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Italian cops suspended for being accused of sexual assault.

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Two Italian policemen who allegedly sexually assaulted two American students in Florence while on duty were suspended Saturday on a precautionary basis, authorities said.

The 21-year-old women told authorities that the police, in uniform, drove them home from a disco early Thursday morning because they couldn't find a taxi, then sexually assaulted them inside their apartment building.

Italian media say three patrol cars went to a nightclub to investigate a fight. Two cars left after calm was restored, but the third remained. News reports described witnesses as confirming that they saw the women enter the patrol car.

Officials from Italy's Carabinieri paramilitary police corps stressed the suspension reflects alleged conduct while on duty and is separate from Florence prosecutors' criminal investigation of the alleged sexual assaults.

Besides the rape allegations, the policemen risk disciplinary charges for driving the women home without informing their superiors.

Authorities are awaiting DNA test results to see if they confirm the women's account.

"Investigation is still underway, but there is some basis in respect to the allegations," Minister Roberta Pinotti said Friday evening at a forum about women's issues in Milan. "Rape is always something grave. But it's of unprecedented gravity if it is committed by Carabinieri in uniform, because citizens turns to them and to their uniform to have assurances and security."

Italy has two main police forces that patrol its streets - the paramilitary Carabinieri, which are under the defense ministry, and the state police, who report to the interior ministry.

A U.S. State Department official indicated the department was aware of the media reports that the two students were assaulted by police in Italy and that such allegations are taken seriously.

The U.S. Embassy in Rome, when asked about the investigation, sent an email saying: "Due to the sensitive nature of this case and to protect the privacy of those involved, we have no further comment."

The U.S. consul general in Florence met for about an hour with Florence's police chief Friday morning about the case, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Florence, with its many museums and churches full with Renaissance masterpieces, is a popular destination for many Americans, especially university students.

The women reportedly arrived in Florence several months ago to study Italian at a language institute.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Two Italian policemen suspended after alleged sexual assaults of American students

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Two Italian policemen who allegedly sexually assaulted two American students in Florence while on duty were suspended Saturday on a precautionary basis, authorities said. The 21-year-old women told authorities that the police, in uniform, drove them home from a disco early Thursday morning because they couldn't find a taxi, then sexually assaulted them inside their apartment building.

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Chiefs won last night vs patriots

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Hurricane Irma is coming toward Florida. Huge waves and strong winds are reaching the coast after hitting the islands in the Bahamas.

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two more hurricanes following hurricane Irma, scientist say they have never seen 3 hurricanes lined up like these before.

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For the first time in modern history, three hurricanes in the Atlantic are lined up in the most dangerous of ways, according to Eric Blake, a hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) had issued advisories on Hurricane Irma (currently located north of the Dominican Republic), Hurricane Jose (700 miles east of the Lesser Antilles), and Hurricane Katia (over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico).

The Atlantic experienced three simultaneous hurricanes in 2010, with Igor, Julia, and Karl all swirling in the basin at the same time. Julia never threatened land, so the NHC didn't issue a warning for North America. This is the first time that three hurricanes have the potential to make landfall at the same time.

What climate change creates

The rising strength and potential impact of the hurricanes in the Atlantic basin has weather experts concerned, as global temperatures continuing to hit record highs. Global warming, which isn't necessarily causing the formation of hurricanes, is almost certainly magnifying their intensity and potential for destruction.

Climate change is making hurricanes more powerful for longer periods of time. They need the energy from the warm, humid air above tropical oceans to keep up their strength. A hurricane begins as a tropical storm, when winds coming from different directions converge. Warm air rises around the storm's center and cools, and the moisture condenses to form clouds and rain. Condensation releases latent heat, which powers hurricanes. If the layer of warm water isn't at least 200 feet deep, a tropical storm could die before gaining hurricane strength.

The potential for destruction is also greater because warmer temperatures mean the air can hold more moisture, so hurricanes produce more rain, causing more floods. Rising sea levels also lead to greater and greater surges after a storm.

Other factors also have impact

It's important to note that just because there are three hurricanes in the Atlantic basin right now, doesn't mean climate change has made 2017 a particularly bad year in terms of the total number of storms. Scientists caution there is a relatively low amount of hurricane data available (only a handful of storms happen each year), so it's difficult to make broad observations.

Dr. Gerry Bell, lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center, told The New York Times warming waters, along with a relative lack of sudden wind shift, have created optimal hurricane conditions this season.

Some environmentalists think it is a "moral duty" to talk about the role climate change plays in making these three hurricanes so intense. Global warming is a long-term threat, yet research has shown that short-term concerns are what really motivate humans. And the scientific community feels it's a conversation we should be having when storms strike.

The sooner we start the conversation, the more people will see global warming as having a direct impact on natural disasters. Only then can start the next one: how to actually do something about it.
Read this next: It's morally right to bring up climate change even as the tragedy of Hurricane Harvey unfolds Read this next: Hurricane vocabulary: The difference between a typhoon, a cyclone, and a tropical storm

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Hurricane scientists have never seen an image like this before

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For the first time in modern history, three hurricanes in the Atlantic are lined up in the most dangerous of ways, according to Eric Blake, a hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center.

