The forecast for Los Angeles shows warm temperatures today, according to drone-powered weather forecasting service Saildrone . Temperatures will reach 73 degrees today and 68 on Thursday. Also look for mostly cloudy skies through Thursday. Skies will partly clear up on Friday, remaining partly cloudy through Saturday. Winds will stay fairly calm throughout the week, with the highest speeds on Saturday at just 9 mph. This story was created automatically using Saildrone's local weather forecast data, then reviewed by an editor. We also incorporate historic weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


An attorney for Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman asked a federal judge to intervene over what she described as "cruel and unusual" prison conditions for the drug kingpin who is in custody in a federal prison in New York. Guzman, once the leader of a murderous drug cartel in Mexico, was convicted in February of running a criminal enterprise and other drug-related charges. He will be sentenced on June 25. He's been in US detention for 27 months, and is in solitary confinement in a 10-by-8-foot windowless cell in Manhattan, according to his defense attorney, Mariel Colon. In the more than two years, he's not had access to fresh air or natural sunlight while in detention, the attorney wrote in a letter to Judge Brian M. Cogan of the Eastern District of New York. Lawyer: Guzman is 'suffering from distress' The attorney described what she called a series of punishments against the drug lord. The light is always on in his cell, leading to a "serious issue of sleep deprivation" for Guzman, she wrote. "This deprivation of sunlight and fresh air, over an excessive 27-month period, is causing psychological scarring," it said. "He ... is suffering many symptoms of distress as a result of this lengthy unwarranted punishment." In addition to the lack of light, the air conditioning in his cell is so loud, he is unable to sleep through the noise, his attorney said. As a result, Guzman has been using toilet paper as earplugs, and he complains of daily headaches and ear pain that makes it impossible for him to use earphones. Judge orders the government to respond The attorney called the conditions a violation of her client's eighth amendment rights and fundamental norms of human decency. Food and other commissary items are routinely withheld from him "without apparent reason or explanation," she wrote. Other inmates get bottles of water every week or other week, while Guzman does not. Over the last six months, Guzman has only been allowed 22 small bottles of water, she said. She asked the judge to order the Bureau of Prisons to grant Guzman access to two hours of outdoor exercise a week, earplugs, the same food and drink offerings as other inmates, and to be allowed to buy six bottles of water a week. "These types of restrictions have no relation to security concerns and they only serve to punish Mr. Guzman, and further his sense of frustration and isolation," Colon wrote. The US Attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York declined to comment when reached by CNN. Shortly after the letter was filed, the judge ordered the government to respond by May 23 and the defendant a week later. The government has called for Guzman to be placed under restrictive detention conditions to prevent him from running the Sinaloa Cartel from prison, coordinating an escape from prison, or directing attacks on individuals he believes are cooperating with the government, according to the filing. His attorneys requested a new trial This is the latest request from the drug lord. In March, his attorneys asked the judge to call the 18 jurors who found him guilty back for an evidentiary hearing to find out whether there had been juror misconduct during his nearly three-month trial. They also asked for a new trial. The defense's request came in the wake of a report that at least five fellow jurors violated the judge's orders by following the case in the media during the trial. The attorneys brought up their concerns after Vice News published excerpts of an interview with an anonymous juror. Prosecutors have said they don't think he should get a new trial, or that jurors should be brought back to court for an evidentiary hearing.


China detained another Canadian citizen amid sour relations between the two countries, Canada's foreign ministry said on Saturday, though the reason for the jailing remains unclear. "Global Affairs Canada is aware of the detention of a Canadian citizen in Yantai, China," a spokesman told AFP. He added that "Canadian officials are providing consular assistance" but no further details could be disclosed due to privacy laws. The detention follows Beijing's jailing of two Canadians earlier this year after Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer for Chinese tech giant Huawei, was taken into custody in Vancouver on a warrant from the United States. However a source familiar with the latest detention said there is no indication it's related to the cases of Canadians Michael Kovrig, an ex-diplomat, and Michael Spavor, a consultant. The pair are facing espionage charges that Ottawa has called "arbitrary" and which have sparked questions over whether the allegations are a retaliation for Canada's Huawei arrest. China has also sentenced two other Canadians to death for drug trafficking and blocked imports of Canadian agricultural products. It remains unclear if this latest detention was related to last week's arrest of 19 people in a drug case centering on the local branch of a language school in Xuzhou, a city southwest of Yantai. Among those arrested were seven teachers and nine foreign students, whose nationalities have not been specified. The British embassy in Beijing on Friday said four of its nationals had been arrested in Jiangsu province where Xuzhou is located, without specifying if the arrests were related to the drug case. Swiss-based Education First, which operates a chain of language schools in China, released a statement this week acknowledging the involvement of seven of its teachers in the drug allegations at one of its branches in Xuzhou.


Nicholas Sparks is firing back at a report showing emails sent by The Notebook author, wherein he defends his decision to ban an LGBTQ club. On Thursday, a story in The Daily Beast reported that the author had banned student protests relating to diversity issues and a club where students discussed sexual identity at the Epiphany School of Global Studies, a K-12 Christian school Sparks co-founded in 2006 in North Carolina. The story additionally excerpted emails that emerged in the discovery portion of a lawsuit former school headmaster Saul Benjamin brought against Epiphany and Sparks, which showed Sparks defending a decision to ban what he called a "gay club" and telling Benjamin that others perceived he had an "agenda" that "strives to make homosexuality open and accepted." Sparks told Benjamin in the wake of his action to shut down a group to discuss sexual identity, "don't rock the boat on this particular issue." After he banned the group, Sparks also defended Epiphany's track record with gay students: "Remember, we've had gay students before, many of them," he wrote. "[The former headmaster] handled it quietly and wonderfully… I expect you to do the same." Sparks additionally hit back against Benjamin's claim that the school had a diversity problem. "Regarding diversity, I've now told you half a dozen times that our lack of diversity has NOTHING to do with the school or anyone at the school. It's not because of what we as a school has or hasn't done. It has nothing to do with racism or vestiges of Jim Crow. It comes down to 1) Money and 2) Culture," he wrote. In his response to the story, the author said that the emails were the latest attempt by the plaintiff to smear his and the school's reputation. "The article appearing in today's The DailyBeast [sic] is not news, and repeats false accusations and claims made against Epiphany and me, and largely ignores the overwhelming evidence we have submitted to the Court," Sparks said in a response to the story on Thursday. He added, "As we prepare for trial, I want to make one thing clear: Epiphany is and remains a place where students and faculty of any race, belief, religion, background or orientation should feel welcome. My commitment to these values, as well as Epiphany's commitment to these values, have been and remain constant." On Monday, he issued a lengthy statement, stressing that he is "an unequivocal supporter of gay marriage, gay adoption and equal employment rights and would never want to discourage any young person or adult from embracing who they are." "As someone who has spent the better part of my life as a writer who understands the power of words, I regret and apologize that mine have potentially hurt young people and members of the LGBTQ community, including my friends and colleagues in that community," his statement began. He concluded, "It's never been my intent to be unresponsive to the needs of the LGBTQ or any minority community. In fact the opposite is true, and I trust my actions moving forward will confirm that." In addition to The Notebook , Sparks' novels The Choice, The Longest Ride, The Best of Me, Safe Haven, The Lucky One, Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, Nights in Rodanthe, Dear John and The Last Song have all been made into films, cumulatively earning three-quarters of a billion dollars, according to Sparks' website . All of Sparks' novels have been New York Times bestsellers, and he has sold over 105 million copies worldwide. The Hollywood Reporter reached out to Sparks' publisher and the team behind the The Notebook musical for comment. See Spark's full statement below. As someone who has spent the better part of my life as a writer who understands the power of words, I regret and apologize that mine have potentially hurt young people and members of the LGBTQ community ,including my friends and colleagues in that community. Thirteen years ago, I founded the Epiphany School of Global Studies anchored in the commandment to love God and your neighbor as you love yourself. I am currently engaged in a several years-long lawsuit with a former headmaster of the school. As a result of that suit, several e-mails from me have been released to the public that on the surface, portray me as someone intolerant of having an LGBTQ club at the school. Unfortunately, the ongoing lawsuit constrains what I can reveal about the specific circumstances six years ago that gave rise to these emails, but I very much want to articulate my beliefs and share where my heart is on this matter. I believe in the school's founding principle of loving God and thy neighbor as thyself, and that includes members of the LGBTQ community. I believe in and unreservedly support the principle that all individuals should be free to love, marry and have children with the person they choose, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation. This is and has always been a core value of mine. I am an unequivocal supporter of gay marriage, gay adoption, and equal employment rights and would never want to discourage any young person or adult from embracing who they are. When in one of my emails I used language such as "there will never be an LGBT club" at Epiphany, l was responding heatedly to how the headmaster had gone about initiating this club   like most schools, Epiphany has procedures and policies for establishing any student club. My concern was that if a club were to be founded, it be done in a thoughtful, transparent manner with the knowledge of faculty, students and parents   not in secret, and not in a way that felt exceptional. I only wish I had used those exact words. Similarly, when I referred to a prior headmaster addressing the presence of gay students "quietly and wonderfully," I meant that he supported them in a straightforward, unambiguous way   NOT that he in any way encouraged students to be silent about their gender identity or sexual orientation. In 2013 I was embroiled in a rapidly escalating conflict and besieged by vociferous complaints about a wide range of incidents involving the headmaster's behavior. Ironically, as a writer I should have understood the power and enduring nature of my words, but like many people sent emails off in haste under stressful and tumultuous conditions. My greatest regret, however, is not my lack of deliberation, but first and foremost that I failed to be more unequivocal about my support for the students in question. It's never been my intent to be unresponsive to the needs of the LGBTQ or any minority community. In fact the opposite is true, and I trust my actions moving forward will confirm that. Sincerely, Nicholas Sparks


