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  • Lionel Messi Fast Facts | CNN

    Lionel Messi Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here is a look at the life of soccer player Lionel “Leo” Messi, who plays for Argentina’s national team and Major League Soccer (MLS) club Inter Miami.

    Birth date: June 24, 1987

    Birth place: Rosario, Argentina

    Birth name: Lionel Andrés Messi

    Father: Jorge Messi, factory worker

    Mother: Celia Cuccittini de Messi

    Marriage: Antonela Roccuzzo (June 30, 2017-present)

    Children: Ciro, Mateo and Thiago

    As a young boy, Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. At age 13, he signed with Futbol Club Barcelona and moved to Spain. As part of the contract, FC Barcelona agreed to pay for Messi’s hormone treatments.

    All-time leading scorer of FC Barcelona and Spanish soccer league La Liga.

    Winner of the Ballon d’Or, or footballer of the year, a record eight times: a record four consecutive years (2009-2012) and again for 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023.

    Won the European Golden Shoe award six times: 2009-10, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.

    1995-2000 – Plays for the local club team, Newell’s Old Boys, in Rosario, Argentina.

    2000-2003 – Signs with FC Barcelona and works his way up through Barca’s youth squads.

    November 16, 2003 – Makes his team debut, as a replacement in a friendly match against FC Porto.

    October 16, 2004 – Makes his official debut for FC Barcelona against Espanyol. Barca wins 1-0.

    2007 – Establishes the Leo Messi Foundation, working to improve access to education and health care for children.

    August 2008 – Leads Argentina’s soccer team to a gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

    March 11, 2010 – Messi is announced as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

    2011-2012 season – Sets the all-time record for most goals scored in a single season for a major European football league, with 73 goals.

    June 2013 – Prosecutors in Barcelona file tax fraud charges against Messi and his father for the period between 2007 and 2009. The complaint alleges that Messi and his father, aiming to lower their Spanish tax bill, sought to manage the player’s lucrative income from image rights through shell companies set up overseas. Messi denies all allegations of wrongdoing.

    June 25, 2013 – Prosecutors in Barcelona tell CNN that Messi paid €10 million ($13 million) in taxes to cover the tax period 2010-2011, but efforts to prosecute him for alleged tax fraud from 2007 to 2009 are still ongoing.

    August 14, 2013 – Messi and his father, Jorge Messi, make a “reparatory” payment of €5 million ($6.6 million) to Spanish authorities for allegedly committing tax fraud between 2007 and 2009.

    September 27, 2013 – Messi and his father testify in a Barcelona court in a preliminary hearing over allegations they defrauded Spanish tax authorities of more than $5 million.

    March 16, 2014 – Scores a hat-trick (three goals during a game), to become FC Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer with 371 goals, eclipsing the record set by Paulino Alcantara, who scored 369 goals.

    May 2014 – Signs a new contract with FC Barcelona for a reported annual net of €20 million ($27 million).

    June 2014 – A Spanish state prosecutor asks the judge to drop the tax fraud charges against Messi, but not his father.

    July 13, 2014 – Messi wins the Golden Ball award for the best player of the World Cup tournament.

    July 28, 2014 – A judge rules that the tax fraud case against Messi and his father will proceed, despite the Spanish state prosecutor’s June request that the charges against Messi be dropped.

    November 22, 2014 – Messi scores a hat-trick to become the Spanish league’s all-time leading goalscorer with 253 goals, surpassing Telmo Zarra’s previous record of 251 goals.

    October 8, 2015 – A Spanish court rules that Messi and his father will stand trial for tax fraud charges.

    May 31, 2016 – The tax fraud trial begins for Messi and his father.

    June 27, 2016 – Says he probably will retire from international soccer after Argentina loses the Copa America final to Chile on penalties.

    July 6, 2016 – A Barcelona court fines Messi €2 million ($2.3 million), and sentences him to 21 months in prison for tax fraud. The Spanish courts reduces Messi’s prison sentence to an additional fine of €252,000 ($287,000) in July 2017.

    August 12, 2016 – Messi announces that he will play for Argentina once again, having stated in June that he would retire from international soccer.

    July 5, 2017 – Barcelona and Messi announce a contract extension that will keep Messi at Barca until June 30, 2021, and is reportedly worth €565,000 ($645,000) a week.

    January 13, 2019 – Scores his 400th Spanish league goal in his 435th appearance, extending his record as La Liga’s all-time top scorer. Messi is the first player to score 400 times in any of Europe’s “big five” leagues.

    August 2, 2019 – Messi is banned from all competition for three months and fined $50,000 by the CONMEBOL Disciplinary Court. The punishment comes after Messi accused South American football’s governing body of corruption, suggesting the 2019 Copa America was rigged in favor of hosts Brazil.

    August 5, 2021 – Messi is leaving FC Barcelona, according to a statement from the club.

    August 10, 2021 – French club Paris Saint-Germain announces signing Messi to a two-year contract with an option of extending for a third year.

    January 2, 2022 – In a statement, Paris Saint-Germain announces Messi is one of four players of the French club to have tested positive for Covid-19. The other three players are Juan Bernat, Sergio Rico and Nathan Bitumazala.

    May 30, 2022 – Speaks about his struggle to recover from Covid-19 after testing positive in January. He missed three matches: two in Ligue 1 and one in the French Cup. “It left me with after effects. It left me with after effects in my lungs. I came back and it was like a month and a half without even being able to run because my lungs were affected.”

    December 18, 2022 – Argentina defeats France to win the World Cup. Messi, playing in his fifth and final World Cup, scores twice. Later, Messi wins his second Golden Ball award.

    June 7, 2023 – Messi says he’s going to join the MLS club Inter Miami. “I made the decision that I am going to Miami. I still haven’t closed it one hundred percent. I’m missing some things but we decided to continue my journey there,” he says in an interview posted by Spanish outlets SPORT and Mundo Deportivo. On July 21, he makes his debut with the club.

    August 19, 2023 – Messi scores to lead Inter Miami past Nashville FC in a penalty kick shootout to capture the Leagues Cup title and score the club’s first trophy.

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  • Hassan Rouhani Fast Facts | CNN

    Hassan Rouhani Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the life of former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

    Birth date: November 12, 1948

    Birth place: Sorkheh, Iran

    Birth name: Hassan Feridon

    Marriage: Sahebeh Arabi

    Children: Has four children

    Education: University of Tehran, B. A., 1972; Glasgow Caledonian University, M. Phil., 1995; Glasgow Caledonian University, Ph.D., 1999

    Religion: Shiite Muslim

    Rouhani is a cleric. His religious title is Hojatoleslam, which is a middle rank in the religious hierarchy.

    Arrested many times in the 1960s and 1970s as a follower of Ayatollah Khomeini.

    Iranian media refers to Rouhani as the “diplomat sheik.”

    1960 – Begins his religious studies at a seminary in Semnan province.

    1977 – Under the threat of arrest, leaves Iran and joins Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in exile in France.

    1980-2000 – After the overthrow of the Shah, Rouhani serves five terms in the National Assembly.

    1983-1988 – Member of the Supreme Defense Council.

    1985-1991 – Commander of the Iranian air defenses.

    1988-1989 – Deputy commander of Iran’s Armed Forces.

    1989-1997 – National security adviser to the president.

    1989-2005 – Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.

    1989-present – Represents Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

    1991-present – Member of the country’s Expediency Council.

    1992-2013 – President of the Center for Strategic Research.

    1999-present – Member of the Council of Experts, the group that chooses the Supreme Leader.

    2000-2005 – National security adviser to the president.

    2003-2005 – Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator.

    June 14, 2013 – Wins the presidential election after securing more than 50% of the vote.

    August 4, 2013 – Rouhani is sworn in as the seventh president of Iran.

    September 19, 2013 – Writes a column in The Washington Post calling for engagement and “a constructive approach” to issues such as Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

    September 25, 2013 – In stark contrast to his predecessor, Rouhani condemns the actions of the Nazis during the Holocaust.

    September 27, 2013 – Speaks with US President Barack Obama by telephone, the first direct conversation between leaders of Iran and the United States since 1979.

    July 14, 2015 – After negotiators strike a nuclear deal in Vienna, Rouhani touts the benefits of the agreement on Iranian television, declaring, “Our prayers have come true.” The deal calls for restrictions on uranium enrichment and research in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.

    September 28, 2015 – Rouhani addresses the General Assembly of the United Nations, stating “A new chapter has started in Iran’s relations with the world.” However, he also says that America and Israel are partially responsible for the increase in global terrorism: “If we did not have the US military invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the United States’ unwarranted support for the inhumane actions of the Zionist regime against the oppressed nation of Palestine, today the terrorists would not have an excuse for the justification of their crimes.”

    September 22, 2016 – Speaking to global leaders at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Rouhani accuses the United States of “a lack of compliance” with the nuclear deal agreed on in July 2015. Rouhani also attacks the United States for what he describes as “illegal actions,” referring to the US Supreme Court decision in April 2016 to allow US victims of terror to claim nearly $2 billion in compensation from Iran’s central bank.

    May 20, 2017 – Rouhani wins reelection after securing approximately 57% of the vote.

    September 20, 2017 – In a press conference following US President Donald Trump’s speech at the UN General Assembly calling the nuclear deal with Iran an embarrassment to the United States, Rouhani calls for an apology to the people of Iran for the “offensive” comments and “baseless” accusations, including Trump’s assertion that the “Iranian government masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy.”

    July 22, 2018 – Addressing diplomats in Tehran, Rouhani warns the United States that war with Iran would be “the mother of all wars.”

    September 25, 2018 – In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Rouhani says Iran is sticking to the nuclear deal. If the signatories remaining after the United States pulled out aren’t “living up to their commitments,” then Iran will re-evaluate.

    November 5, 2018 – In public remarks made during a cabinet meeting, Rouhani says Iran will “proudly break” US sanctions that went into effect a day earlier. The sanctions – the second round reimposed after Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal in May – target Iran’s oil and gas industries as well as shipping, shipbuilding and banking industries.

    May 8, 2019 – Rouhani announces that Iran will reduce its “commitments” to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) but will not fully withdraw. In a televised speech, Rouhani says Iran will keep its excess enriched uranium and heavy water, rather than sell it to other countries as previously agreed to limit its stockpile.

    July 3, 2019 – Rouhani announces Iran will begin enriching uranium at a higher level than what is allowed under the JCPOA. He vows to revive work on the Arak heavy-water reactor, which had been suspended under the nuclear deal.

    September 26, 2019 – Rouhani announces Iran has started using advanced models of centrifuges to enrich uranium in violation of the JCPOA.

    January 3, 2020 – Qasem Soleimani, leader of the Quds Force unit Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps since 1988, is killed at Baghdad International Airport in an US airstrike ordered by Trump. Rouhani says the United States committed a “grave mistake” and “will face the consequences of this criminal act not only today, but also in the coming years.”