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Hurricane Irma heads for Bahamas, Cuba, leaving devastation in its wake

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hurricane irma to regain category 5 strength

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Hurricane Irma becomes Category 5 storm again

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Hurricane Irma regained Category 5 status late Friday as the core of the storm made landfall in Cuba, the US National Hurricane Center said.

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Man suffers serious brain injury after viciously beaten during fight over slice of pizza

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Hurricane Erma is likely to make a direct hit on Florida. Erma is currently a trier 4 storm.

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Floridians clogged highways in a desperate scramble to get out of Hurricane Irma's crosshairs, as the deadly Category 4 storm took direct aim at the southern United States, shifting westward Friday as the worst case scenario became the most-likely situation.

Irma, downgraded from Category 5, was still regarded as the most powerful in the Atlantic in recorded history, bringing sustained winds of 150 mph - not as strong as the 185 mph of previous days, but forceful enough to cause severe damage to homes and other structures.

"This is a storm of absolutely historic destructive potential," President Trump said in a videotaped statement.

He urged all those in the storm's path to "heed all recommendations" from officials.

"Hurricane Irma continues to be a threat that is going to devastate the United States in either Florida or some of the southeastern states,'' FEMA Administrator Brock Long said at a news briefing on Friday. He warned that parts of Florida would be out of electricity for days if not longer and that more than 100,000 people may need shelter.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott said during a Friday news conference the Florida Keys would begin to feel Irma's effects by Saturday morning. He said Irma, on its current path, was more deadly than Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 storm that killed 65 in August 1992.

"All Floridians should be prepared to evacuate," Scott said, though he acknowledged the evacuations were causing a logjam on the state's roads. Scott said as of 6 p.m. Thursday 8.4 million gallons of fuel had been shipped into Port Everglades and more than five million gallons of fuel was shipped into Port Tampa Bay.

But Scott emphasized the seriousness of getting to a safe location.

at 11 a.m. Friday from the National Hurricane Center showed Irma with wind gusts of 150 mph. The storm was moving about 14 mph, the hurricane center said

The hurricane center said its storm surge warning covers Sebastian Inlet southward around the Florida peninsula to Venice and the Florida Keys.

Its hurricane warning covers Jupiter Inlet southward around the Florida peninsula to Bonita Beach, as well as the Florida Keys, Lake Okeechobee, and Florida Bay.

In addition, a storm surge watch has been issued for North of Sebastian Inlet to Ponce Inlet.

A hurricane watch has been issued for the east coast of Florida
north of Jupiter Inlet to the Flagler/Volusia County line and for the west coast of Florida north of Bonita Beach to Anclote River.

Key West tweeted to residents that it's "not safe to stay" and Jacksonville Florida wrote on Twitter that residents need to "hunker down" in a secure place by 8 p.m. on Saturday night.

In the U.S. Virgin Islands, hurricane victims received assistance from three U.S. Navy vessels deployed to the U.S. territory: the USS Wasp, USS Kearsarge and USS Oak Hill.

The Navy crews aboard the ships were able to offer medical support, security, heavy lift capabilities and other assistance, a U.S. Navy release said.

Amtrak suspended train service in Florida just before noon on Friday.

Gov. Scott said he's activated 4,000 members of the National Guard in Florida, and all 7,000 will be deployed on Friday.

Shifting forecasts have also raised the threat to the Southeast from Irma, prompting emergency declarations in the Carolinas and coastal Georgia, including areas that haven't suffered a direct hit from a major hurricane in more than a century.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal ordered a mandatory evacuation starting on Saturday from the state's Atlantic coast ahead of Hurricane Irma, including the city of Savannah. Nearly 540,000 residents on the coast were ordered to evacuate inland.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster also declared a state of emergency. A major strike there would be the first in nearly 28 years.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Hurricane Irma takes direct aim at Florida

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Floridians clogged highways in a desperate scramble to get out of Hurricane Irma's crosshairs, as the deadly Category 4 storm took direct aim at the southern United States, shifting westward Friday as the worst case scenario became the most-likely situation.

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Thousands of people are evacuating Florida to try to avoid Hurricane Irma. The highways are all backed up and so are the airports. They're predicting the largest mass evacuation in US history.

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Putin to US: Don't play along with North Korea.

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"It's counterproductive to inflate this military hysteria. This leads nowhere," Putin said, speaking alongside South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga at an economic summit in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok Thursday.

The Russian leader has been unusually outspoken about North Korea and how the global community should respond in the wake of the country's North Korea's sixth nuclear test Sunday.

Most countries have condemned North Korea, with the United States, Japan and South Korea pushing for strong sanctions to punish the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea's Minister of External Economic Relations Kim Yong Jae, who is at the forum, said his country will "respond to barbaric attempts to exert pressure by the US by our strong countermeasures," according to the Russian state-run Tass news agency.

"Attempts to use unprecedented aggressive sanctions and pressure to intimidate us and make us reverse our course, are a huge mistake," Kim said. "The United States should by all means keep in mind the nuclear status of our country, who owns nuclear and hydrogen bombs, and intercontinental ballistic missiles."

China and Russia, which also have denounced the nuclear test, are calling for more dialogue.

