| U.S Military Begins Evacuations From St. Martin After Irma Destruction Posted: 09 Sep 2017 09:33 PM PDT  Americans were desperate to leave the island of St. Martin in the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma.
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| Realtor Who Vanished During Harvey Found Dead, Ex-Husband Arrested Posted: 09 Sep 2017 01:08 PM PDT  UPDATE: 11:08 p.m. ― Steve McDowell, the ex-husband of realtor Crystal McDowell, was arrested and charged with murder on Saturday in connection with her death.
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| Seth Rogen is 'drunk in Orlando' as Hurricane Irma looms ahead Posted: 09 Sep 2017 09:26 PM PDT  Hurricane Irma is coming fast, and just like many other Floridians who chose to remain in the state, Seth Rogen is preparing with a bit of liquid luck.
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| Iconic 9/11 images: 16 years later Posted: 10 Sep 2017 04:00 AM PDT  The 9/11 attacks in New York City were documented extensively in photographs, and rebuilding in the World Trade Center area has been too. Here, in interactive displays that combine original images and current photos, you can compare then with now.
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| Hurricane Irma batters Florida Keys Posted: 10 Sep 2017 08:42 AM PDT  Monroe County Administrator Roman Gastesi gives an update on Hurricane Irma's impact from the upper Florida Keys.
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| Wildfire smoke clearing in US West as storms move through Posted: 09 Sep 2017 12:37 PM PDT  BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Storms brought cooler and wetter weather into the Western and Northwestern U.S. this weekend, breaking up a temperature inversion that had blanketed much of the region with acrid smoke from dozens of wildfires.
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| A Devastating Hurricane Season Exposes America’s Flood Insurance Problem Posted: 09 Sep 2017 07:37 AM PDT  The question looming over many families is whether they will be able to afford to rebuild their homes
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| Venezuela to sell oil in currencies other than dollar Posted: 08 Sep 2017 11:14 PM PDT  Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced Friday his government will sell oil and other commodities in currencies other than the dollar, in a bid to weather US-imposed sanctions on the embattled country. "I have decided to start selling oil, gas, gold and all other products that Venezuela sells with new currencies, including the Chinese yuan, the Japanese yen, the Russian ruble, the Indian rupee among others," he said during a television broadcast. The goal is to restrict Venezuela's access to vital bond and equity markets.
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| Democrat On Trump Voter Fraud Probe Slams Voting Restriction Efforts Posted: 09 Sep 2017 11:41 AM PDT  A Democratic member of President Donald Trump's commission to investigate voter fraud issued some of the strongest criticism yet from within the panel on efforts to make it more difficult to vote.
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| 'Reclaiming My Time' Gospel Song Is Now A Suicide Prevention Anthem Posted: 10 Sep 2017 08:29 AM PDT  Chirlane McCray is using music to try to dispel stigmas surrounding mental illness.
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| Couple trapped in rat infested room on lawless island wrecked by Irma have been 'abandoned by the British Government' Posted: 10 Sep 2017 10:17 AM PDT  A British couple have been hiding in a rat infested bathroom with no water for five days as the Caribbean island they were living on descends into lawlessness in the wake of Hurricane Irma, their family have said. Jos Smart, 26, and his girlfriend Julia Taylor, 30, say they have been abandoned by the British Government and are too afraid to leave the half destroyed hotel that they found refuge in amid reports of looting and violence. The Category 5 storm hit the island on Wednesday and it has since been placed under curfew to try and restore order. British Troops and police officers have been sent to help the British Virgin Islands (BVI), but families of those on St Maarten, which is Dutch and shares the island with the French St Martin to the north, say that because it is not a British territory their loved ones have been abandoned. The yacht the couple were looking after was destroyed by Hurricane Irma Jos and Julia have not received any support from the Foreign Office, their family say, and officials could not even tell Julia where to go for help when she contacted them on Saturday. Ian Smart, Jos' father, said that they were too scared to leave the room as the "lawlessness is getting worse". "They have not had any water for a day, they have got a bit of juice, but they are trying to keep under the radar," he said. Jos, who is originally from Cumbria, and Julia, from Haslemere, Surrey, have been working on a super yacht in the area for a number of years and he had just completed is Ocean Yachtmasters course. The 79ft boat they had been living on now lies destroyed in the harbour. Mr Smart, an architect, said: "During Irma they said that the sounds