about 1,200th out of women's tennis players at his current age of 58, USA Today reports. The Washington Post has the video of McEnroe's appearance on CBS This Morning.

"Make it clear that individuals who can't live up to our professional standards in competence and character are not welcome in our Navy. Cyber Tailhook The scandal that is engulfing the military began last weekend when a story published on the website The War Horse — then published March 4 via Reveal— exposed a private Facebook group called Marines United, which was used regularly to swap explicit photos of fellow Marines. It's estimated that 30,000 people had access to the Marines United Facebook page, a private Facebook group established several years ago as a support network to help fellow Marine veterans dealing with combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder, Neller said. In testimony before Congress Tuesday, Neller said roughly 500 members of the Marines United group accessed a share drive online containing a cache of nude photos. Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee with acting Secretary of the Navy Sean Stackley and Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Ronald Green, Neller said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating the allegations and will hold accountable any service members involved.

– A familiar scene played out on Capitol Hill Tuesday in the form of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand expressing anger at the harassment of women in the military. This time, she was grilling Marines chief Gen. Robert Neller in the wake of the revelation that photos and videos of female Marines, sometimes nude, had been widely shared in online groups. One exchange, via ABC News, sums it up: Gillibrand: "It is a serious problem when we have members of our military denigrating female Marines who will give their life to this country in the way they have, with no response from leadership. So if you're dedicated to fixing the culture of the Marines and all the services, what do you plan to do to hold commanders responsible who fail to get this done?" Neller: "I'm responsible. I'm the commandant. I own this, and we are going to have to, you know, you've heard it before, but we're going to have to change how we see ourselves and how we do—how we treat each other. That's a lame answer, but ma'am, that's the best I can tell you right now. We've got to change, and that's on me." The New York Times, meanwhile, has the story of one of the women victimized. Savannah Cunningham, a 19-year-old in Phoenix, made a nude video for a Marine she was dating in a long-distance relationship, and it surfaced in the online forums. Cunningham wasn't in the military at the time, but, despite the harassment she endured over the video, ships out for basic training next month. “Someone needs to stand up and say this does not represent the values of the Marine Corps,” she tells the newspaper. “If not me, then who?” A story in the Navy Times shows the challenge: It confirms that the scandal is not confined to the Marines, with women from at least a dozen Navy commands also specifically targeted in the online forums, likely by other sailors.

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — U.S. helicopters airlifted soldiers to a central Yemeni province where they targeted an al-Qaida compound, clashing with suspected militants and killing at least seven of them early on Tuesday, according to the American military, Yemeni security officials, and tribal leaders. The Central Command said the U.S. forces killed the militants using "a combination of small arms fire and precision airstrikes" to attack the compound. The Defense Department said the operation was conducted with the support of Yemen's government. The military did not say whether there were any US casualties during the raid which was supported by the Yemeni government.

– US helicopters airlifted soldiers to a central Yemeni province where they targeted an al-Qaeda compound and killed at least seven militants Tuesday, reports the AP. Central Command said US forces killed the militants using "a combination of small-arms fire and precision airstrikes," with the primary goal being the collection of intelligence, reports the BBC. It was unclear what was retrieved on that front. The Defense Department, which did not mention any US casualties, said the operation was conducted with the support of Yemen's government. The raid in Marib province is the second publicly known US ground deployment in Yemen this year against al-Qaeda. The first, in January, resulted in the death of a Navy SEAL. The United States also has stepped up airstrikes as part of a sustained assault on al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in areas of Yemen where it is most active. Washington considers AQAP one of the most dangerous branches of the terror network. The January raid killed 25 civilians, including women and children, and sparked outrage in Yemen. For its part, al-Qaeda has used the chaos of Yemen's civil war to expand its footprint and recruitment efforts in the region.

These findings indicate that the influence of social relationships on the risk of death are comparable with well-established risk factors for mortality such as smoking and alcohol consumption and exceed the influence of other risk factors such as physical inactivity and obesity. The second study, involving 70 studies representing more than 3.4 million individuals primarily from North America but also from Europe, Asia and Australia, examined the role that social isolation, loneliness or living alone might have on mortality. To illustrate the influence of social isolation and loneliness on the risk for premature mortality, Holt-Lunstad presented data from two meta-analyses. “These trends suggest that Americans are becoming less socially connected and experiencing more loneliness,” said Holt-Lunstad.

– Being lonely won't just make you feel sad—it may also endanger your life. In fact, researchers now say that people steeped in social isolation (including those who live by themselves) and a lack of connection with others can suffer just as much of a mortality risk as someone inhaling nearly a pack of cigarettes a day, and even more so than someone who's obese, Seeker reports. All of which leads Julianne Holt-Lunstad—a Brigham Young University psychology professor who presented these findings, also published in the PLOS ONE journal, at the American Psychological Association's convention on Saturday in DC—to stress that loneliness and isolation should be treated as public health issues. She says they could perhaps be partly remedied via initiatives such as teaching kids more social skills in school, or prepping seniors on how to keep their social lives active after they retire. Holt-Lunstad's research was based on two meta-analyses. The first, comprised of 148 studies and nearly 300,000 subjects, found those who claimed better social connections also boasted a 50% lower risk of early demise—and poor social connectivity offered the same mortality risk as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. The second grouping was made up of more than 3.4 million participants over 70 studies and found that social isolation (lack of actual contact with others), loneliness (the perception of feeling lonely, whether others are around or not), or simply living alone all carried more risk of premature death than obesity. "With an increasing aging population, the effect on public health is only anticipated to increase," Holt-Lunstad notes. "Indeed, many nations around the world now suggest we are facing a 'loneliness epidemic.' The challenge ... now is what can be done about it." (How loneliness and Alzheimer's may be linked.)

Catalan police chief Josep Lluis Trapero told reporters that explosives were found in the Alcanar property and that police "are working on the hypothesis that these attacks were being prepared in that house." Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Footage captures people using a shop as an escape route on Las Ramblas Citizens of some 24 countries were killed or injured in the Las Ramblas attack, the Catalan government has said. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility, saying in a statement on its Aamaq news agency that the attack was carried out by "soldiers of the Islamic State" in response to the extremist group's calls for followers to target countries participating in the coalition trying to drive it from Syria and Iraq. Police said the two suspects arrested Thursday were a Spanish national from Melilla, a Spanish-run Mediterranean seafront enclave in North Africa, and the other a Moroccan. Injured people are treated in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017 after a white van jumped the sidewalk in the historic Las Ramblas district, crashing into a summer crowd of residents and tourists... (Associated Press) BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Police on Friday shot and killed five people wearing fake bomb belts who staged a car attack in a seaside resort in Spain's Catalonia region hours after a van plowed into pedestrians on a busy Barcelona promenade, killing at least 13 people and injuring over 100 others. The driver abandoned the van and fled on Thursday after speeding along a section of Las Ramblas, the most famous boulevard in Barcelona, leaving a trail of dead and injured among the crowds of tourists and local residents thronging the street. Catalan police later said they found an ax and knives in the car, and the attackers had fake explosive belts attached to them. BARCELONA (Reuters) - The driver of the van that ploughed into crowds in Barcelona, killing 13 people, may still be alive and at large, Spanish police said on Friday, denying earlier media reports that he had been shot dead in a Catalan seaside resort.

