March 15, 2014

Funnyman David Brenner💧 dies at 78

LOS ANGELES — David Brenner, the lanky, toothy-grinned "Tonight Show" favorite whose brand of observational comedy became a staple for other standups, including Je♛rry Seinfeld and Paul Reis꧑er, died Saturday.... 

Obama has his Munich momen⛎t with Putin and Crimea

ജ Back in September, John Kerry told Washington Democrats that America faced a “Munich moment” in deciding how to respond to Syria’s use of chemical weapons. He called Bashar al-Assad a... 💮

Blue Angels are flying high again ♑n🥃ow 

These angels finally got their wings back. The Blue Angels, the Navy’s jet-aerobatics squad, are back in ac♏tion after being grounded last year by spending cuts. The Angels’ F-18 Hornets... 🅠

Russian forces 'invade' Ukraine on eve of referendum

Russian forces backed by tanks and helicopters occupied a ജUkrainian village near the border of Crimea Saturday — escalating already-high tensions on the eve of a vote on whether Crimeans... 🌄

Psychologistsౠ will be along Bosto🔯n Marathon route to help runners

Psychologists will be positioned 🍰along the Boston Marathon route during the April 21 race, helping runners with anxiety as the first anniversary of the marathon bombings draws near, according to...

Big East vet Providence tops 𝕴Creigh😼ton for title 

🍎 The new-look Big East produced an old school champion with a group of Ironmen. Providence College, one of the conference’s founding members before the league became a behemoth and was...

൩ 🌊  Lovefest in homeland for Rivera, Yankees

PANAMA CITY, Panama — They came to get a glimpse of the Great Rivera on Saturday night at Rod Carew Stadium. When the festive evening was com💃plete, the Panamanians and...

Nets blow lead, fall to Wizards 𒅌

✱ WASHINGTON — As the Nets have turned their season around in 2014, vaulting themselves back into the playoff chase, they’ve become a trendy pick to make the second round of...

Islanders roll past last-place Sabres 🐻

When the Islanders’ lead was cut in half in the opening minute of the third period,ꩵ the sense of impending doom began wafting through Nassau Coliseum. After all, the Islanders...

𒉰 Devils struck by Lightning in 3-0 defeat

TAMPA, Fla. — Needing all the points🤪 they can get, the Devils came up empty on a Florida road trip after Saturday night’s 3-0 loss to the Lightning. Martin Brodeur...🤪

♉ Beautiful, beautiful brackets get closer by the minute

The brackets are coming! The brackets are coming! The most exciting event of the sports calendar involving no actual action is here, 🎉and nothing can ruin it. But it can...

 Soldier says military service kept him out of FDNY: lawsuit 🌞

 A Queens man says he lost his chance to join the FD🗹NY — becℱause he was busy fighting a war. Brian Conway says he took the civil-service firefighter’s exam in...

Opera singer wants a real gentleman ඣ 🎐

Kacey, 31 Says she’s not a diva offstage —ღ so can the Brooklyn chanteu𝕴se find someone to share the spotlight? Name that tune: As a singer, Kacey knows the words...

 As DB market thins, both NY teams want Rodgers-Cromartie 💯 🦂

After listening to the Jets’ pitch on Saturday, free agent cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie will travel a few miles east to listen to what the Giants have to say. Both local... ❀

When dating becoꩲmes your full-time job

A couple of months ago, Scott Muska decided it was high ti💜me to wholeheartedly throw himself into the dating scene. He hadn’t dated seriously much before then — he was a self-proclaimed... 🌠

Mas🐷cots square off at America East title game 

If only Stony Brook showed this much fight. Early in Saturday's America East championship against Albany at Pri𝐆tchard Gymnasium on Long Island, the teams' two mascots — Wolfie (Seawolf) and...

This week's couple: Sweet time

There were no odd pairings at the Hotel Chantelle rooftop on the Lower East Side. That was where Samantha, 26, and James, 24, met fo🌟r their date — a beer-and-dessert...

