Teens among 33 dead in Oakland warehouse fire, officials say

The death toll from a fire at a converted Oakland warehouse known as the "Ghost Ship" had risen to 33 and teenagers were among the victims, authorities said Sunday.

Officials estimated that between 35 and 40 percent of the partly collapsed structure's remains had been searched as of Sunday afternoon, and crews clearing debris were expected to find more bodies as they advanced, Alameda County Sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly said.

Late Sunday, officials said they had identified eight victims, one of whom was 17 years old. That person's name was not made public.

The seven other victims were identified as Cash Askew, 22, of Oakland; David Clines, 35, of Oakland; Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, of Coronado, Calif; Sara Hoda, 30, of Walnut Creek, Calif.; Travis Hough, 35, of Oakland; Donna Kellogg, 32, of Oakland; and Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32, of Hayward, Calif.

OAKLAND-AREA SPORTS TEAMS DONATING TO FIRE VICTIMS

Sgt. Kelly said that some of the victims hailed from Europe and Asia. He also confirmed that one of the victims was the son of an Alameda County sheriff's deputy.

Anxious family members who feared the worst gathered at the sheriff's office to await word on their loved ones. They were told they may have to provide DNA samples to help identify remains.

The warehouse had been carved into artist studios and was an illegal home for a rotating cast of a dozen or more people, according to former denizens who said it was a cluttered death trap with few exits, piles of wood and a mess of snaking electric cords.

"If you were going there for a party, you wouldn't be aware of the maze that you have to go through to get out," said Danielle Boudreaux, a former friend of the couple who ran the warehouse.

As many as 100 people were there for a party Friday night when the fire broke out just before midnight. Fire officials were still investigating the cause of the blaze, but they said clutter fueled the flames, there were no sprinklers inside and few exits to escape.

Boudreaux identified the operators of the Satya Yuga collective as Derick Ion Almena and Micah Allison. She had a falling out with Almena when she convinced Allison's parents and sister about a year ago that the warehouse was a dangerous place for the couple's three children to live.

The couple rented out five recreational vehicles and other nooks on the ground floor as living spaces. A rickety makeshift staircase led to a second floor where concerts were held. Former residents said there frequently was no electricity or running water.

Oakland planning officials opened an investigation last month after repeated complaints from neighbors who said trash was piling up and people were illegally living in the building zoned as a warehouse. An inspector who went to the premises couldn't get inside, said Darin Ranelletti, of the Oakland Planning Department.

The city had not confirmed people lived there, but a former resident said she had been lured in part by reasonable rents in a region beset with a housing shortage and exorbitant leases driven by the tech boom.

Shelley Mack said she wasn't told the residence was illegal until after she moved in a couple years ago and stayed for four to five months, paying about $700 a month. She said she was instructed to tell visitors it was a 24-hour workspace for artists and when outsiders or inspectors planned to visit, residents would scurry to hide clothes and bedding.

"It's like a horror house. Just horrors in there," she said.

To a first-time visitor, though, the labyrinth of uniquely designed spaces was "stunning," said Alastair Boone, a University of California, Berkeley student who arrived at the party with five friends around 11 p.m.

Photographs from before the fire showed that the Bohemian community of musicians, painters, woodworkers, dancers and other artists had decorated the scene with Tibetan prayer flags, Christmas lights and scores of wooden statues of Buddha, the virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, elephants and dragons that sat atop pianos and turntables. Tapestries hung from the walls, mannequin legs and arms stuck out from the ceiling and a small wooden spot of floor was used for art performances.

"It was obvious to me everyone who lives there cared about each other and were invested in a space they made a home," Boone said.

Almena did not immediately respond to emails or phone numbers associated with him. Authorities declined to talk about the manager, saying they were focused on recovering the bodies and consoling families.

A man identified as Derick Ion posted a Facebook message early Saturday, saying, "Everything I worked so hard for is gone. Blessed that my children and Micah were at a hotel safe and sound." He drew rebukes online from others who said he was warned the building was unsafe.

Almena, 46, has lived in California since at least 1990, mostly in Los Angeles, where public records show he was evicted from a North Hollywood apartment in Los Angeles in 1993.

Allison, 40, spent much of her life residing in Northern California, although she had also lived in Southern California, where she filed for a fictitious business name, Sacred Image, at a Los Angeles address.

Online records listed the building's owner as Nar Siu Chor. The Associated Press could not locate a telephone number for her Saturday. Efforts to reach her at other Oakland addresses associated with her were not successful.

Boone said she had just received a tour of the property and stepped outside when someone yelled, "Fire!"

"In a couple of minutes there were flames coming out of the windows and black smoke was just billowing out of the house," she said.

Some of the people who got out were crying and others stood silently in shock as firefighters arrived to put the flames out.

"The people who lived there were clustered together, and they were just so sad," Boone said. "They were losing their loved ones, and there was nothing they could do."

Monica Kat was outside the warehouse Saturday and said she feared four of her friends are dead. "They're still not accounted for, and I can only think the worst at this point," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Trump expands secretary of state search; more interviews this week

President-elect Donald Trump has widened his search for secretary of state beyond his short-list of Mitt Romney and three others, senior transition team adviser Kellyanne Conway said Sunday.