    January 11, 2020 – Rouhani apologizes to the Ukrainian people after Iran’s armed forces downs a Ukraine International Airlines passenger jet in Tehran, mistaking it for a hostile target. He promises to hold those responsible for the January 8 tragedy “accountable,” according to the readout of a call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

    June 19, 2021 – Ebrahim Raisi wins Iran’s presidential election.

    August 5, 2021 – Raisi is sworn in, replacing Rouhani as president of Iran.

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  • Fred Haise Fast Facts | CNN

    Fred Haise Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the life of astronaut Fred Haise.

    Birth date: November 14, 1933

    Birth place: Biloxi, Mississippi

    Birth name: Fred Wallace Haise Jr.

    Father: Fred Haise Sr.

    Mother: Lucille (Blacksher) Haise

    Marriages: Frances Patt (Price) Haise (1979-February 7, 2022, her death); Mary Griffin Grant (June 4, 1954-1978, divorced)

    Children: with Mary Grant: Thomas Jesse, 1970; Stephen William, 1961; Frederick Thomas, 1958; Mary Margaret, 1956

    Education: University of Oklahoma, B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering, 1959

    Military service: US Navy, 1952-1954 naval aviation cadet; US Marine Corps, 1954-1956; Oklahoma Air National Guard, 1957-1963; US Air Force, 1961-1962, Captain

    Served in the backup crew for Apollo 11 with Jim Lovell and William Anders.

    Test pilot of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.

    Highly involved in the fundraising and building of the Infinity Science Center in Mississippi.

    1952 – Joins the US Navy as a naval aviation cadet at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida.

    1954-1956 – Is assigned to the US Marine Corp as a fighter pilot.

    1957 – Joins the Oklahoma Air National Guard.

    1961-1962 – Is called for active duty by the US Air Force.

    1956-1966 – Research test pilot.

    April 1966 – Haise is part of the fifth group of men chosen by NASA to become astronauts.

    April 11-17, 1970 – Serves as the Lunar Module Pilot of Apollo 13 with Commander Jim Lovell and Command Module Pilot John L. Swigert Jr. The mission lasts five days, 22 hours, 54 minutes, and 41 seconds. An oxygen tank explosion two and half days into the flight causes the mission to be aborted and the remaining time is spent working towards the crew’s safe return.

    April 17, 1970 – The crew returns to earth safely, splashing down in the South Pacific Ocean.

    April 18, 1970 – Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Nixon.

    August 23, 1973 – Crashes a World War II training plane and suffers second degree burns over 65% of his body.

    August 12, 1977 – Pilots the first test flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.

    June 29, 1979 – Retires from NASA.

    1979-1996 – Works for Grumman Aerospace Corporation.

    October 4, 1997 – Is inducted into the US Astronaut Hall of Fame.

    April 17, 2021 – A bronze statue of the three Apollo 13 astronauts is formally unveiled in Houston, capturing the moment that Haise, Lovell and Swigert stepped safely onto the USS Iwo Jima. The statue is part of a larger exhibit at Space Center Houston titled, “Apollo 13: Failure is not an option.”

    February 13, 2022 – A statue of Haise is unveiled in his hometown of Biloxi, Mississippi.

    April 5, 2022 – His memoir, “Never Panic Early: An Apollo 13 Astronaut’s Journey,” written with Bill Moore, is published.

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  • Transatlantic airplanes are flying at the ‘speed of sound’ right now. Here’s why | CNN

    Transatlantic airplanes are flying at the ‘speed of sound’ right now. Here’s why | CNN

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    Editor’s Note: Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel’s weekly newsletter. Get the latest news in aviation, food and drink, where to stay and other travel developments.



    CNN
     — 

    Savior of many a cramped pair of legs, the jet stream is well known for lopping roughly an hour off long haul west-to-east flights.

    But it’s working especially hard for travelers in economy class right now, with the jet stream over the Atlantic so strong that flights heading from the US to Europe are reaching speeds equivalent to that of sound.

    Sound travels at about 761 mph or 1,100 feet per second in “sea level standard conditions,” according to NASA – a little over 661 knots.

    In the past 24 hours, passenger aircraft traveling east from the US across the Atlantic have reached up to 778 mph. That’s a little over 200 miles per hour faster than normal cruising speeds.

    But if you’re thinking these flight times are a match for the much-missed Concorde, whose sonic booms used to mark it breaking the sound barrier, it’s time to think again. There’s a difference between ground speed and speed in the air (indicated air speed, essentially the speed of the plane in relation to the air around it). These passenger flights, however speedy, didn’t break the sound barrier.

    But they did slash flight times. Emirates flight 222 from Dallas to Dubai arrived 57 minutes early on November 1, having reached a top speed of 675 knots, or 777 mph, off the coast of Newfoundland, according to flight tracking site Flightaware.

    American Airlines flight 106 from JFK to Heathrow arrived 54 minutes early on Wednesday morning, with a flight time of just six hours and seven minutes. It reached a top speed of 778 mph, or 676 knots, also just past Newfoundland.

    Meanwhile Delta flight 186 raced from Los Angeles to London with top speeds of 760mph, arriving half an hour early on November 1 at 1.08 p.m.

    A KLM cargo plane which took off nearly four hours late on November 1 was due to arrive just under two hours late, traveling from Miami to Amsterdam.

    The jet stream is a “core of strong winds around five to seven miles above the Earth’s surface, blowing from west to east,” as the UK’s Met Office describes it.

    It’s the reason why eastbound flights tend to be shorter than westbound ones – with long haul flights racking up time differences of an hour or more, depending on the direction of travel.

    Seven miles above the planet’s surface is equivalent to around 37,000 feet – which means that aircraft at cruising altitude slip easily into the jet stream.

    And it’s the rapidly cooling weather stateside this week (now heading to Europe in the form of Storm Ciaran) that’s responsible for the speeding up of the winds, according to CNN meteorologist Sara Tonks.

    “This week’s burst of cold air in the United States has upped the difference in temperature between the United States (cold!) and the Atlantic Ocean (warm!),” she says.

    “This increase in the temperature gradient is amplifying the speed of the jet stream, which is driven by temperature differences.

    “The jet stream is expected to help strengthen Storm Ciaran, a low pressure system and potential bomb cyclone that is expected to arrive in Europe tonight [Wednesday].”

    CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam added: “Remember, ground speed is how fast an airplane is traveling, relative to a fixed point on the ground versus airspeed which is the speed of an aircraft relative to the air through which it is moving. Either way, these planes are saving time and money.”

    The jet stream is making planes go around 200mph faster than average.

    However fast the flights this week, they have a little way to make up for some record-breaking flights pre-pandemic.

    In February 2019, a Virgin Atlantic plane flew at 801mph from Los Angeles to London, reaching its top speed over Pennsylvania thanks to a 200mph jet stream – although it slowed down to a mere 710mph once it hit the ocean. The aircraft – a Boeing 787 Dreamliner – usually has a cruising speed of around 560mph. Virgin founder Richard Branson described it as flying “faster than any other commercial non-supersonic plane in history.”

    its record was broken the following year by a British Airways Boeing 747. The BA jumbo clocked in at 825mph on a New York to London flight, slashing the journey time from around seven hours to just under five. On that same day, another Virgin Atlantic plane made the same route with a journey time of just two minutes more.

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  • As antisemitism grows, so does its dangers to everyone. Here’s how you can fight against it | CNN

    As antisemitism grows, so does its dangers to everyone. Here’s how you can fight against it | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    In the wake of the war between Israel and Hamas, antisemitic incidents in the US are on the rise.

    The Anti-Defamation League reported over 300 antisemitic incidents in US since the Hamas attack on October 7. That’s an increase of almost 400% when compared with October 2022.

    College campuses are seeing an increase of antisemitic activities as well, like the threats against Cornell University’s Jewish community. The growing number of incidents on campuses compelled the Biden administration to take action.

    The White House outlined measures the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the Department of Education plan to take with campus and local law enforcement to provide support and resources.

    It’s not just the US, however, that is dealing with this problem. The ADL is tracking a rise in antisemitic incidents across the world.

    Vlad Khaykin, National Director of Programs on Antisemitism for the Anti-Defamation League, says hostility against Jews tends to gain ground during times of uncertainty: be that economic depression, war or pandemic. If there is anxiety, some people will turn to antisemitism as “an answer for why things are going wrong in the world.”

    In the United States, Jews make up just over 2 percent of the population. But antisemitism affects everyone, and everyone should be concerned.

    Khaykin points out that historically, persistent and patently untrue canards against the Jewish people reflect and amplify fundamental flaws in a society.

    “It breeds conspiracy theories that distort our ability to make informed decisions, which are central to any democracy,” he says. “It is anti-democratic. It is anti-intellectual. It leads to contempt for knowledge, learning, expertise.”

    Former US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power described it as the “canary in the coal mine.”

    Here are a few things that everyone can do to help fight antisemitism.

    Educate yourself and be an advocate

    No matter where you live, you can help. As Khaykin points out, “you don’t need to know any Jews” to want to make the world a better place for everyone.

    The ADL has many educational online programs and resources available. They range from anti-bias training to anti-Semitism education.

    Advocate for others’ education and protection. Approach schools and centers of learning about adding programs and curriculums on the Holocaust and anti-Semitism. Echoes & Reflections is an online program that focuses on Holocaust education in the classroom. Tennessee school officials said their vote to ban Holocaust graphic novel “Maus” was meant to shelter students from foul language and nudity. But advocates say books like these are important tools in teaching younger generations.

    The US Holocaust Memorial Museum is another resource where one can learn not only about the Holocaust but find educational information on anti-Semitism and its impact today.

    This means not just speaking out against hate speech you hear, but reporting what you see on social media. The pandemic has fueled a lot of conspiracy theories, and several prominent people have compared vaccine requirements or mask mandates to the Holocaust. This type of rhetoric demeans the actual atrocities of the Holocaust.

    “Attempts to minimize through absurd comparisons, to minimize the horror and enormity of the Holocaust, are really pernicious,” Khaykin said. “Scholars of genocide have said that the final act of genocide is the denial of the genocide.”

    Germany has strict laws against hate speech and Holocaust denials, but in the US such speech is harder to regulate. Private companies like Facebook, however, have rules against it. You just need to report it when you see it – every time you see it.

    Be involved and aware of what is happening in your community. In August of 2021, the ADL, the Los Angeles Police Department and the FBI held a community outreach event raising awareness about how they work together to combat anti-Semitism. The ADL has 25 regional offices around the country and work closely with law enforcement agencies. As interest in communities grows about what is being done to combat hate, these type events are more likely to happen in the future.

    Members and supporters of the Jewish community come together for a candlelight vigil in remembrance of those who died during a shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.

    Report it immediately. The ADL has an online form where you can report any incidents of “anti-Semitism, extremism, bias, bigotry or hate.” Note, this is not just for people who experienced anti-Jewish hostility. This is for anyone targeted for their “religion, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin or level of ability.” Reportable activity could be anything from seeing a hate symbol on the street to kids getting bullied at school or online.

