Author: CNN

CNN
 — 

Here’s a look at the life of comedian and actor Bill Cosby.

Birth date: July 12, 1937

Birth place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Birth name: William Henry Cosby Jr.

Father: William Henry Sr., US Navy mess steward

Mother: Anna (Hite) Cosby

Marriage: Camille (Hanks) Cosby (January 25, 1964-present)

Children: Evin, 1976; Ensa, 1973-2018; Ennis, 1969-1997; Erinn, 1966; Erika, 1965

Education: Attended Temple University, 1961-1962; University of Massachusetts at Amherst, M.A, 1972; University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Ed.D, 1977

Military service: US Navy, 1956-1960

More than 50 women have publicly accused Cosby of raping or assaulting them over the past 40 years. The comedian vehemently denied any wrongdoing. In April 2018, after two trials, Cosby was convicted of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in a Philadelphia suburb in 2004. After appeal, his conviction was overturned based on violation of his right to due process.

Many organizations, including educational, advertising and media, have either rescinded awards and honors, or scrubbed Cosby’s name from their websites.

Television spokesman for Jell-O for more than 25 years, beginning in 1974.

All of his children were given names beginning with an E, to represent excellence.

Nominated for 17 Grammy Awards and has won nine.

Nominated for eight Primetime Emmy Awards and won four.

1956 – Drops out of high school and enlists in the US Navy. During his time in the Navy, Cosby earns his high school diploma through a correspondence course.

1961 – Wins a track and field scholarship to Temple University. While at school, he gets his first job telling jokes while tending bar.

1962 – Leaves school and moves to New York City to work as a comedian at the Gaslight Café.

1963 – The album “Bill Cosby Is a Very Funny Fellow … Right!” is released.

1964 – The album “I Started Out as a Child” is released.

April 13, 1965 – Wins a Grammy for Best Comedy Performance for “I Started Out as a Child.”

1965-1968 – Plays Alexander Scott, an undercover CIA agent, on the NBC show “I Spy.”

1966-1968 – Wins three Best Actor Primetime Emmy Awards in a row for “I Spy.”

June 8, 1969 – Wins an Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety or Musical Program for “The Bill Cosby Special.”

1969-1971 – Plays Chet Kincaid, a physical education teacher, on the NBC program, “The Bill Cosby Show.”

1972-1984 – “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids,” an animated show created by Cosby, runs on television.

September 20, 1984 – “The Cosby Show” debuts on NBC. Cosby plays Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable.

1984-1992 – “The Cosby Show” runs on NBC.

October 3, 1992 – Is inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame. In 2018, the Academy removes all references to Cosby from their list of honorees.

1996-2000 – Stars on the television sitcom “Cosby.”

January 16, 1997 – Cosby’s only son, Ennis, is robbed and murdered on a Los Angeles highway after he stops to fix a flat tire.

July 1997 – Autumn Jackson, who claimed to be Cosby’s illegitimate daughter, is found guilty of attempting to extort $40 million dollars from him. She is later sentenced to 26 months in prison.

July 1998 – Mikhail Markhasev is convicted of Ennis Cosby’s murder. A month later he is sentenced to life in prison.

December 6, 1998 – Receives the Kennedy Center Honors. The Kennedy Center rescinds the honors in 2018.

July 9, 2002 – Is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

2003 – Receives the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the Emmy Awards.

January 2005 – Constand, a former Temple University employee, alleges that Cosby drugged and fondled her in January 2004. In February, authorities announce that Cosby will not be charged in the Constand case, citing insufficient evidence. Constand files a civil suit against Cosby in March. They settle out of court for $3.38 million, and the case is dismissed in November 2006.

October 26, 2009 – Is awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. The prize is rescinded in 2018.

November 23, 2013 – Cosby’s first television comedy special in 30 years airs on Comedy Central.

November 14, 2014 – CNN interviews Barbara Bowman, who alleges that Cosby assaulted her a number of times. Cosby’s attorney, John Schmitt, states that the allegations are “decade-old” and “discredited.”

November 17, 2014 – Journalist and publicist Joan Tarshis tells CNN that Cosby sexually assaulted her 45 years ago, when she was a teenager. Tarshis joins a handful of women who have accused Cosby of sexual assault – allegations the comedian’s attorneys have repeatedly said are untrue.

November 18, 2014 – Former supermodel Janice Dickinson accuses Cosby of sexual assault, telling “Entertainment Tonight” in an interview that the comedian raped her. Cosby’s attorney Martin Singer calls Dickinson’s story “a lie” and says it contradicts her own autobiography and a 2002 New York Observer interview.

November 26, 2014 – Cosby’s alma mater, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, cuts ties with the comedian, stating, “Bill Cosby has agreed to resign as an honorary co-chair of UMass Amherst’s capital campaign. He no longer has any affiliation with the campaign nor does he serve in any other capacity for the university.”

December 1, 2014 – Cosby resigns from Temple University’s board of trustees, a position that he has held for 32 years.

December 2, 2014 – Judy Huth files a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging that Cosby sexually assaulted her in 1974, when she was 15 years old. (The timeline is later revised to 1975, when Huth was 16.) In a pleading, Singer writes that Huth’s claims are “absolutely false.” He accuses her of engaging in extortion after Cosby rejected her “outrageous demand for money in order not to make her allegations public.”

December 4, 2014 – The Navy revokes Cosby’s title of honorary chief petty officer.

December 10, 2014 – Tamara Green, who has accused Cosby of sexually assaulting her in 1970, files a defamation lawsuit against Cosby in federal court, claiming she was called a liar after coming forward with allegations. Within a year, six additional accusers join in the lawsuit.

