| Graham: Trump Administration 'Has a Blind Spot' on Russia Posted: 21 Oct 2017 11:13 PM PDT  In an exclusive interview with Meet the Press, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says that Russia isn't letting up on its meddling with American elections.
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| Mother, son and daughter all arrested in connection to multiple robberies on Long Island Posted: 22 Oct 2017 05:35 PM PDT  A woman and her two children have been arrested in Long Island in connection to seven armed robberies, all of which took place over the last month.
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| St Andrews University students celebrate 'Raisin Monday' Posted: 23 Oct 2017 07:52 AM PDT ![St Andrews University students celebrate 'Raisin Monday']( "St Andrews University students celebrate 'Raisin Monday'") In a tradition that may go back centuries, older students at St Andrews spend a weekend showing new kids around, after which the younger students demonstrate their gratitude with a gift. It used to be raisins, but not now.
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| Bill O'Reilly Accuser Says She's Still 'Terrified' Of Fox News Posted: 23 Oct 2017 08:17 AM PDT  Juliet Huddy, a former Fox News employee who accused Bill O'Reilly of sexually harassing her in 2011, said Monday that she's still "terrified" of the network after the lengths it went to in order to protect him and discredit her.
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| Chinese President Xi Jinping Declares Era of “National Rejuvenation” Posted: 22 Oct 2017 08:41 AM PDT  Chinese president Xi Jinping declared an era of national rejuvenation in a speech that garnered 1.5 billion virtual claps on a virtual applause app released in conjunction with the Communist Party congress.
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| Las Vegas hotel will not rent out mass killer Stephen Paddock's room again Posted: 21 Oct 2017 06:04 PM PDT  The hotel room used by mass killer Stephen Paddock who murdered 58 people in Las Vegas earlier this month will not be rented out again. Paddock sprayed shots on a crowd attending a concert from a corner suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. MGM Resorts International announced its decision in a statement to a local paper, the Las Vegas Sun. "This was a terrible tragedy perpetrated by an evil man. We have no intention of renting that room," the company said. Stephen Paddock Credit: Eric Paddock/AP The company has also been ordered by a court to preserve evidence and surveillance footage of the incident. There was no indication of how the room will be used in future. MGM, which also owns the land used by the crowds attending the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival, has not said what will happen to the area. The Bataclan nightclub in Paris where 90 people were killed in a terrorist attack in November 2015 has reopened. However, the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida where 49 people died on June 12 last year, has become a permanent memorial to the victims.
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| On the USS Reagan amid growing nuclear tensions Posted: 22 Oct 2017 10:17 AM PDT  ABC News' Chief Global Correspondent Martha Raddatz travelled to the USS Reagan for an exclusive look at U.S. military preparations near North Korea.
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| Hikers’ Families Say Deaths Motivated By ‘Compassion’ Posted: 22 Oct 2017 10:08 PM PDT  The families of a young couple found dead in an embrace believe they died in a murder-suicide motivated by compassion.
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| Mitch McConnell says he still trusts President Trump, despite past scuffles Posted: 22 Oct 2017 03:07 PM PDT  Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell still trusts Donald Trump, despite the president's attacks on him and the rest of the GOP, McConnell told CNN Sunday on "State of the Union."
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| EPA Abruptly Blocks 3 Agency Scientists From Giving Talks On Climate Change Posted: 22 Oct 2017 08:51 PM PDT  The Environmental Protection Agency has reportedly barred three agency scientists from giving talks about climate change at a conference in Rhode Island days before they were scheduled to speak.
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| Tampa Police Search for Possible Serial Killer in Murder of Three Pedestrians Posted: 22 Oct 2017 08:31 AM PDT  Tampa police are searching for a possible serial killer who may have murdered three pedestrians in two weeks, each walking alone.
