# data[].attributes.body
Puerto Rico has been offline for awhile now, and Google plans on using balloons to provide temporary access to the Internet.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Despite the best efforts of cell companies, the vast majority of Puerto Rico is offline. Internet coverage might seem like a luxury when people are struggling for clean water and power, but communications make moving essential supplies much easier, and enables lost families and friends to find each other.

That's why the FCC has granted an emergency license to Google parent company Alphabet to deploy 30 balloons over the island, with the intention of providing basic internet service while the conventional cell network is brought back online.

Project Loon is an Alphabet "moonshot" concept that's been running since 2013. It's meant to bring internet to remote areas using balloons. Testing is going slowly, but Loon has proven particularly good at restoring communications after a natural disaster. Earlier this year, Loon provided coverage to tens of thousands of people in Peru following major flooding.

The situation in Puerto Rico appears more difficult for Google. For the balloons to work, they need a wireless backhaul, which is provided through a partnership with local cell companies. The 83% of cell towers are still down in Puerto Rico, and the groundwork hasn't been put in place. By contrast, Google had already been testing in Peru when floods hit, so it was able to partner with Telefonica to get its system up and running in weeks.

Google didn't provide a timeframe for when the balloons would be up and running, but the FCC license expires in April 2018, so it's going to have to be a while before then:

We're grateful for the support of the FCC and the Puerto Rican authorities as we work hard to see if it's possible to use Loon balloons to bring emergency connectivity to the island during this time of need. To deliver signal to people's devices, Loon needs be integrated with a telco partner's network -- the balloons can't do it alone. We've been making solid progress on this next step and would like to thank everyone who's been lending a hand.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Google balloons set to bring internet to Puerto Rico

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Despite the best efforts of cell companies, the vast majority of Puerto Rico is offline. Internet coverage might seem like a luxury when people are struggling for clean water and power, but communications make moving essential supplies much easier, and enables lost families and friends to find each other.

# data[].attributes.body
Two women charged in killings of two girls on Colorado farm

# data[].attributes.body
Dubai is going to start using facial recognition in airports now.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Getting through security is often the most stressful part of traveling, but one airport is using new technology to make the process a whole lot easier.

The Dubai International Airport has come up with a novel way to get people through the security process utilizing facial recognition technology. Travelers will walk through a tunnel which will be projected with a virtual aquarium As people walk through, 80 built-in cameras will scan their faces and irises. When they reach the end, they'll either be allowed through with a message that reads "Have a nice trip," or held up with a red sign that alerts security, The Verge reports.
CARNIVAL PARTNERS WITH DR. SEUSS FOR 'HORTON HEARS A WHO!'-THEMED CRUISE
The images inside the tunnel can be changed to display landscapes or advertisements. The purpose is not just to hide the cameras, but to encourage people to look around, allowing the cameras to capture better-quality face scans.

"The fish [are] a sort of entertainment and something new for the traveler but, at the end of the day, it attracts the vision of the travelers to different corners in the tunnel for the cameras to capture his / her face print," Major Gen Obaid Al Hameeri, deputy director general of Dubai residency and foreign affairs, told The National.

The project, which is being developed in partnership with Emirates airline, can be seen beginning in 2018 in Terminal 3, with other terminals to follow in phases through 2020, according to The Verge.

The airport worked for over a year-and-a-half on different security technologies to make travel both easier and safer. They have also introduced new explosives detectors that can identify broader range of materials, according to The National.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS
The idea for the facial recognition tunnels came about when airport officials were considering ways to accommodate the growing number of people passing through Dubai each year, with an estimated 124 million expected by 2020, The Verge reports.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Dubai Airport to use virtual face-scanning aquariums for security

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Getting through security is often the most stressful part of traveling, but one airport is using new technology to make the process a whole lot easier. The Dubai International Airport has come up with a novel way to get people through the security process utilizing facial recognition technology.

# data[].attributes.body
One of the survivors of the Vegas shooting, Paige Gasper, is suing many corporations involved in this tragedy. She is suing the hotel, concert organizers, certain manufacturers and retailers and "The Estate of Stephen Paddock". She is suing because of the negligence against his actions and plotting. She is also suing Live Nation as they failed to have proper exits at the concert. The whole reason she is going forward is because she never wants anyone else to experience what she did.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Paige Gasper came close to becoming one of gunman Stephen Paddock's victims when he shot into a crowd of 22,000 at a Las Vegas country music festival headlined by Jason Aldean last week.

Fifty-eight people were killed in the massacre, and hundreds, like Gasper, were wounded.

Luckily, the 21-year-old Sonoma State University student beat death in the nation's worst mass shooting in modern history with the aid of Good Samaritans who pulled her incapacitated body into a pickup truck and transported her to a hospital.

Now, Gasper, of Wheatland, California, is suing the hotel, the concert organizers, bump stock manufacturers and retailers as well as the "Estate of Stephen Paddock" for "negligence" in failing to prevent Paddock's 11-minute terrorizing rampage.

She filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Clark County, Nevada.

Gasper's lawsuit alleges MGM Resorts International and its subsidiary Mandalay Corp., which own the hotel, and failed to properly monitor Paddock's activities and responded too late to the shooting of a hotel security officer. According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Paddock fired at the security officer six minutes before opening fire on the crowd below.

The lawsuit also accuses Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., the festival organizer, and unnamed event promotion companies of negligence for failing to provide adequate exits for festival-goers. The lawsuit also alleges Live Nation was negligent for improperly training staff for an emergency.

Another defendant named in the suit is Slide Fire Solutions, the maker of bump stock devices that Las Vegas officials claims were used by Paddock, of negligence, design and manufacturing defects.

At a press conference Wednesday, one of Gasper's attorneys, Michelle Tuegel, said the lawsuit was filed in order get "action and answers."

Also present was Gasper's mother Heather Selken who explained the impetus for the lawsuit: "[We] want things put in place so this won't happen to you or your family," she said.

Obtained by ABC News

MGM Resorts spokeswoman Debra DeShong responded to the lawsuit in a statement to ABC News, and said, "As our company and city work through the healing process, our primary focus and concern is taking actions to support the victims and their families, our guests and employees and cooperating with law enforcement ... Out of respect for the victims we are not going to try this case in the public domain and we will give our response through the appropriate legal channels."

A Live Nation rep said in a statement to ABC News that the company is "heartbroken" for the victims and their families and it is working with the FBI but it is "unable to comment specifically on pending litigation."