– A huge manhunt is underway in Spain for the driver of a van that plowed into pedestrians in Barcelona, killing 14 people in a terrorist attack claimed by ISIS. Spanish police have named the suspect as 18-year-old Moussa Oukabir, the Guardian reports. The suspect's brother, 28-year-old Moroccan national Driss Oukabir, was arrested after the attack and reportedly told authorities that his identity documents, which were used to rent the van, were stolen. In other developments: Police say five suspects shot dead after injuring people in a second attack Thursday night were wearing fake explosive belts, CNN reports. The suspects engaged in a shootout with police after driving their Audi A3 into pedestrians in the town of Cambrils, authorities say. Their vehicle overturned during the attack. The suicide belts were so realistic that security forces didn't know they were fake until controlled explosions had been carried out, authorities say. Investigators believe a 12-person terror cell was behind both attacks and an explosion that killed a person at a house in the town of Alcanar, the Telegraph reports. They suspect the terrorists were planning to use gas canisters in another attack. A counterterrorism expert tell the New York Times that authorities believe the attackers initially planned to use a large truck loaded with explosives, but they rented multiple smaller vehicles after they couldn't get a permit for a larger one. Police say the three people arrested so far include a man from Melilla, Spain's North African enclave, reports Reuters. A 7-year-old Australian boy is missing after the Barcelona attack, the Guardian reports. Family members are pleading for help in the search for Julian Cadman, whose mother was hospitalized in serious condition after the attack. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Spaniards "are not just united in mourning, but especially in the firm determination to beat those who want to rob us of our values and our way of life," the AP reports. He has declared three days of national mourning. This is the latest atrocity in what the BBC calls a "worrying trend" of attackers using vehicles to attack "soft" targets. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, though it's not clear whether the attackers are directly linked to the group or only inspired by them. (The victims, including more than 100 injured, came from at least 24 countries.)

Amazon launches Prime instant videos, unlimited streaming for Prime subscribers [Engadget] Related: Despite Soaring Stocks, Netflix Might Be in for a Bumpy Ride In a press release, the company said the feature will be offered at no additional cost above the $79 that Prime members already pay annually. Internet service providers are trying to charge higher fees to tax Netflix for sucking up their bandwidth.

– Amazon threw down the gauntlet against Netflix today, offering its own streaming movie service. From now on, subscribers to Amazon Prime—which offers customers free two-day shipping for $79 a year—will also get access to more than 5,000 movies and TV shows, CNET reports. You can see the launch titles here. Amazon’s catalog isn’t yet on par with Netflix’s, which contains around 20,000 streaming titles, Daily Intel observes, but that’s just an opening salvo, and Amazon is already beating Netflix on price—a full year of Netflix’s digital-only package clocks in at more than $95, and won’t earn you free shipping on a single coffee table book.

– The comic know around the world as nerdy Mr. Bean is recovering in a British hospital after crashing his McLaren F1 supercar and striking a tree and lamppost before the vehicle burst into flames. Rowan Atkinson is "lucky to be alive considering the state of the car," said a witness. The actor suffered only a minor shoulder injury in the wreck some 85 miles north of London, reports AP. Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash, but some media reported that Atkinson spun out on a portion of rain-slicked highway. Atkinson also crashed the car in 1999, rear-ending a Land Rover. He bought the sports car, which can reach speeds of 230 mph, to celebrate the success of Mr. Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie. It's only one of 65 street versions ever made and is valued at more than $2 million, reports the Mirror. While his character Mr. Bean putts along in a Mini-Cooper, Atkinson is a fan of luxury sports cars, and has also owned Aston Martins, Mercedes, and Rolls Royces.

On Monday night, I walked into FirstEnergy Stadium having absolutely no clue what was going to happen during the national anthem. Five more Browns' players stood nearby in solidarity and put their hands on the shoulders of those kneeling. It is because it provides opportunities to citizens that no other country does. Advertisement In his interview after Monday night’s game, Seth said, “I myself will be raising children that don’t look like me, and I want to do my part as well to do everything I can to raise them in a better environment than we have right now.” I don’t think either of us foresaw that this choice to share about his personal life would become the go-to narrative to explain Seth’s actions in their entirety. "My personal feeling is that over the last season, we've seen players come under unfair scrutiny for protesting during the anthem, mainly because the focus has become on whether or not a player is being disrespectful to the flag or military and not on the issue and cause attempting to be addressed by the protest," Jackson said in a statement.

– On Monday night, a dozen or so Cleveland Browns players kneeled during the national anthem and formed a prayer circle, among them 24-year-old tight end Seth DeValve, ID'd as the first white NFLer to take a knee during such a demonstration for social injustice. DeValve's wife, Erica Harris DeValve, says in an op-ed for The Root's Very Smart Brothas that she's "deeply proud" of her husband—and she says that that moment "reconfirmed" for her that her husband had thoughtfully absorbed all of the conversations about race they'd had as an interracial couple. But she wants to "push back" on putting Seth "on a pedestal" and making him into some kind of "white savior," when Colin Kaepernick and other black players have been carrying the movement against racial discrimination and oppression along for the better part of the last year. "I would like to offer a humble reminder that a man—a black man—literally lost his job for taking a knee, week after week, on his own," she writes. "Colin Kaepernick bravely took a step and began a movement ... and he suffered a ridiculous amount of hate and threats and ultimately lost his life's work in the sport he loves." She says that Seth's actions weren't just because he's married to a black woman—"If I were white, he should have done the same, and I am confident that he would have"—and that white people should "listen to the voices of the black people in your life, and choose to support them as they seek to make their voices heard." But she wants to turn the attention back to black players, who "have to carry that burden all the time." "We should not see Seth's participation as legitimizing this movement," she notes. "Rather, he chose to be an ally of his black teammates." More here.

While allegations of collusion are still being investigated, evidence of bank fraud and tax evasion unearthed during the probe has cast doubt on the integrity of Trump's closest advisers during the campaign. Shortly after the hearing, the jury sent a new note to the judge asking to stop work half an hour early Friday, at 5 p.m., because a juror had an event to attend. The panel must determine guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in order to convict Manafort on the 18 counts of tax and bank fraud lodged against him. Separately, Ellis raised eyebrows Friday when he revealed that he had received unspecified threats during the trial and is under the protection of U.S. marshals. A coalition of media organizations, including The Associated Press, filed a motion requesting the names of jurors, as well as access to sealed transcripts of bench conferences that have occurred during the three-week trial. Ellis said many of those transcripts, with the exception of a discussion about the ongoing investigation by Russia special counsel Robert Mueller, would be made public at the end of the trial. More: Manafort trial: Jury asks judge to redefine 'reasonable doubt' during first day of deliberations More: Manafort trial: Why 'reasonable doubt' is hard to define in courtrooms Prosecutors and defense attorneys have huddled privately numerous times throughout the trial, and only rarely have the contents of those meetings been disclosed. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn... (Associated Press) ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — The judge in former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's fraud trial refused Friday to release the names of jurors, saying he has received threats and fears for their safety as well. Manafort is accused of hiding from the IRS millions that he made advising Russia-backed politicians in Ukraine, and then lying to banks to get loans when the money dried up. As President Trump was leaving the White House Friday and while jurors were still deliberating, the president attacked the Manafort trial and called it "very sad." "When you look at what’s going on there, I think it’s a very sad day for our country," the president said. "He worked for me for a very short period of time. But you know what, he happens to be a very good person and I think it's very sad what they've done to Paul Manafort." CLOSE President Donald Trump refused to say whether he would pardon Paul Manafort, calling him a "very good person" as he left the White House for New York.