"It's a provocation from North Korea, it's obvious," Putin said of the nuclear test, North Korea's sixth. "They count on a specific reaction from the partners and they get it. Why are you playing along with it? Have ever you thought about it?"

Putin and Abe held a bilateral meeting Thursday morning at the summit, after which Abe told reporters North Korea "has ​no bright future if it continues its current path."

"Japan and Russia will work together in the international society for that," Abe said in televised statement.

UN sanctions

Putin's warnings haven't stopped the Untied States from trying to pursue a tough global response to the nuclear test, especially at the United Nations.

The US has proposed a new UN Security Council resolution, according to a UN diplomat, to punish North Korea by freezing the assets of Kim Jong Un and members of the ruling Worker's Party; fully banning exports of oil to North Korea; banning all textile imports from North Korea; and banning North Korean laborers generating earnings overseas.

"The time for half measures in the Security Council is over. The time has come to exhaust all of our diplomatic means, before it's too late. We must now adopt the strongest possible measures," Nikki Haley, the US' top representative at the UN, said Monday.

Haley may have trouble getting other Security Council members -- especially Russia and China, who each hold veto power -- to sign onto the draft sanctions as they're currently written.

South Korea's Moon and Russia's Putin met on the sidelines of the economic summit Wednesday, where Moon tried to persuade his counterpart to agree to banning oil exports to North Korea.

Moon's chief press secretary, Yoon Young-chan, said Putin dismissed the idea, as the Russian leader believes no amount of pressure will force North Korea to abandon its nuclear program.

"They know it and they see nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction as the only way for them to protect themselves," Putin said Thursday.

Moscow only exports about 40,000 tons of oil to Pyonyang, a tiny percentage of Russia's overall trade, Putin said, according to Yoon.

Another missile test?

South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said Thursday his country expects their northern neighbors to test-fire the type of long-range missile designed to deliver a nuclear warhead to far-off places like the United States on Saturday, an important North Korean holiday.

"The situation is very grave. It doesn't seem much time is left before North Korea achieves its complete nuclear armament," the prime minister told a meeting of defense ministers in Seoul.

South Korea has carried out multiple military drills since the nuclear test. Authorities also moved the final pieces of a controversial US-built missile defense system arrived at a base in southern South Korea, greeted by throngs of protesters.

Russia and China opposed the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, as both say it has the potential of fueling an arms race.

Analysts say both countries, however, are also concerned that the system's advanced radar could be used to look inside their own countries or potentially even limit their own deterrent capabilities.

CNN's Taehoon Lee, Richard Roth, Laura Koran, Chie Kobayashi and Mary Ilyushina contributed to this report.

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putin to us: don't play along with north korea - cnn

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Joshua Berlinger and Frederik Pleitgen, CNN

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Putin to US: Don't play along with North Korea

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Russian President Vladimir Putin pushed to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis on the Korean Peninsula Thursday, telling an economic forum that the United States could be playing into North Korea's hands by trying to ramp up the pressure on Pyongyang.

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Shooting in Missouri mall last night.

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Two people were injured in a shooting at a Missouri mall Thursday night before a suspect was taken into custody, authorities say.

The condition of the injured was not immediately known.

The shooting took place at the Battlefield Mall, located at the southern edge of downtown.

It was not immediately clear whether the shots were fired inside or outside the mall.

KLOR, citing customers inside the mall, reported that the building had been put on lockdown.
Click for more from OzarksFirst.com.

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Shooting at Missouri mall injures 2, suspect in custody

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Two people were injured in a shooting at a Missouri mall Thursday night before a suspect was taken into custody, authorities say. The condition of the injured was not immediately known. The shooting took place at the Battlefield Mall, located at the southern edge of downtown.

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Boy whose heart stopped after bite of hot dog found to have rare condition | CNN

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Doctors describe the strange case of a 9-year-old boy whose heart stopped after he took a bite of a hot dog. The cause: Brugada syndrome.

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Certain materials found on Mars could hold clues to extraterrestrial life.

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Scientists have found key evidence which suggests life may once have existed on Mars.

Nasa's Curiosity rover has detected boron, a key ingredient for life, on the dusty surface of the Red Planet.

The discovery is a huge boost in the hunt for extraterrestrials and could back up a theory suggesting life on Mars may have been forced underground when disaster turned the planet into a "frigid desert".

Patrick Gasda, a postdoctoral researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory said: "Because borates may play an important role in making RNA - one of the building blocks of life - finding boron on Mars further opens the possibility that life could have once arisen on the planet.

"Borates are one possible bridge from simple organic molecules to RNA. Without RNA, you have no life.

"The presence of boron tells us that, if organics were present on Mars, these chemical reactions could have occurred."

RNA is ribonucleic acid, a nucleic acid present in all modern life which is involved in the decoding and expression of genes from DNA.

It is known to be unstable, so unless boron is present it decomposes quickly.

Gasda's work is detailed in a study published this week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

It describes how Nasa's buggy found the element in calcium sulphate mineral "veins" in the rocky surface.

That means boron was present in Mars groundwater and indicates that the Gale crater, where Nasa's robo buggy is right now, may have been home to life.

