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Facing a COVID-19 data mess on Tuesday, Florida severed ties with national lab giant Quest Diagnostics, slamming the company for a previously unreported backlog of 75,000 test results from as early as April. “To drop this much unusable and stale data is irresponsible, and Quest has abdicated their ability to perform a testing function in Florida,” the state Department of Health wrote on Twitter. The state also called the backlog a data issue that “does not impact the health of individuals or the spread of COVID-19 in Florida.” Quest issued a public apology, noting there was a technical issue with...

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The clinical laboratory company said in a release that an "unauthorized user" gained access to a system used by American Medical Collection Agency (AMCA), a billing vendor hired by a Quest contractor called Optum360. Quest said the information that may have been exposed included Social Security numbers and medical information, but not test results. AMCA first notified Quest on May 14 of "potential unauthorized activity" on its payment page, Quest said. Two weeks later, according to Quest, AMCA then told Quest and Optum360 more about the breach, including the number of patients potentially affected and what information was accessed. Quest...

Efraim Halevy,the former head of the Mossad, the Israeli secret service, recently resigned as head of the Israel National Security Council and as national security advisor to Prime Minister Sharon. Very few men in this world are as familiar with Islamic jihadists as Halevy. In the Scotsman today, Halevy discusses the aim of Islamic Terrorism. In the article titled, "Terrorists' aim is to end western civilisation", Halevy says of the London bombings, "There was careful planning, intelligence-gathering, and a sophisticated choice of timing as well as near-perfect execution. We are faced with a deadly and determined adversary who will stop...

2,184 Miles: From Georgia to Maine on Foot, ( 13:16 ) Cornerstone University Documentary 2013 Final. Join Zac Tolsma and his friends as they experience the Appalachian Trail.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2011 – Somali pirates killed all four Americans they had held hostage aboard a sailing vessel in the Indian Ocean this morning, U.S. Central Command officials announced. U.S. officials were negotiating with the pirates for the safe return of the captured Americans when the murders took place, officials said. Centcom officials said that in the midst of negotiations, U.S. forces responded to gunfire aboard the S/V Quest. When the forces reached the boat, officials said, they discovered all four hostages had been shot by their captors. Despite immediate steps to provide life-saving care, all four hostages ultimately...

UNITED NATIONS -- Somalia's U.N. Mission said Friday that pirates hijacked a yacht carrying four U.S. citizens in the Indian Ocean off the Somali coast.

NAIROBI (KTLA) -- U.S. military officials say they're prepared to rescue four Americans who are reportedly aboard a yacht that was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. On Friday, a distress signal was sent by the boat from the middle of the Indian Ocean, according to the French news agency AFP. The hijacking was first reported by Ecoterra International, which monitors regional maritime activity. Ecoterra said the S/V Quest was seized 240 nautical miles (275 miles) off the coast of Oman. Two of the four U.S. citizens being held captive aboard the S/V Quest have been identified as...

NORFOLK Thirteen Somalis and one Yemeni captured after four Americans were killed aboard a yacht last month are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Norfolk this afternoon on piracy, kidnapping and gun charges. The men were brought into the federal courthouse in downtown Norfolk this morning. The group was turned over to the Justice Department on Wednesday after being held aboard the carrier Enterprise since the Feb. 22 shooting deaths of the Americans. A Navy spokesman said the Somalis were removed from the ship by Department of Justice officials. A federal grand jury indicted 14 suspected pirates, the...

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- "I've stopped using the word coincidence" to describe how the upcoming film "The Way" got made, said its writer-director-producer, Emilio Estevez. "It was providence. ... It was the divine." "The Way," which stars Estevez's father, Martin Sheen, tells the story of four Westerners walking the 500-mile pilgrimage route from the French Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Sheen, who joked during a Feb. 18 interview with Catholic News Service that "I did my own walking" in the movie without a stunt double's help, recalled the first time he tried to make the pilgrimage himself. "It was in...

After 16 years and $1.5 billion of other people’s money, it is almost showtime for NASA and Sam Ting. Sitting and being fussed over by technicians in a clean room at the Kennedy Space Center in preparation for a February launching — and looking for all the world like a giant corrugated rain barrel — is an eight-ton assemblage of magnets, wires, iron, aluminum, silicon and electronics that is one of the most ambitious and complicated experiments ever to set out for space. The experiment, if it succeeds, could help NASA take a giant step toward answering the question of...

