RELATED:

Last August, Hunter was hired as the senator's new media director, a position that he apparently still holds. According to , Hunter and Paul began working together in September 2010 when Paul hired him to work on the book, The Tea Party Goes to Washington. Hunter's path to that point began with the conservative commentary he offered on the radio and at his website — commentary that first brought him to the attention of the far-right media.

RELATED:

The Free Beacon's Alana Goodman explored the Southern Avenger's past blog posts as maintained by . The examples largely hew to the "racism is over, except against whites" school. Likefrom 2004:

[The KKK and the NAACP] are the true hate-mongers, and the groups in power today seek nothing less than the ultimate destruction of the traditional identity of Southern whites, who in turn, have no voice and receive no respect – so it shouldn’t come as a shock that flag-waving Southerners are really pissed off.

San Francisco police identified the suspect as 23-year-old Barry White of Antioch.

White was arrested after opening fire on officers Friday afternoon. He's been booked on two counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder, police said in a statement on Saturday.

Officers encountered him outside the San Francisco Giftcenter & Jewelrymart in the trendy South of Market area. Initially, the officers weren't sure if the man, who had blood on his clothes, was a shooting victim or a suspect. The man then opened fire at officers while retreating into a restaurant, according to police.

"The suspect fired additional multiple rounds at the officers and then, we believe, ran out of ammunition, threw the gun on the ground and surrendered," police Chief Greg Suhr said on Friday.

Officers didn't return fire because the sidewalks were crowded with shoppers and residents.

Inside the shopping center, officers found two women dead and a man injured with gunshot and stab wounds at the Victoga jewelry shop. One woman was shot and the other was stabbed with a knife, police said.

A gun and a knife were recovered from the scene. Police spokesman Gordon Shyy said a semi-automatic rifle was found in the back seat of White's car.

The women were identified by the city medical examiner's office as Khin Min, 35, of San Francisco, and Lina Lim, 51, of Daly City, both of whom worked at the store. The man, who was the shop's owner, was in critical condition Saturday.

The suspect, who police believe acted alone, was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police said that White had conducted at least one business transaction at the store before Friday's attack.

The shopping center is just blocks from the Hall of Justice, which is the home of San Francisco Superior Court, a jail and police headquarters. Several tech companies, including online game maker Zynga, are also in the neighborhood.

NOTTINGHAM, England (Reuters) - Australia claimed the prize wickets of Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook as England laboured to 157 for four at lunch on the third day of the first Ashes test at Trent Bridge on Friday.

Pietersen, on 64, dragged a ball from James Pattinson on to his stumps and Cook fell for 50, a first test victim for Ashton Agar whose extraordinary innings of 98 turned the match Australia's way on Thursday.

Ian Bell, on 20, and Jonny Bairstow, 13, were the not out batsmen at the interval with England 92 runs ahead.

Cook and Pietersen started with the same cautious approach they adopted on Thursday when they steadied the ship for England after the loss of two early wickets.

Pietersen drove Mitchell Starc to the cover boundary to reach his fifty, one of his 12 fours, and looked in the mood to play a long innings.

But he was distracted by a spectator moving in the pavilion and dragged the next ball from Pattinson on to his stumps trying to force it through the off side, ending a third-wicket partnership of 110.

Cook's four-hour vigil was over shortly afterwards, the captain edging a top-spinner from left-arm spinner Agar to slip where Australia captain Michael Clarke held a fine one-handed catch high to his left.

The Australians were cock-a-hoop and the crowd fell quiet, although Bell struck one textbook drive to the cover boundary to briefly raise spirits.

Pattinson and Starc obtained significant reverse swing and troubled Bell and Bairstow but the pair survived a few uncomfortable moments to give England hope of setting Australia a difficult target to chase in the fourth innings.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Saturday's clashes are focused on the strategic checkpoint in Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr district.

The checkpoint is the only gateway between rebel-held eastern districts and the city's western areas, controlled by President Bashar Assad's troops.

Earlier this week, al-Qaida-linked militants seized the checkpoint and closed it for several days, cutting the flow of food supplies to the city and triggering the confrontation.

