Youngstown

Mitt Romney: 'This is a defining moment for President Trump'

Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney called on Trump to apologize for his remarks on Charlottesville in which he blamed "both sides" for the brutal clashes.

High-Speed Police Chases Under Scrutiny in Florida

Newly released dash camera footage from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office recorded an officer driving 104 mph after being told not to chase a suspect.

Spain attack fugitive whereabouts unknown as Barcelona mourns

Spanish police said Sunday that the Moroccan man suspected of driving the van used in one of the devastating twin attacks that claimed 14 lives could be at large outside Spain, as grief-stricken Barcelona mourned victims of the vehicle rampage. "We don't know where he is," said regional police chief Josep Lluis Trapero, referring to 22-year-old suspect Younes Abouyaaqoub, as officials confirmed that the cell behind the carnage had been preparing "one or more" assaults in Barcelona. More than 120 gas canisters have been uncovered in a house where the suspects were believed to have been building bombs, Trapero said.

Massive counterprotest upstages Boston "free speech rally"

BOSTON (AP) — Thousands of demonstrators chanting anti-Nazi slogans in a public rejection of white nationalism upstaged a small group in Boston that planned a "free speech rally" a week after a violent clash rocked Virginia and reverberated across the U.S.

Wreckage of lost ship USS Indianapolis found after seven decades

Researchers announced Saturday they discovered wreckage of the lost warship the USS Indianapolis, 72 years after the World War II cruiser was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. The wreckage was found in the Philippine Sea 5.5 kilometers (3.4 miles) below the surface, according to philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who headed the civilian research crew that located the ship. The ship was hit in the final days of World War II just after completing a secret mission delivering parts of the atomic bomb used in Hiroshima.

No Human Remains Found In Search For Natalee Holloway: Prosecutor

Dave Holloway, father of missing Alabama teen Natalee Holloway, said on national television this week that he found human bones in Aruba, where his daughter vanished a dozen years ago, and submitted them for DNA testing.

Man charged with using drone to smuggle drugs into the US 

A man has been charged with using a drone to smuggle more than 13 pounds of methamphetamine into the US from Mexico. Jorge Edwin Rivera, 25,  told the US authorities that he was paid to deliver the drugs to an accomplice at a filling station in San Diego. Rivera, who is a US citizen, admitted smuggling the drugs five or six times since March. Border agents spotted the flying drone on August 8 and tracked it back to Rivera who was about 2,000 yards from the border. He was found with the methamphetamine in a lunchbox and a drone was hidden in a nearby bush. Drones have not normally been the mode of choice for smuggling narcotics into the America, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration. This is because they are only capable of carrying small amounts and are regarded as less cost-effective than using boats or hidden vehicle compartments. In 2015 two people admitted using a drone to deliver 28 pounds of heroin to Calexico, a border town in California. Border agents in Arizona spotted a drone being used to drop 30-pound bundles of marijuana in the same year. Rivera has been remanded in custody and his next hearing is scheduled for September 7.  

Staff Change on Mueller Team Raises Questions

Rachel Maddow pursues reporting on the departure of former FBI counter-espionage chief Peter Strzok from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Trump Russia investigation team, questioning the reason and what it might mean for Mueller's effort.

A Trump pardon of Joe Arpaio would break Justice Department guidelines

But the pardon, if Trump decides to issue it, would be highly unorthodox and break with the Justice Department’s guidelines for clemency, according to legal experts.

Barcelona attack: CIA warned Spanish authorities of possible Las Ramblas terror two months ago, reports suggest

The CIA warned Catalan police two months ago that Las Ramblas in Barcelona could be a target for a terrorist attack, reports suggest. After attacks in Paris, London, Berlin and Brussels, US counter-terrorism officials reportedly believed Islamist terrorists could be planning a massacre in the Spanish city. At least 13 people were killed and more than 100 injured when a van ploughed into crowds of people on Las Ramblas on Thursday.

Nearly 600 dead in S. Asia floods

Nearly 600 people have died and millions have been affected by monsoon floods in South Asia, officials said Saturday, as relief and rescue operations continued. Indian authorities sought military help in two districts of northern Uttar Pradesh state after fresh heavy rains left hundreds of villages marooned. "We have sought army's help to reach out to the affected people," T P Gupta, a senior official from the state's disaster management authority, told AFP.

