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School in New York was shut down after a 3 year old ate a grilled cheese sandwich and dies

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A school in New York City on Wednesday shut down after a 3-year-old boy, severely allergic to dairy, died after eating a grilled cheese sandwich, reports said.

Elijah Silvera died on Nov. 3 after he went into anaphylactic shock from eating a grilled cheese at the Seventh Avenue Center for Family Services in Harlem, The Daily News reported. He was rushed to the Harlem Hospital pediatric emergency room where he died.

Silvera was served the sandwich "despite them [the school] knowing and having documented that he has a severe allergy to dairy," according to a GoFundMe page. The New York City Health Department released a statement late Wednesday that the school will remain close as the investigation continues, Fox 8 reported.

"There is nothing more important than the safety of our children and we are deeply saddened by this tragedy. We will get to the bottom of what happened here. In the meantime, we're closing the Center for Family Services and continuing to aggressively investigate what happened and whether the facility could have done something differently to prevent this tragedy," the statement read.

Silvera's GoFundMe page has raised nearly $18,500 and will go towards an independent autopsy report.

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New York City school shut down after toddler dies after eating grilled cheese

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A school in New York City on Wednesday shut down after a 3-year-old boy, severely allergic to dairy, died after eating a grilled cheese sandwich, reports said. Elijah Silvera died on Nov. 3 after he went into anaphylactic shock from eating a grilled cheese at the Seventh Avenue Center for Family Services in Harlem, The Daily News reported.

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people are going crazy over this upside down tree and the people said they would make it a tradition it is in the white house

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The White House unveiled its Christmas decorations on Monday, everything designed around a traditional, classic theme.

There wasn't one trendy, upside-down Christmas tree in sight.

The topsy-turvy trees have made a comeback for yet another holiday season, and, like last year, people still seem bothered and bah-humbugged by them.

If you haven't seen one, they look like this.

Those are the fancier, commercial versions. The ones sold for everyman by Target and other retailers, including Bed Bath & Beyond, look like this.

"If you've seen upside-down Christmas trees for sale in stores or through online vendors and thought they were modern, space-saving versions of traditional Christmas trees, think again," notes The Spruce home decorating website.

"The tradition of hanging a Christmas tree upside down from the ceiling is an old one in Central and Eastern Europe."

The shape of the upside-down tree is regarded as a symbol of Christianity because it resembles the shape of the crucified Christ, writes The Spruce, though some people beg to differ and hate this tree on religious and political grounds.

From a purely decorative standpoint, an upside down Tannenbaum makes sense. It helps keep ornaments away from clumsy little kiddie hands and pets. And - is this not the best part? - there's more room underneath for gifts.

But while decorators gush and pictures flood Instagram and Pinterest, some people seem unsure this is a trend they want to try.

"I have a lot of questions. Why is Target selling an upside down Christmas tree? Why is it nearly $1000? Is this a Stranger Things joke that I'm missing? Someone help," pleaded Twitter user @schaferwafer.

Even former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski weighed in on this weighty decorating debate recently on "Fox and Friends."

He hates it.

Others are more willing to think outside the boxwood.

And maybe, an upside-down tree is even better if it rotates?

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The upside-down Christmas tree is trendy again, and people are flipping

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The White House unveiled its Christmas decorations on Monday, everything designed around a traditional, classic theme. There wasn't one trendy, upside-down Christmas tree in sight. The topsy-turvy trees have made a comeback for yet another holiday season, and, like last year, people still seem bothered and bah-humbugged by them.

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An arctic front is coming in towards the north. Behind the arctic front, wind chills are below zero and in the single digits in Midwest. These wind chills will move into the Northeast later Friday morning and into the afternoon and night. Because of the arctic air mass, the National Weather Service has issued multiple warnings and advisories for 16 states from Alabama to Michigan and east to New York.

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Those in the Northeast are breaking out winter hats and mittens for the first time this season as an arctic front is moving through the I-95 corridor Friday and ushering in the coldest air of the season.

Behind the arctic front, wind chills are below zero and in the single digits in Midwest. These wind chills will move into the Northeast later Friday morning and into the afternoon and night.

The Northeast will have the coldest temperatures Friday night into Saturday morning, with ABC News forecasting record lows for Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston in the lower to middle 20s.

Wind chills will be even colder, teens and single digits will be in most of the New England and I-95 corridor.

ABC NEWS

Because of the arctic air mass, the National Weather Service has issued multiple warnings and advisories for 16 states from Alabama to Michigan and east to New York.

ABC NEWS

Snow will be the problem around the Greak Lakes.

Lake effect snow will continue around the Great Lakes from Michigan to New York and Pennsylvania, with some snow also possible in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Locally, 2 to 4 inches is possible around the lakes and maybe an inch or two in western New York, Pennsylvania and New England, ABC News forecasts.

A new storm system will move through the Midwest and the Great Lakes Friday night into Saturday, bringing more snow from Minnesota to Wisconsin and into Michigan. A winter storm watch has been issued for parts of the area with 5 to 9 inches of snow possible locally near the lakes.

ABC NEWS

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Cold weather advisories in effect for Northeast as record lows approach

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Those in the Northeast are breaking out winter hats and mittens for the first time this season as an arctic front is moving through the I-95 corridor Friday and ushering in the coldest air of the season. Behind the arctic front, wind chills are below zero and in the single digits in Midwest.

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When president Donald Trump awoke the first day in Asia to news that a gunman had massacred more than than 2 dozen people at church in Texas, it presaged a week of events back home that in a well worn pattern have overshadowed his attempts at diplomacy abroad.

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Like presidents before him, Trump is discovering here that foreign travel can prove an exhausting, scripted exercise that is easily obscured by developments elsewhere in the world.

