The Rev. Jesse Jackson disclosed publicly Friday that he has been seeking outpatient care for two years for Parkinson’s disease and plans to “dedicate” himself to physical therapy. In a Friday letter to supporters, the 76-year-old civil rights leader said family and friends noticed a change in him about three years ago. He said he could no longer ignore symptoms of the chronic neurological disorder that causes movement difficulties. “Recognition of the effects of this disease on me has been painful, and I have been slow to grasp the gravity …

Meryl Streep says the two times in her life she dealt with violence were so profound it changed her “on a cellular level.” Streep made the remarks Wednesday at the Committee to Protect Journalists’ 27th annual International Press Freedom Awards in New York. The Oscar-winner told the audience she did “know something about real terror.” She recounted two incidents, one in which she said she was attacked and “played dead and waited until the blows stopped.” Streep then described another incident when someone else was being abused. She said in …

Jennifer Hudson has obtained an order of protection against her former fiance David Otunga. Police in suburban Chicago say Otunga was removed from the couple’s home in Burr Ridge, Illinois, Thursday night after being notified of the order. Burr Ridge Police Chief John Madden tells The Associated Press Otunga “left the residence without incident.”   Tracy Rizzo, the attorney for the former WWE star, says Hudson petitioned for the order “in an effort to gain an unfair advantage in the custody dispute” involving the former couple’s 8-year-old son. Rizzo says …

Rocker Johnny Hallyday, frequently described as a French Elvis Presley, is being treated in a Paris hospital for respiratory difficulties, French television station BFM reported on Friday. The veteran rock-and-roller, a huge crowd-puller in his home country and much of the francophone world, had a brush with death in 2009 and is currently being treated for cancer. BFM said Hallyday was admitted on Sunday night and was undergoing tests. Reuters could not immediately reach Hallyday’s PR team or his production staff. Hallyday, who turned 74 in June, issued his first …

One million people across three Yemeni cities are at risk of a renewed cholera outbreak and other water-borne diseases following the closing of airports and sea ports by a Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Shiite rebels, an international aid group said on Friday. The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement that the cities of Hodeida, Saada and Taiz were not able to provide clean water in recent days due to a lack of fuel. “Close to one million people are now deprived of clean water and sanitation …

TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone pipeline leaked an estimated 210,000 gallons of oil onto agricultural land in northeastern South Dakota, the company and state regulators said Thursday, but state officials don’t believe the leak polluted any surface water bodies or drinking water systems. Crews shut down the pipeline Thursday morning and activated emergency response procedures after a drop in pressure was detected resulting from the leak south of a pump station in Marshall County, TransCanada said in a statement. The cause was being investigated. Discovery of the leak comes as Nebraska regulators …

Just a dozen years ago, a worn, touched-up old painting of Christ went for less than $10,000 (8,450 euros) at an estate sale. On Wednesday, it was auctioned for a record-breaking $450 million (380 million euros) as a long-lost Leonardo da Vinci dubbed “the Last da Vinci” or the “male Mona Lisa.” Years of painstaking cleaning and study led scholars to authenticate it as Leonardo’s roughly 500-year-old Salvator Mundi, Latin for Savior of the World. But some experts are stunned at the jaw-dropping price for a painting with a patchy …

Carpenters fans have a dozen reasons to be on top of the world this week. Nearly 30 years since the last LP album of new Carpenters material was released, remastered vinyl versions of 12 of the duo’s albums will be released Friday, offering fans clearer versions of tracks including the pop classics “We’ve Only Just Begun” and “Top of the World.” A&M/UMe will be selling the albums individually, as well as in the box set, Carpenters — The Vinyl Collection. “I know there’s been interest in it, certainly for the …

Access to education is key to ending child labor, but many countries are not investing enough to rescue 150 million children globally from often hazardous work, experts said. When schools offer meals, transport and occupational training, children can often stop working, experts said Thursday at the fourth annual Global Conference on the Sustained Eradication of Child Labor. “We need to work hand in hand with the government so the facilities are there when we get a child out of work and back into education,” said Hillary Yuba of the Progressive …

Battle lines are being drawn as the first gene therapy for an inherited condition nears the U.S. market, offering hope for people with a rare form of blindness and creating a cost dilemma for health care providers. Spark Therapeutics, whose Luxturna treatment has been recommended for U.S. approval, told investors last week there was a case for valuing it at more than $1 million per patient, although it has yet to set an actual price. However, the U.S. Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) said this week “at a …