Crack mayor and brother to host online show

TORONTO — Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and his brother say they will host an online show so they can take their message straight to "Ford Nation," the term they use for the embattled mayor's conservative suburban supporters.

Doug Ford, a city councilor, told The Associated Press on Friday that the show is meant to "get their message out and not have that message be twisted by the media."

After the mayor admitted to smoking crack in a "drunken stupor" and refused to resign, Toronto's city council has stripped him of most of his powers. Rob Ford said he has "declared war" on the council after it acted in response to his drug use, public drunkenness and a series of outbursts that have made him an international media sensation, to the embarrassment of many Canadians.

The new online show follows last week's airing of a single episode of a TV talk show hosted by the Fords that premiered on Sun News Network before it was cancelled. Network executives said "Ford Nation" was the highest rated program ever on the two-year-old cable channel, but said it was too costly to make.

The Fords co-hosted the hour-long TV program. The mayor used much of the prerecorded program to defend himself and talk about his re-election bid next year.

Doug Ford said the new self-funded online series, also to be called "Ford Nation," will be uploaded to YouTube before Christmas.

"Numerous people have approached us around the world about doing a show and since technology has changed, you can get your message out easily to a larger audience on your own," Doug Ford said.

"The objective is to get a clear message out there," he said. "We'll say a sentence and the media will clip four or five words out of it and it won't be clear or balanced."

He said the mayor has given up drinking for good and is committed to leading a healthier lifestyle.

"If Rob comes back a new man, 70-80 pounds (30-36 kilograms) lighter, he's going to win the next election," he said.

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ObamaCare Web site shuts down for repairs

The entire ObamaCare Web site was suddenly taken down for 11 hours — from Friday night into Saturday morning — just before its long-awaited ­relaunch.

Officials said the extended shutdown, which began 9 p.m. Friday, was required to get the site ready to accept double the number of applicants starting Saturday.

"We have more upgrades that require more time," said Aaron Albright, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the problem-plagued portal.

The site has been taken down before, but usually only for four hours between 1 and 5 a.m.

Even before the unexpected move, health-industry experts were skeptical that the fix that's supposed to produce a "new and improved" site Saturday would be the game-changer President Obama has promised.

One insurance broker in Arizona — who has signed up just two clients through the site since it opened Oct. 1 — warned that no amount of repair could win back applicants.

Broker Jerry Anderson said people in his state have had such awful experiences on Healthcare.gov that they're going to stick with the insurance they have as long as they can.

"They're going to wait a year for the dust to settle," he predicted.

Anderson also said that those who have no choice but to enroll in ObamaCare are nervous.

"We're running out of time to enroll people for January 1. It's hard on everybody. There's a lot of angst out there," he said.

Obama has pledged that the "vast majority" of Americans would be able to sign up for the new national health plan once the site is fixed.

The trade association representing the nation's health insurers responded with a "we'll-believe-it-when-we-see-it" position.

"Healthcare.gov and the overall enrollment process continues to improve but there are significant issues that still need to be addressed. Until the enrollment process is working from end to end, many consumers will not be able to enroll in coverage [by Jan. 1]," cautioned Karen Ignagni, CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans.

Administration officials said an increase in the site's capacity should double the number of consumers who can simultaneously sign on, to 50,000 an hour.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Friday even published a "Holiday Shopping Tips guide for signing up without the hassles that have made the site a national laughingstock.

"There are 23 shopping days in December [until the deadline for coverage that starts Jan. 1]. No need to rush," Sebelius advised in an attempt to avoid a panicked rush of the uninsured on Saturday.

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Oh, shoot, dad injures his son

By Dana Sauchelli

November 30, 2013 | 6:53am

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A boy was injured in the Vladeck Houses Friday after his father's gun discharged, causing debris to fall on the boy, police said.

Falling debris injured a 4-year-old boy on the Lower East Side Friday when his dimwitted father accidentally fired a rifle at their apartment ceiling while cleaning the weapon, cops said.

Luis Gonzalez, 50, was preparing to go hunting when the gun went off in the Vladeck Houses at around 10:40 a.m., cops said.

The slug hit the kitchen ceiling, causing debris to fall on the boy and causing minor injuries, cops said.

Gonzalez had a permit for the gun but was charged with reckless endangerment and assault.

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North Korea’s US veteran hostage in chilling ‘confession’ video

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea state media claimed Saturday that an elderly U.S. tourist detained for more than a month has apologized for alleged crimes during the Korean War and for "hostile acts" against the state during a recent trip.

North Korean authorities released video showing 85-year-old Merrill Newman, wearing glasses, a blue button-down shirt and tan trousers, reading his alleged apology, which was dated Nov. 9 and couldn't be independently confirmed.

Pyongyang has been accused of previously coercing statements from detainees. There was no way to reach Newman and determine the circumstances of the alleged confession. But it was riddled with stilted English and grammatical errors, such as "I want not punish me."

"I have been guilty of a long list of indelible crimes against DPRK government and Korean people," Newman purportedly wrote in a four-page statement, adding: "Please forgive me."

The statement, carried in the North's official Korean Central News Agency, said the war veteran allegedly attempted to meet with any surviving soldiers he had trained during the Korean War to fight North Korea, and that he admitted to killing civilians and brought an e-book criticizing North Korea. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.

It wasn't clear what would happen to Newman now. But the statement alleges that Newman says if he goes back to the U.S. he will tell the truth about the country — a possible indication that Newman could be released.

The apology can be seen as Pyongyang taking steps needed to release Newman, said Yoo Ho-Yeol, a professor of North Korea studies at Korea University in Seoul. North Korea likely issued the confession in the form of an apology to resolve Newman's case quickly without starting legal proceedings, Yoo said.

The written apology for the alleged crimes of US citizen Merrill NewmanPhoto: AFP/Getty

North Korea is extremely sensitive about any criticism and regularly accuses Washington and Seoul of seeking to overthrow its authoritarian system through various means — claims the U.S. and South Korea dismiss. The State Department has repeatedly warned Americans about traveling to the country, citing the risk of arbitrary detention.

Newman, an avid traveler and retired finance executive, was taken off a plane Oct. 26 by North Korean authorities while preparing to leave the country after a 10-day tour. His traveling companion seated next to him, neighbor and former Stanford University professor Bob Hamrdla, was allowed to depart.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in a photo released November 22, 2013.Photo: AFP/Getty

Newman's son, Jeffrey Newman, said his father wanted to return to the country where he spent three years during the Korean War.

Efforts to reach Newman's family and friends in the U.S. were not immediately successful Saturday. The Associated Press left messages seeking comment.

Photo: AFP/Getty

North Korea has detained at least six Americans since 2009, including two journalists accused of trespassing and several Americans, some of whom are of Korean ancestry, accused of spreading Christianity. Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American missionary and tour operator, has been detained for more than a year. North Korea sees missionary work as a Western threat to its authoritarian government.

Whatever the reasons behind the detention, it could hurt impoverished North Korea's efforts to encourage a growing tourism trade seen as a rare source of much-needed foreign currency.

Tourism is picking up in North Korea, despite strong warnings from the State Department, most recently this week. Americans travel there each year, many as part of humanitarian efforts or to find long-lost relatives or to see a closed society few outsiders get to visit.

___

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Nets Rewind: Benchings, game plans & Lopez

HOUSTON – Here are my three thoughts on the Nets' 114-95 loss to the Rockets in Houston Friday night:

1.   Nets coach Jason Kidd drew a line in the sand Friday night by benching starters Shaun Livingston, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce and Andray Blatche for the entire second half of what was a much uglier loss than the final scoreline and 19-point deficit would lead you to believe.

Kidd summed things up nicely after the game when he was asked about why he chose to bench those four players when he said, "I had to go with the guys that were playing hard, and those were the guys, and they played for the whole second half."

They certainly did, as Kidd only played Tyshawn Taylor, Alan Anderson, Tornike Shengelia, Mirza Teletovic, Brook Lopez, Mason Plumlee and Reggie Evans in the second half, playing Taylor and Shengelia for the entire second half and only playing Lopez for a few minutes in the third quarter before sitting him down after the center reached his minutes limit.

The question now is how they'll respond when the Nets face the Grizzlies Saturday night in Memphis. The Nets desperately need guys like Johnson (2-for-10, five points) and Pierce (1-for-6, two points) to step up and play much, much better in Memphis if they want to get a victory and avoid ending the month of November with an unbelievable 4-13 record, as well as losses in 11 of their final 13 games of the month.

2.  When you play the Houston Rockets, you know they are going to attack you in three ways offensively: by driving to the rim, shooting 3-pointers and getting to the 3-point line. Kidd even mentioned as much before the game.

That's why it was stunning to see the Nets fail to stop the Rockets in any of those areas Friday night. The Rockets scored all 114 of their points from those three spots on the floor: 40 points in the paint, 57 on a season-high 19 3-pointers, and 17 while going 17-for-20 from the foul line.

In a game full of things to point out and criticize the Nets for doing – or, in many cases, failing to do so – this was easily the most glaring one, as Livingston astutely pointed out postgame.

"The coaches, they gave us the game plan, and the Rockets came out and showed us what the game plan was," he said, perfectly summing up the Nets' pathetic effort defensively.

3. For all of the disappointing things that came out of Friday night's game, Brook Lopez's play was an enormous positive. Lopez, who had missed the previous seven games with a sprained left ankle, finished with 16 points and two blocked shots in 21 minutes, played his usually efficient brand of ball offensively and did a nice job of containing Dwight Howard defensively.

It was only more alarming that Lopez played, and played that well, and the Nets were still steamrolled in every possible way Friday night. How bad would it have been if he didn't take the floor? It's hard to imagine it could have been worse, but it probably would have been.

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Canada involved in diplomatic spying by NSA: report

OTTAWA — Canada let the US National Security Agency conduct widespread surveillance during the 2010 Group of 20 summit in Toronto, according to a Canadian Broadcasting Corp. report that cited documents from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

The report is the latest potential embarrassment for the NSA as a result of Snowden's leaks. He has already revealed that the agency spied on close allies such as Germany and Brazil, prompting heated diplomatic spats with Washington.

The CBC report, first aired late on Wednesday, cited briefing notes it said showed the United States turned its Ottawa embassy into a security command post during a six-day spying operation by the NSA as President Obama and other world leaders met that June.

The operation was no secret to Canadian authorities. An NSA briefing note described the operation as "closely coordinated with the Canadian partner," the report said.

The Canadian equivalent of the NSA is the Communications Security Establishment Canada, or CSEC.

Last month, Brazil angrily demanded an explanation for media reports that said the CSEC's agents had targeted the South American nation's mines and energy industry.