It bolsters the bizarre theory that life originated on Mars and was carried to Earth on an asteroid.

Astronomer Caleb Sharf has previously claimed: "We can find pieces of Mars here on Earth and we suspect that there are pieces of Earth on Mars.

"If that material can carry living organisms on it, it's possible that we are Martian."

These hypotheses have forced bonkers scenarios in which officials have asked Nasa experts whether life existed there in recent times.

Dana Rohrabacher, an American senator, publically asked a project scientist overseeing Nasa's Mars 2020 rover mission if aliens ever lived on the Martian surface.

He quizzed: "You have indicated that Mars was totally different thousands of years ago.

"Is it possible that there was a civilisation on Mars thousands of years ago?"

Nasa's Ken Farley responded: "So, the evidence is that Mars was different billions of years ago, not thousands of years ago, and there is no evidence I'm aware of..."

However, there soon may be life on Mars if tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has his way.

The Space X founder has announced plans to put humans on the surface of the Red Planet by 2030.

This story originally appeared in The Sun.

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Life existed on Mars, shocking discovery suggests

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Scientists have found key evidence which suggests life may once have existed on Mars. Nasa's Curiosity rover has detected boron, a key ingredient for life, on the dusty surface of the Red Planet.

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Mexico's strongest earthquake in a century leaves dozens dead

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mexico's strongest earthquake in a century kills dozens - cnn

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Mexico's strongest earthquake in a century kills dozens

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Dozens of people are dead after the most powerful earthquake to hit Mexico in a century struck off the country's southern coast.

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Equifax, a company that provides credit scores, said on Thursday that the personal information of 143 million people may have been accessed by hackers. The details potentially accessed by hackers between mid-May and July include names, social security numbers, some credit card numbers and personal documents.

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A man was beat up and nearly killed over a slice of pizza. He had to undergo brain surgery.

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RICHMOND, Va. ( WTVR) -- A man is recovering at VCU Medical Center, hours removed from brain surgery, after he was attacked and beaten outside a Shockoe Bottom pizzeria early Wednesday morning.

Crime Insider sources tell Jon Burkett that from looking at surveillance video, the attack that nearly killed him, came out of nowhere.

Standing outside a pizza place at the corner of 18th and Main Streets, two men were attacked, according to police.

Crime Insider sources said the 28-year-old victim was hit so hard in his temple that he stiffened and fell hard to the concrete sidewalk.

"It's impossible to stop every psycho that will beat someone up over a slice of pizza. It's a cultural problem that we can't have in Shockoe Bottom," David Napier, president of the Shockoe Bottom Association, said.

Police have not confirmed the motive for the attack but sources said it appeared to be a random attack.

Those same sources said the victim, who was still in critical condition, appeared on the pizza shop surveillance video, suffering the vicious beating. The second victim suffered minor injuries.

When reached on the phone, the victim's mother said she was disheartened and concerned. She said it was a shame you can't stand outside without the fear of getting pummeled for no reason.

"The buck stops with the mayor," said Napier. "He got to take a hard look at it. It's his city for the next four to eight years. We'd love to work with him in any way possible. The officers that I know would want this problem to go away. We just need to re think our strategy a little bit."

Napier said that this type of crime can cause what he calls the "economic engine" of this city to sputter, and hopes police catch whoever attacked the men.

"We have a very bad look right now because there's so much construction in the market. But when all of this is built out by next summer, we're going to have a beautiful downtown city center. The investment the city made down here will not pay off until they take this neighborhood seriously."

Crime Insider sources said police have good suspect information and an arrest was imminent.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000.

Witnesses can email news tips and photos here.

Read Full Story

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Man viciously beaten during fight over slice of pizza

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RICHMOND, Va. ( WTVR) -- A man is recovering at VCU Medical Center, hours removed from brain surgery, after he was attacked and beaten outside a Shockoe Bottom pizzeria early Wednesday morning. Crime Insider sources tell Jon Burkett that from looking at surveillance video, the attack that nearly killed him, came out of nowhere.

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Irma is going to hit the entire state of Florida. With 150 MPH in Miami and then it will down grade to 105 MPH winds.

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Floridians clogged highways in a desperate scramble to get out of Hurricane Irma's crosshairs, as the deadly Category 4 storm took direct aim at the southern United States, shifting westward Friday as the worst case scenario became the most-likely situation.

Irma, downgraded from Category 5, was still regarded as the most powerful in the Atlantic in recorded history, bringing sustained winds of 150 mph - not as strong as the 185 mph of previous days, but forceful enough to cause severe damage to homes and other structures.

"This is a storm of absolutely historic destructive potential," President Trump said in a videotaped statement.

He urged all those in the storm's path to "heed all recommendations" from officials.

"Hurricane Irma continues to be a threat that is going to devastate the United States in either Florida or some of the southeastern states,'' FEMA Administrator Brock Long said at a news briefing on Friday. He warned that parts of Florida would be out of electricity for days if not longer and that more than 100,000 people may need shelter.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott said during a Friday news conference the Florida Keys would begin to feel Irma's effects by Saturday morning. He said Irma, on its current path, was more deadly than Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 storm that killed 65 in August 1992.