Residents angry over the blockade have staged protests against the anti-Assad forces as food prices soar in Aleppo at the start of the Muslim Holy month of Ramadan.

"After 77 years, the wait is over," headlined the Daily Telegraph, a day after Andy Murray beat Novak Djokovic in straight sets to win the men's title at the All England Club.

With the victory, Murray became the first British man to win the Wimbledon title since Fred Perry in 1936, a victory that has already sparked talk of a knighthood.

"Arise Sir Andrew, knight of the holy grail," The Times of London wrote in its lead story. "Impossibly, dreamily, unbelievably and yet somehow almost easily, somehow almost inevitably, Andy Murray won the Men's Singles final at Wimbledon yesterday."

Murray beat Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 on a warm day under the sun at Centre Court, playing his usual defensive style almost perfectly against an opponent who also plays often-spectacular defensive tennis.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who watched the match from the Royal Box, seemed to be on board with Murray getting knighted and joining the ranks of other sporting greats such as Roger Bannister, Nick Faldo and Kelly Holmes.

"I can't think of anyone who deserves one more," Cameron said.

Murray, however, quickly downplayed the possibility.

"It's a nice thing to have or be offered," the 2013 Wimbledon champion said. "I think just because everyone's waited for such a long time for this, that's probably why it will be suggested but I don't know if it merits that."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the national papers all of them featured Murray on their front pages.

"History in his hands," headlined the Daily Mirror. Across the top of the Daily Express were the words "Magical Murray."

The Guardian had the simplest front page a huge photo of Murray kissing the trophy with "Champion" written across the bottom.

According to the BBC, a peak of 17.3 million people in Britain watched the match on television. Last year's final, in which Murray lost to Roger Federer, reached a peak of 17 million.

Britain has been waiting generations for a men's champion (the last women's champion was Virginia Wade in 1977). But the expectations have been increasing almost exponentially over the last 15 years or so. That's when Tim Henman made the first of his four semifinals, sending the public into a frenzy of hope from 1998 to 2002.

But each time, Henman failed to reach the final.

A few years later, along came Murray, a kid from Scotland with a game to be reckoned with. With his mother in his box and his face often gripped in growls and grimaces, Murray became the next big British hope.

He made the semifinals three years in a row before reaching the 2012 final, but then lost to seven-time champion Federer. A loss that may have changed him for the better, forever.

He followed that disappointing defeat with the Olympic gold medal, beating Federer on the same Wimbledon court, on the same Wimbledon grass, a few weeks later.

Then he beat Djokovic in the U.S. Open final, winning his first major title and the first Grand Slam singles title for a British man since Perry won the U.S. championships in 1936, the same year he won the third of his three straight Wimbledon titles.

With last year's wins and losses behind him, Murray didn't let his second chance at his home Grand Slam slip away this time.

"In the end, inside a giddy, sun-bleached and adoring Centre Court, it felt like it was all worth the wait," The Guardian wrote in its top story, then continued. "It is a genuinely gold-standard achievement for the man from Dunblane, given weight not just by the burden of history and the folkish annual summer romance of Wimbledon itself, but by the fact he is competing in one of the great periods of elite men's tennis."

The league has a moratorium on teams discussing personnel business until players officially sign on Wednesday.

Howard made waves across the league by verbally committing to the Rockets on Friday rather than returning to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Amidst the excitement, both the Rockets general manager Daryl Morey and coach Kevin McHale publicly commented on securing Howard to draw the penalty.

Howard is set to officially sign a four-year, $88 million contract to join the Houston franchise. (Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by Ian Ransom)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks advanced on Friday, supported by banks' strong earnings, but Boeing limited the Dow's gain after an airplane fire in London.

Both the Dow Jones industrial averageand the S&P 500 indexended Friday's session at record closing highs, even though the point and percentage gains for the day were slim. The Nasdaq closed at a 52-week high.

The S&P 500 scored its best weekly performance since January and a third consecutive week of gains.

Financial stocks were the day's biggest gainers, with the S&P 500 financial sector indexup 0.8 percent.

"The momentum has been incredibly strong ... At some point, a breather or some sort of consolidation makes sense," said Joe Bell, senior equity strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati.