Messages left by ABC News for Slide Fire were not immediately returned.

And messages left by ABC News for an attorney representing Paddock's girlfriend, Marilou Danley, have also not been returned.

It is unclear if Paddock's family has retained an attorney.

As Paddock, the 64-year-old retired accountant and video poker playing high-roller was in his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino making preparations for the shooting on the night of Oct. 1, Gasper was taking in the third day of the Route 91 Harvest Festival in the Las Vegas Village.

For 11 minutes, Paddock, after busting through two windows, showered the staging grounds with volleys of bullets, police have confirmed.

One bullet, according to the lawsuit, "believed to be from the weapon of Paddock" struck Gasper by entering her right underarm then "traversed right breast tissue, shattered ribs and lacerated her liver before exiting out her right side."

After suffering the bullet wound, Gasper, the lawsuit adds, "was rendered physically incapacitated as a result of her injuries" and inadvertently trampled by friends and escaping crowds of people "as they tried to flee the concert venue."

Fortunately, Gasper was aided to safety by numerous Good Samaritans.

One, the lawsuit notes, "helped her take cover behind a metal trash dumpster." Another was led into the street to get out of the staging grounds and a third lifted Gasper amongst other injured concertgoers into the truck where she was delivered to the Spring Valley Hospital.

Tragically, Gasper was the only person in the pickup truck to pull through, the lawsuit claims.

Allen G. Breed/AP

Bump Stock Makers and Dealers

The lawsuit claims that Moran, Texas-based Slide Fire Solutions LP and other unnamed bump stock dealers and makers, referred to in Gasper's lawsuit as "Doe Manufacturers" and "Roe Retailers," had a hand in the murderous act committed by Paddock.

Officials say the Las Vegas gunman had two "bump-stocks" that could have converted semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic ones.

The lawsuit claims that bump stock or bump fire devices "contributed to Paddock's commission of the mass shooting."

Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino

MGM and Mandalay Corp., the parent companies of the hotel where Paddock stayed, were accused of failing to train their personnel or supervise them "adequately." In addition, the lawsuit alleges that the companies failed to monitor the hotel premises for the shooter's delivery of guns and ammunition to his hotel room or monitor closed circuit television (CCTV) while Paddock planted video devices.

The police have confirmed that Paddock planted one video device in his hotel room peephole, and a second device was concealed in a Mandalay Bay food service cart left by Paddock in the hallway outside his room.

The cameras, according to the lawsuit, were used "to keep an eye on and to attempt to thwart law enforcement."

That echoed Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo's previous comments to reporters that the cameras were there to who could see "anybody coming to take him into custody."

The lawsuit also accused the hotel security of "failing to timely respond or otherwise act upon Paddock's shooting of Mandalay Bay Security Officers Jesus Campos..."

Campos, the lawsuit suggests, "was shot six minutes prior to Paddock's commencement of shooting towards the concert venue."

Sheriff Lombardo revised the timeline of the shooting during a press conference Monday, telling reporters, "What we have learned is Mr. Campos was encountered by the suspect prior to his shooting to the outside world."

The lawsuit comes days after LVMPD Police Chief came out supporting the hotel security's handling of the shooting.

"The Mandalay Bay security was fantastic," Sheriff Lombardo last Tuesday. "I don't want anyone to think that it's not safe to stay at one of our hotels."

Attempts by ABC News to get a response from the LVMPD were unsuccessful.

Tom Tingle/The Arizona Republic via USA Today Network

No Exits

The lawsuit accuses Live Nation, who were the promoters of the three-day country music concert and other unnamed promoters of making the Las Vegas Village unsafe.

The lawsuit claims that Live Nation "breached their duty" by "failing to design, build and mark adequate exits in case of emergency." The lawsuit also accuses the concert promoters of "failing to properly train and supervise employees in an appropriate plan of action in case of emergency."

The company refused to comment about pending litigation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Vegas shooting survivor sues hotel, festival organizer, 'bump stock' maker

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Paige Gasper came close to becoming one of gunman Stephen Paddock's victims when he shot into a crowd of 22,000 at a Las Vegas country music festival headlined by Jason Aldean last week. Fifty-eight people were killed in the massacre, and hundreds, like Gasper, were wounded. Luckily, the...

# data[].attributes.body
"The 'Salvator Mundi' is the Holy Grail of Old Master paintings," said Alan Wintermute, Christie's Senior Specialist of Old Master Paintings. "Long known to have existed, and long sought after, it seemed just a tantalizingly, unobtainable dream until now."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Written by Charlotte Parsons, CNN

A painting once bought for $60 is about to go under the hammer, billed as "the greatest artistic rediscovery of the 21st century."

Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" was unveiled at Christie's New York Auction house on Tuesday, and is expected to fetch about $100 million when it goes on sale in November.

"The 'Salvator Mundi' is the Holy Grail of Old Master paintings," said Alan Wintermute, Christie's Senior Specialist of Old Master Paintings. "Long known to have existed, and long sought after, it seemed just a tantalizingly, unobtainable dream until now."

Da Vinci painted the image of Jesus Christ at about the same time as the "Mona Lisa" -- around 1500. It adorned the walls of royal palaces before disappearing towards the end of the 18th century. By the time the painting resurfaced in 1900, its origins had been forgotten.

The masterpiece sold at a Christie's auction for $60 in 1958, before finally being identified as da Vinci's work in 2011.

"Salvator Mundi" ("Savior of the World") is one of fewer than 20 known paintings by da Vinci, and the only one in private hands.

"'Salvator Mundi' is a painting of the most iconic figure in the world by the most important artist of all time. The opportunity to bring this masterpiece to the market is an honor that comes around once in a lifetime," said Loic Gouzer the Chairman of Post War and Contemporary Art at Christie's in New York.

"No one will ever be able to fully grasp the wonder of Leonardo's paintings, just as no one will ever be able to fully know the origins of the universe."

"Salvator Mundi" will travel to exhibitions in Hong Kong, San Francisco, London and New York before going up for auction on November 15.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
leonardo da vinci painting expected to fetch $100m - cnn

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Rediscovered da Vinci work expected to fetch $100M

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Written by Charlotte Parsons, CNN A painting once bought for $60 is about to go under the hammer, billed as "the greatest artistic rediscovery of the 21st century." Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" was unveiled at Christie's New York Auction house on Tuesday, and is expected to fetch about $100 million when it goes on sale in November.

