Crete, Ill.

Medically preserved remains of 2,246 fetuses in the home of deceased abortion doctor Ulrich “George” Klopfer left police investigators shocked and bewildered at the grotesque scene. More than 50 detectives searched the home of Klopfer, who died Sept. 3 at age 75, finding 70-plus cardboard boxes with remains from 2000 to 2002. “He was a hoarder,” said Kevin Bolger, an attorney for Klopfer’s relatives, who discovered the remains before calling the police. “The house was floor-to-ceiling piled with garbage and boxes, old TVs, typewriters…you can barely walk down the hallways.” Klopfer performed tens of thousands of abortions for 43 years in South Bend, Gary, and Fort Wayne, Ind., where fetal remains must be buried or cremated. He lost his medical license in 2016 for poor record keeping and for allegedly flouting other rules. There’s no evidence he performed abortions at home.

Overdose charge

Los Angeles

A wealthy West Hollywood political activist and Democratic donor who’d been nicknamed “Dr. Kevorkian” on Los Angeles’ streets was charged last week in the 2017 death of Gemmel Moore, one of two men to die in his home. Ed Buck, 65, faces federal charges of distributing methamphetamine to Moore, 26, one of many men Buck is alleged to have paid to dress in skimpy underwear and then injected with drugs. Buck was well known among the homeless men who hung out near his home; several told similar stories of getting knocked out after Buck gave them drinks, then waking to find Buck injecting them with a full syringe. A second man, Timothy Dean, 55, was found dead in Buck’s home early this year. Buck’s arrest came after still another man said he fled Buck’s home, fearing he was suffering a meth overdose, after Buck tried to stop him from getting medical attention.

Searching for targets

Morristown, N.J.

A U.S. citizen was indicted last week on charges that he secretly worked for the terrorist group Hezbollah and was tasked with scouting for bombing “soft spots” at hubs such as Times Square, Grand Central Terminal, and the New York Stock Exchange. Alexei Saab, 42, a Lebanese native who immigrated to the U.S. in 2000 and became a citizen in 2008, was arrested in July after allegedly spending years analyzing how to inflict maximum damage by bombing New York “hot spots,” including airports, tunnels, and bridges, as well as landmarks such as the United Nations headquarters and the Statue of Liberty. Trained in using military explosives after being recruited by Hezbollah while at the University of Lebanon, Saab also assessed strategies for bombing the Washington Monument and Boston’s Fenway Park, once producing a 7- to 10-page report for his terrorist handlers.

Terrorism bust

Fort Riley, Kan.

The FBI arrested an Army specialist last week who had allegedly discussed bombing CNN headquarters and suggested assassinating Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke. Pvt. Jarrett Smith, 24, was arrested after sharing details on how to make bombs with an FBI informant and undercover agent in a Facebook chat room. Smith, who mulled joining a far-right paramilitary group in Ukraine before enlisting in the U.S. Army in 2017, reportedly planned an attack in the U.S. and said he was looking for fellow “radicals” online. He suggested targeting cell towers, a local news station, or the far-left “antifa” movement. Smith also discussed how to use a vehicle bomb to attack CNN’s offices. When the undercover agent asked for target suggestions in Texas last week, Smith is said to have replied, “Outside of Beto?” Smith said he offered advice on bomb making in order to cause chaos.

Divided nations

New York City

President Trump took the case for nationalism to the world’s central internationalist institution this week, telling the United Nations General Assembly, “The future does not belong to globalists. The future belongs to patriots.” He called the U.S. “by far the world’s most powerful nation,” and said, “I will never fail to defend America’s interests.” He urged other countries to look out for themselves, too, saying, “If you want freedom, take pride in your country.” Although Trump condemned Iran’s “bloodlust” and labeled it “one of the greatest security threats facing peace-loving nations,” he said little about Iran’s alleged bombing of a Saudi oil facility, which Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had called “an act of war.” Trump also warned China about its handling of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, and called for homosexuality to be decriminalized worldwide.

Enemy of the press

New York City

The Trump administration declined to warn The New York Times in 2017 that an Egypt-based reporter faced imminent arrest for his reporting on the country’s dictatorship, the Times said this week. Defying higher-ups, a U.S. official risked his career to alert the Times that journalist Declan Walsh could be jailed for reporting that Italian student Giulio Regeni was tortured and killed by Egypt’s security services. Despite Egypt’s record of jailing reporters, the White House, Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger asserted, had planned to “sit on the information and let the arrest be carried out.” After the official’s tip, Walsh contacted the embassy of his native country, Ireland, which whisked him to Germany. When 18 months later another Times reporter was detained in Egypt, a senior official at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo reportedly shrugged. “What did you expect?” he said. “His reporting made the government look bad.”

AP, Newscom, Andrew Cullen/The New York Times/Redux, Newscom ■