– Paul Manafort won't learn his fate this week. The jury weighing charges against him has gone home for the day and won't return until Monday. US District Judge TS Ellis III allowed the panel to leave at 5pm because one of the jurors had a scheduled "event" to attend, reports USA Today. Earlier, the judge refused journalists' request to release the names of jurors, with Ellis saying he had received threats and feared they would, too. Also on Friday, President Trump weighed in on his former campaign manager. "I think the whole Manafort trial is very sad," Trump told reporters at the White House, per the AP. "When you look at what's going on, I think it's a very sad day for our country," he said. "He worked for me for a very short period of time. But you know what, he happens to be a very good person and I think it's very sad what they've done to Paul Manafort." The case calls on jurors to follow the complexities of foreign bank accounts and shell companies, loan regulations, and tax rules. It exposed details about the lavish lifestyle of the onetime political insider, including a $15,000 jacket made of ostrich leather and $900,000 spent at a boutique retailer in New York via international wire transfer. The jury ended its first day of deliberations Thursday with a series of questions to the judge, including a request to "redefine" reasonable doubt.

The corporate and media sites of The New York Times (NYT) experienced a lengthy outage on Wednesday that a source close to the matter said appeared to be caused by a cyber attack, although the newspaper cited a scheduled maintenance update. The outage began around 11:30 a.m. ET and service appeared to be restored at about 1 p.m. ET. The source, who asked not to be named due to the sensitive nature of the issue, said the newspaper had been huddling with outside security professionals to assess the threat. On its official Twitter account, the New York Times said it was “experiencing a server issue that has resulted in our e-mail and Web site being unavailable." The newspaper had said it believed the outage was the result of an "internal issue." New York Times officials said Wednesday afternoon it was "a failure during regular maintenance of NYTimes.com and not the result of a cyberattack." In a note apologizing to customers on its website, the Times said the outage "occurred within seconds of a scheduled maintenance update, which we believe was the cause." The company, which has been the target of Chinese hackers in the past, did not directly respond to multiple requests for comment from FOX Business. Cedric Leighton, a former National Security Agency official, said: "My suspicion leads me to believe that this is not really an internal issue. This is something that goes way beyond that." Leighton said it is "very rare" for an internal issue to cause this kind of damage, although he noted it is possible that someone who has internal access "could have planted malicious code." “Sometimes cyber attacks look like normal server problems. Just like when you’re missing your wallet -- was it theft or absent mindedness?” said Carl Herberger, vice president of security solutions at Radware (RDWR). Other security experts cautioned that the outage could have been caused by an internal issue, perhaps some glitch within a central control system due to the fact that email and websites are often operated on different systems. “There’s a strong likelihood that someone internally [messed] up and also probably as good of a chance that it could have been external,” said Dov Yoran, CEO of malware analysis and threat intelligence firm Threat Grid. Yoran pointed to the “internal” outages experienced by Amazon (AMZN) in 2012, where glitches in one data center caused the cloud application of Amazon and other companies to temporarily go off line. But he said it could take some time to find the precise cause of the Times’ outage. The initial response to a distributed denial of service [DDoS] or similar attacks can sometimes cause websites to go down. Leighton says an external stimulant like malware may be exasperated internally once the victim tries to shut it down. “This isn’t them just flipping something over. You don’t do a systems refresh in the middle of the news day,” said Christopher Bronk, a senior fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute. Both the newspaper, NYTimes.com, and its corporate site, NYTco.com, were down at about 11:30 a.m. ET. The outage, which appeared as "HTTP 503 Service Unavailable," was also reported on Sitedown.co. Shares of the New York Times Co. fell 1.67% to close at $12.05 on Wednesday. It’s not clear who may have been behind the latest apparent intrusion for the Times. “They have obviously been compromised before. It doesn’t take much to rent a botnet and do an attack that just consumes the bandwidth and resources,” said Ron Gula, CEO of cyber-security firm Tenable Network Security and a former National Security Agency official. “Is someone unhappy about an article, the Times itself or the U.S. government and they see the Times as an extension of the government?” said Gula. Website outages of this type have been increasingly common at major consumer websites, including those of U.S. banks like J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC). “Whatever the events of today might be, they are pointing at an environment in which all organizations need to be mindful of the increased risk of cyber attacks,” said Harriet Pearson, a partner at law firm Hogan Lovells. Attacks "can come from inside, they can come from outside. They can be sudden or only detected after a while. The kind of defenses organizations need have to be comprehensive," she said. We are having technical problems on http://t.co/lAgdG2fKQL - please follow @RobertMackey for Twitter updates on Egypt crackdown — NYTimes Lede Blog (@thelede) August 14, 2013 Follow Matt Egan on Twitter @MattMEgan5 Follow Jennifer Booton on Twitter at @Jbooton

– The New York Times website went dark today for about two hours, but all seems back to normal now. The site went down about 11:10am Eastern, and the newspaper issued a tweet blaming an "internal issue, which we expect to be resolved soon." The site came back online about 1:15 pm. Fox Business News quoted an anonymous source who blamed a cyber attack—the site has been hit previously—but the Times later reiterated that it was a routine maintenance issue gone awry. At least staffers kept a sense of humor about the whole thing.