The documents did not reveal the precise targets of the NSA operation, but described part of the US eavesdropping agency's mandate at the Toronto summit as "providing support to policymakers," the report said.

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37 Reasons to catch a case of the Cyber Mondays

Ignore all those queued-up masochists dead set on rugby-scrumming each other over Black Friday — a k a when your friendly neighborhood big box stores turn into killing fields.

You, friend, are smarter. You are waiting a full 72 hours after Thanksgiving to indulge your shopaholism online during Cyber Monday, where travel deals will be especially on tap.

Fifty percent off over here, $500 resort credits over there — not only can e-booking your next trip to Pago Pago from the comfort of your favorite beanbag chair save you big-time bucks, but you can totally do it without pants. Last we heard, Walmart's greeters frown on that.

So exercise a little restraint and patience for a change, sit back, watch some football, and twerk that turkey all nice and slow-like — Dec. 2 will be here soon enough when, in your best vocal tribute to The Bangles, you can sing: "It's just another magic Monday!"

Or not. Just don't miss any of these 36 vacation deals from near, far, and everywhere in between. Why 37? Why not? Prices are per room, per night, unless otherwise noted. Enjoy!

St. Maarten

45% off at the Dutch side's all-inclusive twinies, Sonesta Maho Beach Resort & Casino (fam-friendly) and Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort, Casino & Spa (adults-only), when you use code BFSALE by 11:59 p.m. Cyber Monday. Good for stays now through mid-December 2014, you need to book a minimum of five nights for travel through April 20, and four nights min. for stays after that. Reduced rates start from $146pp at Maho, $154pp at Great Bay (sonesta.com/stmaarten).

Guatemala

35% off at luxe-y lakeside Casa Palopo (as low as $91) — take a goggled dip in your front yard, otherwise known as Lago de Atitlán; they just found a sunken Mayan city hiding on its 1,000-feet-deep floor, dontcha know! — when you stay May 1-June 30, Sept. 1-Oct. 31 (for all you Day of the Dead heads). Mention "Cyber Offer" when you email to book: reservations@casapalopo.com by Dec. 2.

San Diego

$100 credit, a casita upgrade and — oh yeah, they went there — daily juice upgrades (home-made, ya'll) at Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa when you DM them on Twitter, @RanchoValencia, this Cyber Monday. Valid for stays Dec. 1-23 (ranchovalencia.com).

Honduras

50% off rooms at the Lodge at Pico Bonito — where birders follow tweets the old-fashioned way! — when you book Monday. Valid for travel through Dec. 20 of next year (picobonito.com).

Palm Desert, Calif.

30% off rooms at the frond-fond JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa when you book anytime on Cyber Monday (24 hour window, starting at 12 a.m. their time) using code DOD,which we assume has nothing to do with the military-industrial complex. Or does it? Travel Dec. 3-22, Jan. 2-12; rez's are non-refundable (marriott.com).

Phoenix

$199 special holiday rate at the Historic Hotels of America-membered Royal Palms, at the pedicured toe of Camelback Mountain, including a free room upgrade, $25 Alvadora spa credit, a $25 T. Cook's dining credit and two "garden-to-glass" cocktails in The Mix Up Bar (royalpalmshotel.com).

Riviera Maya

50% off at the super-private residentialish Esencia Estate, set on 50 acres of Mexican god country, when you book a non-refundable stay — good through Dec. 20 of next year — this Monday (hotelesencia.com).

Cancun

30% off at the salt-of-the-earth (or, at least, salt-of-your-marg) CasaMagna Marriott Resort, with its humble rooms going for as little as $90, when using promo code 16C. Good for travel Dec. 3-April 12, book by Dec. 2 (casamagnacancun.com).

Peru

20% off at the JW Marriott Cusco, in all its 11,154-feet-above-sea-level, 5-star glory — as low as $204. Good for stays Jan. 2-March 3. Use promo code I24 when booking; do so by Dec. 2 (jwmarriottcusco.com).

Stowe

Up to 62% off when you buy one night at Mount Mansfield-plotted Topnotch and add a consecutive Monday night stay for only $125. Or, stay Monday alone for only $195 (40% off). What Topnotch lacks in modest nomenclature, it makes up for in spa-gasms — 30 treatment rooms fill a 35,000 square foot spa space. Good for stays through June 6, 2014 (topnotchresort.com).

Photo: Topnotch

The Bahamas

Buy four, get five nights on the private, family-owned Kamalame Cay, sitting pretty right off the northeastern coast of Andros. Book by EOD Monday, travel through March 31 of next year; and no combining with other offers, you (kamalame.com).

Tucson

50% off all-inclusive rates (get your three "hearty" daily meals and kiddie programs, here) when you book at least four nights at the Mild Wild West-themed Tanque Verde Ranch by EOD Cyber Monday. Valid for stays Nov. 29-March 10. Guests have already started booking this deal as of Black Friday, so giddy up (tanqueverderanch.com).

Nationwide

20% to 40% off rooms at more than 500 Starwood properties in our greater hemispherical 'hood when you book their Cyber Monday special through Dec. 6 (good for stays through Jan. 26 at their hotels; through April 27 at their resorts). Sample rate sales start from $169 at Sheraton Kauai, $79 at the Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa, $190 at the Westin St. John Resort & Villas, $169 at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa, $129 a the Westin Snowmass Resort, $87 at Sheraton New Orleans, $95 at Sheraton Chicago and $159 at the Westin St. Francis San Francisco on Union Square (spg.com/cybermonday).

Dominican Republic

40% off Casa Bonita in Barahona, which happily calls the sole biosphere reserve in the DR its next door neighbor, when you book one of its cabanas on Monday — it's only got a dozen of them in total! Valid for travel through Dec. 20, 2014 (casabonitadr.com).

New York

20% off rooms at the stylish (non-strip club) pride of Long Island City, the Z New York Hotel, when you book between the cutesy window of 2:20 a.m. and 2:20 p.m. on Cyber Monday. Good for stays Jan. 1-March 31, use promo code CYBR (zhotelny.com).

San Diego

15% off in the form of a top-secret booking code when you follow and hashtag the folks at the freshly reno'd and harbor-peeping Manchester Grand Hyatt on Cyber Monday: @ManchGrandHyatt. Code valid for stays through Dec. 30 (manchestergrand.hyatt.com).

Europe

$100 off Rail Europe passes — including Global (first-class choo-choo chicness in over 20 Euro countries) and Select (national rail access when you travel between three, four or five contiguous countries) — when you use code CYBER2013 at checkout. Also, if you book a Trenitalia ticket, they'll throw in a Vatican/Rome City Card (fast acccess to museums, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, etc.), worth over $130. For that, use code ROMEFREE. Purchase through Dec. 6 (raileurope.com).

Utah

Free room upgrade at the Red Mountain Resort in St. George when you book their popular Essential Retreat package on Monday and only on Monday. Includes three purportedly good-for-you meals a day, guided hikes, fitness classes, healthy cooking demos and other life-extending stuff. Use code UPGRADE when you book, good for travel  through Feb. 20, 2014 (redmountainresort.com).

Cambridge, Mass.

20% off best available rate at The Charles Hotel all day Monday. And you thought you got smarter staying at a Holiday Inn Express last night — this place is based in Harvard Square. Exercise those smarts and book specifically between 11 a.m.-12 p.m. On Monday (EST) and they're knock off a full 50%! No promo code needed; food for travel through March 31, 2014 (charleshotel.com).

Photo: Charles Hotel

Chicago

Book two, get three nights at the Gold Coast-squatting Thompson Chicago. The Cyber Monday deal includes a triplet of nights in Superior King digs, private transpo to and fro the airport and a "special welcome amenity" — book anytime from Dec. 2-9 to find out what it is! (No spoilers.) Total 3-night package price tag reads only $549 — take it up a notch in the Penthouse Loft Suite for $899. Use promo code CYBERM2013; valid for stays  Dec. 2-Feb. 28 (thompsonchicago.com).

New York

Up to 40% off the pamptastic Guerlain Spa inside the Waldorf Astoria when you book any oh Cyber Monday's 24 hours/ Save $100 on 50-minute Swedish massages and Radiance facials, complimentary Guerlain Revitalizing Super Aqua eye mask, champagne and get 30 percent off gift cards over $250 (mathemagically, a $250 gift card would be $175, e.g.). The gift cards must be redeemed by June 1 (guerlainspas.com).

Tucson

$525 per person/per night for a casita-style room at the glossy trav mag and well-heeled hippie fave Miraval Arizona Resort & Spa, including $550 in resort credit, all healthy meals, smoothies and snacks courtesy of Executive Chef Justin Macy (sahwy, booze is extra), unlimited participation in self-discovery activities, access to the gym and new Life in Balance Spa, free shuttling from the airport or free valet parking if you drive yourself. Stay a t least three nights through April 30. Book Dec. 2-6 (miravalresorts.com).

San Juan

30% off everybody's favorite nunnery-turned-Small Luxury Hotel of the World, El Convento, one of the highlight's of old town. That translates to only $180 a night for ASAP stays through Dec. 2-20 — and you have to book it Monday by dialing 787-723-9020.

Worldwide

10% off "Express Deals" coupon when you book two nights or longer at 2+-star hotels on Priceline come Cyber Monday. Use code CYBER13. Also available that day: knock 50% off all flights for travel before Dec. 15, or enjoy $3/day bonus cash sale when you rent a car if you're fan enough to subscribe to Priceline's newsletter. The house that Shatner built is also offering a Holiday Hotel Sale, good for stays before Feb. 15, which knocks 25 percent off thousands of hotels when booked by Dec. 15 (priceline.com).

Cancun

30% off rooms at the (forgive its tinkering in progress) JW Marriott Cancun Resort & Spa, sinking starting rates to $146. Valid for travel Dec. 3-April 12. Use code 16C, Sunday or Monday, to book (jwmarriottcancun.com).

New York

$199 and up at the New York Hilton Midtown or, for another 30 clams, the Waldorf Astoria — cray low for this time of year. You have from Cyber Monday to Dec. 6 to make rezzies (HiltonNYCCyberWeek.com).

Nationwide

Discounts at Benchmark Resorts & Hotels on the cheap this Cyber Monday: Turtle Bay in Oahu, Chaminade Resort & Spa in Cali, Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado, Jackson Hole's Snow King Resort, the Scottsdale Resort, Eldorado Hotel & Spa in New Mexico, the Hotel Contessa in San Antonio, Tennessee's Chattanoogan Hotel, Virginia's Inn at Virginia Tech, West Virginia's Stonewall Resort, Chicagoland's Eaglewood Resort & Spa and Florida's Bonaventure Resort & Spa are all offering a little somethin' somethin'; pick a card, any card (BenchmarkCyberMonday.com). Ditto for Personal Luxury Resorts and Hotels: All five in Florida, the Inn at Rancho Sante Fe in San Diego, Bardessono in Napa, Willows Lodge in Washington's wine country and, last but not least, Seattle's Hotel 1000 and Sorrento Hotel (PersonalLuxuryCyberMonday.com).

