Meghan Markle's relationship with Prince Harry looks a lot different than Kate Middleton's relationship with Prince William. For example, Middleton and Prince William knew each other for longer before getting engaged. And their wedding was much more traditional than Markle and Prince William's will be. We asked relationship experts to weigh in on what these differences might mean for the two marriages. It's hard not to compare Meghan Markle - Prince Harry's fianceé - to Prince William's wife Kate Middleton. At least on the surface, the two royal courtships couldn't appear more different. Most notably, Markle and Prince Harry met in 2016, when they were both in their 30s. Just about a year later, they announced their engagement. Middleton and Prince William, on the other hand, met in college. They didn't get engaged until 2010, five years after they graduated. What's more, while Middleton is British, Prince Harry broke with tradition in some ways by choosing to spend his life with an American. Finally, Prince Harry and Markle's pending nuptials will hew less closely to tradition than Prince William and Middleton's did, according to Vanity Fair. We asked two relationship experts to explain what these differences might mean for the two marriages, and for the two women's lives. Andrea Syrtash is a relationship expert and the author of "He's Just Not Your Type (And That's A Good Thing)." Rachel Sussman is a relationship therapist in New York City. There's no saying what will transpire over the course of either relationship. But as Sussman said, "When you're aware of potential pitfalls, you can really work on the relationship and try to make sure that those don't happen."

Joe and Anthony Russo, directors of Avengers: Infinity War, have revealed the fate of some of Marvel's most popular secondary characters. While the final scenes of Infinity War focused in on the heroes we know and love, in reality the consequences of Thanos's finger-snap played out across the universe. Half the life in the cosmos was wiped out in an instant, an unprecedented act of genocide. On Earth, that means countless characters viewers have come to know and love have potentially faded from existence. That fact was teased by Infinity War's post-credits scene, which showed even Nick Fury and Maria Hill weren't spared. Fortunately for Earth, Fury had time to send a quick Mayday to Captain Marvel, who's sure to play a major role in Avengers 4. But who else survived the finger-snap? Huffington Post had an opportunity to speak to the Russo brothers, and they named a few key secondary characters. The Russos actually responded, giving an idea of who was left to deal with this horrific twist of fate. First up, Liv Tyler's Betty Ross is dead, a victim of the finger-snap. "Gone," Joe Russo told the Post. Tyler was introduced playing opposite Edward Norton's Bruce Banner in 2008's The Incredible Hulk. Betty Ross was introduced as the love of Banner's life, but hasn't actually been seen in the MCU since. There were rumors last year that Tyler may reprise her role in either Infinity War or Avengers 4; UK newspapers reported she was in the country while Marvel was filming, although it actually turned out she was working on another production. Given that there's not really a place for Betty Ross in the modern-day MCU, it's no surprise the Russos have written her out as dead. Perhaps the more interesting question is whether her father, General "Thunderbolt" Ross, survived; as Secretary of State in charge of implementing the Sokovia Accords, there's bad blood between Ross and Captain America. Sadly, it seems Jaimie Alexander's popular Lady Sif is also dead. Alexander's schedule was unable to accommodate filming of Thor: Ragnarok, which probably prevented her character being killed by Hela. Most fans have assumed Sif simply wasn't on Asgard at the time of Hela's arrival, and instead was on a mission of some kind. Sadly, it seems Sif's absence from Ragnarok was only a matter of delaying the inevitable. One secondary character who survived, though, is Marisa Tomei's popular Aunt May. The youngest version of Aunt May ever to be seen on the big screen, Tomei was introduced in Captain America: Civil War, and played a major role in last year's Spider-Man: Homecoming. That film ended with May discovering that Peter was Spider-Man, although the consequences of that decision have yet to be seen. No doubt the disappearance / death of her beloved nephew will have shaken May to the core. The Russos avoided spilling the beans on a number of other characters, including Korg, Miek, Shuri and Ned Leeds. In each case, it's probably because the character plays some sort of minor role in Avengers 4, so these four have most likely survived as well.

Watching Showtime’s Patrick Melrose, the five-part miniseries adapted from the mostly autobiographical novels of Edward St. Aubyn, it soon becomes clear that Benedict Cumberbatch is delivering one of the best performances of his career. It’s also evident how increasingly rare it is, especially in this day and age of the blockbuster-ization of film and television, to be inclined to tune into something new — a series, miniseries, or feature film — initially just for the pleasure of watching an actor do some of his best work. It also feels increasingly rare to then discover your enjoyment of the program extends beyond the influence of the performer in question, to the project itself, and its structure, tone, and execution. In the first episode ‘Bad News’ — which mostly covers the events of the first novel of the same name — the extent to which the production aims to anchor itself to Cumberbatch’s riveting, sometimes unhinged performance of an English aristocrat attempting to dull the edges of his painful, traumatic childhood with drugs and alcohol is made clear. ‘Bad News’ is a clever introduction to the title character, young man already afflicted with an all-consuming heroin addiction when he receives word his father had died in New York. Patrick must tear himself away from what is a presumably debauched day-to-day existence to jump the pond and collect the remains of his dear old dad, a task that is undertaken with no small amount of effort, due in part to his drug habit and recent decision to kick it to the curb. Cumberbatch delivers a lively performance that teeters on manic and manages to be engaging, even when Patrick is engaged primarily with the voices in his head. The trip to the U.S. underlines the extravagances of the main character: the boozing, the drugs, the envelope stuffed with more cash than the GDP of a small country. Playing to preconceived notions of the idle rich and wealthy “bad boys,” for whom life is a never-ending party, works to the premiere’s advantage, as ‘Bad News’ slowly peels away the edges of Patrick’s personality to uncover and eventually confront (mostly in subsequent episodes, ‘Never Mind’ and ‘Some Hope’) the extent to which childhood traumas doled out by his abusive father shaped Patrick into the man his is at the start of the series. The first hour does an excellent job of introducing the viewer to Patrick, of getting inside his head, and making it possible to like him, despite what, on the surface, are his many shortcomings. But it also seeks to explore the source of those faults as much as the intention behind them. There is a part of the story essentially about the abuse of power; the power granted to Patrick’s father, a surgeon and would-be composer, by his wealthy American mother. Hugo Weaving plays Patrick’s father David Melrose with a frightening combination of detachment and wickedness that mark his actions toward his son and wife, Eleanor (Jennifer Jason Leigh), with a sadistic kind of cruelty worsened by his obvious enjoyment of it. Weaving and Leigh are the stars of the second episode, ‘Never Mind’, a dramatic deviation from the first, in that it remands Cumberbatch to the margins of the story for an hour as it explores Patrick’s childhood in the south of France, introducing the audience to a young Patrick, played by Sebastian Maltz. That Patrick Melrose can turn on a dime like that and leave its star off screen for the majority of an hour is an impressive flex by those behind the camera. Written by David Nichols (Far From the Madding Crowd) and directed by Edward Berger (The Terror, Deutschland 83), each hour-long episode adapts a different novel in the series, and also swings wildly from savagely funny to devastatingly dramatic, as evidenced by the tonal shift from the first to the second, and again in the third, ‘Some Hope.’ From a structural standpoint, the slow unveiling of Patrick’s circumstances, the traumas that shaped him, and his eventual attempts to confront the past is incredibly well done. Berger displays a knack for near Danny Boyle-level formalism in ‘Bad News’, before infusing what is an otherwise painterly glimpse at an idyll existence with a startling sense of portent. The same is true of Cumberbatch’s take on Patrick; the ease with which he alters the tenor of his performance, to amplify the dramatic shifts in tone is remarkable. Patrick Melrose is not always an easy watch, ‘Never Mind’, in particular, is as rough an hour of television as you’re likely to see all year. But the series doesn’t wallow in its misery; Nichols, Berger, and Cumberbatch, all find, in one form or another, a way to leaven even the heaviest of circumstances, and when those aren’t available, the series relies on the heft of the performances from Weaving and Leigh. The result is a story that is ultimately far more absorbing than it may appear, thanks to the devil-may-care advertisements or the poster of a besuited Cumberbatch immersed in a bathtub, with a cigarette in one hand and tumbler of whisky in another. Thankfully the series has more to offer than surface-level exploration of a "quirky alcoholic," but despite the dark recesses it sometimes explores, Patrick Melrose demonstrates just how much pleasure can be derived from simply sitting back and letting a truly great performance wash over you.