    Here you can upload video and photos of the incident and someone will contact you. The ADL keeps track of all reported anti-Semitic and hate crime incidents.

    Khaykin said, “Anti-Semitism doesn’t just show up in our schools, in our workplaces. It’s everywhere. It pervades every aspect of our civilization.”

    The only way to stop the cycle of ignorance and hate is through knowledge and love.

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  • Iran Hostage Crisis Fast Facts | CNN

    Iran Hostage Crisis Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, in which 52 US citizens were held captive for 444 days.

    1978 – Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi’s authoritarian rule sparks demonstrations and riots.

    January 16, 1979 – The Shah flees Iran and goes to Egypt.

    February 1, 1979 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Iran, after 14 years in exile, to lead the country.

    October 22, 1979 – The Shah is allowed to enter the United States to receive medical treatment for cancer.

    November 4, 1979 – Iranian students demonstrating outside of the US embassy in Tehran storm the embassy and take 90 people hostage including 66 Americans. The students demand the extradition of the Shah from the United States. Ayatollah Khomeini issues a statement of support for the students’ actions.

    November 5, 1979 – The Iranian government cancels military treaties with the US and the Soviet Union, treaties that would permit US or Soviet military intervention.

    November 6, 1979 – Premier Mehdi Bazargan and his government resign, leaving Ayatollah Khomeini and the Revolutionary Council in power.

    November 7, 1979 – US President Jimmy Carter sends former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and Senate Intelligence Committee staff director William Miller to Iran to negotiate the release of the hostages. Ayatollah Khomeini refuses to meet with them.

    November 14, 1979 – Carter orders Iranian assets in US banks frozen.

    November 17, 1979 – Khomeini orders the release of female and African-American hostages. They are released November 19 and 20, bringing the total number of US hostages to 53.

    December 4, 1979 – The United Nations Security Council passes a resolution calling for Iran to release the hostages.

    December 15, 1979 – The Shah leaves the United States for Panama.

    January 28, 1980 – Six American embassy employees, who avoided capture and hid in the homes of Canadian Embassy officers, flee Iran. In 1997 it is revealed that, along with the Canadian government, the CIA made the escape possible.

    March 1980 – The Shah returns to Egypt.

    April 7, 1980 – President Carter cuts diplomatic ties with Iran, announcing further sanctions and ordering all Iranian diplomats to leave the United States.

    April 25, 1980 – Eight US servicemen are killed when a helicopter and a transport plane collide during a failed attempt to rescue the hostages.

    July 11, 1980 – Another hostage is released due to illness. The total number of US hostages is now 52.

    July 27, 1980 – The Shah dies of cancer in Egypt.

    September 12, 1980 – Ayatollah Khomeini sets new terms for the hostages’ release, including the return of the late Shah’s wealth and the unfreezing of Iranian assets.

    November 1980-January 1981 – Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher and his delegation work through mediators in Algeria to negotiate the release of the hostages.

    January 19, 1981 – The United States and Iran sign an agreement to release the hostages and unfreeze Iranian assets.

    January 20, 1981 – The remaining 52 US hostages are released and flown to Wiesbaden Air Base in Germany.

    December 18, 2015 – Congress passes a budget bill that includes a provision authorizing each of the 53 hostages to receive $10,000 for each day they were held captive. In addition, spouses and children will separately receive a one-time payment of $600,000.

    November 19, 2019 – The act is amended to include victims of the September 11 terror attacks, reducing the amount of available funds to compensate the former hostages.

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  • Judges Targeted Fast Facts | CNN

    Judges Targeted Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at notable cases in which US judges have been targets of lethal violence. Three federal judges were targeted and murdered from 1979 to present, Judge John Wood, Judge Richard Daronco and Judge Robert Vance, as well as several judges from lower courts.

    The US Marshals Service is in charge of protecting federal judges.

    The Marshals Service protects approximately 2,700 federal judges and about 30,300 other court officials at 888 court facilities throughout the nation.

    2022 – 1,362 threats and inappropriate communications against the judiciary assessed by the Marshals.

    2021 – 4,511 threats and inappropriate communications against the judiciary assessed by the Marshals.

    2020 – 4,261 threats and inappropriate communications against the judiciary assessed by the Marshals.

    2019 – 4,449 threats and inappropriate communications against the judiciary assessed by the Marshals.

    2018 – 4,542 threats and inappropriate communications against the judiciary assessed by the Marshals.

    2017 – 2,847 threats and inappropriate communications against the judiciary assessed by the Marshals.

    2016 – 2,357 threats and inappropriate communications against the judiciary assessed by the Marshals.

    2015 – 926 threats and inappropriate communications against the judiciary assessed, mitigated and deterred by the Marshals.

    2014 – 768 threats and inappropriate communications against the judiciary assessed, mitigated and deterred by the Marshals.

    June 3, 1974 – Washington state Superior Court Judge James Lawless is killed by a mail bomb in his chambers. Ricky Anthony Young is convicted of the crime.

    May 29, 1979 – US District Judge John Wood is killed by a contract killer allegedly tied to a drug-smuggling case the judge is handling. Three members of the Chagra family are later convicted of conspiring to kill Wood. One of the Chagras had been scheduled to appear before Judge Wood in the drug smuggling case.

    1983 – Illinois Judge Henry Gentile is shot and killed in his courtroom by a man whose divorce case is being handled by Judge Gentile. The man had hidden the gun used in a blanket in his wheelchair.

    March 20, 1987 – Joel Cacace, of the Columbo crime family, hires hitmen to kill federal prosecutor William Aronwald. By mistake they tail Aronwald’s father, George, a 78-year-old city administrative law judge who shares an office with his son. They kill Aronwald when he stops to pick up his laundry.

    September 14, 1987 – Mississippi Circuit Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife Margaret are killed in their home. The murders are tied to a prison scam run by former Biloxi Mayor Pete Halat who shared a law office with Sherry. Prosecutors say Halat believed the Sherrys may have taken some of the scam profits for themselves.

    May 21, 1988 – US District Judge Richard Daronco is shot and killed at his home in Pelham, New York, by a man upset over Daronco’s dismissal of the man’s daughter’s sexual discrimination suit.

    1989 – Federal Appeals Court Judge Robert Vance is killed in his home in Birmingham, Alabama, when he opens a mail bomb. Walter Leroy Moody Jr. is convicted of the death of Vance and attorney Robert Robinson. Prosecutors allege Moody sent the mail bombs out of anger over his conviction in 1972 for possessing a mail bomb.

    March 18, 1999 – Los Angeles County Court Commissioner H. George Taylor and his wife Lynda Taylor are shot and killed at their home in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Investigators believe the shootings are “court-related” but the case remains unsolved.

    February 28, 2005 – The husband and mother of US District Court Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow are shot to death inside the Lefkows’ Chicago home. A former plaintiff whose case had been dismissed by Judge Lefkow claims credit for the murder in a suicide note.

    March 11, 2005 – Atlanta Judge Rowland Barnes and three others are fatally shot when Brian Nichols escapes custody while being escorted to Barnes’ courtroom to face a second trial on rape charges. Nichols went to Judge Barnes’ private chambers in the Fulton County courthouse and asked for him before entering Barnes’ courtroom and fatally shooting the judge and court reporter.

    August 21, 2017 – Common Pleas Judge Joseph J. Bruzzese Jr. is ambushed and shot outside the Jefferson County Courthouse in Steubenville, Ohio. Bruzzese and an accompanying probation officer returned fire, killing the assailant. According to public court records, the suspect, Nate Richmond, is a plaintiff in a wrongful death case overseen by Bruzzese.

    July 19, 2020 – A man wearing a FedEx uniform opens fire at the home of US District Court Judge Esther Salas. The suspected gunman, a hate-filled men’s rights attorney who had argued a case before Judge Salas, kills her son and seriously wounds her husband, Mark Anderl, when they open the door. The next day, law enforcement officials report the gunman died from self-inflicted wounds. Two weeks after the shooting, Judge Salas calls for greater privacy protections for judges.

    June 3, 2022 – Former Juneau County Circuit Court Judge John Roemer, 68, is killed in a New Lisbon, Wisconsin, home, in a targeted attack. The suspect, identified as Douglas K. Uhde, was found in the basement of the home with an “apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound,” and died four days later in the hospital. It was later revealed that Uhde had been sentenced to prison by Roemer more than 15 years ago, court documents show.

    October 19, 2023 – Washington County Circuit Judge Andrew Wilkinson is fatally shot in his driveway by a suspect Wilkinson ruled against in a child custody case.

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  • GM self-driving car subsidiary withheld video of a crash, California DMV says | CNN Business

    GM self-driving car subsidiary withheld video of a crash, California DMV says | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    The California Department of Motor Vehicles Tuesday revoked Cruise’s permits to test and operate fully driverless vehicles on the state’s roads. The California DMV said, in part, it was because Cruise, which is GM’s self-driving vehicle technology subsidiary, withheld video and information about a crash involving a pedestrian.

    The suspension applies only to vehicles with no “safety driver,” meaning there is no one in the driver’s seat ready to take over the controls if needed.

    The agency also indicated that Cruise had “misrepresented… information related to safety of the autonomous technology of its vehicles.”

    For those reasons, the California DMV wrote, it was necessary to revoke the company’s permits. The DMV notice did not specify exactly what incidents or communications from Cruise led to the suspensions.

    About three weeks ago, a Cruise vehicle hit a pedestrian in downtown San Francisco who had first been hit by another vehicle then and was propelled by this collision into the path of the Cruise driverless car. After striking the pedestrian a second time, the Cruise vehicle, attempting to pull off the road and out of the way of traffic, dragged the pedestrian along the road for 20 feet at a speed at about seven miles an hour, according to the DMV’s report.

    “Our thoughts continue to be with the victim as we hope for a rapid and complete recovery,” Cruise wrote in an emailed statement. A San Francisco Fire Department spokesperson said at the time that victim had multiple serious injuries.

    Cruise claims that it proactively reached out both state and federal safety regulators following that incident. Regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into the safety of Cruise autonomous vehicles around pedestrians.

    The DMV alleges that Cruise did not tell regulators that the car dragged the pedestrian across the roadway while attempting to pull over following the impact. Also, the DMV’s order of suspensions indicates that the video Cruise provided of the incident, taken by the self-driving car’s on-board cameras, stopped shortly after the car hit the pedestrian and did not show the dragging. Cruise did not provide a longer video showing the entire incident until 10 days later, after DMV had learned of the pedestrian being dragged “from another government agency.”

    A video of the incident shown to a CNN reporter shortly after it occurred also did not show the pedestrian being dragged.

    In a statement shared with CNN on Wednesday, Cruise denied that it had withheld any video from the DMV and said that it shared a full video with the agency when the incident was first reported.