“It is true that [Trump] has broadened the search,” she told reporters at Trump Tower in New York City. “He continues to talk to different people. I think you've all seen the list before that already existed. I think there'll be additional interviews with other candidates.”

The transition team on Thursday officially confirmed Trump had narrowed the list to four. Then sources told Fox News the names were Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee; former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani; Tennessee GOP Sen. Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; and retired Gen. David Petraeus, also a former CIA director.

However, other names have surfaced, including John Bolton, a former U.S ambassador to the United Nations; Rex Tillerson, Exxon’s chief executive officer; and most recently John Huntsman, a former U.S. ambassador to China and Utah GOP governor whose daughter Abby is a Fox News general assignment reporter.

Conway on Sunday declined to speak directly to reporter questions specifically about Huntsman or others but acknowledged the list has grown beyond four candidates, with more interviews later this week.

“That list is expanding,” she said. “There is not a finite list of finalists. … More than four, but who knows how many finalists there will be. It's a big decision and nobody should rush through it.”

Conway, who joined Trump as a campaign manager late in the White House race, has been surprisingly public in her criticism of Romney as the next State Department leader. She has said grass-roots Trump supporters feel “betrayed” by Romney being in the running, considering he called Trump a “con man” and a “phony” during the campaign.

Trump has publicly said he was OK with Conway’s comments. And Conway told “Fox News Sunday” that she would fully support Trump picking Romney and would say the same to disgruntled supporters.

“I've spoken my piece on that,” she said. “I said publicly and will say here again: Whatever he chooses and whomever he chooses has my full support and backing. … I'm going to say to those Trump supporters … you have to accept his judgment.”

Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Sunday voiced strong support for Petraeus but declined to comment when asked to speculate on whether he’d pass Senate confirmation, considering a federal judge sentenced him to two years of probation as part of a plea agreement on mishandling classified information. 

“That will be up to the president-elect,” Pence said on NBC's "Meet the Press." “I think the president-elect will weigh that against the backdrop of an extraordinary career in military service, whether it's in the role of secretary of state or another role in this administration.”

Pence also said Bolton, Corker, Giuliani, Petraeus, Romney and others “bring extraordinary background and qualities.”

Rare weasel-like mammal makes a comeback in Washington state

MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, Wash. –  The elusive weasel-like mammal poked its head out of the wooden crate, glanced around and quickly darted into the thick forest of Mount Rainier National Park — returning to a landscape where it had been missing for seven decades.

One by one, 10 Pacific fishers that had been trapped in British Columbia were set free at the park south of Seattle as part of a multiyear effort to reintroduce the native species to its historic range.

A large crowd gathered Friday to herald the return of the dark-brown member of the weasel family with its lush fur and bushy tail. They cheered, clapped and hooted, and First Nations and American Indian tribal members sang and drummed, as each crate door was lifted and a fisher streaked out of sight across the snowy ground.

"We're correcting something that we mismanaged a long time ago before we knew enough to manage wildlife populations," said Jeffrey Lewis, a biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. "Now we can fix that because we know how to. We know we've got a lot of habitat here. All we were missing were the fishers."

Fishers historically were found throughout much of the forested areas of the West Coast. But they declined in numbers due to trapping in the 1800s and early 1900s, and the loss of forest habitats.

By the mid-1900s they were eliminated from Washington state. The solitary animal, which hunts snowshoe hares, rodents and small mammals, were listed as state endangered species in 1998. They're one of the few predators of porcupines and are found only in North America.

While common in the Northeast and Midwest, they're rare in the Northwest. Population estimates of West Coast fishers today are anywhere from a couple hundred to a few thousand, mostly in southern Oregon and Northern California. More recently, West Coast fishers have faced threats from illegal pesticide use by marijuana growers and other threats.

But they're slowly making a comeback in Washington through reintroduction efforts involving WDFW, Conservation Northwest, the National Park Service and other partners.

"These animals were here before us and so it's our duty to take care of them," Hanford McCloud, a Nisqually Indian Tribe council member, said during a ceremony before the fishers were released on park land designated for the tribe's use. Several First Nations people traveled with the fishers, some that were captured First Nations land in British Columbia.

The first fishers, about 90 in all, were reintroduced in Washington state in Olympic National Park starting in 2008. Those animals are reproducing and expanding its geographic range.

The second phase of the project involves relocating fishers from British Columbia into the southwest Cascade Mountains and later into the North Cascades. The goal is to reintroduce 80 fishers to each region.

"We feel like we're making headway and we're getting good positive results. It's too early to say that we're establishing a self-sustaining population but it sure is looking positive," said Lewis.

The recovery efforts, however, comes as conservation groups have sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, alleging the federal agency failed to consider the best scientific evidence when it decided not to provide the fisher protections under the Endangered Species Act.

Fish and Wildlife had proposed listing the forest-dwelling mammal as threatened in 2014 over concerns about logging practices, illegal pesticide use by marijuana growers and other threats.