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| Three wounded in shooting near US mine in Papua Posted: 21 Oct 2017 10:05 PM PDT  At least one gunman has wounded three people near a huge Indonesian gold and copper mine owned by US firm Freeport-McMoRan, the company said Sunday. The attacks on Saturday injured two policemen and a security contractor, according to Freeport spokesman Riza Pratama.
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| Xi Jinping's ideology to be 'embedded into the brains' of China’s children Posted: 23 Oct 2017 04:37 AM PDT  Xi Jinping is expected to cement his emergence as China's strongest leader since Mao Tze-tung at the Communist Party congress on Tuesday, when his ideology enters the constitution before it becomes embedded "into the brains" of the country's children. The Chinese president will be elevated to the same level as Mao and Deng Xiaoping if, as expected, "Xi Jinping Thought" is enshrined into the party constitution on the final day of the political gathering. And Beijing appears to be wasting no time in ensuring that Mr Xi's message is firmly indoctrinated into the minds of Chinese school children. China's education chief signaled the dogma would immediately enter the national curriculum after the congress, with teachers receiving training and textbooks being updated. "(It will) go into textbooks, into classes, and into the brains (of pupils)," Education Minister Chen Baosheng said, on the sidelines of the congress, according to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post. The text of Mr Xi's ideology will be included in political ideology courses that all children are required to take. "We will design specific teaching methods that combine texts ... of various grades and subjects," Mr Chen added. Beijing has previously rolled out campaigns to introduce more Communist dogma into Chinese schools and colleges. The move, which has been seen as part of a broader ideological tightening in academic life, is helping to further strengthen Mr Xi's grip on power in China. The president is set to be honoured with his own ideology, putting him on a par with Mao Zedong Credit: AFP The Chinese president will enter a select club of just Mao and Deng - who ruled China until 1989 – when the constitution is amended to include an ideology bearing his name. It would cap a party congress which has seen Mr Xi attempt to position China – and himself – at the centre of an alternative new world order. The Chinese president opened the event last Wednesday hailing a "new era" in which China was ready to take "centre stage". "China is standing tall and firm in the east," he said, as he offered a "new choice" for the world. For decades China has maintained a low profile in world affairs, concentrating instead on developing its domestic economy, and quietly seeking to "bide its time", as Deng once said. Many nations are worried over the strategic ambitions of a more assertive Beijing. China is embroiled in a series of territorial disputes with its neighbours – including Asian rivals India and Japan. It has also caused alarm in disputed waters in the South China Sea, where it is fortifying reefs and partially-submerged land formations with military installations. Beijing has also caused alarm in Australia, where it is seeking to expand its influence through its large Chinese student population and business community, and across Europe where it is perceived to engage in unfair trade practices. Additional reporting by Christine Wei
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| Kremlin critic journalist stabbed at offices of Moscow news radio station Posted: 23 Oct 2017 04:21 AM PDT  A Russian opposition journalist has been hospitalised after she was stabbed in the neck by an assailant who broke into the liberal radio station Echo of Moscow where she works. The stabbing of Tatiana Felgenhauer follows state television smear pieces against the radio station and a series of attacks that forced another Echo of Moscow host to flee the country. Ms Felgenhauer, the well-known deputy editor of the station and an outspoken Kremlin critic, was in the Echo of Moscow offices when an unknown attacker stabbed her in the neck. He had blinded a guard with pepper spray, before barging into the offices and running down the corridor to where she was, editor Alexei Venediktov told Novaya Gazeta newspaper. Ms Felgenhauer was hospitalised in stable condition, he said. Photographs published by a staff member of Echo of Moscow showed blood splattered across the floor and what appeared to be a switchblade knife. A middle-aged man was being detained by police in the photographs. "The attacker didn't yell anything, everything was calm and silent. He came up, hugged her and inflicted the injury," deputy editor Sergei Buntman told the news outlet Meduza. An ambulance