Joe and Anthony Russo, directors of Avengers: Infinity War, have hinted that Jane Foster may return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Natalie Portman's character last appeared in 2013's Thor: The Dark World. The character was written out of Thor's life in last year's Thor: Ragnarok, with the God of Thunder revealing they'd broken up by mutual consent. In truth, Portman's history with the MCU is a troubled one. Behind-the-scenes drama during the production of Thor: The Dark World left a lot of bad blood between Portman and Marvel. But the company has changed substantially since then, and is now run under Kevin Feige. The Marvel Creative Committee has been disbanded, and actors and directors seem to have a lot more freedom to practice their craft. As a result, in February of this year, Portman confirmed she was willing to return to the MCU. Speaking to The Huffington Post, the Russo brothers fielded questions about which secondary MCU characters had survived Thanos's finger-snap. To the Post reporter's surprise, when asked about Jane Foster they refused to answer. "When we say

Name of the couple??

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- George Hill has gone from point guard to point grad in the NBA playoffs. Cleveland's starting guard was excused from practice on Saturday to receive his degree from IUPUI. As his Cavaliers teammates got in one last workout before heading to Boston for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, Hill took part in graduation ceremonies at the school in Indianapolis. The 32-year-old Hill received his degree from the School of Liberal Arts. He was one of two student speakers to address the new graduates. Hill played for the Jaguars from 2004-08. Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said Hill would rejoin the team in time for the series opener Sunday against the Celtics. Hill joined the Cavs in February, coming over in a trade from Sacramento. He was slowed by back spasms and missed three games in the first round of the playoff against Indiana. But he returned and played a key role in Cleveland's four-game sweep of Toronto.

Brightline ticked off one more milestone Friday when it unveiled MiamiCentral, its downtown Miami transportation hub. The higher-speed passenger railroad, which began limited service Jan. 8 between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, will extend scheduled service to Miami beginning May 19. Patrick Goddard, Brightline president and chief operating officer, on Friday pointed to the railroad's "unprecedented investment in Florida," predicting MiamiCentral "will be a significant landmark in Miami for generations, and Brightline will connect the state in ways that haven’t been done before.” More than just a train station, Goddard and others said at unveiling ceremonies Friday, MiamiCentral — an 11-acre complex in downtown Miami — will be a connecting point among Brightline; Metrorail, an elevated train that serves Miami International Airport; and Metromover, a downtown-Miami people mover which stops at the waterfront Bay Side Marketplace and American Airlines Arena. Tri-Rail, a commuter-rail line which now runs between Miami airport and Palm Beach County on tracks west of Brightline's, plans to expand service next year using Brightline's tracks and running through MiamiCentral.

It was more than a decade since the last inter-Korean summit and Friday's meeting in the Demilitarized Zone that has divided the two nations since the end of the Korean War in 1953 did not disappoint. With some genuinely historical moments and some jaw-dropping ad-libbing, along with hugs and smiles aplenty, here are five things we learned from the landmark talks. - 'K-Chemistry' - From an emotional handshake across the Military Demarcation Line to a warm embrace after signing the joint declaration, Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in seemed to forge a genuine connection. There were few moments in public when the cameras didn't catch the two leaders sharing a joke, with the jovial Kim reducing the South's delegation to giggles with a gag about Northern noodles. In an completely unscripted moment when he arrived, Kim grabbed Moon's hand and led him over the border to the North before they returned hand-in-hand, in an image that will provide the lasting memory of the summit. Many were also surprised by how long -- more than 30 minutes -- the leaders spent deep in earnest one-on-one conversation sitting on a bench surrounded by trees and birdsong, with Kim giving every indication he was listening intently to his counterpart. - Transport troubles up North - In an admission that not everything is rosy on the northern side of the border, Kim said its transport infrastructure might make a trip by Moon to visit the scenic and culturally significant Mount Paektu "uncomfortable". Kim also said his delegation to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang had praised South Korea's high-speed train networks. Moon replied that the two countries should link up their train systems so that everyone could enjoy high-speed travel. The parlous state of roads in North Korea is no secret -- 32 Chinese tourists were killed earlier this week in a bus crash -- but Kim's acknowledgement of it was unusual. - A sisterly hand - If there were any doubt before about what an important role Kim's sister Kim Yo Jong plays in his life, it was banished as she seemed to spend almost the entire day at his side. © Provided by AFP North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister Kim Yo Jong was on hand as he signed the guest book She was on hand during both the formal talks -- taking notes as he made his opening remarks -- and the more informal moments of the summit, collecting his white gloves after a ceremonial tree-planting. But at one point, she found herself too close to the action and strayed into shot as the two leaders walked along the red carpet. Following frantic gestures from the North's protocol director, she veered swiftly to her right, leaving only her brother and Moon in shot. - Fitness first in North Korea - We also learned that you have to be fit to be a North Korean bodyguard, as 12 of Kim's security staff trotted along next to his car to form a human shield. © Provided by AFP North Korean bodyguards jogged alongside as the North's leader Kim Jong Un returned to his side of the border for a lunch break The pace was sedate on the way to lunch but considerably more brisk on the way back, with one of the lead guards appearing distinctly out of breath. The North Korean phalanx was dressed to kill in matching sharp suits, and possibly also armed to kill, with many a suspicious bulge under the jackets. - Style not substance? - Despite the sunny optics of the summit, some questioned whether there had been a great deal of progress on the key issues, ahead of a likely summit showdown between Kim and US President Donald Trump. Despite a written declaration pledging denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, Kim made no reference to it after the signing and while analysts said the summit was a positive first step, some questioned how many genuine concessions he had made. The declaration "appears to use recycled language and does not contain any tangible or verifiable commitments from the North," noted Paul Haenle, director of the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy.

Google will one day be able to drive a car for you. It can help you compose your e-mails and finish your thoughts now, automatically. And now, in a spooky view of the future, it can even make phone calls on your behalf. Google's display of artificial intelligence and what computers are now capable of this week at its I/O developer's conference was both the most exciting breakthrough in tech of the year, and the scariest. Via a program it calls Duplex, it showed how a smartphone app could replicate a human voice, down to the "umms" and "ahhs" in pauses. The bot sounded more real than the person it was calling. (Listen to my Talking Tech podcast here for audio examples.) While the idea is a practical one — saving us the hassle of making phone calls to set up reservations at restaurants and hair salons — Google's breakthrough has the potential to conjure for some pretty bad stuff. Consider that in its demo, Google essentially tricked the person on the other side of the phone call into thinking they were talking to a fellow human being. Fittinly, while the Internet giant was hailed for the tech breakthrough, it also was criticized for pulling a form of high-tech "con" since at no point did Google in its recorded demo let the human on the other end know they were talking to a robot. For three days, Google basically ignored growing criticism, presumably because it was worried that announcing "Hello, you are talking to a Google robot" would result in a hangup. But by late Thursday, Google was forced to bow to pressure and agreed to further develop the software with a "disclosure" of its robotic nature. That's good news. But will it go far enough? And really--what was Google thinking? After all the outcry about privacy in the past year and Internet sites that go too far with our data, Google didn't have the smarts to see this one coming? Think about what might happen when rogue actors get ahold of this technology and start making realistic, human-sounding calls on their behalf? You know it will happen. What will Google do to prevent that? Or now that the genie is out of the bottle, is it too late, as YouMail's Alex Quilici suggested to me this week, when he called Google's tech innovation "a massive Christmas present to robocallers." Remember, it was just two years ago that our elections disrupted by Russian tech experts in state-sponsored attacks via Facebook. (Read below for more on just how bad Russia played Facebook, in our news roundup.) The upshot of Duplex, should it work as advertised, is that Google has just put one foot forward and two steps backward for our lives, says Jim Boerkoel, a professor at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. "If Google drives us to work, then we just added another hour of work to our day, because we'll be expected to work during the commute," he says. "If we don't have time to make appointments, and now the robot can do it for us, we'll use the time we just freed up for more work. This goes both ways. Because we have more time, we'll be expected to do more." But for all the heavy talk about a coming future where tech runs amuck, let's get real for a moment. Artificial intelligence is creepy, but it could also be great, making our lives better and saving us time. And it's not about to take over our lives. Not yet. Google can't eat for us, do our exercise or take over most of our jobs. We still need to get dressed in the morning —no computer will do that for us. But who knows, give the company time, it could get there, right? Google plans to begin its Duplex test in the summer. In other tech news this week Net Neutrality rules rolled back, June 11. The Federal Communication Commission's rules preventing Internet service providers from blocking or slowing legal traffic, or charging for faster delivery of some content, passed with much hubbub in 2015, will be history on June 11. The new rules requires ISPs to disclose any blocking, throttling or prioritization of their own content or from their partners. But they aren't prevented from doing so. Google updates the Android mobile operating system. Several new features were announced at the I/O developer's conference, including tools to improve battery performance, new gestures for navigation and the ability to set time limits on phone usage. Congress released iRussian purchased ads on Facebook from 2016. Facebook says the ads were purchased by the Kremlin-linked Internet Research Agency to sway public sentiment. Some of the more than 3,000 ads denounced Donald Trump, others his Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton. Many of the ads, placed by Russians posing as Americans, didn't endorse a specific candidate but spread inflammatory messages on sensitive subjects such as immigration and race to amplify fault lines in American life, targeting users from specific backgrounds and tight races in key states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Virginia. Elizabeth Weise went through every one of the ads. © Reviewed.com The Best Amazon Echo Smart Speakers of 2018 This week's Talking Tech podcasts Behind Elon Musk's crazy earnings call: Analyst and investor Gene Munster sat in for us on Monday's episode to give some color on the controversial call with the Tesla founder. Rating the Assistants: We posed 150 questions to Google, Alexa and Siri. Listen in to hear which won answered correctly more often. Click to expand Google's scary new plan for robotic calls: Listen to just how human like the bot from Google sounds as it attempts to make reservations at a restaurant and hair salon. BeLive.TV says live video and alive and well. We chat with the founder of the live video service from the Facebook F8 conference, where live video got barely a mention this year. More on Google's Bots: Google's bot announcement opens so many questions. Does Google need to inform the caller that they are speaking to a computer? How do we feel about robots impersonating humans and getting away with it in real life? We weigh in on this episode. The skinny on Mother's Day flowers online: They're as good as sold out for Sunday delivery, as we report on the podcast.