December 16, 2014 – Citing the statute of limitations, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office declines to charge Cosby regarding Huth’s 1970s sexual assault allegation.

January 2015 – Linda Traitz tells CNN that she and fellow accuser Therese Serignese are joining Green’s defamation lawsuit against Cosby..

February 12, 2015 – Two more women accuse Cosby of sexual assault.

May 20, 2015 – Dickinson sues Cosby for defamation.

July 6, 2015 – Newly unsealed documents reveal Cosby has admitted to getting prescription Quaaludes to give to women he wanted to have sex with. The documents, dating back to 2005, stem from a civil lawsuit filed by Constand.

July 25, 2015 – Spelman College, a historically black women’s school in Atlanta, announces it has officially terminated a professorship endowed by Cosby and his wife Camille.

December 14, 2015 – Cosby countersues seven women who are suing him for defamation in federal court, claiming they actually defamed him. Cosby is seeking unspecified damages and public retractions from seven women: Green, Serignese, Traitz, Bowman, Tarshis, Louisa Moritz and Angela Leslie.

December 21, 2015 – Cosby sues model Beverly Johnson for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He claims that she falsely accused him of attempted rape.

December 30, 2015 – Cosby is charged in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, with three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault in the case of Constand, who accused the TV star of assaulting her in 2004.

January 6, 2016 – The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office announces that Cosby won’t be charged in two cases. According to a charge evaluation sheet, prosecutors think neither of the two allegations could have resulted in charges within the statute of limitations.

February 19, 2016 – Cosby’s defamation lawsuit against Johnson is voluntarily dismissed.

May 16, 2016 – A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court accuses Hugh Hefner of conspiring with Cosby in 2008 to commit sexual battery of a minor. The plaintiff, Chloe Goins, claims that Hefner “knew or should have known that Defendant Cosby….had a propensity for intoxicating and or drugging young women and taking advantage of them sexually…while they were unconscious.”

May 24, 2016 – The criminal case against Cosby in Pennsylvania is on track to go to trial, after a judge rules that there is sufficient evidence against the entertainer.

December 5, 2016 – A judge rules that Cosby’s 11-year-old deposition – in which he admitted to extramarital affairs and giving some women drugs in order to have sex with them – is admissible in his upcoming criminal trial in 2017.

December 13-14, 2016 – A pre-trial hearing is held to determine whether the testimony of 13 women who say Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted them from 1964 to 2002 may be included as evidence in his criminal case.

February 16, 2017 – A federal judge in Massachusetts dismisses a defamation lawsuit against Cosby by Katherine McKee, an actress who claimed he raped her in 1974, according to court documents.

May 16, 2017 – In an interview with Michael Smerconish on the SiriusXM POTUS channel, Cosby says that he does not plan to testify on his own behalf during his upcoming assault trial.

June 17, 2017 – After six days and more than 53 hours of jury deliberations, Cosby’s aggravated indecent assault case ends in a mistrial after a Pennsylvania jury of seven men and five women are unable to come to a unanimous decision. Prosecutors immediately announce they will retry the case.

January 22, 2018 – Cosby performs at the LaRose Jazz Club in Philadelphia. This is his first stand-up event since May 2015.

February 23, 2018 – Cosby’s daughter Ensa, 44, dies of renal disease.

March 15, 2018 – A Pennsylvania judge rules that five women will be allowed to testify during the comedian’s new trial for allegedly assaulting Constand in 2004. Prosecutors wanted 19 accusers to take the witness stand but the judge said that they could choose five out of the group. During the first trial, just one other accuser was allowed to testify against the comedian.

April 5, 2018 – The jury is seated in Cosby’s new trial, with seven men and five women.

April 26, 2018 – Cosby is convicted on all three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Constand in 2004.

September 25, 2018 – Cosby is sentenced to 3-10 years in state prison for aggravated indecent assault. The following day, Cosby arrives at SCI Phoenix prison in Pennsylvania.

January 28, 2019 – Cosby enters the prison general population and is housed in a cell by himself, which a spokeswoman says is typical for the facility. He is listed as Inmate Number NN7687.

April 5, 2019 – A settlement is reached in the defamation case against Cosby involving seven women who accused him of sexual misconduct. Cosby’s spokesman, however, says his client did not authorize the settlement, which was negotiated between the plaintiffs and the insurance company, American International Group (AIG).

April 16, 2019 – In a statement, Cosby rails against insurance company AIG for an “unauthorized settlement” regarding Goins’ sexual battery lawsuit.

April 2019 – Cosby challenges an arbitration decision that mandated he pay $6.7 million in legal fees – $4.3 million of which had already been paid, $2 million by Cosby and $2.3 million by his insurer, AIG. $2.4 million remains to be paid. Originally, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan was requesting more than $9 million for its total bill, but that amount was trimmed during arbitration.

May 31, 2019 – Cosby withdraws his countersuit against the seven women who sued him for defamation in federal court.

June 25, 2019 – Cosby files an appeal of his criminal conviction, arguing that the trial was flawed because the testimony of five accusers was “strikingly dissimilar” to that of Constand.

July 25, 2019 – Dickinson’s attorney announces that they have reached a “very large settlement” with Cosby’s insurance company in Dickinson’s defamation case. Cosby’s spokesman says the insurance company settled the lawsuit despite Cosby’s objections.

September 20, 2019 – A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge sides with law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, ruling that Cosby must pay $2.74 million for unpaid compensation, interest and arbitration fees.

