Human Race

Demoted

News anchor Brian Williams won’t return to NBC’s Nightly News after a major demotion June 18. NBC suspended Williams in February upon revelations he lied about being on a helicopter hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq in 2003. A six-month investigation found he embellished other stories, usually on late-night talk shows or in other public appearances. Williams will anchor breaking news and special reports on MSNBC. Going forward, he told NBC’s Matt Lauer, “I expect to be held to a different standard.”

Resigned

Tullian Tchividjian, pastor of the high-profile Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., resigned on June 21, citing in a statement to The Washington Post an “inappropriate relationship” with “a friend” after he and his wife, Kim, had separated months earlier. Tchividjian said an affair by his wife had caused the separation. She later sent the Post a statement saying: “The statement reflected my husband’s opinions but not my own.”

Taken

Three Muslim sisters passed into Syria with their nine children June 17-18, leaving the children’s fathers distraught in England. The Bradford family had been in Saudi Arabia on a pilgrimage when they reportedly flew to Istanbul instead of returning to the United Kingdom on June 11. The sisters’ brother allegedly fights with the Islamic State. The children, ages 3 to 15, told their fathers June 8 they “couldn’t wait” to come home. An ISIS smuggler told the BBC the missing family had indeed crossed into Syria. ISIS allows none to leave.

Mowed

Four Texas brothers mowed 75-year-old Gerry Suttle’s lawn June 9 to keep her from going to jail. At over 18 inches high, the Riesel woman’s grass violated a city ordinance, but Suttle says she never received the notice to appear in court. Authorities had issued an arrest warrant when the brothers saw KWTX’s coverage. They started cutting, the community joined in, and the job was complete in two hours. “I am very seldom without words …,” Suttle said. “You might want to mark it down in history.”

Fled

A North Korean soldier, believed to be a teenager, defected to South Korea June 15 in a rare crossing of the heavily guarded neutral zone between the two nations. He reportedly walked across the border about 8 a.m. without shots being fired. The boy complained of beatings and grievances with the Communist regime. Most defectors reach the South by first entering China, but China killed one such defector June 11.

Discovered

British teen Tom Wagg discovered a planet two years ago, when he was 15. Wagg was in his third day of a one-week internship at Keele University when he noticed a small dip in the light coming from a star 1,000 light years away. It took astronomers two years to confirm that the data blip was in fact a planet roughly the size of Jupiter passing in front of its star. The boy is “hugely excited” and wants to study physics.

Hurt

Michael Oher said a 2009 movie that made him famous has hurt his career. The Blind Side has grossed more than $300 million, winning Sandra Bullock an Oscar as the Memphis wife and mother who took Oher in and introduced him to football. Some call the 2009 first-round pick a bust with skills that don’t match the movie’s hype. “That’s taken away from my football,” Oher told ESPN. “That’s why people criticize me.”

Buried

Keith Broomfield, believed to be the first American killed fighting ISIS, was buried June 17 in Massachusetts. Broomfield, 36, traveled to Syria to volunteer with Kurdish forces in February. He had no training. The man had a troubled past, spending time in jail 10 years ago on drug and weapons charges. He more recently became a Christian, which he said led him to Syria to protect Christians, women, and children. Hundreds lined Syrian streets to bid farewell as his body reached a Turkish border crossing. Kurdish militia called him a “martyr.”

Died

Actor Christopher Lee, the face of evil on the silver screen, died June 7 at age 93. Lee played in more than 250 movies after serving as a British intelligence officer in World War II. He brought life to the classic villains of Dracula and Frankenstein, along with more modern faces of Star Wars Count Dooku and Lord of the Rings wizard Saruman.

Died

Alexander Elliott, an 18-year-old right-to-life patient in England, died June 17. Elliott battled a brain tumor since infancy, and doctors won the right to withhold cancer treatment in February, giving him two weeks to live. The National Health Service defended its argument that further treatment “risked causing him great distress.” His parents decried efforts that he be “left to die” after chemo was removed. Doctors admitted the prognosis was wrong. “He went in his own time,” his dad said, “with his dignity and autonomy intact.”

Died

Anne Gaylor, the principal founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, died June 14. She was 88. Her activism began in campaigning and raising money for abortion. She helped found the foundation in 1976, and it now boasts 20,000 atheists and agnostics.

By the numbers

$1 | The June exchange rate for 35 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars, according to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. The rate is a result of years of hyperinflation.

0 | The number of books found in the mansion of Jiang Zunyu, a Chinese Communist official investigated on graft allegations last year, according to state-run Chinese media. Instead, cigarettes, liquor, and art filled the mansion’s shelves. Chinese media have criticized party officials for not reading enough.

243 | The number of persons arrested in a June nationwide sweep for Medicare fraud. The Justice Department said the alleged fraudsters stole $712 million through fake billing.