were apocalyptic and they have likened it to a war zone. "They are holed up in a half demolished bathroom and their phone is running out of battery. "They are in a bit of a state. There have been rats in their room looking for food. At night time there were people knocking on their door, and so there are 12 hours of sheer blackness to get through with the terror of who is going to knock down the door. " Hurricane Irma batters the Caribbean, in pictures The family have contacted the FCO and their local MP Rory Stewart, who is also a foreign office minister, but say that it is a one way conversation with them informing officials of the couple's situation but not being given any information or help in return. Jos' sister Ayla said: " The British consulate and foreign office have given no advice or help, other than to take Jos & Julia's name and number. Julia called the consulate on Saturday and they couldn't even tell her where to get assistance and information on the island." Mr Smart said that alongside the fact that the pair are running out of food and water, there are claims coming out of the island that there has been looting with armed criminals overpowering security guards and the army. The couple had been due to fly back to Britain for a two week holiday on Thursday, but the KLM flight has been cancelled. Hurricane Irma - as of 3pm Sunday The airline has booked them onto another flight which is due to leave tomorrow, but they have no idea how they will get to the airport or if they will be allowed in without copies of their tickets. Mr Smart said: "The concern is that the flight doesn't run, or they can't get on it." American and Dutch citizens have been already evacuated, it is understood, while some British citizens are said to have been pulled out of evacuation queues meant for other countries. Mr Smart, who called on the Government to help them get to airport at least, added: "They must not forget that they are British and they deserve just as much help as British citizens in British territory." His calls were echoed by Pauline Paterson, who has lost contact with her brother Donald Bishop, 58, who was holidaying in St Maarten. She said: "My understanding is that the US and Dutch took their people out but the British Government have done nothing. It is totally and utterly disgraceful. "There are a lot of concerned relatives who are not getting any information." A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We have been in regular contact with the Dutch and the Americans since the onset of this crisis to co-ordinate our response and help for all those affected. "We understand that evacuation is based on individual need, rather than nationality, with the most vulnerable prioritised. It is not due to the lack of an arrangement. Indeed a number of British citizens were evacuated from the island by the US yesterday. "We are in touch with British nationals on St Maarten and have advised them to follow the local advice on the ground. While we are unable to get a consular team to Saint Maarten, we have deployed staff to Curacao to help British nationals evacuated there from Saint Maarten."
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| Bill Maher: It's An 'Inconvenient Truth' That Climate Change Deniers' Homes Are In Irma's Path Posted: 08 Sep 2017 11:46 PM PDT  "Real Time" host Bill Maher has noted how Hurricane Irma looks likely to destroy the vacation homes of several high-profile climate change deniers.
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| 'Anti-Semitic' robbers target Jewish family near Paris Posted: 10 Sep 2017 01:00 PM PDT  A Jewish family was beaten, held hostage and robbed in their home near Paris because of their religion, French authorities and anti-hate groups said Sunday. Three attackers burst into the house in the Paris suburb of Livry-Gargan late Thursday, cut off the electricity and confined three members of a Jewish family, beating them and threatening to kill them, until one of them managed to escape and alert the police, said anti-Semitism watchdog BNVCA. One of the victims was Roger Pinto, the 78-year-old head of Siona, an association "defending the Jewish people and the state of Israel," Pinto's lawyer, Marc Bensimon, said.
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| Tiffany & Co. Collaborates with Reed Krakoff Posted: 09 Sep 2017 05:00 AM PDT |
| Top Asian News 3:32 a.m. GMT Posted: 09 Sep 2017 08:32 PM PDT ![Top Asian News 3:32 a.m. GMT]( "Top Asian News 3:32 a.m. GMT") COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AP) — Rohingya insurgents, whose attack on Myanmar security forces last month triggered savage military reprisals, declared a monthlong truce Sunday as refugees continued to flood across the border into Bangladesh only to face scant basic resources, hunger and illness. The Muslim insurgents of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army issued the truce statement on its Twitter account and urged Myanmar's government to reciprocate in order to assist all victims regardless of their background. The government did not comment immediately. The rebels, who say they're fighting to protect their minority members against government-sponsored persecution, launched their first known attacks last October and again on Aug.