Marjorie Clark, widow of the Army Band bugler known for the so called “Broken Taps” at JFK's funeral, holds a photo of her husband at her home in Lovell, Maine. (Carl D. Walsh/Novus Select) From the hillside grave site in Arlington National Cemetery, Army Sgt. Keith Clark could see John F. Kennedy’s vast funeral cortege crossing Memorial Bridge toward him. He could see the flag-wrapped coffin, the six white horses pulling the caisson, the endless line of black automobiles bearing the world’s dignitaries. He could hear the cadence of the muffled drums. It was Nov. 25, 1963. Clark, 36, the Army bugler assigned to sound taps at the funeral, had been waiting in the cold for hours. A perfectionist and superb musician, he had just played taps for the president on Veterans Day two weeks earlier. Now he had the most important and solitary task of his life: Sound the 24 notes of the venerable melody that would close the nation’s wrenching, four-day farewell to its assassinated president. But the pressure, the cold and the wait told on Sgt. Clark that day 50 years ago this month. A lone, flubbed note played by Keith Clark, the bugler at President John F. Kennedy's funeral, continues to reverberate. The Fold introduces you to the meticulous man behind the brass instrument. (The Washington Post) And with the whole nation and much of the world listening, Clark fumbled the sixth note of taps, which falls on the word “sun” in the lyrics, “Day is done. Gone the sun . . .” Some said it sounded almost like a sob, befitting the moment. Back home, in Arlington, though, his wife and four daughters, watching TV in the basement, let out a groan. Clark went on to finish flawlessly. His flub has gone down in bugling history as the poignant “broken note” of the Kennedy funeral. It was a testament to the anguish of the day, and to the human truth that under duress, even the best can make a mistake. After the funeral, Clark got letters from all over the country, sympathizing. One was from a 9-year-old Ohio boy named Eddie Hunter, who played in a school band. “Anybody is bound to make a tiny mistake in front of millions upon millions of people,” he wrote. Clark, who kept that letter, died in 2002 at the age of 74. On Saturday, family and friends — including Hunter, now 60 — plan to join the U.S. Army Band and 100 buglers to pay tribute to Clark at Arlington Cemetery, where he is buried on a commanding hilltop. It seems a fitting salute, one of his daughters said, to a dedicated musician who, had he nailed taps that day, might be utterly forgotten. “The JFK funeral, the actual funeral ceremony . . . involved some of the most iconic moments of the entire four-day tragedy,” said James Swanson, whose new book, “End of Days,” chronicles the assassination. “One of the most memorable sights and sounds at President Kennedy’s funeral was the broken note of the bugle,” said Swanson, who is scheduled to speak at the Clark commemoration. “That was really the climax of that weekend,” he said. “Nonstop television for four days . . . And after all the words — millions of words by commentators, published in newspapers, published in magazines, the tragedy ends with a single bugle call.” “That broken note sort of symbolized what that weekend meant to the American people,” he said. “It’s like a human cry. It’s like the bugle was weeping. . . . It was really the perfect ending to those four days.” But to Clark and his family, it was a mistake. “My dad had played taps thousands of times, and I mean thousands of times . . . and never missed a note,” said his eldest daughter, Nancy McColley, 64, of Port Charlotte, Fla. He “always strove for perfection.” She said she has a memory of him coming home and flinging his hat in frustration. His wife, Marjorie Clark, 90, remembers the children confronting him, and one saying, “Why did you make a mistake?” Clark, himself, later said: “I missed a note under pressure,” according to a 1988 Associated Press story. “It’s something you don’t like, but it’s something that can happen to a trumpet player.” “You never really get over it,” he said. After the funeral, Clark recalled, Arlington buglers missed the jinxed note regularly. In 1963, Clark was the principal bugler in the Army Band. He was “THE guy, who is to do all the big ceremonies, ” said Jari Villanueva, a retired Air Force bugler and bugle historian. “They always pick the best player, the person who can stand up to the pressure of high-profile events,” he said. Clark played Memorial Day ceremonies, Veterans Day ceremonies. He played at Arlington funerals and at the Tomb of the Unknowns. There, on Nov. 11, 1963, he sounded taps a few feet from President Kennedy — 11 days before the Nov. 22 assassination in Dallas. Clark, a native of Grand Rapids, Mich., “was a prodigy,” Villanueva said. His father was a professional flute player. And Clark attended the University of Michigan and the Interlochen Arts Academy, near Traverse City. He joined the elite, Fort Myer-based Army Band, “Pershing’s Own,” in 1946. He met his wife, and they raised four daughters in Arlington County. Villanueva, who said he interviewed Clark by mail and telephone before he died, said Clark was a devoutly religious man and Sunday school teacher who had a collection of 9,000 hymnals. Indeed, Clark was in his attic library with his collection when his daughter, Sandra Masse, then 10, came home from school and called up the stairs that the president had been shot. Learning of Kennedy’s death, and figuring he might be summoned to duty, Clark immediately went out and got a haircut. But when the tragic weekend passed with no call, he thought funeral organizers might have gotten a Navy bugler because the president had served in the Navy, Villanueva said. Then, at 2:30 a.m. Monday, the day of the funeral, the phone rang at Clark’s home with the orders: He would sound taps at the funeral. Amid the frenzy of making arrangements, organizers didn’t realize until the last minute that they had no bugler. But Clark, a balding man who wore dark horn-rimmed glasses, was ready. When he reported to the cemetery in his dress blue uniform and white gloves, and with his elegant brass bugle, Villanueva said, he was shown an X on the grass where he was to stand. He was alarmed because it was within a few feet of the rifle party, which would be firing practically right in his ears just before he played. Then, he was told he was to play into a microphone. He refused. Villanueva said Clark always played for the widow at a funeral and didn’t like to use a microphone. He began his wait. “His spot is located on the slope below the Custis-Lee Mansion,” Villanueva said. “He’s got the perfect view of what’s happening. He can actually see the Memorial Bridge from there. So you can hear the procession coming. You see the procession coming.” Clark watched the cortege enter the cemetery, Villanueva said. He watched the body bearers lug the mahogany coffin to the grave and heard the gravelly voiced Roman Catholic Cardinal Richard Cushing pray over “our beloved Jack Kennedy.” The deafening rifle volleys were fired, and then it was time for taps. “For any bugler, when the time comes . . . everything stops,” Villanueva said. “Everything becomes very quiet. It is just you.” Clark raised the sparkling bugle with gloved hands and began. Villanueva said Clark often thought at such moments of the Bible verse from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians: “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye . . . the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” When Clark finished playing, he whipped the bugle under his left arm and saluted.

– Army Sgt. Keith Clark was by all accounts a brilliant bugler, but a big reason his name endures today (in bugle circles, anyway) is because of a famous mistake. The Washington Post explains that Clark very publicly botched the sixth note of the 24-note "Taps" at JFK's Nov. 25, 1963, funeral. It wasn't just any broken note, though: "Some said it sounded almost like a sob, befitting the moment," writes Michael E. Ruane. In his defense, Clark had been waiting to play in the cold for hours—and much of the world was watching. "I missed a note under pressure," he said years later. "You never really get over it." Clark, who died in 2002, got letters of support from all over the country after his flub, and the empathy continues this weekend: On Saturday, the US Army Band and 100 buglers will play at his grave in Arlington. Read Ruane's full story on the note and the bugler here.

(Lamar County Sheriff's Department) Image 2 of 32 Glenn Edwin Rundles Check out these other awkward police sketches... (Lamar County Sheriff's Department) Glenn Edwin Rundles Check out these other awkward police sketches... (Lamar County Sheriff's Department) Image 3 of 32 Click through the gallery to see some of the funniest police sketches we've ever seen. The department has however had the last laugh after an officer thought the suspect's description, sketch and crime matched the profile of a local man known to police, eParisExtra.com reports. The Lamar County Sheriff's Department says that this man –or cartoon, or Muppet, actually, we're not sure from the drawing – robbed two women at knife point earlier this month in Paris, Texas ( full story ... more

– The world laughed a few weeks back when the Lamar County Sheriff's Office in Texas issued a sketch of a suspect sought in an armed robbery—because it looked more like a Muppet than a human, explains the Houston Chronicle. (It's either among the "greatest" or the "worst" police sketches of all time, says BuzzFeed and the Independent, respectively.) Well, the world isn't laughing anymore. Or at least, it's not laughing at the sketch artist, just the newly arrested suspect. Police in Paris, Texas, arrested Glenn Edwin Rundles, 32, when an officer familiar with him thought he fit the bill. Rundles is accused of robbing two women at knifepoint, and it was their descriptions that informed the composite sketch. Rundles apparently saw a similarity, too. "He started to try and hide his identity after he saw the sketch in the papers, and even had the tattoo on his neck covered up with another design," says a local deputy.

CHICAGO (AP) — A park police officer in Chicago has been assigned to desk duty while officials investigate his response to a woman who said she was being harassed for wearing a shirt with the Puerto Rican flag. On Monday, Forest Preserves of Cook County tweeted that it was aware of the June 14 incident and video. The agency tweeted Monday that an investigation of the officer is ongoing. All people are welcome in the Forest Preserves of Cook County and no one should feel unsafe while visiting our preserves. Female officer steps in More police arrive and Irizarry says she still doesn't feel safe. Ricardo Rossello, the governor of Puerto Rico, wants the officer fired. US commonwealth Puerto Rico is a US commonwealth with its own constitution, rather than a state.