It's a fate that usually befalls Beyoncé, but now it's happened to Meghan Markle as well. In Legoland Windsor Resort's new royal wedding exhibit, TMZ reported Thursday, the royal-to-be's Lego skin tone appears to be far too light. It's not clear whether the whitewashing was intentional or not, but it's definitely a bad situation — especially when Markle has talked about having her skin airbrushed and whitewashed during photo shoots in the past. In response, TMZ reported, the theme-park company explained that its Legos were too limited to accurately represent the future Duchess. "Our small Legoland figures are not detailed representations of any of the characters and are all built using a limited range of [primary] brick tones," reads a statement from Legoland to TMZ. Interestingly, as TMZ notes, Legoland seemingly had no trouble finding darker-toned Legos (and in two distinct shades, no less) for the figurines of Markle's mother, Doria Ragland, and Mel B, aka Scary Spice. Legoland's apparent screwup (and previous questionable wax figure depictions of Beyoncé), naturally, have made us worried for Markle's upcoming Madame Tussaud's exhibit. Thankfully, pictures of the wax Meghan Markle appear to do the real-life Suits actor justice. In fact, it's Prince Harry's figurine that looks slightly...off.

PHOENIX -- Dr. Joanna Woods says thought she'd been bitten by a bedbug or mosquito, but the Phoenix mom soon realized it was something much worse. "It was just so much pain that I couldn't get through the cloud of pain," Woods told CBS Phoenix affiliate KPHO-TV. "It was excruciating," she said. "I could liken it to childbirth. When they ask you if the pain was between one and 10, there were times it was 10." Woods appears to have had an encounter with a blister beetle, which has the ability to release a dangerous toxin when it comes in contact with human skin. The poisonous chemical causes swelling and blistering of the skin and can be fatal if ingested by children. "My first thought is -- gross -- they're really ugly and gross," said Woods. "The idea of the whole concept of a blister beetle is really disgusting." Woods is convinced her uncomfortable encounter with the blister beetle took place at a movie theater a few nights ago when her arm started to itch. A few hours later, the arm was red and swollen and getting worse. Emanuel Jara, of Responsible Pest Control, said blister beetles have been in Arizona for years and usually leave people alone. "It is their season right now," said Jara. "You can find them in parks, in bushes and your very own backyard. A lot of times people, when they are doing gardening, they'll encounter them, so it's just about being very cautious." Fortunately for Woods, the medication she's taking has reduced the swelling and her arm is getting better. She only wishes the bug could have bugged someone else. "I know bugs like me, and I know I have a reaction to bugs, but this is just weird," said Woods. "I don't wish this on anybody."

WASHINGTON — Five days before President Trump pulled out of what he called the “horrible” Iran nuclear deal, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told diplomats from Britain, France and Germany that he believed the pact could still be saved. If Mr. Pompeo could win a few more days for negotiations, he told the Europeans in a conference call on May 4, there was a chance — however small — that the two sides could bridge a gap over the agreement’s “sunset provisions,” under which restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program expire in anywhere from seven to 13 years. By May 7, when Britain’s foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, made the rounds in Washington, that hope had vanished. Mr. Pompeo told him that not only had Mr. Trump decided to pull out of the deal brokered by his predecessor, Barack Obama, but he was also going to reimpose the harshest set of sanctions on Iran that he could. Sign Up For the Morning Briefing Newsletter The frantic final days before Mr. Trump’s announcement demonstrate that the Iran deal remained a complicated, divisive issue inside the White House, even after the president restocked his war cabinet with more hawkish figures like Mr. Pompeo and John R. Bolton, the new national security adviser. How that debate unfolded offers an insight into the shifting balance of power on Mr. Trump’s national security team in his second year in office. Mr. Bolton is emerging as an influential figure, with a clear channel to the president and an ability to control the voices he hears. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who opposed leaving the deal but did not push the case as vocally toward the end, appears more isolated. And Mr. Pompeo may play a swing role, a hard-line former congressman and C.I.A. director who, in his new job, seems determined to give diplomacy a fair shot. Beyond the bureaucratic maneuvering, analysts said, the Iran debate lays bare a deeper split on Mr. Trump’s team — between those, like Mr. Mattis, who want to change the behavior of hostile governments and those, like Mr. Bolton, who want to change the governments themselves. © Tom Brenner/The New York Times John R. Bolton, the new national security adviser, is emerging as a powerful figure, with a clear channel to the president and an ability to control the voices he hears. “Since 9/11, there has been a persisting policy tension over whether the U.S. objective toward ‘rogue’ states should be regime change or behavior change,” said Robert S. Litwak, senior vice president and director of international security studies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Those in the regime change camp, Mr. Litwak said, believe that changing behavior, either through sanctions or military pressure, is inadequate because the threat comes from the very character of the regimes. For more than a decade, and as recently as the summer, Mr. Bolton advocated “the overthrow of the mullahs’ regime in Tehran.” On Friday, he told Voice of America that leadership change was “not the objective of the administration.” Mr. Trump’s cabinet was hardly dovish before Mr. Bolton’s arrival. Mr. Mattis, in particular, nursed a grudge against Iran that dates to his days as a Marine commander. But he was opposed to leaving the deal, two people close to him said, because he feared that a trans-Atlantic rift over Iran would weaken the NATO alliance and could complicate looming negotiations with North Korea. Even if Mr. Mattis had wanted to fight for the deal, it is not clear how much he would have been heard. Mr. Bolton, officials said, never convened a high-level meeting of the National Security Council to air the debate. He advised Mr. Trump in smaller sessions, otherwise keeping the door to his West Wing office closed. Mr. Bolton has forged a comfortable relationship with the president, several people said, channeling his “America First” vocabulary. When the president addressed the nation on Tuesday afternoon, his words bore the imprint of Mr. Bolton, who had called for the agreement to be scrapped almost from the moment it was signed. “I don’t really have much to add to the president’s speech,” a pleased Mr. Bolton told reporters afterward in the White House briefing room. “This deal was fundamentally flawed. It does not do what it purports to do. It does not prevent Iran from developing deliverable nuclear weapons.” As Mr. Bolton consolidates power, Mr. Mattis finds himself in a lonelier position. He lost the alliance he had built with Mr. Pompeo’s predecessor, Rex W. Tillerson, who joined him in persuading the president not to rip up the pact on two previous occasions. Though he was less close to Mr. Bolton’s predecessor, Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, General McMaster also argued in favor of preserving the deal. With both Mr. Tillerson and General McMaster gone, only Mr. Mattis still held that view. In future such debates, Mr. Pompeo may end up standing somewhere between Mr. Mattis and Mr. Bolton. While in Congress, he regularly called for the Iran deal to be scrapped. And as C.I.A. director, he spoke over the summer about the benefits of changing the North Korean government — a stance he has since disavowed. But as secretary of state, he impressed European diplomats with his willingness to keep negotiating fixes to the deal, even given Mr. Trump’s obvious hostility. “Pompeo was not a nixer,” said Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and an outspoken critic of the deal. “He had a very high threshold for fixing it, but he also had credibility to present that to the president.” It is not that Mr. Pompeo was reassuring, European officials said. He warned them last Friday that the negotiators faced an uphill struggle: Mr. Trump was strongly inclined to follow through on his threat to pull out of the pact. Still, he acknowledged that the two sides had made genuine progress toward a compromise. After weeks of grueling negotiations, the United States and Europe had reached consensus on 90 percent of the text in a so-called supplemental agreement, according to people involved in the talks. The Europeans agreed to enact restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile program and to confront Iran’s aggression in the Middle East, two of the three demands that Mr. Trump made in January when he said he would not stay in the deal unless the Europeans agreed to rework it. But the two sides were stymied by the American requirement that the deal’s restrictions on Iran’s nuclear fuel production be extended in perpetuity. The United States proposed that if Iran fell below a threshold of being 12 months away from a nuclear “breakout,” sanctions would automatically snap back in place. Europe viewed that as a violation of the deal. On May 5, the State Department’s top negotiator, Brian H. Hook, spoke one more time to his British, French and German counterparts. But they failed to break the deadlock on the sunset provisions, which led to Mr. Pompeo’s downbeat message to Mr. Johnson two days later. For critics like Mr. Dubowitz, who favored fixing the deal rather than nixing it, the failure to close the final gaps suggests that Mr. Trump was never serious about finding a remedy — that he was merely going through the motions before killing it. Representatives of Mr. Bolton, Mr. Pompeo and Mr. Mattis played down any suggestion of divisions. Mr. Bolton, a National Security Council spokesman said, consulted widely with his colleagues and European allies on Iran. Mr. Mattis, a Pentagon spokeswoman said, gave his confidential advice to the president and did not feel cut out of the debate. State Department officials said Mr. Pompeo concurred that the deliberations were open and thorough. However polite his conversations with the Europeans, they said, he did not seek an extension to save the deal, since the outcome was clear last week. With the Iran deal in the rearview mirror, the next major test for Mr. Trump’s team will be his negotiation with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. Until now, Mr. Pompeo has taken the lead in preparing for that meeting, relying heavily on his former staff at the C.I.A. and making little use of the State Department or the National Security Council. But Mr. Bolton has lost no time expressing his views about how the negotiation should be handled — he cited Libya’s voluntary surrender of its nuclear program in 2003 as a precedent — and why pulling out of the Iran deal will strengthen, rather than weaken, Mr. Trump’s hand. “When you’re serious about eliminating the threat of nuclear proliferation, you have to address the aspects that permit an aspiring nuclear weapons state to get there,” Mr. Bolton said. “The Iran deal did not do that. A deal that we hope to reach — the president is optimistic we can reach with North Korea — will address all those issues.”