# data[].attributes.body
Two Women Charged in Killings of Two Girls on Colorado Farm.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Authorities in Colorado have formally accused two women of murder in the deaths of two young girls whose bodies were found last month.

Nashika Bramble and Madani Ceus, 37, were originally arrested on charges of child abuse causing death, along with two other men and one other woman. Prosecutors added murder charges against them on Friday.

Investigators have not elaborated on what led to the murder charges. An attorney for Ceus who is from Haiti, declined comment on Tuesday. An attorney for Bramble couldn't be immediately reached.

Police have said the girls were between the ages of 5 and 10. Investigators believe they were dead for several weeks before the bodies were located on a farm outside Norwood, about 30 miles west of the ski resort town of Telluride.

"In my 37 years as Sheriff, I have never seen anything as cruel and heartless as this," San Miguel County Sheriff Bill Masters said when the bodies were found.

Authorities have shared few other details about the case that shocked the town of about 500 people. It's not clear how any of the defendants are connected to the children. Authorities haven't released any details about what caused their deaths, and affidavits in the case have been closed to public view.

The others arrested in the case have been identified as Frederick Blair, 23, of Norwood; Ika Eden, a 53-year-old woman from Jamaica and Ashford Archer, a 50-year-old man from Haiti.

Blair and Archer also have been charged with acting as an accessory to a crime.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Two women charged in killings of two girls on Colorado farm

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Authorities in Colorado have formally accused two women of murder in the deaths of two young girls whose bodies were found last month. Nashika Bramble and Madani Ceus, 37, were originally arrested on charges of child abuse causing death, along with two other men and one other woman.

# data[].attributes.body
A volcano in southern Japan erupted for the first time in 6 years spreading ash in 4 different cities in japan.

# data[].attributes.body
Boy Scouts Will Accept Girls, in Bid to ‘Shape the Next Generation of Leaders’

# data[].attributes.body
US President Donald Trump has "lit the wick of the war" against North Korea, a Russian state news agency quoted North Korea's foreign minister as saying on Wednesday.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The statement follows weeks of escalating tensions between North Korea and the United States, fueled by Pyongyang's repeated nuclear tests and Trump's tough talk.

Speaking to Russia's state-run TASS news agency, North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho cited Trump's September speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York as the tipping point.

"By his bellicose and insane statement in the UN arena, Trump -- it can be said -- lit the wick of the war against us," Ri is quoted as saying on TASS' English language website. "We need to settle the final score, only with a hail of fire, not words."

During his remarks at the UN last month, Trump threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea and mocked the country's leader, whom he referred to as "Rocket Man."

Ri, who had called Trump "mentally deranged" after the UN speech, told TASS that North Korea was "winning" and represented "a worthy counterweight to the US."

Echoing previous warnings by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Ri said, "the United States should act sensibly and stop touching us if they do not want to disgrace themselves in the face of the whole world," adding that his nation's forces "will not leave America, the aggressor state, unpunished."

Ri's comments are likely to continue to fuel a mounting war of words between Trump and Kim.

During an appearance with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said that while he listens to others around him, he has a "different" attitude when it comes to the North Korea -- one he describes as "tougher."

"I think I have a little bit of a different attitude on North Korea than other people might have. And I listen to everybody, but ultimately, my attitude is the one that matters, isn't it?" Trump said. "That's the way it works. That's the way the system is."

Trump also told reporters that he wants to have the US nuclear arsenal in "tip-top shape," pushing back on an NBC report that he wanted to increase the stockpile tenfold.

Asked by a TASS reporter if dialogue between North Korea and the US is possible, Ri said it is not.

"The current situation -- when the US resorts to maximum pressure and sanctions, to outrageous military threats against the DPRK -- is not at all an atmosphere to negotiate," Ri said, according to TASS.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
north korea: trump has 'lit the wick' of war - cnnpolitics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
North Korea: Trump has 'lit the wick' of war

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The statement follows weeks of escalating tensions between North Korea and the United States, fueled by Pyongyang's repeated nuclear tests and Trump's tough talk. Speaking to Russia's state-run TASS news agency, North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho cited Trump's September speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York as the tipping point.

# data[].attributes.body
Update on Las vegas Shooting

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Worker warned hotel before Las Vegas shooter opened fire on crowd

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Stephen Schuck says he was checking on a report of a jammed fire door when he heard gunshots

# data[].attributes.body
Police in Lee's Summit are investigating reports that a teen with special needs was sexually assaulted several times by another Lee's Summit West High School student. According to the police report, the assaults happened beginning Aug. 16 until Sept. 22.The police report indicates the student accused of sexually assault is a 17-year-old boy. The assaults allegedly occurred in the school's bathroom.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. -- Police in Lee's Summit are investigating reports that a teen with special needs was sexually assaulted several times by another Lee's Summit West High School student.

According to the police report, the assaults happened beginning Aug. 16 until Sept. 22.

The police report indicates the student accused of sexually assault is a 17-year-old boy. The assaults allegedly occurred in the school's bathroom.

The victim's parents said they began noticing in August that their child was expressing rage that they had never seen before. He was moved into a specialized classroom.

During that time, it was discovered that the victim had received text messages from the suspect, in which the two allegedly texted about 'a Monster'. (The caffeinated drink.)

When asked about it, the victim said the suspect would not leave him alone. According to victim's mother who found the phone, the suspect would lure the boy into the bathroom with the offer of a Monster drink. Then the victim had to 'pay back' the suspect for the Monster drink.

The student reportedly opened up further, telling her that the suspect 'began trying to kiss him and rub his shoulders.' She says he also told her he 'tried to pull down his pants', according to the police report.

After learning this, on Sept. 16 and 17, the parents contacted the school's assistant principal, who formed a safety plan to keep him safe until the investigation was complete.

Then, on Sept. 22, the victim reportedly told a friend that he had been raped. The staff immediately responded and took the victim to St. Luke's East for a Sexual Assault Nurses Examination.

However, due to the reporting delay, the nurse could not complete any physical exam or recover physical evidence.

The victim stated during the nurse's interview that he blacked out and doesn't remember anything until going to 5th period on the day of the alleged rape.

According to the police report, the boy cried uncontrollably while talking about the assaults. The police report indicates he tried to jump from a balcony to 'stop the voices in his head.'

A spokesperson with the school district told FOX 4 in an email, "Due to student privacy considerations, we are unable to discuss any incidents of this nature."