German writer critical of Turkey's Erdogan arrested in Spain

By Thomas Escritt BERLIN (Reuters) - German-Turkish author Dogan Akhanli was arrested in Spain on Saturday after Turkey issued an Interpol warrant for the writer, a critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, fanning an already fierce row between the NATO allies. The arrest of the German national in Granada was part of a "targeted hunt against critics of the Turkish government living abroad in Europe," Akhanli's lawyer Ilias Uyar told magazine Der Spiegel, which first reported Akhanli's detention. Any country can issue an Interpol "red notice", but extradition by Spain would only follow if Ankara could convince Spanish courts it had a real case against him.

Expert: Arkansas may have reliable source of execution drug

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A death penalty expert says Arkansas' recent purchase of a lethal injection drug — in a small amount and at a cheap price — suggests the state has found a reliable supplier to help it move 30 inmates from death row to the execution chamber.

Grace Mugabe absent from S.Africa summit as assault claim lingers

Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe failed to appear Saturday at a summit in South Africa attended by her husband, an event overshadowed by her effort to obtain diplomatic immunity over assault allegations. The wife of President Robert Mugabe has not been seen since being accused of attacking a 20-year-old model with a electrical extension cord last weekend in a Johannesburg hotel where the couple's two sons were staying. The alleged assault is a political headache for South Africa and Zimbabwe, close neighbours with deep economic and historical ties.

Oxford University employee and US academic brought to Chicago to face murder charges

Two employees of elite universities charged in the fatal stabbing of a 26-year-old hair stylist were returned to Chicago early Saturday to face charges of first-degree murder in the brutal killing. Chicago police escorted fired Northwestern University professor Wyndham Lathem, 43, and Oxford University financial officer Andrew Warren, 56, from Northern California, where they surrendered peacefully on Aug. 4 after an eight-day, nationwide manhunt. Detectives were questioning the men Saturday. They could appear in court as early as Sunday. The men are accused of killing Trenton James Cornell-Duranleau, a Michigan native who had been living in Chicago, last month in Lathem's high-rise Chicago condo. Chicago police have said Cornell-Duranleau suffered more than 40 stab wounds, including "mutilations," to his upper body. Authorities say the attack was so violent the blade of the knife they believe was used was broken. They found Cornell-Duranleau's body July 27 after the building's front desk received an anonymous call that a crime had occurred on the 10th floor. He had been dead more than 12 hours. By then, authorities say Lathem and Warren had fled the city. According to autopsy results released Friday by the Cook County medical examiner's office, Cornell-Duranleau had methamphetamine in his system at the time of his death. Wyndham Lathem Credit: Chicago Police Department/PA Police say Lathem and Cornell-Duranleau, who moved to Chicago from the Grand Rapids, Michigan, area about a year ago, had a personal relationship, though they have not described the nature of it or a motive for the attack. It's unclear what the relationship was between Lathem, Cornell-Duranleau and Warren, who's British. He arrived in the U.S. three days before the killing, after being reported missing in Great Britain. Lathem, a microbiologist who's been on Northwestern's faculty since 2007 but was not teaching at the time of the attack, was terminated by the university for fleeing from police when there was an arrest warrant out for him. Investigators said the day after the crime was committed Lathem and Warren drove about 80 miles (128 kilometers) northwest of Chicago to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. One of the men made a $1,000 donation to a local library in Cornell-Duranleau's name. Lake Geneva authorities said the man making the donation didn't give his name. Trenton James Cornell-Duranleau Credit: Facebook At another point after the killing, Lathem sent a video to friends and relatives apologizing for his involvement in the crime, which he called the "biggest mistake of my life." The video raised concern among investigators that Lathem might kill himself. Lathem and Warren both appeared in court in California last week, where they agreed to return to Illinois to face charges. An attorney for Lathem, Kenneth H. Wine, called him a "gentle soul" and said "what he is accused of is totally contrary to the way he has lived his entire life." Wine said Lathem intends to plead not guilty to the charges. Warren was represented by a public defender during a brief appearance in a San Francisco court. She said he is "presumed innocent," but declined to comment further. 

Confirmed! VW Electric Microbus Coming in 2022

It's finally happening. We can't believe it either.

‘Alt-right’ figure who set up Assange meeting refuses to cooperate with Senate intel probe

“I’m absolutely not” going to cooperate with the committee, the far-right provocateur Charles C. Johnson said in an interview, after returning from London.