– A park police officer in Chicago has been assigned to desk duty while officials investigate his response to a woman who said she was being harassed for wearing a shirt with the Puerto Rican flag, the AP reports. Mia Irizarry complained that a man at Caldwell Woods, where she was celebrating her 24th birthday, was questioning her citizenship and telling her she shouldn't be wearing the shirt. Puerto Rico is a US commonwealth. Video of the June 14 incident shows the officer didn't respond. More officers arrived and arrested the man, who was described as drunk. He's been charged with assault and disorderly conduct, CNN reports. Caldwell Woods is part of the Forest Preserves of Cook County. The agency tweeted Monday that an investigation of the officer is ongoing. It says all visitors should feel safe. Ricardo Rossello, the governor of Puerto Rico, wants the officer fired.

Conservation Officers have charged two Fort St. John men with harassing wildlife after they filmed themselves jumping onto the back of a moose on a lake near Fort Nelson. CHARGED In June 2015 the COS received a public complaint relating to a video posted on social media of a male jumping from a boat onto the back of a moose. article continues below Officers later identified the lake as Tuchodi Lakes north of Fort St. John. - See more at: http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/news/local-news/two-charged-in-moose-rider-incident-1.2291798#sthash.ZICiPIFf.dpuf "As a result of the year-long COS investigation, a report to Crown Counsel was submitted recommending charges against two males from Fort St. John," the service wrote in a release. In a Facebook post Thursday, the Conservation Officer Service says that a yearlong investigation has led to two suspects being charged with three counts, including harassing wildlife, attempting to capture wildlife and hunting big game while the animal is swimming. A First appearance date was set for August 08, 2016 at 14:00 in Fort Nelson Provincial Court.

– Perhaps you imagined a man riding a moose was a common sight in Canada. Quite the contrary, it's actually a criminal offense—as two British Columbia men have learned. A year after a video was posted to YouTube showing a man jumping from a boat onto the back of a swimming moose and "riding" it for a few seconds, authorities say they've charged Bradley Crook and Jaysun Pinkerton with harassing wildlife, attempting to capture wildlife, and hunting big game while the animal is swimming, per the Dawson Creek Mirror. The video—in which boaters are heard laughing, and one remarks, "I've never seen something so awesome"—was posted by a conservation group and sparked an uproar on social media, reports the CBC. It has since been viewed 2 million times. During its year-long investigation, BC's Conservation Officer Service says it identified the body of water in the video as Tuchodi Lakes north of Fort St. John, where the accused live. It isn't clear what led police to Crook and Pinkerton, who are due in court on Aug. 8.

That’s the only way I can say it.” According to prosecutor Gabrielle Massey, when Chaisson entered Hannah’s life in the mid-1990s, he was already a registered sex offender who’d served time in Louisiana on two counts of molestation of a juvenile. “But she felt very compelled to go have that conversation with him—this is very extraordinary.” According to the Waco Tribune-Herald, after listening to the recording, jurors last month convicted Chaisson of aggravated sexual assault of a child and two counts of indecency by contact.

– A Texas woman molested for four years as a child brought her abuser to justice as a cop more than a decade later, the Daily Beast reports. The unnamed victim says Erlis Chaisson, a family member, started sexually abusing her in the mid-'90s when she was 8 years old. According to KXXV, Chaisson had already been convicted of molesting another 8-year-old girl a few years earlier. In 2014, the victim contacted Chaisson and told him she was going to counseling and wanted to talk about the abuse, the Waco Tribune reports. Chaisson agreed to meet. He didn't know she was a Texas police officer, and he also didn't know she was wearing a wire. Chaisson would confess six times over the first 90 minutes of their conversation. Prosecutors say Chaisson was shockingly forthcoming in his conversation with the victim, which was played in its entirety for jurors. He accused the victim of "trying to put all the blame on me" while simultaneously blaming her for wanting the abuse. He also blamed his own genitals. "The d--- has no conscience," the Daily Beast quotes Chaisson as saying on the recording. "If you had a penis, you would know." The victim says her "heart was racing" during Chaisson's confession. "He was talking like he was talking to his best friend," she says. Because it wasn't his first such offense, a jury sentenced the 47-year-old Chaisson to life in prison last month. (Hundreds of doctors keep practicing after sexually abusing patients.)

The wife of Isauro de Paz Duque told a press conference that the gang had threatened to kill her husband, but “we have his mother here, the mother of the man called El Tequilero.” She offered to exchange Raybel Jacobo de Almonte’s mother for her husband before tearfully accusing Guerrero Governor Héctor Astudillo of turning a blind eye to crime in the municipality and declaring him responsible.

– The way to a Mexican gang leader's heart isn't his stomach—it's his mom. At least, that's what vigilantes in a Mexican town in southern Guerrero state are banking on, holding hostage the mother of drug kingpin Raybel Jacobo de Almonte, aka "El Tequilero," as well as about two dozen other people thought to be in his gang, the AP reports. The ongoing incident in the municipality of San Miguel Totolapan has included mass kidnappings of Totolapan residents by de Almonte's gang, including Sunday's abduction of engineer Isauro de la Paz Duque. "We have your mother here, Mr. Tequilero," de la Paz Duque's wife said on a video Monday. "I propose an exchange: I'll give you your mother if you give me my husband, but I want him safe and sound." Five of the townspeople's abductees have reportedly been freed already, though de Almonte's mother doesn't appear to be one. The vigilantes took to the street Sunday waving guns and anti-de Almonte banners, per a video. "We urgently demand the release of the kidnap victims," a masked man says. "We are a legitimate self-defense force of the people." By Monday, de Almonte's mother had been abducted, Mexico News Daily reports. But though officials understand that residents are fed up with crime, they're discouraging the rogue assistance. "[These] are armed groups that unfortunately carry out acts … that generate more violence and confrontation," Guerrero Gov. Hector Astudillo tells the AP. "This is something that has to end—that every time somebody gets the idea into their head of kidnapping somebody, they kidnap them." A government team has convinced the vigilantes to let them manage the swap of de Almonte's mom for de la Paz Duque, as well as to release remaining hostages to the cops. (A massive abduction took place at an upscale Mexican restaurant.)

He said: “I’m not going to comment on his personal life.” Many of Tyson’s remarks echoed Ford’s own talking points of past and present. Tyson is in town to perform his one-man show, Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth, at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday night.

– Just one day after a meeting in which Mike Tyson gushed that Rob Ford was "the best mayor in Toronto’s history," according to the Toronto Star, the former boxing champ took a different attitude with a Canadian TV anchor who asked a touchy question, the AP reports. CP24's Nathan Downer asked Tyson about his meeting with Ford before dropping his Q-bomb: "Some of your critics would say, 'There's a race for mayor. We know you're a convicted rapist. This could hurt his campaign.' How would [you] respond to that?'" Tyson's retort, notes the Star: "It's so interesting that you come across as a nice guy, but you're really a piece of s---." Downer later tweeted, "I'm OK everybody. [Unfortunately] my question hurt Mike Tyson's feelings. That was not my [intention]."

Once labeled, "The Worlds Ugliest Woman," Lizzie decided to turn things around and create her own definitions of what she defines as beauty and happiness.