leaves the Ekho Moskvy (Echo of Moscow) radio station office in Moscow, Russia Credit: AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko Russia's investigative committee has opened an attempted murder case, identifying the attacker only as a 48-year-old man. The interior ministry said he was a foreign citizen and that his motive was "personal hatred". State news agency RIA Novosti reported he was a citizen of Israel. News agency Interfax quoted a law enforcement source as saying that the crime was not connected with Ms Felgenhauer's journalistic activities and that it was likely a case of "hooliganism". Echo of Moscow staff rejected this explanation, however. "A personal conflict between Tanya and the attacker is complete nonsense. Tanya doesn't know him. A thuggish attack on an editorial employee," tweeted correspondent Tonia Samsonova. Echo of Moscow published a video of law enforcement interrogating the attacker, whom it identified as Boris Grits. In it, he claimed Ms Felgenhauer had sexually harassed him through "telepathic contact". A Wordpress blog under the name Boris Grits contained posts in which the author, who also complains about being unable to find work as a programmer in Israel, said he wasn't sure why Ms Felgenhauer was "following" him but suspected it was because he "wrote for Russia". "In a few weeks I'll come to Moscow and, if this doesn't stop, the consequences could be very unpleasant," said a post dated to September. Earlier this month, state television channel Rossiya 24 ran a smear piece on Echo of Moscow that claimed Ms Felgenhauer and other employees had discussed the "strengthening of critical media with foreign money" during a meeting with the France-based organisation Reporters Without Borders and the Germany-based Robert Bosch Foundation. Before that, state television Channel One ran a piece claiming that Echo of Moscow was financed by the Broadcasting Board of Governors in the United States. Gazprom-Media, the arm of the state gas giant Gazprom that owns Echo of Moscow, denied that the radio station had any financial or other ties to the US agency. Echo of Moscow's reporting has irked many officials, and employees have reported death threats. Yulia Latynina, a Kremlin critic who hosted a show on Echo of Moscow, fled Russia in September after a series of attacks - unknown assailants released a noxious gas into her family home, set her car on fire and threw feces on her in the street. She had previously complained of being followed and was given a state security detail. Novaya Gazeta political editor Kirill Martynov wrote on Monday that the Kremlin's inaction was partly responsible for the growing number of attacks on journalists and activists. "Propaganda has done too much to put independent journalism and opposition politicians outside the law, morally sanctioning the hunt for them," he said.
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| U.S.-backed militias seize key oil field in east Syria: SDF Posted: 22 Oct 2017 03:25 AM PDT  By Ellen Francis BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S.-backed militias said they captured Syria's largest oil field on Sunday, pressing their assault against Islamic State in the east of the country. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said they took al-Omar field on the eastern bank of the Euphrates river in the early hours. "Our forces managed to liberate the fields without notable damages," said Lilwa al-Abdallah, spokeswoman for the offensive in Deir al-Zor province.
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| Police Officer Killed in Las Vegas Mass Shooting Left Instructions For Funeral: 'Remember Me For Who I Was' Posted: 21 Oct 2017 11:08 AM PDT  He was killed trying to shield others during the hail of gunfire.
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| Budget Chief Raises Possibility Of Trump Agreeing To Obamacare Subsidy Deal Posted: 22 Oct 2017 07:23 AM PDT  WASHINGTON ― Office of Management and Budget chief Mick Mulvaney suggested on Fox News Sunday that President Donald Trump could back a bipartisan deal on making certain reimbursement payments to insurers if he also got other, smaller changes to the health care system.
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| The U.S. Navy Had a Crazy Plan to Build 'Super' Battleships (But Super Obsolete) Posted: 22 Oct 2017 06:02 AM PDT  Had the U.S. built the Montanas, they likely would have had similar post-war careers to those of the South Dakotas. Because of their speed, the Iowas were more useful at every job except fighting other battleships. Having built the ships in the late 1940s, the USN would have sold them for scrap in the early 1960s. In the early 1940s, the U.S. Navy still expected to need huge, first rate battleships to fight the best that Japan and Germany had to offer.