In April, the agency acknowledged the creatures no longer occur in their historical ranges in Washington, Oregon and California but concluded they were not in danger of extinction. The agency said the best available science showed current threats aren't causing significant declines in West Coast populations. It also cited conservation measures such as reintroduction efforts in Washington.

"We're heartened by reintroduction efforts, but they alone are not going to be sufficient to save the fishers," said Tom Wheeler, Environmental Protection Information Center, one of the groups that sued. He said the animals need greater federal protections because they still face ongoing threats.

Tara Chestnut, a Mount Rainier park ecologist, said the return of fishers to the Cascade Mountains will restore biodiversity to the ecosystem.

"But there's also cultural significance," she said. "Fishers are part of our natural history and our natural heritage. There are also spiritual aspects of their return that are really important."

Scotland Yard to pursue new lead in disappearance of Madeleine McCann

Scotland Yard has been given money to investigate a new lead in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in what senior officials are calling “the last throw of the dice.”

According to The Sun, detectives are looking into a tip that traffickers from Europe kidnapped the then 3-year-old after taking photographs of her.

“This is an important new line of inquiry which could provide an explanation on whether Madeleine was abducted and transported away,” a source told the paper. “It raises hope that she could still be alive.”

Madeleine disappeared in 2007 while on vacation with her family in Portugal. She was snatched from a holiday apartment as her parents dined with friends nearby. One witness has claimed that the girl was photographed on the beach with her parents in the days before she vanished.

In 2011, police in Portugal smashed a trafficking ring snatching young women and underage girls in the Algarve and Aveiro sections, in the north of the country.

The latest information is being pursued as Scotland Yard has been given more money to look into what is being called an “important” new lead in Madeleine’s disappearance.

“There is specific information which is being investigated,” the source said.

The source added the investigative team is pushing forward to try to “confirm or disprove” the latest lead.

“At present, funding is due to run out next April when it will be reviewed again,” the source said.

Dylann Roof to judge: Let lawyers back on death penalty case

COLUMBIA, S.C. –  The white man charged with the shooting deaths of nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church asked a judge on Sunday if he could have his defense team back, at least temporarily.

In a handwritten request, Dylann Roof asked U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel to bring his defense team back on board for the guilt phase of his federal death penalty trial, which begins this week in Charleston.

"I would like to ask if my lawyers can represent me for the guilt phase of the trial only," Roof wrote. "Can you let me have them back for the guilt phase, and then let me represent myself for the sentencing phase of the trial? If you would allow that, then that is what I would like to do."

Death penalty cases are split into two parts: the guilt phase, and then a separate portion that focuses on whether or not the defendant will be sentenced to death or life in prison.

Roof, 22, faces dozens of federal charges, including hate crimes and obstruction of the practice of religion, for the June 2015 slayings at the end of a Bible study at Emanuel AME Church. Police said he hurled racial slurs during the shooting and left three people alive so they could tell the world the killings were because he hated black people.

The request comes a week after a federal judge allowed Roof to represent himself, a request that came as court convened last week to begin the process of qualifying a jury pool to hear Roof's case. Gergel, who had found Roof competent to stand trial a week earlier, said Roof had the constitutional right to act as his own attorney, a decision the judge called "very unwise."

Roof's former defense team has remained his legal advisers but has sought to play a larger role in his defense, expressing concern last week Roof may not present evidence that could sway a jury to spare his life — something that could violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

The lawyers said they didn't know why Roof wanted to represent himself but added that other capital defendants have fired their lawyers to avoid having embarrassing evidence revealed, writing that the "22-year-old ninth-grade dropout" might deliberately sabotage his own defense in order to get the death penalty.

There will be a hearing Monday for Roof and prosecutors to discuss pretrial motions, and opening statements are currently scheduled for Wednesday. If Roof's request isn't granted and he continues to represent himself, he'll be making those statements, as well as questioning witnesses at trial. That could include relatives of the shooting victims, some of whom said at Roof's initial court appearance that they forgave him and would pray for him.

Missing Alaska teen's remains found; another teen faces murder charge

The discovery of remains believed to be those of a missing Alaskan teen has led to the arrest of another teen on murder and kidnapping charges.

David Grunwald, 16, of Palmer, was last seen Nov. 13 after he drove his girlfriend home. Troopers on Friday found remains believed to be his a few miles from her Palmer house, the Alaska Dispatch News reports.

Erick Almandinger, 16, of Palmer, was arrested following an investigation, the paper reported.

Troopers said others involved in the disappearance and murder have been identified but have not been charged "as of yet."

KTUU-TV reported Saturday that three weeks ago Edith Grunwald said she heard her son may have been going to see a friend named Erick the night he disappeared and told troopers that.

“His girlfriend said that he had mentioned to her that he was going to stop by a friend Erick's house on the way home,” she told the station then.

She said her family didn't know Erick.

Troopers found Grunwald’s torched Ford Bronco on a remote trail north of Wasilla.

Baby Names: Find Out What Your British Name Would Be

Oscar Wilde once wrote that the English “have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language.” While it’s true that the British use dozens of alternate terms for common items, like “lorry” (truck) or “crisps” (potato chips), there is one difference that goes less documented: They also prefer different names.