Over the past three weeks, the benchmark S&P 500 has erased the losses of nearly 6 percent from the selloff triggered by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in late May, when he first raised the prospect of trimming the central bank's $85 billion in monthly bond purchases. Since then, the market has been getting reassurance from Bernanke and other Fed officials that the U.S. central bank will keep monetary policy loose for some time.

"For now, it seems like some of the comments made this past week have settled the market back into place," Bell said. "Hopefully we'll be back to paying more attention to the earnings reports," which will probably take the spotlight in the next few weeks, he added.

Shares of Wells Fargo & Co , the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, jumped 1.8 percent to $42.63 after the company posted quarterly results that topped expectations. [ID:nL4N0FI2UA] [ID:nL4N0FI31A] Citigrouprose 1.5 percent to $50.81. Bank of Americaclimbed 2 percent to $13.78 and ranked among the most actively traded stocks in both the Dow and the S&P 500.

JPMorgan Chase & Co , the largest U.S. bank by assets, reported a 31 percent jump in quarterly profits. The stock, however, slipped 0.3 percent to close at $54.97, giving up an earlier gain of more than 1 percent. The stock had traded higher for most of the day.

The Dow Jones industrial averageedged up 3.38 points, or 0.02 percent, to end at 15,464.30, a record closing high. The Standard & Poor's 500 Indexrose 5.17 points, or 0.31 percent, to finish at 1,680.19, also a closing high. The Nasdaq Composite Indexgained 21.78 points, or 0.61 percent, to close at 3,600.08, a 52-week high.

For the week, the Dow rose 2.2 percent, while the S&P 500 gained 3 percent and the Nasdaq climbed 3.5 percent.

In Friday's session, Boeingwas the Dow's biggest decliner. Boeingshares fell 4.7 percent to $101.87 after a Dreamliner operated by Ethiopian Airlines caught fire at Britain's Heathrow airport on Friday.

Shares of Dreamliner component manufacturers also slipped, including Honeywell International , off 0.2 percent at $82.37, and Spirit Aerosystems , down 2.3 percent at $22.61.

United Parcel Servicewas among the biggest losers in the S&P 500, sliding 5.8 percent to $86.12, after the world's No.1 package delivery company said second-quarter profit would fall short of expectations. Shares of rival FedEx Corpfell 2 percent to $102.29.

UPS weighed on the S&P industrial sector index , which fell 0.6 percent.

Analysts expect S&P 500 companies' second-quarter earnings to have grown 2.8 percent from a year earlier, with revenue up 1.5 percent, data from Thomson Reuters showed.

U.S.-listed shares of Infosysjumped 4.8 percent to $46.17 after the company reported quarterly results and maintained its revenue growth forecast.

On the economic front, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary reading for July on the consumer sentiment index was 83.9, down from 84.1 in June and shy of forecasts for 85.

About 5.4 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and NYSE MKT, below the 6.4 billion daily average so far this year.

On the NYSE, advancers narrowly beat decliners with 1,488 stocks rising and 1,478 shares falling. On the Nasdaq, nearly 14 stocks rose for every 11 that fell.

(Editing by Jan Paschal)

Militant groups have grown bolder, striking security forces almost daily and also turning on local Christians. Some are now openly vowing to drive the military out of the peninsula on the borders with Israel and Gaza and establish an "Islamic emirate." Further fueling the turmoil is the longtime resentment among many in the Bedouin population over decades of neglect and harsh security crackdowns by the state.

The military and security forces have widened their presence, and military intelligence officials told The Associated Press an offensive is being planned, but no further details were given.

In a rare move, the Egyptian military sent a helicopter across the border to fly over the southern end of the Gaza Strip early Friday. Egyptian security officials said it was intended as a warning to its Hamas rulers amid concerns that Gaza militants are trying to cross to back those in the Sinai. The security and intelligence officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.

Israeli security officials say their military has not taken any special precautions, but it is watching the situation carefully. They say they remain in close contact with their Egyptian counterparts, and that Egypt has coordinated its security moves in Sinai with Israel, as required by their 1979 peace treaty.