Florida

50% off all rooms at the Tommy Bahama-motifed (in a good way) Jupiter Beach Resort & Spa for stays Jan. 2-March 3. Book Sunday or Monday; use code CYBER when you do (jupiterbeachresort.com).

Dominican Republic

50% off at the quiet peninsula-occupying and Small Luxury Hotels of the World card-carrying Sublime Samana, known for its healthy addiction to pools. Travel by Dec. 20, 2014 (sublimesamana.com).

Aruba

Buy three, get six nights at the Marriott Resort & Stellaris Carino in high rise-happy Palm Beach. Book Sunday or Monday using promo code D52. Stay April 20-Nov. 22 (arubamarriott.com).

Panama

75% off rooms at the Westin Playa Bonita in Panama City — talk about a love canal, amirite? Travel through Dec. 2 of next year, offer starts Black Friday (westinplayabonita.com).

New York

25% off rooms at self-proclaimed LGBT-friendly "urban resort" The Out NYC — for better or worse based in Times Square, so at least the urban part is spot on — when you book Cyber Monday. Includes a $20 voucher for the spa, two tickets to the off-Broadway show "Hot Mess Drag Revue," two cocktails on arrival. Stay Jan. 2-March 20 (theoutnyc.com/specials).

Dixie

30% off best available rates at 14 Marriott resorts in Florida and South Carolina, with the lowest starting at a hyper-modest $90. Book Monday only using promo code 16C. Stay windows vary by resort, but plan on somewhere in the now-ish Dec. 1-Jan. 12 range (marriott.com/resortcybersale).

Curacao

45% off the Santa Barbara Beach & Golf Resort in the Caribbean's Deep South  when you opt for all-inclusive — 35% off if you go the a la carte route. Book Monday only using code CYBERMON; travel through Christmas eve of next year (santabarbararesortcuracao.com).

Orlando

$79 and up at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista, now an "official" hotel of Walt Disney World — you go, girl — when you book your vacation on Monday (orlandolakebuenavista.hilton.com).

Anguilla

40% off at the CuisinArt Golf Resort & Spa when you book a Junior Suite (which drops it down to $395, a bargain 'round these parts this time of year) when you book on Monday, but you have to travel by Dec. 20 of this year (cuisinartresort.com).

Washington, Conn.

10% bonus to any gift certificate you purchase Monday for the Mayflower — now officially a Grace Hotel as of last August — set on 58 blue-blooded acres less than two hours from NYC. No limit on the gift certificate's value, usable on spa, meals, accommo alike — so buy $1,000 worth, get $100 tacked on, and so on. Call 860-868-9466.

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Israel court fines woman over not circumcising son

JERUSALEM — An Israeli rabbinic court has fined a woman hundreds of dollars for refusing to circumcise her baby son, officials said Thursday, in a landmark case that has sparked a new uproar over the role of religion in the Jewish state.

The case shines a spotlight on a long-running debate over religious coercion in Israel, where generations of leaders have struggled to find a balance between the country's Jewish and democratic character.

The matter ended up in the rabbinic court as part of an ongoing divorce battle. In the context of the proceedings, the woman announced her refusal to circumcise the boy, saying she did not wish to harm him. The Israeli rabbinate's high court ruled last week the circumcision was for the child's welfare and that the woman must pay $150 each day she refuses to have the circumcision performed.

"The decision is not based only on religious law. It is for the welfare of a Jewish child in Israel not to be different from his peers in this matter," said Shimon Yaakovi, legal adviser to the rabbinical court.

He said it was the first time a religious court in Israel has punished a parent for refusing to circumcise a child. A year ago, a civil court also ruled in favor of circumcision in a parental dispute.

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Cop shoots ‘thief’ as Black Friday violence erupts across country

CHICAGO — A police officer responding to a call of alleged shoplifting at a  Chicago-area store Thursday shot the driver of a car that was dragging a fellow cop, authorities said — just one of several reports of violence ahead of Black Friday, according to reports.

In the Chicago case, police shot the driver just after 10 p.m. Thursday after responding to a call of two people allegedly shoplifting clothes from a Kohl's store in Romeoville, Police Chief Mark Turvey said at a news conference in that southwest Chicago area suburb.

"As officers approached the front door, one of the two subjects ran out the door into the parking lot" and the officer chased him to a waiting car, Turvey said.

"The officer was struggling with the subject as he got into the car and then the car started to move as the officer was partially inside the car. The officer was dragged quite some distance. He couldn't get out," Turvey said.

The wounded driver and the dragged officer were both taken for hospital treatment of non-life-threatening shoulder injuries, and three people were arrested, Turvey said.

Modal Trigger

Jervis Benjamin, 8, of Wayzata, Minn. rides in a cart while he and his parents shop Target's Black Friday sale, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013 in Minnetonka, Minn.

Craig Lassig / AP Images for Target

Employees handle bags filled with purchases behind a register at the Macy's Herald Square flagship store, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, in New York.

AP Photo/John Minchillo

Shoppers hurry to check out in a crowded Walmart after shopping for Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving Day, in Sugar Land, Texas.

Demotix

Customers shop at the Best Buy store, which opened at 1am, in Cambridge, Massachusetts November 29, 2013.

REUTERS/Brian Snyder

A man pushes two televisions in a shopping cart at a Target store in Colma, Calif., on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013.

AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

A boy squats on the floor while shoppers wait in line to pay for their purchases at a Gap factory store at the Citadel Outlets on Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, in Los Angeles.

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Kena Betancur/Getty Images

Kena Betancur/Getty Images

People enter Macy's Herald Square as the store opens its doors at 8 pm Thanksgiving day on November 28, 2013 in New York City.

Kena Betancur/Getty Images

Best Buy bargain hunters swarm manager Ramon Estevez, right, as he hands out scarves and hats that will identify those eligible for specially priced door-buster sale items late in the evening on Thanksgiving Day,

AP Photo/David Tulis

Best Buy employees rally after a pep talk as they prepare to open the store to shoppers Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, in Overland Park, Kan.

AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

Shoppers line up outside of a Best Buy in Emeryville CA, on the first night of Black Friday sales.

Demotix

People wait in line to enter the Michael Kors store at Citadel Outlets on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, in Los Angeles.

AP/Jae C. Hong

Shoppers fill the aisles at the Macy's department store in Manhattan on Thanksgiving night. There has been no reported incidents at the store.

EPA

Videos of the chaos have also emerged online, with one showing shoppers at an unidentified Walmart getting violent over discount items, according to Mediate.

Other clips on YouTube reportedly shows crowds storming a Walmart in Mayaguez in Puerto Rico, and shoppers getting violent over tech bargains in Forth Worth, Texas.

In New Jersey, police say they pepper sprayed and arrested a man at a northern New Jersey Wal-Mart after a Thanksgiving shopping dispute.

Authorities say 23-year-old Richard Ramos became "belligerent" while arguing with a Wal-Mart shopper over a television Thursday night, and then attacked a Garfield police officer when the manager called for help.

Police tell The Star-Ledger that officers used pepper spray to subdue the Passaic man. No one else was injured.

Police say the store was packed with Black Friday shoppers at the time of the incident.

Ramos is charged with aggravated assault of a police officer, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

In California, a San Bernardino police officer was hurt breaking up one of three fights at a Wal-Mart between two shoppers, after the store let thousands of people enter ahead of its scheduled 8 p.m. opening — a decision that cops said sparked the chaos, the San Bernardino Sun reported. Store managers said 3,000 people were jamming the front entrance of the Rialto store, the paper reported.

Warning: Bad Language

That officer suffered a broken wrist.

And in Virginia, an argument over a Wal-Mart parking space in Claypool Hill ended with a 35-year-old man being stabbed in the arm, leaving a wound that cut "down to the bone," local TV station WVVA reported.

More than a dozen major retailers from Wal-Mart to Target to Toys R Us opened on Thanksgiving Day and planned to stay open through Black Friday, the traditional start to the holiday shopping season. As a result, crowds formed early and often throughout the two days.

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Accident or not? Tomlin’s sideline step stirs controversy

On Wednesday, Nets coach Jason Kidd gave us Cupgate. On Thanksgiving night, in a Steelers-Ravens divisional clash that wasn't lacking for dramatic, game-changing quirks, Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin stepped up — literally — with his own sly bit of well-timed sideline tap-dancing.

The Steelers had just trimmed their deficit to 13-7 in the third quarter when on the ensuing kickoff, Baltimore's burner of a return man, Jacoby Jones, broke free up the left sideline. Only Tomlin, with his back to the play seemingly watching the footrace on the Jumbotron, had wandered through the white-painted sideline area into the field of play, perilously close to Jones' path.

Tomlin hop-scotched out of the way at the last instant, and Jones was dragged down at the Pittsburgh 27-yard line, preventing a possible touchdown. The Ravens wound up with a field goal on the drive and held on for a 22-20 win — or else the controversy would have been amplified, because the replays show Tomlin sneaking a peek over his shoulder for just how to time his "block" on Jones.

Call it canny gamesmanship or call it low-down cheating, it's a good bet the NFL will look into the incident and possibly levy a fine against Tomlin. The referees were within their rights to flag the Steelers for unsportsmanlike conduct on the play — as happened to the Jets last Sunday against the same Ravens — and even could have awarded a touchdown if they judged the interference prevented a score.

Tomlin said, by way of explanation, he always tracks those plays on the big screen.

"It provides a better perspective for me," Tomlin said. "I lost my placement as he broke free and saw at the last second how close I was to the field of play.

"I was wrong.  I accept responsibility for it."

And Jones, though he gestured at the Steelers sideline right after he was tackled, wasn't pointing fingers.

"I don't blame other people's actions," Jones said. "I still should have scored."

But Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco wasn't so shy about blasting Tomlin's tactic.

"I took some flak for joking around in the Super Bowl and saying that maybe you should just run onto the field and tackle somebody if this guy breaks it. That's exactly what he just did," Flacco said, according to CSN Baltimore.

"He was looking at the big screen the whole entire time. He knew where he was, and he knew where Jacoby was. He pulled my move."

And Baltimore wideout Torrey Smith mocked Tomlin's two-step in a post on Instagram that carried the caption: "Do the stanky legggggg."