Iffy penalty leaves Red Bulls💯 with a disappointing home draw

The Red Bulls thought they had a bounce-back performance from ಞlast weekend’s season-opening loss, and a much-needed win in their home opener. They thought wrong, doomed to a gallin♋g 1-1...

𒀰 Plenty of hot seats to go around with Opening🐭 Day imminent

Not all baseball ho💃t seats are create🔜d equal. Last year? Man, now that was a hot seat for the ages. The Biogenesis scandal loomed so large, we had more of...

𝔉 Brooding actor Michael Pitt has learned to lighten up

🌠 When New Jersey native Michael Pitt was cast as Jimmy Darmody on HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire,” he was so grateful he sent executive producer Martin Scorsese a gift basket  —  and...

'Rob the Mob' traces story of modern-day Bonnie & Clyde

🍬 As crimes go, this one probably lacked something in the smarts department. Back in 1992, young Queens couple Thomas and Rosemarie Uva were in ne🧜ed of money, so they hit...

Grande ham Miss Piggy returns ♐to the🐎aters Friday 

Every once in a while there comes a star so fierce she 𒀰attains the title of “diva” 🐠— Aretha, Cher, Beyoncé. Yet none of them hold a candle to the...

 🔯 🌊 The great tilapia mystery

I need your help. The other day, while watching one of these drama-packed, ostensible reality shows about deep-sea commercial fishing — it may have been “Real Wicked Trawler Trash Wives...  ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤🤡⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ

Final bow for NYC's historic Roseland Ballroom

The punks mourned the c♋losure of CBGB in 2006, the indie-rockers cried foul when Northsix became Musi💞c Hall of Williamsburg in 2007, but almost all of New York’s music lovers will...

Van Gundy’s sarcast𝕴ic replay commentary hits the bull’s-eye

We’re not accustomed to gooꦫd, slice-and-diඣce sarcasm from TV’s college basketball analysts, so at first Thursday night, it seemed as if Stan Van Gundy, the former NBA coach, was playing...

'Divergent' delivers crazy stunts in a new kind of action film

ﷺ One pivotal stunt in the new franchise-starter “Divergent” involves a group of actors running alongside and jumping onto a train speeding by at 30 mph. When they arrive at their...

Serby's Sunday Q&A with... Cleanthony Early

Senior Wichita State forward and Bronx native Cleanthony Early, who 𝓰leads the undefeated Shockers into the NCAA Tournament this week, took a shot at some Q﷽&A with Post columnist Steve...

Readers sound off on Tuck, Tanaka, Jackson🃏 

Reese ‘Blue’ it letting Tuck go I realize sen꧃timent shouldn’t be part of the equation in sports, except in very few instances, but I think Justin Tuck ꧙falls in the...

Pop's hottest 45-year-old still in Vogue

♈ Back in 2012, Kylie Minogue hadℱ an epiphany. The Aussie star was celebrating 25 years since her arrival into the music world and subsequent ascent to a pop-icon status that...

'Rocky' surprises critics to become Broadway's latest hit

♊  Sylvester Stallone had what seemed꧟ a pretty bad idea, at least to Tom Meehan: How ’bout we make a musical out of ‘Rocky’? “My first thought was, ‘Oh no,’ ”...

Tanaka must adjust to Yankees' 5-day plan for him

🐟 TAMPA — Located throughout the Yankees clubhouse are tall boxes of a fruit-flavored Japanese chewy candy called Hi-Chew. The company is promoting the candy with the arrival of Masahiro Tanaka...

After last season's ankle struggles, Jeter moving well

PANAMA CITY, PANAMA — At this time last year, Derek Jeter was ༺days away from being scratched because of additional problems w🏅ith his surgically repaired right ankle that led to...

🏅 Before Giants can, needy Jets court Rodg🦩ers-Cromartie 

 The Jets and G𝓡iant🌜s last played each other in a meaningful game in 2011. But they are competing again this weekend. The local teams are vying for the services of... 

Veggie lovers rejoice for 'Meatless Mondays'

John Fraser first gained his reputation as a veggie guru when t✤he chef/owner of Dovetail introduced Meatless Mondays at the꧒ Upper West Side restaurant in 2010, composing elaborate and elegant...