In Japan, South Korea, and China, Trump has dutifully stuck to his talking points about trade fairness and isolating North Korea, while political controversies that would ordinarily spur an outsized response have gone largely unmentioned.

Even his eyebrow-raising comment blaming his predecessors -- and not China -- for unfair trade practices was read from a set of prepared remarks. Despite Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's insistence the comment was "tongue-in-cheek," Trump repeated it twice on Friday.

The scripted sessions have eased concerns -- both among his Asian counterparts and his own advisers -- that Trump would employ his trademark bombast during intensive talks about delicate subjects. But they have also allowed other stories to eclipse his message.

As it turned out, the Texas shooting was only the first interruption.

Domestic interruptions

An hour before he was due to deliver the centerpiece speech of the trip in Seoul on Wednesday, television networks back home began announcing a wave of Democratic wins in local and state elections -- the first electoral rebuke of Trump since he took office.

Three days later, as he prepared to depart Beijing for Vietnam, news emerged that the Alabama Republican Senate candidate, Roy Moore, was accused of making sexual or romantic advances toward teenagers.

Throughout the trip, the Russia investigation has crept closer to Trump's inner circle. News emerged Thursday that his top policy aide Stephen Miller, who is traveling with Trump this week and drafted most of his formal remarks, was interviewed by investigators working with special counsel Robert Mueller. And Trump's aide-de-camp Keith Schiller testified behind closed doors at the House Intelligence Committee.

Compared to some prior political pitfalls, Trump's response to the wave of Democratic wins on Tuesday was muted. He tweeted the Republican candidate for governor in Virginia, Ed Gillespie, "worked hard but did not embrace me or what I stand for." He left it at that.

And news of Moore's alleged sexual improprieties ahead of Alabama's senate election spurred a statement from Trump's spokeswoman, but not from the President himself.

"The President must and will remain focused on representing our country on his historic trip to Asia, where he has been treated with great respect and made unprecedented progress in further strengthening alliances and promoting America's interest above all else," Sarah Sanders said

Yet it may be perfect timing for a president, easily prone to distraction, to be out of town.

The constant stream of distractions may outwardly appear to diminish Trump's message in Asia. But some officials traveling with Trump privately say the stream of damaging headlines in the US come at a convenient time. Some said they were relieved the trip has proceeded without any self-inflicted dust-ups, either in Trump's meetings or in the hours he's spending in foreign hotel rooms.

The President and aides traveling with him have spent their downtime reminiscing about his election victory a year ago, according to people familiar with the sessions. Trump posted a photo on Twitter Wednesday aboard Air Force One, surrounded by former campaign operatives who are now jetting around Asia representing the United States. They all flashed thumbs-up.

The anniversary, paired with a time change and busy schedule that have kept Trump from viewing hours of cable television, has buffered some of his frustrations at GOP election losses this week, which included the Virginia and New Jersey governor's races, according to one official.

Presidents abroad

In distant time zones, discussing issues that rarely make headlines in the United States, Presidents abroad often find their messages crowded out by unforeseen events or acts of violence, which they're forced to respond to, often belatedly, from the road. Their response then generates its own headlines, and the message of the day -- on trade, security, or human rights -- becomes secondary.

On Trump's first foreign trip, a suicide bomber detonated at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England -- Trump's first brush at responding to a crisis while on foreign soil. After learning of the attack inside his Jerusalem hotel room, Trump followed the standard script for a traveling President: secure briefing, phone calls to Washington and a solemn statement delivered before the traveling press corps.

It's a cycle President Barack Obama repeated again and again during his foreign travels. In capitals in Asia, Europe and Latin America, Obama often woke up to news of violent incidents in another corner of the globe, either back on US soil or on another continent.

When terrorists attacked the airport in Brussels, he was midway through a history-making trip to Cuba. When the Bataclan nightclub in Paris was attacked by gunman, he was hours from departing for security and trade talks in Turkey, the Philippines and Malaysia. And when five police officers were shot in Dallas, Obama was attending NATO talks in Poland -- and cut short a planned visit to Spain to return home.

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trump's abroad but the headlines are at home - cnnpolitics

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Trump's abroad but the headlines are at home

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When President Donald Trump awoke on his first day in Asia to news that a gunman had massacred more than two dozen people at a church in Texas, it presaged a week of events back home that -- in a well-worn pattern -- have overshadowed his attempts at diplomacy abroad.

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Actor John Hillerman died of natural causes Thursday at his home in Houston, Texas, his publicist, Lori De Waal, said. He was 84 years old. Hillerman was best known for his Emmy Award-winning work in the long-running detective series "Magnum, P.I."

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The stage-trained actor first made an impression as arrogant radio show detective Simon Brimmer on the NBC revival of "Ellery Queen" in 1975. Hillerman then took on notable roles as the boss of Bonnie Franklin on the long-running CBS sitcom "One Day at a Time," and trading sarcastic quips with Betty White in the short-lived sitcom "The Betty White Show" in 1977.

Hillerman's most acclaimed work was in the role of Jonathan Higgins in the popular 1980s detective comedy-drama "Magnum, P.I." Playing the repressed and paternalistic foil to Tom Selleck's titular character earned Hillerman an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 1987 and a Golden Globe Award that same year.

Hillerman made his film debut in Peter Bogdanovich's "The Last Picture Show" in 1971, before scoring roles in movies such as Bogdanovich's "Paper Moon," Clint Eastwood's "High Plains Drifter," Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles," and Roman Polanski's "Chinatown."

Hillerman majored in journalism at the University of Texas and achieved the rank of sergeant during a stint in the Air Force, before moving from Texas to New York City to pursue a career in acting.

Hillerman went on to make one hundred appearances on the small screen, De Waal said. The actor's final appearance was in the 1996 film "A Very Brady Sequel."