If you love to take advantage of the live music offerings near you, this week offers several great reasons to leave the house. From a 1920s-style show to an Afro-Fusion anniversary party, read on for a local music to-do list to fill your calendar this week. Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. "The SingEasy" From the event description: You're invited to a 1920s speakeasy with a modern twist. Cabaret style performers create a show based on viral content that you suggest. Celebrity Twitter feeds, audience Instagram accounts and popular memes fuel the comedy. When: Friday, July 12, 9:30 p.m. Where: Room 13 at The Old Chicago Inn, 3222 N. Sheffield Ave. Price: $12.50 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Chicago's Boat Party of Summer 2019 From the event description: Score tickets to Chicago's Day Boat Party on Saturday while you can. Hosted by Chicago Boat Parties, this event takes place on the S.S. Summer of George boat, a two-level vessel equipped with a full service bar and a dance floor. Take in skyline views and enjoy live music. When: Saturday, July 13, 4-7:30 p.m. Where: River City Marina, 900 S. Wells St. Price: $40 (Tier 2: General Admission). More ticket options available. Click here for more details, and to get your tickets "Waldo Crawldo" From the event description: The hunt is on this Saturday when the "Waldo Crawldo" hits Wicker Park. Tickets include drink specials, a Wally-themed map and more. With giveaways, laughs and fun, you won't have to look too far for a good time. When: Saturday, July 13, 2 p.m. Where: Whiskey Business, 1367 N. Milwaukee Ave. Price: $20 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Afro Fusion Day Party "Celebrating 4 Years at The Promontory" @ The Promontory From the event description: The Afro-Fusion Day party turns four years old this Sunday. Gather your friends and come out to celebrate this milestone. This free, international dance party features DJs Dee Money and 3K mixing hip-hop, R&B, reggae and more. Open to adults 21 and over. When: Sunday, July 14, 5 p.m.- Monday, July 15, 6 a.m. Where: The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. West Price: $10 (Early Bird); $15 (General Admission) Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Parking in Chicago can be tough, especially during popular events. To find free or cheap parking and to book parking in advance, see this map of Chicago parking from SpotAngels. And to get there by public transportation, check the CTA's website for nearby stations and schedules. This story was created automatically using local event data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


Three men who claimed allegiance to ISIS after brutally killing two Scandinavian women hiking in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco have been sentenced to death. The men   Jounes Ouzayed, Rashid Afatti, and Abdessaman Al Joud   are the three main defendants accused of killing and beheading Maren Ueland, 28, of Norway, and Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark, in December. The slayings were recorded on video and shared on social media by ISIS supporters. On Wednesday, a court in Morocco convicted them on terror charges. A fourth suspect, Kahiali Abderahman , who fled the scene, was given life in prison. MOTHER OF MURDERED SCANDINAVIAN TOURIST WAS SENT GRAPHIC IMAGES OF HER DAUGHTER'S KILLING: REPORT The Moroccan court also handed 19 accomplices jail terms ranging from five to 30 years. The 23 men addressed the court ahead of the verdicts, most begging for leniency. The main defendants asked Allah for forgiveness. BACKPACKERS 'BEHEADED' IN MOROCCO MOUNTAINS WERE 'EXECUTED BY TERRORISTS,' SECURITY SOURCES SAY The bodies of the two women   roommate at Norway's Bo University   were found on December 17 in an isolated area near Mount Toubkal, Morocco's highest peak, and a popular hiking destination. The two women were on a Christmas camping trip and were studying to become tour guides. During the trial, it emerged that Al Joud, 25, Quzayed, 27, beheaded the two women, while Afatti, 33, filmed the slayings on his cell phone. Earlier this year, Al Joud admitted in court to killing one of the two women . "The most just thing would be to give these beasts the death penalty they deserve," Helle Petersen, Jaspersen's mother, said in a letter that was read out in court last week, the BBC reported. If the executions against the three men go ahead, they will be the first in the northern African nation since 1993. DENMARK CHARGES 14 PEOPLE - INCLUDING 13-YEAR-OLD - FOR SHARING VIDEO OF BACKPACKER BEHEADING While the three men have said they are ISIS supporters, the terror group has not said it was behind the killings. Morocco's anti-terror chief told AFP that the group was inspired by ISIS, but had no contact with militants in combat zones. Danish authorities have said the video that circulated of the slayings was genuine and have charged 14 people - including a 13-year-old - with sharing it on social media. Six of the accused were between the ages of 13 and 18, police said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In his closing arguments in June, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence the top suspects to death, and described the three main defendants as "human beasts." The lawyer for Vesterager's family said he was "100% satisfied" with the verdicts. Khalid El Fataoui noted that Louisa Vesterager's mother had asked the court in a letter at an earlier hearing this month to sentence the killers to death. "We obtained what she asked for." Fox News' Greg Norman and Robert Gearty and the Associated Press contributed to this report.


Craving Irish food? Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top Irish spots around Long Beach, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of the best spots to venture next time you're on the hunt. 1. The Auld Dubliner Topping the list is The Auld Dubliner . Located at 71 S. Pine Ave. in Long Beach, the Irish pub is the highest-rated Irish restaurant in Long Beach, boasting four stars out of 809 reviews on Yelp. 2. The Red Leprechaun Next up is Long Beach's The Red Leprechaun , situated at 4000 E. Anaheim St. With four stars out of 417 reviews on Yelp, the Irish pub and New American spot has proven to be a local favorite. 3. K C Branaghan's Long Beach's K C Branaghan's , located at 5734 E. Second St., is another top choice, with Yelpers giving the pub, Irish and traditional American spot four stars out of 280 reviews. This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