– "I thought everyone looked like me." That's how Lizzie Velasquez viewed herself growing up—until she was 17 and accidentally found a terrible video on YouTube. It was an eight-second clip of her entitled "The World's Ugliest Woman," and to her horror it had more than 4 million views and what she says were thousands of nasty comments, the BBC notes. "Why would her parents keep her?!" one reportedly read. "Kill it with fire," another commenter posted. It was in that moment that Velasquez, who has two rare conditions known as Marfan syndrome and lipodystrophy, realized how different she was perceived to be. "I cried for many nights," she says, per the BBC. "As a teenager, I thought my life was over." Far from it: Today, at the age of 26, Velasquez is an anti-bullying advocate and the subject of A Brave Heart, a documentary that debuted over the weekend at the SXSW festival. Velasquez's conditions have caused physical problems throughout her life, including an inability to gain weight (she's now 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 60 pounds or so), blindness in one eye and limited vision in the other, fatigue, and difficulty getting over sickness, the BBC reports. And the discovery of the YouTube video was painful—but the positive attitude her parents instilled in her helped her move past the hurt and even forgive the person who put the video up. Now Velasquez has her own YouTube channel with close to a quarter-million subscribers, has given a TED talk on defining your own beauty, and has joined with the mom of Megan Meier—a teen who killed herself after being bullied online—to lobby Congress for a federal anti-bullying bill. "Her experience of triumphing adversity and making it to the other side of a painful experience is universal," the director of A Brave Heart tells the broadcaster.

Senate Republicans forced the Senate clerk to read a 767-page amendment establishing a government-financed health care system, sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) – but Sanders cut off the reading in the third hour by withdrawing his bill. Right now in the Senate chamber, GOP delay tactics on the Democratic health care reform bill are in full swing. The process of verbally entering amendments into the official record is typically waived, but a senator – in this case Republican Sen. Tom Coburn – can force it to happen.

– Pity the poor Senate clerk's office, which finds itself at the center of parliamentary games. Staffers spent nearly three hours today reading aloud an amendment—a move forced by Republican Tom Coburn to gum up the works—before independent Bernie Sanders angrily yanked it back. They had gotten only to page 139 of the 767-page measure, which included phrases such as "maxillofacial region" and "dental prophylaxis." The move may just be the beginning of the delaying tactics by the GOP, reports Politico. The Sanders amendment, which would have inserted a single-payer system into the bill, had no chance of passing, notes Time. But Democrats won't have the luxury of pulling back Harry Reid's eventual offering if Republicans force that to be read aloud.

Ten scientists have published letters in the Journal of the American Medical Association criticizing the first medical review of the US diplomats in Cuba who were reportedly targets of a “sonic attack.” In letters published by JAMA on Tuesday, the scientists complained that the authors of a February study in the journal failed to include “mass hysteria” as one of the possible causes of the symptoms that the diplomats reported. The critics also said the study’s authors did not include information on whether the diplomats had known one another, and included no testing on hearing and balance — even though “a presumed sonic weapon attack would affect the inner ear more preferentially than any other part of the body, including the brain.” The inner ear is critical to balance. In a further letter, Robert Bartholomew, an Auckland-based expert on mass psychogenic illness, argued that Smith’s team failed to rule out a psychological explanation for the sickness affecting the diplomats. “However,” Bartholomew wrote, “the second most common type of mass psychogenic illness begins slowly and persists for months or years and often features neurological symptoms.” Bartholomew also criticized the study’s lack of “social network analysis” — determining whether patients actually knew one another. Gerard Gianoli and James Soileau of the Ear and Balance Institute in Covington, joined by P. Ashley Wackym of Rutgers University's Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, noted that the study didn’t include testing on hearing and balance, even though “a presumed sonic weapon attack would affect the inner ear more preferentially than any other part of the body, including the brain.” Robert Shura and Holly Miska of the Salisbury Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Jason Kacmarski of the Veterans Affairs Eastern Colorado Health Care System criticized the study for what they said was its “improper interpretation of objective cognitive test results.” They write that the University of Pennsylvania researchers chose a more “liberal cutoff” to define impairment than would normally be used in research settings. “Although diagnostic caution is warranted, functional neurological disorders are common genuine disorders that can affect anyone,” wrote Jon Stone and Alan Carson of Edinburgh and Stoyan Popkirov of Bochum, adding, “including hardworking diplomatic staff.” In a response published in JAMA immediately below the letters, the University of Pennsylvania team defended its work, writing that the chronic symptoms they found “are entirely different” from those seen in mass psychogenic disorders. The Cuban Embassy in Washington did not immediately reply to request for comment. JAMA declined to comment on why the criticism was published six months after the study, or whether the US government pressured it into publishing the study in the first place.

– Something made a slew of American diplomats in Cuba sick last year, and scientists still aren't sure what it was. A major study commissioned by the US government found that diplomats suffered concussion-like symptoms, and many of them reported hearing strange noises before falling ill. Now, however, four separate letters by scientists in the US and several other nations are challenging that initial study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, reports the Guardian. The critics, writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, say the Penn researchers misinterpreted results and too easily dismissed causes such as a "mass psychogenic illness." The Penn researchers, meanwhile, are standing by their work and say additional research continues. Highlights: Psychological? Robert Bartholomew, a US scientist who works in New Zealand, makes the case for a "mass psychogenic illness," also known as mass hysteria, reports BuzzFeed. The Cuban illnesses have all the hallmarks, he says, and he faults the Penn researchers for not investigating how closely the victims knew each other, and perhaps fed off each other in terms of symptoms. Inner ear: Another critic faults the first study for not focusing more on potential inner ear trouble. "Almost all of the patients complained of hearing loss and balance problems," writes Gerard Gianoli of Louisana's Ear and Balance Institute. “I do wish they would be more thoroughly evaluated.” Cognitive results: The Penn researchers found that some victims suffered cognitive damage, but another researcher thinks they're wrong. The Penn scientists considered subjects "impaired" if they scored in the bottom 40% of tests; the more accepted benchmark would be closer to 5%.

Anyone with information is asked to call Herrin Police at 618-942-4132. Indianapolis Police Department image Ann Marie Newark Authorities in New Braunfels, Texas, are trying to locate 53-year-old Ann Newark. “Further contact with Stacey via her phone has been unsuccessful, as has the use of all resources available in determining its location,” it said. Stacey is described as five feet, six inches tall and 130 pounds, with auburn hair and brown eyes. Fifteen of the dead were in Missouri and eight in Illinois. He was last seen wearing jeans and a gray winter coat with fur around the hood. Family members reported Anderson missing at about 3:45 p.m. that day, when she failed to show up at her son's school for a meeting.

– A southern Illinois teenager has been missing since Monday and authorities are extremely worried by the last text message she sent to her family: "Help." The Monday evening message was the last time anybody heard from Delia Ann Stacey, 18, who left her home on foot that morning around 11, saying she was going to meet a friend, CBS News reports. Police say further efforts to contact the teen or locate the phone have been unsuccessful, and she has been added to the National Crime Information Center Database as a missing person, the Southern reports. In a Facebook post, the Herrin Police Department describes Stacey as a 5-foot-6 white female, about 130 pounds with auburn hair and brown eyes, who was last seen wearing a gray shirt and blue jeans. Authorities have not said whether they suspect foul play in the teen's disappearance, notes the Huffington Post. The Tico Times, meanwhile, mentions the disappearance in the context of the record-breaking rain and subsequent flooding that recently deluged the region.

Layton had been battling new cancer Layton's death comes less than a month after he announced to the country that he was fighting a new form of cancer and was taking time off for treatment. Unfortunately my treatment has not worked out as I hoped. You need to be at the heart of our economy, our political life, and our plans for the present and the future. "He was very, very practical and he was very much wanting to know that we were going to be able to continue and we were going to be strong," she said. Harper saddened by news Layton's last letter "My friends, love is better than anger. You must not lose your own hope. Optimism is better than despair. Let’s demonstrate in everything we do in the four years before us that we are ready to serve our beloved Canada as its next government. And we'll change the world," Jack Layton writes just days before his death. It has been my role to ask a great deal from you. A man who believed in working for the public good. Interim NDP Leader Nycole Turmel spoke of one of Layton's favourite quotes from Tommy Douglas, the founder of the CCF, the NDP's forerunner. "We – members of Parliament, New Democrats and Canadians – need to pull together now and carry on his fight to make this country a better place." "Jack was not only a great leader of the NDP, he's someone that Canadians across the country came to love.