"All Floridians should be prepared to evacuate," Scott said, though he acknowledged the evacuations were causing a logjam on the state's roads. Scott said as of 6 p.m. Thursday 8.4 million gallons of fuel had been shipped into Port Everglades and more than five million gallons of fuel was shipped into Port Tampa Bay.

But Scott emphasized the seriousness of getting to a safe location.

at 11 a.m. Friday from the National Hurricane Center showed Irma with wind gusts of 150 mph. The storm was moving about 14 mph, the hurricane center said

The hurricane center said its storm surge warning covers Sebastian Inlet southward around the Florida peninsula to Venice and the Florida Keys.

Its hurricane warning covers Jupiter Inlet southward around the Florida peninsula to Bonita Beach, as well as the Florida Keys, Lake Okeechobee, and Florida Bay.

In addition, a storm surge watch has been issued for North of Sebastian Inlet to Ponce Inlet.

A hurricane watch has been issued for the east coast of Florida
north of Jupiter Inlet to the Flagler/Volusia County line and for the west coast of Florida north of Bonita Beach to Anclote River.

Key West tweeted to residents that it's "not safe to stay" and Jacksonville Florida wrote on Twitter that residents need to "hunker down" in a secure place by 8 p.m. on Saturday night.

In the U.S. Virgin Islands, hurricane victims received assistance from three U.S. Navy vessels deployed to the U.S. territory: the USS Wasp, USS Kearsarge and USS Oak Hill.

The Navy crews aboard the ships were able to offer medical support, security, heavy lift capabilities and other assistance, a U.S. Navy release said.

Amtrak suspended train service in Florida just before noon on Friday.

Gov. Scott said he's activated 4,000 members of the National Guard in Florida, and all 7,000 will be deployed on Friday.

Shifting forecasts have also raised the threat to the Southeast from Irma, prompting emergency declarations in the Carolinas and coastal Georgia, including areas that haven't suffered a direct hit from a major hurricane in more than a century.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal ordered a mandatory evacuation starting on Saturday from the state's Atlantic coast ahead of Hurricane Irma, including the city of Savannah. Nearly 540,000 residents on the coast were ordered to evacuate inland.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster also declared a state of emergency. A major strike there would be the first in nearly 28 years.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Hurricane Irma takes direct aim at Florida

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Floridians clogged highways in a desperate scramble to get out of Hurricane Irma's crosshairs, as the deadly Category 4 storm took direct aim at the southern United States, shifting westward Friday as the worst case scenario became the most-likely situation.

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Hurricane Irma churns over the Bahamas on collision course with Florida. Florida is bracing for a direct hit and parts are being evacuated

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The Washington Post 55 mins ago By Joel Achenbach and Mark Berman
Video by CBS News
MIAMI - Hurricane Irma's deadly fury threatened to swamp low-laying islands of the Bahamas with a possible 20-foot storm Friday as the monster storm moved toward Florida's doorstep packing the potential to ravage the state with destruction not seen in a generation.

The window to escape the path of Irma in Florida was rapidly closing. Forecasters said Irma could make landfall early Sunday somewhere in the wide band between densely populated Atlantic coast and the 120-mile string of islands from Key Largo to Key West, before veering to the north possibly toward more population centers up the Eastern Seaboard.

"It's not a question of if Florida's going to be impacted, it's a question of how bad Florida's going to be impacted and where the storm ends up," William "Brock" Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said at a briefing on Friday.
Subscribe to the Post Most newsletter: Today's most popular stories on The Washington Post
Long called Irma "a threat that is going to devastate the United States, either Florida or some of the southeastern states," and he urged people from Alabama to North Carolina to monitor and prepare for the storm.

Floridians are familiar with ominous forecasts and hurricane warnings, and many in the state have memories of the brutal impact left behind by Hurricane Andrew - which made landfall as a Category 5 monster in 1992 - and other storms over the years.

But when asked about people in Florida who intend to ride out the storm at home, Long was blunt.

"I can guarantee you that I don't know anybody in Florida that's ever experienced what's about to hit South Florida," Long said. "They need to get out and listen and heed the warnings."

The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning covering all of South Florida, where local officials have begun ordering people to leave their homes before Irma arrived. "This storm has the potential to catastrophically devastate our state," Gov. Rick Scott (R) said Thursday. Earlier, he implored people to evacuate. "If you live in any evacuation zones and you're still at home, leave."

Fleeing to safer ground was not an option for many in the Caribbean, where Irma had claimed at least 11 lives and had the prime minister of tiny Barbuda grasping for a word to describe the devastation. The island, said Gaston Browne, was now "rubble."

France's minister for overseas territories, Annick Girardin, described "scenes of pillaging" on St. Martin as looters cleaned out stores and roamed the streets in search of food and water.

Irma's maximum sustained winds subsided slightly to about 155 mph. The difference, however, meant little. The hurricane center, which had said Irma could vacillate between a Category 4 or 5 designation, described it as an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm whose massive punch included surging seas.

A swell of up to 20 feet above high tide was expected in the Turks and Caicos and Bahamas - enough to cover huge portions of an archipelago where the highest point is just over 200 feet above sea level. And another powerful hurricane was following in Irma's wake.