    “The DMV has provided Cruise with the steps needed to apply to reinstate its suspended permits, which the DMV will not approve until the company has fulfilled the requirements to the department’s satisfaction,” the agency sad in the notice posted to its web site.

    This summer, Cruise and Waymo, the driverless car arm of Google-parent Alphabet received permission from San Francisco regulators to begin regular paid driverless taxi services in that city.

    Cruise will continue operations of its driverless fleets in Phoenix, Arizona and Austin, Texas.

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  • Britney Spears Fast Facts | CNN

    Britney Spears Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here is a look at the life of Britney Spears, pop singer and Grammy Award winner.

    Birth date: December 2, 1981

    Birth place: McComb, Mississippi

    Birth name: Britney Jean Spears

    Father: Jamie Spears, former building contractor and chef

    Mother: Lynne (Bridges) Spears

    Marriages: Sam Asghari (June 9, 2022 – present); Kevin Federline (September 18, 2004-July 30, 2007, divorced); Jason Alexander (January 3, 2004-January 5, 2004, annulled after 55 hours)

    Children: with Kevin Federline: Jayden James, September 2006 and Sean Preston, September 2005

    Number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart include: “Baby, One More Time” in 1999, “Womanizer” in 2008, “3” in 2009 (debut), and “Hold It Against Me” in 2011 (debut).

    Six albums have reached #1 on the Billboard 200 chart: “Baby One More Time” (1999), “Oops!…. I Did It Again” (2000), “Britney” (2001), “In the Zone” (2003), “Circus” (2008), and “Femme Fatale” (2011).

    Has won one Grammy and has been nominated for eight.

    1993-1994 – Cast member on “The Mickey Mouse Club.”

    1997 – Signs a contract with Jive Records at age 15.

    January 12, 1999 – Releases her debut album “…Baby One More Time.”

    May 16, 2000 – Releases her second album “Oops!…I Did It Again.”

    2002 – Is named Hollywood’s Most Powerful Celebrity by Forbes magazine.

    November 17, 2003 – Receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

    February 13, 2005 – Wins a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording for “Toxic.”

    February 16, 2007 – Shaves her head at a beauty parlor in Tarzana, California.

    October 1, 2007 – Temporarily loses physical custody of her children after failing to attend court hearings.

    January 3, 2008 – Spears is hospitalized over issues involving the custody of her children. Kevin Federline, her ex-husband, is awarded sole custody on January 4, 2008.

    February 1, 2008 – A Los Angeles court grants temporary conservatorship to Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, after Spears is taken to a hospital and deemed unable to take care of herself.

    July 18, 2008 – In a custody agreement, Spears gives Federline sole custody of the children, but retains visitation rights.

    August 2008 – Becoming Britney, a musical based on her life, debuts at the New York International Fringe Festival.

    October 28, 2008 – Jamie Spears is granted permanent conservatorship of his daughter’s affairs.

    February 3, 2009 – Sam Lutfi, Spears’ former manager, sues Spears and her parents for defamation and breach of contract in Los Angeles Superior Court. A judge dismisses the lawsuit on November 1, 2012.

    September 8, 2010 – Is accused of sexual harassment and sued by her former bodyguard, Fernando Flores. The lawsuit is settled in March 2012.

    January 11, 2011 – Her single, “Hold It Against Me,” is released and debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

    March 30, 2011 – A $10 million lawsuit is filed by Brand Sense Partners against Spears and her father for breach of contract relating to a perfume deal between Spears and the Elizabeth Arden company. The lawsuit is settled in February 2012.

    May 15, 2012 – “The X Factor USA” announces that Spears, along with Demi Lovato, will join Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid on “The X Factor” judging panel. On January 11, 2013, Spears announces that she will not be returning as a judge.

    September 17, 2013 – Spears announces that she will do a two-year residency at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas with a show titled “Britney: Piece of Me.” The show begins its run December 27.

    September 2014 – Releases her own lingerie line, “Intimate Britney Spears.”

    November 5, 2014 – Clark County, Nevada, proclaims November 5th as “Britney Day” on the Las Vegas Strip.

    September 9, 2015 – Spears announces that she has extended her residency at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas for two more years.

    August 26, 2016 – Spears’ ninth studio album, Glory, is released.

    April 12, 2018 – Spears is honored at the GLAAD Media Awards as the recipient of the Vanguard Award, an award that goes to a performer for making a difference in promoting and supporting equality.

    January 4, 2019 – Announces that she is going on an indefinite work hiatus in order to focus on her family due to her father’s health issues.

    April 3, 2019 – Spears announces that she is taking “me time” after it is reported that she has checked into a mental health facility to cope with her father’s health issues. On April 25, Spears checks out of the mental health treatment facility after undertaking an “all-encompassing wellness treatment.”

    June 13, 2019 – Spears and her family are granted a five-year restraining order against Lutfi.

    April 29, 2020 – Spears announces that she accidentally burned down her home gym with candles.

    November 10, 2020 – Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny declines Spears’ application to remove her father as her conservator, but says she would consider petitions “down the road” to remove her father as the head of her estate. The move comes amid the #FreeBritney social media movement, driven by some fans who believe she is a prisoner in her own home because of the court-ordered conservatorship.

    June 23, 2021 – Spears appears remotely in court to request her court-ordered conservatorship be lifted, calling it “abusive.” During the hearing, she speaks for more than 20 minutes, saying she felt she had been forced to perform, was given no privacy and was made to use birth control, take medication and attend therapy sessions against her will.

    July 6, 2021 – Spears’ longtime manager Larry Rudolph resigns, citing the singer’s desire to retire. On the same day, Samuel D. Ingham, a court-appointed attorney who has represented Spears for the entirety of her almost 13-year conservatorship, submits a petition to resign from his position, according to a court filing obtained by CNN.

    July 14, 2021 – Judge Penny accepts Ingham’s resignation, along with the resignation of Bessemer Trust, a wealth management firm that had been appointed co-conservator of the singer’s estate. Spears is granted permission to hire her own attorney. During a hearing, Spears calls for her father to be charged with conservatorship abuse.

    August 12, 2021 – Jamie Spears signals in a legal response that he intends to step down as conservator of the singer’s estate, according to a prepared copy of the response obtained by CNN.

    September 1, 2021 – The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office says in a press release they decline to file charges against Spears. Last month Spears’ housekeeper alleged that the singer struck a cell phone out of her hand during an argument over the veterinary care of her dog.

    September 7, 2021 – Spears’ father files a petition to terminate the 13-year court-ordered conservatorship. On September 29, a Los Angeles judge suspends Jamie Spears as conservator of his daughter’s estate, and designates a temporary replacement selected by the singer and her attorney to oversee her finances. On November 12, a Los Angeles judge terminates Spears’ 13-year conservatorship.

    September 12, 2021 – Spears announces her engagement to boyfriend Sam Asghari in an Instagram post.

    January 18, 2022 – Spears’ lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, sends a legal cease-and-desist letter to the singer’s younger sister, Jamie Lynn Spears, regarding her new memoir, “Things I Should Have Said.” In Rosengart’s letter, he calls the book “ill-timed” and that it makes “misleading or outrageous claims about her.”

    January 19, 2022 – Judge Penny rules against a request from Spears’ father to set aside money from her $60 million estate in a reserve to potentially cover legal fees, which would include her father’s.

    February 21, 2022 – It is revealed that Spears has signed a contract with Simon & Schuster to write a book about her life. The deal is valued at more than $15 million.

    April 11, 2022 – Spears announces that she and Asghari are expecting a baby. The following month, the pair announce the loss of the pregnancy.

    August 26, 2022 – Spears and Elton John release “Hold Me Closer,” an EDM reimagining of John’s 1971 hit “Tiny Dancer.” The song marks Spears’ first new release since her 13-year conservatorship ended.

    August 16, 2023 – Asghari files for divorce.

    October 24, 2023 – Spears’ memoir, “The Woman In Me,” is released.

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  • David Petraeus Fast Facts | CNN

    David Petraeus Fast Facts | CNN

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    Here is a look at the life of David Petraeus, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

    Birth date: November 7, 1952

    Birth place: Cornwall, New York

    Birth name: David Howell Petraeus

    Father: Sixtus Petraeus, Danish-born sea captain

    Mother: Miriam (Howell) Petraeus

    Marriage: Hollister “Holly” Knowlton (July 6, 1974-present)

    Children: Anne and Stephen

    Education: US Military Academy – West Point, B.S., 1974; Princeton University, M.P.A., International Relations, 1985; Princeton University, Ph.D., International Relations, 1987

    Military: US Army, 1974-2011, four-star general

    Growing up in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, friends nicknamed Petraeus “Peaches.”

    1974 – Is commissioned as an infantry officer in the US Army upon graduation from West Point.

    1975-1979 – Platoon leader, adjutant, 1st Battalion, 509th Airborne Battalion Combat Team in Vicenza, Italy.

    1979-1982 – Commander, then aide de camp, 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) at Fort Stewart, Georgia.

    1985-1987 – Instructor, then Assistant Professor of Social Sciences, US Military Academy at West Point.

    1987-1988 – Military Assistant to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, NATO, Brussels, Belgium.

    1989 – Serves as aide to the Army’s chief of staff.

    1991 – Is shot in the chest during a training exercise at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

    1991-1993 – Commander, 3rd Battalion of the 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

    1995-1997 – Commander, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division.

    2000 – Breaks his pelvis during a parachute jump.

    2000-2001 – Chief of staff, XVIII Airborne Corps., US Army, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

    2000 – Is promoted to brigadier (one star) general.

    2001-2002 – Serves in Bosnia as the assistant chief of staff for military operations of the NATO Stabilization Force.

    2002-2004 – Commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division US Army, Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

    March 2003 – Leads troops into battle as commander of the 101st Airborne Division during the US-led invasion of Iraq.

    June 2004-September 2005 – Commander of the Multinational Security Transition Command in Iraq.

    October 2005-2007 – Commanding general of the Combined Arms Center, US Army, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

    February 2007-September 2008 – Commander of all coalition forces in Iraq.

    October 31, 2008-July 4, 2010 – Commander in Chief of Central Command.

    October 6, 2009 – Announces that he was diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer and underwent two months of radiation treatment.

    June 15, 2010 – Becomes “a little lightheaded” and faints while testifying at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

    July 4, 2010-July 18, 2011 – Commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

    April 28, 2011 – Nominated by President Barack Obama to replace Leon Panetta as CIA director.

    June 30, 2011 – Unanimously confirmed by the US Senate as the next director of the CIA.

    July 18, 2011 – Petraeus turns over command of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan to Gen. John R. Allen.

    August 31, 2011 – Retires from the Army.

    September 6, 2011 – Petraeus is sworn in as the new director of the CIA.

    November 9, 2012 – Petraeus submits his resignation to President Obama, citing personal reasons and admits he had an extramarital affair.

    March 27, 2013 – Publicly apologizes for his extramarital affair during a speech at the University of Southern California.