– Jack Layton has died of cancer barely three months after leading the New Democratic Party to its strongest-ever result in Canada. The 61-year-old, who shocked the country only a few weeks ago when he announced he was stepping aside as the official opposition leader because of health issues, died yesterday of an undisclosed form of cancer and will receive a state funeral, the CBC reports. Tributes to Layton, who led the social democratic party for nine years, have poured in from across the political spectrum. After his death, Layton's family released a final letter to Canadians in which he addressed his battle with cancer and his vision for a better Canada. "To other Canadians who are on journeys to defeat cancer and to live their lives, I say this: please don’t be discouraged that my own journey hasn’t gone as well as I had hoped. You must not lose your own hope," he wrote. "Treatments and therapies have never been better in the face of this disease. You have every reason to be optimistic, determined, and focused on the future. My only other advice is to cherish every moment with those you love at every stage of your journey, as I have done this summer."

This is deeper than the 122 °C isotherm in known oceanic serpentinizing regions and an order of magnitude deeper than the downhole temperature at the serpentinized Atlantis Massif oceanic core complex, Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Complex chemical compounds found in the rocks spewed from oceanic mud volcanoes suggest microbial life-forms may be dwelling some 32,800 feet (10,000 meters) beneath the seafloor. The seamount is part of a vast string of ocean-buried volcanoes that span the 1,740-mile-long (2,800 kilometers) subduction zone from Tokyo to Guam, where the Pacific plate is diving beneath the Philippine Sea plate. The eastern boundary extends along a deep-sea trench and ranges in depth from 3 km at the Ogasawara Plateau (trench entrance) to ∼11-km depth within the Challenger Deep—the deepest site in the world. At this tectonically active part of the ocean, ocean water, oceanic crust, mantle and sediments are all churned and transported into a region in the mantle called the forearc mantle. But the study team acknowledges that nothing is definitive for now. Credit: Oliver Plümper, Utrecht University (Phys.org)—An international team of researchers has found possible evidence of life ten kilometers below the sea floor in the Mariana Trench.

– A team of researchers may have discovered evidence of the deepest life on Earth (and we're not talking college freshmen taking their first philosophy class). According to a study published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, there may be microbes living up to six miles under the seafloor. Researchers used a remotely operated vehicle to retrieve 46 samples of a rock called serpentine from a mud volcano near the Mariana Trench—the deepest place on Earth—southwest of Japan, Phys.org reports. According to Live Science, the serpentine may have originated more than 12 miles under the seafloor before being spewed out by the mud volcano. While the serpentine didn't contain any actual microbes, researchers did find what National Geographic calls "tantalizing traces of organic material." Due to the particulars of the subduction zone at the Mariana Trench, the researchers believe the microbes could have survived up to six miles below the seafloor before the pressure and heat became too much. They believe the organisms could survive on the methane and hydrogen produced when serpentine forms. "This is another hint at a great, deep biosphere on our planet," study lead Oliver Plümper says. (Near the ocean's deepest spot, scientists heard a 3.5-second symphony.)

Futures for bitcoin will start trading on the Chicago Board Options Exchange on Sunday evening and on crosstown rival CME Group's platforms later in the month. The price of bitcoin futures will be based on the price the digital currency is going for on four major bitcoin exchanges — Bitstamp, GDAX, itBit and Kraken. See here for more coverage of bitcoin’s volatile ride: Bitcoin Mining Service NiceHash Says Hackers Emptied Its Wallet Bitcoin Frenzy Like No Other Has Koreans Paying 23% Premium What the Central Banks Are Saying About Cryptocurrencies Bitcoin Volatility Intensifies as Exchanges Struggle With Demand All About Bitcoin, Blockchain and Their Crypto World: QuickTake — With assistance by Matthew Leising

– To say it's a meteoric rise isn't too hyperbolic. Bitcoin hit $15,000 early Thursday, just 12 hours after it passed the $14,000 mark, reports Business Insider, which puts the digital currency's 36-hour increase at more than $3,000. To illustrate the massive growth another way: 10 days ago, the cryptocurrency market as a whole was worth $300 billion; now it's above $400 billion, per CoinMarketCap.com. The quote of the day on the subject comes from Royal Bank of Scotland chair Sir Howard Davies, who called the whole situation "irrational exuberance" in comments to Bloomberg and warned, "All the authorities can do is put up the sign from Dante's Inferno: 'Abandon hope all ye who enter here.'" Per the Guardian, Davies couldn't identify a "rational reason" for the rise, but CoinDesk shares the "primary theory," which boils down to the fact that bitcoin futures will begin trading for the first time this month and "big institutional money" is getting in on the game. As the AP earlier reported, the CME Group, which owns the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, got the OK on Friday to begin trading bitcoin futures on Dec. 18; CBOE Global Markets will do so as well. But is it a bubble, and if so, when will it burst? The Verge reports some traders suspect the answer is soon, and are planning to short Bitcoin, "that is, make bets that its value will decrease in the future." Meanwhile, one unfortunate bitcoin headline today: The AP reports Slovenian bitcoin mining company NiceHash was hacked, and $70 million in bitcoin may have been stolen.

And reading that the law’s not enforced and it’s just kind of, ‘they do their own thing,’ I need to make sure that they’re eating human grade food.” Since Talula’s death, Nikki’s been making pet food at home, so she knows exactly what’s in it. The lab uncovered that the dog food contained pentobarbital, “a lethal drug, most commonly used to euthanize dogs, cats and some horses.” The use of pentobarbital is not permitted in animal meat used for food supply, so it should not show up in any pet or human food. Yet in its own compliance policy, the FDA acknowledges it is violating the law and states: “pet food consisting of material from diseased animals or animals which have died otherwise than by slaughter, which is in violation of 402(a)(5) will be considered fit for animal consumption.” “The FDA tells industry ‘Yeah, it’s a violation of law, but go ahead, we’re not going to do anything,’” said Thixton. “A consumer has to become a private detective to learn what’s really in their food.” To save pet owners the aforementioned detective work, ABC7 partnered with Ellipse Analytics, a lab specializing in food testing, to test pet food. Only one brand of food, Gravy Train, repeatedly tested positive for trace amounts of the euthanasia drug. It found nine cans, or 60 percent of the sample, tested positive for pentobarbital. "However, pentobarbital should never be present in pet food and products containing any amount of pentobarbital are considered to be adulterated." If you want to contact the FDA, Smucker’s or Big Heart Brands regarding this issue: FDA: 888-463-6332 Smucker’s: 888-550-9555 Big Heart Brands: 415-247-3000 Behind the scenes: How an analytical lab tests for contaminants in pet food: Shortly after ABC7 shared its findings, Smucker’s announced Wednesday that it is voluntarily recalling shipments of Gravy Train, Kibbles ‘N Bits, Ol’ Roy, and Skippy dog food over concerns about the presence of pentobarbital, according to WebMD. "The FDA’s preliminary evaluation of the testing results of Gravy Train samples indicates that the low level of pentobarbital present in the withdrawn products is unlikely to pose a health risk to pets," the agency says in its advisory. "However, the presence of this substance at any level is not acceptable to us and not up to our quality standards," said the company, which is based in Orrville, Ohio.

