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A federal judge on Thursday rejected Bernard Madoff's request to be released early from prison because he was dying of kidney failure, saying the swindler has never fully accepted responsibility for his massive, decades-long Ponzi scheme. Circuit Judge Denny Chin, who called Madoff's crimes "extraordinarily evil" when imposing a 150-year sentence in June 2009, wrote that while Madoff's failing health was "most unfortunate," compassionate release was unwarranted. "When I sentenced Mr. Madoff in 2009, it was fully my intent that he live out the rest of his life in prison," Chin wrote.

Virginia's governor says the monument to the Confederate general will be taken down in Richmond.

The Alaska senator said Mattis' statement was "true, honest and necessary and overdue."