Phil's Random Ramblings

Gwen Ifill, the longtime PBS news anchor who had served as a co-host of PBS’s NewsHour and as moderator of “Washington Week,” has died, PBS has confirmed. She was 61.

“I am very sad to tell you that our dear friend and beloved colleague Gwen Ifill passed away today in hospice care in Washington,” WETA president and CEO Sharon percy Rockefeller wrote in an email to staff at the public TV station Monday. “I spent an hour with her this morning and she was resting comfortably, surrounded by loving family and friends… Earlier today, I conveyed to Gwen the devoted love and affection of all of us at WETA/NewsHour. Let us hold Gwen and her family even closer now in our hearts and prayers.”

Ifill had been absent from PBS’s election coverage last week due to ongoing health issues. She also took a leave of absence from the public broadcaster in May to address those issues.

“Gwen was a standard bearer for courage, fairness and integrity in an industry going through seismic change. She was a mentor to so many across the industry and her professionalism was respected across the political spectrum. She was a journalist’s journalist and set an example for all around her,” said PBS NewsHour executive producer Sara Just, in a statement. “So many people in the audience felt that they knew and adored her. She had a tremendous combination of warmth and authority. She was stopped on the street routinely by people who just wanted to give her a hug and considered her a friend after years of seeing her on TV. We will forever miss her terribly.”

Ifill was set to receive the 2016 John Chancellor Award from Columbia University this Wednesday. A spokesperson for the university did not immediately have a comment.

Ifill, who was born in New York, graduated from Simmons College, a women’s college located in Boston, in 1977, before beginning her career at the Boston Herald-American. She held reporting positions at The Washington Post, The New York Times and NBC before becoming a moderator of PBS’s “Washington Week in Review” in 1999.

Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter dead at 76

Globe and Mail: Former boxer Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter died Sunday in Toronto at 76.

Carter became an advocate for the wrongly convicted after spending nearly 20 years in prison for a triple murder he didn’t commit.

$300k Ferrari run over by delivery truck backing up

(Photo: Emily Christensen-Flowers / NBC News)

If you think you had a bad day at the office, check out the misfortune of one delivery truck driver who accidentally backed into a $300,000 Ferrari FF on Columbus Avenue in New York City on Oct. 30.

The English Defence League and neo Nazi outfit, Blood and Honour, are targeting Charlton Athletic Football Club with race hate literature aimed at Muslims we can reveal today.

At least 22 dead in Kenya mall attack

AP: At least 22 people are dead after gunmen attacked an upscale mall in Kenya. 

Kenya’s military troops are surrounding the mall in an attempt to flush out the attackers.

Follow the latest at Breaking News. 

Rise Africa Wednesday: Ludwick Marishane

Name: Ludwick Marishane Age: 19 Country of Origin: South Africa

The lack of access to clean water kills children around the world at a rate equal to a jumbo jet crashing every 4 hours. Approximately 1 in 9 people lack access to a reliable water source. More people have access to a mobile phone than to clean water. This is a sad truth we live with in an age of mind-boggling scientific and technological advancement. This may have been the thought process that led our R.A.W. feature of the week to break boundaries and revolutionize hygiene. It was during a conversation with a friend on a hot day in his native Limpopo that the concept of a waterless bath emerged. After 6 moths of research, Ludwick Marishane was able to turn an idea between friends into the formula for a tangible, possibly life-changing product.