FOX 4 will continue to follow developments on this and update our followers/viewers during newscasts and on the fox4kc app and FOX 4 Facebook page.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Boy with special needs lured, sexually assaulted inside Lee's Summit West H.S. bathroom: Police report

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. -- Police in Lee's Summit are investigating reports that a teen with special needs was sexually assaulted several times by another Lee's Summit West High School student. According to the police report, the assaults happened beginning Aug. 16 until Sept. 22.

# data[].attributes.body
American woman Caitlan Coleman and her family released from Taliban captivity.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The daring plan to bring home an American woman and her family from Afghanistan, where they were held captive by a Taliban-affiliated group, appeared to hit a snag Thursday, with officials telling Fox News the woman's husband is refusing to board a plane out of the Middle East.

Caitlan Coleman, 32, was seven months pregnant when she and her husband, Josh Boyle, were abducted in Afghanistan in 2012 by the Haqqani network. The couple and their three children -- all of whom were born in captivity -- were freed Thursday in a "negotiated release," an official told Fox News.

The family has "been essentially living in a hole for 5 years," White House Chief of Staff John Kelly told reporters Thursday.

But Boyle is refusing to board an American military plane in Pakistan waiting to take them home, fearing he'll be arrested, a U.S. official said. Some officials say Roberts is fearful of perhaps being sent to Guantanamo Bay, based off his background.

Boyle was previously married to the sister of Omar Khadr, a Canadian man who spent 10 years at Guantanamo Bay after being captured in 2002 in a firefight at an Al Qaeda compound in Afghanistan.

The Canadian-born Khadr was 15 in 2002 when he tossed a grenade in a firefight that killed U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer, a special forces medic.
TRUMP RAMPS UP PRESSURE ON PAKISTAN IN SPEECH
Other officials had discounted any link between that background and Boyle's capture by the Haqqani network, with one describing it to The Associated Press in 2014 as a "horrible coincidence."

The family was still in Pakistan Thursday afternoon and details of their departure are being worked out, a source told Fox News.

The Pakistani military confirmed the release and said the family was "being repatriated to the country of their origin."

"Please don't become the next Jimmy Carter"
- Caitlan Coleman in a 2016 plea to former U.S. President Barack Obama

The couple has told U.S. officials that they wanted to fly commercially to Canada, according to an official who spoke to The Associated Press.

The operation that set Coleman, Boyle and their children free remains somewhat mysterious. Pakistan's armed forces said in a statement an operation was undertaken by Pakistani forces based on actionable intelligence provided by U.S. authorities. U.S. intelligence agencies had reportedly been tracking the hostages and shared the location with Pakistani counterparts when the hostages shifted into Pakistani territory Wednesday.

But a source told Fox News that U.S. officials had been working on the release for a long time and had been placing pressure on the Pakistani government -- the Haqqani network has ties to Pakistan's intelligence services. The U.S., however, did not pay for the hostage release and no other hostages were released in a quid-pro-quo, sources said.

"Today they are free. This is a positive moment for our country's relationship with Pakistan," President Trump said in a statement Thursday. "The Pakistani government's cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America's wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region."

It is believed the family's captors are holding two other American hostages: Kevin King, a university professor who taught in Kabul and was captured in August 2016, and Paul Overby, a Massachusetts writer, who vanished in May 2014, the source said.

Trump appeared to hint at the news of Coleman's release during a speech in her home state of Pennsylvania a day earlier.

"Something happened today, where a country that totally disrespected us called with some very, very important news," Trump said Wednesday. "And one of my generals came in. They said, 'You know, I have to tell you, a year ago they would've never done that.' It was a great sign of respect. You'll probably be hearing about it over the next few days. But this is a country that did not respect us. This is a country that respects us now. The world is starting to respect us again, believe me."

Coleman and Boyle were last seen in a hostage video in December 2016 pleading for their governments to intervene.

The two vanished after setting off in the summer of 2012 for a journey that took them to Russia, the central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and then to Afghanistan.

Coleman's parents, Jim and Lyn Coleman, had previously last heard from their son-in-law on Oct. 8, 2012, from an Internet cafe in what Josh described as an "unsafe" part of Afghanistan.

The news of the release comes a month after President Trump announced a new strategy to deal with Afghanistan and Pakistan, saying the Taliban and other militant groups would no longer find safe haven in Pakistan.

Defense Secretary James Mattis and Gen. Joseph Dunford told Congress last week Pakistan would no longer be a sanctuary for terrorism.

"I applaud the innumerable lines of effort from across the U.S. government," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Thursday in reaction to the family's release.
TRUMP APPROVES SENDING 4,000 MORE TROOPS TO AFGHANISTAN, SENIOR OFFICIAL SAYS
In the 2016 YouTube video, Coleman refers to "the Kafkaesque nightmare in which we find ourselves" and urges "governments on both sides" to reach a deal for their freedom. She then adds: "My children have seen their mother defiled."

Two young children appear in the video with them, and Coleman has told her family that she gave birth to two children in captivity. It was revealed Thursday that Coleman had a third child.

"Please don't become the next Jimmy Carter," Coleman said in the 2016 video, reading a prepared statement and making a plea to former President Barack Obama. "Just give the offenders something so they and you can save face so we can leave the region permanently."

The Haqqani network has orchestrated a vast array of brutal attacks in Afghanistan in recent years, against both locals and the U.S. military, but unlike their Taliban associates, they are deemed to be more motivated by money than faith.

In that interview with Circa News in 2016, Jim Coleman issued a plea to top Taliban commanders to be "kind and merciful" and let the couple go.
Fox News' Jennifer Griffin, Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Caitlan Coleman family refuses return to US; husband fears Gitmo over past

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The daring plan to bring home an American woman and her family from Afghanistan, where they were held captive by a Taliban-affiliated group, appeared to hit a snag Thursday, with officials telling Fox News the woman's husband is refusing to board a plane out of the Middle East.

# data[].attributes.body
The wind known as the Diablo has picked up again, the air is dry, there is no rain in sight and the killer wildfires ravaging Northern California’s wine country remained almost completely uncontained Thursday morning.

# data[].attributes.body
Orange juice is going to start costing more after hurricane Irma swept through Florida. 50-70% of citrus crops have been washed away.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will release its first citrus production forecast for Florida's 2017-2018 Thursday after Hurricane Irma swept the Sunshine State more than a month ago, wiping away a majority of its treasured crop.