St. Louis s⭕till struggling to fit in with Rangerಞs

 Fo𝔍r Martin St. Louis, a Ranger for six games and without a goal to show for it, the learning curve has take♑n precedence over the curve of his stick. This...

Behind the epic tattoos of 'Divergent'

While the citizens of the Dauntless faction in “Divergent” love a good death-defying lea꧟p, they’re equally passionate about something a little more benign: tattoos. And these aren’t just any tattoos....

Shumpert, Hardaway playing 🐈well together 🌳

One play stood out in an otherwiseꦦ unremarkable matinee dominated by the Knicks. On one fastbreak hookup early in the second quarter of the Knicks’ 115-94 win over Milwaukee on...

Don't Miss: Shriver documents poverty, 'Believe' in NBC newbie

Believe (Sunday, 9 p.m., NBC) Raised by a small group known as the “True Believers,” the orphaned youngste♒r Bo (Johnny Sequoyah) has been safeguarded for years from harmful o🉐utsiders —...

ꦏ Sources: Dim hopes for landing Tejada replacement

𓄧 PORT ST. LUCIE — The Mets 🦹aren’t holding their collective breath a new shortstop to replace Ruben Tejada will be entering the scene anytime soon. Beyond free agent Stephen Drew,...

♍ Nicks: Giants never made an offer  𓃲

The Giants made it🍬 clear to wide receiver Hakeem Nicks they were ready to move on🐈. Nicks, who signed with the Colts on Friday, said the Giants never tried to...

'Divergent' breakout star is your new favorite heartthrob

Shailene Woodley has just sky-rocketed Theo J🍬ames’ chances of being chased by the paparazzi. In an interview last week, the actress admitted that he🃏r 29-year-old co-star is a “great kisser.”...

🦩  Gold medalists pumped to trade ice skates for dancing 𒁏shoes

The biggest problem, so far, is with their hips. When American ice dancing champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White, still flushed with Olymp♚ic glory from having received the highest point...

Cleamons could be making return tri💟p to the Garden ൲

Bucks assistant coach Jim Cleamons and Knicks guard Shannon ✱Brown sat and reminisced by the 🐷visitor’s bench before Milwaukee faced the Knicks at the Garden on Saturday. Cleamons has won...

 Mills isn’t getting pus🐬hed out, simply moving ov♔er 

 St🌺eve Mills and Jim Cleamons shared a handshake and a man hug as they crossed paths while the Bucks shot baskets before Saturday afternoon’s game against the Knicks🍎 at the...

Former ABC🌄 entertainment boss blasts 🅷Anne Sweeney

Former ABC entertainment boss Steve McPherson hasnꦉ’t lost his sense of humor since exiting the network four years ago. McPherson posted two words on Facebook the day Disney announced his...

Je🅠ts, Giants losing offseason battles to rivals

The Eagles stole receiver Steve Smith from the Giants three years ago, and Nnamdi Asomugha from the Jets. Giants g𒆙eneral manager Jerry Reese came under siege while the Eagles were...

ES🎀PN taking over Minkskoff T𒈔heater for upfront presentation 

There are now so many sports lovers on Madison Avenue that ESPN is switching its upfront dog-and-pony presentatio♍n to Broadway’s Minskoff Theater, which gives the sports media company about 50...

Sen. Franken gets vocal on tra🍸in ride about cable merger

Not everyone has to pay the big bucks for access to influential politicians. For 💧some it’s just thꦆe cost of a train ticket. Healthy lifestyle channel Veria Living had a...

Diddy and J.Lo competing for MSG's Fuse channel

It’s not personal, it’s business. Former lovers Jennifer Lopez and Sean “Diddy” Combs are competing for Madison Square Garden’s Fuse TV, according to sources. NuvoTV, an E༒nglish-language cable channel for...

