TODAY AMERICA GRIEVES FOR KAYLA MUELLER Kayla Mueller worked with troubled youths. She volunteered at a women's shelter and at an HIV/AIDS clinic. She provided support to Syrian refugees. She worked with AmeriCorps and Big Brothers Big Sisters. Kayladedicated her life to helping people. Today the White House confirmed the 26-year-old American aid worker, who was kidnapped in August 2013 in Syria, is dead. President Obama said "Kayla represents what is best about America." America agreed. Her family kept her captivity a secret for 18 months, until the Islamic State claimed Friday that she was killed in a Jordanian airstrike, but U.S. officials say there's no evidence that's how she died. We do know Kayla wrote her family a heart-breaking letter while in captivity. You can read it here. Since August, the Islamic State has released several videos showing gruesome killings and threatening those held hostage. Here's a look at thosebeing held or killed.
APPLE BECOMES FIRST $700B COMPANY IN U.S. HISTORY Cue the wild applause. Apple notched another all-time stock high today and closed trading as the first $700 billion company. Shares of the gadget-maker closed up $2.29, or 1.9%, to $122.01 — putting a punctuation on what's been a breathtaking 58% rise over the past year. Thinking of buying some Apple stock? Analysts say the seemingly unstoppable Apple is actually still attractively priced , despite trading for more than $100 a share. In other Apple news, the company announced today thatit's building an $850 million solar farm. Because, well, it can afford it.
STRAUSS-KAHN: I DIDN'T KNOW THE WOMEN WERE PROSTITUTES Remember Dominique Strauss-Kahn? He's the former International Monetary Fund chief whose sex scandal involving a New York maid cost him his tenure at the IMF and ended any realistic shot he had at becoming president of France. That guy. Right. The New York case is long over (settled out of court two years ago), but his legal woes are not . He was in a French courtroom today, where he denied allegations that he knowingly helped organize orgies with sex workers. Strauss-Kahn said he was not aware the women in question, whom he admits participated in orgies at luxury hotels in Paris and Washington, were prostitutes. Strauss-Kahn and 13 others are accused of aggravated pimping. Worth knowing: It's not illegal to pay for sex in France, but it is against the law to solicit or to run a prostitution business.
BOBBI KRISTINA'S FAMILY IS SICK OF THE RUMORS Whitney Houston's daughter, Bobbi Kristina, has been comatose in an Atlanta hospital for 10 days. There have been rampant reports about her condition since she was found face down and unresponsive in a bathtub on Jan. 31. Today her family is slamming them. A statement from the Brown family lawyer said there's no truth to the rumors that they're planning to turn off the ventilator keeping Bobbi Kristina alive tomorrow, which is the third anniversary of her mother's death. So far, no information about what happened to her or why has emerged. Police are investigating whether foul play was involved, but have refused to comment in public about what they've learned so far.
'NEWSWEEK' HACKERS WISH MICHELLE OBAMA A 'BLOODY VALENTINE'S DAY' Well, that's unromantic. Newsweek's Twitter account was hacked today by a group supporting the Islamic State, and included a threat sent to first lady Michelle Obama. The profile and banner photos were swapped out by a group called CyberCaliphate, along with the following tweet: "Bloody Valentine's Day #MichelleObama! We're watching you, you girls and your husband! #CyberCaliphate." This is the same group that hacked the twitter account for U.S. Central Command this year. Newsweek confirmed the hack, which lasted 14 minutes, and White House press secretary Josh Earnest says the FBI is investigating. Later today, Twitter's chief financial officer, Anthony Noto, had his Twitter account hacked by spammers. Someone clearly needs schooling on their two-factor authentication. |
|
|
| Compiled by Cara Richardson and Alia E. Dastagir. Contributing: Gregory Korte, Mary Nahorniak, Kim Hjelmgaard, Elizabeth Weise, Maria Puente, Brett Molina, Matt Krantz, Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY; Traci Watson, Special for USA TODAY; The Arizona Republic; Associated Press |
|
댓글 없음:
댓글 쓰기