Slideshow by photo services
Hurricane Jose, now packing winds of 125 mph as a Category 3 storm, was expected to bring up to 10 inches of rain and "life-threatening flooding" to islands already left reeling by Irma, including Barbuda to Anguilla, the hurricane center said.

In Florida, the crush to leave had millions of people on the move. Highways were jammed, gas was scarce, airports were packed deluged and mandatory evacuations began to roll out as the first official hurricane watches were issued for the region, which could face destruction not seen since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

Miami-Dade County ordered some mandatory evacuations, including for Key Biscayne and Miami Beach, as well as for areas in the southern half of the county that are not protected by barrier islands.

"EVACUATE Miami Beach!" Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine tweeted, later noting in a news release that once winds top 40 mph, first responders will no longer be dispatched on rescue missions here.

Other evacuation zones were in place across much of South Florida. States of emergency also were declared in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina in anticipation of Irma's path early next week.

Scott, the Florida governor, ordered that all state offices, public schools, state colleges and state universities be shut down from Friday through Monday "to ensure we have every space available for sheltering and staging." Many public schools across South Florida and in the Tampa Bay area had already canceled classes, while colleges had also shuttered campuses and rescheduled football games.

Still, it was unclear where Irma will make landfall. "The wild card here is the turn. Anytime a hurricane makes a turn, it introduces uncertainty," Mark DeMaria, acting deputy director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, told The Washington Post in the center's headquarters in west Miami-Dade County.

DeMaria noted that the computer models have fluctuated modestly, with adjustments in the consensus track of 50 miles or so every day.

"But 50 miles onshore versus right of the coast makes a huge difference in impact," he said. The combination of Florida's geography, the pattern of urban settlement in narrow bands along the coasts and the projected northerly path of the hurricane presents a particularly ominous picture.

"This is a large storm coming from the south," said Dennis Feltgen, spokesman for the hurricane center. "That's the worst-case scenario, because it takes in the entire Gold Coast population, and you have the greatest impact from storm surge from that direction."

At the National Hotel on Miami Beach, a manager announced Thursday in four languages - English, Spanish, Portuguese and French - that guests needed to evacuate because of a city order. At the front desk, guests were given a sheet listing the locations of emergency shelters, none of which were likely to be as nice as the beachfront Art Deco hotel, which was restored a few years ago.

"This morning as I walked to work, I could see the things that could become projectiles," said Natalya Garus, 35, lead concierge at the National. "Street signs. Coconuts. All the trash cans. Smoking stations. All the decorations."

As she spoke, workers used a ladder to dismantle a decorative light fixture hanging over the hotel entrance. Ruben Vandebosch, 28, and Wim Marten, 26, both of Belgium, and Jim Van Es, 24, of the Netherlands, said their plan is to drive to Atlanta. "Atlanta has a nice ring to it," Vandebosch said. "It sounds cool."

Among those evacuating: Forty dogs from the Miami-Dade County animal shelter. They're being flown to New York on a private plane owned by a dog lover named Georgina Bloomberg, according to Lauree Simmons, president and founder of the Big Dog Rescue shelter in Loxahatchee, Fla. Big Dog staff went to Houston after Hurricane Harvey, rescuing 60 dogs from the floodwaters.

Those dogs are awaiting adoption at the no-kill shelter. Simmons's 33-acre rescue center has 457 dogs and puppies living in air-conditioned bunkhouses. Staff members were working frenetically Thursday packing up the contents of offices trailers. The dog bunkhouses, meanwhile, are fitted with hurricane impact glass built to withstand 200-mile-an-hour winds, Simmons said.

"The dogs will be very comfortable," she said. "We'll stay here with them through the storm and just keep hoping for the best."

Popular shopping and dining areas of Fort Lauderdale, north of Miami, were nearly completely empty, the businesses buttoned up with metal curtains and new plywood protecting their front windows. At the Coral Ridge Yacht Club on the Intracoastal Waterway, General Manager Jay Wallace and Greg Bennett, the club's president, were walking up and down its docks making sure all the vessels, including some 90- and 100-footers valued at $2 million or more, were securely tied down.

The club decided Tuesday to cease regular operations - meetings, lunch, dinner and a popular Wednesday happy hour - so that many employees would have time to evacuate.

"Just making sure everything is okay," Wallace said. "We're hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst. You have to."

Less than a mile away, Fort Lauderdale's mostly spotless sandy beaches were virtually deserted, despite the green flags attached to all its lifeguard stands indicating "low hazard" for anyone wanting to take a dip in the ocean. The water was dead calm, not a wave in sight, and the shimmering sand was desolate on a postcard 90-degree day.

Tatiana Wood, 33, a waitress at a restaurant in Miami Beach's Lincoln Road Mall, said she has a friend of a friend who lives in Oklahoma, but she was unclear of the distance or whether she would try to get there. "If you try to escape, you may lose money," Wood said. "If you stay, you might lose your life."
Berman reported from Washington. Patricia Sullivan in Naples, Fla., Kimberly Kindy in Orlando, Lori Rozsa in Palm Beach County, Dustin Waters in Charleston, S.C., and Leonard Shapiro and Perry Stein in Fort Lauderdale and Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report.