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| 'It was going to eat her' - Aussie teen survives shark scare Posted: 22 Oct 2017 05:59 PM PDT  An Australian teenager has survived a terrifying encounter with a great white shark, with her harrowing screams alerting her father who was certain it was about to "eat her". Sarah Williams, 15, was fishing for squid from a kayak off the South Australian coast near Normanville on Sunday when the shark struck. "This shark has just rolled and all I saw was the dark side and the white belly and just huge fins and just white water everywhere," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Monday.
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| Body Found May Be Of Missing 3-Year-Old Left Outside By Dad: Police Posted: 23 Oct 2017 07:01 AM PDT  Authorities believe they have found the body of a missing 3-year-old Texas girl who vanished three weeks ago, allegedly after her father left her outside at night as punishment.
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| The Latest: Catalan leader urges strong response to Spain Posted: 21 Oct 2017 02:24 PM PDT  BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The Latest on Catalonia's effort to break away from Spain and the Spanish government's response (all times local):
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| U.S. senators seek answers on U.S. presence in Niger after ambush Posted: 22 Oct 2017 08:15 AM PDT  By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. senators said on Sunday the White House has not been forthcoming with details about the military's presence in Niger after the deaths of four soldiers there earlier this month and they want more answers on U.S. operations in the west African country. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said in separate interviews that they support Republican Senator John McCain's effort to get answers from the Pentagon on the ambush and more broadly on the U.S. fight against ISIS in Niger.
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| NFL’s Atlanta Falcons Hope New Stadium Can Spark Change in Community Posted: 22 Oct 2017 08:51 AM PDT  Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank has invested $15 million in a local job training program as part of a deal to build Atlanta's new football stadium in Westside Atlanta, one of the city's poorest neighborhoods.
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| Pets And People Are Joyously Reuniting After California Wildfires Posted: 22 Oct 2017 03:50 PM PDT  Some Northern Californians who feared the worst for their pets in the wake of this month's deadly wildfires are getting some welcome good news in recent days: Their animals survived.
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| DIY Last-Minute Halloween Costumes For Couples That Are Actually Doable Posted: 22 Oct 2017 07:00 AM PDT  Procrastinating husband, wives, boyfriends and girlfriends: fear not!
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| Naval Showdown: What Happens When a Battleship Fights an Aircraft Carrier? Posted: 21 Oct 2017 07:26 PM PDT  In 1930, the Glorious was converted into an aircraft carrier, just as the U.S. Navy did with the Lexington and Saratoga. Battlecruisers had proven fragile in World War I, but they could travel thirty knots and had large hulls suitable for planting a flight deck on. The Glorious was committed to the Norwegian campaign, perhaps the rock bottom of the Royal Navy's performance in World War II. On April 9, 1940, the Germans launched an amphibious invasion of Norway.
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| President to tap 'Czech Trump' for PM after vote win Posted: 22 Oct 2017 08:33 AM PDT  Czech President Milos Zeman said Sunday he would ask billionaire Andrej Babis to form the next government, a day after his populist ANO movement cruised to victory in the general election. "I keep my promises and the promise was that I would tap the election winner as prime minister," Zeman told the Blesk tabloid in a streamed interview, adding he saw Babis "not as a populist, but a pragmatist". Facing a presidential election in January, Zeman has repeatedly endorsed Babis.
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| Indonesia seeks answers from US as top general denied entry Posted: 23 Oct 2017 07:58 AM PDT  Indonesia's government is seeking clarification from the U.S. after the Indonesian military chief was denied entry to the country, an official said Sunday.
