Blog Heap of Links for the day 9 October 2015

…Three people were inside – a couple and their 14 year-old daughter. The girl’s cat woke her up, which was a life-saver, officials say, because there are no smoke detectors in the home. The teen woke up her parents and the family was able to get out of the home without any injuries.…

Gail Zappa, wife of Frank Zappa and executrix of the Zappa Family Trust, has died. She was 70. A cause of death has not been revealed… "departed this earth peacefully at her home ... surrounded by her children…"

Actor Kevin Corcoran, who helped move audiences to tears as a child star in "Old Yeller," died at age 66.…

Reports now confirm that political cartoonist Akram Raslan died at the hands of Syrian police after vanishing in October 2012… had not been heard of since he was abducted from his office. "[Raslan's] works were known for being very direct in opposing the Syrian regime," Palestinian cartoonist Fadi Abou Hassan wrote on Cartoon Movement. "Raslan drew more than 300 cartoons that accompanied the early developments of the Syrian revolution."…

…Spencer Stone, one of the American heroes who foiled a jihad attack on a French train in August, was attacked by several assailants outside a liquor store after leaving a gay bar in Sacramento. He was stabbed four times and sustained serious injuries, but is expected to survive. Mr. Spencer was reportedly protecting a female companion when he was stabbed.

In other news, four cruise missiles launched by Russia and aimed at targets in the Islamic State reportedly went off course and landed in Iran instead.…