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John Hillerman, 'Magnum, P.I.' actor, dead at 84

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The stage-trained actor first made an impression as arrogant radio show detective Simon Brimmer on the NBC revival of "Ellery Queen" in 1975. Hillerman then took on notable roles as the boss of Bonnie Franklin on the long-running CBS sitcom "One Day at a Time," and trading sarcastic quips with Betty White in the short-lived sitcom "The Betty White Show" in 1977.

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Wilson throws 2 TD passes, Seahawks win again in Arizona

Russell Wilson threw two touchdown passes to Jimmy Graham and the Seattle Seahawks added to their history of success in Arizona with a 22-16 victory over the Cardinals on Thursday night.

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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Russell Wilson threw two touchdown passes to Jimmy Graham and the Seattle Seahawks added to their history of success in Arizona with a 22-16 victory over the Cardinals on Thursday night.

Jimmy Graham and Russell Wilson connected for a pair of TDs as the Seahawks handled the Cards, but Seattle saw Richard Sherman and others leave early.

With a running game that never got off the ground, Drew Stanton was forced to pass against a stout Seattle defense.

The Seahawks (6-3) limited Adrian Peterson to 29 yards in 21 carries in a game marred by a host of injuries and penalties, most of them against Seattle, to improve to 4-0-1 in Arizona in Bruce Arians' five seasons as coach of the Cardinals (4-5).

Seattle's Kam Chancellor forced a fumble by Peterson on Arizona's first offensive play and later tackled him in the end zone for a safety.

At least seven players left the game with injuries, including Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman.

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For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL

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Seahawks vs. Cardinals - Game Recap - November 9, 2017 - ESPN

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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Russell Wilson threw two touchdown passes to Jimmy Graham and the Seattle Seahawks added to their history of success in Arizona with a 22-16 victory over the Cardinals on Thursday night. Jimmy Graham and Russell Wilson connected for a pair of TDs as the Seahawks handled the Cards, but Seattle saw Richard Sherman and others leave early.

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Richard Sherman, Seahawks star corner back, is out for the season. He ruptured his achilles last night during a Thursday Night Football game against the Cardinals.

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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman left Thursday night's game against the Arizona Cardinals in the third quarter with a heel injury.

His return was announced as doubtful.

Sherman was on Seattle's injury report last week because of his Achilles. He was listed as a non-participant all three days, though the team held walkthroughs and his participation was an estimation of what would have occurred in a normal practice.

Sherman has never missed a game since entering the league in 2011.

Injuries have piled up in this game for the Seahawks. Defensive tackle Jarran Reed (hamstring) and left tackle Duane Brown (ankle) both left in the first half. Running back C.J. Prosise (ankle) left in the third quarter.

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Sherman exits with heel injury; return doubtful

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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman left Thursday night's game against the Arizona Cardinals in the third quarter with a heel injury. His return was announced as doubtful. Sherman was on Seattle's injury report last week because of his Achilles.

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Indiana police engaged in a wild car chase early Tuesday morning. Around 3 AM police saw the car pull out of a parking lot without their headlights on. The car was swerving down both lines at 15 mph. The car soon sped up and turned on its lights they slep up. The car ran into a metal fence. There was a 7 year old boy in the backseat. He was the one that was driving.

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Indiana police officers reportedly engaged in a wild car chase early Tuesday morning to nab a suspected drunk driver -- only to find a 7-year-old boy was the one behind the wheel.

La Porte police officers spotted the car without its headlights on pulling out of a parking lot about 3 a.m., WSBT reported. The officers began following the car and watched it swerve down both lanes driving 15 miles per hour.

The car soon sped up and, when officers activated their sirens and lights, the driver kept going, doubling his speed until he fishtailed on the state highway, eventually crashing through a metal fence.

Officers advanced on the vehicle and found the 7-year-old hiding in the back seat. He was taken to the police station where his mother picked him up and explained to police the vehicle belonged to her boyfriend, according to WSBT. She said her son drove off when he was left alone in the car with the keys in the ignition.

She added the boy was also having behavioral problems at school.

It's unclear if police are pursuing charges in the case.

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Boy, 7, takes Indiana police on wild car chase, officials say

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Indiana police officers reportedly engaged in a wild car chase early Tuesday morning to nab a suspected drunk driver -- only to find a 7-year-old boy was the one behind the wheel. La Porte police officers spotted the car without its headlights on pulling out of a parking lot about 3 a.m., WSBT reported.

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An Alabama Jury awarded a 57-year-old man, Henry Walker $7.5 Million after he claimed he broke his hip while purchasing a watermelon. Walmart is claiming that the display was not dangerous and any  "negligence" was Walkers fault. A Walmart spokes person says they believe the damages awarded was excessive, and that they will appeal.

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An Alabama jury on Wednesday awarded $7.5 million to a man who sued Walmart after he said he broke his hip buying watermelson at a store.

Henry Walker claimed that on June 25, 2015, his foot became trapped in a pallet beneath a stack of watermelons while reaching for one.

Walmart has maintained that the display was not dangerous, and that any negligence was Walker's fault.

"We are disappointed in the verdict," a Walmart spokesman said. "We appreciate the jury's service, however we believe that the damages awarded were excessive in light of the facts in this case. We plan to appeal."

Walmart continues to uses the same displays for watermelon despite the incident.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Jury awards $7.5 to man who says he was injured buying watermelons at Walmart

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An Alabama jury on Wednesday awarded $7.5 million to a man who sued Walmart after he said he broke his hip buying watermelson at a store. Henry Walker claimed that on June 25, 2015, his foot became trapped in a pallet beneath a stack of watermelons while reaching for one.

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A Volusia County Sheriff is warning pet owners who go to Bicentennial Park to be careful . On Tuesday a deputy responded to a report of a contaminated meet in the park. The deputy found the ball of meat with several small fishing hooks in them. One dog was taken to the vet because the dog was found eating the meet balls.