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| Scot given three-month jail sentence for touching Dubai man's hip Posted: 22 Oct 2017 06:57 AM PDT  A British man has been sentenced to three months in prison in Dubai for touching a man's hip in a bar, according to campaigners. Jamie Harron, from Stirling, was arrested in July over the incident in which he said he put his hand on a man's hip to avoid spilling a drink in a crowded bar. The 27-year-old electrician had been working in Afghanistan and was on a two-day stopover in the United Arab Emirates at the time. After his arrest for public indecency he lost his job and was told he could have faced up to three years in jail. Campaign group Detained in Dubai (DiD) said he was sentenced to three months imprisonment at court on Sunday but lawyers plan to appeal. The group said Mr Harron is "angry, disappointed, and dreads what may happen next". He is not currently in custody while the appeal is considered, DiD chief executive Radha Stirling said. Mr Harron has already been sentenced in absentia to 30 days in prison for failing to appear at a court hearing for making a rude gesture and drinking alcohol during the same July incident. Unusual laws that tourists should be wary of DiD said the 27-year-old was not told about the court date in advance and that sentence is also being appealed against. In relation to the alleged public indecency charge, Mr Harron is said to have been holding a drink, moving through a crowded bar and held a hand in front of him to avoid spilling it on himself or others. He then "touched a man on his hip to avoid impact". He was initially jailed for five days and then released on bail with his passport confiscated. Ms Stirling said: "Now Jamie has been sentenced to three months; there is no telling whether a judgement on appeal will be better or worse. "He has already suffered tremendously as a result of these allegations, and now faces the likelihood of incarceration. "His family was unable to visit him during this critical time because they faced a very real risk of imprisonment themselves under the UAE's cyber crime laws which forbid criticism of the government. "At this point, Jamie will definitely be pursuing civil action against his accusers when he does eventually return home, as it appears that he will not be able to find justice in the UAE." She added: "He feels betrayed and exploited by the system, which did not investigate the reports of key witnesses in his defence and led him to believe that the case would be dropped." A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: "We have been in contact with a British man following his arrest in Dubai in July. We are providing consular assistance."
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| AP FACT CHECK: Trump sounds off-key note on economy Posted: 23 Oct 2017 05:35 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is sounding an off-key note on his economic performance and perhaps overstating how much the public wants his tax package.
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| Go home, Tillerson tells Iranian-backed militias in Iraq Posted: 22 Oct 2017 01:54 PM PDT  By Stephen Kalin and Jonathan Landay RIYADH/DOHA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Sunday it was time for Iranian-backed militias and their Iranian advisers who helped Iraq defeat Islamic State to "go home", after a rare joint meeting with the leaders of Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The United States is concerned that Iran, a Shi'ite regional power, will take advantage of gains against IS in Iraq and Syria to expand the influence it gained after the U.S. invasion in 2003, something Sunni Arab rivals such as Riyadh also oppose.
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| Women Say They Were Burned and Branded by Doctors During Initiations Into a Secret Sorority Posted: 21 Oct 2017 02:00 PM PDT  State officials will examine whether the women's complaints warrant an investigation now
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| Strudel The Obese Dog's Fitness Journey Is Nothing Short Of Inspiring Posted: 22 Oct 2017 09:55 AM PDT  The dramatic weight loss of a severely chunky golden retriever mix could be an inspiration to people caring for overweight pets.
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| Chrissy Teigen Fangirled Over Alicia Silverstone And Her Iconic Costume Posted: 22 Oct 2017 04:05 PM PDT  Chrissy Teigen has celebrity role models too, and she just got to meet one.
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| 2018 Porsche 911 Carrera T: Here It Is Posted: 22 Oct 2017 04:25 PM PDT  The Carrera T is yet another 911 variant, but this is now the lightest 911 you can buy.
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| Freed Russia opposition leader Navalny back on campaign trail Posted: 22 Oct 2017 09:21 AM PDT  Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny walked free on Sunday after a 20-day jail term for organising protests against President Vladimir Putin. Navalny, who has declared his intention to stand for president in 2018, was released in a secret location in Moscow early Sunday to evade media attention. During Navalny's time behind bars, the Kremlin race he hopes to contest has heated up with television star Ksenia Sobchak throwing in her hat.