You're craving your favorite restaurant meal, but not the drive, the wait or the bill. Make it yourself! Home cooks are serving up their best renditions of famous restaurant recipes, right here. 25 Restaurant Copycat Recipes That are Better Than the Real Thing Take the time, energy and expense out of going to a restaurant with these amazing copycat recipes. Keep reading for KFC fried chicken, a McDonald's hamburger , french fries and strawberry shake , Olive Garden chicken & gnocchi soup and more copycat restaurant recipes. Inspired by: Broccoli Cheddar Soup from Panera Bread This creamy, cheesy broccoli soup tastes just like the one served at Panera Bread! My family requests it all the time. You can even make your own homemade bread bowls with the recipe on my blog, Yammie's Noshery.  Rachel Preus, Marshall, Michigan Get Recipe Inspired by: Cheddar Bay Biscuits from Red Lobster These wonderful, buttery biscuits complement any dinner.  Betsy King, Duluth, Minnesota Get Our Recipe: Flaky Cheddar-Chive Biscuits Inspired by: Orange Chicken from Panda Express These tangy Asian-inspired nuggets go a long way. We eat them over noodles or rice, in sandwiches, even on top of lettuce and cabbage.  Darlene Brenden, Salem, Oregon Get Our Recipe: Crispy Orange Chicken Inspired by: Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup from Panera Bread Years ago, I fell hard for a lemony Greek soup at Panera Bread. It was just a special back then, and I re-created it at home so we could eat it whenever a craving hit!  Kristin Cherry, Bothell, Washington Get Our Recipe: Lemon Chicken & Rice Soup Inspired by: Carnitas from Chipotle Slow cooker pork with green chilies always makes my hungry family happy. Getting creative with the leftovers is part of the fun.  Mary Shivers, Ada, Oklahoma Get Our Recipe: Green Chili Shredded Pork Inspired by: Shamrock Shake from McDonald's Save a sleeve of Girl Scout cookies for this creamy milkshake that's fun for kids and adults, too.  Shauna Sever, San Francisco, California Get Our Recipe: Thin Mint Milk Shake Inspired by: Loaded Potato Skins from TGI Fridays Wondering how to make potato skins taste great? I top my restaurant-worthy loaded potato skins with cheese, bacon and a dollop of sour cream. Have them at lunch, snack time or cocktail hour.  Trish Perrin, Keizer, Oregon Get Our Recipe: Bacon Cheddar Potato Skins Inspired by: The Original Recipe from KFC If you've wanted to learn how to make crispy fried chicken, this is the recipe for you. Always a picnic favorite, this deep fried chicken recipe is delicious either hot or cold. Kids call it my Kentucky Fried Chicken!  Jeanne Schnitzler, Lima, Montana Get Our Recipe: Crispy Fried Chicken Inspired by: Mocha Frappuccino from Starbucks Indulge in a coffeehouse-quality drink with this caramel mocha recipe. With whipped cream and a butterscotch drizzle, this treat will perk up even the sleepiest person at the table.  Taste of Home Test Kitchen Get Our Recipe: Creamy Caramel Mocha Inspired by: Pepperoni Pizza from Sbarro I've spent years trying to come up with the perfect pizza crust and sauce, and they're paired up in this recipe. I fix this crispy, savory pizza for my family often, and it really satisfies my husband and sons.  Susan Lindahl, Alford, Florida Get Our Recipe: Pepperoni Pan Pizza Inspired by: Pasta e Fagioli from Olive Garden This chunky soup is good to the last spoonful. It's my go-to recipe because it's so hearty and we all always want more.  Penny Novy, Buffalo Grove, Illinois Get Our Recipe: Slow Cooker Pasta e Fagioli Inspired by: Barbacoa from Chipotle My husband adores this beef roast simmered in lime juice, chipotle and cumin. He would eat it one a week if I would make it that often! We have it over rice with cilantro and a spritz of lime.  Aundrea McCormick, Denver, Colorado Get Our Recipe: Slow Cooker Barbacoa Inspired by: The Big Mac from McDonald's I was planning to grill burgers, and then it dawned on me: How about a Big Mac salad? The original recipe doesn't call for a tomato, but it's awesome here.  Pam Jefferies, Cantrall, Illinois Get Our Recipe: Deluxe Cheeseburger Salad Inspired by: Thai Chicken Pizza from California Pizza Kitchen Contributor Gigi Miller, from Stoughton, Wisconsin, provided a fabulous recipe for sweet and saucy chicken thighs that she serves with rice. We took it a step further, and used the chicken and sauce to make this restaurant-inspired Thai pizza.  Taste of Home Test Kitchen Get Our Recipe: Saucy Thai Chicken Pizzas Inspired by: Parrot Isle Jumbo Coconut Shrimp from Red Lobster These coconut-fried shrimp are downright addicting. If you ask me, the bigger the shrimp, the better. That way you can pick up even more of that sweet pina colada sauce.  Debbi Barate, Seward, Pennsylvania Get Our Recipe: Quick Coconut Shrimp Inspired by: Chicken & Gnocchi Soup from Olive Garden I tasted a similar soup at Olive Garden and wanted to try and make it myself. Here's the delicious result! It's wonderful on a cool evening.  Jaclynn Robinson, Shingletown, California Get Our Recipe: Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup Inspired by: Very Berry Coffee Cake from Starbucks This tasty, wholesome coffee cake is loaded with fresh berries. It's perfect for those with a sweet tooth.  Heather O'Neill, Troy, Ohio Get Our Recipe: Berry-Topped Coffee Cake Inspired by: Eggplant Parmigiana from Olive Garden Here's a healthy version of a restaurant classic that you can easily make at home. Our recipe has 300 fewer calories and half the fat and sodium of typical eggplant Parmesan.  Taste of Home Test Kitchen Get Our Recipe: Makeover Eggplant Parmesan Inspired by: Chicken Enchilada Soup from Chili's Even though they have many other delicious dishes on the menu, I always find myself ordering Chicken Enchilada Soup from Chili's. Here's the skinny version I make at home.  Traci Campbell, Saginaw, Texas Get Our Recipe: Makeover Chicken Enchilada Soup Inspired by: Garlic Mashed Potatoes from Applebee's These creamy garlic mashed potatoes are so good, you can serve them plain no butter or gravy is needed. This is one of our favorite red potato recipes.  Valerie Mitchell, Olathe, Kansas Get Our Recipe: Garlic Mashed Red Potatoes Inspired by: Cheese Sticks from Pizza Hut We love the breadsticks at our local pizza joint. Now I can get that same gooey-from-the-oven treat, but I never have to leave the house.  Heather Bates, Athens, Maine Get Our Recipe: Herbed Cheese Sticks Inspired by: Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory I love both red velvet cake and cheesecake. So why not combine them into one stunning red velvet cheesecake recipe? It's best when served chilled, right out of the fridge.  Melissa Gaines, Knoxville, Tennessee Get Our Recipe: Cheesecake Layered Red Velvet Cake Inspired by: Julius Original from Orange Julius I love to treat overnight guests to this creamy orange frappe. Just blitz a few basic ingredients in your blender and enjoy.  Joyce Mummau, Mount Airy, Maryland Get Our Recipe: Morning Orange Drink Inspired by: Quarter Pounder with Cheese from McDonald's Go on a burger road trip in your own backyard. Grill the patties and load them sky-high. Peanut butter and bacon make them Southern style; coleslaw and tomatoes, a Northern version.  Susan Mahaney, New Hartford, New York Get Our Recipe: Burger Americana Inspired by: Maple Butter Blondie from Applebee's Ever since I tried the maple blondie at Applebee's, I've been determined to figure out the recipe. I tried several variations until I came up with this one, and it's become one of our family favorites.  Pat Parker, Chester, South Carolina Get Our Recipe: Blond Brownies a la Mode


Draymond Green found the positive in his confrontation with Kevin Durant earlier this season. The relationship between Green and Durant had grown tense after Green repeatedly swore at Durant in the locker room after an overtime loss to the L.A. Clippers in November, according to Yahoo . Green and Durant seem to have moved on. With the Warriors heading to their fifth consecutive NBA Finals, here's what Green said about Durant on Monday night during an interview with NBC Sports Bay Area . "Me and Kevin been had a great relationship. We had the moment we had in November, but I don't have any close friends that I haven't gotten into it with in a major way. I've gotten into with my brother - my blood brother - in a major way. That's just what it is but tough times build character and that's what I've done." A part of the drama between stemmed from Green reportedly suggesting the the Warriors can win without Durant. Green went so far as to tell Durant to "leave," according to Yahoo. Coincidentally, the Warriors looked impressive in the Western Conference Finals while sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers, despite losing Durant in the conference semifinals. Naturally, that spurred the question: Are the Warriors better without KD? Golden State probably isn't a better team without Durant, one of the best players in basketball. But chemistry is a fickle thing. Regardless, Durant is expected to test free agency this offseason, according to NBC Sports Bay Area . So while the sting of Green's comments may have lifted, Durant may do exactly what Green said: leave. MORE: 7 reasons the Warriors are winning another title no matter who they play in the Finals Injury to Reuben Foster could help Chiefs, Redskins strike a deal Magic Johnson confirms rumor that Lakers want to sign Kyrie Irving Browns players quickly start recruiting freshly cut DT Gerald McCoy Roundup: Great White Shark Tracked; James Holzhauer Wins Again; Donald Trump's Accounting Firm Related slideshow: Best of 2019 NBA playoffs (Provided by imagn)


The NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series make their first return trip to a track this year for a points race when it heads back to Daytona International Speedway this weekend. The Cup and Xfinity Series will be in action, with Cup teams competing in the Coke Zero 400 Saturday night on NBC. For Friday's Xfinity race, wunderground.com forecasts a high of 85 degrees and a 6% chance of rain at the race's start time. The forecast for the Cup race is for a high of 82 degrees and a 34% chance of rain at the start time. Here's the full weekend schedule with TV and radio info. (All times are Eastern) Thursday, July 4 11 a.m.   7:30 p.m.   Cup garage open 11:30 a.m.   9 p.m.   Xfinity garage open 1:05   1:55 p.m.   Xfinity practice (NBCSN) 2:05   2:55 p.m.   Cup practice (NBCSN, Motor Racing Network) 3:05   3:55 p.m.   Final Xfinity practice (NBCSN) 4:05   4:55 p.m.   Final Cup practice (NBCSN, MRN) Friday, July 5 12:30   6:30 p.m.   Cup garage open 1 p.m.   Xfinity garage opens 3 p.m.   Xfinity driver   crew chief meeting 3:35 p.m.   Xfinity qualifying; single car/one lap (NBCSN) 5:05 p.m.   Cup qualifying; single car/one lap (NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) 7 p.m.   Xfinity driver introductions 7:30 p.m.   Circle K Firecracker 250; 100 laps/250 miles (NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) Saturday, July 6 3 p.m.   Cup garage opens 5:30 p.m.   Driver-crew chief meeting 6:50   Driver introductions 7:30 p.m.   Coke Zero Sugar 400; 160 laps/400 miles (NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)


PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland   It's definitely a major week: Brooks Koepka headed off Friday for some post-round practice. Frustrated with his putting, Koepka lamented all of his missed opportunities that still left him only three shots back leading into the weekend at The Open. "If I can just clean it up just the slightest little bit," he said after rounds of 68-69, "I could be off and running." Koepka finished second at the U.S. Open while struggling on the seaside poa annua, and he hasn't yet found his stroke here on Portrush's slow but pure greens. That's why he was heading to the practice putting green after meeting with reporters. "Make sure all the mechanics are there, that the setup and the alignment are correct," he said. "From there just make sure the stroke is right. It's not really a speed issue. Just try to figure it out." Koepka has made only two bogeys through two rounds but has taken 58 putts   or just about the field average. "I'm hanging around, I guess," he said. "It's not where I want to be, but I guess for not making anything, it's hard to really expect to be up in the lead. So to be four or five back, it's OK. I'll figure it out this weekend."