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The Volusia County Sheriff's Office is warning pet owners who go to Bicentennial Park to be careful.

They say that on Tuesday, one of their deputies responded to report of contaminated meat found in the dog park. The deputy found balls of meat with small fish hooks embedded inside them.

One dog was even found eating one, says police. That dog was taken to the vet with two of the meatballs. The deputy took five to investigate.

Reportedly, nobody saw who put the meatballs out there.

The deputy says that the meatball was still cold and sweating, like it had been frozen and was thawing in the sun for awhile. Several were very mushy. The meat appeared to have the consistency and smell of liverwurst.

The deputy went on to cut the meatball open. He reported that he observed a small piece of metal showing in some of the meatballs. Inside the meat were several small fishing hooks.
Read more from Fox 35 Orlando.

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Meatballs stuffed with fishing hooks found at Florida dog park

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The Volusia County Sheriff's Office is warning pet owners who go to Bicentennial Park to be careful. They say that on Tuesday, one of their deputies responded to report of contaminated meat found in the dog park. The deputy found balls of meat with small fish hooks embedded inside them.

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Police in Kansas say an elementary school secretary was arrested Wednesday in connection with an emailed bomb threat that forced a school district to cancel classes and after school activities for over two days earlier this week.

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Dallas police say they arrested a 15-year-old boy on Thursday around 1 p.m. for the capital murder of 27-year-old Gabrielle Simmons. The mother of six was killed during the robbery Monday night. She was killed right before she was set to finish her workday. Several tips from the public helped police identify and find the teen suspect. Police found him just a few blocks north of the Dollar General. They said he was arrested without incident.A $25,000 award was being offered for information leading to her killer's arrest. But police say Simmons still managed to hit the alarm, causing the store's doors to shut automatically. As the shooter was trying to escape, he dropped his bag filled with the money and escaped.

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Police have arrested a 15-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting a Dollar General store clerk in Dallas during a failed robbery attempt.

Dallas police say they arrested a 15-year-old boy on Thursday around 1 p.m. for the capital murder of 27-year-old Gabrielle Simmons. The mother of six was killed during the robbery Monday night. She was killed right before she was set to finish her workday.

Several tips from the public helped police identify and find the teen suspect. Police found him just a few blocks north of the Dollar General. They said he was arrested without incident.

Police say the shooter walked up to Simmons and demanded all the money in the cash register. She followed his orders and put the money in his gym bag, but she was still fatally shot. Police said the gunman shot her, grabbed the till and ran out.

But police say Simmons still managed to hit the alarm, causing the store's doors to shut automatically. As the shooter was trying to escape, he dropped his bag filled with the money and escaped.

Police are still investigating if the teen suspect had any accomplices.

A $25,000 award was being offered for information leading to her killer's arrest.
Click for more from Fox 4.

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Texas boy, 15, arrested in murder of Dollar General clerk

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Police have arrested a 15-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting a Dollar General store clerk in Dallas during a failed robbery attempt. Dallas police say they arrested a 15-year-old boy on Thursday around 1 p.m. for the capital murder of 27-year-old Gabrielle Simmons. The mother of six was killed during the robbery Monday night.

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Mohamad Jamal Khweis, a 26-year-old a former bus driver from the suburbs, claimed that he had fled an ISIS safehouse. He said his ordeal began during a vacation in Turkey. There, he met a woman from Mosul who convinced him to sneak into ISIS territory with her. The two were separated before they reached Raqqa and he found himself trapped in the terror group's caliphate, fearing he would be killed if he raised suspicions. He snuck out. He ended up staying more than 2 months there. Upon learning that an American had been captured near ISIS territory, the FBI dispatched agents to interview him in.  His story changed over the course of 15 meetings, according to court records. He is one of five US citizens who have been taken into custody as terror suspects after traveling to ISIS territory between 2014 and 2017. Last month, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for material support of a foreign terrorist group and a gun charge. His attorneys said they plan to file an appeal.

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One of the Peshmerga soldiers, a captain, told the troops to stay back as he began walking towards the person, fearing a possible suicide bomber from the ISIS-controlled town of Tal Afar nearby. The soldiers fired more warning shots and the man rose to his feet.

"No," he said to the captain. The man wasn't strapped with a suicide vest and he didn't have a gun. His pockets were stuffed with Turkish and Iraqi cash. He had three phones, a couple of bank cards and a Virginia driver's license.

He asked the Kurdish soldiers for a cigarette after they cuffed him.

Mohamad Jamal Khweis, a 26-year-old a former bus driver from the suburbs of Washington, DC, claimed that he had fled an ISIS safehouse. He said his ordeal began during a vacation in Turkey. There, he met a woman from Mosul who convinced him to sneak into ISIS territory with her.

The two were separated before they reached Raqqa and he found himself trapped in the terror group's caliphate, fearing he would be killed if he raised suspicions. He spent more than two months living in squalid safehouses with foreign fighters, trying not to attract attention as he plotted to slip away.

That's what he told the Kurds, at least.

Upon learning that an American had been captured near ISIS territory, the FBI dispatched agents to interview Khweis at the Kurdish detention facility in Erbil, Iraq. His story changed over the course of 15 meetings, according to court records. The story he ultimately told agents after weeks of interrogations is much darker.

There was no woman from Mosul. He traveled by himself in Turkey and took steps to reach ISIS facilitators online, using apps to mask his location, encrypt his messages and hide his web browsing history. He sent a direct message to a suspected recruiter nicknamed Mad Mullah and created a Twitter account with the handle iAGreenBirdiA. Radical Islamists believe green birds carry the souls of martyrs to paradise if they die waging violent jihad, according to trial testimony.