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| Listeria risk prompts Meijer to recall produce in six U.S. states Posted: 22 Oct 2017 01:06 PM PDT  Retailer Meijer Inc said it was recalling packaged vegetables in six U.S. states because of possible contamination from Listeria monocytogenes bacteria, which can cause fatal food poisoning in young children, pregnant women and elderly or frail people. Meijer, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said there were no illnesses reported as of Sunday. The recall affects 35 products and includes vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and asparagus as well as party trays sold in Meijer-branded plastic or foam packaging in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin between Sept. 27 and Oct. 20, the company said on Saturday.
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| Ex-Crime Scene Investigator Allegedly Murdered P.I. Who Was Found In Cement-Covered Grave Posted: 23 Oct 2017 06:22 AM PDT  Suspect Ashley McArthur once worked at the Escambia County Sheriff's Office in Florida.
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| WHO chief now 'rethinking' Mugabe 'goodwill ambassador' post Posted: 21 Oct 2017 11:13 AM PDT  GENEVA (AP) — After widespread shock and condemnation, the head of the World Health Organization said Saturday he is "rethinking" his appointment of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe as a "goodwill ambassador."
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| It Could Kill Millions: The U.S. Navy Is Building the Most Lethal Nuclear Submarine Ever Posted: 21 Oct 2017 07:12 PM PDT  Why all of America's enemies should take pause. In September 2017, the ship builder Electric Boat was awarded $5 billion to proceed with the design phase of the next-generation of U.S. nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarines, also known as SSBNs or "boomers." A dozen Columbia-class submarines will start replacing the fourteen enormous but stealthy Ohio-class boats that constitute the scariest weapon system in the United States' arsenal. If the United States were confronted by an existential threat—i.e., a nuclear attack—then just a few boomers could rain nuclear warheads on every major city or military base in a hostile nation.
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| Donald Trump's 2012 Yankees Tweet Proves There Really Is A #TweetForEverything Posted: 21 Oct 2017 10:20 PM PDT  A strange phenomenon has happened since President Donald Trump took office.
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| These two brains both belong to three-year-olds, so why is one so much bigger? Posted: 23 Oct 2017 05:06 AM PDT  Take a careful look at the image of two brains on this page. The picture is of the brains of two three-year-old children. It's obvious that the brain on the left is much bigger than the one on the right. The image on the left also has fewer spots, and far fewer dark "fuzzy" areas. To neurologists who study the brain, and who have worked out how to interpret the images, the difference between these two brains is both remarkable and shocking. The brain on the right lacks some of the most fundamental areas present in the image on the left. Those deficits make it impossible for that child to develop capacities that the child on the left will have: the child on the right will grow into an adult who is less intelligent, less able to empathise with others, more likely to become addicted to drugs and involved in violent crime than the child on the left. The child on the right is much more likely to be unemployed and to be dependent on welfare, and to develop mental and other serious health problems. What could possibly cause so radical a divergence in brain development? The obvious answer is that it must have been some illness or terrible accident. The obvious answer is wrong. he primary cause of the extraordinary difference between the brains of these two three-year-old children is the way they were treated by their mothers. The child with the much more fully developed brain was cherished by its mother, who was constantly and fully responsive to her baby. The child with the shrivelled brain was neglected and abused. That difference in treatment explains why one child's brain develops fully, and the other's does not. Neurologists are beginning to understand exactly how a baby's interaction with their mother determines how, and indeed whether, the brain grows in the way that it should. Professor Allan Schore, of UCLA, who has surveyed the scientific literature and has made significant contributions to it, stresses that the growth of brain cells is a "consequence of an infant's interaction with the main caregiver [usually the mother]". The growth of the baby's brain "literally requires positive interaction between mother and infant. The development of cerebral circuits depends on it." Prof Schore points out that if a baby is not treated properly in the first two years of life, the genes for various aspects of brain function, including intelligence, cannot operate, and may not even come into existence. Nature