That’s according to TIME’s comparison of the Social Security Administration’s U.S. baby name data with the official U.K. baby name tables, in which we matched names in one country with those of equal popularity across the pond. Try it yourself. You can either translate an American name into it’s British counterpart or go in the reverse direction by clicking “American” at the top of the interactive and entering a British name to be translated.


The U.K. data represents the volume of baby names in England and Wales since 1996, so the results of this exercise represent names that have been equally popular in each country over the past 20 years. For example, the choice of “Madison” for girls in the U.S., which surged in popularity in the early 2000s, has the same popularity as “Holly” in the U.K. Even less common names have their British equivalents. Like “Barack,” which briefly spiked in America after the 2008 election, the Polish name “Przemyslaw” surged in popularity in the U.K. at the same time. (The Polish population in the United Kingdom was rapidly growing.)

While some names might match differently if compared in earlier decades, comprehensive public data on baby names is not available for British newborns before 1996.

Methodology

The code for matching American and British names is available on Time Labs’ Github page. The data comprises 74,910 American names and 33,199 British names. Calculations were run on the 9,091 American names that show up at least 50 times in at least one year since 1996 and the 4,635 British names that show up at least 20 times in at least one year. Each name was compared to the entire database of names in the other country using a least squares calculation of the difference in percentage of popularity in one country versus the other. A name’s match is the corresponding name in the other country that has the smallest difference in popularity over the past 20 years.

Obamas Celebrated at Their Last Kennedy Center Honors

WASHINGTON (AP) — The longest, loudest standing ovation of the Kennedy Center Honors gala wasn’t reserved for Al Pacino, Mavis Staples or the Eagles. Instead, it went to the man sitting to their left, attending his eighth and most likely his last honors presentation: President Barack Obama.

While politics were absent from the tributes to the performers who were recognized for influencing American culture on Sunday night, the arts community’s affection for Obama — and its nervousness about President-elect Donald Trump — was palpable in the Kennedy Center Opera House.

The president and first lady Michelle Obama were introduced last, after Pacino and his fellow honorees: gospel singer Staples; pianist Martha Argerich; singer-songwriter James Taylor; and Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmidt and Joe Walsh, the surviving members of the Eagles.

After a sustained ovation, host Stephen Colbert greeted the crowd of Washington insiders as “endangered swamp-dwellers,” referencing Trump’s “drain the swamp” campaign pledge. He joked that Obama would need to receive the honor to attend again and that “unlike the Nobel Peace Prize, they don’t just give these away.”

The Kennedy Center Honors are in their 39th year, a period that has included six presidents — three Republicans, three Democrats — and all have taken time to welcome the recipients. But the 2016 election was noteworthy for the way A-list performers lined up behind Obama and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, while Trump had relatively few celebrity endorsements.

Although the president has no say in who receives the awards, Colbert joked that next year’s honorees would include Scott Baio, Gary Busey and Meat Loaf.

“For the past eight years, the White House has given us a leader who’s passionate, intelligent and dignified,” Colbert said, and the crowd rose for another prolonged ovation, prompting Obama to stand and wave.

“Sir, I don’t even know why you stood up. I was talking about Michelle,” Colbert said.

Earlier, at the White House, Obama welcomed the honorees at a reception and said participating in the gala was “one of the perks of the job.”

“The arts have always been part of life at the White House because the arts are always central to American life,” Obama said. “That’s why over the past eight years Michelle and I have invited some of the best writers, musicians, actors and dancers to share their gifts with the American people and to help tell the story of who we are.”

Kennedy Center chairman David Rubenstein also thanked the Obamas, noting that the president isn’t required to attend the honors or host a reception. He offered them a “golden ticket” good for free admission to any event at the center.

“Parking is extra,” Rubenstein said.

Another standing ovation went to Bill Clinton, who made a surprise appearance on stage to talk about how Taylor’s music resonated with him and the American public in times that tested the nation’s resolve.

“Our nation was reeling from the pain of Vietnam,” Clinton said. “James was there to satisfy our hunger for both intimacy and authenticity.”

Politics aside, the honors proceeded as usual, with musicians and actors taking the stage to pay tribute to the honorees, who stood on a balcony, waving and applauding as they wore the event’s signature rainbow-colored garlands. The ceremony will be broadcast Dec. 27 on CBS.

The tribute to Pacino included remarks by Sean Penn and recitations of Shakespeare by Laurence Fishburne and Lily Rabe. Chris O’Donnell and Gabrielle Anwar re-enacted the tango that Pacino danced with Anwar in “Scent of a Woman,” the 1992 movie that won Pacino his long-overdue Oscar.

Kevin Spacey gave a virtuoso tutorial on how to impersonate the actor whose passionate delivery has helped create some of the most memorable lines in American cinema. The keys are to look surprised and exhale loudly, Spacey said.

“Al seems to have a lot of air,” he said.

Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow and Darius Rucker performed medleys of Taylor’s music. Yitzhak Perlman played violin and Yuja Wang played piano to honor the Argentine-born Argerich.