Initial reports indicated that 50-70% of citrus crops have been washed away due to the storm.

Florida's Department of Citrus told FOX Business that farmers across the state are reporting anywhere from 30-70% crop loss over the last few weeks.

Shannon Shepp, executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus, said that the Florida Citrus industry as a whole has taken a "heavy hit" this hurricane season.

"Before the hurricane, we were expecting more than 75 million boxes of oranges on the trees this season. Sadly, that's no longer the case. This may, temporarily, mean less Florida Orange Juice on grocery store shelves and a corresponding price increase," she said, without elaborating on how much the price hike will be.

Yet, Florida's Department of Citrus says despite the massive setback and soon-to-be price jumps, it is confident that no shortages will happen.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Your Orange Juice is definitely going to cost more

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will release its first citrus production forecast for Florida's 2017-2018 Thursday after Hurricane Irma swept the Sunshine State more than a month ago, wiping away a majority of its treasured crop. Initial reports indicated that 50-70% of citrus crops have been washed away due to the storm.

# data[].attributes.body
Eminem slams Trump in rap video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Trump and Eminem once friendly, not anymore - CNN Video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Rapper Eminem trashed President Donald Trump in a freestyle rap during the BET Hip Hop Awards. CNN's Jeanne Moos has the story.

# data[].attributes.body
North Korea foreign minister: Trump has 'lit the wick' of war

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The statement follows weeks of escalating tensions between North Korea and the United States, fueled by Pyongyang's repeated nuclear tests and Trump's tough talk.

Speaking to Russia's state-run TASS news agency, North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho cited Trump's September speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York as the tipping point.

"By his bellicose and insane statement in the UN arena, Trump -- it can be said -- lit the wick of the war against us," Ri is quoted as saying on TASS' English language website. "We need to settle the final score, only with a hail of fire, not words."

During his remarks at the UN last month, Trump threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea and mocked the country's leader, whom he referred to as "Rocket Man."

Ri, who had called Trump "mentally deranged" after the UN speech, told TASS that North Korea was "winning" and represented "a worthy counterweight to the US."

Echoing previous warnings by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Ri said, "the United States should act sensibly and stop touching us if they do not want to disgrace themselves in the face of the whole world," adding that his nation's forces "will not leave America, the aggressor state, unpunished."

Ri's comments are likely to continue to fuel a mounting war of words between Trump and Kim.

During an appearance with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said that while he listens to others around him, he has a "different" attitude when it comes to the North Korea -- one he describes as "tougher."

"I think I have a little bit of a different attitude on North Korea than other people might have. And I listen to everybody, but ultimately, my attitude is the one that matters, isn't it?" Trump said. "That's the way it works. That's the way the system is."

Trump also told reporters that he wants to have the US nuclear arsenal in "tip-top shape," pushing back on an NBC report that he wanted to increase the stockpile tenfold.

Asked by a TASS reporter if dialogue between North Korea and the US is possible, Ri said it is not.

"The current situation -- when the US resorts to maximum pressure and sanctions, to outrageous military threats against the DPRK -- is not at all an atmosphere to negotiate," Ri said, according to TASS.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
north korea: trump has 'lit the wick' of war - cnnpolitics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
North Korea: Trump has 'lit the wick' of war

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The statement follows weeks of escalating tensions between North Korea and the United States, fueled by Pyongyang's repeated nuclear tests and Trump's tough talk. Speaking to Russia's state-run TASS news agency, North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho cited Trump's September speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York as the tipping point.

# data[].attributes.body
Killer wildfires continue to rage in California's wine country, with 23 dead and hundreds missing.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Washington Post 54 mins ago Cleve R. Wootson Jr., Kristine Phillips, Joel Achenbach

Slideshow by photo services

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - The wind known as the Diablo has picked up again, the air is dry, there is no rain in sight and the killer wildfires ravaging Northern California's wine country remained almost completely uncontained Thursday morning. Officials warned that some of the big fires could merge, even as new blazes erupted, and thousands of people have been told to prepare to leave their homes - if they haven't already.

Subscribe to the Post Most newsletter: Today's most popular stories on The Washington Post
Evacuations continue, including one order covering the entire city of Calistoga in Napa County.

In neighboring Sonoma County, where the menacing arc of flames has done the most damage, Geyserville residents were urged to leave Wednesday evening; two hours later, another evacuation order was issued in the Sonoma Valley.

"This is a serious, critical, catastrophic event," Cal Fire Chief Ken Pimlott said.

At least 23 people have been killed by the fires in Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Yuba counties, where 3,500 homes and businesses had been burned at last count. Officials expect the death toll to rise - perhaps significantly - when officers begin going into the "hot zones" that were immolated in the firestorm.

"These destructive winds, along with millions of trees weakened by years of drought and recent renewed vegetation growth from winter storms, all contributed to some trees, branches and debris impacting our electric lines across the North Bay," she said.

Vanrenen said the company was up to date in the maintenance of its infrastructure and the surrounding vegetation but that excess rain last winter, followed by a drought, has created a lot of dry brush.
[An elderly couple just celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary. Then the Napa wildfires came.]

"We can't even get into most of the areas," Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano said. "When we start doing searches, I expect that number to go up."

Amid these grim bulletins, the huge utility company PG&E acknowledged that the extreme winds late Sunday and early Monday had knocked trees into power lines in conditions conducive to wildfires.

"The historic wind event that swept across PG&E's service area late Sunday and early Monday packed hurricane-strength winds in excess of 75 mph in some cases," said Ari Vanrenen, a PG&E spokeswoman, in a statement released after the San Jose Mercury News first reported on a possible link between the wildfires and the power grid.

"These destructive winds, along with millions of trees weakened by years of drought and recent renewed vegetation growth from winter storms, all contributed to some trees, branches and debris impacting our electric lines across the North Bay," she said.

Vanrenen said the company was up to date in the maintenance of its infrastructure and the surrounding vegetation but that excess rain last winter, followed by a drought, has created a lot of dry brush.

Officials with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said they have yet to determine the cause of the fires.

Since Sunday, at least 22 separate wildfires have broken out across the region, burning more than 170,000 acres - a collective area larger than the city of Chicago. The conflagrations have led tens of thousands of people to flee their homes. About 4,400 are in shelters and will not be able to go home for many days, officials said.

In Sonoma County, 600 people were reported missing, though the sheriff's office said Wednesday night that 315 have been located safe. Another 285 are still reported missing, but many may have lost cellphones or Internet access and may not have been able to reach friends or family.