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| The Reason Zayn Malik Shaved His Head Is Actually Pretty Common Posted: 08 Sep 2017 06:03 PM PDT  Zayn Malik had a very good reason to shave his head, and it wasn't because he just needed a new look.
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| Russia berates German defense minister for war games remarks Posted: 09 Sep 2017 06:48 AM PDT  Russia's Defence Ministry on Saturday criticized German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen, saying it was bewildered by her assertion that Moscow planned to send more than 100,000 troops to war games on NATO's eastern flank this month. On Thursday, the German defense minister said the war games, code named Zapad or "West", were a clear "demonstration of capabilities and power of the Russians". "Anyone who doubts that only has to look at the high numbers of participating forces in the Zapad exercise: more than one hundred thousand," von der Leyen told reporters at an EU defense ministers' meeting in Tallinn.
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| 'It's All Hands on Deck.' Inside Miami's Hurricane Response Hub Posted: 08 Sep 2017 08:40 PM PDT  The emergency management center in Miami is prepping for one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Atlantic
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| Hurricane Irma is starting to move west Posted: 10 Sep 2017 05:11 AM PDT  ABC News' Senior Meteorologist Rob Marciano gives updates on the severe storm from Naples, FL.
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| Councils failing to stop people giving away cash to dodge care home fees Posted: 10 Sep 2017 12:22 AM PDT  Families are facing a care funding lottery as new figures reveal wide variations in the lengths to which councils will go to stop people giving away assets in an attempt to make the state pay instead. Local authorities means-test residents of care homes to check if they should pay towards their costs. The cut off point is £23,250 – if you have assets above this figure you are expected to fund your own care. If your assets are worth less than £23,250 the council will help to meet the costs. Average nursing home costs reached £1,000 for "self-funders" earlier this year. The spiralling cost of care has created an incentive for families to give away property, investments and savings to bring their assets below the £23,250 limit. Councils have powers to claw back money from people it can prove to have "deliberately deprived" themselves of assets to claim state aid. Yet it has long been suspected that they find it nearly impossible to prove that someone has given assets away deliberately to dodge care costs. 'I reclaimed £226,559 in care fees. Here's how you can too' Giving to children and grandchildren as a way to limit inheritance tax bills has become increasingly common. High house prices and buoyant stock markets have increased families' wealth, while the headline amount you can pass on tax free has not been increased for nearly a decade. A series of Freedom of Information requests submitted by Telegraph Money has uncovered how often councils use their powers and the amounts they have managed to claw back. Of the eight local authorities approached, North Somerset council, whose jurisdiction includes Weston-super-Mare and the outskirts of Bristol, had used its powers the most. Since 2012 it recorded 64 "deprivation" cases in relation to care funding. The total value of assets involved in the cases was £1.3m. By contrast, the London borough of Westminster had no recorded cases. This is despite the area having a similar population to North Somerset, at around 200,000, and a similar proportion of elderly residents. At a glance | Who use deprivation rules Likewise Southwark, which covers a large part of south-east London, had not used its powers at all. The north London borough of Camden had the second-highest number of cases, at 14, with a total value of £158,000 over five years. Liverpool and Hertfordshire councils refused to provide figures on the grounds of cost, while Nottingham City Council said it did not keep relevant records. Steven Cameron, a care expert at Aegon, the insurer, warned that greater scrutiny of the sector meant individuals who attempted to dodge care fees were increasingly likely to be caught by councils. "A few years ago it was highly unlikely that a council would have paid much attention to people who gave away assets to avoid paying," he said. "But with the care crisis getting worse daily and with more public interest in getting out of paying for care by giving away assets, the