In Turkey, Khweis received a call at midnight instructing him to leave his hotel room and get in a taxi to cross the Syrian border. He shared a ride with ISIS recruits from France who allegedly praised the mass shooting and suicide bombings the terror group carried out in Paris. The driver told the passengers that they were going to have to walk part of the way. They were also advised to look out for landmines and other explosives along the road.

Khweis is one of five US citizens or legal residents who have been taken into custody as terror suspects after traveling to ISIS territory between 2014 and 2017. Last month, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for material support of a foreign terrorist group and a gun charge. His attorneys said they plan to file an appeal.

Related documents: In the sentencing document from Mohamad Khweis' defense attorneys, they suggest that five years in prison was a fitting punishment for him, explaining that he shouldn't serve longer because abandoned ISIS and cooperated with the FBI. In the government's sentencing memorandum, prosecutors argue that Mohamad Khweis should be locked up for 35 years as a deterrent and a reality check for people who may fall prey to ISIS propaganda.

In the wake of the deadly ISIS-inspired truck attack in New York, President Donald Trump called for "extreme vetting" of immigrants trying to reach the US. Khweis is an example of someone traveling in the other direction -- leaving the US to fight for ISIS and other militant groups in Iraq and Syria.

At least nine American terror recruits have died in Syria and Iraq, according to Justice Department documents, court records and media reports. At peak, an estimated 100 Americans were fighting for Sunni extremist groups in Iraq and Syria, according to the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence at King's College in London.

One US citizen is currently being held at an undisclosed location in Iraq as an enemy combatant. The individual reportedly left ISIS and surrendered to a Syrian rebel group in September. The person's name has not been released by the Department of Defense and there's been no status update on when the individual might come to the US to face potential criminal charges.

The ACLU filed a habeas corpus petition in early October demanding that the Pentagon let the organization's lawyers contact the American. The government responded that the ACLU has no standing to send lawyers into a war zone to talk to a person whose identity and best interests are unknown to them, the government argued. The Red Cross has visited the individual twice and offered to contact family members, according to the government's brief. The ACLU fired back that the Red Cross does not provide legal advice.

The situation raises questions about what happens to other Americans who are captured in Iraq and Syria. Since 9/11, there have been debates about how to collect intelligence from detainees while respecting the rules of constitutional governance.

The Trump administration has drafted at least one version of an executive order that would allow ISIS suspects to be jailed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to the New York Times and the Washington Post. Trump's been advocating sending American detainees to Gitmo since 2014, when he tweeted "Any American who fights with ISIS should have their passport revoked. Take them to Gitmo for interrogation."

The president repeated his call for US terror suspects to be held in Cuba after eight people were killed and 12 injured when an ISIS follower ran down cyclists and pedestrians along a Lower Manhattan bike path on Halloween.

Khweis returned to the US before Trump took office. He was extradited in June 2016 after spending nearly three months in a Kurdish prison. Khweis claimed the guards beat him, sexually humiliated him, subjected him to mock executions and pushed him down into a puddle of his own urine. He slept on a cold floor. Kurdish officials testified that no one abused Khweis, although they acknowledged he had been slapped once and a guard yelled at him when he asked for a second serving of food. His cell had a pile of blankets rather than a cot. Other details about the detention facility are classified, they said.

Defense attorneys said the FBI interrogated Khweis at least 11 times before reading him his Miranda rights. Weeks of solitude and a sense of desperation to get home led him to make incriminating statements to the FBI, according to the defense.

"Mr. Khweis, a US Citizen, was held in a secret detention in Erbil, Iraq, for over two months for US interrogations," Khweis' defense attorneys wrote in a court motion. "Before interrogations began, a consular from the US State Department advised Mr. Khweis that his right to remain silent and the presumption of innocence were not present in Iraq. Then, for the first set of interrogations, Mr. Khweis was not Mirandized...During each interrogation, Mr. Khweis begged, pleaded, and wept, imploring the agents to bring him back home, even if it meant returning home to face criminal charges."

"Though the interrogations reports indicate that Mr. Khweis recounted no abuse, it is also important to note that that Mr. Khweis was permanently in the presence of a Kurdish official. The Kurdish were omnipresent, and he was never out from under their critical eye," Khweis' attorneys wrote.

In response, prosecutors said the first set of interviews centered on collecting classified intelligence about the inner workings of ISIS. A separate team came in later to gather info for a criminal case.

Khweis is the first US citizen to go on trial and take the stand to describe how and why he traveled to Syria. He testified that he went as a citizen-investigator of sorts. He envisioned embedding himself with Islamic State fighters to learn about daily life in the caliphate, a la Vice News, according to his defense attorney. The ISIS propaganda and 9/11 image recovered on his phone were research, he said.

"When I saw...what was going on in Syria on the news, I was kind of interested to find out a little bit more, like what's going on and stuff like that," said Khweis, on the witness stand, according to court documents. "I actually wanted to see both sides...to see the Syrian regime side and then the opposition side. After watching videos posted... by like the Islamic State showing like those nonviolent videos, showing people just living a normal life, people going to like the shopping center, going to restaurants, and going shopping, just playing sports outside, I felt like I could blend in and wanted to check that."

He didn't blend in. After the taxi took Khweis and his fellow recruits to the border and they crossed on foot, a black SUV picked them up along the way and took them to Raqqa. Khweis wasn't dropped off on a street corner so he could see the sights, as it were. He went straight to intake, where he surrendered his passport and filled out an enlistment form, providing the name of his father, clothing size, shoe size, blood type and occupation before Jihad. His reponse: "hotel receptionist." He later had his blood drawn to test for sexually transmitted diseases. He chose a Kunya (ISIS nickname), Abu Omar al-Amriki, according to court documents.

Instead of exploring Raqqa as a truth seeker, he took on the role of manservant in dilapidated safehouses, making dinner for militants and performing other menial tasks, according to defense attorneys. Khweis said he missed many Sharia classes and sermons because the drinking water made him sick throughout his time with ISIS.