"The situation is not secure. It is better to be home than to go out into the street," said Moussa el-Manaee, a resident in the northern Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweyid, which has a heavy presence of jihadi groups. "I am afraid to ride my car and catch a stray bullet."

Sinai has been the most lawless corner of Egypt since the ouster of autocrat Hosni Mubarak in early 2011, with increased violence. Police stations were torched and security forces kicked out of tribal areas where they were notorious for abuses. Shootings took place regularly on police and military outposts.

But after the military deposed the Islamist president on July 3, militant groups have lashed out.

In the past 10 days, at least eight security officers have been killed, the most recent on Friday. Two Christians have also died, one a priest. A gas pipeline to Jordan was bombed, ending a lull in such strikes.

Gunmen carried out a bold attack on the military section of an airport in the northern Sinai capital of el-Arish. They also opened fire on the convoy of the commander of the 2nd Field Army, who escaped, but a 5-year-old girl was killed in the subsequent gunbattle.

Morsi supporters around the country are protesting to demand his reinstatement, saying the army's ouster of the country's first freely elected leader has wrecked democracy. His removal came after millions around the country joined anti-Morsi protests.

For militants in Sinai, however, restoring Morsi is not the priority they have said their goal is to drive out the military and the authority of the central government. His removal, however, took away a leader seen as reining in security crackdowns.

"Morsi had given them cover to a certain extent," said Ahmed Salama, who works for a leading civil society group in northern Sinai. Now extremists fear "the army can go after them," and at the same time "they see this as an opportunity to kick the army out of Sinai."

Shortly after Morsi's was removed from office, thousands held a rally in northern Sinai proclaiming over loudspeakers the formation of a so-called "war council." They proclaimed that "the era of peace is over" and vowed security forces would be expelled.

"Ansar al-Shariah wants to create an Islamic Emirate," said al-Manaee, a businessman with tribal links to extremists, referring to one of the militant groups operating in the area.

Extremist groups in Sinai had a complicated relationship with Morsi. The groups reject as too moderate the ideologies of his Muslim Brotherhood and even of the ultraconservative Salafis, viewing their participation in elections as heresy. Instead, they demand imposing a strict implementation of Shariah.

Salafis often mediated with militants and urged them to give the president a chance. The Salafis have wide influence in Sinai, and many of them sympathize with the extremists' goals, if not their violent methods.

At the same time, Morsi warned against heavy security crackdowns that fueled local outrage in the past, preferring negotiations and promises of development. Critics accused him of being reluctant to go after militants for fear of alienating ultraconservative allies, while locals say his government failed to improve the quality of life in Sinai.

The approach emerged in two major attacks the past year. Last Ramadan in August just weeks after Morsi took office, gunmen killed 16 Egyptian soldiers, stole armored vehicles and drove into Israel to attempt an attack there. The military responded with a major security operation in Sinai.

Soon after, Morsi said security forces had a chance to strike at suspects but did not in order to avoid killing civilians. The suspects have not been named and remain at large.

Then in May, militants kidnapped six policemen and a border guard. Morsi vowed to track them down but also warned against a heavy hand that could hurt the captives or the captors. After a week, the seven were freed, apparently after Salafi mediation. The kidnappers were never caught.

Brotherhood officials say any Sinai anger over Morsi's removal is because of public support for his policies. His government repeatedly announced increased development funds to the peninsula.

Brotherhood spokesman Gehad el-Haddad said Morsi worked to reverse decades of state neglect.

Sinai residents "felt as if they were Egyptian citizens and that there was a functioning state delivering services to them," he said, adding that the army broke the people's trust when they "wiped out" the democratic process.

At a pro-Morsi rally in Cairo, prominent Brotherhood figure Mohammed el-Beltagy told the crowd that "what is happening in Sinai as a result of the military coup will stop the second that (army chief) Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi announces a reversal of the coup, fixes the situation and the president is reinstated."

That is echoed by Asad el-Beyk, a Morsi supporter in Sinai who calls for peaceful protests. He runs a privately-owned Shariah Court in el-Arish that rules on disputes for those who want decisions based on Islamic law rather than civil courts.