and nurture cannot be disentangled: the genes a baby has will be profoundly affected by the way it is treated. The details of how the chemical reactions that are essential to the formation of new brain cells and the connections between them are affected by the way a mother interacts with her baby are extremely technical. Suffice it to say that there is now a very substantial body of evidence that shows that the way a baby is treated in the first two years determines whether or not the resulting adult has a fully functioning brain. The damage caused by neglect and other forms of abuse comes by degrees: the more severe the neglect, the greater the damage. Eighty per cent of brain cells that a person will ever have are manufactured during the first two years after birth. If the process of building brain cells and connections between them goes wrong, the deficits are permanent. This discovery has enormous implications for social policy. It explains two very persistent features of our society. One is the way that chronic disadvantage reproduces itself across generations of the same families. There is a cycle of deprivation – lack of educational attainment, persistent unemployment, poverty, addiction, crime – which, once a family is in it, has proved almost impossible to break. The way that the development of a child's brain is dependent on the way that the child is treated by its mother explains why this depressing cycle happens. Parents who, because their parents neglected them, do not have fully developed brains, neglect their own children in a similar way: their own children's brains suffer from the same lack of development that blighted their own lives. They, too, are likely to fail at school, to be liable to get addicted to drugs, to be unable to hold down a job, and to have a propensity to violence. The second persistent feature is the dismal failure of rehabilitation programmes that aim to diminish the rate at which persistent young offenders commit crimes. Many different approaches have been tried, from intensive supervision to taking young offenders on safaris, but none has worked reliably or effectively. Recent research indicates that a large majority – perhaps more than three quarters – of persistent young offenders have brains that have not developed properly. They have, that is, suffered from neglect in the first two years of life, which prevented their brains from growing. As a consequence, they may be incapable of responding to the same incentives and punishments that will steer those with more fully developed brains away from crime. That result may lead you to conclude that nothing can be done about the social problems that result from childhood neglect. But that would be wrong. There is a way to break the cycle, and it is not terribly difficult to achieve. It consists in intervening early and showing mothers who neglect their children how to treat them in a way which will lead their babies' brains to develop fully. "Early intervention", as the policy is called, has been tried in parts of the US for more than 15 years. It consists in ensuring that mothers identified as "at risk" of neglecting their babies are given regular visits (at least once every week) by a nurse who instructs them on how to care for the newborn child. Data from the city of Elmira in New York State, where such programmes have been in place longest, show that children whose mothers had received those visits did much better than children from a comparable background whose mothers were not part of the programme: they had, for instance, 50 per cent fewer arrests, 80 per cent fewer convictions, and a significantly lower rate of drug abuse. Graham Allen, the Labour MP for Nottingham North, has been a fervent advocate of introducing early intervention programmes into the UK since at least 2008. That year, he collaborated with Iain Duncan Smith, now Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on Early Intervention: Good Parents, Great Kids, Better Citizens, a report for the Centre for Social Justice which set out evidence that the neglect of children in the first two years of life damages the development of their brains. The report also looked at the social problems that resulted, and examined the effects that early intervention could have in helping to solve those problems. Mr Allen's own constituency is one of the most deprived in England: it has the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in Europe, and one of the lowest rates of participation in higher education. "There is no doubt that early intervention can make a tremendous contribution to improving our society," Mr Allen says. "Not the least benefit is the financial one. The amount it saves taxpayers, by reducing benefits, by cutting care home places for kids who would otherwise have to be taken from their parents, by reducing prison places, and so on, is staggering." Andrea Leadsom, the Conservative MP for South Northamptonshire, agrees. She is a passionate advocate of early intervention programmes. "I know they work because I have seen them in operation", she says. "I helped to run an early intervention centre in