Staples’ songs were performed by Elle King, Bonnie Raitt and Andra Day, and actor Don Cheadle spoke about the civil rights legacy of Staples and her family, who were close to Martin Luther King Jr. and performed at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration.

“She’s still fighting. She’s still singing freedom songs,” Cheadle said.

The Eagles were originally selected to be honored last year, but the band opted to delay participation because of founding member Glenn Frey’s poor health. Frey died in January at age 67, making the event a bittersweet one for the surviving Eagles, who were joined by Frey’s widow, Cindy Frey. Henley has said the band will never perform again. Bob Seger, Vince Gill and Kings of Leon performed the Eagles’ music on Sunday.

“I want to dedicate this evening to our brother Glenn,” Henley said as the band accepted its honors Saturday night at the State Department. “He was so much a part of our success. He was the driving force in this band. He believed in the American dream.”

The band’s longtime manager, Irving Azoff, sobbed as he raised a glass to Frey.

“For our Eagles family,” he said, “2016 couldn’t have had a harder beginning or a more appropriate ending.”

___

Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

Oakland Ghost Ship Warehouse Was 'Death Trap': Former Tenant

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Shelley Mack says she didn’t know the converted Oakland warehouse known as the “Ghost Ship” was an illegal residence until after she moved in, when she was instructed to tell visitors it was a 24-hour workspace for artists.

The building was often freezing cold. Water and power were sometimes stolen from neighbors, who would get angry and shut them off. Once, a generator blew up, and residents quickly doused the flames, she said.

Mack, a 58-year-old tech sales worker and jewelry maker, lived in the warehouse for four or five months about two years ago. On Friday night, fire ripped through the cluttered space during a dance party, killing at least 33 people. Oakland officials say the death toll is expected to rise.

The building was crammed with rugs, old sofas and a garage-sale-like collection of pianos, paintings, turntables, statues and other items that quickly fed the flames.

Mack recalled a jumble of extension cords and heavy musical equipment.

“That place was just a death trap,” she said. “I didn’t think it was going to last this long before it went up or somebody shut it down.”

Mack found the rental in a Facebook ad and paid about $700 a month to live there, along with a security deposit of the same amount and a one-time contribution of about $700 to a fund meant to go toward improvements. She said none were ever made.

“It’s a good example of people taking advantage of people because they had no other options,” Mack said. “People make businesses off scamming people online when they’re looking for a place.”

When inspectors or other outsiders came to visit, she and other residents scurried to hide clothes, bedding and other evidence anyone was living there.

One doorway was blocked, Mack said, because it led to the property of a neighbor who’d been in a dispute with the operators, whom she and other former tenants and friends identified as 46-year-old Derick Ion and his 40-year-old wife, Micah Allison.

“They lure you in with all these promises about what they’re going to do with your deposit and your rent,” she said. “They don’t do any of it. They just party with it.”

Public records show Ion’s full name is Derick Ion Almena and that he has lived in California since at least 1990, mostly in Los Angeles, before moving to Oakland in 2006. Allison spent much of her life in Northern California.

The Satya Yuga Collective, one of two groups affiliated with the space, advertised it as a location for anyone with an open mind.

“Seeking all shamanic rattlesnake sexy jungle jazz hobo gunslingers looking for a space to house gear, use studio, develop next level Shaolin discipline after driving your taxi cab late at night, build fusion earth home bomb bunker spelunker shelters, and plant herbaceous colonies in the sun & air,” its Facebook page advertised.

Neither Almena nor Allison answered telephone calls placed to numbers associated with them. They did not respond to email messages from The Associated Press.

Oakland Warehouse Party Fire
Ajesh Shah—AP This 2014 photo provided by Ajesh Shah shows the interior of a portion of the ‘Ghost Ship’ warehouse, taken while he was on a tour as a potential tenant of the Oakland, Calif., building.
Danielle Boudreaux, a 40-year-old hairdresser, said she became fast friends with the couple when they met eight years ago before a falling out about a year ago over conditions at the warehouse.

Access to the second floor — where there was a room for concerts and a home for the couple and their children — was a rickety, homemade staircase, she said.

“Calling it a staircase gives you the idea that it was a set of stairs. It was not,” Boudreaux said. “It was random pieces of wood put together to create something that you could get up to the top floor on. But it was not what most people would consider a staircase. It was like a jimmy-rigged makeshift staircase. As soon as you stepped on it, it wobbled all over the place.”

Boudreaux said the couple was constantly trying to keep enough tenants to cover the warehouse rent, renting out recreational vehicles that were parked on the first floor as well as other living spaces, and charging for the parties that were held there.

But Alastair Boone, a 22-year-old University of California, Berkeley student who went to the party Friday night with five friends, described what she called a stunning scene that included a larger-than-life wood carving of a Thai god or goddess, when she walked in around 11 p.m.

“It was obvious to me everyone who lives there cared about each other and were invested in a space they made a home,” she said.

Boudreaux said she had a falling out with Almena after telling Allison’s parents and sister a year ago that the warehouse was a dangerous place for the couple’s three children to live.