Statewide, 8,000 firefighters are working to contain the fires, the worst of which are in Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma counties. In Sonoma County alone, more than a half-dozen separate wildfires have erupted, including one that started Wednesday.

The fires have put a strain on federal resources, too. Coming on the heels of catastrophic hurricanes, the California wildfires in total represent just one of 22 disasters that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is managing across the nation. Eighty-five percent of FEMA's 9,900 full-time employees are working "in the field," away from their assigned offices, agency spokesman Mike Cappannari said.

In some areas in wine country, the smoke and haze is so thick that the sun is a faint orange sphere in the sky. Most stores are sold out of air filtration masks. People pumping gas, shopping for groceries or walking dogs look like carpenters or surgeons, depending on which type of mask they were able to pick up.

Families crowd areas off the interstate highway, their cars packed with belongings. Highway 101 cuts through rolling hills that dominate the California coast, and entire hills are scarred black. In Santa Rosa, it is possible to trace the direction of the wind by which buildings were reduced to ashes and which remained untouched.

Pimlott, the Cal Fire chief, said a major fire in Napa County, known as the Atlas Fire, was 3 percent contained by Wednesday night. The same modest progress had been made against the Tubbs Fire, which invaded the city of Santa Rosa amid winds after midnight Monday morning and immolated entire neighborhoods.

In Santa Rosa on Wednesday, Ameir Kazemi stared at the smoldering remains of his business, the Mohawk Sign Company. It has been a Santa Rosa institution for 50 years, and Kazemi, 33, has owned it for a decade. Now, it's a pile of ashes and charred wood.

On Monday at 3:45 a.m., Kazemi's friends began calling him at home, warning him that a wildfire had jumped the highway. He wanted to dash to the store, but he couldn't leave his pregnant wife. Two hours later, a local TV station broadcast video of his building on fire. The station replayed the clip constantly.

"It was pretty sickening," he said. "I just wanted to come see if there was any chance that anything survived - the artwork, 10 years' worth of stuff on my hard drive. It's all gone."

Jennifer Pierre returned to her Santa Rosa neighborhood to see what was left of her house: almost nothing. Everything was ashes, including her children's baby blankets that she used to spray with her perfume, her wedding dress and her wedding ring. Even the valuables in their fireproof safe had burned or melted.

She and her husband had escaped with the clothes on their backs, and the couple now smelled like the smoky remains of their home.

"I could not wash that smell off me," she said. "You just want to scrub it out of you and get the smell out of you. Every time you breathe, this whole ordeal immediately comes back to you."

Christina Hanson, 27, who has spina bifida, a neural tube defect, and uses a wheelchair, was one of the people reported missing. Late Tuesday, her family posted the news that she did not survive the fire that struck her home on the north side of Santa Rosa.

Frank Vinculado, Hanson's cousin by marriage, had used social media to alert the community that she hadn't been accounted for in the wake of the fires. "Help me and my wife find her cousin!! We have lost contact with her in the Santa Rosa fires!" he wrote.

But late Tuesday, after a fire inspector reportedly visited the home, Vinculado wrote on Twitter, "To all who have retweeted, searched, called, text we have gotten news we have lost an angel."

Sonoma County Sheriff's spokeswoman Misti Harris said sometimes the only way to spread crucial information is with boots on the ground. "Deputies were running toward the fire, banging on doors, getting people out of their houses," she said.

Giordano, the Sonoma sheriff, said the mandatory evacuation zones in the county remain off-limits 24 hours a day, and he doubted that residents would be able to return to their homes this week.

Reporters asked Giordano about anecdotal accounts from residents saying they hadn't gotten alerts by phone about the oncoming fires. The sheriff cited a technological change in society that has undermined one automated system using landlines.

"People don't have landlines anymore," he said. He urged citizens to sign up for an alert system that sends messages to their cellphones.

With some of the fires in the Sierras and Southern California nearing containment, Cal Fire is shifting resources - which include 73 helicopters and 30 air tankers - to the most dangerous fires in and around wine country. The U.S. Forest Service said it has dispatched 740 personnel.

"We are in a wickedly dangerous fire situation and when one of us needs help, all of us come," said Bob Baird, director of fire and aviation management for the Forest Service's Pacific Southwest region.

Many Forest Service personnel are dealing with threats to their own homes. On Wednesday morning, as Baird was coordinating firefighting efforts, he received a text from his wife telling him that they were being asked to evacuate their home in Fairfield.

"The Atlas fire is three miles from the [Fairfield] city limits. The fire is about five miles away. Normally, that would be far away, but not with this fire," he said.
Phillips and Achenbach reported from Washington. Lea Donosky, Alissa Greenberg and Breena Kerr in Santa Rosa, and Abigail Hauslohner and Kimberly Kindy in Washington contributed to this report, which has been updated.
"We're literally looking at explosive vegetation," said Pimlott, the Cal Fire chief. "These fires are burning actively during the day and at night."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Killer wildfires continue to rage in California's wine country, with 23 dead and hundreds missing

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Washington Post 54 mins ago Cleve R. Wootson Jr., Kristine Phillips, Joel Achenbach Slideshow by photo services SANTA ROSA, Calif. - The wind known as the Diablo has picked up again, the air is dry, there is no rain in sight and the killer wildfires ravaging Northern California's wine country remained almost completely uncontained Thursday morning.

# data[].attributes.body
Burned woman said who set her on fire before dying

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Firefighters who talked to a severely burned Mississippi woman say the victim, who later died of her injuries, told them that someone named Eric set her on fire.

Several firefighters testified Tuesday and Wednesday in the trial of Quinton Tellis in Batesville, Mississippi, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Memphis, Tennessee.

Tellis has pleaded not guilty to capital murder in the death of the 19-year-old Chambers, who authorities said was found with burns on 93 percent of her body on Dec. 6, 2014, in Courtland, Mississippi. Prosecutors say Tellis set Chambers and her car on fire in a rural back road and left her to die.

The defense maintains that Tellis has been falsely accused, and that Chambers' dying statement to firefighters shows the killer was someone else.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Firefighters: Burned woman said who set her on fire before she died

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Firefighters who talked to a severely burned Mississippi woman say the victim, who later died of her injuries, told them that someone named Eric set her on fire. Several firefighters testified Tuesday and Wednesday in the trial of Quinton Tellis in Batesville, Mississippi, about 50 miles...