Huge Confederate flag near Interstate is one man's mission

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Marion Lambert is unapologetic about the abundance of Confederate flags that surround him.

Assad Adviser: War Is Almost Over, We Must Rebuild

One of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's closest advisers said many challenges still lie ahead, including reconstruction and the presence of foreign powers.

Muslims fear anti-Islam backlash in tolerant Barcelona

Prayer time is approaching but Raja Miah, an imam at a tiny mosque in the heart of Barcelona does not expect a big turnout. Since the twin attacks in Barcelona and the nearby seaside resort of Cambrils claimed by the Islamic State group, the Muslim community in central Barcelona's neighbourhood of Raval fears an anti-Islam backlash. "People are very scared," said Miah, 23, as he sat in a small room at the mosque in Raval as a small group of children in an adjoining room studied the Koran.

One Day, Many Years From Now, Total Solar Eclipses Will No Longer Be Possible

The moon is slowly moving away from the Earth, and one distant day, it will be too small to block the sun entirely.

Charlottesville exposes new threat for college campuses

BOSTON (AP) — On college campuses, white supremacists and other far-right extremist groups see fertile ground to spread their messages and recruit followers. But for many colleges, last weekend's deadly attack at a rally near the University of Virginia exposed a new threat.

South Africa has granted Grace Mugabe diplomatic immunity: source

By Ed Cropley JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa has granted diplomatic immunity to Zimbabwe's first lady, Grace Mugabe, allowing her to return to Harare and avoid prosecution for the alleged assault of a 20-year-old model, a security source said on Friday. South African police had put border posts on "red alert" to prevent Mugabe fleeing and indicated she would receive no special treatment in the case involving Gabriella Engels, who says Mugabe whipped her with an electric extension cable. A security source, however, said immunity had been granted.

Young Taiwanese choose China jobs over politics

Taiwan has long seen its international allies switching allegiance to an ascendant Beijing, but now there are also fears of a brain drain of the island's youth as they pursue careers in rival China. Cross-strait tensions have soared since China-sceptic Tsai Ing-wen took power last year, with Beijing cutting all official communication. China still sees the self-ruling island as part of its territory to be reunified, but young people in particular have increasingly developed a sense of pride in their Taiwanese identity.

Girl found 'brutally murdered' at home after texting mother about someone knocking at door

Yhoana Arteaga was found bludgeoned to death in her family's mobile home with her clothing "in disarray", police said. There was no evidence of forced entry to the trailer in Nashville, Tennessee. The girl had suffered blunt force trauma to her body, police spokesman Don Aaron told a press conference.

The 'body politic' rejects Donald Trump

The body politic, like the human body, can protect itself by rejecting what it perceives as alien or harmful. And that is what is happening to Trump.

Boston 'free speech' rally abandoned by right-wing demonstrators outnumbered by 15,000 counter-protesters

As the official start time of the contentious “Free Speech Rally” in Boston approached, the winner in the battle of words between organisers and counter-demonstrators had already been determined. If hateful speech aimed at Jewish people or minorities was chanted at Boston Common park, it was not audible at one of the largest rallies being held just one week after the deadly demonstrations in Charleston, Virginia, where neo-Nazis marched bearing torches, and where one woman was killed. Instead, an estimated 15,000 counter-protesters dominated the air with anti-Nazi and anti-fascist chants.

Chicago activist loses US citizenship, will be deported

An activist known for helping Arab women in the Chicago area lost her U.S. citizenship Thursday and will be deported for failing to disclose convictions for bombings in Jerusalem decades ago.

Total solar eclipse: When is it, where is it happening and how to watch in the UK

