A residential fire in Chicago left no survivors and killed 10 children who were attending a slumber party. At the time of the fire, no adults were at home and the apartment had no working smoke detectors.

Officials announced Tuesday the 10th fatality from the Sunday morning fire: a 14-year-old boy. The Chicago Fire Department said the investigation into the fire’s cause is ongoing and that the boy’s death left “no survivors” of the fire.

The victim, Adrian Hernandez, was about to start high school; he enjoyed wrestling and Chinese food, his mother, Leticia Reyes, told the Chicago Tribune.

“He was nice,” Reyes told the paper. “He was a quiet boy. He didn’t start trouble with nobody.”

Victims of the fire ranged in age from three months old to teenagers, according to fire department spokesman Larry Langford. 

Langford said an investigation suggests the children were asleep at the time of the fire, were overwhelmed by smoke and were unable to wake up.

Illinois’ Department of Children and Family Services is investigating “allegations of neglect” in relation to the incident.

The building has been subject to numerous code violations in the past and the owner of the building had been recently attempting to evict the woman who rented the unit impacted by the fire, WGN 9 Chicago reports.

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The fire started on the second floor of a house located in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, according to CNN. The first floor of the unit was unoccupied, the network says.

Arson has been ruled out as a cause of the fire by investigators. They believe the fire started on the apartment’s back porch, where the children had previously set off fireworks and people have smoked cigarettes.

Investigators are attempting to determine what activities occurred on the porch before the fire, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. Additionally, authorities are analyzing an electrical device that is unrelated to previous code violations at the building, the Chicago Fire Department announced Wednesday.

In the wake of the fire, the department encouraged residents to have working smoke detectors, calling the devices “cheap insurance to protect your family.” Earlier this week, the department passed out smoke detectors on the block where the fire occurred.

Contributing: The Associated Press.

 

 

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Have you ever dreamed about casually running into your favourite celebrity and having a really lovely interaction with them? 

For one lucky person in New York City, this dream just came true big time. 

Twitter user and major André 3000 fan @itsTiana posted a photo of her meeting with the musician in New York City. 

Tiana tweeted that she was walking down a street in Soho wearing a T-shirt with André 3000’s face on it when the man himself came walking out of a coffee shop.  

According to Tiana, André 3000 was really excited to meet a fan dedicated enough to wear his face on their clothes. 

“He was acting just as hype as me,” Tiana wrote. 

It’s hard to see the print on the T-shirt in the photo with André so Tiana posted a close-up. 

The print on the shirt features André 3000 in his iconic suit from the 2014 OutKast reunion tour with the print reading: “Across cultures, darker people suffer more. Why?”

Mr. 3000 also took photos of Tiana posing in her T-shirt. 

Go on and wear your fave celeb’s face on your clothes, they might just be really into it. 

Maiduguri, Nigeria – When a Boko Haram fighter called in during Hauwa Tiramisu’s late-evening radio programme at Dandal Kura International last summer, the presenter froze.

“He said what we are doing is bad and forbidden,” she said. “[He said] we are working with the government and they’d come for us.

“I was shocked. I was really shocked. I was afraid that night.”

Three months earlier, Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram, released a video describing the radio station’s female employees as prostitutes.

“Listen! That radio station called Dandal Kura, with those prostitutes you parade as your female workers. May Allah curse all of you,” Shekau says, in the local Kanuri language.

Over the past seven years, Boko Haram has been attempting to install a caliphate in northeast Nigeria. 

Since 2009, at least 20,000 people have been killed because of violence. More than five million people do not have regular access to food and nearly two million people have been displaced.

Launched in the northwestern state of Kano in 2015, Dandal Kura was established by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with Nigerian journalist and manager Faruk Dalhatu and David Smith, the station’s Canadian project lead.

In 2016, the channel – which is editorially independent – moved to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, as relative peace returned to the city.

The station broadcasts information about the government’s efforts against Boko Haram and informs listeners of fighters’ activities and planned attacks.

“People will call us during our live programmes to inform us about an attack in a town, this helps the neighbouring town to be vigilant,” says Bello Sani, head of operations at the station.

There are news bulletins, regular updates from the station’s 30 correspondents, and an array of feature programmes on “deradicalisation”, education and entrepreneurship.

“Dandal kura” translates as a large meeting place.

The station can be accessed by more than 10 million Kanuri speakers across Nigerian states and neighbouring Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Sudan.