"The entire situation in the country will not stabilize until Morsi is reinstated," he said.

However, al-Manaee, from Sheikh Zuweyid, said the ousted government's policies brought little improvement for residents.

"I respect Morsi, but in Sinai he didn't do anything," al-Manaee said.

The towns dotting the arid, mountainous Sinai have long been neglected, with investments directed to tourist cities along its southern Red Sea coast. The northern stretch along the Mediterranean relies heavily on smuggling, including trafficking of migrants and drugs, and trade through underground tunnels to Gaza.

Egypt had closed its border crossing with Gaza for 10 days after Morsi's ouster and clamped down on tunnels. It re-opened the border for limited hours earlier this week.

Egyptian military intelligence officials said they are keeping a close watch on extremist brigades in Gaza close to Hamas. They said Israel has been providing intelligence on the groups' movements. They spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to release the information.

Hamas official Salah Bardawil denied the group is interfering.

"We are concerned about Egypt's security and a stable and strong Egypt means stability for us," he said.

But the military faces the same dilemma as in the past: a heavy crackdown risks further alienating Sinai's population.

"We are likely to see just security measures being taken," said Brookings Institute analyst Khaled Elgindy. "The problems in Sinai are much deeper; they relate to governance, economics, development."

___

Ashraf Sweilam in el-Arish, Egypt, Tony G. Gabriel in Cairo, Ian Deitch in Jerusalem and Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City, Gaza contributed reporting.

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - By last Friday morning in Canada's oil capital, the scope of the disaster facing Calgary was becoming clear, and the reputation of the city's first-term mayor was rising along with the floodwaters.

As the two rivers in the city of 1.1 million reached new heights in the worst flooding the province of Alberta has ever seen, a growing list of neighborhoods were evacuated and the downtown home to Canada's largest oil companies was shut down as electrical substations failed.

In the chaos, Naheed Nenshi, the first Muslim elected to the office in a major North American city, was a ubiquitous presence - at media briefings, on Twitter, updating the status of city services, reminding Calgarians to stay safe and praising emergency workers. His well-timed jokes lightened the mood.

It was disaster management reminiscent, albeit on a smaller scale, of other North American politicians like New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani after the September 11 attacks and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in the wake of Hurricane Sandy whose images were burnished by their performances in crises.

"As mayor (in these floods) I have three jobs," the 41-year-old Nenshi told Reuters in an interview sandwiched between media briefings, tours of damaged neighborhoods and visits to thank the city's thousands of volunteers.

"No. 1 is to make sure citizens have a lot of information on how to keep themselves safe. No. 2 is provide encouragement and resources to the real heroes. And No. 3 is to get out of the way and let people do their work. That's what I have been trying to do since the whole thing started."

The economic cost of the floods will likely reach into the billions. But Nenshi's response has won him the sort of national acclaim that eludes other big-city Canadian mayors these days.

Toronto's Rob Ford is under fire after two media outlets said they had seen a video that appeared to show him smoking crack cocaine (he says he does not smoke crack), while Montreal's Michael Applebaum has stepped down to fight charges of corruption.

"Mr. Nenshi has been such a superbly effective leader during the flood that has devastated his city and other Alberta communities that he appears on his way to folk-hero status," the Globe and Mail newspaper said in an editorial on Monday.

'I MUST LOOK TERRIBLE'

Even as the floodwaters rose, Nenshi maintained the Twitter presence that helped the left-leaning candidate win a surprise 2010 election victory in a city best known for sending conservatives to provincial and federal office. He is running for re-election this year, with little serious opposition.

But Nenshi says Calgary voters are not interested in ideology.

"We are a true meritocracy. Nobody in Calgary cares who your daddy was, what you look like or where you went to school," he said. "They only care about what you bring to the table and how hard you work. This boring characterization of black, white, red, blue - I don't think it has any bearing on people's choices. People just want folks who do a good job."

Before he was elected, Nenshi was a civic activist and business professor at Mount Royal University, known for being a frequent critic of Calgary's fractious City Council. Born in Toronto, he was raised in Calgary by parents who emigrated from Tanzania. As mayor, he earns about C$200,000 and donates 10 percent of it to charity.