With AP

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Former Bravest gets new trial in pot-grow bust

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By Associated Press

November 28, 2013 | 4:48am

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Patrick Murray leaves federal court in 2009.

Photo: William Farrington

A federal appeals court has ordered a new trial for a former FDNY firefighter convicted of growing marijuana in a Queens house.

The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday ordered the retrial of Patrick Murray. The court said Murray was not permitted to properly rebut cellphone data that prosecutors provided to jurors at the last minute. His lawyer did not immediately comment.

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Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher finalize divorce

LOS ANGELES — Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are officially divorced.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon finalized the couple's split on Tuesday, roughly a year after Kutcher sought to end the couple's marriage.

Moore, 51, and Kutcher, 35, were married in September 2005, and the actress announced they had separated in November 2011.

The former couple has no children together.

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Yale professor dies in jail cell after arrest

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A Yale University professor accused of fighting police officers who tried to handcuff him after a domestic-dispute complaint was taken to a jail and died the next day, authorities said Wednesday.

Samuel See was found unresponsive in his cell at the Union Avenue detention facility on Sunday and later was pronounced dead, New Haven police said. The medical examiner's office said the cause of his death was pending further study. Police and court officials are investigating the death.

See, 34, was an assistant professor of English and American studies who was on leave from Yale, the university said.

Yale said it was deeply saddened to learn of See's death and encouraged those who need support to reach out to it for counseling.

"Our condolences go out to his family, faculty colleagues, and students, and his friends at Yale and elsewhere," Yale said in a statement.

See was charged on Saturday with violating a protective order, threatening and interfering with police officers, police said. He was treated for a cut above his eye at a hospital, they said.

Police could not say what caused the injury.

Police said they received a complaint of a domestic dispute shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday. They said officers spoke with Saunder Ganglani, who identified See as his husband and said he went to the home they shared to retrieve his belongings. Ganglani was charged with violating a protective order.

A telephone message was left with Ganglani on Wednesday.

Police said officers told See there was a second protective order protecting Ganglani from him.

See became enraged, yelling that it was his house and that he shouldn't be arrested, police said. See fought with the officers when they tried handcuffing him, police said.

As See was led to a police car, he yelled to one of the arresting officers, "I will kill you … I will destroy you," police said.

See was delivered to the detention center at about 9:10 p.m. Saturday by police and was alert and communicating with marshals throughout his detainment until marshals found him unresponsive in his cell at about 6 a.m. Sunday, Judicial Branch spokeswoman Rhonda Stearley-Hebert said. Marshals immediately provided CPR and other lifesaving efforts, until relieved by New Haven Fire and Rescue, she said.

The Judicial Branch is conducting a review to make sure policies and procedures were followed, Stearley-Hebert said.

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Macy’s balloons will fly!

Snoopy, Spider-Man, SpongeBob — you didn't disappoint us!

The iconic big balloons of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade are soaring between Midtown's skyscrapers despite the blustery weather.

"We were worried! I didn't want to come here for nothing," said Nicole Koeppel, 37, a Long Island nurse who shivered at Sixth Avenue and 36th Street with her daughter, Amber, 9, and other family members.

"I'm looking forward to Snoopy and SpongeBob!" the little girl exclaimed from under her big red puffy coat.

The New York Police Department had been poised to yank the parade's 16 helium giants had sustained winds exceeded 23 mph and gusts topped 34 mph.

But while it does feel arctic to the brave families huddled along the parade route, the winds were still calm enough for an all-clear.

"I'm very excited, even if I'm freezing cold," said Maryann Mccrumb, 50, who traveled all the way from Florida to watch the parade.

"I'd be very disappointed without the balloons," she added. "I wanted to see it all in action. That's why I'm here."

The Snoopy and Woodstock balloon float makes its way down 6th Avenue during the 87th Macy's Thanksgiving day parade in New York November 28, 2013.Photo: REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

The parade started 9 a.m. at 77th Street, goes down Central Park West, then bustles over to Sixth Avenue, ending in front of Macy's at 34th Street.

Balloons have only been grounded once in the parade's 87-year history, when bad weather kept them from flying in 1971.

The city enacted strict rules after fierce winds in 1997 caused a Cat in the Hat balloon to topple a light pole and seriously injure a spectator.

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Horror home invasion survivor reveals new baby boy

The Connecticut doctor whose wife and two daughters were killed in a 2007 home invasion has released a photo of his baby boy with new wife, Christine.

Dr. William Petit and Christine welcomed William Petit III on Novemeber 23. The couple met while she was volunteering for the charity foundation that Petit created in memory of his wife Jennifer Hawke-Petit and their daughters, 17-year-old Hayley and 11-year-old Michaela.

Dr. Petit, left, with his daughters Michaela, front, Hayley, center rear, and his wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, on Cape Cod, Mass. in 2007.Photo: AP

Petit's first wife daughters died when they were held hostage for hours and their home in Cheshire was set on fire in 2007. Petit was beaten, tied up and taken to the basement, but he managed to escape and crawl to a neighbor's house for help.

Two men, Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes, are awaiting execution for the killings.

Dr. Petit with his new wife Christine Petit who gave birth to baby William Petit III on November 23.Photo: Douglas Healey

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Ex-Nokia engineers launching new smartphone

HELSINKI — A team of ex-Nokia engineers is launching a smartphone based on the former world No. 1 cellphone maker's old software, hoping to grab a share of a highly competitive market.

The Jolla handset's Sailfish operating platform is based on MeeGo software, which Nokia abandoned in 2011 when it switched over to using Microsoft Corp.'s Windows system.

The 4.5-inch phone features an eight megapixel camera, supports fast 4G Internet connections and includes Nokia's HERE maps covering 180 countries. It is compatible with some 85,000 apps by Google's Android.

It will first launch in Finland on Wednesday and then in 135 other countries.

Jolla was founded in 2011 after Nokia laid off thousands of workers as it lost market share to rivals. It has over 90 employees in Finland and Hong Kong.

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Milwaukee Bucks: Don’t put a strip club next door!

MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Bucks, Milwaukee Admirals and Marquette University are on record in opposition to a proposed strip club near the Bradley Center in downtown Milwaukee.

The three organizations have sent a joint letter to Mayor Tom Barrett and members of the City Council expressing their concern about the club that wants to rent a city-owned building across the street from the main entrance to the arena.

The Bucks, Admirals (a minor league hockey team) and Marquette say the city should do everything it can to keep the area family friendly. They say the presence of a strip club will change the way the neighborhood is perceived and will hurt their business.

Downtown Silk MKE has filed a proposal with the city seeking tavern and entertainment licenses for the vacant 8,800-square-foot restaurant and bar space.

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Mom of slain cop sues after being denied free turkey

What a bunch of turkeys!

The Vietnamese mother of a slain NYPD cop plans to file a discrimination lawsuit against a Long Island Pathmark after store managers allegedly accused her of trying to redeem a free turkey with a counterfeit ticket.

May Schaberger, mother of Alain Schaberger who was killed while responding to a domestic violence call in 2011, tried to use her Shady Brook Farm Turkey coupon that's given to families of officers who died in the line of duty.

She was shopping at the Islip Pathmark on Nov. 19. The same store accepted her coupon last year, according to a statement by the family's attorney.

Two managers allegedly accused the 63-year-old mother of downloading the coupon from the internet even after she showed them a NYPD family member ID and a letter from the turkey company.

The manager allegedly told Mrs. Schaberger that he would not accept the voucher.

"She was humiliated in front of a long line of people who waited impatiently behind her on line while the managers argued with her," her lawyer, Rosemarie Arnold said.

"Of course if she wasn't Vietnamese, this would not have happened."

Arnold added that "These Pathmark employees have only added to the pain the Schaberger family feels at this time of year."

Thousands of fellow Finest attended Alain Schaberger's funeral in May 2011. Both Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Commissioner Raymond Kelly gave eulogies.

The 10-year veteran cop died after a thuggish Brooklyn man who was arguing with his girlfriend pushed him over a railing and he crashed onto a cement landing.

But the Schaberger family won't go hungry this holiday season, Arnold said that the mother's coupon was finally honored by another Pathmark store a few days after the humiliating incident.

A Pathmark manager at the Islip store declined to comment.

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Cops bust teen in brazen shooting of school girl

Cops collared the 19 year-old brute that shot a girl walking home from school with her little sister last week, cops said.

Rashawn Williams shot Tamia Tucker,14, outside of a gas station on the corner of Sutter and Euclid Avenues around 3:30 p.m. Nov. 22, cops said.

"I don't want to die!" she wailed as gas station clerk Issic Alsaidi, 29, ran to her side.

He was picked up by cops at his Fountain Ave. home this morning around 7 a.m., cops said.

Williams has been charged with assault, criminal possession of a firearm and reckless endangerment, cop said.

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NHL Power Rankings: Chicago has most to be thankful for

With Thanksgiving upon us, this week's rankings tell us what each of the 30 teams has to be thankful for.

1. Blackhawks (1): … are thankful for a lot of things, most of all having the best offense in the league with 92 goals (3.6 per game).

2. Blues (4): … are thankful for Alex Steen, whose 19 goals rank second in the league and are five behind his career high of 24 set back in 2009-10.

3. Kings (8): … are thankful for backup goalie Ben Scrivens, who is 5-0-2 since starter Jonathan Quick went down with an injury, allowing just nine goals in the seven games.

4. Ducks (5): … are thankful for home ice, where they are 9-0-1.

5. Avalanche (3): … are thankful for having no players on the roster with a negative plus-minus ranking.

6. Bruins (6): … are thankful for Tuukka Rask, who ranks tied for third in wins (13), third in goals against average (1.69) and second in save percentage (.943).

7. Sharks (7): … are thankful for playing Eastern Conference teams, as they own a 7-1-1 record versus the other conference.

8. Coyotes (2): … are thankful for their defensemen, who have 19 goals this season, including seven from Michael Stone.

9. Wild (9): … are thankful for backup Josh Harding, who's become the starter due to an injury to Niklas Backstrom and owns a 13-3-2 record with a 1.48 goals against average and a .939 save percentage.

10. Penguins (12): … are thankful for playing in the weak Metropolitan Division, where they are in first place despite winning four of their past 10 games.

11. Maple Leafs (13): … are thankful for games that go past 60 minutes — they are 4-1 in such contests.

12. Lightning (10): … are thankful they have managed to stay afloat with a 3-3-1 record since Steven Stamkos went down with a broken fibula.

13. Canadiens (16): … are thankful for the power play: They have 21 power-play goals in 24 games.

14. Capitals (11): … are thankful for shootout, where they have a league-high five wins against two losses.

15. Stars (14): … are thankful for three goals in 53 seconds on Tuesday, which helped them earn a 6-3 win over the Pacific Division-leading Ducks.