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Hurricane Irma churns over the Bahamas on collision course with Florida

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The Washington Post 55 mins ago By Joel Achenbach and Mark Berman Video by CBS News MIAMI - Hurricane Irma's deadly fury threatened to swamp low-laying islands of the Bahamas with a possible 20-foot storm Friday as the monster storm moved toward Florida's doorstep packing the potential to ravage the state with destruction not seen in a generation.

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'Career Canines': Avalanche search and rescue dogs ready to find buried victims

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Reading on the ABC News app? Watch the full premiere episode of "Career Canines" on Facebook

Minutes can mean finding a victim alive or dead for avalanche first responders. At Crystal Mountain Resort in Enumclaw, Washington, the ski patrol trains constantly for the chance of being suddenly called to an avalanche zone. When dispatched to a search area, ski patrollers release their preferred search tool, their dogs.

"They're very important to have. They have a skill set that humans don't have any technology for -- their nose," according to Kim Haft of the Crystal Mountain Ski Patrol.

Adam Rivera/ABC News

A unique feature to Crystal Mountain are its access points to backcountry skiing in the shadow of Mt. Rainier. Often untouched by visitors, traveling through the backcountry in the surrounding national forests can trigger avalanches that'll bury anything in its path. To a well-trained dog, however, visual clues are irrelevant in their search.

"If someone is buried without wearing an avalanche beacon, the chances of us finding them with a random probe strike are pretty small," Haft said. "Whereas a dog can move over the area. They're pretty nimble and their noses are trained to smell human scent percolating through the snow."

Adam Rivera/ABC News

Haft joined the ski patrol in 2011 after leaving an office job in Seattle and was struck by how effective the dogs were. Within a year, she joined the dog program and selected Darwin as her partner.

"He's really aloof, a little bit of a playful dog, just likes to do his own thing. Then you'd bring him out to a site and he is 100 percent focused on what he is there to do, which is to find someone," Haft said.

Over the past few seasons, Darwin has become a stand-out within the pack of dogs working the mountain. On a recent test, he had 45 minutes to find two people buried two meters under the snow. He passed the test in 14 minutes.

Adam Rivera/ABC News

"What drew me to becoming a handler was, when you're a patroller, you learn the mountain intensely, all different aspects," Haft said. "When you start to look the mountain through the eyes of a dog, it's a whole new area. The way that you move a dog around the mountain is a lot slower, you're a lot more conscious about what's happening with other skiers around you. It added a new level of work up here."

Follow "Career Canines" on Facebook. Check in weekly for new episodes.

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'Career Canines': Dog trains to find buried avalanche victims

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Reading on the ABC News app? Watch the full premiere episode of "Career Canines" on Facebook Minutes can mean finding a victim alive or dead for avalanche first responders. At Crystal Mountain Resort in Enumclaw, Washington, the ski patrol trains constantly for the chance of being suddenly called...

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More hurricanes on the way. Hurricane Jose follows after Hurricane Irma

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hurricane irma to regain category 5 strength

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Hurricane Irma becomes Category 5 storm again

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Hurricane Irma regained Category 5 status late Friday as the core of the storm made landfall in Cuba, the US National Hurricane Center said.

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An unlikely love affair develops between former high school classmates who reconnected on Facebook  but the whirlwind romance ends with one lover dead and the other on the run.

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For fugitives on the run, time is running out. Check out "The Hunt with John Walsh" Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT only on HLN and #JoinTheHunt.

Fugitive: Elton Jardines -- What begins as a rare night out for a group of single moms ends tragically when a random encounter at a gas station devolves into a one-sided shootout that takes two of the women's lives.

The Hunt: A Final Romance premieres Sunday, September 10 at 8p ET/PT only on HLN.

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'the hunt': woman found dead; lover on the run - cnn

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'The Hunt': Woman found dead; lover on the run

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For fugitives on the run, time is running out. Check out "The Hunt with John Walsh" Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT only on HLN and #JoinTheHunt . Fugitive: Elton Jardines -- What begins as a rare night out for a group of single moms ends tragically when a random encounter at a gas station devolves into a one-sided shootout that takes two of the women's lives.

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Equifax breach: How to protect yourself

A data breach exposed the personal information of 143 million U.S. consumers, including names, Social Security numbers, birth dates and addresses, the credit bureau Equifax disclosed Thursday.

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A data breach exposed the personal information of 143 million U.S. consumers, including names, Social Security numbers, birth dates and addresses, the credit bureau Equifax disclosed Thursday.

The breach, which the company discovered in late July, also exposed the credit card numbers of 209,000 consumers and personal information from credit dispute documents of approximately 182,000 people. The company's consumer credit reporting databases were not impacted.

"This is clearly a disappointing event for our company, and one that strikes at the heart of who we are and what we do," Chairman and CEO Richard F. Smith said in a statement. "I apologize to consumers and our business customers for the concern and frustration this causes."

Equifax says it will offer free credit monitoring to all U.S. consumers for one year and will notify consumers through the mail whose credit card numbers or dispute documents were exposed.