attention councils will pay is certain to increase considerably." Councils also take action that may not be reflected by official statistics, said Tracy Ashby a specialist legacy planner at Thursfields, the law firm. In a nutshell | How care home funding works She has seen cases in the West Midlands where instead of trying to claw back funds from families, councils simply cut off funding for care. Care homes are then left to pursue families themselves and in some cases have sought to evict patients, Ms Ashby said. The "dementia tax" Telegraph Money has reported extensively on the anomalies of the care funding system. Self-funding patients effectively subsidise those funded by councils, which set strict limits on the fees they are prepared to pay. This leaves homes in areas with few private customers battling to stay open. The Conservatives' radical plans for reforming the care system have been blamed for the party's disastrous showing in the general election. Under the plan, councils would have started to pick up the tab for care costs once a person's assets fell below £100,000, as opposed to the current level of £23,250 in England. But, crucially, family homes would also have been included in the means-testing formula for "at home" care for the first time. At the same time, the plan for a lifetime cap – which would have helped those who needed long periods of care – was dropped. The Tories quickly backtracked over the latter, which Labour called the "dementia tax". How to connect with us | Telegraph Money on social media
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| Saudi suspends dialogue after Qatar outreach Posted: 08 Sep 2017 07:06 PM PDT  Saudi Arabia on Saturday suspended any dialogue with Qatar, accusing it of distorting facts soon after a phone call between the rulers of both countries offered hope of a breakthrough in the three-month-old Gulf crisis. Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, spoke to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to express interest in talks, state media from both sides said, in the first public engagement between the leaders after the US president offered to mediate in the crisis. Saudi Arabia led the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain in cutting ties with Qatar in June, accusing it of bankrolling Islamist extremist groups and of being too close to regional rival Iran.
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| Thousands of homes wrecked by huge Mexican quake, death toll at 90 Posted: 10 Sep 2017 01:21 PM PDT  A massive earthquake off southern Mexico on Thursday night that killed at least 90 people damaged tens of thousands of homes and afflicted upwards of two million people in the poorer south, state officials said, as more details of the disaster emerged. The 8.1 magnitude quake off the coast of Chiapas state was stronger than a 1985 temblor that flattened swathes of Mexico City and killed thousands. Late on Saturday, authorities in the southern state of Oaxaca said there were 71 confirmed fatalities there, many of them in the town of Juchitan, where the rush to bury victims crowded a local cemetery on Saturday.
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| Best Portable Gas Grills for Tailgating Posted: 09 Sep 2017 09:19 AM PDT  A good portable grill is just the ticket if you're into tailgating, assuming you're happy sticking to the basics, like hamburgers and hot dogs. That's because most portable models have only one ...
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| Syrian army in race with US-armed fighters for eastern Syria Posted: 09 Sep 2017 09:45 AM PDT  BEIRUT (AP) — U.S.-backed Syrian fighters launched an offensive against the Islamic State group in eastern Syria along the border with Iraq on Saturday, bringing them into a race with government forces marching in the same direction against the extremists in their last major holdout in the war-torn country.
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| Bill Maher Sat Down With Ken Bone To Find Out Who He Voted For Posted: 09 Sep 2017 12:21 AM PDT  Ken Bone played hardball on Friday when Bill Maher asked him who he voted for in the 2016 election.
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| 21 Seriously Game-Changing Thanksgiving Cakes Posted: 09 Sep 2017 06:33 AM PDT  You may never go back to serving pie after these.
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| See How Miami's Biggest Zoo Is Preparing For Hurricane Irma Posted: 09 Sep 2017 09:32 AM PDT  Preparing for a major hurricane is even more complicated when you have more than 3,000 wild animals in your care.