SAC cheated as SEC preached 🎉

Monday, July 21, 2008, was a busy day for insider trading in the Stamford, Conn., offices of SAC Capital, the corrupt hedge fund run by billiona𝄹ire Steve Cohen. After the...

Walt Frazier all in on former teammate Phil's hiring

 Members of Phil Jackson’🍸s championship teams with the Knicks are planning to be in attendance Tuesday when he is given the keys to the team’s front office. Amon꧃g those applauding...

Relativity boss asks famou✃s friends to back Sheriff candidate 

Relativity boss Ryan Kavanaugh is taking a page out of the Jeffrey Katzenbergpolitical play book. The movie company chief is fattening a war chest to donate money to🎶 politicians and...

NY judge isn't first to call a Lefrak a 'blowhard'

Real-estate heir Jamie LeFrak should embrace the “blowhard” persona. It’s a family tradi🍨tion, after all. Last week, The Post exclusively reported that real-estate heir Jamie LeFrak lost an appeal 🙈to...

Youngster Haggerty's no-send-down clause just puzzling

Maybe Ryan Haggerty will be the next coming of Rod Gilbert, who ⛦is pretty much the only explosive goal-scorer on the wing developed by the Rangers over the past six...

US inve꧃s🍸tors have not run with bull market

What if Mr. Market threw a party and fe🌜w people decided to attend? Well, that’s what’s been happening in the last half-decade. While in other eras, the five-year anniversary of...

NY state regulators eyeing Wells Fargo fo🥃reಞclosure manual

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and three major regulator♐s are investigating allegations made in a federal court case that Wells Fargo has set up detailed internal procedures t🤡o fabricate...

The only ‘Crisis’ Gillian⛎ Anderson faces is her commute 🅠

Gillian Anderson is back on TV. And she’s everywhere. The TV icon, who starred as Dana Scully on “The X-Files,” is return⛦ing as a series regular for the f💖irst time...

Knicks ꧋not the first to chase down a franchiꦇse savior 

When it gets this bad, there isn’t a𓄧 sight ♓that can ever be too surreal. So, no, don’t expect to feel tinges and pangs of regret or remorse when Phil...

 ♏ Jas༺pers stake claim as New York’s college team

There are ♒ads all over New York, on buse🅘s and cabs, on signs in and outside of stadiums, planted like imperialistic flags, claiming ownership of the city. Syracuse fired the...

In My Library: Thomas Hampson  🃏 ♏

There’s nothing more usele𒀰ss than a bronchoid opera singer,” jokes Thomas Hampson, who’s just recovered from the flu in time to star in Alban Berg’s “Wozzeck” at the Met through...

This week's must-read books

The Master of Confessions: The Making of a Khmer Rouge Torturer by Thierry Cruvellier🦹  (Ecco) Not everyone can do what C♈ruvellier does: act as a witness. He sat through and wrote...

‘Americans’ღ star a per꧒fect fit as Russian double agent

When the producers of “The Americans” decided that Russian characters were going to speak Russian and the show would use subtitles, Adam Ark🌠in, who directed three episodes in the show’s...

From zero to hero, Icahn looks likeꦓ Rocky

Icahn has made a name for himself — and put about $20 billion in the bank — by taking down corporate blowhards, conflicted bullies and self-dealing e🏅ntrenched boards. His style...

The art of spending

When the performing arts c﷽enter for Ground Zero was first proposed, the idea was that it would become downtown’s Lincoln Center. The Post has been skeptical about this project from... ಞ 

 A civil rights educatio♏n

On Monday, representatives for 19 parents and 21 children wil🐓l head to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York to file a civil-rights suit. The children...

Buggy op♎erators buck economic whoas and neigh-sayers 🍒

New York’s “Fighting Irish” have come out swinging. Business owners are now solidly in their corner, latest polls show, as the city’s heavily Irish-dominated, multimillion-dollar൩ horse carriage industry steps up...

Dear John: It's a sellers economy

Dear John: I read your column about the Federal Reserve finding “green shoots” in the spring.  Perhaps Ch🤪ance or Chauncey Gardner from “Being There” is the actual chair﷽man of the...