“I had told her parents explicitly that the warehouse conditions were not safe,” Boudreaux said. “Half the time they didn’t even have running water, let alone heated water. They were using little electric heaters. There was cat (feces) everywhere. Piles and piles of random driftwood that had nails sticking out of it.”

She said Almena continually moved pieces of wood around the space.

“Two weeks later it could be a completely different configuration,” she said. “Even people who knew the building would have a hard time getting out.”

___

Associated Press writers Tim Reiterman, Olga Rodriguez and Juliet Williams in San Francisco contributed to this report.

Adam Disney broke bed having sex with female friend in former flat and admits criminal damage at Liverpool Magistrates' Court

A randy man was fined for breaking into his old flat and tearing down curtain drapes and BREAKING THE BED while in the throes of passion with his lover.

Horny Adam Disney 'got carried away' during the impromptu bonk with his partner and trashed the home in the process.

The bed collapsed as he had sex and the 28-year-old also damaged a window sill as he romped the night away.

Puzzled neighbours heard noises coming from the flat in Wavertree, Liverpool, and wondered what was going on September 3.

The home's landlady spotted Disney, from Solihull, leaning out the window smoking a cigarette.

Dan Lupton, defending at Liverpool Magistrates Court on Thursday said: “This is a curious case of the morning after the night before.

“They had been drinking and the couple were passionate in their interest to have sexual relations.

“On this occasion they were seeking to avail themselves rather quickly.”

He added: “The closest place for them to seek refuge, in an effort to avoid offending public decency, was his former flat.

“The window sill was loose and they hadn’t done a good job of securing the curtain rail. This was not a posh hotel room.”

Once inside the flat Mr Lupton said the couple were “carried away with the intensity of physical relations” and in the course of events the bed collapsed and drapes were pulled down.

He said the damage was not intentional but happened in the course of “sexual antics”.

Disney was fined #100 after admitting criminal damage in the 'shabby bedsit' after a charge of burglary with intent to cause damage was downgraded.

Chair of the bench Stan Golding also ordered him to pay costs of £85, £150 compensation and a victim surcharge of £20.

Adam Disney broke bed having sex with female friend in former flat and admits criminal damage at Liverpool Magistrates' Court

A randy man was fined for breaking into his old flat and tearing down curtain drapes and BREAKING THE BED while in the throes of passion with his lover.

Horny Adam Disney 'got carried away' during the impromptu bonk with his partner and trashed the home in the process.

The bed collapsed as he had sex and the 28-year-old also damaged a window sill as he romped the night away.

Puzzled neighbours heard noises coming from the flat in Wavertree, Liverpool, and wondered what was going on September 3.

The home's landlady spotted Disney, from Solihull, leaning out the window smoking a cigarette.

Dan Lupton, defending at Liverpool Magistrates Court on Thursday said: “This is a curious case of the morning after the night before.

“They had been drinking and the couple were passionate in their interest to have sexual relations.

“On this occasion they were seeking to avail themselves rather quickly.”

He added: “The closest place for them to seek refuge, in an effort to avoid offending public decency, was his former flat.

“The window sill was loose and they hadn’t done a good job of securing the curtain rail. This was not a posh hotel room.”

Once inside the flat Mr Lupton said the couple were “carried away with the intensity of physical relations” and in the course of events the bed collapsed and drapes were pulled down.

He said the damage was not intentional but happened in the course of “sexual antics”.

Disney was fined #100 after admitting criminal damage in the 'shabby bedsit' after a charge of burglary with intent to cause damage was downgraded.

Chair of the bench Stan Golding also ordered him to pay costs of £85, £150 compensation and a victim surcharge of £20.

Lady Beaten After Boyfriend Refuses To Pay For Her Hair

A Zimbabwean woman, identified as Nothando, got the embarrassment of her life when she was beaten after her boyfriend ditched her in a salon..

According to H-Metro, Nothando’s plot to escape after her lover left her in the salon foiled after she had gotten her hair done but couldn’t foot the bill..
She tried to escape from the Rich and Famous hair Salon but instead was beaten and the hairdresser identified as Pamela gave her a free hair cut..

David Beckham Set To Sell His N9BN Mansion Because It Is Too Small

England football legend David Beckham and his wife Victoria are set to sell their £24million LA mansion – because it is too small.

Posh and Becks bought the luxury 13,000-square-foot home in June 2007 for £14.2million after David landed a £128million deal at LA Galaxy but have now put the huge Italian-style villa on the market for almost double its original price tag..

The 1.25-acre property – nestled between Beverly Hills and Bel Air – boasts stunning views, nine bathrooms, palm trees and a swimming pool but it is understood they want to swap it for an even more lavish manor, with a bigger garden for sons Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz to play football.

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A source revealed to the Sun on Sunday:

“Victoria and David have both had concerns over the house for some time – especially about its size.

“The garden is too small for football and the boys have to go round their friend’s houses – usually either Gordon Ramsey or Elton John – to have a kick-about.

“The private driveway is also relatively small. The house has been on the market for a long time and David and Victoria are actively looking for a bigger place.”

Stephen Shapiro, one of America’s top real estate agents, confirmed last night that he had shown potential buyers around the address.