"When you listen to this evidence, you will hear not that Mohamad fired a weapon, but that he took out the trash," said Khweis' attorney, Jessica N. Carmichael, during opening statements. "Not that he planted a bomb, but that he bought groceries for the people at his house. And you will hear not that he encouraged other people to join ISIS or espoused ISIS ideology, but that he bought a guy lunch."

Prosecutors said that Khweis' behavior prior to entering Syria suggests he didn't go there as a neutral observer. He quit his job, sold his car, lied to his parents and used tradecraft to conceal a one-way trek to Raqqa. He booked his flight about a month after the Paris terror attack on November 13, 2015.

"'Mohamad Khweis turned his back on his own country by joining the most lethal terrorist organization in the world, renowned for its brutality and murderous agenda, and offered himself as a suicide bomber," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. "The defendant's desire to join ISIS involved considerable planning and a deliberate execution of his plan.'"

Khweis insisted he never intended martyr himself. He's not religious. He drinks and smokes, both forbidden under Sharia law. On the witness stand, he claimed he was partying at bars in Turkey when he made a drunken decision to take a quick side trip to Syria. His secret detour could make for a story he'd one day share with his grandchildren.

Ultimately, Khweis wound up sharing his story with a jury at a Virginia courthouse in June. Hours after closing arguments wrapped up, he was convicted on all counts. On October 27, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

His defense attorneys had argued against a lengthy sentence because Khweis abandoned ISIS and cooperated with authorities.

"He risks death by informing on ISIS even now, that's going to be public," said Khweis' lawyer, John K. Zwerling, during closing arguments. "The government often says, 'You need to convict these people, you have got to send a message.' What is the message to other people who make this kind of stupid mistake, find themselves in an incredibly awful situation where they need to either be executed by ISIS or execute others through use of firearms or explosives, or escape? We should want them to escape. He chose to escape. He chose not only to escape, but to assist our country in fighting ISIS. He told them what he could. And it was very valuable information."

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a virginia bus driver's dark journey to raqqa - cnnpolitics

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A Virginia bus driver's dark journey to Raqqa

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A solitary figure lurked in the distance outside the village of Golat in the Sinjar region of northern Iraq. Kurdish troops spotted the man at 4 a.m., shining projector lights across a field while patrolling the area on a late winter morning. They fired six warning shots overhead.

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People in the northeast are already getting out hats and gloves because and arctic front is moving through the 1-95 and pushing the coldest air of the season. The northeast, like NYC, Washington D.C., and Boston, the temperature would be in the lower to middle 20's. Because of the arctic air mass, the NWS has issued multiple warnings and advisories for 16 states from Alabama to Michigan and east to New York. Around the Great Lakes, snow would be the biggest problem.

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Those in the Northeast are breaking out winter hats and mittens for the first time this season as an arctic front is moving through the I-95 corridor Friday and ushering in the coldest air of the season.

Behind the arctic front, wind chills are below zero and in the single digits in Midwest. These wind chills will move into the Northeast later Friday morning and into the afternoon and night.

The Northeast will have the coldest temperatures Friday night into Saturday morning, with ABC News forecasting record lows for Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston in the lower to middle 20s.

Wind chills will be even colder, teens and single digits will be in most of the New England and I-95 corridor.

ABC NEWS

Because of the arctic air mass, the National Weather Service has issued multiple warnings and advisories for 16 states from Alabama to Michigan and east to New York.

ABC NEWS

Snow will be the problem around the Greak Lakes.

Lake effect snow will continue around the Great Lakes from Michigan to New York and Pennsylvania, with some snow also possible in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Locally, 2 to 4 inches is possible around the lakes and maybe an inch or two in western New York, Pennsylvania and New England, ABC News forecasts.

A new storm system will move through the Midwest and the Great Lakes Friday night into Saturday, bringing more snow from Minnesota to Wisconsin and into Michigan. A winter storm watch has been issued for parts of the area with 5 to 9 inches of snow possible locally near the lakes.

ABC NEWS

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Cold weather advisories in effect for Northeast as record lows approach

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Those in the Northeast are breaking out winter hats and mittens for the first time this season as an arctic front is moving through the I-95 corridor Friday and ushering in the coldest air of the season. Behind the arctic front, wind chills are below zero and in the single digits in Midwest.

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in the northeast there is a cold front coming thru and it is cold! people are having to wear hats and gloves and coats and get everything out a little early in some places it is already -15!!! they say that snow will be a big problem around the great lake and there are several different watches and advisory's like... frost advisory,winter storm warning winter weather advisory and several several more

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Those in the Northeast are breaking out winter hats and mittens for the first time this season as an arctic front is moving through the I-95 corridor Friday and ushering in the coldest air of the season.

Behind the arctic front, wind chills are below zero and in the single digits in Midwest. These wind chills will move into the Northeast later Friday morning and into the afternoon and night.

The Northeast will have the coldest temperatures Friday night into Saturday morning, with ABC News forecasting record lows for Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston in the lower to middle 20s.

Wind chills will be even colder, teens and single digits will be in most of the New England and I-95 corridor.

ABC NEWS

Because of the arctic air mass, the National Weather Service has issued multiple warnings and advisories for 16 states from Alabama to Michigan and east to New York.

ABC NEWS

Snow will be the problem around the Greak Lakes.

Lake effect snow will continue around the Great Lakes from Michigan to New York and Pennsylvania, with some snow also possible in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Locally, 2 to 4 inches is possible around the lakes and maybe an inch or two in western New York, Pennsylvania and New England, ABC News forecasts.

A new storm system will move through the Midwest and the Great Lakes Friday night into Saturday, bringing more snow from Minnesota to Wisconsin and into Michigan. A winter storm watch has been issued for parts of the area with 5 to 9 inches of snow possible locally near the lakes.