Billionaire businessman Elon Musk is promising the public "free rides" in the next few months through the first high-speed passenger tunnel drilled beneath Los Angeles by his aptly named underground transit venture, the Boring Company. The question is whether the tunnel as advertised by Musk on social media will live up to the sensation he stirred by suggesting commuters will soon get to sample a new subterranean traffic system he has under development in the nation's second-largest city. The tunnel shown in an attention-getting video clip Musk posted to Instagram on Thursday actually runs not under Los Angeles but beneath the tiny, adjacent municipality of Hawthorne, where his Boring Company and SpaceX rocket firm are both headquartered. And it was uncertain whether the permits he received from the Hawthorne would even allow the public to set foot in the tunnel, originally proposed strictly as an experimental project to test Musk's concepts for a high-speed transit network. "There will be no cars or people in the research tunnel," according to the minutes of a special Hawthorne city council meeting last August to review the proposed easement, or right-of-way, Boring sought for the tunnel. Musk, who also leads the Tesla Inc electric car manufacturing company, launched his foray into public transit after he complained on Twitter in December 2016 that clogged traffic was "driving me nuts," vowing then to "build a boring machine and just start digging." Musk maintained his air of bravura in his latest Instagram message, which was repeated to his Twitter account. "First Boring Company tunnel under LA almost done! Pending final regulatory approvals, we will be offering free rides to the public in a few months," he wrote. According to public records, Boring started with a 350-foot-long tunnel on private property belonging to SpaceX and later sought the easement to extend the tunnel another 2 miles underground beneath Hawthorne city streets. Boring has since sought approval to dig a similar experimental tunnel that would run for 2.7 miles beneath the busy west side of Los Angeles proper but has yet to break ground there. Both plans were pitched as first steps toward developing a subterranean network of tunnels envisioned by Musk for rapidly whisking car and pedestrian traffic within and between cities to ease road congestion at the surface. "Super huge thanks to everyone that helped with this project," Musk said in his social media messages. "As mentioned in prior posts, once fully operational (demo system rides will be free), the system will always give priority to pods for pedestrians & cyclists for less than the cost of a bus ticket." The message accompanied a fast-forward video of the tunnel's interior shot by a camera traveling the length of the cylindrical passageway, well lit and roughly 12 feet in diameter. A man in a hard hat is seen working at one end of apparently unfinished underground tube. Musk was not available for comment. Jehn Hemme, a spokeswoman for Boring, declined to comment when asked to clarify Musk's Instagram post and what the video actually depicted. While Musk referred to the tunnel as the first his company has excavated under "LA", the footage is from the existing tunnel in Hawthorne, said Alison Simard, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz, who has supported Boring's request to fast-track approval of a Los Angeles test tunnel. She said there was nothing in that request, which City Council's public works committee approved in April, that would allow public entry into a test tunnel. Hawthorne city officials were not available for comment; city offices there are typically closed on Fridays.

Students at Essex High School in Essex, Ontario, are being punished for showing their bra straps. But Mallory Johnston and Grace Wood — two sophomores at the school — have had enough. The students are leading the charge against the school's policy, which they think is unfair. Wood told INSIDER that "multiple girls" at their school have been suspended for partially exposing their bra straps at school. The school's dress code, which is outlined in the student handbook, doesn't reference bra straps. It does, however, state that the following do not meet the district's standards: "no spaghetti straps or halter tops for girls and no tank tops for boys, no revealing backs or midriffs and no short-shorts." But the dress code also gives administrators the jurisdiction to create guidelines on a case-by-case basis. "In all cases, the administration will decide whether or not students are adhering to the dress code standards," the handbook states. According to Wood, the school's vice principal has enacted the bra strap policy that she and her friends are protesting. The girls' goals are simple: "We would like to not be taken out of class because an inch of a bra strap is visible from a T-shirt," Wood told us. Johnston echoed her sentiments. "It started with girls getting suspended for the simplest thing as a bra strap. I was very upset about how we couldn't wear even a T-shirt without getting dress coded. But then a boy can have pants down to his ankles," Johnston said. To take a stand, Johnston hung posters with a feminist message throughout her high school. The signs said things like, "I go to a school where the length of my shorts are more important than my education," and "stop objectifying women." "I spent all Monday night writing these posters and making sure they were appropriate," Johnston said. The student also put out a call to action for students to dress in the way that made them feel most comfortable — even if it broke the school's rules. However, the protest wasn't received well by administrators. Johnston said her posters were taken down by the vice principal after "about two minutes" and, ultimately, the teen was suspended from school for standing up for her beliefs and breaking the dress code. The trouble didn't end there. As a part of the protest, Wood said that she wore an outfit that she knew would get her in trouble "on purpose." "I got in trouble for my bra strap showing, not because I was wearing a spaghetti strap [shirt]," she said. "I got sent home to change my clothes." A representative for the school didn't immediately respond to INSIDER's request for comment, but Mike Hawkins, the school's principal told the CBC "anyone needs approval to post anything around the school." Hawkins added that in four years he has never had a complaint about the dress code, which he said "is clearly outlined" and is "not a male or female issue." But Johnston doesn't seem to regret anything. "I spoke out because it was very degrading to keep getting pulled out of my education for something so silly. I knew going forward with this would get backlash, but it was a risk I was willing to take because I believe that something should be changed," Johnston said. "I believe in equality and women's rights. I should be able to speak my opinion without being disciplined."