    May 30, 2013 – It is announced that Petraeus has joined private equity firm KKR as the chairman of a new global institute.

    July 1, 2013 – Joins the University of Southern California faculty as a Judge Widney Professor, “a title reserved for eminent individuals from the arts, sciences, professions, business, and community and national leadership.”

    January 9, 2015 – A federal law enforcement official tells CNN that Justice Department prosecutors are recommending charges be filed against Petraeus for disclosure of classified information to his former lover Paula Broadwell who was working on a book with Petraeus at the time.

    March 3, 2015 – Pleads guilty to one federal charge of removing and retaining classified information as part of a plea deal. According to court documents, Petraeus admitted removing several so-called black books – notebooks in which he kept classified and non-classified information from his tenure as the commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan – and giving them to Broadwell.

    March 16, 2015 – White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest confirms that the National Security Council and the Obama administration have consulted with Petraeus on matters related to Iraq and ISIS.

    April 23, 2015 – Petraeus is sentenced to serve two years probation and fined $100,000 for sharing classified information with his biographer and lover, Broadwell. Prosecutors agree to not send him to jail because the classified information was never released to the public or published in the biography.

    September 22, 2015 – Petraeus speaks before the Senate Armed Services Committee regarding the US’s Middle East policy. He begins this, his first public hearing since his resignation, with a formal apology for the indiscretions that led to his resignation.

    June 10, 2016 – Along with retired NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, announces that they are launching Veterans Coalition for Common Sense to encourage elected leaders to “do more to prevent gun tragedies.”

    June 12, 2019 – The University of Birmingham announces that Petraeus has accepted an honorary professorship in the Institute for Conflict, Cooperation and Security. The three-year position begins immediately.

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  • Here’s what we know about the suspect in the Maine mass shooting | CNN

    Here’s what we know about the suspect in the Maine mass shooting | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The suspect in the Maine mass shooting started making statements about hearing voices and wanting to hurt fellow soldiers while serving at a military base this summer, and spent a few weeks in a hospital, law enforcement officials told CNN.

    But a relative of the suspect and two former colleagues in the Army Reserve told CNN they weren’t aware of him having any longstanding history of mental health issues – although one former colleague remembered him as a skilled marksman and outdoorsman who was among the best shooters in his unit.

    Robert R. Card II, who police are searching for in connection with the fatal shooting of at least 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, made his troubling statements while he was at the Camp Smith training facility in New York, the law enforcement officials said. His command referred him to a military hospital, and he spent a few weeks under evaluation, they said.

    In July, Army Reserve officials reported Card for “behaving erratically,” and he was transported to the nearby Keller Army Community Hospital at the United States Military Academy for “medical evaluation,” a National Guard spokesman told CNN.

    “Out of concern for his safety, the unit requested that law enforcement be contacted,” said the spokesperson, Col. Richard Goldenberg. New York State Police responded and transported Card to the hospital, he said.

    Card then spent a few weeks under evaluation at the hospital, the law enforcement officials said.

    The 40-year-old Card also threatened to shoot up a National Guard base in Maine, law enforcement officials previously told CNN.

    Card’s sister-in-law, Katie O’Neill, said in a brief conversation with CNN Thursday that Card does not have a long history of mental health struggles.

    “This is something that was an acute episode. This is not who he is,” O’Neill said. “He is not someone who has had mental health issues for his lifetime or anything like that.”

    Except for an arrest in 2007 for an alleged driving under the influence charge, the suspect is not known to ATF or in FBI holdings, according to law enforcement sources. He legally possesses multiple weapons and owns a home on hundreds of acres of land in Maine, the sources said.

    Card is a petroleum supply specialist in the Army Reserve and first enlisted in 2002, according to records provided by the Army on Thursday. He has no combat deployments, according to the records. 

    Clifford Steeves of Massachusetts told CNN he knew Card when they served in the Army Reserve together, starting in the early 2000s until about a decade ago. He said he never witnessed any concerning behavior from Card.

    “He was a very nice guy – very quiet. He never overused his authority or was mean or rude to other soldiers,” Steeves said. “It’s really upsetting.”

    Steeves said the two served together around the country at different points, including in Wisconsin, Georgia and New York. He said he felt as though he “grew up” with Card because they entered the Army as young men and trained together. 

    Steeves said that while “aggressive leadership was very prominent” in the Army, Card stuck out for being a “rational, understanding person” who “led through respect rather than fear.”

     Steeves said Card never saw combat but had extensive training, including firearms training and land navigation, “so he would be very comfortable in the woods.” He described Card as an “outdoors type of guy” and a skilled marksman who was one of the best shooters in his unit.

    Another former Army Reserve member who served with Card also described him as a “nice guy” who “never had an issue with anybody.” The servicemember, who asked to speak anonymously due to the sensitivity of the situation, did not recall Card showing any kind of violent behavior.

    Card studied engineering technology at the University of Maine between 2001 and 2004 but did not graduate, Eric Gordon, a university spokesperson, told CNN. 

    Public records show addresses for Card in Bowdoin, Maine, a town near Lewiston. Card appears to have been a member of a local horseshoe-throwing club in the nearby town of Lisbon, Maine, according to a local news story and a Facebook photo that showed him wearing a t-shirt with the club’s logo.  

    An account on the social media platform X with Card’s name and a photo that appears to be him, which has been taken offline, had a history of liking right-wing and Republican political content. 

    When WNBA player Brittney Griner was released from Russian detention after a prisoner exchange for a convicted arms dealer, the account posted what appeared to be its only tweet. Responding to a CNBC story about the topic, the account wrote: “Mass murderer for a wnba player great job keep up the good work,” in an apparent jab at President Joe Biden.

    The account liked a tweet earlier this year from right-wing author and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza arguing against an assault weapons ban, as well as other tweets from political figures like Donald Trump Jr. and Tucker Carlson.  

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  • This middle-schooler ‘knew how to be a best friend to everybody.’ Then gunfire erupted while she was out to buy milk | CNN

    This middle-schooler ‘knew how to be a best friend to everybody.’ Then gunfire erupted while she was out to buy milk | CNN

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    Editor’s Note: This story is part of a series profiling American youth killed this year by guns, a leading cause of death of children in the US. Read more about the project here.



    CNN
     — 

    It’s been almost nine months since Brexi Torres-Ortiz and her mom sang together – hitting every note, feeling every emotion with every word of a gospel tune that happened to be the 11-year-old’s favorite song.

    Take me to the King. I don’t have much to bring.

    My heart is torn in pieces; it’s my offering.

    Take me to the King.

    “You will cry just listening to her sing it,” said Brexi’s mom, Brenlee “Bre” Ortiz. “It’s like, she was so young, how did she know what this song was saying?”

    Back then, even Ortiz didn’t realize the depth of those lyrics, she said.

    Sometimes she wishes she still didn’t.

    The hymn’s power, though, has become clear, Ortiz said, since Brexi – short for Brexialee – was fatally shot while grabbing a gallon of milk from a corner store in Syracuse, New York – one of more than 1,300 youth killed by a gun this year in the US, according to the Gun Violence Archive, as firearms surpassed motor vehicles in 2020 as the nation’s No. 1 killer of children and teens.

    January 16 was supposed to have been a cozy night at home for Brexi, with a movie on the projector and blankets covering the floor after her favorite dinner of macaroni and cheese made from scratch by her grandmother. Brexi’s two sisters and their mom, after she got home from work, would have been with them.

    Instead, Brexi spent her last hours in a hospital bed on life support while Ortiz tried to make sense of how her middle daughter – while she was out to buy milk for the meal – got caught in what police described as a storm of bullets no more than 40 feet from her home.

    Three suspects – then ages 16, 18 and 20 – were arrested within 10 days of the shooting, an Onondaga County senior assistant district attorney told CNN, and indicted by a grand jury on second-degree murder and other charges, a court record shows. Two have pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and the third is due to go to trial early next year, according to prosecutor Anthony Mangovski and court filings.

    4 things you can do today about the US gun violence epidemic

    As the justice system’s response to Brexi’s killing unfolds, Ortiz attends every hearing.

    But still, she struggles.

    Every day.

    And every hopeless night.

    “As soon as I open my eyes, it’s her on my mind,” Ortiz said. “And as soon as I’m finally able to close my eyes, I don’t fall asleep but my body turns off and she’s in my mind and I can see her in my dreams.

    “But they’re not dreams; they’re nightmares.”

    She was everybody’s ‘best friend’

    The warmth of her smile, the way she made you feel after a hug and her ability to empathize with both her peers and adults are on the never-ending list of what made Brexi special, Ortiz said.

    “You never get to know a person, even if it’s your own kid, until stuff like this happens,” she said. “I didn’t want to find out like this.”

    At Brexi’s funeral, Ortiz received condolences from so many children, she said. “She was my best friend,” her mom heard more times than she could count.

    Brexi's image, stuffed animals and other decorations adorn her grave.

    Brexi “knew how to be a best friend to everybody and give each one of them what they needed,” Ortiz said. “She will be a way with you that she wouldn’t be with me because we don’t have the same needs.”

    The middle schooler also was student council president of her sixth-grade class, a “shining star” on the after-school dance team and “always encouraged others to make the right choice,” educators from her school said.

    Brexi’s death stole all that – while it also drove home her generation’s gun-violence reality, said her school’s psychologist, who discovered a broader horror as she went classroom-to-classroom to help the kids confront the killing.

    Brenlee Ortiz, left, prepares ice cream for students at her late daughter's school on

    “It was that every single child already knew what to do,” Kayla Gallagher said. “They had T-shirts, lanyards, hats, all sorts of clothing with her name and image. They created a shrine at her locker. They went to the vigils.”

    More about Brexialee Torres-Ortiz

  • Died January 16
  • Age 11
  • Shot while out buying milk at a corner store as three people, each with a semi-automatic handgun, opened fire on another person, according to her mom and a grand jury indictment.
  • Two teens and a young adult were arrested in the shooting, an Onondaga County prosecutor told CNN. All were indicted by a grand jury with second-degree murder in her killing, second-degree attempted murder in the non-fatal wounding of their intended target, plus second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, the court record shows.
  • Both teens pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in return for 20 to 25 years in prison, according to the prosecutor and court records. The older suspect pleaded not guilty and is set to go to trial in February

“The children are so used to this violence that they helped the adults in the building grieve,” Gallagher said.

Now, Brexi’s school community honors her life every month on “Brexi Day,” with activities like putting on a talent show, decorating the campus with flowers or enjoying an ice cream treat.

“We choose to remember her not for the sorrow of her passing but for the joy, determination and the sense of belongingness she brought to our school,” Leeza Roper, a teacher at Syracuse STEM at Blodgett Middle School told CNN.

“Her legacy lives on in the hearts of those she touched.”

Read other profiles of children who have died from gunfire

At the Boys and Girls Club at Central Village where Brexi spent so much of her free time, her name was added to a sign outside the building and her photo hung in the entryway to commemorate the “wonderful impression” she left on the organization, said Stacey Nichols, spokesperson for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Syracuse.