“Dandal Kura was established to roll back the narratives of Boko Haram,” says Dalhatu, the manager, “and to produce quality content that will help to improve communities.”

The station chose the local Kanuri language because “if we have to counter [Boko Haram leader Shekau’s] ideology, we have to do that in his own language,” said Sani, the head of operations.

At the peak of Boko Haram’s campaign of violence, the radio station featured psychologists, counsellors and Muslim leaders to demystify the group’s ideology.

They also informed the audience of security measures to take as attacks raged across villages and towns in the northeast.

Keen listeners such as 54-year-old Bukar Muhammed learned how to avoid traffic jams, insecure areas and crowded hubs – all prime targets for suicide bombers.

“What also interests me about the station is most of the programmes are done in Kanuri. And I have an interest in any programme that is aired in my own language,” Bukar said.

The threats mean our messages are reaching the uppermost echelons of Boko Haram’s leadership.

Faruk Dalhatu, jouranlist and Dandal Kura manager

The station is tucked away in an apartment in an old and safe government residential area, guarded by security agents with AK-47 guns at the entrance.

There is nothing to identify the radio station.

“This is deliberate,” said Sani. “Initially, we had a banner and a signpost. But we removed them because there were threats.” 

As well as the Boko Haram video, the radio station received a series of phone calls promising attacks unless it stopped broadcasting.

As a result, security was beefed up with new doors installed in the newsroom and studio.

Interns, casual workers and visitors can only enter with senior staff members. 

While troubling, Dalhatu said the threats suggest the station is doing something right.

“[The threats] mean our messages are reaching the uppermost echelons of [Boko Haram’s] leadership,” he said.

Musa Liman, a senior lecturer in mass communication at the University of Maiduguri, said the station has a positive effect.

“Its significance was felt because people got to know about Boko Haram’s strategy and [some of] those who were about to be recruited decided not to get entangled,” she said.

Looking ahead, Dandal Kura plans to tackle another scourge which acts as a motivating factor for recruits to armed groups – unemployment.

“We want this station to be sustained because there’s none like it and it is serving a useful purpose,” says Dalhatu.

Back at the station, an atmosphere of fear still hangs in the studios.

Sani is yet to relocate his family to Maiduguri. He visits them often in Kano, which is about 600km away.

“I have never felt confident to bring them here. When I know my family is safe, it takes the pressure off,” he says. “But I am not safe.”

England’s Keaton Jennings is “completely deceived” by Jasprit Bumrah to be dismissed for a duck on day one of the fourth Test at Southampton.

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HEMPSTEAD – Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Cynthia Nixon engaged in a fiery debate Wednesday evening that saw the candidates spar over government corruption, transparency and who would be better to battle President Donald Trump.

Cuomo, a second-term incumbent, pledged not to run for president in 2020 during the debate at Hofstra University with Nixon, a fellow Democrat who directly and repeatedly challenged Cuomo’s record on progressive issues during the hour-long moderated discussion.

The two candidates engaged in testy exchanges over who was telling the truth and what their personal finances show, but neither appeared to commit any major gaffes in what is the first and only scheduled debate of the primary. 

The primary election is set for Sept. 13.

Here’s a rundown of some of the issues they debated:

Experience

The first question of the debate went to Nixon, who was asked about why she’s running for office and whether she has the necessary experience to be governor.

Nixon, an actor who starred in Sex and the City and is making her first run for office, pointed to her experience as a public-school parent and an activist for LGBT rights and education funding.

She quickly tried to turn the issue on Cuomo.

“I’m not an Albany insider like Governor Cuomo,” Nixon said. “But I think that experience doesn’t mean that much if you’re not actually good at governing.”

Cuomo, who is seeking a third term and has a large lead in public-opinion polls, fired back by pointing to the responsibilities of the governor, including management of a $168 billion budget and responding to natural disasters and crises.

“The governor of New York is not a job about politics, it’s not about activism,” he said. “It’s about doing. This is real life.”

Cuomo 2020?

Cuomo made news early in the debate, vowing to serve a full four-year term should he win in November.

He was asked: Can you promise New York voters that you would serve four years in office and not run for president if you win?

“Yes,” Cuomo said. “Yes, yes and yes. Double yes.”

Later, he added a caveat.

“The only caveat” — the crowd groaned — “is if God strikes me dead,” Cuomo said. “Otherwise, I will serve four years as governor of the state of New York.”

Battling Donald Trump

It didn’t take long for Cuomo to shift the conversation to his differences with President Donald Trump.