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| Lorry-stopping 'super stinger' spiked net unveiled to protect crowds against terror attacks Posted: 10 Sep 2017 07:30 AM PDT  A spiked net designed to stop a terrorist lorry attack in its tracks has been unveiled by Scotland Yard to protect large public gatherings in the capital. The heavy net bristling with tungsten steel spikes can stop and trap a vehicle weighing up to 17-tons and was used for the first time to protect the Naval Associations Parade in Central London. The Met Police said the device could be laid out in less than a minute and halts even heavy vehicles by puncturing their front tyres and then becoming entangled in their wheels. The device can entangle and stop a 17-ton lorry Credit: JULIAN SIMMONDS Protecting crowds from the prospect of a ramming attack has become a police priority after Islamist jihadists have used vehicles to plough into pedestrians in a string of atrocities in Britain and on the Continent. The device, known as Talon, was laid out on Whitehall on Sunday morning as hundreds of Royal Navy sailors and veterans paraded in front of the Cenotaph. The device was used for the first time to protect a Naval Associations Parade Credit: JULIAN SIMMONDS A spokeswoman for the Met Police said: "The system is also designed to ensure that the vehicle skids in a straight line, significantly reducing risk to crowds and producing a well controlled stop after which officers can engage with the driver. "When the equipment is deployed, signs are placed in front and behind the net site advising both road users and pedestrians that there are spikes on the road and to follow instructions provided by officers." She said the device "is likely to become a familiar sight at events that attract large crowds in London". Both Islamic State and al-Qaeda have called on their followers to carry out vehicle ramming attacks. Hundreds of sailors and veterans paraded at the Cenotaph in central London to honour modern Naval heroes Credit: Julian Simmonds Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel killed 86 in Nice ploughing into crowds on Bastille Day 2016 and Anis Amri killed 12 ploughing into a Berlin Christmas market. Both the Westminster and London Bridge attackers in the UK began their killing sprees by running over pedestrians. Temporary steel and concrete barriers have already become common at public events in Britain's cities. Bollards and crash barriers to prevent vehicles being driven into crowds are also becoming a permanent feature of London tourist spots and have already been fitted to nine of the capital's bridges. Chief Inspector Nick Staley, of the Met's protective security operations unit, said: "This equipment undoubtedly has the potential to save lives and is just one of a number of measures being taken to provide protection to crowds attending major events in London and reassuring businesses, workers and visitors as they go about their daily lives."
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| 305 Syrian migrants reach Cyprus; 313 are stopped in Turkey Posted: 10 Sep 2017 12:19 PM PDT  NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus police arrested a 36-year-old man Sunday for allegedly driving one of two boats that brought 305 Syrian refugees to the Mediterranean island's northwestern coast.
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| Forgetting Westgate: how Kenya erases terrorism Posted: 08 Sep 2017 06:57 PM PDT  On the inside Nairobi's Westgate mall is a shiny shopping centre, all sparkling glass shop fronts, Bose-conveyed muzak and boutiques stuffed with expensive imports. Two years after the mall reopened, Westgate remains glossy and new, as if nothing happened. "Westgate has been erased from the public imagination," says Patrick Gathara, a Kenyan cartoonist, blogger and curator of online publication The Elephant.
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| Canada deported hundreds to war-torn countries: government data Posted: 10 Sep 2017 09:33 AM PDT  By Anna Mehler Paperny TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada has deported hundreds of people to countries designated too dangerous for civilians, with more than half of those people being sent back to Iraq, according to government data obtained by Reuters. The spike in deportations comes as Canada faces a record number of migrants and is on track to have the most refugee claims in more than a decade. Between January 2014 and Sept. 6, 2017, Canada sent 249 people to 11 countries for which the government had suspended or deferred deportations because of dangers to civilians.
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| 5 Ways to Stay Safe When Using an EpiPen Posted: 09 Sep 2017 03:00 AM PDT  The Food and Drug Administration sent a warning letter this week to a Pfizer-owned facility that manufactures EpiPens for the drugmaker Mylan, citing "significant violations of current good manuf...
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| A text from Keys: 'Getting worse. Water n winds, whiteout' Posted: 10 Sep 2017 05:18 PM PDT  John Huston is riding out the storm in his house on Key Largo, Florida, where he's lived since 1993. His neighborhood is on the Atlantic side of the island, just south of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park.
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| Winds intensify in Miami as Hurricane Irma nears Posted: 10 Sep 2017 08:41 AM PDT  ABC News' Gio Benitez reports from Miami, FL as Hurricane Irma nears.
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| Former FBI Agent Wants A Special Prosecutor for Clinton Posted: 09 Sep 2017 11:55 AM PDT  The Trump-Russia special counsel isn't enough, according to a former FBI agent—he thinks there should also be one for Clinton's emails.