“I want that all the kids that go there not be sad when they see her picture,” Ortiz said. “I want them to be motivated to do more and to be better.”

And the Syracuse Police Department worked with the Syracuse Housing Authority to purchase a bench that sits in front of the building in Brexi’s memory so her friends and family have a place to reflect and remember her, Syracuse Police Sgt. Brad Giarrusso said.

“Brexi came from a forgotten community,” Gallagher said, “but she will not be forgotten by her community.”

The Boys and Girls Club at Central Village renamed its site after Brexi.

On October 7, Brexi’s loved ones celebrated what would have been her 12th birthday. But there was no cake and no Brexi to blow out the candles after the birthday song.

Instead, relatives and friends gathered around her grave in the evening and released white balloons in her honor.

“I gotta go celebrate my baby’s birthday at the cemetery,” Ortiz said. “There is no justice. Justice will be bringing my daughter back.”

And though Ortiz would give anything for one more hug from Brexi or one more verse sung together, she takes an ounce of comfort, she said, knowing her daughter “finally made it to the King.”

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  • US new home sales surged in September | CNN Business

    US new home sales surged in September | CNN Business

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    Washington, DC
    CNN
     — 

    New home sales in the United States surged higher in September from the month before, even as mortgage rates remained over 7%, making financing a home costlier and pushing people out of the market.

    Sales of newly constructed homes jumped 12.3% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 759,000, from a revised rate of 676,000 in August, according to a joint report from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Census Bureau. Sales were up 33.9% from a year ago.

    This represents the fastest pace of sales since February 2022 and easily exceeds analysts’ expectations of a sales pace of 680,000.

    Sales of existing homes have been trending down since February and are down 20% year to date in September from a year ago. There is an ongoing inventory and affordability crunch that has homeowners with mortgage rates of 3% or 4% reluctant to sell and buy another home at a much higher rate. In August, rates topped 7% and have lingered there as the Federal Reserve continues to address inflation.

    The average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 7.63% last week, according to Freddie Mac, and there are indications it could continue to climb.

    “With one more Fed interest rate hike expected for the year, interest rates are not anticipated to drop any time soon,” said Kelly Mangold of RCLCO Real Estate Consulting.

    New construction has been an appealing alternative, attracting determined buyers frustrated by the historically low supply of existing homes. Still, affordability concerns remain.

    “The constraints in the housing market have created a significant amount of pent-up demand, as more and more households are living in homes they may have outgrown and are deciding to buy despite current market conditions,” said Mangold.

    According to the report, new home sales activity increased the most in the south, “a region that continues to outperform due to availability of land, population and job growth, and a relatively lower cost of living,” said Mangold.

    While new home sales are a much smaller share of the overall sales market than existing home sales, the inventory picture is rosier for new construction homes.

    The seasonally adjusted estimate of new homes for sale at the end of September was 435,000. This represents a supply of 6.9 months at the current sales pace.

    By comparison, there were 1.13 million existing homes for sale at the end of September, or the equivalent of 3.4 months’ supply at the current monthly sales pace.

    Typically, the ratio of existing homes to new homes has been closer to 5 to 1, but lately it has been closer to 2 to 1, according to the National Association of Realtors.

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  • California man sentenced to 1-year in federal prison for cyberstalking, harassing parent of Parkland school shooting victim | CNN

    California man sentenced to 1-year in federal prison for cyberstalking, harassing parent of Parkland school shooting victim | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A California man who sent hundreds of harrowing messages to an activist against gun violence whose daughter was killed in the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school shooting has been sentenced to 1 year in federal prison, according to prosecutors and court documents.

    James Catalano, 62, of Fresno, California, pled guilty to cyberstalking on March 28, according to the court documents. CNN has reached out to his attorney.

    In December 2021, a parent of one of the students killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School “began receiving a slew of harassing messages” with references to “his daughter, the manner of her death, her pain and suffering as she was murdered and his advocacy against gun violence.” The parent is identified only with the initials “F.G.” in court documents.

    According to a complaint, on June 21, 2022, “F.G.” tweeted, “Three weeks after the Parkland shooting, & on the day that gun safety legislation was passed in Florida, I stood with @marcorubio & asked him to support what was about to happen in Florida. He refused. He was a waste then and he is a waste now. Florida will elect @valdemings.”

    CNN has found that the tweet and others mentioned in the complaint were sent by Fred Guttenberg – who has dedicated his life to “fighting for gun safety in America” after his 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was among the 17 people killed at Parkland, his Twitter profile reads.

    Catalano replied to Guttenberg’s tweets and continued to send harassing messages through July 2022 via multiple online platforms. Catalano sent “hundreds of disparaging messages, which graphically described the victim’s daughter’s death, and focused on the debate surrounding gun control and the victim’s activism against gun violence,” according to a news release Monday from the US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida.

    Federal authorities were informed of the messages and traced two IP addresses to Catalano’s workplace and home in Fresno, according to court documents.

    On July 20, 2022, Catalano met with law enforcement after waiving his Miranda rights, according to a complaint. He admitted to sending the messages.

    Guttenberg tweeted following the sentencing Friday, saying it “sends a message to those who cyberstalk the families of shooting victims that they will be caught and punished.”

    CNN has reached out to Guttenberg for comment.

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  • What we know about the off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot accused of trying to shut off a plane’s engines mid-flight | CNN

    What we know about the off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot accused of trying to shut off a plane’s engines mid-flight | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    An off-duty pilot who was riding in the cockpit of an Alaska Airlines flight en route to San Francisco on Sunday is facing dozens of attempted murder charges after he tried to shut down the plane’s engines mid-flight, authorities say.

    The suspect, identified as Alaska Airlines pilot Joseph D. Emerson, 44, attempted to cut off fuel to the engines but the quick action of the aircraft’s captain and first officer kept the engines from failing completely, the airline said, adding Emerson was subdued by the flight crew.

    The flight was forced to divert to Portland, Oregon, where the suspect was taken into custody by the Port of Portland police, the port said in a statement.

    Emerson has been charged in Oregon with 83 felony counts of attempted murder, 83 counts of reckless endangerment and one count of endangering an aircraft, booking records show.

    Authorities do not believe the incident was an act of terrorism or ideologically motivated violence, a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation told CNN’s Josh Campbell. The source noted the suspect may face additional federal charges.

    Here’s what we know.

    After taking off from Everett, Washington, on Sunday, Alaska Airlines Flight 2059 – operated by regional carrier Horizon Air – reported a “security threat related to an off-duty Alaskan Airlines pilot, identified as Captain Joseph Emerson, who was traveling in the flight deck jump seat,” the airline said in a statement.

    Pilots will sometimes ride in a cockpit “jump seat” when traveling in their official capacity or commuting between airports.

    While in the cockpit, Emerson had tried to shut down both of the Embraer 175’s engines by pulling its fire extinguisher handles, the airline said.

    “The fire suppression system consists of a T-handle for each engine; when pulled, a valve in the wing closes to shut off fuel to the engine,” Alaska Airlines said in a statement to CNN. “After they are pulled, some residual fuel remains in the line.”

    The airline said the quick reaction of the crew to reset both handles helped restore the flow of fuel and prevent the engines from cutting out.

    “Our crew responded without hesitation to a difficult and highly unusual situation, and we are incredibly proud and grateful for their skillful actions,” the airline said in a statement.

    The plane was at cruise altitude when the incident occurred, Capt. Mike Karn, senior manager of flight security for American Airlines, said in a memo circulated at his airline.

    The flight crew detained the suspect and the plane was diverted to Portland International Airport, the Port of Portland said in a statement.

    “I think he’s subdued,” one of the plane’s pilots can be heard saying in air traffic control audio recorded by LiveATC.net. “Other than that, we want law enforcement as soon as we get on the ground and are parked.”

    Once the flight landed in Portland around 6:30 p.m., the suspect was taken into custody by Port of Portland police officers, the port said.

    No injuries were reported on the flight, the FBI said.

    All passengers were later able to fly to San Francisco with a new crew and aircraft, the airline said, noting it is “reaching out to each of them individually to discuss their experience and check-in on their well-being.”

    Emerson has been detained at the Multnomah County Detention Center as both the FBI and the Port of Portland police investigate the incident, authorities said.

    The FBI’s Portland field office confirmed its investigation in a statement Monday and assured travelers there is “no continuing threat related to this incident.”

    The Federal Aviation Administration also said it is supporting local law enforcement in the investigation.

    The FAA said it has briefed other airlines on preliminary details of the incident and informed carriers the incident is not related to “current world events” – apparently referring to the war in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas.

    Passengers describe their emergency landing

    Two passengers on the flight told CNN that the airline crew maintained a calm environment on the plane as the incident played out.

    Aubrey Gavello, one of the passengers, said she didn’t realize something was wrong until a flight attendant announced over the loudspeaker that the plane needed to land immediately.

    “We didn’t know where we were landing and we didn’t know what was wrong. But (the flight attendant) assured us we were safe,” Gavello said on “Laura Coates Live” Monday night.

    Later, the pilot informed passengers through the loudspeaker that there had been a “disturbance in the cockpit,” said Alex Wood, who was seated at the front of the plane. Wood said he was wearing headphones and slept through the incident.

    “I was right by the cockpit, but nothing woke me up. Nothing was loud enough, nothing was rambunctious enough to wake me up,” Wood said.

    After the plane landed, about five police officers boarded the plane and escorted the suspect off the aircraft, Gavello recalled. She noted the suspect was calm and cooperative and had his hands secured by zip ties.

    “Props to the Alaska crew for keeping everyone calm,” Gavello said.

    “It was all handled super well,” said Wood.

    The pair said they didn’t realize the gravity of the situation Monday, when they woke to news headlines about the suspect trying to shut down the plane engines.

    “I’m honestly grateful that we didn’t know anything when they rebooked us and got us on a second plane,” Gavello said. “I don’t know if I would have felt comfortable doing that if we had all the information.”

    Emerson’s neighbor, Ed Yee, told CNN it was “very shocking” to hear of the suspect’s alleged actions.

    “He seems like a really nice guy. Nothing abnormal about him,” Yee said.

    Emerson has worked in aviation for at least two decades, according to information shared by Alaskan Airlines.

    He first joined the Alaska Air Group in 2001 as a first officer with Horizon. In 2012, Emerson left Horizon and joined Virgin America as a pilot.

    After Alaska Airlines acquired Virgin America in 2016, Emerson became a first officer with Alaska and worked about three more years to become a pilot for the airline, according to the airline statement.

    “Throughout his career, Emerson completed his mandated FAA medical certifications in accordance with regulatory requirements, and at no point were his certifications denied, suspended or revoked,” Alaska Airlines said in a statement.

    FAA records show Emerson held an Airline Transport Pilot certification with ratings to fly the Airbus A320, Boeing 737, Canadair Regional Jet, and De Havilland Dash 8. He did not hold a certification to fly the ERJ 175, those records indicate, the type of airplane in use during Sunday’s incident.

