Aleppo May Be Totally Destroyed in Two Months
Ripped apart by nearly five years of civil war, and a recent upsurge in a Russian bombing campaign, the ancient, and once largest city in Syria, could be totally destroyed in about two months, warns a UN official. [The Atlantic]
Girl Tells Bus Driver Parents Won’t Wake Up. They Allegedly Overdosed
A 7-year-old girl couldn’t wake up her parents for more than a day and eventually told her bus driver. Police later found her parents dead of suspected drug overdoses, and that the girl had three other young siblings in the house, according to the Washington Post. [Washington Post]
The Atlantic Endorses Hillary Clinton for President
For only the third time since it was founded, editors of The Atlantic have endorsed a candidate for president. The first time was in favor of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, the second was then over 104 years later for Lyndon B. Johnson — and now over 50 years later, the publication goes on to make a case for Hillary Clinton. [The Atlantic]
Yahoo Said to Have Adapted Email Scanner to Aid US Surveillance
Yahoo modified its system built to scan emails for spam and child pornography to search for a digital signature associated with a known terror organization, according to a report published by the New York Times. Copies of any incoming emails containing the signature were later made available to the FBI. [New York Times]
The Inside Story Behind an ‘Honor Killing’ in Pakistan
Pakistan has seen a horrifying increase in “honor killings,” where one relative kills another who they believe dishonored the family. Most of the 1,184 victims killed last year were young women. The Associated Press gets inside the mindset of one young man who killed his sister after she married a Christian.
"I could not let it go. It was all I could think about. I had to kill her," he told the AP. "There was no choice." [Associated Press]
Trump Implies His Insulting Comments About Women Were Made for the ‘Purpose of Entertainment’
In a radio interview, Trump attributed his harmful comments about women’s bodies to being in the entertainment business, saying he made many similar comments as the host of "The Apprentice" for “the purpose of entertainment.”
“You’re in the entertainment business,” he said. “You’re doing 'The Apprentice.' You have one of the top shows on television. And you say things differently for a reason.” [New York Magazine]
Donald Trump Was a Plaything for Howard Stern
In a withering and savage retrospective, Politico Magazine looks back on how Donald Trump’s deep-seated need for attention led him onto "The Howard Stern Show", where he uttered countless sexist comments that are now coming back to haunt him. [Politico]
TV Star Salaries Reveal Pay Gap Between White and Minority Actors
Television is noticeably becoming more diverse, however leaked salaries of stars of hit shows, including “Empire” and “The Big Bang Theory,” reveal a pay gap between minority actors and white actors as well as men and women. [Newsweek]
Controversial Blood Testing Company Theranos to Shutter Its Labs
Once worth billions of dollars, blood-testing company Theranos announced Thursday that it will be shuttering its labs and centers and cutting almost half of its staff. The news marks another downfall for the controversial company that NPR says was “once seemed poised to revolutionize the blood-testing industry” until the accuracy of its much-hyped testing methods were brought into question. [NPR]
First U.S. Living Donor Uterus Transplant Performed
Four women, aged 20 to 35 who were each born without a uterus, underwent transplant surgery from living “altruistic” anonymous donors who were between 35 and 60 years old, Slate reports. Three of the surgeries performed in September failed, but the fourth appears to be working — a first in the U.S. [Slate]
A Reporter Goes Inside Trump’s Chinese Tie Factories
Racked reporter Spencer Woodman gains access to the shadowy Chinese factories that churn out the ties that end up in American stores, and found one that produced ties for GOP candidate Donald Trump, whose presidential platform now relies heavily on scorn for companies whose outsourcing is killing American jobs. [Racked]
Theories on Why People Don’t Care About Mike Trout
To call Angels outfielder Mike Trout a good baseball player is a drastic understatement, but to say that several people either haven’t heard of him or don’t care about him very much is pretty accurate. Slate writer and television producer Mike Schur has some theories on why this is the case, which include that Trout plays in Anaheim, that he has a pretty boring personal life and that baseball just isn’t that good at producing superstars. [Slate]
How a Bride’s Sister Lost Her Wedding Dress
Don’t worry, this essay by Laura Turner has a happy ending. Though the loss of a beautiful dress is sad, lifting the burden of carrying a relic for the rest of your life is actually quite liberating, the author learns. [Racked]
This column was compiled by DNAinfo reporters Nicole Bode, Carolina Pichardo, Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska, Nikhita Venugopal, Shaye Weaver, Noah Hurowitz, Gwynne Hogan, Allegra Hobbs, Eddie Small, Irene Plagianos, Dartunorro Clark, Jeanmarie Evelly and Emily Frost.