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| Evacuees face a desperate plight at Florida shelters as Irma strikes Posted: 10 Sep 2017 09:57 AM PDT  Mary Della Ratta, 94, sits in shelter after evacuating her home with the help of police ahead of Hurricane Irma in Naples, Florida Sunday. As Hurricane Irma made its final advance on Naples, a metropolitan area of about 320,000 people on the west coast of Florida, the impact of the storm could already be seen – though much more was on its way. Irma had slowed, delaying its terrifying impact on towns and cities up and down the Gulf coast.
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| Leslie Jones Just Couldn't Contain Herself During New York Fashion Week Posted: 09 Sep 2017 07:55 PM PDT  As if you needed any more reason to make Leslie Jones your best friend.
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| Russian envoy visits Saudi Arabia for Syria, Gulf talks Posted: 10 Sep 2017 06:00 AM PDT  RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — The Saudi king and Russia's foreign minister met in Saudi Arabia on Sunday ahead of a possible visit by the monarch to Russia next month.
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| Swiss glacier collapses, after hundreds evacuated Posted: 10 Sep 2017 04:25 AM PDT  Part of the Swiss alpine glacier Trift in the country's south collapsed Sunday, but caused no damage or casualties and residents evacuated from the area can return home, police in Valais canton said. The lower part of the glacier collapsed early Sunday but did not reach the houses, allowing residents to return and for a local road to reopen, though hiking trails remain closed, police said in a statement. Geologists had recently noticed significant movement along the "tongue" of the Trift glacier, up to 130 centimetres (50 inches) in a single day, local authorities said.
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| Israeli jets break sound barrier in south Lebanon causing damage Posted: 10 Sep 2017 02:56 AM PDT ![Israeli jets break sound barrier in south Lebanon causing damage]( "Israeli jets break sound barrier in south Lebanon causing damage") Israeli jets flew low over the city of Saida in southern Lebanon on Sunday causing sonic booms that broke windows and shook buildings for the first time in years, security sources and residents said. The Israeli military gave no immediate comment. The sonic booms also caused panic in Saida, residents said.
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| Football Season Demands a Big-Game TV Tune-up Posted: 10 Sep 2017 06:23 AM PDT  The new NFL season will bring footbll fans plenty of fast-paced action and gripping matchups. But if your TV isn't adjusted properly, even an exciting game could look flatter than a glass of thre...
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| Lilly takes on Pfizer, Novartis with new breast cancer drug data Posted: 10 Sep 2017 01:23 AM PDT ![Lilly takes on Pfizer, Novartis with new breast cancer drug data]( "Lilly takes on Pfizer, Novartis with new breast cancer drug data") By Bill Berkrot and Ben Hirschler NEW YORK/MADRID (Reuters) - Eli Lilly staked its claim for a slice of sales in a new class of breast cancer drugs on Sunday as clinical data showed adding its medicine abemaciclib to standard therapy reduced the risk of disease progression by 46 percent. Experts at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) congress in Madrid said the experimental drug's efficacy was comparable to that of rival drugs from Pfizer and Novartis already on the market. Abemaciclib, like Pfizer's Ibrance and Novartis's Kisqali, belongs to a class of oral medicines called CDK 4/6 inhibitors that block cancer cells' ability to divide and proliferate.
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| Pope prays for Venezuela, blesses poor in Colombia Posted: 10 Sep 2017 01:01 PM PDT  Pope Francis prayed Sunday for a peaceful end to Venezuela's "grave crisis" which has left scores dead, as he wrapped up a tour to support peace in neighboring Colombia. The Argentine pope, 80, spoke during a prayer service in Cartagena, one of Colombia's top tourist draws but also one of its poorest cities, on the last day of his tour of the country. "I assure all of you of my prayers for each of the countries of Latin America, and in a special way for neighboring Venezuela," Francis said.