16. Canucks (15): … are thankful head coach John Tortorella hasn't had profanity-laced press conferences despite two wins in their past 10 games.

17. Predators (17): … are thankful for defenseman Shea Weber, who leads the team with seven goals, including five on the power play.

18. Rangers (19): … are thankful for Henrik Lundqvist keeping them in most games, and a nine-game homestand that will keep them in New York for more than half the month.

19. Devils (20): … are thankful Father Time hasn't caught up to 41-year-olds Jaromir Jagr (who leads the team in scoring) and Martin Brodeur (five wins in his past seven games with a .944 save percentage).

20. Red Wings (18): … are thankful to play games away from Joe Louis Arena. Detroit is a league-best 7-3-1 on the road but 4-4-6 at home, including only one win in their past 10.

21. Flyers (23): … are thankful to have rebounded from a 3-9-0 start to win seven of 11 and be one point of out a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

22. Jets (24): … are thankful to finally be playing in the Western Conference and traveling less, which has even resulted in more wins.

23. Hurricanes (25): … are thankful that despite a minus-18 goal differential, they are a point behind the Rangers for the final automatic playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division.

24. Senators (21): … are thankful for a healthy roster, with no players on injured reserve a season after they were decimated by injuries.

25. Blue Jackets (26): … are thankful for winning games when they are outshot by their opponents (five of their nine wins have come in such games).

26. Islanders (22): … are thankful they can lose eight of 10 to fall to last place in the Metropolitan Division … and still only be 12 points behind the division lead.

27. Flames (28): … are thankful for a 3-0-2 start to the season, which seems like ages ago for a team that doesn't have back-to-back wins since Oct 9 and 11.

28. Panthers (29): … are thankful that interim coach Peter Horachek has the team playing much better, including points in three of the past four.

29. Oilers (30): … are thankful for winning three straight games last week — it could be the best thing to happen to Edmonton this season (besides a possible No. 1 draft pick).

30. Sabres (27): … are thankful they only have 57 games left.

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Franco to star in Broadway’s ‘Of Mice and Men’

James Franco and Chris O'Dowd will make their Broadway debuts next year as unlikely friends in a stage adaptation of "Of Mice and Men."

Producer David Binder said Tuesday that "Milk" star Franco will play George, and Irish actor and "Bridesmaids" star O'Dowd will play Lennie in the revival, which starts performances in March at the Longacre Theatre.

Tony Award-winner Anna D. Shapiro will direct.

The story by John Steinbeck centers on two migrant field workers in California during the Great Depression – the big-dreaming George and the mentally challenged Lennie. It has not been seen on Broadway in 40 years.

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Boyfriend worried over Katherine Webb’s safety at Iron Bowl

An Auburn alum should feel right at home at Jordan Hare Stadium during the Tigers' Iron Bowl showdown with Alabama. Unless she's dating Alabama's starting quarterback, that is.

"Honestly, I don't know what to expect," Katherine Webb, the longtime gal pal of the Crimson Tide star AJ McCarron, told USA Today.

"AJ just in his protective nature, we talked about it [last week]. And he was like, 'I'm concerned. I don't know what the fans are gonna do.' And I'm like, 'It's OK. I'll be sweet, genuine and nice like I always am if anything were to happen.' Even in my experience at Auburn, it's been very, very rare to see fans that have been rude or anything like that."

Webb gained instant popularity during last season's national title game, when ABC play-by-play man Brent Musburger commented on her looks when the TV cameras found her in the stands during Alabama's romp of Notre Dame. Webb graduated from Auburn in 2011, but her loyalty may be questioned by some fans given her relationship status.

The classic college football rivalry has extraordinary hype this year with undefeated No. 1 Alabama facing a resurgent Auburn team, which has risen to No. 5 in the BCS standings after a couple of down seasons. The winner advances to the SEC Championship game.

Webb at 2012 Miss USA pageant.Photo: AP

"I'm not nervous about the fans," said Webb, who said she sold her student tickets to the Iron Bowl when she was a student because she didn't have a lot of money.

"Of course I want to see AJ have that fourth [SEC] championship ring, so I really want them to do well. That's what I'm nervous about. I'm not nervous about his talent or abilities as a player. Of course, I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about the outcome."

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Prosecutor demands 26-year sentence for Amanda Knox

FLORENCE, Italy — An Italian prosecutor has demanded that an appeals court find Amanda Knox guilty for the 2007 murder of her British roommate and sentence her to 26 years for the murder and another four for slander.

Prosecutor Alessandro Crini made the request after two days of closing arguments in the third trial involving the violent, sex-charged murder of Meredith Kercher.

Knox was sentenced to 26 years in the first trial, including one year for slander for blaming Kercher's murder on a Congolese-born bar owner.

The appeals court that overturned the murder conviction confirmed Knox's slander conviction and raised the penalty to three years. When she was released after the appeal, Knox had already served four years, which covered her slander sentence.

Crini also demanded 26 years for her co-defendant, Raffaele Sollecito.

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‘GTA’ maker buys back $200 million in stock

Take Two Interactive Software has bought back 12 million shares of stock held by the Icahn Group.

The interactive gaming company maker of Grand Thief Auto series paid a closing price of $16.93 per share, costing the firm a total of $203.5 million, to be paid in cash.

Activist investor Carl Icahn, had agreed that his Take-Two board members would resign after the buyback.

Take-Two did not say why Icahn was selling its shares. Shares in Take-Two were down nearly 6 percent in premarket.

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49ers LB: RG3 ‘shouldn’t be playing’

Robert Griffin III's lackluster performance on Monday Night Football was so lackluster, it prompted his father (RG2) to make an unorthodox  postgame visit to the Redskins locker room and an opposing linebacker to voice his opinion that the hobbled second-year quarterback should not even be on the field.

Griffin finished 17 for 27 for just 127 yards with an interception and was sacked four times in a 27-6 loss to the 49ers that kept the Redskins to the NFC East cellar at 3-8, a season after they won the division. The Redskins netted 190 yards total.

"We've got to conquer some of the demons that we have going on as an offense," Griffin said, "and just as a team in general."

After getting an up-close look at Griffin, who had surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee in January and returned for Week 1, 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks said last year's Offensive Rookie of the Year is not fully recovered and should not be playing.

"He's a man, he has the heart of a warrior and is going to go out there and play regardless of the circumstance," Brooks said, according to CSN Washington. "Everybody can see it. Everybody can see it. He shouldn't be playing."

And to add slapstick insult to lingering injury, Griffin was scissor-kicked in the worst possible area by Aldon Smith during the depressing rout.

With AP

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Chrysler’s IPO put on hold until 2014

By Post Staff Report

November 25, 2013 | 10:18am

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Cars are displayed on the sales lot of a Chrysler dealership on January 3, 2013 in Colma, California.

Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Chrysler's much anticipated initial public offering has been stalled until next year, according to its owner Fiat Motors.

Shares in Fiat fell more than 2 percent in European trading Monday, exon the news.

Fiat said it was not possible to say if and when such an offer would be made as this depends on market conditions..

The Italian automaker said it expected Chrysler to continue working on the necessary steps to enable an initial public offering to be launched in the first quarter of 2014.

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Nor’easter set to slam New York on busiest travel day of year

A Nor'easter – dubbed Winter Storm Boreas by the Weather Channel – is bearing down on the New York metropolitan area just in time for one of the busiest travel days of the year – the day before Thanksgivng.

The storm – packing wind gusts of more than 40 mph along with heavy, driving rain – is expected to smack the region late Tuesday.

By early Wednesday morning, wind-driven rain will be pounding the area as millions of travellers hit the road or catch a flight for Thanksgiving and Hanukkah get-togethers.

"The rain will generally amount to two to four inches, which could lead to flash flooding in low-lying and poor drainage areas," senior meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski said on AccuWeather.com

"Even where flooding does not ensue, the soaking rain threatens to severely snarl Thanksgiving travel for those both on the ground and in the air."

Photo: AP

Robert Sinclair, a spokesman for AAA in New York, told The Post Monday the wind and rain could make Wednesday – the busiest traffic day of the holiday season – a brutal day on the roads.

"In New York state we're anticipating 2.6 million people will be travelling, 90 percent of them by motor vehicle, so the weather will make road travel difficult to say the least," he said.

If possible, Sinclair advised, people should try to get out of town Tuesday, before the storm hits.

"If they have that flexibility, that's a good idea," he added.

Luckily, there is only a slight chance of snow in the forecast for New York City and coastal New Jersey and Connecticut as the rain tapers off late Wednesday or early Thursday, with temperatures remaining well above freezing.

Those inland or further north, however, could see a light dusting.

But the thermometer will plunge once the storm pushes through, with a new front of frosty air blowing in from the northwest, sending temperatures to 30 or below on Thanksgiving day.

The approaching storm is the same one that brought a wintry mess to Oklahoma City and Dallas during the weekend.

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How Obama told Israel the USA was in secret talks with Iran

On a warm day in Washington this fall, President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu huddled in the White House, each flanked by a handful of top advisers, including Vice President Joe Biden. Just three days earlier, Obama had held an historic phone call with Iran's new President Hassan Rouhani, the leader of a country Israel sees as a threat to its very existence.

In the confines of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on Sept. 30, just after the high Jewish holidays, Obama revealed to Netanyahu that his administration had been engaged in secret, high-level diplomatic talks with the mortal enemy of the Jewish state.  Netanyahu's immediate public reaction betrayed no surprise, but a day later he launched a full-frontal attack on Iran, delivering a blistering speech at the U.N. General Assembly in which he said the Islamic republic was bent on Israel's destruction and accused Rouhani of being a "wolf in sheep's clothing."

The White House meeting had been scheduled for about an hour, but continued on for 30 more minutes, leaving American and Israeli journalists crowded onto the portico outside the Oval Office to speculate about the discussions underway inside. The two men had and still have an uneasy relationship, and each blames the other for inconclusive results in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Yet In statements after the meeting, both leaders tried to display unity rather than airing their differences on Iran in public.

Neither mentioned Rouhani by name. Obama vowed to keep all options, including military action, on the table in order to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. And Netanyahu said he welcomed Obama's assurances that Iran's "conciliatory words" must be matched by its actions. At they finished speaking, Obama turned to Netanyahu and said: "Are you hungry? I am. Let's go eat." The two leaders, along with Biden, then retreated to Obama's private dining room for a working lunch.