November 24, 2019 – In his first interview since he was sentenced to prison for sexual assault, Cosby says he doesn’t expect to express remorse when it comes time for his parole. Cosby gave National Newspaper Publishers Association’s BlackPressUSA.com the exclusive interview from SCI Phoenix, a state prison near Collegeville, Pennsylvania.

December 10, 2019 – A Pennsylvania appeals court upholds Cosby’s sexual assault conviction and rejects his argument that the case was wrongly decided against him.

June 23, 2020 – Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court rules that Cosby is allowed to appeal two key issues in his 2018 conviction on sexual assault charges. The ruling grants Cosby the ability to appeal two issues in the case. One issue focuses on the “prior bad act” witnesses who testified about alleged assaults that were not part of the charges, and the second focuses on the prior district attorney’s decision not to charge Cosby a decade ago.

May 27, 2021 – Cosby is denied parole by the Pennsylvania Parole Board, according to a May 11 letter from the board obtained by CNN. The board cites his “failure to develop a parole release plan” and a “negative recommendation by the Department of Corrections” as factors that contributed to the decision.

June 30, 2021 – Cosby is released from prison after the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania vacates his 2018 conviction on sexual assault charges and judgment of sentence. The court rules in its opinion that his due process rights were violated when Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor’s decision to not prosecute him in return for his deposition in a 2005 civil case was used against him at trial. The decision cannot be appealed by the prosecution in the state of Pennsylvania.

March 7, 2022 – The Supreme Court leaves in place an opinion by Pennsylvania’s highest court that overturned comedian Cosby’s sexual assault conviction, rejecting a bid from Pennsylvania prosecutors to review the decision.

June 21, 2022 – A Los Angeles jury finds Cosby liable in the civil case brought by Huth in 2014, a woman who claimed he sexually assaulted her as a teenager in the 1970s. The jury, comprised of eight women and four men, awards Huth $500,000 in damages.

December 30, 2022 – A woman who says she was sexually assaulted by Cosby sues him for sexual battery after five other women sued him in early December under the New York Adult Survivors Act. The lawsuit, filed in New York’s Supreme Court, alleges plaintiff Stacey Pinkerton was sexually assaulted by Cosby in 1986 when she was 21 years old.

June 14, 2023 – Nine women who have accused Cosby of sexual abuse in the past file a new lawsuit asking for a jury trial against the comedian in Nevada.

November 20, 2023 – Joan Tarshis, who previously accused Cosby of sexual assault in 2014, files a lawsuit against him under a New York law that’s set to expire this week. The lawsuit accuses Cosby of battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and false imprisonment. Tarshis is seeking unspecified damages.

In the first release of Hamas’ hostages held in Gaza, scheduled for Friday afternoon local time, 13 women and children will be freed, according to a spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry, Majed Al-Ansari.

Al-Ansari could not provide details on who the hostages are, nor could he provide details on the route they might take due to safety reasons. However, many of the first 50 hostages are expected to come out through Egypt.

The Israeli government said their families and the families of hostages who will not be released had been notified. Al-Ansari also revealed that hostages from the same families will be released together in the first group.

Meanwhile, an Israeli official tells CNN a total of 39 Palestinian prisoners will be released Friday as part of the deal.

The prisoners will be taken from two jails — Damon and Megiddo, both southeast of Haifa — and driven to the Ofer prison, south of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, for final checks by the Red Cross.

Women and male teenagers up to the age of 18 are expected to make up the released prisoners.

The timing of the release is unclear, but the Israeli official said the prisoners would not be freed until the hostages from Gaza are back in Israeli hands.

Here’s what else you should know this Thursday:

Two more months of fighting: Israel’s defense minister says he expects the military operation against Hamas will continue “forcefully” after the brief truce, for at least two months.

No names of Palestinian prisoners: A Palestinian official told CNN he has not yet received a list of names of those expected to be released from Israeli prisons on Friday.

Biden hopeful 3-year-old American freed: US President Joe Biden said he has his “fingers crossed” that a 3-year-old American girl held hostage by Hamas will be freed on Friday. But he said he will not provide further updates until the deal is finished.

US will contact American hostage families: The US will contact family members of American hostages who are freed from Gaza “after we have confirmation they are departing Gaza,” a US official said.

Hezbollah fires rockets at Israel: Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired 48 rockets at the headquarters of an Israeli infantry unit at Ein Zeitim military base earlier Thursday. In a statement, Hezbollah said it also fired a guided missile at Israeli Merkava tanks located near Al-Raheb, near the Israeli town of Shtula, and targeted Israeli infantry forces in the area.

The Israel Defense Forces said it “intercepted a number of the launches,” and later confirmed that it used helicopters and fighter jets to strike Hezbollah infrastructure and rocket launch sites in Lebanon, in response to the militant group’s attacks.

Medical aid group says 80 aid trucks entered Gaza from Egypt: The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says it received 80 trucks that entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing on Thursday. The trucks brought food, water, medical equipment, medications and general relief equipment into Gaza, the PRCS said.

A large convoy of aid trucks is lined up at the Rafah border crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border — on standby for when a pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas begins. The United Nations anticipates that aid trucks will move into the strip “immediately” after the Israel-Hamas truce commences, an official told CNN on Thursday.  

CNN
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Computer glitches. Air traffic controller shortages. Awful weather. Holiday crunches. So many things can cause a flight to be delayed or canceled.

It’s no wonder travelers are wary about making it to their destinations on time – or at all. (And even if they make it, their lost luggage might not).

A storm this week is snarling some Thanksgiving travel, which is expected to be the busiest in many years for air travel.