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| Irma evacuees find full hotels but a warm welcome in Georgia Posted: 10 Sep 2017 02:52 PM PDT  As hundreds of thousands of Floridians flee Hurricane Irma, people in the state of Georgia have opened their homes to strangers who emerged from hours-long traffic jams to find hotels and campgrounds booked solid. Authorities in Florida have ordered about a third of the state's population, 6.3 million people, to evacuate ahead of the hurricane's expected landfall on Sunday. With churches in Atlanta appealing for donations of mattresses and blankets for shelters, and hotels and motels along Interstate 75 heading north to the city from Florida reportedly at capacity through next week, homeschool teacher Mary Hoyt decided something needed to be done.
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| World's first as endangered Bermudian Skink hatch at Chester Zoo Posted: 09 Sep 2017 04:01 PM PDT  Two clutches of critically endangered Bermudian Skink have hatched at Chester Zoo, the first time conservationists have succeeded in breeding the species outside of its homeland. The tiny rock lizards, which grow to around three inches long, are a much-loved symbol of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda and an important part of the ecosystem. Yet the species is on the brink of extinction in the wild, as habitat destruction and introduced predators have almost wiped them out. In a last gasp attempt to prevent the species being lost forever, the Bermudian government called on experts at Chester Zoo to help breed the species in Britain. Seven skinks have been born Credit: Chester Zoo Now, after three years of work by conservationists and 43 days of incubation, seven skinks have hatched, a major milestone in the fight to save the animal from extinction. Dr Gerardo Garcia, Curator of Lower Vertebrates and Invertebrates at Chester Zoo, said he jumped for joy when the first lizard hatched. "Receiving a few skinks from a population that was estimated to be just 1,500 individuals is an enormous responsibility that you take very serious. "Conservation is critical and breeding these skinks is a momentous event. "Not only is it providing us with vital new data which will help to inform future decisions in terms of protecting the species, it will engage future generations with these fascinating animals too. "It has taken years of work, both out in Bermuda and here in our zoo breeding facilities, but to finally hatch these clutches of Bermudian skinks is magnificent news." Baby skinks have blue tails to confuse predators Credit: Chester Zoo The conservation programme was tricky because nobody had attempted to breed the skinks before so there were no guidelines on even how to identify males from females. Their mating behaviour can also be violent, leading to some animals losing their toes from bites. "When we put them on pairs for breeding this season we immediately found elements of fight between them and that could be the normal male/female interaction or something more serious if we selected two males," added Dr Garcia. "So that was very stressful finding a balance between leave the nature going and be very intrusive with the manipulation of individuals." The team spent many hours carefully observing the lizards and created a special home which mirrored hot, humid environment of the Bermuda shoreline where the skinks live in the wild. Females are choosy about where they lay their eggs and so the team had to set up the breeding area to give them various options where they could lay. The moment the first skink popped its head out of its egg was captured on camera by the zoo's reptile experts. Baby skinks have bright blue tails, which they use to confuse predators, who bite the tail instead of their head. The skink then escapes and grows a new tail. Taking measurements of the skinks Credit: Chester Zoo The team are hoping that the lizards will be reintroduced to the wild in Bermuda, whilst the zoo's experts will also travel to the island to set up in-country breeding facilities. Mike Jordan, Collections Director at Chester Zoo, said: "We are working hard to prevent the extinction of this unique species, found nowhere else but Bermuda – and with so few endemic vertebrates – they are incredibly important to the country. "This breeding breakthrough, in tandem with our extensive work out in the field alongside the Bermudian government, is a hugely significant boost for their long term survival hopes." Dr Gerardo Garcia Credit: Chester Zoo Dr Mark Outerbridge, Wildlife Ecologist for the Bermuda Government and the zoo's partner in Bermuda, added:"I was thrilled to hear of the recent breeding success at Chester Zoo. "Skinks have been living on Bermuda for over 400,000 years and I believe we need to do all that we can to ensure their continued survival. "The captive breeding is a critical step in this process and I am very grateful to all the staff there."
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| Trump action on young immigrants divides some GOP districts Posted: 10 Sep 2017 02:47 PM PDT  MONROE, Ga. (AP) — Anthony Pham immigrated to the United States in 1982 from Vietnam and became a citizen five years later, after President Ronald Reagan signed an immigration law that sped the legalization process for millions of new Americans.
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