This data breach almost certainly will rank among the largest in U.S. history, leaving millions of Americans at risk for identity theft.
How it happened
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Hackers exploited a "U.S. website application vulnerability" to gain access to personal information between mid-May and July, the credit bureau said. After discovering the breach, Equifax commissioned an independent cybersecurity firm to stop the attack, determine the specific data that was stolen and provide direction to prevent future attacks.

The company did not say why it waited until September to disclose the attack to the public.
What you should do
Equifax has set up a website where you can check to see if your personal information was potentially impacted. Users are prompted to enter their last name and the last six digits of their Social Security number.

Equifax says providing that information is enough for the company to alert you whether your personal data may have been exposed.

Regardless, the credit bureau says it will provide everyone the option to enroll for free in its TrustedID Premier service, which includes credit monitoring at all three major credit bureaus, copies of Equifax credit reports, the ability to lock and unlock Equifax credit reports, identity theft insurance and internet scanning for Social Security numbers.
Consider a credit freeze
Even so, what Equifax is offering may not go far enough to protect you from identity theft.

The best way to protect yourself is to enact a credit freeze, also called a security freeze, on your credit reports at all three major reporting agencies: Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. A credit freeze blocks consumers' credit reports from being shared with potential new creditors. Without a credit report, most lenders won't open a new line of credit.

Enacting a credit freeze is a more proactive approach to securing your information than using credit monitoring services, which simply detect fraud but don't necessarily prevent it.

"Everyone should assume their information has been compromised," says Robert Siciliano, CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com. "With so many breaches in the past, you can't be sure your personal data is safe. The best action you can take is a credit freeze."

Consumers can temporarily remove the freeze when they want to buy a house or take out an auto loan and then enable it again once they have been approved.
Additional measures
Along with preventing future theft, it's important to make sure your information hasn't already been used to hack into existing accounts or to create new ones. You should:

Scrutinize all credit card and bank statements. Take note of small, but suspicious, charges. Thieves may charge small amounts to see if account holders notice and, if not, will continue using the card.

Check your credit report from all three credit bureaus. This will help you determine if unauthorized accounts have been opened in your name. Some retailers and companies, such as cell phone carriers, might not require a credit report to open a new account, thus bypassing the protection of the credit freeze. This is where your credit report comes in handy. Bankrate offers a complimentary TransUnion credit report you can access at any time.

Refrain from giving out personal information over the phone or through email. In the wake of an event like this, criminals might take advantage of people's fear and vulnerability. Also, be wary of clicking on links within emails.

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A data breach exposed the personal information of 143 million U.S. consumers, including names, Social Security numbers, birth dates and addresses, the credit bureau Equifax disclosed Thursday. The breach, which the company discovered in late July, also exposed the credit card numbers of 209,000 consumers and personal information from credit dispute documents of approximately 182,000 people.

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In Richmond, Virgina a 28 year old man was brutally attacked outside of a pizza joint. He was randomly attacked and hit in the temple. The hit knocked him to the ground and he suffered serious brain injuries due to it. Another victim only suffered minor injuries. They are not aware of the suspect and have no leads. An investigation is going on to figure out more details. This happened Wednesday morning.

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RICHMOND, Va. ( WTVR) -- A man is recovering at VCU Medical Center, hours removed from brain surgery, after he was attacked and beaten outside a Shockoe Bottom pizzeria early Wednesday morning.

Crime Insider sources tell Jon Burkett that from looking at surveillance video, the attack that nearly killed him, came out of nowhere.

Standing outside a pizza place at the corner of 18th and Main Streets, two men were attacked, according to police.

Crime Insider sources said the 28-year-old victim was hit so hard in his temple that he stiffened and fell hard to the concrete sidewalk.

"It's impossible to stop every psycho that will beat someone up over a slice of pizza. It's a cultural problem that we can't have in Shockoe Bottom," David Napier, president of the Shockoe Bottom Association, said.

Police have not confirmed the motive for the attack but sources said it appeared to be a random attack.

Those same sources said the victim, who was still in critical condition, appeared on the pizza shop surveillance video, suffering the vicious beating. The second victim suffered minor injuries.

When reached on the phone, the victim's mother said she was disheartened and concerned. She said it was a shame you can't stand outside without the fear of getting pummeled for no reason.

"The buck stops with the mayor," said Napier. "He got to take a hard look at it. It's his city for the next four to eight years. We'd love to work with him in any way possible. The officers that I know would want this problem to go away. We just need to re think our strategy a little bit."

Napier said that this type of crime can cause what he calls the "economic engine" of this city to sputter, and hopes police catch whoever attacked the men.

"We have a very bad look right now because there's so much construction in the market. But when all of this is built out by next summer, we're going to have a beautiful downtown city center. The investment the city made down here will not pay off until they take this neighborhood seriously."

Crime Insider sources said police have good suspect information and an arrest was imminent.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000.

Witnesses can email news tips and photos here.

Read Full Story

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Man viciously beaten during fight over slice of pizza

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RICHMOND, Va. ( WTVR) -- A man is recovering at VCU Medical Center, hours removed from brain surgery, after he was attacked and beaten outside a Shockoe Bottom pizzeria early Wednesday morning. Crime Insider sources tell Jon Burkett that from looking at surveillance video, the attack that nearly killed him, came out of nowhere.