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  • 7 people killed after more than 150 vehicles crashed along Louisiana’s I-55 amid dense fog, officials say | CNN

    7 people killed after more than 150 vehicles crashed along Louisiana’s I-55 amid dense fog, officials say | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    At least seven people were killed Monday in a slew of crashes along Interstate 55 in Louisiana’s St. John the Baptist Parish that involved at least 158 vehicles, state police say.

    More than 25 people were taken to hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to critical, Louisiana State Police said in an evening news release. And many victims sought medical help on their own, authorities said.

    Meteorologists earlier said “super fog” had heavily impacted the area, just west of New Orleans, around the time of the pileups. Super fog is a thick fog that develops in damp, smoky conditions and can send visibilities plummeting to less than 10 feet, according to the National Weather Service.

    Some of the vehicles caught on fire after the initial crash, authorities said. One of the vehicles involved in the wrecks was a tanker truck carrying “hazardous liquid,” police said without elaborating on the substance.

    Police were working Monday evening to move the truck due to a “compromised tank/trailer.”

    “Once the tanker is removed, first responders will be able to better assess the vehicles in that immediate area. It is possible that additional fatalities could be located,” state police added.

    Authorities have asked the public to reach out if they have a missing family member who was traveling through the area Monday morning.

    Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said he was praying for those killed and wounded in the crashes.

    “The combination of wildfire smoke and dense fog is dangerous, and I want to encourage all Louisianans in affected areas to take extreme caution while traveling,” Edwards said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

    “I also want to thank the first responders and medical personnel who have worked so diligently to save lives and render aid,” the governor added. “The best way you can help them, besides exercising caution on the road, is to donate blood at your local blood donation center. It will help replenish supplies that are being drained today to care for the wounded.”

    Earlier, St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff Mike Tregre told CNN affiliate WVUE about three 18-wheel trucks collided in the northbound lanes and were fully engulfed in flames. In the southbound lanes, there were two reported multi-car pileups, one of which was also producing flames.

    According to Tregre, all first responders had to be on foot because the crashes left the area “completely gridlocked.”

    “The situation is pretty bad,” he added.

    First responders had to navigate the area on foot because the dozens of wreckes left the area gridlocked, officials said.

    Visibility levels were below a quarter mile at a nearby weather station from just after 4 a.m. CDT until just before 10 a.m. CDT. Visibility likely neared zero at times throughout the morning when the fog was at its densest.

    The incredibly dense fog, known as “super fog,” was caused by fog combining with smoke from nearby fires.

    Louisiana has battled unprecedented wildfires, extreme heat and relentless drought since the summer. Exceptional drought, the highest category tracked by the US Drought Monitor, is in place across 62% of the state.

    In a statement Monday, the city of New Orleans said it is monitoring an active fire burning underground in forested wetlands between Bayou Sauvage National Urban Wildlife Refuge and the Michoud Canal.

    The lack of rain combined with the summer’s extreme heat dried out wetlands and reduced the water table’s depth, the city said. The blaze being monitored has been burning at and below surface level, it added.

    A repeat of Monday’s super fog is unlikely for Tuesday morning as “winds should be much stronger,” the National Weather Service in New Orleans said Monday on X, previously known as Twitter. Winds need to be calm or very light in order for dense fog to form.

    Patchy areas of dense fog may be possible but will not be as widespread as Monday, the city said, citing the weather service.

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  • Holocaust survivor visiting Israel safely escapes as war breaks out | CNN

    Holocaust survivor visiting Israel safely escapes as war breaks out | CNN

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    Los Angeles
    CNN
     — 

    “It went from wonderful to horrible in an instant,” Charlotte Hauptman said of that fateful Saturday morning. “Not only did we hear the bombs, but we also found out there was an invasion of Hamas coming into the country. And we didn’t know where or what or who they were.”

    Her instinct was to run. She’s an elfin 84-year-old with bright, engaging eyes. She wears her hair tied back and speaks with a similar no-nonsense style. “In those hours, it was just constant panic,” she told CNN after leaving Jerusalem and landing safely back home in Southern California. “I’m not afraid of death, but of what can come before.”

    Hauptman is a Holocaust survivor. So, this was the second time she’d fled a group targeting Jews. She fled Hamas in Israel in 2023 by plane as an old lady. She fled the Nazis in Italy in 1944 on foot as a small child.

    “It definitely shapes one’s essence,” she says of the Holocaust. “You’re familiar with the possibility of horror.” Hauptman still remembers the final fearful moments of her escape.

    “Two Nazi officers were walking towards us,” she recalls. The family was just a few miles from safety, from the chunk of Italy occupied by the Allies. “They said, ‘Heil Hitler!’ and we raised our hands. They kept walking, and we kept walking. Just a few feet past, there was a Madonna. We dropped to the ground and prayed in case they would turn around and take a look.”

    The Holocaust was the largest loss of Jewish life in their long history of persecution and pogroms. October 7, 2023, is now the deadliest day for Jews since then.

    “Let’s get any airline that goes anywhere!” was the conversation Hauptman had with her own daughter that morning. “And when we got on that plane it already felt like, ‘All right let’s go!’ And then they started selling seats, upgrades! And we thought, ‘Just go, just go!’”

    Charlotte Hauptman was in Israel this fall on a side-trip. The main event of her travels was a wedding in Italy. The bride, Myriam Lanternari, is the great-granddaughter of an Italian couple, Virgilio and Daria Virgili, who Hauptman credits with saving her life and the lives of her parents more than 80 years ago, sheltering them from the Nazis in a little village called Secchiano.

    “He took us into his home. They gave us food. They gave us shelter,” Hauptman said. “I knew not to talk to any German. And they came in the village.” The Nazis had a garrison nearby.

    “I remember leaflets being dropped from airplanes, German airplanes, warning the people if you help Jews or Partisans that’s the end of you,” Hauptman said. “No one ever outed us. They stayed protecting us.”

    The villagers concocted a story just in case any Germans started asking questions, Hauptman recalls. Her parents, Wolf and Esther, would be deaf mutes working in the field. And Charlotte would just lose herself in the clique of kids playing in the street.

    “I knew that our lives were in danger,” she says. “But then when things lightened up, I was able to be a child. And the Italian people were helpful in letting me have that. I always felt loved. My parents. The villagers. It was always a very warm feeling.”

    There was another Jewish family living in nearby Cagli, close to a German garrison. The two families would meet up from time to time.

    “I know that at some point we couldn’t visit them anymore,” says Hauptman. “Because they were taken and killed.”

    After allied British troops landed in Italy, the Germans became even more skittish and suspicious.

    “The village became more dangerous, if that’s even possible,” says Hauptman. “Virgilio Virgili decided to take us to the occupied zone where the Allies already were.”

    Virgilio and his young daughter Mercedes walked Charlotte and her family to safety. The Italian father and daughter were with the fleeing Jewish family when they all fell to their knees in front of that Madonna, just miles from safety, pretending to be nothing more than a gaggle of good Italian Catholics. It worked.

    But when Virgilio and Mercedes returned to the village, he was arrested. “Virgilio was nabbed by the Nazis, held for days, and tortured,” Hauptman said. And Mercedes was with her father when the Nazis arrived. “They came and grabbed him and threw him in a Jeep and she was crying and holding on as the Jeep was leaving and they kept hitting her on her hands to let go.” He never confessed and was eventually released.

    Charlotte Hauptman and Mercedes Virgili remained lifelong friends. Their children are friends. Their grandchildren are friends.

    A photo of Mercedes Virgili, left, and Charlotte Hauptman is seen on Hauptman's phone. The framed photo is on display in the Virgili family home in Secchiano, Italy.

    “I was born November 25, 1938, right in the middle of it,” says Hauptman, matter-of-factly.

    The future looked so bleak that her mother, Esther Fullenbaum, thought she should abort her baby. She didn’t. And would soon credit Charlotte with saving her life. By making her faint at just the right time.

    The story became part of family lore. The Gestapo, Nazi Germany’s secret police, were rounding up Jews in Hanover where the family lived. Esther, heavily pregnant, was at her sister’s apartment when officers knocked at the door. Esther fainted, so the Gestapo left her behind. But she would never see her sister or brother-in-law again. They were murdered in the camps.

    Esther fled to Milan, where her husband Wolf was working at the time. “I was born 10 days after she arrived,” adds Hauptman.

    The family lived there until Italy’s Jews were rounded up and taken to concentration camps. The Fullenbaums were taken to one in Calabria, in southern Italy. When that camp became too crowded, they were sent to live with a family near Venice.

    They had to check in with the police once a week. They were under curfew. And fear rose in Charlotte. “I remember being under the table one night crying,” she says. “My mother asked why I was crying, and I said, ‘Because you will both die and I will be alone.’”

    Italian police officers soon came with a warning. “They said tomorrow you’re due to be picked up and sent to Auschwitz. So, you better leave now, before curfew and disappear.”

    Years later, the family found the telegram, sent the next day by the Italian police to their German overlords, which ends: “THEY WERE NOT THERE. DESTINATION UNKNOWN.”

    From that point on, Charlotte – little more than a toddler – was on the run with her parents, protected by the Partisans, who eventually took her family to Secchiano and the Virgilis.

    Charlotte Hauptman shows off her mother's ring, which was returned to her years after her family traded it for food in Italy.

    “This story is not just my story, it’s their story,” says Hauptman. Her parents spent what little money they had buying food, usually from the village miller’s wife. Until they ran out of money. But the miller’s wife had a solution. In exchange for the wedding band on Esther’s finger, the family could have all the food they would ever need. “She was saving my mother’s honor,” says Hauptman. “So, she could feel comfortable getting the food.”

    Years later, while living in Los Angeles, Hauptman got a call from an Italian American couple from San Francisco. They had just spent their honeymoon in Secchiano and had met the miller’s son. He’d given them the ring and asked them to find its rightful owner in America. Hauptman wore the ring as she spoke to CNN.

    “I don’t know how they found us in LA, but they did… that’s the Italians!”

    After the Virgili family wedding in Italy, Hauptman and her daughter, Michele Goldman, flew straight to Israel.

    “She and I had talked about it years ago. We should do this mother and daughter trip,” Hauptman said. “We thought it would be a good bonding experience.” And it was, until the terror began, and she once again had to flee for her life.

    Hamas terrorists crossed the border from Gaza into Israel, where they slaughtered 1,400 Israelis and took between 100 and 200 people back to Gaza as hostages. The IDF is now hitting Hamas hard in Gaza, and more than 4,000 Palestinians have now also been killed.

    “We were sitting having breakfast in the hotel. We had made reservations for a tour to Bethlehem and Jerusalem,” said Hauptman. “Suddenly the alarms went off and I just looked at the faces of the locals and I read their faces. Panic.”

