Brain Damage: The National Football League, which for years has been in denial about brain-damaged players, can expect a third of its retired players to develop brain-related ailments, according to papers filed in federal court. The report, prepared by actuaries hired by the NFL in its dispute with 5,000 retired players, says NFL veterans will develop long-term cognitive problems at a greater rate than the general population and at a younger age. It’s the most direct admission that the repeated concussions that come with playing football cause long-term deterioration of the brain.

After the Whistle: More trouble for the NFL. The Minnesota Vikings have deactivated star running back Adrian Peterson after he was indicted for reckless injury of a child. Peterson is accused of disciplining his 4-year-old son by hitting him with a switch. The team has known about the incident but thought Peterson would be cleared of criminal charges, which means they don’t mind that he hit his kid with a stick, only that he was indicted for it.

Ebola: Liberia’s president has made a desperate plea to President Obama for help dealing with the Ebola virus epidemic. So far 2,218 people have died during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, about 1,000 of them in Liberia. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf wrote to President Obama that, “I am being honest with you when I say that at this rate, we will never break the transmission chain and the virus will overwhelm us.”

Ukraine: With fighting resumed near the Donetsk airport, Ukraine’s prime minister says Russia’s goal is to take over all of Ukraine. Technically the ceasefire is holding, but Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said, “We are still in a stage of war and the key aggressor is the Russian Federation.”

Ambush: One Pennsylvania state trooper was killed and another wounded in an attack at a police barracks. The attack happened at about 11 last night during a shift change at the barracks in a rural area. Police are searching for the gunman.

All Around: Colorful Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has quit the race for re-election after being diagnosed with an abdominal tumor. > The South African family of Reeva Steenkamp, the girlfriend killed by Oscar Pistorius, is protesting the judge’s decision to acquit the blade runner of murder, saying, “justice was not served.” Steenkamp’s mother said, He shot through the door and I can’t believe that they believe it was an accident.” > Two Navy F/A 18 fighter jets collided over the Pacific and crashed. One pilot was rescued and the other is missing.

The Obit Page: The Rev. Ian Paisley, the rabble-rousing leader of Northern Ireland’s protestant majority during the country’s years of bloody violence, has died at age 88. Paisley was a pulpit-pounding orator who spoke in a thick Irish accent. He vowed he would never share power with the Catholics, but he mellowed with time and eventually gave in.

Alaska Trailer Park: The New York Times reports that former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family were involved in a brawl at a birthday party attended by construction workers and hardcore Alaskan snowmobile racers. The report says that it started when son Track Palin confronted a former boyfriend of his sister Willow. Sarah’s husband Todd joined the fray and unwed mother Bristol got in a few whacks. Sarah Palin was said to have unleashed a string of obscenities at the crowd before she and her family departed in a stretch Hummer limousine. One witness said, “It was a really nice, mellow party, then it turned into ‘The Jerry Springer Show.”

Witnesses in Russia said it was a great episode.

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