Israeli media reports now suggest that Israel's intelligence services were already aware of Obama's clandestine outreach to Iran, which had begun some seven months earlier, but senior U.S. officials have told The Associated Press that this was the first time America's closest Mideast ally had been formally notified that it was underway. In fact, at that point, and at Obama's personal direction, senior U.S. officials had met three times with Iranian officials in a high-stakes bid to address concerns about the country's nuclear program and explore possibilities for improved ties. Israel, Netanyahu has said, fundamentally disagrees with the administration's tactics.

On Sunday, just hours after Netanyahu denounced as a "historic mistake" an agreement forged between world powers and Iran to come clean about its nuclear program, Obama called the Israeli leader to reassure him of his vow not to allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. Netanyahu again expressed his unease and was unconvinced. He urged the West to reconsider.

The two sides agreed to stay in close touch about their ultimate goal: to rid Iran of the threat of nuclear weapons.

And Obama is not apologizing.

Before Rouhani's election, while former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in power, a tense U.S.-Iran relationship seemed unavoidable.

But Obama was determined to test that. In March, a small hand-picked group of officials led by Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and Jake Sullivan, Biden's top foreign policy adviser, boarded a military plane for Oman to meet Iranian counterparts.

Their travel plans were not on any public itineraries. No reception greeted them as they landed.

It was at this first high-level gathering at a secure location in the Omani capital of Muscat, famous for its souk filled with frankincense and myrrh, that the Obama administration began laying the groundwork for this weekend's historic nuclear pact between world powers and Iran, The Associated Press has learned.

The AP has learned that at least five secret meetings have occurred between top Obama administration and Iranian officials since March.

Burns and Sullivan led each U.S. delegation. At the most recent face-to-face talks, they were joined by chief U.S. nuclear negotiator Wendy Sherman.

It was at the final get-together that the two sides ultimately agreed on the contours of the pact signed before dawn Sunday by the so-called P5+1 group of nations and Iran, three senior administration officials told the AP. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to be quoted by name talking about the sensitive diplomacy.

The AP was tipped to the first U.S.-Iranian meeting in March shortly after it occurred, but the White House and State Department disputed elements of the account and the AP could not confirm the meeting. The AP learned of further indications of secret diplomacy in the fall and pressed the White House and other officials further. As the Geneva talks between the P5+1 and Iran appeared to be reaching their conclusion, senior administration officials confirmed to the AP the details of the extensive outreach. They spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss by name the secret talks.

The Geneva deal provides Iran with about $7 billion in relief from international sanctions in exchange for Iranian curbs on uranium enrichment and other nuclear activity. All parties pledged to work toward a final accord next year that would remove remaining suspicions in the West that Tehran is trying to assemble an atomic weapons arsenal.

Iran insists its nuclear interest is only in peaceful energy production and medical research. The U.S. and Israel have regularly threatened military action if they believe Iran is about to develop a nuclear weapon.

While the agreement early Sunday — late Saturday in Washington — was concluded to great fanfare and global attention, with Secretary of State John Kerry joining fellow foreign ministers in signing the deal and Obama then presenting it to the nation in a televised White House address, the path there couldn't have been more secret.

With low expectations, mid-level American officials began in 2011 meeting their Iranian counterparts in Muscat, one of the Arab world's most tranquil if overlooked metropolises. The process was guided by Sultan Qaboos, Oman's diminutive but wily monarch, who has cultivated decades of good relations with the United States and his region's two rivals: Sunni-controlled Saudi Arabia and Shia-dominated Iran.

Qaboos had endeared himself to the Obama administration after three American hikers were arrested in 2009 for straying across Iraq's border into Iran. As a mediator he was able to secure their freedom over the next two years, prompting U.S. officials to wonder whether the diplomatic opportunity was worth further exploring.

Expectations were kept low for the initial U.S.-Iranian discussions. The officials skirted the big issues and focused primarily on the logistics for setting up higher-level talks. For the U.S., the big question was whether Iran's leaders would be willing to secretly negotiate matters of substance with a country they call the "Great Satan."

The private talks were also a gamble for the United States, which cut off diplomatic ties with Iran in 1979 after the Islamic Revolution and the taking of 52 American hostages held for 444 days after rebels stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. To this day the State Department considers Iran the biggest state supporter of terrorism in the world.

When Obama decided to send Burns and Sullivan to Oman, Iran was still being governed by Ahmadinejad, whose inflammatory rhetoric severely worsened the Islamic republic's relations with the West.

Ahmadinejad's contested re-election early in Obama's presidency, followed by the violent Iranian crackdown on pro-reform protesters, had already severely tested the American leader's inauguration pledge to reach out to America's enemies.

The goal on the American side, the U.S. officials said, was simply to see if the U.S. and Iran could successfully arrange a process for continued bilateral talks — a low bar that underscored the sour state of relations between the two nations.

Burns and Sullivan were accompanied in Muscat by National Security Council aide Puneet Talwar and four other officials. The senior administration officials who spoke to the AP would not identify whom the delegation met with, but characterized the Iranian attendees as career diplomats, national security aides and experts on the nuclear issue who were likely to remain key players after the country's summer elections.

Occurring just days after the U.S. and the other powers opened up a new round of nuclear talks with Iran in Almaty, Kazakhstan, the U.S. officials achieved some modest progress. They understood that the Iranians in Muscat at least had some authority to negotiate from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on the nuclear program and many other big Iranian issues.

Beyond nuclear issues, the officials said the U.S. team at the March meeting also raised concerns about Iranian involvement in Syria, Tehran's threats to close the strategically important Strait of Hormuz and the status of Robert Levinson, a missing former FBI agent who the U.S. believes was abducted in Iran, as well as two other Americans detained in the country.

Hoping to keep the channel open, Kerry then made an official visit to Oman in May, ostensibly to push a military deal with the sultanate. Officials said the trip actually focused on maintaining Qaboos' key mediation role, particularly after the Iranian election scheduled for the next month.

Rouhani's June election to Iran's presidency, on a platform of easing the sanctions crippling Iran's economy and stated willingness to engage with the West, gave a new spark to the U.S. effort, the officials said.

Two secret meetings were organized immediately after Rouhani took office in August, with the specific goal of advancing the stalled nuclear talks with world powers. Another pair of meetings took place in October.

The Iranian delegation was a mix of officials the Americans had met in March in Oman and others who were new to the talks, administration officials said. All of the Iranians were fluent English speakers.

The meetings encompassed multiple locations and U.S. officials would not confirm the exact spots, saying they did not want to jeopardize their ability to use the same venues in the future. At least some of the talks continued to take place in Oman.

The private meetings coincided with a public easing of U.S.-Iranian discord. In early August, Obama sent Rouhani a letter congratulating him on his election. The Iranian leader's response was viewed positively by the White House, which quickly laid the groundwork for the additional secret talks. The U.S. officials said they were convinced the outreach had the blessing of Ayatollah Khamenei, but would not elaborate.

As negotiators worked behind the scenes, speculation swirled over a possible meeting between Obama and Rouhani on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in September, which both attended. Burns and Sullivan sought to arrange face-to-face talks, but the meeting never happened largely due to Iranian concerns, the officials said. Two days later, though, Obama and Rouhani spoke by phone — the first direct contact between a U.S. and Iranian leader in more than 30 years.

It was only after that Obama-Rouhani phone call that the U.S. began informing allies of the secret talks with Iran, the U.S. officials said.

Obama handled the most sensitive conversation himself, briefing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a Sept. 30 meeting at the White House. He informed Netanyahu only about the two summer meetings, not the March talks, in keeping with the White House's promise only to tell allies about discussions with Iran that were substantive.

The U.S. officials would not describe Netanyahu's reaction. But the next day, he delivered his General Assembly speech, blasting Rouhani as a "wolf in sheep's clothing" and warning the U.S. against mistaking a change in Iran's tone with an actual change in nuclear ambitions. The Israeli leader has subsequently denounced the potential nuclear agreement as the "deal of the century" for Iran.

America's negotiating partners were then informed, though European officials said they assumed something was cooking between Washington and Tehran based on the surprising progress toward a deal after more than a decade of stalemate.

The secrecy of Obama's effort may explain some of the tensions between the U.S. and France, which earlier this month balked at the proposed accord, and with Israel, which is furious about the agreement and has angrily denounced the diplomatic outreach to Tehran.

Burns and Sullivan continued their efforts behind the scenes at this month's larger formal negotiations between world powers and Iran in Geneva, though the State Department went to great lengths to conceal their involvement.

Their names were left off of the official delegation list. They were housed at a different hotel than the rest of the U.S. delegation, used back entrances to come and go from meeting venues and were whisked into negotiating sessions from service elevators or unused corridors only after photographers left.

Congress hasn't been notified in detail about the secret diplomacy. That could also pose a challenge for Obama, who has been waging a tense battle with Republicans and Democrats alike to prevent them from enacting new sanctions against Iran at the same time he has been offering Tehran some relief.

Several lawmakers from both parties openly scoffed Sunday at the terms of the deal between world powers and Iran. And in a reflection of the primary role played by his administration, some already are referring to the end result as Obama's agreement. None said they had been briefed on the secret talks.

"I don't know how to react," Sen. Bob Corker, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's top Republican, said on "Fox News Sunday." "The administration has been trying to set the framework for these discussions for some time and I guess I'm not really particularly shocked that this has occurred."

23.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke to retire

Wal-Mart announced CEO Mike Duke will retire early next year and be succeeded by long-time company exec Doug McMillon.

McMillon, 47, is president and CEO of Wal-Mart International, and was named to the company's board effective immediately and will become CEO on Feb. 1.

McMillon presently oversees Wal-Mart's global operations, which includes 6,300 stores and more than 823,000 employees in 26 countries, according to the company.

McMillon been with the retailer since in 1984.

Duke, 63, will continue serving as chairman of the board's executive committee and stay on as an adviser to Mr. McMillon for one year.

Mr. Duke has been president and CEO of Wal-Mart since February 2009.

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The actors who have played Nelson Mandela on film

Britain's Idris Elba, best known for "The Wire" and "Thor," takes on the role of Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela in this month's "Long Walk to Freedom." He joins a long line of distinguished actors who jumped at the chance to play one of the 20th century's truly iconic figures. Among the others:

Terrence Howard in "Winnie Mandela" (2013)

Nelson is a secondary character in this dramatization of the story of his radical wife, played by Jennifer Hudson.

Morgan Freeman in "Invictus" (2009)

Freeman scored an Oscar nomination for playing Mandela after his 1990 release from prison, when he struggled to keep the peace as the country's first black president.

Dennis Haysbert in "Color of Freedom," also known as "Goodbye Bafana" (2007)

A drama about the relationship between Mandela and the racist white prison guard (Joseph Fiennes) whose association with the inmate changed his views for the better.