Bad back begone! A startup called SuitX has begun selling exoskeletal outfits that give a boost to your back, legs and shoulders. It's not going to fulfill any adolescent fantasies of hulking mecha suits, but it is enough to help people hefting boxes and spending hours bent over on a manufacturing line, said Michael McKinley, vice president of engineering and a company co-founder. The SuitX "industrial exoskeleton" comes in three modules: the $5,000 LegX for boosting leg strength, the $4,000 BackX for helping people lift heavy items and the $4,000 ShoulderX to reduce arm fatigue from working on something above your head. The modules use springs and clutches to provide the boost, and the LegX gets a battery boost as well, said Nathan Poon, a University of California graduate student who's already working full-time for SuitX. McKinley, clomping around the TechCrunch robotics conference in the 10-pound leg suit on Friday, bent his knees and the LegX module stiffened with a click. "I could squat for hours," McKinley said, imitating a shipyard worker installing an awkwardly low wiring harness and then a concrete worker smoothing a new poured driveway. "I'm sitting in that harness." It's an interesting example of how technology is boosting human power. Although many people worry about robots replacing human workers, SuitX technology is more likely to delay that day. The SuitX designers hail from Berkeley's mechanical engineering program, not electrical engineering, and the suit's clutch-and-spring design reflects that. "The device puts force in parallel with the joint," Poon said. The leg brace makes your body seem about 30 percent to 50 percent lighter, McKinley said. The back brace reduces muscle exertion about 60 percent and the shoulder brace about 80 percent, Poon said. "You have less likelihood of injury and longer stamina," he said. The main customers so far are in manufacturing, aerospace and logistics, Poon said. Among carmakers, Ford Motor and Fiat Chrysler have given SuitX technology a whirl. But SuitX also is working on a medical variation of the suit to help people with spinal cord injuries. Some devices for that market are expensive enough that only clinics and hospitals buy them. "The thing we have is about the cost of an electric wheelchair," McKinley said.

In 1951, a 14-year-old Australian boy named James Harrison awoke from a major chest operation. Doctors had removed one of his lungs in a procedure that had taken several hours — and would keep him hospitalized for three months. But Harrison was alive, thanks in large part to a vast quantity of transfused blood he had received, his father explained. “He said that I had 13 units of blood and my life had been saved by unknown people,” Harrison told CNN’s Sanjay Gupta decades later. Subscribe to the Post Most newsletter: Today’s most popular stories on The Washington Post At the time, Australia’s laws required blood donors to be at least 18 years old. It would be four years before Harrison was eligible, but he vowed then that he too would become a blood donor when he was old enough. After turning 18, Harrison made good on his word, donating whole blood regularly with the Australian Red Cross Blood Service. He disliked needles, so he averted his eyes and tried to ignore the pain whenever one was inserted into his arm. Meanwhile, doctors in Australia were struggling to figure out why thousands of births in the country were resulting in miscarriages, stillbirths or brain defects for the babies. “In Australia, up until about 1967, there were literally thousands of babies dying each year, doctors didn’t know why, and it was awful,” Jemma Falkenmire, of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, told Gupta. “Women were having numerous miscarriages, and babies were being born with brain damage.” The babies, it turned out, were suffering from Haemolytic Disease of the Newborn, or HDN. The condition most often arises when a woman with an Rh negative blood type becomes pregnant with a baby who has Rh positive blood, and the incompatibility causes the mother’s body to reject the fetus’s red blood cells. © Wochit News James Harrison Doctors realized, however, that it might be possible to prevent HDN by injecting the pregnant woman with a treatment made from donated plasma with a rare antibody. Researchers scoured blood banks to see whose blood might contain this antibody — and found a donor in New South Wales by the name of James Harrison. By then, Harrison had been donating whole blood regularly for more than a decade. He has said he didn’t think twice when scientists reached out to him to ask if he would participate in what would become known as the Anti-D program. “They asked me to be a guinea pig, and I’ve been donating ever since,” Harrison told the Sydney Morning Herald. Before long, researchers had developed an injection called Anti-D using plasma from Harrison’s donated blood. The first dose was given to a pregnant woman at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in 1967, according to Robyn Barlow, the Rh program coordinator who found Harrison. Harrison continued donating for more than 60 years and his plasma has been used to make millions of Anti-D injections, according to the Red Cross. Because about 17 percent of pregnant women in Australia require the anti-D injections, the blood service estimates Harrison has helped 2.4 million babies in the country. © Getty KEMEROVO, RUSSIA MARCH 27, 2018: A person donating blood for people injured in a fire at the Zimnyaya Vishnya shopping centre, at the Kemerovo regional blood transfusion centre. On 25 March 2018, the fire engulfed the shopping mall killing at least 64 people, many of them children, and injuring 52. Kirill Kukhmar/TASS (Photo by Kirill Kukhmar\TASS via Getty Images) “Every ampul of Anti-D ever made in Australia has James in it,” Barlow told the Sydney Morning Herald. “He has saved millions of babies. I cry just thinking about it.” Scientists still aren’t sure why Harrison’s body naturally produces the rare antibody but believe it is related to the blood transfusions he received as a teenager. And through the decades, Harrison has brushed off excessive praise regarding his regular trips to the blood donation center from his home in Umina Beach, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. He had “never” considered stopping, he told the Daily Mail in 2010. “Probably my only talent is that I can be a blood donor,” Harrison remarked wryly to CNN’s Gupta in 2015, when the network followed him as he made his 1,101st donation that year. At the blood donation center, he greeted the nurses who had come to know him so well. As always, he looked away when they inserted the needle and spent the duration of the appointment gripping an orange stress ball in his right arm. When a reporter asked if what he was doing was courageous, Harrison squeezed his eyes together and shook his head. “That’s the other rare thing about James,” Falkenmire told the network then. “He thinks his donations are the same as anybody else’s. He doesn’t think he's remarkable.” Countless others think Harrison is remarkable, though. Somewhere along the way, he picked up the nickname “The Man With the Golden Arm,” along with accolades large and small, from the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1999 to the cover of his local yellow pages in 2013. In 2003, he landed in the Guinness Book of World Records. But in interviews, Harrison has said by far the most fulfilling part of his unwavering commitment to donate plasma has been the babies he has helped save — including his own grandchildren. “To say I am proud of James (my dad) is an understatement,” Harrison’s daughter, Tracey Mellowship, wrote on Facebook last month, noting she had needed an Anti-D injection in 1992, after the birth of her first son. “Thanks to dad I then gave birth to another healthy boy in 1995. ... Thank you dad for giving me the chance to have two healthy children — your grandchildren. XXX” On Friday, Harrison made his final trip to the blood donation center. At age 81, he had already passed the age limit allowed for donors, and the blood service had decided Harrison should stop donating to protect his health, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. As Harrison sat in the donation chair, four silver mylar balloons — 1 1 7 3 — bobbled above him, representing his 1,173 total blood donations in his lifetime. Several parents had shown up at the hospital to mark the occasion — holding some of the babies his donations had helped save. Barlow, the Rh program coordinator who had found Harrison decades ago, gave him a long, emotional hug. “We’ll never see his kind again,” Barlow told the Sydney Morning Herald. “That he has been well and fit and his veins strong enough to continue to donate for so long is very, very rare.” Blood service officials said their hope is that more blood donors will step forward; perhaps there will be another James Harrison among them. Currently only about 200 donors qualify for the Anti-D program. Harrison told the Red Cross that he is eager for his legacy of 1,173 donations to be surpassed. “I hope it’s a record that somebody breaks, because it will mean they are dedicated to the cause,” Harrison said.

Clemson defensive lineman Christian Wilkins could have been drafted to a NFL team last month, but he decided to come back for another year of school. Wilkins is looking to get a master's degree in athletic leadership, but according to Adam Kramer of Bleacher Report, he also determined he needs a "side hustle," so he started working as a substitute teacher. According to Kramer, Wilkins talked with his older brothers about the move to the classroom, and then instead of preparing for the combine like most players his caliber were doing, he was getting certified to be a substitute. Wilkins was able to navigate his schedule so far thanks to spring practice being every other day, allowing him to set up teaching jobs weeks in advance, according to Kramer. He has subbed for high school classes and elementary school, teaching science and playing games with children in gym, according to Kramer. "It's easy, just follow the three Rs—reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic," Wilkins told Kramer. "But really, I'll fake it till I make it. And the teachers do a great job. They make it pretty easy for the subs." Wilkins and Clemson coach Dabo Swinney feel like the substitute teacher could be a top-15 pick in the next draft, according to Kramer. He has 193 tackles, 26 tackles for a loss and 10 sacks in his three years as with the Tigers.