Robby Anderson has put up good numbers in the past. He thinks he has an even brighter future. The Jets wide receiver is ready to build on a strong finish to last season, even though the year as a whole represented a bit of a step back for him. "That was a down year for me," Anderson said, via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News . "I know my capabilities. I know what I want to become . . . and that's the best receiver in the NFL ." That's optimistic, but he certainly has shown signs of being a reliable target for Sam Darnold . He caught 63 passes for 941 yards and seven touchdowns in 2017, and though his numbers were down across the board last year (50-752-6), he finished the season strong. In Weeks 14-16, he had 312 receiving yards and three touchdowns, showing a connection with Darnold that has led to optimism there. That also comes with more responsibility, as new coach Adam Gase wants to expand Anderson's role beyond running fast in a straight line. "We're just going to keep trying to think of ways to get him the ball, ways to create variety in his routes," Gase said. "Instead of just doing one or two things, maybe we can open that thing up to five, six, seven things to where he's a threat on multiple levels whether it be underneath, intermediate or down the field." If that happens, Anderson would certainly be closer to his goal.


Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., refused to apologize Wednesday for labeling migrant detention centers as "concentration camps." "I will never apologize for calling these camps what they are," she tweeted response to a call by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's, R-Calif., for her to apologize. "DHS ripped 1000s of children from their parents & put them in cages w inhumane conditions," she added. "They call their cells 'dog pounds' & 'freezers.' If that makes you uncomfortable, fight the camps, not the nomenclature." Ocasio-Cortez also retweeted Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif. , who accused the GOP of engaging in "fake outrage." "There's a lot of fake GOP outrage from folks who have no problem with warehousing thousands of innocent, desperate people in barbed-wire enclosures that look and function like concentration camps," Huffman said Wednesday. "Can we please talk about that?" McCarthy joined a number of Republicans and other government figures who took offense at her comparison, including Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement DIrector Mark Morgan who called the New York congresswoman's comments "irresponsible." "This type of rhetoric from our elected leaders is reckless, irresponsible, misinformed and wrong," he told Fox News on Wednesday. The controversy erupted on Tuesday when Ocasio-Cortez streamed an Instagram video of herself taking another shot at President Trump's immigration policies. "The U.S. is running concentration camps on our southern border," she said. "That is exactly what they are. They are concentration camps." House GOP Chairwoman Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., called out those comments, saying her progressive colleague disrespected the memory of Jews who died in the Holocaust. Amid all the backlash, Ocasio-Cortez mocked Republicans for "shrieking" over an assumed comparison between "concentration camps" and the death camps that Nazis used during the Holocaust. "Concentration camps are not the same as death camps. Concentration camps are considered by experts as 'the mass detention of civilians without trial.' And that's exactly what this administration is doing," she said. She added on Wednesday that the U.S. engaged in the "shameful" practice of using concentration camps when it detained Japanese-Americans during World War II . "It is such a shameful history that we largely ignore it," she said. "These camps occur throughout history. Many refuse to learn from that shame, but here we are today. We have an obligation to end them." House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., showed support for Ocasio-Cortez's comments, tweeting: "One of the lessons from the Holocaust is 'Never Again' - not only to mass murder, but also to the dehumanization of people, violations of basic rights, and assaults on our common morality. "We fail to learn that lesson when we don't callout [sic] such inhumanity right in front of us," Nadler added. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif, was more circumspect, declining to comment directly on the statements. "I do have some comments to make to my caucus writ large about the political nature of how politically charged the atmosphere is," she said. "So, understand that while the Republicans have no interest in holding the president accountable for his words, they will misrepresent anything that you say, just if you have one word in the sentence that they can exploit."


Exciting news for beer-loving travelers: Seven new craft beers are now available on Delta's domestic flights , and on some flights, you get to drink for free. Lagunitas and Stone beer is now offered on Delta's west coast shuttle (Los Angeles to San Francisco), while Blue Point and Newburyport beer is available on its east coast shuttle (New York to Boston, D.C. and Chicago). Ballast Point and Brooklyn Brewery beer is served on transcontinental flights (New York to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle), and SweetWater beer is available on southeast flights (Atlanta to Florida, New York, D.C. and New Orleans). Samuel Adams is available on all flights. Craft beers on east coast shuttle flights are complimentary (yes, complimentary ) for all passengers, Delta representative Kate Modolo told The Huffington Post , while craft beers on transcontinental, southeast and all other flights cost $7. "We started our craft beer program earlier this year with SweetWater Brewery based in Atlanta," Modolo said. "It was stocked on all Delta flights bound for LGA starting April 1. The customer response was great so we expanded SweetWater in July to six other markets. The additional seven craft brews announced all started flying last week." Although Delta offers a wide selection of beers, it's not like you'll be limited to Budweiser and Miller Lite on other airlines. Southwest, for example, offers New Belgium's Fat Tire , while United serves Goose Island's 312 Urban Wheat Ale and Virgin serves 21st Amendment's Brew Free! or Die IPA.


Apple is expected to unveil three new iPhones in September, meaning the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR will soon be considered previous-generation. The company will also likely reduce the price of older models once it releases its 2019 iPhones. As such, those looking to purchase a new iPhone should probably hold off on upgrading. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. If you're a loyal iPhone user looking to upgrade, here's some advice: don't. At least not right now. If history repeats itself in 2019, Apple is on the verge of releasing its next-generation iPhone in September, as it's done every year since 2012. Read more: Apple's first 5G iPhone is coming next year - here's everything we've heard about it so far The new iPhone is expected to come in three variants, once again following the pattern Apple established in 2017 with the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X. The biggest changes are said to be the phone's new triple-lens camera, which could enable the iPhone to capture photos with a wider field of view, according to Bloomberg . This new camera setup would likely debut on the company's more expensive new iPhones - the successors to the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max - while the iPhone XR follow-up will likely have two cameras, the report also said. Otherwise, the new iPhones are expected to support reverse-wireless charging - a feature that makes it possible to charge other devices by resting them on the back of the iPhone - and will likely come with an updated processor. The iPhone XR sequel will also reportedly come in new colors, as leaks from Macotakara and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman have indicated. Maybe you don't care about having the latest iPhone, or perhaps the upgrades coming in the next version don't sound that compelling to you. But you're still in the market for a new iPhone because the one you're currently using is nearly three years old. If that's the case, you might want to opt for one the older (and less expensive) iPhones that Apple already sells. Even so, you should still wait. Apple is likely to cut the prices of its current iPhones and possibly older versions once it unveils the new models. Last year, for example, it reduced the cost of its iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 down to $449 and $599 respectively when it debuted the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR. Regardless, if you can hold out for another month and a half or so, you'll have many more options at your disposal. You'll be able to gauge whether Apple's 2019 iPhones are the right option for you, and if they're not you can probably get the iPhone XS or iPhone XR at a cheaper price.


FARMINGDALE, N.Y.   Tiger Woods badly pulled the opening drive of his second round on Friday, his ball coming to rest in Bethpage Black's thick rough down the left side at the par-4 first. Woods didn't know it at the time, but he and that lush lettuce were about to become very close over the next 17 holes. Woods hit just three fairways in his second round, a seemingly impossible stat to overcome at the Black Course. Remarkably, he did on the front nine, where he hit just one fairway and still managed to grind out an even-par 35. Eventually though, his erratic driving was going to catch up to him. RELATED: Tiger Woods had the perfect comeback when asked about missing the cut at Bethpage On the back nine it doomed him, as Woods weed-whacked his way to a 38 to finish with a three-over 73, putting him one shot outside the cut line. It's the first time he's missed a cut since last year's U.S. Open at Shinnecock, and the first time in his career that he's missed a cut in the major after a major victory. "It's just the way it goes," Woods said matter-of-factly to a scrum of reporters after the round. "You know, just don't feel well and just not able to do it. But resting would be better, so I would have energy to play. You know, unfortunately I just didn't made too many mistakes and just didn't do the little things I need to do. You know, I had a couple three-putts. I didn't hit wedges close. I didn't hit any fairways today. Did a lot of little things wrong." Woods provided brief glimmers of hope for the mass of Long Island fans with long birdie conversions at the sixth and ninth holes, the first yielding a walk-in from the 15-time major winner and the second a putter raise. But the heroics were instantly spoiled by the brutal stretch of holes 10 through 12, where three missed fairways led to three consecutive bogeys. At the 13th, he hit one of his worst drives of the day, another pull into the fairway bunker down the left side. He ended up making birdie, one final highlight for the masses who won't be treated to Sunday red at the Black. "Just wasn't moving the way I needed to. That's the way it goes," he said. "There's going to be days and weeks where it's just not going to work, and today was one of those days." Woods' Friday struggles made Koepka's first two days appear even more staggering than they were. As Woods labored around the property, Koepka cruised for the second straight round, adding a five-under 65 to his opening 63. Woods had a front row seat to it all, and could do nothing but tip his cap. "What Brooksy did, he's driving it 330 yards in the middle of the fairway. He's got 9-irons when most of us are hitting 5-irons, 4-irons, and he's putting well. That adds up to a pretty substantial lead, and if he keeps doing what he's doing, there's no reason why he can't build on this lead. "The golf course is soft enough where the power helps. So when he did miss the fairway, he missed it far enough down there where he was still able to hit wedges and 9-irons on the green, and on top of that, he missed on the correct sides. So he had good angles." Woods may be referring to the 18th hole, where he hit one of his three fairways and had only wedge in, but settled for par. Koepka? He missed the fairway right, but cleared all the bunkers. Then he flipped a wedge from 105 yards to 11 feet and holed his seventh birdie of the day. That earned him a seven-shot lead as he closes in on a potential fourth major victory in his last eight tries. If it looks and feels like he's playing a different game, that's probably because he is. That said, Woods did just beat the guy at the Masters by one stroke. Even after getting dusted by Koepka over two rounds, he made sure to remind everyone of that fact. "You know, I'm the Masters Champion and 43 years old and that's a pretty good accomplishment," he said. RELATED: Brooks Koepka pulls away at the PGA Championship, Tiger misses cut


