Nation & World Glance
NEW YORK — Polarizing right-wing writer Milo Yiannopoulos was by turns apologetic for comments he made about sexual relationships between boys and men and adamant he had been the subject of “a cynical media witch hunt” on Tuesday as he spoke after resigning as an editor at Breitbart News.
Yiannopoulos opened his remarks to reporters by saying two men, including a priest, had touched him inappropriately when he was between the ages of 13 and 16.
“My experiences as a victim led me to believe I could say anything I wanted to on this subject, no matter how outrageous,” he said. “But I understand that my usual blend of British sarcasm, provocation and gallows humor might have come across as flippancy, a lack of care for other victims or, worse, advocacy. I am horrified by that impression.”
The British writer said he was resigning from Breitbart, which helped make him a star, because it would be “wrong to allow my poor choice of words to detract from my colleagues’ important reporting.”
The apology followed days of criticism from fellow conservatives after the release of video clips in which Yiannopoulos appeared to defend sexual relationships between men and boys as young as 13.
Yahoo salvages Verizon deal with $350 million discount
SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo is taking a $350 million hit on its previously announced $4.8 billion sale to Verizon in a concession for security lapses that exposed personal information stored in more than 1 billion Yahoo user accounts.
The revised agreement, announced Tuesday, eases investor worries that Verizon Communications Inc. would demand a discount of at least $1 billion or cancel the deal entirely.
The hacking bombshells, disclosed after the two companies agreed on a sale, represent the two biggest security breaches in internet history.
The breaches raised concerns that people might decrease their use of Yahoo email and other digital services that Verizon is buying. A smaller audience makes Yahoo’s services less valuable because it reduces the opportunities to show ads — the main reason that Verizon struck the deal seven months ago.
Yahoo has maintained that its users have remained loyal, despite any mistrust that might have been caused by its lax security and the lengthy delay in discovering and disclosing the hacks. The separate attacks occurred in 2013 and 2014; Yahoo disclosed them this past September and December.
Man who smashed Trump star to pay damages, serve probation
LOS ANGELES — A man who destroyed Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has been sentenced to three years of probation for vandalism.
An attorney for James Otis says he pleaded no contest to the felony Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Attorney Mieke ter Poorten says Otis agreed to pay $4,400 for the damage and attorney’s fees and perform 20 days of community labor.
Otis used a sledgehammer and pickax to deface the star about a week before Trump was elected president.
Otis said he originally planned to the steal the star, sell it and give money to the 11 women who had said Trump groped them.
The star was for Trump’s work on the reality show “The Apprentice.” It has since been repaired.
Avalanche in Arctic Norway tosses kids around, no injuries
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A resident in Arctic Norway says four adults and two children were inside a house when an avalanche hit, knocking the building off its foundations, but all managed to get out safely.
Tuesday’s avalanche in Longyearbyen, the main settlement in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, struck near area where two people were killed in a 2015 avalanche.
Frank Johnny Olsen, who was inside the house Tuesday, told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that the children were “tossed around” but “we didn’t think it was serious because the electricity didn’t even go off.”
Suicide bombers kill 6 outside court in northwest Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A group of suicide bombers with grenades and assault rifles struck outside a courthouse in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing six people in an attack claimed by a Taliban splinter group.
The attack was the latest in a wave of militant assaults across the troubled country that has killed over 100 people since last week.