Retailers predict a very green St. Patrick's Day

As anyone who claims Irish heritage (in other words, everybody) knows, Monday is St. Patrick’s Day. And in the last days of a truly tough winter, retailers are looking 🌞for...

Qu🐼eens boy f🤪ights back against attempted kidnapper

A creep tried to kidna♏p a child from a Queens street — but the brave schoolboy refused to be taken. The 11-year-old boy was waiting for his father around 2:35...

 New Sanitation chief rolls ou💫t bold compost plan on first d🎶ay 

Mayor de Blasio’s new Sanitation Department boss rolled out plans Saturday for several bold initiatives that will affect every New Yorker — an🅠d their trash. Kathryn Garcia, who oversaw sewer...

The day in photos

People from around the world celebrate St. Patrick's Day, including Chicagoans who dye🎃d the Chicago River green. Protesters took to the streets of London calling for the end of canned...

Girl power spans the dial thanks to 'Wives,' 'Glee,' 'Liars'

Girls rule this week on TV: “American Dad” (Sunday, 7:30 p.m., ಌFox): For the episode titled “Introducing the Naughty Stewardesses,” the flight attendants in question are played by Olivia Wilde... ꧃

Nixon 🍷and t🐲he My Lai massacre coverup 

Even before Watergate brought down his presidency, Richard Nixon was the prime mover in another illegal action that could have been g🉐rounds for impeachment. It is now clear, after extensi🐠ve...

Knicks blast Bucks for sixth straigh♎t

💧 The Zen Master already is having an effect, and he hasn’t even started on the job. Phil Jackson will inherit a Knicks team that has won a season-high six consecutive...

Stony Broke: Albany sin🙈ks Seawolves

🌟 Stony Brook was prepared for the biggest party in school history.💝 Instead, everyone went home early once again. Playing in their third iteration of their biggest game ever, the second-seeded...

Lil Wayne's 'Tha Carter V' will be his last solo album

AUSTIN, Texas — Lil Wayne said during an appearance at South By Southwest that he plans to make "Tha Carter V" his last solo album and that the first single... ܫ

LA Times rep✅orter fired after relationship with source

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Times dismissed an investigative reporter Friday after discovering he had an inapprop🧜riate relationship with someone who was a source for a front-page story that...

𝐆  Which president could you beat up?

"How To Fight Presidents," a new book by presidential obsessive Daniel O’Brien assesses our most badass presidents — the b☂rawlers, drinkers, gunslingers and killers — and hilariously contrasts them with...

Woodson: Don’t j💝udge me on final 16 game🍷s 

 Still hoping he will be the one for incoming president Phil Jackson, Mike Woodson 📖said he hopes the Zen Master doesn’t just judge him on the final 15 games and...

How a young Rockefeller died at the hands of cannibals ꦚ ▨

Nov. 19, 1961: Two young men drift on an overturned catamaran along the coast of southwest New Guinea. Twenty-four hours hav𒅌e passed since their motor died. One of the men,...

Why can't child stars just grow up?

It was a classic among apparent misstatements that were ꧒actually♛, painfully true: “I think I was detrimental to my own career,” Justin Bieber said in the now-infamous March 6 deposition...

🐽 Veteran in iconic WWII kiss photo dies at 86 

A man who became known for claiming he was the sailor kissing a woma💫n in Times Square in a famous World War II-era photo taken by a Life magazine photographer...

Clinton team feared 'disinformation' from Russia Oswald files

WASHINGTON — P🔜resident Bill Clinton’s administration was fearful o♔f getting “disinformation” if it asked Russia for its files on Lee Harvey Oswald, according to documents released Friday. Under pressure from...

ꦏ  Lucky kid, 3, survives brush wit💧h subway train 

A 3-yea🌃r-old boy cheated death Friday evening after he fell on a Manhattan subway platform and an arriving F train scraped his head as it pulled into the station, cops...

Cops cu𒁃ff two in Bronx, Queens murders

Editor's note: Sekwan Carter was acquitted of charges in 2016. Tw💎o suspected murderers were collared Friday for separate killings in Bronx and Queens, cops said. Misha Coleman, 32, was arrested...