Oxford, one of the first early intervention programmes in England. I have helped to institute such programmes in Northamptonshire. I can bear witness to the astonishing benefits. "The biggest problem at the moment is that the programmes are far too small. In Oxford, the centre sees perhaps 300 babies a year. But there are 17,000 babies born in Oxford every year, which means there are 34,000 babies in Oxford in the first two years of life who might benefit from the programme. "We need central Government to get behind early intervention so that it happens on a big enough scale everywhere." Frank Field, the Labour MP for Birkenhead, is another passionate advocate of early intervention. He has also introduced small-scale schemes in his own constituency, and is working hard to find ways to get such schemes adopted more widely. There is a remarkable cross-party consensus that early intervention is a vitally important policy which needs to be supported nationally. Both David Cameron and Ed Miliband have endorsed early intervention, and insisted that it should be implemented. But nothing is happening to make sure that it is. "Quite the opposite," notes Mr Allen. "The funding I thought was earmarked for it is being taken away. The plans that I have put forward are being hollowed out." "It's crazy," adds Mrs Leadsom. "This is a policy that has the potential to transform our society, to mean that the next generation of babies will grow into more responsible, less crime-prone, and better educated adults. "We know what needs to be done to get those results: we need to ensure that mothers who are at risk of neglecting or abusing their babies in the first two years of life are instructed how to care for them and interact with them properly. But no one in central government is pushing it. In fact, they're taking away the early intervention grant in order to pay for the pupil premium for two-year-olds." Frank Field is just as depressed about the prospects of getting early intervention adopted by the Government. "The Prime Minister asked me to write a report on early intervention," he says. "My hopes were up when I delivered it several weeks ago. But as far as I can tell, he hasn't even read it." What explains the failure to adopt early intervention programmes nationally? The greatest obstacle may simply be that the biggest benefits will not be obvious for 15 years. The babies who benefit from early intervention today will take more than a decade to grow into teenagers who do not commit the crimes they would have perpetrated had their mothers not been helped by an early intervention programme. Elections, however, are every five years. That means the benefits will not accrue to the politicians in power now, but to their successors – which could be why those in power now are reluctant to expend effort and money on early intervention programmes. "I hope that isn't true," says Graham Allen. "Because if it is, it would mean we are politically incapable of implementing the one policy that will certainly make our society immeasurably better. And what more profound condemnation of our political system could there be than that?"
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| Fox signed O'Reilly again knowing of new harassment settlement: report Posted: 21 Oct 2017 03:03 PM PDT  Bill O'Reilly, the Fox News commentator forced to resign in April, agreed to a $32 million sexual harassment settlement in January, and the network's parent knew about the deal when it gave him a new contract the next month, the New York Times reported on Saturday. The previously undisclosed agreement, at least the sixth involving O'Reilly or the company related to harassment charges against him, was "extraordinarily large" for such cases, according to the newspaper, which cited two people "briefed on the matter" as its sources. Twenty-First Century Fox Inc acknowledged that it had been aware of O'Reilly's settlement with Lis Wiehl, a former Fox News legal analyst, when it signed a contract extension with "The O'Reilly Factor" host in February.
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| Travel plea for conjoined twins in blockaded Gaza Posted: 22 Oct 2017 11:05 AM PDT  Conjoined twins born in Gaza Sunday need to leave the blockaded Palestinian enclave for treatment crucial to their survival, their doctor and a family member said. "A woman gave birth this morning to Siamese twins joined at the stomach and pelvis," Allam Abu Hamda, head of the neonatal unit at Gaza's Shifa Hospital, told AFP. The twins, whose condition Abu Hamda said was stable, have one shared leg, but separate hearts and lungs.
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| 'Suburbicon' LA premiere: George Clooney arrives with Amal and lovely mother-in-law Posted: 23 Oct 2017 06:51 AM PDT  Amal Clooney was by her husband's side on Sunday at the LA premiere of "Suburbicon," but it was George's second date who nearly stole the show: Her mom! Baria Alamuddin was a vision in emerald as she posed with her daughter and son-in-law, looking comfortable as ever on the red carpet.
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