He said:

“It has been quietly on the market for a couple of years. It is a beautiful house. I remember there was an asking price of $30million (£24m).

New Report Claims MMM Will Crash In June 2017 – Daily Gossip

Barring any last minute change, viral ponzi scheme-MMM Nigeria may crash on June 7, 2017, a report has alleged.

The reported quoted by NAN stated that a Nigerian, who styled himself as Pastor Ernest Chigozie Mbanefo is the mastermind of the suspected Ponzi scheme known as MMM Nigeria.

Mbanefo is reportedly based in South Africa.

Nigerian Communications Week said Mbanefo registered the site MMM-Nigeria.net domain on June 7, 2016 about at about 5 pm Nigerian time.

NAN quoting NCW And Pageone report written as far back as September said Mbanefo made a single year domain payment. The domain will expire on June 7, 2017.

It was also revealed that MMM Nigeria is not part of MMM Global – a Russian company that was responsible for one of the world’s largest Ponzi schemes in the 1990s.

MMM Global was founded by Russian politician Sergei Mavrodi, his brother Vyacheslav Mavrodi and Olga Melnikova.

The name of the company was taken from the first letters of the three founders’ surnames (MMM) But like MMM Global, the Nigerian scheme is also a pyramid marketing scheme where an investor gets a 30 per cent return on investment.

Around the world, MMM is feared. In January 2016 the Chinese government banned MMM on the grounds that it is a pyramid scheme, (Ponzi scheme), and it is not registered in the country (and as a fraudulent scheme cannot be registered.

An online medium gave Mbanefo’s address as 1 ROYAL STREET, LINDBERG PARK, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA.

On the 15th of July, Mbanefo was awarded a certificate of completion of an online course titled ‘MMM Guiders School’.

The certificate was supposedly signed by Sergei Mavrodi himself. He has since given himself the nickname the ‘Super Guider of MMM’.

To share news and information about MMM, Ernest also operates a subdomain ‘news.mmm-nigeria.net. The site praises him and projects him as the leader of the Ponzi Scheme in Nigeria.

He is described as: “MMM Nigeria Super Guider; Pastor Ernest Mbanefo, has been selflessly helping thousands of MMM Nigeria Participants whether or not they fall under his downline structure. The brain behind the MMM NIGERIA REVOLUTION operation has been working selflessly and tirelessly towards the education, information and proper guidance for the MMM Nigeria Community’, NAN stated.

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has warned Nigerians not to participate in the scheme, saying it is not registered with relevant agencies.

First picture of dad, 54, in handcuffs after shooting dead NFL star Joe McKnight in 'road rage' incident

Ronald Gasser reportedly shot the running back, 28, then shouted: "I told you don't you f*** with me"


Ronald Gasser, 54, has been named by police as the man who shot McKnight dead (Photo: Handout)

Handcuffed and slumped against his car, this is the first image of a dad who shot dead an NFL star in a suspected road rage incident.

Running back Joe McKnight, 28, died at the scene after blasted a number of times in a suburb of New Orleans.

Ronald Gasser, a 54-year-old local father, has been named by police as the shooter.

He stayed at the scene and handed a gun to police before being arrested.

McKnight was driving his 4x4 alongside Gasser when witnesses said a dispute erupted at a set of traffic lights.


Joe McKnight when he played for the New York Jets (Photo: Getty)

It is not known whether either man got out the car, but one woman told the Times-Picayune Gasser shot McKnight then shouted: "I told you don't you f*** with me".

He then fired a second time.

McKnight, 28, played college football for USC, and then went on to play for the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand said: "The two vehicles came to stop at this location, side by side."

"The only thing that we know, at this point in time, and everything else would be conjecture, as we are interviewing a number of witnesses, as well as Mr Gasser, is that Mr Gasser did in fact shoot Mr McKnight.

"We will be releasing additional details as we get through these interviews."

McKnight was currently playing for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Canadian Football League.

Roughriders president and CEO Craig Reynolds issued a statement saying: "We are saddened to hear of the tragic loss of Joe McKnight.

"Losing a member of our Rider family this way is an unthinkable occurrence.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Joe’s family, teammates and coaches."

Prince Harry and Rihanna get HIV tests in Barbados

Prince Harry and Rihanna have taken HIV tests together in Barbados to raise awareness on World Aids Day.

The prince has been campaigning to encourage more people to be tested, and contacted the singer in the hope of reaching her fan base.

He hopes this will encourage others out there to taking the HIV test

Outrage after judge brands sex attack victim kidnapped on street as 'foolish' for drinking too much

Mr Justice Gilbart was criticised for 'blaming' the victim after saying there was no excuse for the attack but people had to take responsibility for their safety when on nights out


Judge Andrew Gilbart QC said the victim 'made herself very vulnerable' (Photo: Manchester Evening News)

A top judge is facing criticism after he 'blamed' a woman who was sexually assaulted and almost kidnapped off the street, labelling her 'foolish' for becoming very drunk and leaving herself open to an attack.

The 20-year-old victim was pounced on by teenager Yaqoob Alanezy, who put his arms around her, kissed her and then dragged her 30 yards down a street.

