The use of unclaimed bodies for medical study is examined in the series Dealing the Dead, which includes this article. LAS VEGAS Obteen Nassiri needed to pursue a different career path. Following accusations that he had scammed insurers out of millions of dollars and misled patients, he lost his license as a chiropractor and entered the murky U.S. body trade, which had almost no regulations or barriers to entrance. Nassiri's new business, Med Ed Labs, operated out of a beige strip mall in Las Vegas between a tattoo parlor and a psychic. It bought corpses from funeral homes and medical schools and then sold or leased them at a premium to organizations, such as the US military, that needed human remains for medical training. He established a nationwide network of clients and suppliers in a...

South Korea's SEOUL For the first time on Wednesday, North Korean state media covered the political unrest in South Korea, highlighting large-scale demonstrations demanding the overthrow of President Yoon Suk Yeolover and his unsuccessful effort to impose martial law. After the highly unpopular Yoon, 63, threw the East Asian democracy and important U.S. ally into upheaval with his brief declaration of martial law, North Korea, a nuclear-armed communist state that is officially still at war with the South, remained silent for a week. Part of Yoon's defense of the martial law order was the unsubstantiated accusations of North Korean sympathies made against opposition lawmakers. Yoon's People Power Party claims he has been effectively suspended from duty, causing social turmoil in South Kor...

Is U.S. inflation improving or declining? Currently, the answer seems to be neither for economic forecasts. Rather, price rise might be stagnating at its current pace—not very rapid, but not sluggish enough to allay economic policymakers' fears that consumers won't be able to put up with the uncomfortably high rate of price increases. The most recent consumer price index data for November will be made public by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday. The so-called core measure, which excludes more volatile goods like food and gas, showed 0.3% monthly gain and 3.3% annual growth, according to analysts surveyed by Dow Jones ahead of the report, which projected an inflation picture that was mostly unchanged from October. The Federal Reserve, which had anticipated to continue lowering int...

According to officials, a wind-fueled wildfire that broke out in Malibu, California, on Monday has burned homes and forced evacuations and a shelter-in-place order at Pepperdine University. The Franklin Fire, which started in the Malibu Canyon region just before 11 p.m. Monday, prompted the Los Angeles County fire and sheriff's departments to issue evacuation orders for about 20,000 residents. Southern California was under red flag warnings at the time of the fire due to dry vegetation, low humidity, and strong Santa Ana winds. According to the state firefighting department, the fire had burnt around 3,000 acres and was completely uncontrolled by Tuesday night. Overnight, firefighters intended to capitalize on the conditions that were improving. On Tuesday, Los Angeles County Fire Chief An...

According to officials, a wind-fueled wildfire that broke out in Malibu, California, on Monday has burned homes and forced evacuations and a temporary shelter-in-place order at Pepperdine University. The Franklin Fire, which started in the Malibu Canyon region just before 11 p.m. Monday, prompted the Los Angeles County fire and sheriff's departments to issue evacuation orders for about 20,000 residents. Southern California was under red flag warnings at the time of the fire due to dry vegetation, low humidity, and strong Santa Ana winds. According to the state firefighting department, the fire had burnt around 3,000 acres and was completely uncontrolled by Tuesday night. Overnight, firefighters intended to capitalize on the conditions that were improving. On Tuesday, Los Angeles County Fir...

After a wildfire in Malibu, California, erupted overnight Monday, Pepperdine University temporarily implemented a shelter-in-place protocol and ordered evacuations. The Los Angeles County Fire Department reports that the Franklin Fire started in the Malibu Canyon region just before 11 p.m. on Monday (2 a.m. ET on Tuesday). Strong Santa Ana winds, low humidity, and dry vegetation that is conducive to deadly wildfires have prompted red flag warnings in several areas of Southern California. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said that the fire had spread to over 2,800 acres by Tuesday afternoon. The extent of the fire's containment was unclear. According to the city of Malibu, the fire has expanded toward the Malibu Pier area, a popular tourist destination for both loca...

Donald Trump, the president-elect, announced on Tuesday that he will choose Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former Fox News star, and Tom Barrack, a longtime friend who is a billionaire, as ambassadors to Greece and Turkey, respectively. Trump announced the news in two tweets on social media. Trump wrote on Truth Social, "Tom successfully managed a global private equity firm for three decades." "He is a well respected and experienced voice of reason to a wide range of thought leaders in both political and business circles." Barrack, who oversaw Trump's 2017 inauguration committee and created the private equity firm Colony Capital, was cleared in 2022 of allegations that he made false statements to the FBI while serving as an unregistered foreign agent for the United Arab Emirates during the Trump ad...

Amerika Garcia Grewal has lived in Eagle Pass, Texas, all her life. She volunteers for Operation Identification, an initiative that aims to identify the bodies of migrants found along the border between the United States and Mexico. Notifying loved ones back home and, if feasible, repatriating the remains are the goals. As she described her job, which involves taking off clothes to check for any identifying markers, such as tattoos, Grewal stated, "The body keeps the score." In 2013, Texas State University established Operation ID, which uses volunteers and students to help border counties that are facing a backlog of bodies. The remains of migrants who may drown in the Rio Grande or die from exposure are frequently interred in county cemeteries, or in Maverick County's instance, occasiona...

According to authorities, 46 minutes after the horrific incident, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street was spotted close to a Port Authority bus stop. He then traveled to Pennsylvania, where he was apprehended. On his way to UnitedHealth Group's investor meeting on Wednesday, December 4, Thompson was shot from behind outside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel, according to officials. Luigi Mangione, 26, was arrested days later at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after police suspect the shooter fled the city, sparking a fierce manhunt. Authorities in Pennsylvania claim that the suspected shooter eluded them for a number of days, although it is still unclear exactly where he was from the morning of the shooting until his apprehension. ...