Sidney Poitier in "Mandela and de Klerk" (1997)

Fellow Oscar winner Michael Caine costars as South Africa's last white president, F.W. de Klerk, in a drama about the negotiations to end apartheid rule.

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This week’s must-read books

The Ariadne Objective
The Underground War to Rescue Crete from the Nazis
by Wes Davis  (Crown)

Nearly 70 years after WWII ended, fascinating untold tales continue to be uncovered. This one involves an unlikely group of British spies — scholars, archaeologists and writers — who are sent to Crete to support the local resistance. Their most audacious act: kidnapping the island's German commander (they flee to the mountains, sleeping in a cave on Mt. Ida, where, myth says, Zeus grew up).

The Universe of Peter Max
by Peter Max  (Harper Design)

The mustachioed artist who burst onto the scene in the psychedelic '60s with swirls of color and cosmic images led a colorful life aside from his art. When he was an infant, his family fled their Berlin home for Shanghai. There until he was 11, they lived in a pagoda-style house. The Maxes left China on the eve the Communist victory, relocating newly independent Israel before finally moving to New York City — with a detour in Paris — at age 16.

Tatiana
by Martin Cruz Smith  (Simon & Schuster)

The Cold War is long over, but trouble is just heating up for detective Arkady Renko. Smith mirrors real events in Putin-era Russia in his latest novel about the fictional detective introduced in "Gorky Park." Detective Renko smells a rat when's he's told that journalist Tatania Petrovna has committed suicide by jumping out a window. Renko follows the trail to a Soviet-era secret city where he races to decipher a coded notebook from a dead translator. In a tale that is as much political commentary as murder-mystery thriller, Smith based the character Tatania on Anna Politkovskaya, a reporter and outspoken critic of Putin whose 2006 murder remains unsolved.

In Love With Art
Françoise Mouly's Adventures in Comics with Art Spiegelman
by Jeet Heer  (Coach House Books)

As a girl growing up in Paris, Mouly (one of three daughters) was groomed to take over her father's plastic-surgery practice. Thankfully, that didn't pan out — today, Mouly is the longtime art editor for The New Yorker. Her first encounter with husband Art Spiegelman (dinner at a Chinese restaurant) didn't go to well — he spoke too fast and she couldn't understand him — when she later called him about his "Prisoner on the Hell Planet," they talked on the phone for eight hours. Sweet.

Heart-Shaped Rocks
A Path to Happiness
by Lee Ann Perry  (Balboa Press)

Call it "Eat Pray Love" without a passport. Realizing her marriage is over, New Jersey school counselor Perry opts for a life-changing journey. But instead of India, Indonesia or Italy, the spiritual metamorphosis in Perry's memoir takes place in her own head and mostly in the Garden State — where she channels her expertise in counseling others. She reads. Collecting heart-shaped rocks helps. Also crucial: really good friends and really good chocolate.

23.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

In my Library: Patricia Cornwell

In "Dust," Patricia Cornwell's latest, intrepid medical examiner Kay Scarpetta tracks down "a new enemy" — people so addicted to fame, they'll literally kill for some attention. "I wanted to focus on financial crime and the shadowy, greedy people who might be capable of almost anything," Cornwell tells The Post.

"I thought it would be very interesting to have someone about to go to trial turn up dead, and then link the case to serial murders."

This is Cornwell's 21st Scarpetta mystery, so it's a good thing the novelist and her character get along. "We are very close but that doesn't mean [Kay] always talks to me," Cornwell says. "But she's stubborn. If I don't give her my full attention, I just stare at a blank screen."

Here's what's in Cornwell's library.

Bonkers: My Life in Laughs
by Jennifer Saunders
Few people are as physically funny as Jennifer Saunders, whose brilliant career I discovered when I became an "Absolutely Fabulous" addict. What's most intriguing about this memoir is her description of her own creative wiring and process. Her comedy makes me forget the darkness in life.

American Sniper
by Chris Kyle

What strikes me most isn't Kyle's record number of kills, but his honesty. I feel his frustration with fighting in a war run by politicians and lawyers, and his painful transition from combat to life at home. We rewire those we groom for war, then expect they'll somehow revert back to the way they were. Kyle died in February; he was killed on a shooting range.

A Moveable Feast
by Ernest Hemingway

If I lived in the Paris of the 1920s and hung out with Hemingway's circle, I might not have found life as romantic as it seems in this posthumous memoir. I love not only his prose, but his stories about Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald and others. To mingle in such a salon in this age of cyber relationships would be magical.

Lord of the Flies
by William Golding

I first read this novel when I was getting started as a reporter in 1979 and knew nothing about violence and crime. I vividly remember my shock at the stark depiction of the cruel and base nature of the children stranded on an uninhabited island. It's a graphic reminder that bullying isn't a modern dysfunction.

23.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Vatican unveils the bones of St. Peter

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican publicly unveiled a handful of bone fragments purportedly belonging to St. Peter on Sunday, reviving the scientific debate and tantalizing mystery over whether the relics found in a shoe box truly belong to the first pope.

The nine pieces of bone sat nestled like rings in a jewel box inside a bronze display case on the side of the altar during a Mass commemorating the end of the Vatican's yearlong celebration of the Christian faith. It was the first time they had ever been exhibited in public.

Pope Francis prays with the bones of St. Peter.Photo: Reuters

Pope Francis prayed before the fragments at the start of Sunday's service and then clutched the case in his arms for several minutes after his homily.

No pope has ever definitively declared the fragments to belong to the Apostle Peter, but Pope Paul VI in 1968 said fragments found in the necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica were "identified in a way that we can consider convincing."

Some archaeologists dispute the finding.

But last week, a top Vatican official, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, said it almost doesn't matter if archaeologists one day definitively determine that the bones aren't Peter's, saying Christians have prayed at Peter's tomb for two millennia and will continue to, regardless.

"It's not as if pilgrims who go to the altar (of Peter's tomb) think that in that moment in which they profess their faith that below them are the relics of Peter, or of another or another still," he told reporters. "They go there to profess the faith."

Photo: AP

The relics were discovered during excavations begun under St. Peter's Basilica in the years following the 1939 death of Pope Pius XI, who had asked to be buried in the grottoes where dozens of popes are buried, according to the 2012 book by veteran Vatican correspondent Bruno Bartoloni, "The Ears of the Vatican."

During the excavations, archaeologists discovered a funerary monument with a casket built in honor of Peter and an engraving in Greek that read "Petros eni," or "Peter is here."

The scholar of Greek antiquities, Margherita Guarducci, who had deciphered the engraving continued to investigate and learned that one of the basilica workers had been given the remains found inside the casket and stored them in a shoe box kept in a cupboard. She reported her findings to Paul VI who later proclaimed that there was a "convincing" argument that the bones belonged to Peter.

Top Vatican Jesuits and other archaeologists strongly denied the claim, but had little recourse.

"No Pope had ever permitted an exhaustive study, partly because a 1,000-year-old curse attested by secret and apocalyptic documents, threatened anyone who disturbed the peace of Peter's tomb with the worst possible misfortune," Bartoloni wrote.

The Vatican newspaper, l'Osservatore Romano, published excerpts of the book last year, giving his account a degree of official sanction.

In 1971, Paul VI was given an urn containing the relics, which were kept inside the private papal chapel inside the Apostolic Palace and exhibited for the pope's private veneration each June 29, for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. Sunday marked the first time they were shown in public.

23.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Two firefighters hurt in Harlem blaze

Photo: Seth Gottfried

Two firefighters were injured battling a raging three alarm blaze in Harlem Sunday morning, officials said.

The flames started on the fourth floor of the five story building on West 138th Street around 7 a.m., spreading quickly to other floors, the FDNY said.

More than 140 firefighter showed up to help douse the flames, which took almost two hours to bring under control and displaced at least five families, officials said.

"My father and I heard the screaming around 7 this morning," said Aida Rodriguez, 33. "I thought it was kids, you know, fighting or something. But we saw smoke in the hallway so we left. The fire department was in the building already. They were pounding on doors, telling people to get out.

"All I care about are the pictures of my Mom," the fourth floor resident added. "She died recently. Everything else I can replace. I just hope they survived the fire.

23.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Man killed while fixing car on highway

By Daniel Prendergast

November 24, 2013 | 11:14am

Modal Trigger

Police investigating the fatal crash on the Bruckner Expressway.

A man was hit by a car and killed on a Bronx highway Sunday after his car broke down and he stepped out of the vehicle to check on it, authorities said.

The unidentified victim was driving on the Bruckner Expressway at around 6:30 a.m. when he had car problems and pulled off to the right before getting out to see what was wrong, cops said.

That's when the man was hit by a car driven by an off-duty sanitation worker and thrown from the elevated highway onto a lower roadway, cops said. He landed on Bruckner Boulevard near Austin place where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

The driver who hit the man remained at the scene and police are investigating whether there is any criminality on the part of the driver, cops said.

23.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

55 techy toys to suit everyone from foodies to Fido

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On Mom: Striped cotton top, $12.50, fleece polka-dot pajama pants, $12.94, and slippers, $19.94, all at oldnavy.com; On Kid: Joe Boxer printed pajama set, $16.99 at kmart.com; On Dad: Onesie, $48 at americanapparel. com; Slippers, $19.99 at kmar t.com. Photography: Tamara Beckwith/NY Post; Models: Rezeta/Direct Model Management; Michael K/ Wilhelmina; Kristen M/ Wilhelmina; Hair/Makeup: T. Cooper; Stylist: Mindy Saad/mindysaad.com/Celestine Agency

Tamara Beckwith

Stir, taste and surf the Web smudge-free with Umbras' iSpoon/ stylus. $7 at umbra.com. Plaid shirt, $24.94 at oldnavy.com; 7 for All Mankind denim jeans, $199 at bloomingdales.com

Tamara Beckwith

Get vibrant sound from Sennheiser Momentum headphones, with Apple-compatible phone/iPod controls. $229.95 at store. sennheiser usa.com

This harmonica-shaped USB contains Bob Dylan's entire catalog! "Bob Dylan Complete Album Collection Volume 1 USB Box," $319.98 at bobdylan.com

Cotton top, $24.95 at gap.com;skinny jeans, $39.95 at hm.com; slipper boots, $39 at urban outfitters.com

Tamara Beckwith

Got warm milk? Hammacher Schlemmer's outdoor bowl holder features an integrated heating element to keep the removable, dishwashersafe bowls warm. $49.95 at hammacher.com

Get 'em going with this fun device: It projects a laser dot that darts across the floor in unpredictable patterns . $39.95 at hammacher.com