ABC NEWS

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Cold weather advisories in effect for Northeast as record lows approach

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Those in the Northeast are breaking out winter hats and mittens for the first time this season as an arctic front is moving through the I-95 corridor Friday and ushering in the coldest air of the season. Behind the arctic front, wind chills are below zero and in the single digits in Midwest.

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A Florida dad fires a gun to try to stop kidnappers from kidnapping his 17 year old daughter. He heard what sounded like his car door closing and went to get his gun. He saw some people trying to force their way into his garage and fired three shots that scared off the 3 people.

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A father in Florida is being credited with thwarting an attempted kidnapping of his 17-year-old daughter, firing shots as four teen suspects tried to break into his garage, police said.

An investigation revealed that the teens believed the father to be wealthy and had hatched a plot to rob his house and kidnap his daughter, according to the sheriff's office.

Deputies from the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office responded to a possible home-invasion robbery in progress at about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday at a home in Baker. The 51-year-old homeowner told authorities his daughter had called him to say that someone tried to block the roads to their home with barrels - an apparent attempt to force her to exit her car and walk.

Instead, she simply drove around them, according to a statement by the sheriff's office.

"A short time later her father heard his dogs barking and saw his front motion-activated flood lights come on," the statement continued. "He also heard what sounded like his car door closing and went to get his gun."

He saw some people trying to force their way into his garage and fired three shots, sending the would-be intruders scurrying into the woods, police said.
Click for more from The New York Post.

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Florida dad fires gun to stop 17-year-old daughter's attempted kidnappers, cops say

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A father in Florida is being credited with thwarting an attempted kidnapping of his 17-year-old daughter, firing shots as four teen suspects tried to break into his garage, police said. An investigation revealed that the teens believed the father to be wealthy and had hatched a plot to rob his house and kidnap his daughter, according to the sheriff's office.

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He wrote "4 Stop Wait Time" in the blood of his fourth victim, a macabre message from the mind of a suspected serial killer. Florida detectives say the "4" represented the number of killings a man committed in the wee hours on the streets of Fort Lauderdale and Lauderhill.

Next to the body of the fourth victim, Derick Westley Tucker, 46: a blood-covered handsaw and machete and the scrawled message.

But detectives think the suspect was hasty in assigning his number. His unnamed second victim who was shot in the neck and left for dead remains hospitalized in critical condition.

The victims - five targeted, three killed - were all homeless men. At a news conference Wednesday, Fort Lauderdale police, who teamed with detectives from Lauderhill, said they have charged security guard Nathaniel Maurice Petgrave with the murders. The Broward Sheriff's Office report lists three counts of premeditated murder, committing or attempting to commit a felony that could cause death, armed burglary of a business and unarmed burglary of a vehicle.

Petgrave was homeless, too, living in a makeshift camp he built in Plantation at the corner of State Road 7 and Northwest Eighth Place. Police found more than two dozen live rounds of 9 mm bullets that match casings from the murder scene that are in evidence, the Sun Sentinel reported.

"To the best of our knowledge and everything we've looked at, we don't believe he targeted these victims for any reason other than their availability," Fort Lauderdale Police Sgt. Steve Novak told CBS4, the Miami Herald's news partner.

The killer's victims include Larry Scott, 65, who was shot while sleeping at an abandoned gas station in Lauderhill on Oct. 20. The second man, who survived, was shot there that morning, too, detectives say.

The next morning, on Oct. 21, John Jackson, 50, was killed by a bullet to the head in the parking lot of a Dixie Food Store two blocks from Fort Lauderdale's police headquarters. Police think Petgrave took aim at another man there but his shot missed.

Tucker was next, on Oct. 27, in the daylight hours of the morning, while sleeping in a Public Storage unit in Fort Lauderdale.

Detectives found Petgrave in a black Chevrolet pickup truck that had been stolen in Miami Gardens on Sept. 18. Petgrave told officers they will never find the gun he used, WPLG Local 10 reported.

Howard Cohen: 305-376-3619, @HowardCohen

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A Florida serial killer tallied his victims, cops say. His math was off

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He wrote "4 Stop Wait Time" in the blood of his fourth victim, a macabre message from the mind of a suspected serial killer. Florida detectives say the "4" represented the number of killings a man committed in the wee hours on the streets of Fort Lauderdale and Lauderhill.

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Christopher Plummer replacing Kevin Spacey in 'All the Money in the World'. Actor Kevin Spacey, who is facing mounting allegations of sexual harassment and assault, will no longer appear in Ridley Scott's forthcoming drama, "All the Money in the World," two sources close to the film confirm to CNN.

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A father in Florida is being credited with thwarting an attempted kidnapping of his 17-year-old daughter, firing shots as four teen suspects tried to break into his garage, police said.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A father in Florida is being credited with thwarting an attempted kidnapping of his 17-year-old daughter, firing shots as four teen suspects tried to break into his garage, police said.

An investigation revealed that the teens believed the father to be wealthy and had hatched a plot to rob his house and kidnap his daughter, according to the sheriff's office.

Deputies from the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office responded to a possible home-invasion robbery in progress at about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday at a home in Baker. The 51-year-old homeowner told authorities his daughter had called him to say that someone tried to block the roads to their home with barrels - an apparent attempt to force her to exit her car and walk.

Instead, she simply drove around them, according to a statement by the sheriff's office.

"A short time later her father heard his dogs barking and saw his front motion-activated flood lights come on," the statement continued. "He also heard what sounded like his car door closing and went to get his gun."

He saw some people trying to force their way into his garage and fired three shots, sending the would-be intruders scurrying into the woods, police said.
Click for more from The New York Post.