MECHANICSBURG, Pa., June 24, 2010 – Paige Nye will board a plane for the first time June 30 for a life-changing quest that she said she is “extremely over-prepared for.” Future soldier Paige Nye canvasses for people interested in registering for a chance to win an “Army Strong” iPod Nano at the 82nd Annual Jubilee Day in Mechanicsburg, Pa., June 17, 2010. Nye joined the Army in July and will be departing June 30, 2010, to take basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. U.S. Army photo by Christine June  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. She laughed as soon...

WASHINGTON, June 3, 2009 – The loss of his right arm while serving in Iraq made something as simple as eating a challenge for retired Marine Capt. Jonathan F. Kuniholm, who recently set out with three other wounded veterans to conquer Mount McKinley, also known as “Denali” because it’s located in Alaska’s Denali National Park and Reserve. Army Lt. Col. Marc Hoffmeister, top left; Army Spc. Dave Shebib, top right; retired Marine Capt. Jon Kuniholm, bottom left; and retired Army Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Nyman -- all wounded veterans -- are attempting to summit North America's highest peak, June...

Qwest union contract expires SaturdayThe Associated Press Friday, Aug. 15, 2008 NEW YORK The labor contract with the largest union at Qwest Communications International Inc. expires Saturday, little more than a week before the company is to provide phone and Internet service for the Democratic National Convention. The Communications Workers of America has voted to authorize a strike, which could theoretically begin as soon as Sunday. The union organizes 20,000 Qwest workers in 13 states. The same union was involved in contract negotiations with Verizon Communications Inc. recently. The parties were unable to reach an agreement before the expiration of...

UPDATE: Now with a possible, if x-rated explanation, after the jump. You have been warned. UPDATE: The New York Times report -- CNN Reporter Faces Drug Charge - City Room - Metro - New York Times Blog -- omits the sex equipment and partner details. Commenters are clueless as a result.....

Truck driver Kjell Fundin has done what no man has ever done before by traveling almost the entire length of Sweden on a lawnmower. On Thursday morning the intrepid 59-year-old from Sundsvall made history as he drove his trusty machine into Ystad town centre. Covering a distance of 1,700 kilometres (1,060 miles), the lawnmower man took 46 days to complete the journey from Haparanda to the southern town. The idea for the journey came about after a well-known radio show host travelled the same route on a motorcycle during the summer. Distinctly unimpressed, Fundin decided to pop off an e-mail...

U.S. Army Pfc. Jana Rutherford Soldier Wants to Help Iraq’s Quest for Democracy By U.S. Army Spc. Michael Pfaff133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment KIRKUK, Iraq, April 4, 2006 — It’s 1989 in Czechoslovakia, and the children have the day off from school for a mandatory “fun day.” Only, instead of drawing chalk lines on the sidewalk for a game of hopscotch, or climbing through the iron web of a jungle gym, they spend the day donning gas masks, throwing plastic grenades, and navigating through the wilderness with a compass. Long before she went through basic training for the U.S....

My quest for the Last Flu Jab in Britain (Filed: 27/11/2005) Are the so-called worried well really to blame for the sudden shortage of vaccine? The very idea brings hypochondriac John O'Connell out in blotches It took 20 minutes of frantic phoning around before I heard the magic word: "yes". I slammed down the receiver, raced out of the office and jumped into a taxi. "Medicentre on Oxford Street," I said, trying to sound casual. The cabbie's eyes met mine via the mirror. "Flu jab, is it?" he asked. "You'll be lucky." Only in my head am I "at risk"...

Shooting suspect fled Illegal immigrant sought in death of turkey hunter By Ellen Miller, Special to the News June 17, 2005 GLENWOOD SPRINGS - A ranch hand working in the country illegally is suspected of fatally shooting a Qwest executive May 14 and then fleeing to Mexico, Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario said Thursday. Vallario said he doesn't believe the ranch hand knew he was shooting at Jeff Garrett, who was turkey hunting and heavily camouflaged, but the man apparently realized he had done so and fled the same morning. The sheriff refused to name the suspect or his hometown...

SACRAMENTO - Inland lawmakers acted on hundreds of bills last month, but also found time to raise hefty campaign contributions from donors with a stake in some of the legislation. Lawmakers finished their two-year legislative session in the early hours of Aug. 28, culminating four weeks of lengthy floor sessions and frenetic lobbying. They also collected about $2 million at fund-raisers near the Capitol. The money, mostly given in amounts from $1,000 to $3,200, will be used for legislators' own November races or to help other candidates. But some critics say the end-of-session quest for political cash feeds a perception...