Here’s some general advice for navigating a very complicated and frustrating system when flights are delayed or canceled.

Days ahead of the now-infamous December 2022 bomb cyclone, many US airlines offered their passengers a chance to change their flights for no fee.

When you know a major weather event is forecast, hop on those waiver offers quickly, said Scott Keyes, the founder of Going.com. The early birds have the best choices of the remaining worms (that is seats and flights).

As bad as it is to find out your flight has been delayed for a long time, or worse, canceled, it’s better to find out from the comfort of home or a hotel room and make new arrangements from there.

“Check your flight status before you go the airport. Most of these notifications are not happening at the last minute,” said Keyes. “Save yourself the drive to the airport.”

Keyes told CNN Travel in an interview that you should sign up for airlines’ free text alerts on the status of flights when you buy your ticket. You should also download your carrier’s app.

You can also put your airline and flight number directly into a Google search bar to retrieve the status that way. That’s also handy for friends or family who are on standby to pick you up.

Keyes also suggested checking the website FlightAware to track larger flight trends across the country.

Sometimes, the delays and cancellations happen after you’ve arrived at the airport. Once the bad news has been delivered, what should you do?

Keyes said to head as fast as you can to the airline agents’ desk – and get ready to multitask while you’re in line.

Fast is a key word here. “It’s going to make a difference who arrives first. It’s first-come, first-serve. Positioning yourself close to the desk can pay off,” Keyes said.

Then you might want to call up your carrier while you’re waiting. Depending on your spot in line, it might be faster to get through to a call center. “Whatever happens first, great,” he said.

Calls to US domestic numbers might have really long waits. Keyes suggested trying an international call center for your carrier instead.

“Most US-based travelers aren’t thinking to call the Canadian help line for Delta. You might get through to an agent much quicker. They can all handle your reservations just the same.”

You can also use a self-serve kiosk, American Airlines says. “Scan your boarding pass or enter your record locator to see your updated trip details. From there you can also switch your flight and print your new boarding passes.”

The travel advice website Travel Lens suggests using social media to your advantage.

“Not all customer service teams are as helpful as they should be and getting in touch with them via a phone call isn’t always easy,” it told CNN Travel in an email.

“Airlines value their reputation on social media and platforms like Twitter are a great way to get in contact with an employee. If you do use Twitter to reach out, then it’s important to remain polite and calm as this will work in your favor.”

Attitude and research matter

Whether you’re dealing with an agent in person or over the phone, how you approach things can make a big difference. That starts with attitude.

“Honey attracts more flies than vinegar,” Keyes said. “Look at this from the airline agents’ perspective. They’ve been dealing with irate customers really since the pandemic began. The agent is the one who has the most ability to help you.

“Asking nicely and sympathetically is far more likely to get what you want than being a jerk about it.”

He had another tip when it’s your turn to talk to an agent about making new arrangements: “Come prepared to offer your own options already. Doing your own research is absolutely helpful.”

Your agent can expedite things if you’ve already looked up new routes and possible suggestions while you’ve been waiting. Be ready to explain what you want.

If you’ve booked through Expedia or another third-party site, you’ll have to deal through them when there’s a cancellation.

If the price is the same, Keyes suggested you book directly with the airline. In case something goes wrong, “it makes it much more complicated with multiple sets of policies” when you booked via a third party.

US PIRG, a consumer advocacy group, suggests you avoid layovers when booking if possible. The more times you stop, the more chances for something to go wrong.

The group also backs up the advice from Keyes to be nice and polite to agents but also says consumers should be persistent in trying to get the situation resolved satisfactorily.

“The chances of getting a refund are high when it comes to canceled flights due to reasons other than weather. Airlines, however, will typically try to reroute passengers to other airlines first. If this is the case, we recommend calling the airline’s customer support line directly to explore all your options, instead of waiting in long lines for gate agents to help,” said Jeff Klee, the CEO of CheapAir.com, in an email.

Cooperation between airlines could work in your favor.

“When flights are canceled, many airlines have the option of putting you on another carrier’s flight because they have interline agreements,” Lousson Smith, product operations specialist at Going.com, told CNN Travel.

“This means, for example, if Delta is having service interruptions but American is running a flight to your destination, you may be able to get on that flight.”

“If you elect not to be accommodated on a later flight and you book a new ticket out of your own pocket, you are entitled to a cash refund, though that may not help you get to where you need to go,” Smith said. “As we all know, last-minute flights are very expensive.”

What do you do if it looks like you’re not going to be able to fly out until the next day and you’re not in your home city?

“Ask the airline to put you up in a hotel or give you a hotel voucher. They might do it; they might not. It’s not required by law,” Keyes said.

They’re less likely to do it if it’s weather related, he said, than if the problem is a mechanical issue with the plane or staffing issues.

Many airlines have committed to offering meal and hotel vouchers in certain cases. The US Department of Transportation has a dashboard that tracks those commitments.

What you might get depends on the airline itself and the specific circumstances on why a flight was canceled.

Get to know policies. For instance, Delta Air Lines says it will provide a hotel voucher in some circumstances when the delay is between 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Whatever you do, at least ask, Keyes said. A voucher for hotels and even ground transport and meals aren’t likely to just be offered.

Also, your credit card could be your friend in this situation.

“The good news is that many credit cards offer travel protections such as reimbursement if a flight cancellation forces you to get a hotel, meals, etc.” Smith said. “These travel protections are typically included automatically as long as you used the card to pay for your flight. Google your credit card plus travel protections to see what specific offerings your card carries.”