Wondering where to find the best lounges near you? Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top lounges in Orlando, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of where to venture. 1. Santiago's Bodega Topping the list is Santiago's Bodega . Located at 802 Virginia Drive in Ivanhoe, the tapas bar and Spanish spot is the highest-rated lounge in Orlando, boasting four stars out of 974 reviews on Yelp. 2. The Courtesy Next up is The Courtesy , situated downtown at 114 N. Orange Ave. With 4.5 stars out of 243 reviews on Yelp, the cocktail bar and lounge has proven to be a local favorite. 3. Corona Cigar Company & Diamond Crown Cigar Lounge The Corona Cigar Company & Diamond Crown Cigar Lounge , located at 127 S. Orange Ave. in The Plaza Downtown, is another top choice, with Yelpers giving the tobacco shop and lounge 4.5 stars out of 166 reviews. 4. The Woods The Woods , a downtown lounge, cocktail bar and whiskey bar, is another much-loved go-to, with 4.5 stars out of 155 Yelp reviews. Head over to 49 N. Orange Ave. to see for yourself. 5. The Guesthouse And then there's The Guesthouse , a Colonialtown North favorite with four stars out of 273 reviews. Stop by 1321 N. Mills Ave. to hit up the cocktail bar and lounge next time you're looking to satisfy your cravings. This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


Now that the USGA has instituted the Viktor Hovland Rule, it's time for the PGA Tour to amend its own policy regarding amateurs. How coincidental that the USGA on Monday announced that exemptions into the U.S. Open would no longer be contingent on amateur status , that future U.S. Amateur champions will be able to play in the year's third major as either a professional or an amateur. It's a way for the organization to save face: Four of the last 10 U.S. Amateur champions have forfeited their U.S. Open exemptions, thus vacating their spot in the annual early-round grouping alongside the reigning U.S. Open and Open Championship champions. It's also a common-sense move that acknowledges the competitive realities facing today's top amateurs. But even though this decision apparently was months in the making, the timing of the announcement wasn't lost on anyone. On Sunday, newly minted pro Viktor Hovland finished fourth at the PGA Tour's regular-season finale, the Wyndham Championship   his fourth top-20 in five pro starts   but that consistent play still left him 68 FedExCup points shy of earning a full Tour card for the 2019-20 season. Where it gets interesting: Had Hovland been able to play the U.S. Open as a pro, the points he would have earned by virtue of his T-12 finish at Pebble Beach (in addition to top-40 showings at Bay Hill and the Masters) would have given him full status for next season. Instead, Hovland is headed off to the three-tournament Korn Ferry Tour Finals, because Tour policy states that amateurs are not eligible to earn FedExCup points, even retroactively. It's important to note here that Hovland isn't complaining. As he told reporters in Greensboro, he understood that his amateur success wasn't going to count, and he knew that he'd have another chance to earn his card via the Finals. "I just should have played a little bit better and it wouldn't have been a problem," he said. And, yes, in a month, this may become a moot point. Talent usually wins out in the end. (Had he made enough starts to qualify, Hovland would rank seventh in total strokes gained.) But it's also not a lock that he'll secure one of the 25 cards, and that's a shame, because the rules that led to this predicament need to be revisited. Forget about the roughly $330,000 that Hovland left on the table by remaining an amateur. If he was good enough to accrue more than 100 FedExCup points in those limited starts, then he should be able to apply them once he turned pro this summer. After all, he earned those points based on his skill, not his status. Why should he have to start at zero like everyone else? Your browser does not support iframes. Young pros like Hovland will continue to get squeezed by the Tour's condensed schedule. There are just six full-point Tour events between the end of the NCAA Championship in late May and the start of the FedExCup Playoffs in early August. Yes, Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa were able to break through and win, but there's a reason why only 11 players since 1980 have gone from college straight to the Tour. It's exceptionally difficult to do, especially now, with a system that requires non-members (who are already restricted to a maximum of seven sponsor exemptions per season) to earn the equivalent of No. 125 in a small window. Tour officials have a vested interest in the development of the young players   they're currently in the process of developing a draft program for top collegians   and this summer they've shown no hesitation in promoting these hotshots. Hovland, Wolff and Morikawa have conducted news conferences together. They've been handpicked for featured-group coverage together. Wolff is even kicking off the playoffs this week by helping light the Empire State Building. But the Tour still has done little to change the reality that it's a closed shop with fewer access points to the big circuit. The top young players face a tougher road to instant membership, with all but a select few forced to apprentice for at least a year on the various developmental tours before they can get their shot. The USGA recognized the shifting landscape and offered at least a small reprieve. The Tour should do the same for the amateurs who previously earned those precious points.


Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site. After spending mornings exploring the fields, forests, and gardens of their outdoor classroom just north of New York City, the students and teachers at Little Leaf at Andrus-on-Hudson nature school perform an essential task: the tick check. The preschoolers sit in a circle on the ground and sing a song about ticks ("Tick, are you in my armpit? Tick, are you in my ear?") while teachers inspect them one by one, examining their hair and checking behind their knees. They're looking for deer ticks, which can spread Lyme disease and other illnesses , and are sometimes as small as a poppyseed. Parents are also encouraged to apply insect repellent to their children before school and do another tick check after school. For added protection, Theresa McCaffrey, Little Leaf's founder and director, had the perimeter of the garden classroom sprayed with the pesticide permethrin . All of that might seem like an awful lot of work for a day outside in a grassy suburb. But for millions of Americans , it has become a necessity of daily life. Disease-carrying ticks , found in all 50 states, have significantly increased their geographical range in the past 15 years, showing up in new places nearly every year and multiplying quickly. Tick experts in the Northeast have stories about places so infested with ticks that they're hesitant to name them, not wanting to brand a place as "Tick Heaven." A Long Island entomologist recalled finding 250 ticks on a single bush. Last year a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the number of tick-borne diseases more than doubled between 2004 and 2016. Scientists are testing new approaches that may help curb the explosion of tick-borne illnesses, such as Lyme disease and babesiosis . But there are no large-scale tick-control solutions demonstrated to work, according to Richard Ostfeld, Ph.D., a disease ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, N.Y. In the meantime, people are left to protect themselves against the serious threat of disease using the same precautions taken at the Little Leaf school. Thomas Mather, Ph.D., director of the University of Rhode Island's Center for Vector-Borne Disease, has been studying ticks since 1983. He's known as "The Tick Guy," and says that over the years he may have collected more black-legged ticks than anyone. The recent rise in tick populations is something Mather has observed firsthand. "If people could just see what I'm seeing," he says, "they would never go outside." A Growing Epidemic In a recent nationally representative survey of 2,052 Americans by Consumer Reports, 4 in 10 said they had experienced a tick bite. But many more are bitten without ever realizing it. Today, the CDC estimates that there are about 300,000 new cases of Lyme disease in the U.S. each year, most of them unreported. And Lyme is just the best-known tick-borne illness. At least seven new diseases spread by ticks have emerged since 2004. (See " How a Tick Bite Can Affect Your Health .") Some can be fatal if not caught early. Ticks aren't the only disease-spreading pests on the move. A study published in March predicts that as the world warms, a billion new people could be exposed to mosquito-borne diseases such as Zika, dengue, and chikungunya between now and 2080. When disease-carrying mosquitoes reach a new area in the U.S., there are standard public health responses, including population control methods, with cities, towns, and counties conducting mosquito abatement campaigns. But when ticks move in, you're often on your own. And the problem shows no sign of abating: "The continued spread of ticks, the discovery of new tick-borne pathogens, and the spreading outbreak of human disease is a near certainty," the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group, appointed by Congress, wrote in a report in 2018. Yet tick-borne diseases have been underrecognized and vastly underdiagnosed. Funding for treating and especially preventing them is "orders of magnitude lower" than it is for other public health threats, the authors wrote in their report. A big part of the problem is that we don't understand ticks as well as we do other disease-spreading pests. "Most tools for control have been developed for mosquitoes, and ticks are very different organisms," says Adriana Costero-Saint Denis, Ph.D., a vector biology program officer at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "Research on ticks is lagging a bit behind." And scientists are still discovering new illnesses spread by ticks that we don't yet understand. A Mysterious Allergy Ten years ago, researchers led by Thomas Platts-Mills, M.D., Ph.D., at the University of Virginia were just starting to learn that bites from Lone Star ticks were somehow causing a mysterious and potentially life-threatening allergy to red meat . They'd been trying to explain why certain cancer patients were reacting poorly to a drug known as cetuximab. At the same lab, they'd been working to figure out what was causing a strange allergic reaction to red meat, which had been observed in a number of patients. Platts-Mills and colleagues traced the drug reaction to a sugar (known as alpha-gal) found in animal products, which ended up in the medicine because it was produced using cells derived from mice. That was the first clue: The people allergic to cetuximab and to red meat were allergic to the same thing alpha-gal. What's more, the people having adverse reactions to the drug and to red meat were all from the same Southern states. The question was why people in these places had all developed this unusual allergy, which at the time had not shown up elsewhere in the country. As the team based in Virginia researched the mystery, three of the scientists themselves developed an allergy to red meat. And they realized they had something in common: They had all been bitten by ticks in the weeks or months before developing the allergy. They started asking patients allergic to alpha-gal about their own experiences with tick bites, and they soon saw that CDC maps showing the geographic range of Lone Star ticks overlapped exactly with the locations of patients reacting to alpha-gal. By studying a cancer drug, they had inadvertently stumbled across a new tick-borne malady one unlike any of the other diseases ticks were known to spread. "At the time, we didn't know this thing was going to become huge," says Scott Commins, M.D., Ph.D., a member of the original research team. They knew of just a few dozen cases then. Now, he says, there are more than 5,000 people with these allergies and still no known cure or even explanation of why the phenomenon is triggered by tick bites. Stranger still, other species of ticks are somehow causing people to develop similar allergies to red meat on the other side of the world, in places such as Australia, South Africa, and Sweden. The Diseases They Spread Lone Star ticks have traditionally lived in the Southeast, but as the climate warms they've been spreading. They can now be found as far north as Maine. In addition to the meat allergy, Lone Stars carry Bourbon virus, Heartland virus, Southern tick-associated rash illness, and the pathogens that cause the bacterial infections ehrlichiosis and tularemia, which is so infectious it's considered a potential biological weapon. Eastern black-legged ticks, known as deer ticks, are expanding their range, too, bringing Lyme disease as well as babesiosis, Powassan virus, and more. So are dog ticks, which can carry the potentially deadly Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and Gulf Coast ticks, the vector for a milder illness called Rickettsia parkeri. In 2017 researchers first reported spotting the invasive Asian longhorned tick in the U.S., after discovering hundreds of the pests on a New Jersey sheep, and hundreds more in its paddock. These ticks can essentially clone themselves, reproducing asexually and laying between one and two thousand eggs at a time. They have now been found in at least nine states. While there's no evidence that this tick species is spreading disease here yet, in East Asia it has been known to cause several illnesses, including a deadly hemorrhagic fever. "On the longhorn we still haven't identified any pathogens, but I don't see why we wouldn't eventually I think it may be a matter of time," says Maria Diuk-Wasser, Ph.D., an associate professor in the department of ecology, evolution, and environmental biology at Columbia University who has been studying the longhorned tick's invasion of Staten Island, N.Y. "It can basically invade anywhere." It's quite likely, Ostfeld says, that the rates of tick-borne disease will continue to rise. Along with the warmer weather, which gives ticks a longer active season, environmental changes have led to growing populations of mice and deer, which carry the ticks that feed on them, helping the insects to spread. One frustrating problem, according to Ostfeld, is that even interventions that kill large numbers of ticks such as spraying lawns with insecticides don't seem to lower rates of tick-borne illness. And even if we had a better understanding how to kill ticks, there's currently no national surveillance system tracking where ticks are spreading disease. CDC experts say there are ongoing efforts to improve surveillance, but it will be hard to coordinate a public health response to tick-borne illness before a surveillance program exists. Nationwide, we need "to understand the geographic distribution of infectious ticks in order to understand the spread of disease and predict where people are at risk," says the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group's report. But there are still "significant gaps in information." Until a more organized public health response emerges, taking the steps that McCaffrey's preschoolers do every day can go a long way. (See "How to Protect Against Ticks," below.) Experts say these measures offer fairly effective protection on an individual level , although they haven't been enough to stop the spread of disease. Even in areas where awareness and vigilance are relatively high, tick bites are still common. Fighting the Fight Some communities that have been struggling with ticks the longest are reaching for more innovative fixes. On Shelter Island in New York, a large nature preserve, marshes, and forests full of oak and beech trees have long made the island a haven for ticks. Residents there are so familiar with tick-borne illness that locals say doctors will consider ticks as the cause for nearly any malady, says Jim Bevilacqua, M.D., chairperson of the town's Deer and Tick Committee. Years of attempts to persuade people to take steps to protect themselves haven't necessarily stopped the spread of these illnesses, so the goal now is to try to get the deer population under control, Bevilacqua says. With fewer deer, the hope is that there will be fewer ticks. In Dutchess County, N.Y., the heart of the Lyme epidemic, The Tick Project co-led by Ostfeld is testing a pesticide spray made from a tick-killing fungus and small bait boxes that can apply a drop of the pesticide fipronil to mice. If the new spray, the bait boxes, or the two combined successfully reduce tick-borne disease when deployed at the neighborhood scale, it will be a first. To make a dent in the problem, efforts to control deer and other host populations will probably need to be combined with new types of pesticides, Diuk-Wasser says. In some places people prefer to use products that are marketed as organic or natural, she says, but experts say many of these products simply don't work. Whether or not scientists can develop effective "natural" pesticides that are then widely adopted, people will still need to protect themselves on an individual level because none of these strategies alone will wipe out tick-borne illness. "There's no magic bullet," she says. Even if those remedies are effective at a local level, experts say other interventions some requiring millions of dollars in public investment are also needed. For Lyme, it might be possible to introduce a vaccine. (A previous vaccine was discontinued because of a lack of demand and reports of side effects such as arthritis, though research showed that arthritis wasn't in fact more common in people who had been vaccinated.) Scientists are also working on ways to edit tick genes so that they can no longer spread disease, though such strategies are nowhere near ready for public use. In the meantime, ticks will continue to spread and new tick-borne diseases will continue to emerge, often before we fully understand how they work or how they should be handled. Commins says that in the back of his mind, the concern isn't just that we're short of solutions for diseases like babesiosis, the hundreds of thousands of Lyme infections every year, and more. It's that we still haven't even begun to grasp the extent of the problem. The fact that scientists are just now discovering that ticks can spread an allergy, for example, suggests that "there are perhaps other things that tick bites can do that we don't quite recognize yet," he says. "There may be more to the tick bite story than we realize." How to Protect Against Ticks 1. Before You Go Outside Use one of CR's top-rated insect repellents to cover your exposed skin. You can also use clothing treated with the insecticide permethrin. Use one of CR's top-rated insect repellents to cover your exposed skin. You can also use clothing treated with the insecticide permethrin . Wear long sleeves and pants, and tuck your pants into your socks. 2. When You Get Inside Toss your clothes in the dryer on high for 10 minutes to kill ticks that may be hanging on. The CDC also recommends taking a shower to wash off unattached ticks. Do a thorough body check, especially in places where ticks tend to attach themselves, such as inside the bellybutton, between the legs, in and around the ears and hair, and the back of the knees. 3. If You Find a Tick Remove it using a fine-tipped pair of tweezers, the CDC says. Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible and pull straight upward steadily don't twist or jerk your hand. Ticks tend to crawl around on skin before they find a place to attach, so you might be able to find a tick before it bites. The longer they're attached, the more likely they are to transmit disease. For example, a tick is usually attached for 36 to 48 hours before it transmits Lyme disease. Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Related Video: You Need to Protect Your Pets From Ticks, Too (Provided by WFMY-TV Greensboro, N.C.)


North Korea issued a list of criticisms against former Vice President Joe Biden , calling the presidential candidate "a low IQ idiot" and saying his "candidacy should not carry high expectations." Additionally, the North Koreans referred to Biden as someone "who likes to stick his nose into other people's business and is a poor excuse for a politician." The published commentary also said he "is misbehaving." On Wednesday, Biden's campaign responded saying "it's no surprise North Korea would prefer that Donald Trump remain in the White House." "As Vice President Biden said in Philadelphia, Donald Trump 'embraces dictators and tyrants like Putin and Kim Jung Un' while alienating our closest allies. That is antithetical to who we are and it has to change," Biden campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates told ABC News. "Trump has also been repeatedly tricked into making major concessions to the murderous regime in Pyongyang while getting nothing in return. Given Vice President Biden's record of standing up for American values and interests, it's no surprise that North Korea would prefer that Donald Trump remain in the White House." The back-and-forth comes after Biden, while out on the campaign trail , recently criticized North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. In an opinion piece dated Tuesday, posted on the website of KCNA   the North Korean news agency   and translated by ABC News, said Biden "dared to blaspheme our Supreme Dignity at a recent campaign event." The piece also declared that Biden's "blasphemy" doesn't "even meet the standards of basic human dignity, let alone a politician." It's unclear if the KCNA piece was in direct response to Biden's remarks on the campaign trail, but at a rally in Philadelphia on Saturday, Biden attacked President Donald Trump for his relationship with "dictators and tyrants like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and Kim Jong Un." While campaigning last week in New Hampshire, Biden spoke further about the North Korean leader: "This is a guy with his uncle's brains blown out, sitting across a table. This is the guy who's a thug." (MORE: North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un Executed His 'Worse Than a Dog' Uncle) Under Kim's leadership, several top officials and some of his family members have been executed. Kim's uncle was executed in 2013, according to KCNA, after he was arrested for corruption, acts of treachery and womanizing . And at least one high-ranking defense chief may have been executed with anti-aircraft machine guns . (MORE: North Korean official's possible execution the source of heated speculation) The North Koreans calling Biden a person with a "low IQ" might sound familiar. In fact, it's a phrase Trump regularly uses against his critics. On March 18, 2019, the president attacked Biden on Twitter, calling him "another low I.Q. individual!" Joe Biden got tongue tied over the weekend when he was unable to properly deliver a very simple line about his decision to run for President. Get used to it, another low I.Q. individual!   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 18, 2019 The opinion piece was published online a day after Trump attacked Biden during a Pennsylvania campaign rally. Trump said that Biden "deserted" the people of Pennsylvania. Biden responded Tuesday to the president's attack in a fundraising email. "I've never forgotten where I came from. My family did have to leave Pennsylvania when I was 10 -- we moved to Delaware where my Dad found a job that could provide for our family," the fundraising email said. In the opinion piece, North Korea also criticized Biden for being accused by several women of making them uncomfortable with what they considered inappropriate touching. Biden told ABC's "The View" that he's "more cognizant" of private space since the allegations were made. (MORE: Joe and Jill Biden respond to women who say he made them uncomfortable) Additionally, KCNA mocked him for falling asleep during a budget speech former President Barack Obama made in April 2011. KCNA also hit Biden for withdrawing from the 1988 presidential campaign after reports of plagiarism arose. Biden used elements of a speech by a British politician as his own, without attribution. In an interview with ABC News in 2007, Biden described the scandal as "Stupid. My mistake. Born out of ignorance, thinking I didn't have to prepare." North Korea cautioned the former vice president that language on the campaign trail matters. "Biden should remember, as someone who failed in a presidential run twice, that he should be careful with his words, and that should be a basic quality of a presidential candidate," according to KCNA, which also warned it "will not forgive anyone who offends the dignity of our Supreme Leader and we will keep score to the very end." ABC News' Paul Shin contributed to this report.