ꦡ🦩 Putting his PED past aside, draft Braun early 

Sometimes we, as people, are quick to judge. Someone makes one mistake and we permanently banish🎐 that person to the doghouse, completely disregarding all the good they have done through...

Tiny home court gives Stony Brook advantage vs. Albany 𝔍 𒁃

 A few days before Sto🅷ny Brook was set to host the America East Cha𒊎mpionship, coach Steve Pikiell heard a commotion outside his office. In the hall, countless students were lined...

𝓡 Beason a possibility to succeed Tuck as Giants captain

The Giants made the return of linebacker Jon Beason a top priority in fဣree agency — clearly putting him ahead of Justin Tuck on their list — and nꦇow that...

Daily Blotter

Manhattan ■ Cops are looking for the assailant who fatally shot a man on a Mor🐼ningside Heights street Thursday. The 33-year-old victim was ✨outside an apartment building on Morningside Avenue...

Besties Wells and Mortimer team for comedy 'Doll & Em'

What if you got famous and your best friend came out to Hollywood to hang with you … and it was kind of a nightmare? Such is Emily Morꦑtimer’s anti-“Entourage”... 💜

Queens diamond trader sues in-laws over 'theft'

A Queens diamond trader has sued his Long Island in-laws for $6 million, claiming t꧑hey conspired with his alcoholic wife to swipe a booty of baubles from his home. Yoni...

$100B withdrawal from US Tre🔜asury bills hints at Russian move 

 WASHINGTON — A record $100 billion inꦜ withdrawals of Treasury bills is raising speculation that the Kremlin and Russian oligarchs are yanking their money out of the United State♔s to...

Anguished neighbor sme🍌lled gas night before Harlem blast

He wishes he coulᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚd have saved them. The only East Harlem resident to pick up a phone and warn Con Ed when he smelled a gas leak first noticed🥀 an...

Schools Chancellor🔯 Fari✱ña skips charter in school visit

Schools Chancellor Carme🅠n Fariña snubbed a charter school Friday during a visit to a controversial Harlem site that also houses two other traditional public schools. Farina toured PS 149 at...

💧  𒈔Boy, 12, and three teens shot in Brooklyn

A boy and three male teens wer🌟e struck by gunfire as they sprinted away from a blasting gunman in Brooklyn ඣon Friday night, cops said. The shooting victims included a...

De Blasio eyes record 9-year deಌal with teachers union

Mayor de Blasio wants to negotiate an unprecedented nine-year contract with the teachers union, according to sources. The union has been operating under an expired contract since Novembe☂r 2009 and... 🦄

Soil around blast building soaked ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚwith natural gas 🥃

Soil from the area where two apartꦺment buildings exploded in East Har🐼lem Wednesday was soaked with high concentrations of natural gas, more evidence of chronic gas leaks at the doomed...

Battle betwe🌃en Mets Duda, Davis begins in earnest

PORT ST. LUCIE — It was just an RBI double against a minor league pitcher, but Ike Davis will take what positives he ꦐcan get these days. “It was fun,”...

Future Seton Hall teams must finish job Fuquan’s crew ಞstarted

 They weren’t supposed to be here. So there’s that. Sticking around Madison Square Garden a day or two longer than most expecte✃d them to is something the Seton Hall Pirates...

 Creighton bಌeats Xa꧅vier to reach Big East Final

Doug McDermott’s first visit to the ๊Garden didn’t go as planned. But so far in his second tr♛ip to New York City, the National Player of the Year favorite has...

Pilots' homes raided as officials say disappearance 'no accident'

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The Malaysian jetliner missing for more than a week was deliberately di💞verted and continued flying for more than six hours after severing contact with the ground,...

Driver of bus that ♛hit multiple cars suffered apparent stroke ꧒

A Brooklyn bus crash left two passengers with serious injur﷽ies after the bus driver was stricken while driving Friday night, cops said. The city bus was driving along Nassau Avenue...