If your flight is delayed instead of outright canceled, you might want to weigh whether to wait at the airport. Depending your personal circumstances, hunkering down there for five or six hours might be easier than going to and from a hotel. Also, Keyes said, check whether there is a hotel within the airport.

The Points Guy advises trying to get into an airport lounge if you can, where you can recharge your phone and rest more easily.

Stay safe. If extreme weather is causing air travel disruption, trying to make the journey by road could be hazardous. Frustrating though it is to stay put, it’s always better to arrive late than not at all.

Travel insurance and receipts

Consider buying travel insurance, advises Airport Parking Reservations in an email to CNN Travel.

It said “most travel insurance policies provide additional cover for travel uncertainty. Additional [coverage] usually becomes applicable if your flight is postponed by more than 12 hours due to a strike, adverse weather or a mechanical breakdown.”

The site also advises that you keep any receipts of airport purchases. You can try to get the money back from the airline later.

But keep it to the basics. “Airlines only pay for ‘reasonable’ expenses though, so you are unlikely to get money back for purchases such as alcohol, expensive meals or extravagant hotels. “

The US Department of Transportation says you are entitled to a refund of your ticket cost because of a cancellation or “significant delay” and you choose not to travel.

This is the policy regardless of the reason the airline cancels or delays the flight. However, what constitutes a “significant delay” remains open to interpretation.

According to the DOT website, “it has not specifically defined what constitutes a ‘significant delay.’ Whether you are entitled to a refund depends on many factors – including the length of the delay, the length of the flight, and your particular circumstances. DOT determines whether you are entitled to a refund following a significant delay on a case-by-case basis.”

Tomasz Pawliszyn, CEO of AirHelp, said in an email to CNN Travel that flyers should try to avoid vouchers.

“If travelers are denied boarding, they should not volunteer their seat in exchange for perks or a voucher. If they do, they could be giving up their right to any additional compensation,” Pawliszyn said. “Of course, if the airline makes a compelling enough offer, they may prefer to take it.”

There is no indication of terrorism after an explosion killed two people in a car that crashed at the US-Canada Rainbow Bridge border crossing on Wednesday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said.

All four bridges between Canada and the United States near Niagara Falls were closed immediately after the incident, according to the governor. The Peace, Whirlpool and Lewiston-Queenston bridges reopened later Wednesday, while the Rainbow Bridge remained closed, she said.

Here’s what we know:

High-speed vehicle: Investigators believe a man was traveling with his wife in a 2022 Bentley at a high rate of speed when the vehicle hit a curb, then a guardrail that sent the vehicle airborne into the secondary screening area of Rainbow Bridge, law enforcement sources told CNN. The man had plans to attend a KISS concert in Canada but when that was canceled, the man went to a casino in the US instead, investigators believe. The crash occurred sometime after the couple left the casino, law enforcement sources said. Footage on social media and from surveillance cameras shows the remains strewn about with thick smoke and fire billowing. A border patrol employee in a booth also suffered minor injuries, Hochul said.

Leaders briefed: The leaders of both the United States and Canada were briefed on the incident. “We didn’t know if it was a terrorist attack or not at the beginning,” Erie County Sheriff John Garcia said. “However, every precaution … was taken to ensure the safety of the community.” He described the crash as a “tragic accident.”

Travel headaches: The explosion on the eve of the US Thanksgiving holiday led to closures and delays on a busy travel day. International flights in and out of Buffalo Niagara International Airport were briefly halted while other travelers there were warned they could expect additional screening.

This post has been updated with the latest information on the driver.

After the expected release of the women and children hostages held by Hamas begins, focus will turn to other groups being held in the Gaza Strip that are expected to be more difficult to negotiate their release, sources say. 

Women and children have been the first priority to get released and if that is successful, it will leave men, Israeli soldiers and the remains of those killed — either bodies taken into Gaza on October 7 or those who were killed after.

It’s believed there are 236 hostages being held in Gaza. All 50 expected to be released in the first phase are Israeli women and children, some of whom also have other nationalities besides Israeli. 

A source familiar with the negotiations said US and Israeli officials viewed elderly men as being the next category of people that could be easiest to get out of Gaza, followed by foreign national men.

Both female and male soldiers were considered the hardest to negotiate out of Gaza, the source added. In addition, the parties would also need to work toward retrieving the bodies of those killed that Hamas is believed to be holding. 

The negotiation for those categories hasn’t started in earnest yet, the source said.

As a result of the complexity for the remaining hostages, another source familiar with the discussions confirmed that the others have not been part of the immediate conversations and therefore are on something of a separate track. 

Another complicating factor in the case of many of those who would remain, the person added, is that they’re not in Hamas custody but with other groups and individuals.

Israeli soldiers held hostage could give Hamas huge leverage in negotiations. In 2011, Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was exchanged for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners after years of negotiations. 

Following mandatory Israeli military service for both men and women, most Israelis become reservists and according to a person familiar with the talks, Hamas had initially wanted to consider the women hostages under 45 years old to be as soldiers as well.

Israel refused, another source familiar with the discussions said both sides ended up agreeing that only those women in uniform when they were abducted will be considered soldiers. 

Aside from Israelis, there are kidnapped nationals from other countries, like Thailand and Nepal, whose countries have been in contact with Qatar since Qatari mediators have been a main point of contact with Hamas, a person familiar with the discussions says. 

Israel’s military released security video from Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital that they claimed showed Hamas militants bringing one Thai and one Nepali hostage to the hospital, one of them bleeding on a stretcher.