The rule of law has eroded in Venezuela, the UN rights chief warned Friday, pointing to attacks on political opponents and activists, including torture and thousands of killings by security forces. Presenting a damning report to the UN Human Rights Council, Michelle Bachelet said that attempting to exercise the most basic rights like freedom of opinion, expression, association and assembly "entails a risk of reprisals and repression". "Essential institutions and the rule of law in Venezuela have been eroded," she said. She decried attacks against "actual or perceived political opponents and human rights defenders ranging from threats and smear campaigns to arbitrary detention, torture, ill-treatment, sexual violence, killings and enforced disappearance." Venezuela immediately slammed the report, which was published late Thursday and followed a visit by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to the troubled South American country last month. The report "is dominated by a selective and partial vision," William Castillo, Venezuela's deputy foreign minister, told the council. - 'Incompreh ensible' - The report indicated that nearly 7,000 people have been killed during security operations in Venezuela in the past year and a half, according to a count by Caracas, and warned that many of the killings likely constituted "executions". The UN rights office described the incidence of alleged extrajudicial killings by security forces in the country as "shockingly high". Bachelet herself stressed to the council Friday that the possible "extrajudicial killings ... should be fully investigated with accountability of perpetrators, and guarantees of non-recurrence." In her report, she especially pointed a finger at Venezuela's police special forces (FAES), and urged the authorities to "dissolve" the unit. Castillo meanwhile said that Caracas "categorically rejects the criminalisation of the security forces and the armed forces." He also lamented that Bachelet had ignored the "serious risks" facing Venezuela, pointing to "coup plans" and the threat of "foreign intervention" from US President Donald Trump. Venezuela is caught in an economic crisis and a political standoff between President Nicolas Maduro's government and National Assembly leader Juan Guaido. The opposition leader, Guaido, declared himself interim president earlier this year, and has been recognised by the United States and more than 50 other countries. The oil-rich nation is also suffering from hyperinflation and shortages of basic goods from food to medicine, a crisis that has forced millions to flee. The UN estimates that more than seven million Venezuelans are in need of urgent humanitarian aid. - Sanctions 'exacerbating' crisis - In her report, Bachelet said "there are reasonable grounds to believe that grave violations of economic and social rights, including the rights to food and health, have been committed in Venezuela." She added that social programmes had been used "as an instrument of social control". The UN rights chief also said the US oil embargo and other sanctions imposed on Venezuela were taking a harsh toll. While they were not to blame for the country's economic woes, Bachelet stressed Friday that the sanctions "are exacerbating further the effects of the economic crisis, and thus the humanitarian situation." She also warned that the punitive measures appeared to be "affecting the state's ability to provide basic health service to the populations." Thursday's report noted that as of May 31 this year, 793 people remained in arbitrary detention, and that 22 members of parliament, including Guaido, had been stripped of their parliamentary immunity in 2019 so far. Bachelet did hail increased cooperation from Venezuelan authorities, who granted her broad access during her recent visit and has agreed to a permanent presence by UN rights officers in the country.