Mr Justice Gilbart caused outrage in sentencing Alanezy, saying there was no excuse for the attack but people had to take responsibility for their safety when on nights out, the Manchester Evening News reports.

The High Court judge said the victim only had a 'befuddled recollection of events' adding: "I’m sure it was a frightening incident. She got very, very drunk. It doesn’t excuse what happened, but people have to make sure they protect themselves and guard against this - she made herself very vulnerable.

"The law seeks to protect victims such as this from their own foolishness."


Yaqood Alanezy, 18, dragged the victim 30 yards down a street (Photo: Manchester Evening News)

He added: "(The complainant) had got herself drunk, was in a public place, unable to protect herself and the law must be seen to protect vulnerable people from being picked on by those who spot their vulnerability and choose to attack them."

Mr Justice Gilbart's comments were unnecessary and disturbing, according to Fay Maxted, chief executive of The Survivors Trust, which supports victims of sexual abuse.


She said: “This is something that has been going on for decades, this victim blaming as opposed to looking at the behaviour of the perpetrator.

"Research has shown time and time again that attitudes towards victims from judges and barristers can be really punishing.

Comments like the ones made in court can deter victims from coming forward, Ms Maxted added.

She said: “So much effort is put into encouraging people to report these crimes and so for one to get to court and to see the judge victim blaming is just disturbing.

"If you report a burglary people don’t criticise you for leaving the curtains open. It should not be happening.

"The person who is at fault is the one who has taken advantage of someone vulnerable.”


Alanezy, 18, was given 22 months in a young offenders institution after pleading guilty at Manchester Crown Court to sexual assault and kidnap - relating to the period where he dragged the woman along the road.

He attacked the victim after their paths crossed at in the Victoria Park area of south Manchester in the early hours of August 20. He dragged her down the street before they both fell to the floor.

The incident was stopped by a passer-by who saw the victim trying to push Alanezy off her as he lay on top of her in the street.

The concerned witness shouted 'oi' and ran over, prompting Alanezy to leave the scene.

Schoolboy kissed mum goodbye and said he loved her before being killed by speeding taxi

Amar Atwal was just 12 years old when he died after suffering internal injuries in the crash

The mum of a schoolboy killed by a speeding taxi driver told how he kissed her goodbye before he was killed in the horror smash.

Amar Atwal was just 12 years old when he died after suffering internal injuries in the crash in Hollyhedge Road, West Bromwich.

But even in death the much-loved Great Barr schoolboy helped others - with FIVE people benefiting from organ donations reports the Birmingham Mail .

Birmingham Crown Court heard the youngster, who attended Queen Mary’s Grammar School in Walsall, died in the crash last May. Two other relatives suffered horrific injuries.

Taxi driver Nadeem Hussain, 35, was jailed for six years after a jury found him guilty of causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Schoolboy Amar Atwal who died in a car crash

She also revealed his kidneys, heart, liver and pancreas had been donated to help save five lives and said she was “really proud that other lives had been saved by her son.

“I love him dearly and always will. We are all heartbroken by his death. All that I can hope is that his death can help others have a life.”

Mrs Atwal, who has one other son, is now campaigning to ensure everybody understands the dangers of not wearing seat belts. She added: “I don’t want anybody else to go through what we have been through.”

EU Police Report Highlights Ongoing IS Threat to Europe

The Islamic State group is likely to carry out new attacks in the European Union in the near future, probably targeting countries that are members of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the extremist organization in Syria and Iraq, EU police agency Europol said in a report published Friday.

"Estimates from some intelligence services indicate several dozen people directed by IS may be currently present in Europe with a capability to commit terrorist attacks," according to the report, which draws on counterterrorism intelligence from around Europe and also cites media reports and previously publicized calls by IS leaders for attacks.

But IS also is adept at inspiring marginalized youths, some of whom may have mental health problems, and inciting them to carry out attacks.

The report also warns that tactics the group uses in Iraq and Syria — such as the use of car bombs — could also be deployed in Europe. It also said that past attacks such as those in France and Belgium over the last two years show that extremists acting in the name of IS can effectively plan complex attacks.

Europol also notes a shift in attacks from symbolic targets like police officers and military personnel to indiscriminate attacks on soft targets, such as the Paris attacks in 2015.

"Indiscriminate attacks have a very powerful effect on the public in general, which is one of the main goals of terrorism: to seriously intimidate a population," the report says, adding that the focus on so-called soft targets means that attacking critical infrastructure like power grids and nuclear facilities is "currently not a priority."

Europol also says that the consensus among intelligence agencies in EU member states is that "the cyber capabilities of terrorist groups are still relatively low," but adds that "the possibility of terrorist-affiliated cyber groups engaging in cyber warfare sponsored by Nation States - those with capacities to engage in this type of attacks - should not be discounted."

Meanwhile, a police raid in Morocco in February may have thwarted a possible attack by an IS cell using chemical or biological weapons, raising the specter that such weapons also could be used in Europe, though the report says automatic firearms, knives and vehicles are more easily available and that "The effectiveness, ease of use and access of these weapons will continue to be relevant."