Editor’s Note: Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel’s weekly newsletter. Get the latest news in aviation, food and drink, where to stay and other travel developments.

CNN
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They had signed up for the experience of a lifetime: three years traveling the world from the comfort of a cruise ship, at prices that rivaled regular living expenses.

But now the dream is over for passengers who’d signed up for Life at Sea Cruises’ inaugural three-year voyage. After weeks of silence, the company has acknowledged to passengers that it has no ship, and has canceled the departure, vowing to refund those who’d signed up for cruises costing up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The cruise was originally due to depart Istanbul, Turkey, on November 1, but shortly before that date, departure was postponed to November 11 and relocated to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and then to November 30, again from Amsterdam. But on November 17 – less than two weeks before the third departure date – passengers were informed the cruise was off.

Some of the passengers who booked the 111 cabins sold are still in Istanbul, having made their way there ahead of the original departure date. Others say they have nowhere to return to, having sold or rented out their homes in anticipation of the round-the-world voyage, as well as jettisoning their possessions.

Most have spent tens of thousands of dollars on what was meant to be the experience of a lifetime, and now face a wait of at least several months to get their money back. The company has said it will make repayments in monthly installments, starting from mid-December and completing repayments in late February. It has also offered to pay for accommodation until December 1 and flights home for anyone now stranded in Istanbul. But some say they have no homes to return to.

“There’s a whole lot of people right now with nowhere to go, and some need their refund to even plan a place to go – it’s not good right now,” said one passenger, who wished to remain anonymous until they get their promised refund.

Life at Sea Cruises had been planning to buy the AIDAaura, a ship retired this summer by AIDA Cruises, a German subsidiary of Carnival Corp. It was due to be rechristened as the MV Lara. The company had originally slated the sale to go through by the end of September, before working on the ship in dry dock in Germany, then renovating it before sailing to Istanbul to start the cruise.

But after six weeks of uncertainty, during which Life at Sea repeatedly told guests that the sale was taking longer than planned, on November 16 another company, Celestyal Cruises, announced that it had bought the AIDAaura.

A day later, Life at Sea’s former CEO Kendra Holmes – who had resigned days earlier and said she was not speaking on behalf of the parent company, Miray Cruises – recorded a 15-minute video for passengers, admitting that the cruise would not be going ahead. It’s unclear why Holmes was chosen to make the announcement, which was provided to CNN by a passenger. She has declined to comment to CNN.

Forty eight hours after Holmes’ video, passengers received a message from Vedat Ugurlu, the owner of Miray Cruises, which owns Life at Sea. Declaring himself “extremely sorry for the inconvenience,” he confirmed the cruise would not be departing as planned. The reason: they couldn’t afford the ship.

In his message, Ugurlu claimed that “Miray is not such a big company to afford to pay 40-50 million for a ship,” but that it had “presented the project to investors, and had official approval from some of them to buy the vessel.”

He said that while the company had made the down payment for the ship, the investors “declined to support us further due to unrest in the Middle East.”

Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, a week after the ship’s sale was originally supposed to have concluded. Life at Sea didn’t respond to a query about what prior unrest they were referring to that could have impeded the completion of the transaction.

Ugurlu also told passengers that day that the company then tried and failed to buy another ship, and that it was working on a third.

“If we will not be able to sail on December 1, we will offer you to sail on another departure date or refund all the payments within a short schedule,” he wrote. “We have tried everything to make your dreams come true and we will continue to do so.”

He added that the company could, in theory, launch the cruise on the MV Gemini, Miray’s smaller ship which it had originally planned for the voyage, before deciding it was too small.

“We choose not to because we have promised you a larger, newer vessel,” he wrote. The Gemini is at the heart of a defamation lawsuit brought by Miray against former managing director of Life at Sea Cruises, Mikael Petterson, who was one of several employees to split from the team in May. The lawsuit states that Petterson called the ship “unseaworthy” – a claim that Miray vehemently denied.

Ups and downs

Just a day after Ugurlu’s glimmer of hope, another staff member of Life at Sea, Chief Operating Officer Ethem Bayramoglu messaged passengers to confirm that the cruise was off. “In case we weren’t clear, the Life at Sea cruise trip is canceled,” Bayramoglu wrote, giving instructions on the refund process, and how passengers can retrieve “pods” full of their belongings – which they’d shipped in advance of the cruise.

Yet at the same time, Bayramoglu added, the company “intend[s] to honor our commitments.”

“Although we are all disappointed and frustrated that we didn’t sail this time, it is important to us that you feel positive overall about your experience with us,” the message reads. “Vedat in particular is still hopeful that Miray will someday soon have an option for you to consider.”

Bayramoglu subsequently met with stranded passengers in Istanbul to help plan their returns home.

Would-be cruisers – who wanted to remain anonymous until their refunds come through – have told CNN of their shock and dismay that the trip has been canceled. Some had sold their homes or wound up businesses to join the cruise.

“I’m very sad, angry and lost,” said one. “I had the next three years of my life planned to live an extraordinary life, and now [I have] nothing. I’m having a hard time moving forward.

“I was proud and feeling brave, now I don’t trust anyone or anything. I know it’ll work out and life will go on, but I’m uncertain of the direction.”

Another said they felt “incredibly sad and incredibly betrayed.”

“The company seems to have no consideration about what they’ve done to our lives,” they said.

“I never imagined I’d be in this position as a senior citizen.”

They also lamented the loss of community that had been built in the run-up to the cruise: “I was looking forward to building friendships – that’s what made it different from a regular cruise. We were all of the same mindset and all started with the same thing in common.”