What's happening? On Monday, August 21, 2017, all of North America will witness an eclipse of the sun for the first time in 99 years, where the Moon will pass in front of the Sun casting darkness across swathes of the Earth's surface. Dubbed the Great American Eclipse, the moment will see the Sun, the Moon and the Earth become perfectly aligned in a once-in-a-lifetime celestial spectacle seen from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. Although we won't see a perfect alignment in the UK, we will be able to see a partial eclipse (where the moon covers only a part of the sun). 10 amazing places in America to watch the 2017 solar eclipse Who will see it? Everyone in North America, parts of South America, Africa and Europe - including the UK - will see at least a partial solar eclipse, where the moon covers only a part of the sun. However, 14 states across the United States will experience a total solar eclipse with more than two minutes of darkness descending in the middle of the day over the course of 100 minutes. More than 12 million Americans live inside the path of totality and more than half of the nation live within 400 miles of it. Millions more are expected to travel to cities along the path to witness the phenomenon.  Where and when to see the eclipse What causes an eclipse? The diameter of the Sun is 400 times that of the Moon but it lies 400 times further away - which means if you are in exactly the right alignment on the surface of the Earth at the right time, you will see the two celestial bodies overlap exactly. What creates a total solar eclipse Where can I see the eclipse in the UK? Sadly Brits won't get a total eclipse like our friends across the pond, but we will be treated to a slight partial eclipse which will still be worth watching.  It will be visible in parts of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland from around 19:35 on August 21 - but make sure you're in a spot where there's no cloud.  UK eclipse circumstances for August 21 2017 What areas will see total blackout? Anyone within the path of totality will see the sky become dark for several minutes as the moon completely covers the sun. The path is relatively thin, around 70 miles wide, and stretches from Salem, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. It will first be seen at Lincoln Beach, Oregon at 9:05 PDT, with totality beginning at 10:16 PDT. Over the next 90 minutes, it will cross through Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and North and end near Charleston, South Carolina at 14:28 EDT. The lunar shadow will leave the US at 04:09 EDT. Its longest duration will be near Carbondale, Illinois, where the sun will be completely covered for two minutes and 40 seconds. What time can I see the total eclipse? Here are the mid-eclipse times for some of the major towns and cities along the path of totality, according to Nasa. All times are local.  Where to see it | The Great American solar eclipse Will there be a live stream? Yes - Nasa will host an Eclipse Megacast for four hours during the eclipse which will be picked up by local, national and international TV stations. You can also follow all the action via the Telegraph. How can I see it safely? Never look directly at the Sun, even through sunglasses or dark material such as a bin liner or photographic negative. Makeshift filters may not screen out the harmful infrared radiation that can burn the retina of the eye risking permanent eye damage and blindness. Also, viewers must never use binoculars or a telescope. Wear special eclipse viewing glasses - not ordinary sunglasses - or construct a simple pinhole camera which projects an image of the Sun onto a blank piece of paper. Solar eclipse: how to watch the eclipse safely When will Britain next see a solar eclipse? There was a pretty spectacular eclipse in Britain in March 2015, but the last total eclipse in the UK was in August 1999. You might be waiting a while for the next decent one too - it won't take place until August 12, 2026. On that date up to 95 per cent of the Sun will be obscured. Britain will not see a total solar eclipse until September 23, 2090. How we watched the 1999 solar eclipse - in 90 seconds 01:42 Total solar eclipses in history Eclipses have both fascinated and terrified civilisations for centuries. When King Henry I of England, the son of William the Conqueror, died in 1133, his death happened to coincide with a total solar eclipse plummeting the nation into darkness for four minutes and 38 seconds. Historian William of Malmesbury wrote in 1140 that "the darkness was so great that people at first thought the world was ending."

Underwater devices look for Army helicopter crew off Hawaii

HONOLULU (AP) — Army officials have spent days sifting through chunks of Black Hawk helicopter debris in turbulent Pacific waters off Hawaii but have yet to see any signs of life in their search for five soldiers missing since the aircraft crashed during nighttime training on Tuesday.

NASA Wants to Stop a Doomsday Supervolcano by Stealing its Heat

NASA is worried about the Yellowstone supervolcano exploding, so instead they're going to harness its energy for good.

State funeral for Pakistan's 'Mother Teresa'

Ruth Pfau, a German nun who devoted her life to combatting leprosy in Pakistan, was buried with full state honours on Saturday, in an unprecedented service for a foreign Christian in the Muslim-majority country. Pfau, who died at the age of 87 on August 10 was known locally as Pakistan's Mother Teresa. Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain attended the state funeral service at St Patrick's Cathedral in the city, where hundreds of people gathered to pay their respects.

Judge rejects bid by Polanski's 1977 rape victim to end case

A Los Angeles judge on Friday rejected a request by the woman who was raped by director Roman Polanski 40 years ago to have the criminal case against him dismissed. The ruling follows the first appearance in June in the case by Samantha Geimer, who was 13 years old when Polanski sexually assaulted her in Los Angeles in 1977.