He was a dark-horse challenger in the 2010 race for Calgary mayor - experts thought a long-serving councilor with conservative leanings had the election locked up.

Nenshi ran a grassroots campaign on a limited budget that harnessed Twitter and other social media. Starting out as an outsider, his support surged in the final weeks of the campaign.

Even before the crisis, ThinkHQ opinion research firm put Nenshi's approval ratings at 73 percent, down from an almost 88 percent as the city debated what to do with a tax refund from the provincial government.

It is the sort of number that often tempts local politicians to aim for higher office. But Nenshi said he had no ambitions to vie for another job.

"I have the best job in Canada, plus I can never remember what it is the federal government does," he said. "Or I should say they send in the army to help when you have flooding, for which we are very grateful."

His relentless pace and increasingly haggard appearance after round-the-clock briefings spawned the Twitter tag #nap4nenshi, which includes pictures of "Supernenshi", with his chubby face Photoshopped onto a picture of Superman.

"Everybody asks me the question about how much sleep I have had, which means I must look terrible," Nenshi said.

(Editing by Janet Guttsman, Mary Milliken and Leslie Gevirtz)

Seeking a second successive major title on the over-50s Champions Tour, Perry birdied two of the three par-fives in challenging conditions on the way to a three-under-par 67 at Omaha Country Club.

Perry, who won last month's Senior Players Championship by two shots, managed to avoid the notoriously thick rough on the hilly layout to end the day as one of a record seven co-leaders after the opening round at the event.

Also carding 67s were Michael Allen, Jay Don Blake, Gary Hallberg, Tom Lehman, Mark O'Meara and Fred Funk.

The previous record for the number of co-leaders after the first round was five, set in the 1997 U.S. Senior Open at Olympia Fields outside Chicago.

Germany's Bernhard Langer was a further stroke back after a 68, along with Australian Peter Senior, American Rocco Mediate and Taiwan's Lu Chien-soon.

Perry, a 14-times winner on the regular PGA Tour, was delighted with his impressive start, having mixed five birdies with two bogeys to climb to the top of the leaderboard.

"I took care of the par-fives today and drove it nicely, kept it in the fairway, kept it in play," Perry told reporters. "Like I said yesterday, if I hit it in the fairway, I really like my chances on this golf course.

"I only missed a couple of fairways today so I was always attacking the pins. I could have shot a couple better, but I made two poor bogeys. I three-putted the par-three, five, and the other bogey I missed the green and didn't get up and down.

"You make five birdies in Open conditions, as tough as it was out there, I was very happy with that. That's about as good as I could do."

On Wednesday, Perry said in his pre-tournament news conference that he held a "a huge advantage" on the 6,711-yard, par-70 layout with his power game, mainly because of a new driver he put in his bag two months ago.

BOOMING DRIVES

He delivered in style on Thursday with several booming tee shots as he hit nine of 13 fairways and reached 14 of 18 greens in regulation.

"It automatically put length on me, and it put in accuracy," said Perry of his new driver. "It's really freed me up off the tee, so I'm very happy with that. That's why I'm playing more aggressive.

"If you're off target this week, you're going to shoot a really high score. The rough is brutal, and you're going to be in some spots where you're going to struggle to make double (bogey) from.

"I was lucky. I stayed away from all those areas, I was able to drive it beautifully. I hit my irons okay, putted okay. It's just a matter of executing and keeping that driver in play."

Tom Watson, an eight-times major champion on the PGA Tour who has added six more majors in the senior ranks, opened with a level-par 70 despite not being in form with his approach play.

"The one thing I did very well today was my lag putt," said the 63-year-old, who will captain the United States Ryder Cup team against holders Europe at Gleneagles, Scotland in 2014.

"I didn't hit the ball very well with my irons. Even though I was in the fairway most of the time, I didn't get it very close to the hole at all today.

"I did a real good job of lag putting and finishing the deal on the green. That was the positive."

Englishman Roger Chapman, who won last year's U.S. Senior Open by two strokes in Lake Orion, Michigan, launched his title defense with a 74. (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Rutherford)