– Four brands of dog food under the JM Smucker Co. umbrella have been recalled after a DC TV station tested one of the brands and found traces of a euthanizing drug used on dogs, cats, and horses in 60% of the samples. The AP reports that shipments of cans of Gravy Train, Kibble 'N Bits, Skippy, and Ol' Roy wet food have been pulled back after pentobarbital was found in nine of the 15 cans of Gravy Train that WJLA tested. The station, which commissioned a lab specializing in food testing for contaminants, also tested around two dozen other brands over several months, but there were no significant findings. People notes that Gravy Train is produced by the Smucker Co.'s Big Heart Pet Brands, which also makes Meow Mix, 9Lives, and Pounce pet edibles. The investigation was spurred after the death of a Washington state woman's dog a year ago. All four of Nikki Mael's dogs got sick on New Year's Eve 2016 after eating canned Evanger's dog food, and one, Talula, didn't make it. Mael sent the food out for testing, and the lab found it contained pentobarbital, which is banned from use in pet or human food. Efforts are now focused on how the pentobarbital got into the Gravy Train samples, with the FDA jumping into the investigation; the AP notes a supplier that provides one of the brand's lesser ingredients is being looked at. One somewhat stomach-churning possibility being bandied about: animals that were put down somehow ended up in the pet food. A rep from JM Smucker tells WebMD "extremely low levels" of pentobarbital aren't risky for animals, but that "the presence of this substance at any level is not acceptable to us and not up to our quality standards." (The FDA also warned about bones for dogs.)

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Chamath Palihapitiya worked at Facebook at a time when it was growing rapidly Facebook has responded to a former executive who said the social network, and other services like it, was "ripping society apart". Before social media, Maz Saleem would have had to appeal to a powerful person – probably white, probably male, probably not a Muslim – to get permission to be heard. Kane also finished 2017 as Europe’s leading scorer ahead of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, who has 54 goals from 63 appearances in all competitions.

– Headlines focused this week on an ex-Facebook exec who warned last month about the platform he helped grow, and now the social network is clapping back. Chamath Palihapitiya, Facebook's former VP of user growth, said at a Stanford Graduate School of Business appearance he feels "tremendous guilt" over what Facebook is doing to society, he doesn't let his kids "use this s---," and everyone else should probably take a "hard break" from social media. In what the BBC deems an "unusual step," Facebook has some pushback on his words. "When Chamath was at Facebook we were focused on building new social media experiences and growing Facebook around the world," a rep noted, adding Palihapitiya hasn't worked there for years. "Facebook was a very different company back then, and as we have grown we have realized how our responsibilities have grown, too." Palihapitiya hasn't been alone in his advocate-turned-critic role. In an August op-ed in USA Today, Roger McNamee, an early investor in Google and Facebook, wrote the "unintended consequences" of technologies such as social media "have become a menace to public health and to democracy." And last month, Sean Parker, Facebook's first president, told Mike Allen at Axios a network like Facebook "literally changes your relationship with society, with each other. … God only knows what it's doing to our children's brains" (which means reaction to Facebook's new app for kids should be interesting). But an Independent op-ed by Emlyn Pearce says blaming society's ills on Facebook "is like claiming that bricks are the cause of Trump's border wall." "Social media is a way of managing our relationships, but it is not responsible for the quality of those relationships," he writes. "We are."

But the tabloid really crossed the line this week when it decided to publish a cover story featuring a photo of Whitney Houston in an open casket at the Whigham Funeral Home in New Jersey before her burial last weekend. Almost as jaw-dropping as the decision to show the photo itself is the Enquirer’s total lack of self-awareness in “reporting” on Houston’s private viewing. ... We don't like it because it implicates us. But it’s not surprising that it has been published. PHOTOS – Whitney Houston As She SHOULD Be Remembered Follow @GossipCop on Twitter! That’s right: The magazine somehow thought it was appropriate to put an unauthorized picture of the late singer’s dead body on every newsstand in America.

– Has the National Enquirer crossed a line? Many were horrified when the tabloid published a photo it claims is the body of Whitney Houston shown in an open gold coffin. The pic was taken at the Whigham Funeral Home in New Jersey, according to Enquirer editors, who have not revealed how it was obtained. "Inside her private viewing," boasts a headline for the story, which says the singer was buried in $500,000 worth of jewelry, her "favorite purple dress," and gold slippers. Houston's nickname, "Nippy," and two treble clefs are written in blue script on the white lining of the casket. The Washington Post's Celebritolgy blog calls the Houston photo "shocking and disturbing," while the Gossip Cop website says it "represents the very worst of predatory paparazzi culture." The shot is not all that unique for the Enquirer. It infamously published a photo of Elvis Presley in his casket on its cover in 1977—and sold 6.5 million copies. Other media outlets weren't particularly delicate about funeral coverage. AP streamed the entire funeral live—with permission from the family—while ABC News and Entertainment Weekly offered live blogs of the services (one commenter called EW's live blog "tacky" and "grotesquely inappropriate"). CNN's more-than-three-hour coverage of the services drew 5 million viewers. But the BBC had to defend its extensive coverage to complainers, saying “it reflected the significant interest in her sudden death as well as acknowledging the impact she had as a global recording artist.”

(Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP) Story Highlights The 2012 GOP presidential nominee has kept a low profile since losing election Romney was viewed warily by conservatives in two White House bids More than a dozen 2016 White House hopefuls are speaking at conference Mitt Romney returned to the stage where he once proclaimed himself "severely conservative" to thank thousands of activists for supporting his unsuccessful White House bid. Friday, 10:44 a.m. - Mitt Meets CPAC ABC News' Michael Falcone reports: Mitt Romney is poised to deliver his first major speech since losing the 2012 election today at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland. Rick Perry, whose own presidential bid fizzled last year, got in a jab at his 2012 Republican rival during his CPAC remarks Thursday as he criticized the news media for suggesting the losing GOP presidential campaigns of 2008 and 2012 represented a defeat for conservatism. He also castigated Louisiana Gov.

– Mitt Romney didn't exactly get an all-star slot at the CPAC convention, but he used his 15 minutes this afternoon to thank the group for its support ("You touched my heart again") and to express confidence that Republicans, and the country, will bounce back, reports USA Today. "It's fashionable in some circles to be pessimistic about America, about conservative solutions, about the Republican Party," he said. "I utterly reject pessimism. We may have lost Nov. 7, but we have not lost the country we love and we have not lost our way." Romney said the party should look to its strong stable of GOP governors for its new path, adding that while he's sorry he lost, "I will be your co-worker and stand shoulder to shoulder with you." Earlier, Donald Trump opened day two with what the Wall Street Journal calls a "rambling" speech in which he warned that the GOP is in "serious trouble," criticized Karl Rove's failed Super PAC efforts, and said that Romney the candidate should have bragged more about his accomplishments. The Daily Intel's take: "The speech itself was mildly received. There were a few moments of scattered clapping, some chuckling. The biggest applause came when Trump suggested, once again, that we 'take' Iraq's oil and use the proceeds to pay a million dollars each to the families of the American soldiers who died in the war. Trump meandered from topic to topic, but the one unifying theme of the speech was the greatness of Trump." The AtlanticWire has extensive coverage of the convention here and ABC News here.