President Trump Thanks Steve Bannon for His Service in Campaign Against 'Crooked Hillary'

It was Trump's first public comment on Bannon's firing

2-Week-Old Orphaned Piglet Comforts Kitten Friend as She Suffers Seizure

Sriracha the kitten was diagnosed with a neurological disorder called cerebellar hypoplasia and suffers from seizures.

Charlottesville: Student who attended neo-Nazi rally forced to leave university after backlash

A student who took part in the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville has said he is leaving Boston University because of the violent threats he has received since the event. “It’s becoming very dangerous,” Nicholas Fuentes told the Boston Globe. “Massachusetts, and Boston in particular, are among the most left-wing states and cities,” he said.

Serena Williams' Fiancé Is A Little Shocked By Her Pregnancy Cravings

He knew there would be cravings, but not quite like this.

US Nazi supporters move to Russian social media after Facebook ban

Following violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend, Facebook began taking down all positive mentions of an article by the Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi website, attacking the woman who was killed protesting the rally. But while the site has been banned from Facebook, far-right users continued to post on a Daily Stormer group on VK, Russia's most popular social network. “Cloudflare just dropped us,” the Daily Stormer VK group posted on Wednesday, referring to the Internet security company that protects sites from cyber attacks. “We'll have to build an alternative.” White nationalists and far-right activists from Western countries have increasingly been moving to VK, also known as VKontakte, where they don't face the same censorship as on social media like Facebook. Charlottesville far-right protest Of the 97 major neo-Nazi, white nationalist and racist skinhead organisations on the Southern Poverty Law Centre's list of US hate groups, The Telegraph found VK groups matching at least nine of them, with members that appeared to be American. There were also more than 50 VK groups named after the Ku Klux Klan, although many of them appear to be run by Russian fans. According to the news site Meduza, more than 100 nationalist groups on VK have members from the United States, Germany, Sweden and other Western countries. Membership on the most popular of these groups numbers in the thousands. A far-right user who identified himself as Henry from Houston told Meduza that moving from Facebook to VK was becoming a “trend” among nationalists trying to avoid censorship. He's started two VK groups already with a total membership of 550. “You can't even write a post about Adolph Hitler” on Facebook, he complained. In contrast, on the Daily Stormer page and other VK groups, users have continued merrily posting racist slurs and threats. Dropped by its US domain registrar, the Daily Stormer also tried to relaunch its website under a Russian domain name, but this too was soon suspended. Asked about VK's apparent lack of censorship, a spokesman said the social network is “against calls for atrocities and violence” and deletes materials that include them. Russian authorities have been increasingly fining and even imprisoning social media users under a vague law against extremism, but many of these people have been convicted for criticising Russia's intervention in Ukraine. Law enforcement here most likely wouldn't be able to bring Americans to court on similar charges, however.

Philippine churches to ring bells to protest drug killings

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine Catholic leader said Sunday that church bells would be rung every night for three months across his northern district to raise alarm over a sharp spike in police killings of drug suspects, adding to a growing outcry over President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody crackdown.

Oregon wildfire causes evacuations in prime eclipse zone

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Residents of more than 400 homes in a prime eclipse-viewing location in Oregon were ordered to evacuate Friday because of a rapidly growing wildfire that had already closed access to a portion of a wilderness area and a regional highway.

Children in conflict zones vulnerable to killing, rape: UN draft

Children are particularly vulnerable in the conflicts raging around the globe, according to a draft UN report that specifically pointed the finger of blame in Yemen at the Saudi-led coalition. The draft of an annual UN report on the impact of armed conflict on children lists the countries and entities accused of recruiting child soldiers and using children as weapons of war. "I am highly concerned by the scale and severity of the grave violations that were committed against children in 2016, which included alarming levels of killing and maiming, recruitment and use and denial of humanitarian access," Secretary General Antonio Guterres says in the draft seen by AFP.

At least 23 dead, dozens hurt as train derails in India

At least 23 people were killed and dozens injured after an express train derailed in north India Saturday, officials said, as rescuers clambered across mangled carriages to pull passengers from the wreckage. Rescue and relief operations are continuing," G S Priyadarshi, Muzaffarnagar district magistrate, told AFP. A police officer at the accident spot said 50 people had been taken to hospital.