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Florida dad fires gun to stop 17-year-old daughter's attempted kidnappers, cops say

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A father in Florida is being credited with thwarting an attempted kidnapping of his 17-year-old daughter, firing shots as four teen suspects tried to break into his garage, police said. An investigation revealed that the teens believed the father to be wealthy and had hatched a plot to rob his house and kidnap his daughter, according to the sheriff's office.

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they are teaching students there coding lanqige.

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Melbourne University RMIT has teamed up with Apple to offer an Australian-first course giving students the chance to build apps and learn to code in the tech giant's Swift programming language.

As technology seeps into all aspects of our lives, its increasingly clear that young workers who have an understanding of how to design and build software applications will have a huge advantage in the modern workplace.

And partnerships with tech giants like Apple could help shape the future curriculums of educational institutions.

On a recent trip to France, Apple CEO Tim Cook said learning to code is more important than learning to speak English. In fact, the big languages of coding and computer programming will soon be the most commonly understood in the world.

Apple's vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives, Lisa Jackson, was in Melbourne today to announce the new partnership.

"From the beginning we wanted to make the practice of coding just like we do our products: simple, intuitive, engaging and empowering," she told news.com.au.

Apple's Swift coding language became available about three years ago. The company says it designed Swift to be an approachable and intuitive coding language for beginners while also allowing professionals to build sophisticated programs.

Earlier this year the tech giant released a platform called Everyone Can Code which includes free learning experiences and online guides for students and teachers to help bring coding into the classroom.
THE MULTI BILLION DOLLAR APP ECONOMY
Since its inception in 2008, Apple has paid out more than $US70 billion to developers from its App Store, and RMIT vice chancellor Martin Bean wants to give more Aussie students a slice of that pie.

Using its own version of Apple's App Development with Swift curriculum, RMIT Online will begin offering a coding course on November 20 (you can enrol from today and the first batch of students will receive a 60 per cent discount) while a new vocational education short course will be taught on campus from February 2018.

The app development course will also be integrated into RMIT's tertiary curriculum for students enrolled in IT or computer science.

"These are the sort of skills Australians need for the jobs of the future and we're delighted to work with Apple as the first university in Australia to deliver tailored, industry-focused courses using Swift curriculum," Mr Bean said.

Students who undertake the course will be required to build an app that will then appear in Apple's App Store.

"Because the course is outcome driven ... it's like the best assessment in the world," Mr Bean told news.com.au. "Because you're not having to pass a test, you're building an app that has to work and people have to like it."

He sees it as a "contemporary" way for the university to teach coding and attract students to learn a much needed skill set.

The so-called app economy is responsible for an estimated 113,000 jobs in Australia at the moment - a number expected to grow immensely in the next decade. It's projected that by 2020, Australian industry will need more than 80,000 specialist tech workers.

Melbourne developer Jason Fabbri who co-founded the app Roamni, a platform which crowd sources audio tours for cities around the world, said building the app with Swift ensured it was "future proof" for Apple's App Store. The company has worked on the app for the past two years and hopes to launch by the end of the year.

The move is a smart play by Apple - the more people they can lure to learn their coding language, the stronger its App Store will be.

"Of course we want a vibrant App Store," Ms Jackson said. "Apple is nothing without the App Store and the App Store is nothing without developers."

Sometimes dubbed "the most powerful women at Apple" she reports directly to Tim Cook on an array of matters, which might sound daunting until you learn she used to do the same for then US president Barack Obama when she was head of the US Environmental Protection Agency from 2009 to 2013.

"We believe coding is an essential skill that people of all ages and backgrounds should have the opportunity to learn, so that they have the ability to create something that can change the world," she said.

RMIT also worked with leaders of Australia's burgeoning tech industry to help shape its new iOS App Development with Swift online program. The course was co-created and endorsed by major industry partners, including Tigerspike, jtribe and Bilue, who represented key drivers of growth in the app economy, the university said.
AUSTRALIA PLAYING CATCH UP
A report commissioned by NBN Co. last year claimed that one in two jobs in Australia will require programming and IT skills within 15 years.

Many in the Australian tech industry argue there is a severe shortage of Australians skilled up for jobs in the sector and more needs to be done in training and early education - something the Turnbull government sought to partly address in its 2015 Innovation Statement.

For about the past three years, "coding in every Australian school" has been an official policy of the Australian Labor Party. The Queensland state government has introduced coding into its mandatory curriculum this year but because there is no standardised coding classes at a national level, parents who can afford to are sending their kids to holiday programs put on by companies like Code Camp.

But Australia risks falling further behind the rest of the world in this vital area, experts warn. Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Estonia and England have all mandated coding and programming classes in school with kids as young as five learning to code and create their own computer games.

Meanwhile US-led initiatives such as Code.org and the Hour of Code, backed by organisations like Microsoft and Google champion the need for young students around the world to have the opportunity to learn coding.

"The industry has been crying out for more digitally-skilled workers for years and RMIT is proud to work with Apple to meet the demand in this booming area and create life-changing educational opportunities for people from all walks of life," said Helen Souness, CEO of RMIT Online.

As part of its commitment to boosting digital literacy in Australia, RMIT will also offer 100 scholarships for school teachers to upskill and help demystify coding by completing the RMIT Online program.

The university will also offer a free summer coding school for Victorian-based students at RMIT's City campus to give secondary students the chance to learn the basics of coding in Swift.

"We are proud to work with RMIT and many other schools around the world that share in our vision to help students learn the skills they need to create something that could change the world," Apple boss Tim Cook said in a statement.

The reporter traveled to Melbourne as a guest of Apple. This story originally appeared in news.com.au.

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Melbourne University RMIT has teamed up with Apple to offer an Australian-first course giving students the chance to build apps and learn to code in the tech giant's Swift programming language. As technology seeps into all aspects of our lives, its increasingly clear that young workers who have an understanding of how to design and build software applications will have a huge advantage in the modern workplace.