It's hard for the people who know Robert Washburn to reconcile the man they see as a doting father with the man police say killed a young girl 32 years ago. They see compassion in the way the 60-year-old spends all his time with his disabled daughter, whom he cared for alone in their Eureka, Illinois, apartment. They see a friendly man who kept to himself but was happy to chat in the courtyard or help fix a broken-down car. They struggle to see in him the cruelty needed to abduct and kill 13-year-old Jennifer Bastian, which Tacoma police say Washburn did in 1986. Washburn was 28 when the girl disappeared while riding a bike in Point Defiance Park. Her body was found weeks later in a wooded area. Neighbors in Eureka were shocked when several officers came Thursday and led Washburn away in handcuffs. "I'm kind of freaked out right now," Jennifer Hailey told The Peoria Journal Star. Hailey allowed her 12-year-old daughter to visit Washburn's home several times a week to spend time with his daughter, who is in her early 20s. Cindy Stephens, Washburn's ex-wife, saw his face on television Thursday. The Kent woman had seen past broadcasts about the Bastian case, but this was different. "They put my ex-husband up there, and I just about died," she said Friday. "This is raw for me. This is upsetting. All I know is that was my ex-husband, all right? We never saw this coming. He was always gentle." Stephens, 60, said she and Washburn married in 1990, four years after the murder. Both worked at Boeing, she said. He was a mechanic; she worked in engineering. Their marriage ended in the mid-1990s, she said. Washburn left Boeing and moved, first to Burlington in Skagit County and then to Illinois. He reportedly lived in the same Eureka apartment for the last 13 years. Neighbors said he spent most of his time inside with his daughter. He allegedly kept his windows closed and didn't like visitors after 4 p.m. "He was a full-time caretaker," neighbor Nicole Brown told The Pantagraph newspaper in Illinois. "He would sometimes take his daughter out to go shopping . . . . That's about the only time we saw her come outside." It doesn't appear Washburn had a job in Illinois. Some questioned the camera equipment he kept pointed at the parking lot, but he claimed it was to prevent break-ins and the apartment manager allowed it. Others wondered why he kept his truck covered with a tarp anytime he wasn't driving it. Stephens said she and her ex-husband remained friends to an extent, but most of their conversations revolved around their daughter. He never talked about the Bastian murder or his possible involvement. "Hell, no," she said. "I would have divorced him and turned him in. I am happy for that family, for that little girl." While charging papers described Washburn jogging regularly at Point Defiance Park, Stephens didn't recall that side of him. "He was not an athletic kind of a guy," she said. "I never knew he jogged. I always kidded him and called him a Caspar Milquetoast." Stephens said she didn't ask Washburn about his personal life before they met. She recalled that he enjoyed working on cars and tinkering with electronics. He was also a stargazer. "He loved the universe and stars and stuff like that."

Tiger Woods entered Round 3 of The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass having just barely made the cut. When his 18 holes were completed in Florida on Saturday, Woods shot a minus-seven for the round and found himself in a tie for eighth on the leaderboard. While Woods still has a long way to go to reach those at the top of the leaderboard, his Round 3 performance was absolutely dazzling. Needless to say, Twitter had some pretty awesome reactions to Tiger putting up his lowest round ever at The Players.

President Trump hailed a decision by North Korea on Saturday to dismantle a nuclear test site, calling it "a very smart and gracious gesture." "North Korea has announced that they will dismantle Nuclear Test Site this month, ahead of the big Summit Meeting on June 12th," Trump tweeted. "Thank you, a very smart and gracious gesture!" The president's tweet follows North Korea's announcement that it would dismantle the test site by the end of May, ahead of a planned summit between Trump and the country's leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12. The historically isolated country also plans to soften air space restrictions and allow more access for foreign media for the destruction of the nuclear site, according to a message carried by North Korean state media. The dismantling is expected to take place between May 23-25, the North Korean foreign ministry said. North Korea first announced last month that it planned to decommission the nuclear site ahead of the meeting with Trump. The move, coupled with North Korea's promise to soften restrictions on foreign journalists, is the latest sign of goodwill from Pyongyang. This week, North Korea released three Americans prisoners during a visit to Pyongyang by newly appointed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Trump greeted the prisoners at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland upon their arrival. The meeting between Trump and Kim will be the first such encounter between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean premier in history. The U.S. is expected to press the North give up its nuclear ambitions - a demand that Kim has reportedly indicated he is open to.

SPOKANE, Wash. — The eruption of a Hawaii volcano in the Pacific "Ring of Fire" has experts warily eyeing volcanic peaks on America's West Coast that are also part of the geologically active region. The West Coast is home to an 800-mile (1,300-kilometer) chain of 13 volcanoes , from Washington state's Mount Baker to California's Lassen Peak. They include Mount St. Helens, whose spectacular 1980 eruption in the Pacific Northwest killed dozens of people and sent volcanic ash across the country, and massive Mount Rainier, which towers above the Seattle metro area. "There's lots of anxiety out there," said Liz Westby, geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Washington, in the shadow of Mount St. Helens. "They see destruction, and people get nervous." Kilauea, on Hawaii's Big Island, is threatening to blow its top in coming days or weeks after sputtering lava for a week, forcing about 2,000 people to evacuate, destroying two dozen homes and threatening a geothermal plant. Experts fear the volcano could hurl ash and boulders the size of refrigerators miles into the air. Here are some key things to know: WHAT IS THE RING OF FIRE? Roughly 450 volcanoes make up this horseshoe-shaped belt with Kilauea situated in the middle. The belt follows the coasts of South America, North America, eastern Asia, Australia and New Zealand. It's known for frequent volcanic and seismic activity caused by the colliding of crustal plates. America's most dangerous volcanoes are all part of the Ring of Fire, and most are on the West Coast, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Besides Kilauea, they include: Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier in Washington; Mount Hood and South Sister in Oregon; and Mount Shasta and Lassen Volcanic Center in California. Images of lava flowing from the ground and homes going up in flames in Hawaii have stoked unease among residents elsewhere along the Ring of Fire. But experts say an eruption on one section of the arc doesn't necessarily signal danger in other parts. "These are isolated systems," Westby said. WHEN WILL THE WEST COAST VOLCANOES ERUPT? No eruption seems imminent, experts say. The Cascades Volcano Observatory monitors volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest and posts weekly status reports. All currently register "normal." But the situation can change fast. "All our mountains are considered active and, geologically speaking, things seem to happen in the Northwest about every 100 years," said John Ufford, preparedness manager for the Washington Emergency Management Division. "It's an inexact timeline." Some geologists believe Mount St. Helens is the most likely to erupt. But six other Cascade volcanoes have been active in the past 300 years, including steam eruptions at Mount Rainier and Glacier Peak and a 1915 blast at Lassen Peak that destroyed nearby ranches. WHAT KIND OF DAMAGE COULD THEY DO? The Big Island scenes of rivers of lava snaking through neighborhoods and sprouting fountains are unlikely in the Pacific Northwest. "Lava is not the hazard, per se, like in Hawaii," said Ian Lange, a retired University of Montana geology professor. Cascade volcanos produce a thicker, more viscous type of lava than Hawaiian volcanoes, so it doesn't run as far, Lange said. The Cascade volcanoes can produce huge clouds of choking ash and send deadly mudslides into rivers and streams. Two of the most potentially destructive are Mount St. Helens, north of the Portland, Oregon, metro area, and 14,000-foot (4,270-meter) Mount Rainier, which is visible from the cities of Seattle and Tacoma. Mount Rainier eruptions in the distant past have caused destruction as far west as Puget Sound, some 50 miles (80 kilometers) away. The volcano hasn't produced a significant eruption in the past 500 years. But it remains dangerous because of its great height, frequent earthquakes, active hydrothermal system, and 26 glaciers, experts said. An eruption on Mount Rainier could rapidly melt glaciers, triggering huge mudflows — called lahars — that could reach the densely populated surrounding lowlands, Westby said. Another major danger from a Cascade volcano eruption would be large amounts of ash thrown into the air, where it could foul aircraft engines. WHAT ARE COMMUNITIES DOING TO PREPARE? The closest settlement to a West Coast volcano may be Government Camp, on Oregon's Mount Hood. Lava could conceivably reach the town, but the greater threat is an eruption triggering a so-called pyroclastic flow, which is a fast-moving cloud of hot ash and gas, experts said. But Lange believes California's Mount Shasta is the most dangerous, in part because it is surrounded by towns. The town of Mt. Shasta has numerous response plans for emergencies, including a volcano eruption, Police Chief Parish Cross said. But the plan for a volcano is pretty fluid, he said. "We don't know the size or scope of the event," Cross said, including which direction the eruption would occur. This is not an issue in Orting, Washington, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Mount Rainier. Orting would be directly in the path of a lahar, and local officials each year conduct drills in which children move from school to higher ground to escape the flow. Students usually take about 45 minutes to walk the 2 miles (3 kilometers) to higher ground, which should be fast enough to escape, officials said. "Our concern is ice and snow melting rapidly on Mount Rainier," said Chuck Morrison, a resident of the town of 7,600 who has long been involved in evacuation planning. "We need a quick way off the valley floor." Orting is the town most vulnerable to lahar damage from Mount Rainier, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Scientists say that in the worst case, a 30-foot-high (9-meter-high) lahar with the consistency of wet concrete could rumble through Orting at 50 mph (80 kph) if volcanic activity suddenly melted snow and ice on Rainier.