Trump dumps controversial chief strategist Bannon in latest upheaval

By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland WASHINGTON/HAGERSTOWN, Md. (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Friday fired his chief strategist Steve Bannon in the latest White House shake-up, removing a far-right architect of his 2016 election victory and a driving force behind his nationalist and anti-globalization agenda. Bannon's firing, a year and a day after Trump hired him as his campaign chief, put an abrupt end to the rabble-rousing political provocateur's tumultuous tenure in a White House riven with rivalries and back-stabbing during which he clashed with more-moderate factions. White House officials said Trump had told new Chief of Staff John Kelly to crack down on the bickering and infighting, and that Bannon's fate was sealed by comments published on Wednesday in the American Prospect liberal magazine in which he spoke of targeting his adversaries within the administration.

Glitch Or Promo? Amazon Echo Dot Is Free Right Now

The Amazon Echo Dot is free on Amazon at checkout thanks to an apparently unlisted "Audible Promo" offer.

Violence erupts between white nationalists, counterprotestors in Charlottesville: Part 5

White nationalists had gathered in the Virginia city to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

'A lot of years and not enough change': Protesters in New York rally against white supremacy

In the wake of the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, right-wing groups have cancelled rallies around the country. In New York, dozens of people took part in a rally outside Google’s corporate campus. The protest organisers, however, cancelled the rally days before, citing “alt left terrorist threats”.