# data[].attributes.body
Family held hostage by Taliban freed after 5 years

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The family were released as part of an operation conducted by Pakistani security forces, according to a Pakistan army statement that was later confirmed by US officials.

The couple, American Caitlan Coleman, 31, and her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, 33, were kidnapped in 2012 while they were backpacking Afghanistan. Coleman was pregnant when she was kidnapped and the couple had two more children in captivity.

Pakistan said it had secured their release after receiving intelligence from the US. "The operation by Pakistani forces, based on actionable intelligence from US authorities was successful; all hostages were recovered safe and sound and are being repatriated to the country of their origin," the statement said.

US officials said intelligence about the family's location had been shared with Pakistan officials in recent days.

Boyle's parents, Patrick and Linda, told CNN that they had spoken to their son and that all of the family members were in good health. They learned for the first time in the call that they now have a granddaughter.

Arrangements were being made to return the family either to the US or Canada.

Pakistan official: No deal

Some of the circumstances surrounding the family's release remained unclear late Thursday.

A senior US official told CNN that US intelligence assets had detected and monitored the movement of vehicles believed to be transporting the family. US officials provided this information to Pakistani authorities and US officials even began unilaterally discussing a possible US-staged rescue attempt.

However, to the surprise of the US government, the Pakistani authorities called back their US counterparts to say they had taken custody of all five family members. "That was a surprise to us," the official said.

According to the US official, it was not clear what the Pakistanis "said or did" on the ground to get the family back. But the official added there was no evidence that any Haqqani prisoners held by the Afghan government were released in a prisoner exchange. The US described the Pakistani operation a "transfer of custody," the official said.

A Pakistani military official told CNN his government received the US intelligence about the movement of the hostages on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. Pakistani time. The Pakistanis launched their operation three hours later.

The official said the recovery operation was conducted by Pakistani intelligence agents with the Pakistani military helping to secure the perimeter. He said that the operation took place in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in northwestern Pakistan while the family was being transported from one location to another.

The operation involved a shootout with the kidnappers with some being killed in the firefight and others being arrested, according to the official.

He added that the hostages were retrieved in a "rescue operation" and there was "no deal" with the Haqqani Network.

After the hostages were recovered, they were taken to the town of Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwestern Pakistan. From there they were taken to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, where Coleman and Boyle met with their countries' respective officials. The meetings lasted for about six hours and the family were expected to remain in Pakistan for about 24 hours, the official said.

Parents: Son fears arrest

A senior US official said Joshua Boyle refused to board a US military plane that was on standby to take the faily to the US because of fears that he would face arrest.

Boyle was previously married to the sister of Omar Kadhr, a Canadian imprisoned for 10 years at the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after fighting US troops in Afghanistan.

Kadhr later sued the Canadian government for violating international law by allegedly not protecting him and conspiring with his US captors, who he says abused him.

The senior US official said there were some questions surrounding Boyle's past. But a Department of Justice spokesman, Wyn Hornbuckle, said US authorities did not intend to arrest Boyle.

"Throughout the captivity of Boyle and Coleman, the department focused its efforts on supporting their recovery and identifying and holding accountable those responsible for taking them hostage," Hornbuckle said. "Coleman and Boyle are not charged with any federal crime and, as such, we do not seek their arrest."

Trump: Pakistan starting to respect US again

President Donald Trump thanked Pakistan for its role in recovering the hostages. "The Pakistani government's cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America's wish that it do more to provide security in the region," Trump said.

"I want to thank Pakistan. They worked very hard on this and I believe they are starting to respect the United States again," Trump added.

In his recently announced strategy for Afghanistan and the wider region, Trump advocated a tougher approach to Pakistan in an effort to persuade Pakistani authorities to crack down harder on the Taliban.

"We hope to see this type of cooperation and teamwork in helping secure the release of remaining hostages and in our future joint counterterrorism operations," Trump said in an earlier statement.

More US hostages

US intelligence officials believed the couple were being held by the Haqqani Network, a branch of the Taliban believed to be responsible for some of the group's most violent and sophisticated attacks. In December the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, Gen. John Nicholson, said the Haqqani Network held a total of five American hostages.

The Taliban released a "proof of life" video of Coleman, Boyle and their two children in December 2016 where Coleman addressed President Barack Obama and then President-elect Trump, saying the Taliban "are not going to simply release our family easily, because it is correct. They want money, power and friends. ... We are told there are Afghans who are prisoners in Kabul that these men care about."

The Afghan government has captured several senior members of the Haqqani Network and US officials believed the Taliban faction had hoped to exchange American hostages for their release.

The US military has long believed that Pakistan's principal intelligence organization, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, has maintained links with the Taliban, particularly the Haqqani Network.

"I think it's clear to me that the ISI has connections with terrorist groups," Gen. Joseph Dunford, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Senate Armed Services Hearing on Afghanistan and South Asia last week, using the Pakistan intelligence agency's acronym.

Trump has previously slammed Pakistan for not doing enough to combat terrorist groups like the Haqqani Network.

Secretary of Defense James Mattis has already withheld millions in military funding from Pakistan due to the Pentagon's view that Islamabad has not "taken sufficient action against the Haqqani Network."

The Taliban continue to hold other western hostages including US citizen Kevin King, 60, and Australian citizen Timothy Weeks, 48. Both men were working as teachers at the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul when they were forcibly kidnapped from a vehicle in August 2016.

In September, three administration officials told CNN that US Special Operations Forces from SEAL Team 6 attempted to rescue the two teachers shortly after they were kidnapped but the captives were not at the location the US forces raided.

One other American is believed to be held hostage in Afghanistan or Pakistan: writer Paul Overby, who is in his 70s.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
north american family held hostage by taliban freed - cnn

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Family held hostage by Taliban freed after 5 years

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The family were released as part of an operation conducted by Pakistani security forces, according to a Pakistan army statement that was later confirmed by US officials. The couple, American Caitlan Coleman, 31, and her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, 33, were kidnapped in 2012 while they were backpacking Afghanistan.

# data[].attributes.body
Trump to force GOP reckoning on Iran

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Republicans in Congress will face a wrenching choice if President Trump follows through on decertifying the Iran nuclear deal.

Decertification would unlock a fast-track procedure for Congress to reimpose sanctions, leaving Republicans with two unappealing options.

Snap back the sanctions, and Iran likely walks, killing an agreement that top administration officials say is in the national interest. Do nothing, and the deal likely stands, preserving a pact that Republicans have lambasted for years.