The Republican tax bill is now law, and that could be great news for millions of American retirees. For instance, did you know there’s still a secret “account” 54 U.S. Congressmen use to make 40 times more interest on their money? Or what about this… Over 55? Did you know you may qualify for a special, non-government “guaranteed income program” that lets you collect up to $1,200 a month? These are just two of the little-known income secrets now available to American seniors. In fact, Ted Benna, the man widely credited as the “father” of the 401(k), is now recommending all seniors take a hard look at their income options. In Benna's latest book he reveals dozens of income secrets seniors can now take advantage of to secure their retirement. The “Senior Homeowners’ Reward” program created by the FHA that can let you collect between $575 and $2,200 in tax-free income (page 135) He’s calling this new strategy the “501(k) Program,” and already over 100,000 people have paid $49 to get access the secrets inside this book. But now, thanks to a national income experiment, Benna has partnered with a publisher to ensure that seniors can get a full 384-page hardbound copy for free! EDITOR’S NOTE: Please be aware that only a very limited quantity of free books are available. First come, first served. To claim your free book, click here. According to Benna, it doesn’t matter if you’re currently working… retired… if you collect Social Security… if you have a 401(k) or IRA… or even how much (or little!) you have to start out with. You, too, can use the secrets in the “501(k)” plan to sock away thousands of dollars a year! People are raving about the different “501(k)” ideas… and we think they are some of the most interesting and profitable investment ideas we have seen in a generation.

A former senior campaign and transition aide to President Donald Trump recently inked a deal to help a Russian oligarch's conglomerate shed sanctions the Trump administration slapped on them last month. Bryan Lanza, who is in regular contact with White House officials, is lobbying on behalf of the chairman of EN+ Group, an energy and aluminum firm presently controlled by Oleg Deripaska, according to several sources. Deripaska is a billionaire who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and was the target of US sanctions imposed last month. Lanza is also a CNN contributor. Lanza is representing the chairman of EN+ Group, but not Deripaska directly. The company is seeking to reduce Deripaska's ownership in the company enough to be freed from US sanctions. Deripaska is expected to maintain a substantial stake in the company. The moves by Lanza and Mercury Public Affairs LLC, the firm where he works as a managing director in its Washington office, on behalf of their client don't appear to be anything more than standard lobbying. But the deal is the latest brazen example of how Trump's "drain the swamp" campaign pledge has led to little change in a town where paying for access is a lucrative industry. In fact, Trump has presided over the expansion of a new generation of influence peddlers who have used their actual or perceived proximity to the President to line their pockets. Corey Lewandowski, who served as Trump's first campaign manager and touts his close ties to the President, started his own consulting business in Washington after the election. Brian Ballard, Trump's longtime lobbyist in Florida and a GOP fundraiser, opened up a Washington office and brought on Susie Wiles, who led Trump's campaign in Florida. Jason Miller, former communications director for the campaign and transition who is also a CNN contributor, landed a plum gig as a managing director in global consulting firm Teneo's strategy group. He worked in crisis communications before the Trump campaign. Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, has weathered the brunt of the scrutiny for allegedly trying to sell access to the White House. But similar arrangements have been rampant in Washington -- under both Democratic and Republican administrations -- and the old way of doing business has continued to thrive since Trump took office. Free from sanctions Deripaska is seeking to sell enough of his stake in EN+ Group -- the group whose chairman hired Mercury to represent it before the Trump administration -- to free the company from sanctions. Under the Treasury Department's rules, companies that are under the majority control of sanctioned people are themselves automatically sanctioned until the person in question reduces their stake in the company below 50%. Lanza's firm legally disclosed the deal to the government last week. Lanza's involvement with EN+ Group began within the last month or so, according to a source familiar with the transaction. The source said the former Trump campaign aide is not representing Deripaska himself, only the board chairman of the group attempting to free itself from the Russian oligarch's control by helping to reduce Deripaska's stake in EN+ Group from roughly 70% to below 50%. That chairman -- the former British energy minister, Lord Gregory Barker -- is listed as Mercury's client. The source familiar with the transaction noted Lanza and the Mercury team's first phone call with Barker shortly before the Treasury Department granted Deripaska's companies, including EN+ Group, an additional month to get in compliance with sanctions. The source said Lanza and other Mercury lobbyists presented the extension to the administration officials as a "win for the president" because it would ultimately force a Russian oligarch to cede control of major companies. Barker declined to comment. A Treasury Department spokesman declined comment. Michael McKeon, a partner at Mercury, acknowledged Lanza's role on the EN+ Group account. "He is part of the team," McKeon told CNN, noting that the disclosure form Mercury filed on May 4 "speaks to what Lord Barker is trying to do (regarding) the ownership of the company and our role assisting that effort." Lanza is not listed as being involved in lobbying for Barker or EN+ Group on the disclosure form. Mercury's role Mercury itself has undergone scrutiny over the past year for its role in the Ukrainian lobbying operation that ensnared Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe of Russian interference in the election and related matters. The firm has denied wrongdoing and has said its employees have cooperated with investigators. Lanza's work with the Russian-linked firm comes as Mueller continues to investigate whether there was any collusion between Trump campaign aides and Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has denied any collusion during the campaign. Deripaska has intersected with the Trump orbit on a few occasions, most notably with Manafort. While at the helm of the Trump campaign, Manafort used an intermediary to offer Deripaska private briefings about the election, according to The Washington Post. Mueller's team later noted in a March court filing that the intermediary "has ties to a Russian intelligence service and had such ties in 2016." No evidence has emerged to suggest that Manafort ever briefed Deripaska. But Mueller's team has brought charges against Manafort for his lobbying work and financial reporting before he joined the Trump campaign. Manafort has pleaded not guilty. While there's nothing illegal about Lanza's work with the Russian-connected firm, it's a stark example of how former Trump campaign aides have continued to enjoy access to Trump and other senior administration officials and have used those ties to benefit clients ranging from defense contractors to foreign governments and media conglomerates. Even Cohen -- who, according to sources, saw his influence with Trump plummet after Inauguration Day -- earned more than $2 million between Election Day and early 2018, according to companies he has represented, pitching himself aggressively to corporations as someone who could offer them insight into how to approach the mercurial new President. Over the course of his work, sources said Cohen maintained contact with some senior White House officials. Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, and Ivanka Trump, the President's eldest daughter, both worked to block Cohen from an official role in the Trump administration, sources said. But, according to two sources, Kushner still kept in touch with Cohen once he was in the White House. But Cohen's direct interaction with Trump appeared to be minimal after the inauguration. They crossed paths at Mar-a-Lago on a couple of occasions and Cohen paid at least one visit to the White House, sources said. "I got the impression (Cohen) could not get a phone call returned, nor could he get an audience with the President," said a source close to Trump's legal team. Aggressive pitches As aggressive as Cohen was in his pitches to prospective clients, one source said, Corey Lewandowski -- Trump's former campaign manager -- was more braggadocious about his access to Trump. The source claimed Lewandowski had pitched companies by telling them "Trump doesn't make a decision without checking with me." On Friday, AT&T acknowledged that Lewandowski's firm pitched them, but they said they didn't make a deal. AT&T is seeking government approval to acquire Time Warner, CNN's parent company. Lewandowski, who has so far avoided registering as a lobbyist, continues to enjoy a high level of access to the President. Two sources confirmed he dined with Trump in the White House residence in March. He also joined Trump at a rally in Michigan in late April. Meanwhile, even lesser-known Trump aides are making a living off their ties to the White House. Former New York Republican Rep. John Sweeney has made more than $200,000 lobbying on behalf of a European pipeline venture owned by Gazprom, the state-controlled Russian natural gas company, according to federal lobbying disclosures. The New York Republican previously worked on Trump's campaign and assisted with administration hires during the presidential transition. Sweeney declined to discuss details about the clients he represents. Unlike some of the newbies to the sphere of Washington influence, David Urban -- a former senior Trump campaign adviser -- has been a registered lobbyist for more than a decade. He works for a firm that represents a roster of top tier companies across the healthcare, telecommunications and utilities fields. Urban, who is also a CNN contributor, declined to comment. And Barry Bennett, who served for a period as a senior adviser to the campaign, cofounded a firm called Avenue Strategies and represents a number of foreign governments. He was originally partners with Lewandowski, who left the firm amid allegations that he was engaging in lobbying activities without appropriate registration. "I've been in town for 30 years. Most of my clients are based on my experience here," Bennett told CNN. "President Trump is certainly helpful to my business. But I had clients before that too."