The Whistle attaches to a pooch's collar and syncs to a smartphone to track the quantity and quality of your dog's gait. $99.95 at whistle. com

Drool-and-fur proof, the Dogtek EYENIMAL camera clips onto collars and records two hours of video, to let owners see what their animal's been chewing/ sniffing/chasing. $99 at dogtek.com

Roger this! Cobra Electronics CXT 545 weatherproof walkietalkies, with built-in LED flashlight and weather channel, are sure to be a big hit. $89.95 for pair at amazon.com

The KICKR Power Trainer replaces a bike's back wheel and simulates hill climbs and other intervals. An Apple iOS app lets users save and share stats. $1,099 at wahoofitness.com

Survival of the fittest! The PowerPot V is a camping cook pot that produces electricity so you can charge your phone. $149 at thepowerpot.com

A silicon wristband with LED indicators, Oregon Scientific's Ssmart Dynamo monitors sleep, heart rate and steps — and syncs with Apple iOS and Android. $99 at oregonscientific.com/us

Taking up triathlon in the new year? The Pyle PSWP25 waterproof MP3 player holds 4GB of tunes and has an FM radio. $69.99 at pyleaudio.com

The Zepp Baseball sensorbased trainer is a small device that fits on the end of a bat to measure speed, impact and more. $149.99 at zepp.com

Tamara Beckwith

Sport your stats in style. Waterproof and easy to use, the Misfit Shine activity monitor is sleeker than than most. $119.95 at misfitwearables.com. Pants, $58 at adidas.com; Jacket, $68 at adidas.com

Tamara Beckwith

For the female James Bond wannabe: Swarovski's crystalembellished Vilja bracelet doubles as USB storage. $90 at swarovski .com or Swarovski boutiques

This Marc by Marc Jacobs iPhone 5 Boostcase isn't just adorable: A detachable interior battery sleeve charges the phone and enhances signal strength. $98 at Bloomingdales

OGIO's eco-friendly shoulder bag has a large, padded pocket for holding a tablet, and is available in fashion-forward red, yellow, black, tide blue or terra green. $40 at ogio .com

Stay cozy — and connected. UGG's Quilted Fontanne Smart Gloves are made from conductive leather, so you don't have to take them off to use your smart phone. $85 in black or cobblestone at uggaustralia.com

Ogon Designs' quilted aluminum clutch protects credit card info from high-tech thieves with scanners. $69 at thestylecube.com

Integrated, removable speakers add boom to these soft fleece beanies, so you can listen to tunes sans earbuds. U|R Fleece Tech Beanie, $32 at nordstrom.com

Don't get burned! The Chi Touch Screen Dryer remembers personalized temperature and speed settings. $199.95 at ulta. com

The Samsung Galaxy Gear is a waterproof wrist phone with a 1.9-megapixel camera and 1.63-inch screen for texts and previewing emails. $299 at samsung.com

Stay juiced with the Handbag Butler Mighty Purse, which has a concealed phone charger. $99 at joyus.com. Elizabeth and James dress, $375 at bloomingdales.com; Nine West suede shoes, $125 at zappos.com; Earrings, $50 at rjgraziano.com.

Zandy Mangold

A cult camera among film students, the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera shoots in 1080HD, ProRes and RAW formats for studioquality video — and, clocking in at 12.5 ounces, it's light as a feather. $995 at blackmagic-design.com. On Mom: Cashmere turtleneck, $148 at bloomingdales.com; 7 for All Mankind denim skinny jeans, $395 at bloomingdales.com; Nine West leather booties, $129 at zappos.com; On Kid: Sweater, $24.95, and denim pants, $24.95, both at oldnavy .com; Flats, $16.99 at kmart.com

Tamara Beckwith

Move over, Brita — the Soma x charity: water carafe has more curve appeal, plus replacement biodegradable filters, which arrive every 60 days. $49 at drinksoma.com

The perfect sous-chef, QOOQ's kitchen-proof tablet, withstands spills and splashes, and is preloaded with 1,000 recipes from star chefs. $399.95 at surlatable.com

City farmers, let it grow with the Smart Herb Garden! NASA-inspired technology measures necessary amounts of water, fertilizer and air by your electronic herb and flower garden's needs. $79.99 for starter kit; $49 for Grow Light at clickandgrow.com

Reheat coffee with the thermally insulated, Hot Rod powered travel mug — it plugs into a car's cigarette lighter. $24.99 at thinkgeek. com

The Electric S'mores Maker with sparkless flame allows for year-round, indoor treat making. $59.99 at sharperimage.com

Pop it while it's hot. Hammacher Schlemmer's Pop-Up Egg Maker turns poured-in, beaten eggs into burrito rolls in minutes. $39.95 at hammacher.com

Tea time! Prepare pick-me-ups with the Wi-Fi, appcontrolled iKettle. The Wi-Fi tea kettle connects to a smart phone and sends notice when your water boils. $160 at firebox.com

Optigrill's cooking sensors determine when red meat, poultry and fish are rare, medium or well done — your choice. T-Fal, $179.99 at bedbathandbeyond. com

Sony's PlayStation4 offers better online play, a track pad on the controller and links to online music, movies and games. $399 at us.playstation.com

Talk about superpowers. The Marvel Creativity Studio Deluxe Smart Stylus and app includes a special drawing and animation program featuring the comic publisher's superheroes. $34.99 at store. apple.com

The Nano Arcade Pocket Genesis Consoles are miniature arcade joysticks with 10 classic arcade games built into the box. Plug right into a TV. $12.99 to $19.99 at thinkgeek.com

Mix and match Skylanders SWAP Force action figures and fly, dig and shoot them in this graphically outstanding video game package. $74.99 at amazon.com

Get snap-happy. Playskool's new Showcam 2-in-1 digital camera/projector lets kids produce instant photo slide shows. A feature button creates overlays of fun stamps, and animations. $59.99 at hasbrotoyshop.com

What's your circuit? littleBits Base Kit schools youngsters on basic electronics and ignites creativity. Create circuits, snap together magnetic and electronic "bit" modules, then combine with building sets and other toys to electrify them. $99 at littleBits.com

Crazy fun! Razor Crazy Cart's electric-powered go-kart, with spin and drift modes, will have kids doing donuts in no time. $399 exclusively at toysrus.com

Party rocker's in the house tonight with EZ Pro DJ's user-friendly mixing machine from JAKKS Pacific. The device pulls tracks from iPad libraries, so little ones can instantly DJ an event. $49.99 at amazon.com

Fetch this! Spinmaster's robotic Zoomer pup sits, stays, barks and rolls over on command. $99.99, in white at amazon.com; purple exclusively at toysrus.com. Joe Boxer printed pajama set, $16.99 at kmart.com

Tamara Beckwith

For the tablet deprived, Amazon's sleek 7-inch Kindle Fire HDX (also available in 8.9-inch version) is compact, yet has all the bells and whistles — including a video camera, email, a browser and music player — to satisfy media junkies. And users can 'fling' movies and videos to their flat screens from the device. Luddites can press its Mayday button for live help 24/7, even if the question is as simple as how to change the time. The tech aids only sees your screen and draw nifty arrows to direct you. Kindle Fire HDX , 7-inch, $229; 4G is $329. amazon.com.

Courtesy of Amazon

The X-Men: The Adamantium Collection Blu-ray set, from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, includes all six films, a bonus disc — and Wolverine "claws." $129.99 exclusively at amazon.com

Who doesn't need an incredibly detailed, 31-inch, Darth Vader? By JAKKS Pacific, $29.99 at amazon. com

The Media Streamer by Dane-Elec expands the capacity of an iPhone, Android phone or tablet. Use the space to offload photos when running out of space, or to stream movies. $39.99 at walmart.com

MGM's "The Wizard of Oz" celebrates its 75th anniversary with a box set that includes 3-D Blu-ray, regular Blu-ray, DVD and UltraViolet versions, a book and a ruby slipper sparkle globe. $105.43 at qvc.com

Sony captures all angles with its wearable personal movie theater. Enjoy the simulated equivalent of a 750-inch screen. $999.99 at store. sony.com

Take the party anywhere, with this backpack boombox by Mojo. The wire portal connects to iPhones/iPods/MP3 players. $60 at mojobackpacks.com

The portable, Bluetooth-enabled Lyrix PowerBall streams up to 12 hours of music — and packs a 40mm driver in a very small package. $59.95 at digitaltreasures. com

If you know someone who likes new tech in a retro skin, the McIntosh MT5 Precision Turntable is sure to impress. The chassis suppresses resonance for a crisp, clean sound, and the whole thing just looks super cool. $6,500 at mcintoshlabs.com

Belt it out! The Singing Machine is a wireless Bluetooth speaker that doubles as a karaoke machine. It even lets you share performances on social media. $299 at singing machine.com

Budding songwriters can pump up Garage Band creations with the iTrack Solo mixer, with dual inputs. $119 at us.focusrite.com

Take the guesswork out of at-home bartending with Perfect Drink from Brookstone. A "smart" scale weighs ingredients and adjusts for over-pouring. Cheers! $69.99, at brookstone.com

Chill out with Urban Trend's Waterfall Wine Chiller — the ice bath and rotation features ensure rapid cooling, while a built-in auto shutoff prevents overchilling. $69.95 at surlatable.com

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{* loginWidget *}

With a traditional account...

{* #userInformationForm *} {* traditionalSignIn_emailAddress *} {* traditionalSignIn_password *}

{* traditionalSignIn_signInButton *}{* traditionalSignIn_createButton *}

{* /userInformationForm *}

Welcome Back, {* welcomeName *}

{* loginWidget *}

Welcome back!

{* welcomeName *}

{* #userInformationForm *} {* traditionalSignIn_emailAddress *} {* traditionalSignIn_password *}

{* traditionalSignIn_signInButton *}

{* /userInformationForm *}

{* #registrationForm *} {* traditionalRegistration_emailAddress *} {* traditionalRegistration_password *} {* traditionalRegistration_passwordConfirm *} {* traditionalRegistration_displayName *} {* traditionalRegistration_captcha *} {* traditionalRegistration_ageVerification *} By clicking "Create Account", you confirm that you accept our

terms of service

and have read and understand

privacy policy

.

{* /registrationForm *}

Don't worry, it happens. We'll send you a link to create a new password.

{* #forgotPasswordForm *} {* traditionalSignIn_emailAddress *}

{* /forgotPasswordForm *}

We've sent an email with instructions to create a new password. Your existing password has not been changed.

{* mergeAccounts *}

{* #tradAuthenticateMergeForm *} {* traditionalSignIn_emailAddress *} {* mergePassword *}

{* /tradAuthenticateMergeForm *}

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