How Tough Mudder and its 'adult obstacle courses' became a £100m business

One Sunday morning, Will Dean informed his girlfriend Katie: “I am going to electrocute thousands of people.” Unfazed, she continued reading her newspaper. But the Sheffield-born founder of Tough Mudder – the now-globally successful obstacle course series which comes to Gloucestershire’s Badminton Estate this weekend – was devilishly serious. “I started calling engineering companies, saying: ‘Hello, we’re Tough Mudder, we want to shock people with electricity,’” explains Dean, 36, who launched his first “weekend obstacle course for adults” in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in May 2010, after studying a MBA at Harvard Business School. “You’d get a pause and then the line would go dead. People thought they were being pranked.” In the Tough Mudder innovations lab, human guinea pigs spend their mornings running through hay bales and dipping their extremities in buckets of ice The obstacle called Electroshock Therapy, which involves running through wires fizzing with 10,000 volts (triple the sting of your average electric fence), is now the event’s signature challenge. “As CEO, I have a unique role in all this because I am also the majority shareholder. People said: “Will, we can’t do this.” I was saying: “Yes, we can. We can have a board meeting and get it approved in two seconds. Look, it just happened…’” Dean spent five years working as a UK counter-terrorism officer in the Middle East and Afghanistan until, stifled by bureaucracy, he sought entrepreneurial fulfilment. His Harvard tutors called his business plan “optimistic”. At the inaugural edition, he prayed for 500 customers and got 4,500. There are now 130 annual Tough Mudder events in 11 countries with 3 million entrants worldwide so far. This weekend’s clientele have paid up to £139 to take on a 10- to 12-mile course littered with tunnels, nets, walls, fire, ice and mud. The company’s annual revenues now exceed $100m. Mud Run Electroshock Wire Caught on Neck 00:27 Obstacles are conjured up at an “Innovation Lab” in Pennsylvania where human guinea pigs spend their mornings running through hay bales and dipping their extremities in buckets of ice. Cry Baby, an obstacle which requires people to crawl through eye-watering smoke, was tested by spraying staff with homemade tear gas. Spider Box (a pit full of tarantulas) and Acid Rain (a container of floating acid bubbles) didn’t make the cut. “The Innovation Lab is as crazy as it sounds,” says Dean. “I joke that you will never get a Nobel Prize unless you test it on yourself. We start by saying: let’s think of the unthinkable. We finish by saying: now we have to make this work in Dubai, Germany and Mexico and get several thousand people of all shapes and sizes through in one hour. It is a strange remit.” Splashdown: a Tough Mudder comptetitor comes to grief Credit: Ben Birchall /PA Obstacle races have become wildly popular, with 5 million people in 40 countries taking part in events each year. Tough Mudder attracts a mix of couples, families, friends, work colleagues, students and executives. “The mud is a leveller,” says Dean. But why pay money to endure manufactured suffering? Dean believes the trend may be in part a reaction to our risk-averse society, with desk-bound workers seeking raw experiences to share on social media and in pub chats. But he insists the benefits are real. “I believe in challenging oneself to take on new things and I believe that is the secret to developing confidence. In a funny way, running through electric wires gives people the confidence to take on other challenges and changes in their life.” Tough Mudder's latest obstacles 01:05 He says Tough Mudder’s fun values have helped them outsmart rivals like Spartan Race, launched by Joe De Sena, a former Wall Street trader, in 2007. Miss an obstacle at Spartan Race and you have to do 30 burpees. At ToughMudder, nobody cares. Spartan Race times and ranks all contestants (accountability is the real secret to better health, insists De Sena), but Dean refuses, haunted by a 2008 triathlon when time-conscious athletes wouldn’t stop to help him unjam the zip of his wetsuit. “My belief came from me saying: I would do this. My friends would do this. I genuinely believe there is a market for a race that is not a race.” There are now 130 annual Tough Mudder events in 11 countries, with 3 million entrants worldwide so far Credit:  Andrew Crowley Dean now lives in New York with his lawyer wife Katie and their one-year-old daughter, Isobel. He still tackles the courses himself and joins in “Breakfast Club” workouts at the company’s Brooklyn HQ. His events deliberately inspire this same sense of community – what he calls his “tribe”. He hates seeing runners plodding side-by-side on gym treadmills and never speaking. His event forces you to seek help from strangers to scale walls and nets. “Tough Mudder gives you a sense of personal accomplishment, a sense of a team and being a part of something bigger than yourself, and hopefully a sense of fun.” He is not surprised it has proven popular in the UK. “More than any other culture, we believe in not taking ourselves too seriously. In our school sports, we have second and third teams. No American would play in that. It would be an embarrassment. You do get differences around the world. Germans ask six times more customer service questions. Australians sign up last-minute. But it’s a bit like kids and ice cream – it’s universal in its appeal.” Tough Mudder - are you tough enough? Next month, Dean is publishing a new business book, It Takes a Tribe, which analyses the social psychology, corporate theory and personal stories behind his success. It also documents the fierce battles that shaped the company. Dean and De Sena used to fly provocative advertising banners over each other’s events. De Sena once declared in an interview: “There’s not a person on this planet I despise more than Will Dean.” They have since bonded over lunch, but the rivalry bubbles away. “I have a lot of respect for Joe De Sena, as much as I tease him. I have said before when asked if we have anything in common: yes, we both wake up every morning and the first thing we think about is Tough Mudder. But I do think the rival philosophy has meant we ended up creating two companies which superficially may seem similar, but are very different.” “Tough Mudder gives you a sense of personal accomplishment, a sense of a team and being a part of something bigger than yourself," says founder Will Dean Credit: Andrew Crowley More troubling was the multimillion dollar lawsuit Dean faced in 2010. Billy Wilson, a former soldier who launched Tough Guy, an obstacle course in Wolverhampton in 1987, had granted Dean access to his company information for his Harvard studies and then accused him of stealing his idea. Dean countersued for defamation. After a vitriolic battle, the pair agreed a confidential settlement in 2011, with Dean reportedly paying $725,000. “There is only so much I can say, but one thing I can say is that we had to literally quadruple our pace. We weren’t just fighting for the survival of the company. Suddenly everything was on the line: personal bankruptcy, reputation. It was incredibly stressful. But it is part of the narrative now. I don’t think we would be as ambitious were it not for that experience.” The Four Phases | Chris Hall's Tough Mudder Workout Prep Aware of the perennial need to innovate, Dean has in recent years added events like Mini-Mudder (for kids) and World’s Toughest Mudder (a 24-hour elite event). He has signed television deals with CBS and Sky Sports, and he is now launching Tough Mudder boot camps around the UK, offering high-intensity, 45-minute group workouts. “There are a few things in society right now which are worrying,” he explains. “Obesity and diabetes rates are up, loneliness is up, people spend more time on social media and less time with friends. It all comes back to our mission to grow a global tribe. The boot camps are the local community hub and the event is the pilgrimage when the tribe comes together. I don’t pretend we are curing cancer. But I do think in our own small way we are making the world a better place.” For event details, go to toughmudder.co.uk. Jeep has launched a limited edition Tough Mudder Renegade: jeep.co.uk/tough-mudder