    Her daughter, Hauptman would later find out, was panicking on the inside. “She lost her husband five years ago when her boys were still young and she told me later that all she kept thinking was, ‘Please don’t let my boys lose another parent.’”

    Even now, and even here, in tranquil Southern California, Hauptman says she never feels totally safe. “Antisemitism is always there. It goes undercover for a while and then the opportunity arises. It’s a cyclical thing,” she says. “Don’t fool yourself. We’re sitting here now. In an hour, it can be different.”

    “Never Again,” is a slogan about the Holocaust that Hauptman says gets a lot of lip service. “It’s just a dream,” says Hauptman. And she is not hopeful of an imminent peace in the Middle East. “As long as there are people who want Israel annihilated and the Jews to disappear,” she says. “I can’t imagine it.”

    Hauptman also can’t imagine returning to Israel. Not yet. “But I do want to get over this enough,” she says. “Enough to go back.”

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  • Police are searching for motive in the death of the Detroit synagogue leader who was found with multiple stab wounds | CNN

    Police are searching for motive in the death of the Detroit synagogue leader who was found with multiple stab wounds | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Investigators are searching for a motive in the death of a Detroit synagogue leader found stabbed over the weekend, the city’s police chief said.

    The body of Samantha Woll, president of the board of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, was discovered with multiple stab wounds at her home on Saturday morning, the Detroit Police Department said in a statement. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

    Responding officers had followed “a trail of blood leading officers to the victim’s residence,” where it is believed the crime happened, the Detroit Police Department said in a statement.

    Police have not identified a suspect in the case, and it’s still unclear what led up to the killing.

    “Understandably, this crime leaves many unanswered questions,” Detroit Police Chief James E. White said in a statement on social media site X. “This matter is under investigation, and I am asking that everyone remain patient while investigators carefully examine every aspect of the available evidence.”

    “It is important that no conclusions be drawn until all of the available facts are reviewed,” White added.

    The FBI is aware of the incident, and “will assist the Detroit Police Department as requested,” the agency said in a statement to CNN.

    Michigan State Police have also been assigned to support local police in the case, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced. “Together, they will investigate this vicious crime and bring the perpetrator to justice,” she added.

    “My heart breaks for her family, her friends, her synagogue, and all those who were lucky enough to know her,” Whitmer said. “She was a source of light, a beacon in her community who worked hard to make Michigan a better place.

    Woll’s synagogue released a statement Saturday expressing shock over the her death.

    “We are shocked and saddened to learn of the unexpected death of Samantha Woll, our Board President,” the synagogue said. “May her memory be a blessing.”

    Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said he and Woll were celebrating the newly renovated synagogue together just a few weeks ago.

    “It was a project she successfully led with great pride and enthusiasm,” Duggan said. “This entire city joins with her family and friends in mourning her tragic death.”

    MoReno Taylor II, who worked with Woll on Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s reelection campaign in 2022, said her death was “a devastating loss.”

    “Sam was a bright ball of light,” he told CNN. “She lit up every room that she walked into. She always had a huge smile. She always gave you a firm handshake and asked about you, wanted to get to know who you were.”

    He remembered Woll as a kind soul who was always involved in her community and was dedicated to giving back.

    “She didn’t deserve this, and I really hope that they find a resolution to this as soon as possible and find whoever is responsible,” he said.

    Taylor said he knew Woll for five years, and thought of her as a little sister.

    “It’s very difficult to imagine that someone who was so genuine and so kind could befall this kind of tragedy,” he added.

    Attorney General Nessel also shared her condolences in a statement on Facebook, saying, “Sam was as kind a person as I’ve ever known. She was driven by her sincere love of her community, state and country.”

    Woll had also previously worked with Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, according to a post on Slotkin’s social media.

    The congresswoman said Woll “dedicated her short life to building understanding across faiths, bringing light in the face of darkness.”

    The Democrat said Woll worked for her by helping set up the office and leading it throughout her first term.

    “My heart aches that we have lost someone so dedicated to serving others in such a senseless act. I’ll miss her relentless desire to serve & her bright smile seemingly everywhere across the Detroit area,” the congresswoman said.

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  • Michigan State apologizes for displaying picture of Adolf Hitler on the videoboard before a football game | CNN

    Michigan State apologizes for displaying picture of Adolf Hitler on the videoboard before a football game | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Michigan State University apologized for displaying a picture of Adolf Hitler on the videoboard during a trivia quiz before the school’s football game against in-state rivals the University of Michigan on Saturday.

    Photos began circulating on social media before kickoff of Hitler on the videoboard at Spartan Stadium with a trivia question asking where he was born.

    “MSU is aware that inappropriate content by a third-party source was displayed on the videoboard prior to the start of tonight’s football game,” Michigan State athletic director Matt Larson said in a statement. “We are deeply sorry for the content that was displayed, as this is not representative of our institutional values.”

    The university will stop using the third-party source the image came from and implement stronger screening procedures for all videoboard content going forward, Larson added.

    In an email sent to alumni Sunday entitled, “The work we must do,” Michigan State Interim President Teresa K. Woodruff apologized for the image.

    “I am deeply sorry for the image displayed at Spartan Stadium, which made many of our community feel alienated and unsafe. It was unacceptable. I asked last evening for a full review of this university event and will take all necessary steps to align our messages and actions to our values,” she said.

    “I will work with our Jewish community and every member of minoritized populations to ensure Spartans feel that this is a place where everyone can live, work, go to class and attend events that are welcoming.”

    The apology is part of a grim series of events for Michigan State’s football program, which lost Saturday night’s game against its rival Michigan by a 49-0 score. The university has also moved to fire head coach Mel Tucker related to accusations of sexual harassment, just two years after he signed a massive 10-year, $95 million contract.

    The trivia also comes amid heightened tensions on many college campuses related to the Israel-Gaza war and amid concerns of rising antisemitism and Islamophobia.

    The quiz was part of a video from a YouTube page called The Quiz Channel, the university said. Videos from the same YouTube page has been used all season before each home game, the school said.

    “Prior to last night, the content has not been objectionable,” the school said. “As the statement acknowledges, we will implement stronger screening of all content to better ensure something like this never happens again.”

    Floris van Pallandt, the creator of The Quiz Channel, told CNN in an email the university’s use of his channel’s content was unauthorized.

    “I was completely unaware of this and only learned content created by me was being used due to this occurrence,” he wrote. “While I provide customised content packages for businesses, the utilisation of my publicly accessible YouTube content for stadium entertainment is highly questionable to say the least.”

    Van Pallandt said his channel is now receiving a surge of negative feedback.

    “MSU’s subsequent statement appears to allude to a third-party source, which seems to suggest The Quiz Channel as that very source. If this is accurate, that is unacceptable to me, as it is unacceptable for The Quiz Channel to bear reputational, performance, or financial repercussions due to MSU’s unsolicited use of our content,” he wrote.

    Further, he defended the question about Hitler’s birthplace as legitimate, if not necessarily in that context.

    “The trivia question displayed at the stadium is a legitimate one, and it’s imperative we don’t shy away from history’s more dark facets. Nonetheless, I would certainly not have chosen this particular question for a live stadium audience,” he wrote.

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  • Norma weakens to tropical storm after Mexico landfall, while Tammy bears down on Leeward Islands | CNN

    Norma weakens to tropical storm after Mexico landfall, while Tammy bears down on Leeward Islands | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Norma weakened to tropical storm strength Saturday after bringing hurricane-force winds, flash flooding and storm surge to Mexico’s Pacific coast. Meanwhile, another late-season storm continued to threaten island nations in the Atlantic.

    Norma made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 80 mph over the far southern portion of Mexico’s Baja California Sur – which includes Cabo San Lucas – Saturday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said.

    Meanwhile in the Atlantic, Hurricane Tammy made landfall in Barbuda as a Category 1 storm Saturday night, churning maximum sustained winds of 85 mph. Tammy has triggered hurricane warnings, with strong winds and heavy rainfall across portions of the Leeward Islands, a chain of several island nations and territories between the Caribbean Sea and the open Atlantic.

    Neither storm is a threat to the US mainland.

    Norma’s maximum sustained winds decreased to 70 mph, and the tropical storm was centered about 30 miles north-northeast of Cabo San Lucas as of Saturday night, the hurricane center said.

    The tropical storm is expected to cross the southernmost portion of Baja California Sur in the evening before emerging over the southern Gulf of California on Sunday.

    Mexico’s government downgraded the hurricane warning spanning from Todos Santos to Los Barriles to a tropical storm warning Saturday night, the hurricane center said.

    However, threats from Norma still remain, as it could bring life-threatening conditions to a tourist-friendly region of Mexico, home to a few hundred thousand people. A dangerous storm surge “is likely to produce coastal flooding in areas of onshore winds within the hurricane warning area” Saturday, the hurricane center said.

    Heavy rains and flash flooding from Norma are forecast to persist through the weekend, the hurricane center said.

    “Near the coast, the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves,” the hurricane center said.

    Norma will bring heavy rainfall and flooding to the area. Rainfall totals of 6 to 12 inches with isolated totals approaching 18 inches are possible.

    The weakening cyclone should turn toward the northeast and east-northeast and slowly approach the coast of Sinaloa in western Mexico on Sunday night into early Monday as a tropical storm, according to the hurricane center.

    Norma is forecast to move inland by early Monday and dissipate over the rugged terrain of western Mexico by Tuesday.

    Hurricane Tammy battering Leeward Islands

    In the Atlantic, Tammy maintained maximum sustained winds of 85 mph by Saturday night, with slow strengthening possible over the next few days, the National Hurricane Center said in its update at 8 p.m. ET Saturday.

    Tammy is expected to move near or over portions of the Leeward Islands – including Antigua and Barbuda – through Saturday night, and then move north of the northern Leeward Islands on Sunday.

    Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 25 miles from the storm’s center and tropical storm-force winds extended outward up to 125 miles.

    Hurricanes in this part of the Atlantic are rare for late October. Tammy is only the third hurricane to form this far southeast in the Atlantic since 1900, according to hurricane expert Michael Lowry.

    It’s also the latest-forming hurricane in this part of the Atlantic since 1966, according to Phil Klotzbach, a research scientist in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University.

    Experts previously warned hurricanes could form in unusual areas later in the season this year because of the exceptionally warm Atlantic Ocean.

    A storm surge of 1 to 3 feet is possible for parts of the Leeward Islands.

    Heavy rainfall will be one of the storm’s most serious threats and could result in flash flooding and mudslides. Rainfall totals for the Leeward Islands are expected to be 4 to 8 inches, but could reach a foot in places where the heaviest rain sets up. Rain should be lighter in Puerto Rico and the British and US Virgin Islands, where 1 to 2 inches of rain is most likely.

    Conditions will begin to improve from south to north across the island chain by late Sunday as the storm moves north out of the region.

    With Tammy in the Atlantic, only two names are left – Vince and Whitney – on the standard Atlantic storm name list before the hurricane center turns to an alternate list of names.

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