The federal tax overhaul cut taxes for millions of American families and businesses. But the law also had an unintended effect: raising the state-tax bite in nearly every state that has an income tax. Now, governors and state legislators are contending with how to adjust their own tax codes to shield their residents from paying more or, in some cases, whether to apply any of the unexpected revenue windfall to other priorities instead. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which President Trump signed into law in December, did not directly affect state budgets. It cut federal tax rates, but also made other changes that mean more income will be subject to taxation. Because most states use federal definitions of income and have not adjusted their own rates, the federal changes will have big consequences for both state budgets and taxpayers. Sign Up for the Morning Briefing Newsletter “Residents of the majority of states would experience an unlegislated tax increase,” said Jared Walczak, an analyst with the Tax Foundation, a conservative think tank. In Minnesota, the state estimates that residents could pay more than $400 million in additional state taxes in the next fiscal year because of the new federal law. That has set off a fight over how to respond. The state’s Democratic governor wants to give most of that money back to Minnesotans through tax cuts aimed at low- and moderate-income families; the Republican-controlled legislature wants broader-based tax cuts. Both sides say they must resolve the issue before the legislative session ends May 21. Apart from the nine states with no broad-based income tax, nearly every state will face a similar decision. Almost all of the states base their tax codes in some way on federal definitions of income, before applying their own adjustments and deductions and setting their own tax rates. The federal tax overhaul, which eliminated or capped several deductions and exemptions, effectively broadened what counts as income for some families. Previously, for example, a married couple with three children earning $70,000 might have been taxed on only about $36,000 of that income, according to the Tax Policy Center, a research group. The tax law, however, eliminated the so-called personal exemption and made other changes, which could increase this family’s taxable income to about $46,000. At the federal level, those changes were more than offset for most families by lower tax rates and an increased child tax credit. In the example of a married couple with three children, the family’s federal tax bill would be lowered by more than $2,000 under the law. At the state level, however, the changes leave families owing tax on a larger share of their income, without the reduced rates or new credits to soften the blow. A handful of states have already taken action, in some cases using the extra revenue from the federal law as lubrication for deal-making. Colorado, for example, took advantage of its estimated $200 million in extra revenue to pass a budget that included extra funding for roads, public education and school security. Idaho, on the other hand, moved quickly to return the revenue windfall to residents through tax cuts. The challenge is especially acute in Minnesota because its tax code is closely tied to the federal definitions. The Minnesota Department of Revenue estimates that if the state tax code incorporates the federal change in calculating taxable income, 870,000 Minnesota families will pay more for the 2018 tax year, by an average of $489 per person. In theory, Minnesota could try to maintain its status quo by simply leaving its taxes linked to the previous federal definitions. But that would force taxpayers to calculate their income under two different systems. “If we do nothing, then it becomes very difficult for our citizens to file taxes,” said Roger Chamberlain, a Republican state senator who heads the body’s tax committee. Beyond an agreement that something must be done, the consensus breaks down. The State Senate recently passed a plan, backed by Mr. Chamberlain, that would cut rates and impose an automatic trigger that would lower taxes further anytime the state runs a budget surplus — a move Democrats call fiscally irresponsible. The House, which is also controlled by Republicans, previously passed a tax cut of its own. Mark Dayton, Minnesota’s Democratic governor, has taken a different approach, proposing new tax credits for low- and moderate-income residents, while raising taxes on businesses. A recent Department of Revenue analysis found that Minnesotans would pay $91.5 million more under the governor’s tax plan — which includes some proposals unrelated to the federal law — with the entire burden falling on the 10 percent of taxpayers with the highest incomes. Cynthia Bauerly, the state revenue commissioner, said no wage earner would pay more in taxes under the governor’s plan. Business groups have criticized the governor’s proposal, which they argue would make Minnesota less competitive. Some progressive groups say the state should go further, using the extra revenue generated by the federal law to fund a paid family-leave program or childhood savings accounts. “This is exactly the kind of thing you could use to start the core investment of a program like that,” said Chris Conry, strategic campaigns director for TakeAction Minnesota, a liberal advocacy group. “You could give every kid born in Minnesota $500 at birth.” Similar debates are playing out in statehouses across the country, in a few different ways. In some states, the state tax code automatically incorporates changes to federal law; for those states, doing nothing probably means an automatic tax increase on residents unless their legislatures take action. In other states, including Minnesota, such updates are not automatic. So legislatures must pass so-called conformity bills that adopt some or all of the federal changes, or else leave residents to contend with possibly conflicting tax systems. Several states have yet to address the issue, or have barely begun the process. In Maine, the legislature recently adjourned without a deal on how to adapt to the federal law. In California, the legislature has not even tried to pass a conformity bill, choosing instead to focus on developing workarounds for the federal law’s cap on state and local tax deductions, which would hit California residents especially hard. Some state tax systems are linked more closely to the federal tax code than others. The difference lies in how states define income for the purposes of their tax calculations. Most states, including Maine and California, start with adjusted gross income, Line 37 on a standard 1040 form. Any federal provisions that get applied farther down the 1040 form — like itemized deductions — do not affect those states’ tax collections. But a handful of states, including Minnesota, base their tax codes on federal taxable income, Line 43 on the 1040 form. And what goes on between those two lines is where most of the changes passed by Congress will be felt, resulting in a higher taxable income for many families. (A few states apply a hybrid of the two methods.) Even in states that are less affected, failing to adapt their tax codes to the federal law could make it hard for residents to figure out what they owe — and, in some cases, force them to pay more. The longer states wait, the less time residents, businesses and state tax officials have to adapt to the new rules before next year’s filing season. “Inaction becomes action this time,” said Richard C. Auxier, a research associate at the Tax Policy Center. “People’s taxes will change, states’ revenues will change.” Several factors are complicating the issue for states. Congress passed its tax overhaul late in the year and with minimal debate, giving states relatively little time to assess the effects and plan a response. Even now, the full impact on state budgets is not clear, meaning legislatures are deciding how to take advantage of a revenue stream that could fall short of estimates. In addition, most of the changes to the individual tax code expire after several years, further muddling states’ plans. Moreover, the tax debate is hitting as state budgets are strained by rising health care and pension costs, among other factors. Those strains could worsen in coming years if the federal government cuts back funding — perhaps because of deficits caused, in part, by the tax law itself. And states, unlike the federal government, generally cannot plug budget holes by running deficits. That makes the unexpected revenue from the tax law a fiscal temptation. “For states, this is about as good as it’s going to get,” said Nicholas Johnson of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank. “We’re overdue for a recession, which always hit state budgets hard.” State officials, however, have mostly avoided calling for using the extra tax revenue to increase spending. Much of the base-broadening in the federal law comes from the elimination of the personal exemption, which primarily benefited families with multiple children. Few politicians want to advocate raising taxes on parents. “That’s your windfall, a tax increase on large families,” Mr. Auxier said.

Ah yes, one of the fiercest NBA debates of all time (well aside from when you toss Michael Jordan into this): Who is the better player, Kobe Bryant or LeBron James? You could debate stats, rings, records, personalities, how much help they had on each championship run, and on and on and on for days. In fact, this probably does happen every single day around the world. On Saturday, Kobe caused it to really spark up again with a like on Twitter. The five-time champ only has 59 total likes ever, so this one was quickly noticed. The tweet says, "If you were a baller, you'd know that Kobe is more skilled than LeBron." It was posted underneath Kobe's most recent tweet about his new video that looks into the Cavaliers and Celtics, since they're facing off in the Eastern Conference finals.