Two unrelated shootings on the same weekend, one in Texas, and one in Ohio, are among the most deadly mass shootings in US history. On the first weekend of August, within 24 hours of each other, two of the worst mass shootings took place in modern US history. On August 3, 22 people were killed and 24 injured in El Paso, Texas. On August 4, nine people were killed and 27 injured in Dayton, Ohio. They are now among 18 of the deadliest mass shootings in modern US history. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Within 24 hours of each other, two of the worst mass shootings took place in modern US history. On August 3, 22 people were killed and 24 were injured in El Paso, Texas. Police say it was racially motivated. On August 4, nine people were killed and 27 injured in Dayton, Ohio. Police aren't yet sure what the motive was. This weekend of shootings bears the unfortunate - but increasingly familiar - distinction of joining the ranks of the deadliest American mass shootings in the last 60 years. Already in 2019, there have been 17 mass shootings , by ABC's count. The Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that tracks shootings in the US, has counted 255 mass shootings in 2019 so far. The organization defines a mass shooting as a single incident in which at least four people are shot not including the gunman. Here are 18 of the deadliest mass shootings in modern US history. Las Vegas, October 1, 2017   59 dead, more than 850 wounded In October 2017, gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire on a crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest festival from his 32nd-floor room at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Casino. The rampage lasted more than 15 minutes as panicked concertgoers tried to take cover, unaware of where the fire was coming from. By the end of it, 58 people were killed , and more than 850 were injured. A police SWAT unit broke into Paddock's room and found the gunman dead by suicide. Orlando, June 12, 2016   50 dead, 53 wounded Before Las Vegas, the deadliest mass shooting in US history was the 2016 shooting at Pulse , a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Gunman Omar Mateen killed 49 people and wounded at least 53 at the nightclub before he was killed by Orlando police. As the club was hosting a "Latin Night," many of the victims were Latino. During the shooting, Mateen called Orlando police and swore allegiance to the ISIS, although authorities found no evidence of communication between the terrorist group and the attacker. Still, the shooting drew swift condemnation from American Muslims. It remains the deadliest act of terror in the US since September 11. Virginia Tech University, April 16, 2007   32 dead, 17 wounded The 2007 mass shooting on Virginia Tech University's campus remains the deadliest school shooting in US history. Gunman Seung-Hui Cho, a senior at the school, killed more than 30 students and instructors in two separate attacks about two hours apart before committing suicide. Seventeen students were wounded. Sutherland Springs, Texas, November 5, 2017   26 dead, 20 wounded A gunman wearing tactical gear and wielding a semiautomatic rifle opened fire in November 2017, at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, a tiny town of 600 east of San Antonio. At least 26 parishioners were killed in the attack. Victims ranged in age from 18 months to 72 years. The gunman was found dead after a brief car chase. The shooting supplanted the 2015 shooting at a Charleston, South Carolina, church as the deadliest mass shooting to take place at a house of worship in the United States. Sandy Hook Elementary School, December 14, 2012   26 dead, two wounded Twenty students and six teachers were killed in a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012. Each student casualty was between the ages of 6 and 7. Minutes before he went to the school, the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, fatally shot his mother at their home. Lanza committed suicide as first responders arrived at the school. Killeen, Texas, October 16, 1991   23 dead, 27 wounded In 1991, George Hennard drove his pickup truck through the glass front window of a Luby's restaurant in Killeen, Texas, and began a shooting rampage on patrons and staff inside. He killed 23 people and injured 27 more before fatally shooting himself. San Ysidro, California, July 18, 1984   20 dead, 16 wounded James Huberty, 41, shot 36 people at a McDonald's restaurant in the San Ysidro district of San Diego in 1984. The casualties included an 8-month-old boy and a 9-year-old girl, and the wounded included a 4-month-old girl. The rampage ended when Huberty was shot by a San Diego SWAT Team sniper perched on a nearby roof. The shooting prompted changes to the police department in how it responded to mass-shooter scenarios. Parkland, Florida, February 14, 2018   17 dead, 17 wounded Gunman and former student Nikolas Cruz , 19, shot and killed 17 people and injured 17 more , armed with at least one AR-15. The dead included students and adults. Cruz was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. "It's a horrific situation. It's just a horrible day for us," Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said. "It's a day that you pray every day that you get up that you will never have to see. It is in front of us, and I ask the community for your prayers, your support for these children and these families." Many of the student survivors became outspoken activists for gun control legislation, launching the March for Our Lives movement . El Paso, August 3, 2019   22 dead, 24 wounded Police have charged 21-year-old Patrick Crusius with capital murder in the shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas on August 3, 2019. At least 22 people were killed and 24 were injured. Police say Crusius, who lived 650 miles away from the Walmart, posted a racist, anti-immigrant manifesto on 8chan, an online message board. It appeared 20 minutes before the attacks, and talks about a "Hispanic invasion of Texas," and turning Texas into a "Democrat stronghold." The shooting is being treated as domestic terrorism and prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty. University of Texas-Austin, August 1, 1966   15 dead, 31 wounded On a hot summer day in 1966, a military-trained sniper shot dozens of people from the observation deck of the University of Texas's main building, known as the Tower. The shooting lasted more than 90 minutes, as officers responding to the attack were forced to move slowly and take cover often. Police got assistance from Texas students, who attempted to pick off the shooter from the ground with hunting rifles, restricting him to shoot through drain spouts for much of the attack. Local police officers stormed the Tower and fatally shot the gunman. The incident spurred the creation of SWAT teams, and has drawn comparisons to the Las Vegas shooting because of the gunman's high vantage point. Read more: A policeman who helped end one of the deadliest school shootings in US history relives the massacre San Bernardino, California, December 2, 2015   14 dead, 22 wounded In 2015, married couple Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik opened fire at Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, where Farook worked as a health inspector. Police said the couple also planted three homemade pipe bombs in the building, though they failed to detonate. The couple fled the scene in a vehicle and were killed by police four hours later. The FBI found that the two US citizens were "homegrown violent extremists" and were inspired by foreign terrorist groups. Edmond, Oklahoma, August 20, 1986   14 dead, 7 wounded Part-time mail carrier Patrick Sherrill shot 21 postal workers, killing 14 of them , at a US Post Office in Edmond, Oklahoma, in 1986. The attack ended when Sherrill fatally shot himself in the head. The gruesome attack was the first of a string of homicides by postal workers between 1986 and 1999, and inspired the expression "going postal." Fort Hood, Texas, November 5, 2009   13 dead, 30 wounded In 2009, Nidal Hasan, a US Army major and psychiatrist, fatally shot 13 people and wounded 30 others at Ford Hood, an army base near Killeen, Texas. It was the deadliest mass shooting to take place on a US military base. A civilian police sergeant shot Hasan, paralyzing him from the waist down and ending the shooting. Hasan was sentenced to death in 2013 and remains in prison to this day. Five years later, in 2014, Fort Hood was the site of a shooting spree that left three people dead and 14 wounded. Thousand Oaks, California, November 7, 2018   13 dead, 18 injured Ian David Long, a 28-year-old Marine Corps veteran, shot and killed 12 people and injured 18 at a country bar in Thousand Oaks, Los Angeles, on November 7, 2018. At about 11 p.m. with a .45-caliber handgun that had been legally purchased , police said he shot a security guard, several employees, then opened fire inside the bar. It was estimated there were between 130 and 180 people in the bar. He also killed a deputy sheriff before he killed himself. Virginia Beach, Virginia, May 31, 2019   12 dead, four wounded Police said public utilities employee DeWayne Craddock, 40, killed 12 people , after he opened fire on multiple levels of a municipal center in Virginia Beach, where he had worked for 15 years. Eleven of the victims were employees. He had a semi-automatic pistol with a sound suppressor, and a rifle, and engaged in a gun fight with police. He was shot dead at the scene. Tree of Life Synagogue, Pittsburgh, October 27, 2018   11 dead, six wounded Armed with an assault rifle and three handguns, police said 46-year-old truck driver Robert Bowers entered the Tree of Life synagogue and killed 11 people on October 27, 2018. When he was arrested, Bowers told officers that " all Jews need to die. " He was a frequent user of a social network called Gab , which attracted people on the right right, where he posted anti-Semitic messages. It is thought to be the deadliest attack on Jewish people in US history . Santa Fe High School, Texas, May 18, 2018   10 dead, 13 injured On a Friday morning, a gunman opened fire at Santa Fe High School in Texas, killing 10 and injuring 13. Authorities charged 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis with capital murder. His trial is still proceeding through the court system. Police said he used a shotgun and a .38-caliber revolver, both legally owned by his father. Police later found a journal that outlined Pagourtzis' plan for his attack and later suicide, but he ended up being taken into custody. Police also discovered four pipe bombs at the high school, and a Molotov cocktail at his house. Dayton, Ohio, August 4, 2019   nine dead, 27 wounded Less than 24 hours after a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, a gunman opened fire at a bar in Dayton, Ohio , in the early hours of Sunday morning. The shooting took place at Ned Peppers Bar, in Dayton's entertainment district, with an assault-style rifle, which could hold 100 rounds , police said. Authorities identified the gunman as 24-year-old Connor Betts from Bellbrook, Ohio. Nine people, including Betts' sister, were killed in the attack. Another 27 were injured. To escape the gunfire, people pushed down gates and were trampled . Dayton's police chief said officers killed Betts within 30 seconds of him beginning to shoot. It's unclear what prompted the shooting.


Preston North End have claimed that there are no offers on the table for any of their players, amid speculation that Norwich City had made a £6m bid for forward Callum Robinson. The forward had been subject of intense speculation; speculation which has now been rubbished by the club. It had been reported by Sky Sports News that a bid had been made for the winger, with Norwich looking to bolster their front line ahead of the new Premier League season. However, Preston have rebuffed these claims. Contrary to reports in the media, Preston North End can confirm that they have no bids on the table for any of their players. #pnefc   Preston North End FC (@pnefc) 29 June 2019 Rumours have been swirling around the player moving to the Premier League for a while, with Aston Villa , Bournemouth and Norwich being the teams linked. Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy heaped praise on the forward recently, claiming that he isn't surprised by interest in the Irishman. "I can see why there'd be Premier League interest. He's been injured as well, he had a bad injury. He's certainly very quick, he can be very direct, he's got a goal in him, he's got two good feet and I think there's improvement in him. He can get better." Robinson was the star man for the Lilywhites last season, helping them to a 14th place finish, scoring 12 goals and providing three assists - despite missing a chunk of the season with injury. The Republic of Ireland international has played 160 games for the club, scoring 41 goals and providing 21 assists. This includes his three loan cameos at Preston from Aston Villa before signing for the club on a permanent deal back in 2016. Preston fans will be desperately hoping that a deal can be negotiated between club and player for a new contract, with the 24-year-old having a hand in just over 20% of their goals scored last season.


Rams running back Todd Gurley doesn't feel like he has to prove he's still highly productive despite the knee injury that impacted the final stretch of his 2018 season, but there are plenty of people who feel otherwise given what we know about his condition. Gurley's ability to put together another big year will be impacted by how well the Rams can block for him during the 2019 season. That's an area where the Rams do have something to prove this year. Guard Rodger Saffold left for Tennessee as a free agent and the team declined center John Sullivan 's option for the coming year. Gurley said he "wouldn't be anywhere" without his former teammates and is "gonna miss" them this year. "Our off days together. It was cool, they taught me so much ," Gurley said, via Rams Wire . "To be able to be with Saffold my three times rushing for 1,000 yards and Sully to expand my brain and make me so much more knowledgeable as a running back and knowing defenses, being in the right position and protection. He taught me so much." Joseph Noteboom is set to step in at left guard and Brian Allen will be at center for the Rams this year. They may not be able to teach Gurley as much as their predecessors, but the existing knowledge base should be fine if the newcomers prove to be capable blockers.


A new Georgian spot has opened for business in the neighborhood. Called Oda House , the new arrival is located at 406 E. 73rd St. on the Upper East Side. Oda House is the creation of Executive Chef Maia Acquaviva, a former plastic surgeon who discovered her passion for cooking after moving to New York City from the Republic of Georgia. In 2013, she opened the original Oda House in Alphabet City, and this second location offers the same menu of authentic Georgian specialties, as well as an extensive list of Georgian wines. Start with a traditional appetizer like chicken or beef soup, blinis with caviar or an assortment of badrijnis, which are fried eggplant rolls stuffed with different savory fillings. For entrees, Oda House offers its baked salmon and mushroom special; chicken, pork, lamb or fish kebabs; roasted Cornish hen with blackberry sauce and Georgian bread; and more. (See the full menu here .) The fresh addition has garnered rave reviews thus far, with a five-star rating out of 23 reviews on Yelp. D M., who was among the first Yelpers to review the new spot on July 2, wrote, "My friend and I had a wonderful birthday dinner here last Saturday night. Service and food were both excellent. After the meal, they poured us glasses of sweet Georgian wine on the house and even comped the cake we ordered for dessert because we were celebrating a birthday." Yelper Allan P. added , "Food is delicious, service is incredibly nice and wine was amazing. This restaurant would be a dream for gourmet people." Head on over to check it out: Oda House is open from 4 11 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, noon 11 p.m. on Friday, 11 a.m. 11 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. 11:30 p.m. on Sunday. Want to keep your finger on the pulse of new businesses in New York City? Here's what else opened recently near you . This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


These dogs were hanging out by a pool on a warm summer day and one of the dogs sitting in the pool wanted to help their friend standing outside it get nice and cool. Adorably, the dog splashed water outside the pool as the other pup ran to catch it.