For now, it appears that Republicans have little appetite for reviving the sanctions. Yet the pressure from hard-liners to act will be intense.

Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, signaled the GOP's likely approach on Wednesday. He said the U.S. should demand Iranian compliance with the agreement but also impose new sanctions for activities outside the scope of the deal.

"As flawed as the deal is, I believe we must now enforce the hell out of it," Royce said at the top of a hearing. "Let's work with allies to make certain that international inspectors have better access to possible nuclear sites, and we should address the fundamental sunset shortcoming, as our allies have recognized. This committee will do its part tomorrow by marking-up the Ballistic Missiles and International Sanctions Enforcement Act."

Asked after the hearing whether he thinks Congress will reimpose the nuclear sanctions, Royce pointed back to his opening statement.

Trump faces a Sunday deadline to tell Congress whether Iran remains in compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and whether the agreement remains in the national interest of the United States.

Trump has certified the deal twice before. Secretary of State , Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford and Secretary of Defense have said Iran is complying. Mattis testified to Congress that staying in the deal is in the United States' national interest.

But Trump is widely expected to announce this week that he disagrees and is decertifying the deal.

Congress created the certification deadline in the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA). That law established a 60-day window for Congress to quickly snap back sanctions lifted under the deal. In the Senate, that fast-track process means only a simple majority is required to reimpose sanctions, so Democrats would not be able to block it.

As Trump's announcement looms, congressional leaders have mostly demurred on the sanctions question.

The White House has made it clear that Trump's problems with Corker stem at least in part from his stance on Iran. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday accused Corker of being complicit in the deal, saying he "rolled out the red carpet" for it.

Corker's office rejected the accusation, pointing to Corker's vote against the deal and his insistence on the passage of INARA. Without that law, Congress would not have a say in the deal at all.

Last week, Corker was tight-lipped about what he thinks will happen on Iran, saying he is "way, way, way too close" to the administration's decision to comment. But he has talked generally about pushing back on Iran without scuttling the accord.

He noted the ramifications of walking away from a deal that the U.S. negotiated alongside China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

"As I've said before, you can only tear these things up one time," Corker said last week when asked if he agrees with Mattis. "It might feel good for a second, but one of the things that's important for us is to keep our allies with us, especially our Western allies, and so there are ways of dealing with this that can deal with the deficiencies that we all know are there and the agreement potentially stay in place."

Outside groups who opposed the deal have also told Congress not to snap back sanctions.

At Wednesday's House Foreign Affairs hearing, David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, said Trump should decertify the deal but that Congress should not reapply the sanctions.

Instead, Congress should pass legislation to improve the nuclear deal, Albright said. Specifically, he advocated for changing the law that requires the president to certify the deal every 90 days.

"The purpose of that is to straighten out one fundamental problem that is tough for this administration, which is that INARA makes it look like President Trump is certifying compliance with this deal," Albright said. "INARA doesn't actually do that, but it's putting him in a position to defend an intractable position."

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), now chairman of United Against Nuclear Iran, which lobbied hard against the agreement, predicted lawmakers wouldn't reimpose sanctions.

"My guess is Congress will hold back if I'm hearing correctly from some of the people who spoke out about this," he told reporters Tuesday on a conference call. "We will see what pressure builds."

Even some of Congress's staunchest Iran hawks have thrown cold water on the idea of approving a sanctions bill during the 60-day window.

"I have no intention right now to introduce snapback sanctions legislation on Oct. 16," Cotton said. "If it's obvious by the end of that 60-day period that the course of action I've recommended will not work, then perhaps we will have to reimpose sanctions then. But I'm also willing to give the administration and our allies in Europe and the Middle East more time than just 60 days to try to get a better deal."

Democrats are predicting Republicans won't snap back sanctions.

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) said he doesn't think Congress will reimpose sanctions because Iran would keep the money it's already gotten from the deal.

"I don't think they want to take back the car and let the dealer keep our money, too," Sherman said.

Still, Iran hawks are railing against the deal ahead of the certification deadline.

"With Iran financing terror, overthrowing foreign governments, illegally test firing intercontinental ballistic missiles, chanting death to America, calling Israel the little Satan, America the great Satan, I would say that it was the wrong answer for us to be propping up the wrong regime with a jackpot of sanctions relief," Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) said.

"We should be ... turning this into a reasonable deal, not one that's very one-sided and one where we got ridiculously played at the table."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Republicans in Congress will face a wrenching choice if President Trump follows through on decertifying the Iran nuclear deal. Decertification would unlock a fast-track procedure for Congress to reimpose sanctions, leaving Republicans with two unappealing options. Snap back the sanctions, and Iran likely walks, killing an agreement that top administration officials say is in the national interest.

# data[].attributes.body
Old man dies after a group robbed his home.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A 91-year-old Brooklyn man died on Wednesday after a group of robbers broke into his home and tied him up, police said.

Waldiman Thompson and his 100-year-old wife, Ethline Thompson, were sitting in their home when a group of unknown intruders broke in and ransacked the place, according to police. The suspects threw a blanket over her head and then tied up both of the elderly residents, according to police.

Ethline Thompson, who managed to untie herself, ran outside and alerted authorities. Police arrived to find her husband unresponsive on the floor.

Investigators believe he may have died of shock, because he had no other injuries, according to ABC's New York station WABC. The official cause of his death has not been determined.

The couple's family said it was heartbroken by the incident.

"Oh my god. It breaks my heart to see my uncle died. He was like a father to me," Karlene Grose, Waldiman Thompson's niece, told WABC Wednesday.

WABC

Investigators said they are looking for four male suspects and watching surveillance footage for clues.

Ethline Thompson was taken to a nearby hospital where she was treated for minor rope burns. According to police, she was confused and did not know her husband had died.

A neighbor said he thought he heard a "loud boom" from the couple's apartment.

"I thought it was a gunshot initially. But it wasn't a gunshot," the neighbor said. "From in the neighborhood, they are just saying basically, that they were robbed and the gentleman had a heart attack."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
91-year-old Brooklyn man dies, 100-year-old wife injured after home robbery

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A 91-year-old Brooklyn man died on Wednesday after a group of robbers broke into his home and tied him up, police said. Waldiman Thompson and his 100-year-old wife, Ethline Thompson, were sitting in their home when a group of unknown intruders broke in and ransacked the place, according to police....