A third, speaking just before the cruise was confirmed as canceled, said they were feeling “let down, deceived and betrayed.”

In the meantime, Life at Sea’s erstwhile CEO, Kendra Holmes, who resigned last week, claims she’s planning to offer a new long-term cruise with a different company.

In her 15-minute video address to Life at Sea passengers on Friday – despite having already resigned from the company – she solicited interest in a long-term, round-the-world cruise offered by a new company that she’ll be working with, which she named as HLC Cruises.

Holmes didn’t respond to questions from CNN, but a spokesperson for HLC Cruises, who said they were on the company board, confirmed Holmes was the company’s new CEO and told CNN: “We have nothing to do with Life at Sea, we do not want our name to be associated with them, but we are working on something and are trying to help people who are left without homes if we can.” Its website currently advertises “boutique cruise liners” selling duty free gold bullion, diamonds and gems onboard.

Holmes told stranded Life at Sea passengers that if 60 or 70 of them “transferred” to the new company, they would be able to “get something going” by the first week of December, and already had approval from the HLC board to do so.

The company would get a temporary ship to sail for three or four months, she said, while purchasing a permanent vessel for a longer voyage to start next year. If Life at Sea passengers didn’t take up the offer, she said, they’d also be looking to launch a long-term cruise in October 2024.

“There’s a lot of ships out there so we’ll get something in place probably early next week then start looking for a permanent vessel,” she said on November 17 – before updating them via social media 72 hours later that the offer of a temporary cruise was, in fact, off, and that HLC was “targeting an official start date sometime in March.”

“People got their hopes up once again only to be dashed a few days later – I’m surprised no one in the group has had a heart attack,” said one would-be passenger.

Meanwhile, Villa Vie Residences – the company set up by Petterson and the other former Life at Sea staffers who left in May to start their own rival business – is promising low deposits and guaranteed introductory rates for anyone who wants to join them. They do not as yet have a ship or a launch date, either.

Life at Sea Cruises and Miray Cruises did not respond to specific questions from CNN, but sent a statement from Ugurlu addressed to passengers citing “investor withdrawal” causing “challenges” to the project. The letter was sent to CNN November 21 and spoke about a potential upcoming cruise date – despite the cruise having already been canceled.

“While we’re in talks to acquire a similar vessel, if the December 1 sail is jeopardized, we offer alternative departure dates or expedited refunds,” said the statement, which went on to describe the refund process.

“As we navigate these challenges, we are actively working on creating alternative plans for the future, ensuring an unforgettable experience for our valued community,” it concluded.

“I regret any inconvenience and assure you of our commitment.”

One passenger from the failed cruise, however, is feeling more than inconvenienced.

“I’m in a state of disbelief that they’ve done this to us,” they said, adding that staff had started out “eager and confident, and then the past few months just slowly disappeared.”

“I can’t even begin to wrap my head around the disappointment of losing this opportunity,” they said.

“I don’t think they will ever understand how much damage they’ve caused us.”

Editor’s Note: Sign up for CNN’s Eat, But Better: Mediterranean Style. Our eight-part guide shows you a delicious expert-backed eating lifestyle that will boost your health for life.

CNN
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Children and teens in the United States now get more than two-thirds of their calories from ultraprocessed foods, an analysis of almost two decades worth of data has found.

Ultraprocessed foods – such as frozen pizza, microwave meals, packaged snacks and desserts – accounted for 67% of calories consumed in 2018, up from 61% in 1999, according to research published in the medical journal JAMA Tuesday. The study analyzed the diet of 33,795 children and adolescents nationwide.

While industrial processing can keep food fresher longer and allow some foods to be fortified with vitamins, it modifies food to change its consistency, taste and color to make it more palatable, cheap and convenient – using processes that aren’t used in home-cooked meals. They are also aggressively marketed by the food industry.

“Some whole grain breads and dairy foods are ultra-processed, and they’re healthier than other ultra-processed foods,” said senior author Fang Fang Zhang, a nutrition and cancer epidemiologist at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston.

“But many ultra-processed foods are less healthy, with more sugar and salt, and less fiber, than unprocessed and minimally processed foods, and the increase in their consumption by children and teenagers is concerning.”

The information on children’s diets used in the study was collected annually by trained interviewers who asked the children or an adult acting on their behalf to detail what they had eaten in the preceding 24 hours. The information was gathered as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Between 1999 and 2018, the proportion of healthier unprocessed or minimally processed foods decreased from 28.8% to 23.5% of consumed calories, the study found.

The remaining percentage of calories came from moderately processed foods such as cheese and canned fruits and vegetables, and flavor enhancers such as sugar, honey, maple syrup and butter, the study said.

The biggest increase in calories came from ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat meals such as takeout and frozen pizza and burgers: from 2.2% to 11.2% of calories, according to the study. The second largest increase came from packaged sweet snacks and desserts, the consumption of which grew from 10.6% to 12.9%.

The link between child health and ultraprocessed food is complex but one recent study in the United Kingdom found that children who eat more ultraprocessed food are more likely to be overweight or obese as adults.

Experts said the study’s implications for future health were significant given that childhood is a critical period for biological development and forming dietary habits.

“The current food system is structured to promote overconsumption of ultra-processed foods through a variety of strategies, including price and promotions, aggressive marketing, including to youths and specifically Black and Latino youths, and high availability of these products in schools,” wrote Katie Meyer and Lindsey Smith Taillie, both assistant professors in the department of nutrition at the University of North Carolina’ Gillings School of Global Public Health, in a commentary on the study. They were not involved in the research.