Cuomo said he’s the right person to lead resistance to the Trump administration’s policies in New York.

He touted the state’s recent battles with the Trump administration over immigration policy, tax reform and other issues.

“Today, you have to fight Donald Trump, who is the main risk to the state of New York,” Cuomo said. “He is trying to change the rights and values of New Yorkers and the first line of defense is New York and the governor leads that fight and you need to know how to do it.”

Nixon referred back to Cuomo’s recent comment that America “was never that great,” which drew a rebuke from Trump. Cuomo ultimately walked back the comment.

“You stood up to (Trump) about as well as he stands up to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” Nixon said.

Who is lying?

Fireworks flew when the candidates accused each other of lying.

Several times, Cuomo grew frustrated with Nixon interrupting him during his responses, which caused the two candidates to directly engage.

“Excuse me, can you stop interrupting me?” Cuomo said to Nixon.

“Can you stop lying?” Nixon responded.

“Yeah, as soon as you do,” Cuomo said.

Later, Cuomo said Nixon “lives in a world of fiction” and he “lives in a world of facts.”

Corruption

Cuomo was asked about the March corruption conviction of Joseph Percoco, his former top aide, campaign manager and close personal friend.

The governor said Percoco “did something wrong and it was very painful.”

Cuomo laid out a series of reforms he said the state should adopt to deal with Albany corruption.

“No outside income, period,” he said. “Full financial disclosure and campaign-finance reform because we have to take the money out of politics. It’s that simple.”

Nixon faulted Cuomo for not doing more to push for those changes during his eight years in office and criticized him for shutting down the Moreland Commission, an anti-corruption panel the governor had created.

Marijuana

With Nixon making marijuana legalization a key part of her campaign, moderator Maurice DuBois asked her: What would you say to parents trying to keep their children away from drugs?

Nixon called marijuana a “racial-justice issue,” pointing to arrest data showing black and Latino people are arrested for using the drug at a higher rate than white people.

“What I would say is that we’re not talking about children smoking marijuana,” she said. “We’re talking about adults and effectively, marijuana has been legal in New York for some time and it’s time we made it legal for everyone.”

Cuomo said marijuana use is a “personal decision.”

“My children are now older and I’ve given them the best counseling I can,” he said. “They’re in their 20s and they’re going to make their own decisions.”

Are we human?

Cuomo repeatedly criticized Nixon over her personal taxes, which shows she collects her acting income through an entity known as an S corporation, which comes with certain tax benefits.

He painted Nixon as a hypocrite for backing democratic socialist principles while benefiting from an S corporation. 

At one point, Cuomo went as far to call Nixon a corporation herself.

“You are a corporation,” Cuomo said. “When you file taxes as a corporation, you are a corporation.”

Nixon interjected, saying it’s common for actors to form an S corporation.

“Are you a corporation?” Cuomo shot back.

“I am a person,” Nixon said.

JCAMPBELL1@Gannett.com

Jon Campbell is a correspondent for the USA TODAY Network’s Albany Bureau.

 

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You’ve heard about 8K televisions for years, but even if you had a desire to buy one — given that 8K content is incredibly hard to find — you probably weren’t actually able to do so as sales haven’t yet started for most 8K models. 

Now, however, Samsung has an 8K TV that isn’t just for show. The 85-inch Q900FN, announced ahead of the IFA trade show in Berlin, has four times the pixels than your typical puny 4K TV, and it’ll arrive to U.S. stores this October. 

The QLED TV — not to be confused with OLED — offers 4,000 nit peak brightness and supports the new HDR10+ standard, which optimizes brightness levels so that content doesn’t appear darker than originally intended. 

Possibly the most important tech in the Q900FN (given you probably won’t be able to find decent amounts of 8K content anywhere) is its AI-powered 8K upscaling tech. When you feed lower resolution content to the TV, regardless of the source, the TV’s processor will intelligently upscale it to 8K. I haven’t been to test it, but if this is done well, it will make this TV a lot more desirable. 

Other specs of note include One Remote, which recognizes other devices connected to the TV, and One Invisible Connection, which is a fancy term for optical and power cable being rolled into a single cord. 

There’s no word on the price just yet. 

The United States cannot guarantee India will be exempt from sanctions if it purchases weapons and defence systems from Russia, a top Pentagon official said.

Randall Schriver, the Pentagon’s top Asia official, called into question on Wednesday the idea that the US would protect its relationship with India and that it will be insulated from any fallout if the purchase happens.