There was good news that suggested efforts to tackle consumption of sugary drinks such as soda taxes had been effective: Calories from sugar-sweetened beverages dropped from 10.8% to 5.3% of overall calories.

“We need to mobilize the same energy and level of commitment when it comes to other unhealthy ultra-processed foods such as cakes, cookies, doughnuts and brownies,” said Zhang.

Black, non-Hispanic youths experienced a bigger increase in the proportion of ultra-processed foods in their diet compared to their White counterparts. The study said it did not assess trends in other racial or ethnic groups because of a lack of nationally representative data. However, it noted that Mexican American youths consume ultraprocessed foods at a consistently lower rate, which authors said could reflect more home cooking among Hispanic families.

The education level of parents or family income didn’t have any impact on the consumption of ultraprocessed foods, suggesting that they are commonplace in most children’s diets, the study added.

The authors said their study had some limitations: Asking people to recall what they ate isn’t always an accurate measure of dietary intake. Plus, there is a tendency to under report socially undesirable habits such as consumption of unhealthy food.

In addition, it can be a challenge to accurately classify ultraprocessed food because it requires a full list of ingredients – information unlikely to be given by children answering a questionnaire.

“Better methods for dietary assessment and classification of foods are needed to understand trends and mechanisms of action of ultra-processed food intake,” Mayer and Taillie wrote.

CNN
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Here’s a look at the life of the former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano.

Birth date: November 29, 1957

Birth place: New York, New York

Birth name: Janet Ann Napolitano

Father: Leonard Michael Napolitano, anatomy professor and Dean, University of New Mexico School of Medicine

Mother: Jane Marie (Winer) Napolitano

Education: Santa Clara University, B.S., 1979; University of Virginia, J.D., 1983

Grew up in Pennsylvania and New Mexico.

First female valedictorian at Santa Clara University in California.

Lifetime member of the Girl Scouts of America.

Enjoys hiking and tennis.

Is a big fan of Arizona professional basketball and baseball teams.

Founder and faculty director of the Center for Security in Politics at the University of California, Berkeley.

1983-1984 – Law clerk for Judge Mary Schroeder of the US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

1984-1993 – Associate, and later partner at Lewis & Roca in Phoenix.

1991 – Member of the legal team representing Anita Hill during the sexual harassment investigation of US Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas.

1993-1997 – US Attorney for the District of Arizona.

1999-2002 – Attorney General of Arizona. She is the first woman to hold this position.

July 25, 2000 – Undergoes a successful mastectomy on her right breast for cancer.

January 6, 2003-January 21, 2009 – The first Democrat in 12 years to be governor of Arizona.

August 7, 2006-July 23, 2007 – First female chair of the National Governors Association.

December 1, 2008 – President-elect Barack Obama nominates Napolitano to be the Secretary of Homeland Security.

January 15, 2009 – Napolitano’s confirmation hearing before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee begins.

January 21, 2009 – The third Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and the first woman to hold the position.

July 12, 2013 – Announces her resignation.

September 6, 2013 – Napolitano leaves the Department of Homeland Security.

September 30, 2013 – Becomes the 20th, and first female president of the University of California.

May 17, 2016 – The Department of Homeland Security hosts an official portrait unveiling ceremony honoring Napolitano. The portrait is displayed in the Department of Homeland Security Headquarters in Washington.

January 16, 2017 – Napolitano is hospitalized, suffering side effects from cancer treatment. She was diagnosed with cancer last August.

October 26, 2017 – Napolitano announces the National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement. The new endeavor hopes to facilitate a “concerted educational, research and advocacy effort that will center on the First Amendment’s critical importance to American democracy.” Napolitano will chair the center which will be housed at the University of California’s Washington, DC location.

March 26, 2019 – Napolitano’s book co-authored with Karen Breslau, “How Safe Are We?: Homeland Security Since 9/11,” is published.

September 18, 2019 – Announces that she will step down as president of the University of California in August 2020. After a sabbatical, she will continue in her position at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley, where she is a tenured professor.

May 4, 2022 – President Joe Biden appoints Napolitano to the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.

There were intense exchanges during a committee meeting in the Israeli parliament Monday as family members of some of the hostages held in Gaza clashed with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and other far-right members of the government.

Ben-Gvir, a divisive figure in Israeli politics who wants Israel to annex the Palestinian territories, is promoting legislation that would see the death penalty handed down to terrorists.

Hostage family members, holding pictures of their loved ones, vented their frustrations. One of them, Gil Dickmann, whose cousin is being held in Gaza, repeatedly shouted: “Bring them home!”

Already frustrated at the apparent lack of progress to free the hostages, the family members accused Ben-Gvir of endangering their loved ones further by putting the issue of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons back in the spotlight.

Family members worry that by suggesting that Israel might execute Palestinian prisoners, it could make Hamas less willing to release hostages or increase the likelihood of their mistreatment in Gaza. 

Almog Cohen, a colleague of Ben-Gvir in the Jewish Power party, fired back at family members.

“You don’t have a monopoly on pain. We also buried more than 50 friends,” Cohen said.

The meeting was held to discuss Ben-Gvir’s proposed legislation, which is making its way through parliament. It still has several stages to pass before it becomes law and could be withdrawn.

Later in Tel Aviv, a large group of other family members met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of the war cabinet at the defense ministry.

Udi Goren, one of the family members, left early because he felt there was no new information provided by the war cabinet.

He said he was very disappointed to hear the government was not prioritizing the release of the hostages above all else, including the mission to defeat Hamas.

Asked if he had heard any information about a possible release of hostages, Goren told CNN there was nothing new.