“I would say that is a bit misleading. We would still have very significant concerns if India pursued major new platforms and systems (from Russia),” Schriver said at a think-tank event, according to Reuters news agency.

The US has imposed sanctions on Russia for its annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which means any country that engages in defence or intelligence sharing with Russia could also be subject to sanctions.

“I can’t sit here and tell you that they would be exempt, that we would use that waiver, that will be the decision of the president if he is faced with a major new platform and capability that India has acquired from Russia,” Shriver added.

The waivers would be possible according to a new US defence bill, which gives President Donald Trump the authority to exempt countries.

Despite Secretary of Defense James Mattis saying he is a strong proponent of granting waivers to India, Schriver said that Trump having the ability to apply these waivers did not automatically mean he would.

India is in the final stages of acquiring S-400 long-range surface to air missile systems from Russia, a deal worth $6bn. 

The agreement is expected to be signed by Russia later this year.

The acquisition of the S-400 system would be the latest in a long series of Indian defence purchases, as the country has previously bought combat planes, ships and submarines from Russia.

Schriver stated that the US is concerned about this planned purchase, and is willing to talk to India about potential alternatives to the Russian missile system.

State-of-the-art missile system

India is not the only country buying the state-of-the-art system from Russia.

Other countries such as China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have all bought or are planning to buy the anti-aircraft missile weapon.

US military officials and politicians have also expressed concerns over Turkey’s intention to buy the Russian missile system. 

In June, Saudi Arabia said it would consider “all necessary measures” if Qatar closes the deal with Russia.

Despite these threats, Russia has said the supply of the missiles to Qatar will continue, with Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani saying acquiring the system is a “sovereign” decision.

The S-400 missile system is a state-of-the-art weapons platform with a maximum range of 400km, considered one of the best defence systems in existence.

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A California councilwoman posted a video online decrying efforts to “slut shame” her using photos from her time as a reveler at the famous Burning Man music festival.

Rachel Hundley, 35, a member of the Sonoma city council and former mayor of the town, said in a YouTube video last week that she received an anonymous email on Aug. 13 that was “nothing short of extortion.” 

Hundley shared a screengrab of the email from “Sonoma Citizens for Peace & Cooperation” that urges her not to run for re-election and to “move on with your life.” If she chooses to run, her “candidacy this time will be one of full disclosures to all Sonoma,” the email threatens. 

According to Hundley, “full disclosure” consisted of a website “filled with scandalous accusations and racy photos.” 

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the site alleged “lascivious, drunk and drug-addled behavior.” 

The “Rachel Hundley Exposed” website has since been taken down, according to The Washington Post. 

“The email included a link and what I found was a combination of outright lies and things I’ve proudly posted on social media,” Hudley said in her video. “What was especially disturbing in this era of Me Too, was the attempt to slut-shame me for celebrating my body and for my attendance at Burning Man.” 

Hundley said that for the several years she managed a wine bar at Burning Man “that’s associated with a consent-focused, sex-positive theme camp.” 

She said the website aimed to “silence another strong female voice by scaring me out of this election.” 

“For too long, it has been seen as OK to control women by dictating what is acceptable for us to wear, say and do,” she added. “But I am here today to tell my faceless bullies that I cannot be shamed into quitting because I am not ashamed.” 

 

 

 

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Image: Joe raedle/Getty Images

The gaming community has rallied together following the shooting at a Madden event in Jacksonville, and now Electronic Arts has made a sizeable monetary contribution.

EA will donate $1 million to support the victims of Sunday’s tragedy, which it’s called the Jacksonville Tribute. 

“We’re also working to set up a fund where others can contribute alongside our donation, and we will come back very soon with further details,” the statement reads.

“Contributions will go to the victims, including the families of Taylor Robertson, Elijah Clayton, and all those who were affected.”

EA will also host a livestream in tribute on Sep. 6, allowing the wider community to join together and  unite in play. 

On Tuesday, EA cancelled three remaining qualifier events which were scheduled as part of the Madden Classic tournament. EA CEO Andrew Wilson said it would run “a comprehensive review of safety protocols for competitors and spectators.”

“We will work with our partners and our internal teams to establish a consistent level of security at all of our competitive gaming events,” the statement added.

Competitors Taylor “SpotMePlzzz” Robertson and Elijah “TrueBoy” Clayton died at the Jacksonville event, while 11 others were injured in the incident.